How To Stop Worrying And Love The Oil Sands
Ahni writes at Intercontinental Cry:
“Communication might be understood as both the conduit for and the actual substance of human culture and consciousness. Psychological warfare is the application of mass communication to modern social conflict.”
—Science of Coercion, Christopher Simpson, American UniversityTendencies of psychological warfare (U.S. Army War College):
1. Destroys will and ability of enemy to fight
2. Deprives enemy of support of allies and neutrals
3. Increases internal will to victoryEffects of psychological warfare (U.S. Army War College):
* Dissension
* Distrust
* Fear
* HopelessnessGiven the challenges that we face as Indigenous Peoples in Canada, it’s important to take a step back every now and again, if only so we make sure we know what exactly is being placed in front of us. If we don’t than we run the risk of wasting what little time and resources we have to stop an untenable project like, for example, the proposed Enbridge pipeline–a project that threatens our cultural heritage, our health, the environment…
Truly Free Healthcare: Is it Possible?
Krista Simpson describes a student-run, multi-discipline health care center, that requires no ID, no insurance, and no fees, for Torontoist. Is this a possible future model, not just for a marginalised identity-less population, but for Canada and the world at large?
At IMAGINE, a clinic organized and run by U of T students, multidisciplinary teams provide medical care to patients who would otherwise go without.
The life of someone studying in a medical field is a busy one, but for a group of University of Toronto students, even the hectic schedule does not stop them from taking on an extra project.
They are volunteers at a clinic called IMAGINE, an acronym for Interprofessional Medical and Allied Groups for Improving Neighbourhood Environments, which runs out of the Queen West Community Health Centre (168 Bathurst Street) on Saturdays. Patients do not need a health card or identification to be seen. Most who come through their…
Crime Breakdown By Astrology Sign
Can astrology predict jail time? Via the National Post, police in Canada’s rural Chatham-Kent region tallied the zodiac signs of all criminal arrestees for 2011 to see if any patterns would emerge. Arieses, whom horoscopes commonly characterize as hot-tempered, impulsive, and thrill-seeking, lead the way in being caught for evil deeds and antisocial mischief:
Oilsands Imperil Western Canada
Mike De Souza reports for the Vancouver Sun/Postmedia News:
Contamination of a major western Canadian river basin from oilsands operations is a “high-profile concern” for downstream communities and wildlife, says a newly-released “secret” presentation prepared last spring by Environment Canada that highlighted numerous warnings about the industry’s growing footprint on land, air, water and the climate.
The warnings from the department contrast with recent claims made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Peter Kent that the industry is being unfairly targeted by environmentalists who exaggerate its impacts on nature and people.
The presentation noted figures from the Canadian Energy Research Institute, a collaboration among industry, government and academics, that estimate the oilsands sector is responsible for more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada, and will contribute more than $1.7 trillion to the country’s economy over the next 25 years.
But it warned that Alberta and other parts of Western Canada…
Third World Canada
The Canadian media’s furor and spin on the following story is demonstrable proof that any and all attempts to de-legitimise Indigenous self-government and exploit Aboriginal territories for resources is not only allowed, it is welcomed. These policies are based on historical paternalistic colonialism, which is explicitly intended to systematically disenfranchise Native peoples.
Note as per this story , Canada spends MORE than two times per capita on non-natives for social infrastructure (housing, education, healthcare) than it does on aboriginal people. The amount reported in the Al Jazeera story below, is the entire budget, and does not include any additional civil infrastructure (roads, transport links) funds, which is normally separate from social spending:
Occupy Toronto Says “Thank You” to Police?
This letter has been seen circulating amongst protesters at Occupy Toronto. As the camp faces the possibility of eviction, some of the occupiers have been seen toting stacks of letters and handing them out to police on the camp’s perimeter.
Some protesters are irked over the fact that the letter was not passed through any General Assembly while others are pleased to see “the viewpoint of the reasonable” achieve a seat of prominence in the public eye, as some mainstream news media have broadcast the letter on the 6 o’clock news.
The question to be asked is, does this letter help or hurt the movement?
Thousands of Dead Birds Wash Ashore in Ontario
Via CTV:
Thousands of dead birds will be collected from an Ontario shoreline on Monday as the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources tries to determine what killed the waterfowl. Officials estimate as many as 6,000 dead birds have washed up on the Georgian Bay’s shoreline.
The carcasses are scattered along a nearly three-kilometre stretch near Wasaga Beach. “You just want to cry,” resident Faye Ego told CTV Toronto on Saturday.
Authorities speculate that the birds may have been killed by a form of botulism after eating dead fish. Locals said they noticed some dead fish on the beach a few weeks ago and a few dead birds earlier in September. During Monday’s cleanup, crews will be trying to tally up the total number of dead birds on the shoreline …
The New (Northern) Police State
An appropriate post, considering today is Canadian Thanksgiving … Amir Alwani discusses the increasingly hostile politics of dissent and oppression in Canada; proving, we in the north, are not faring much better than our cousins in the South.
“I’m sick of people thinking politics is some sort of hobby, like we can just choose to decide it doesn’t have to do with our life, death, happiness and freedom. Looking at the mechanics that underlie our world is not something I do out of boredom. To me, it seems self-evident that we’re on this earth to learn. Learning and gaining experience seems to be what being human is all about. I don’t like reading words on a page/screen. I’d much rather create music or learn to paint but unfortunately, sometimes missing a week’s worth of news is like missing a month. Missing a month is often missing a year.
Few Canadians are aware of…
Vancouver Protesters Call for Dick Cheney’s Arrest for War Crimes (Video)
Anthony J. Hall’s interview with a reporter for Canada’s CTV in front of the Vancouver Club on September 26, 2011. The subject of both the discussion and of the protest rally is the failure of Canadian officials to enforce domestic and international law by arresting former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney. Cheney clearly fills all the criteria of a person who should have been charged under the terms of the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act of 2000.
Toronto Hearings on the Events of 9/11 (Video)
This is the official broadcast site of the international hearings on the events of September 11, 2001, at Ryerson University from Sept. 8 to 11, 2011. The official website of the Hearings is torontohearings.org:
First Nations Oppose Tar Sands Pipeline
Native Activists have been on the front lines opposing the Alberta Tar Sands for years. Native Canadians have frequently borne the brunt of industrial pollution, particularly in Northern Canada. How will the new proposed Keystone XL pipeline affect Native communities both in the US and Canada? Colorlines explains:
In hopes that action would discourage President Barack Obama from permitting an extension to the Canadian Keystone pipeline — also known as the “Keystone XL” — a group of First Nations and American Indian activists protested in front of the White House on Friday.
Before being arrested, the protesters insisted that the extension — which will run from Alberta Canada to Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas — will harm ancestral homelands.
“Our Lakota people oppose this pipeline because of the potential contamination of the surface water and of the Oglala aquifer,” said Deb White Plume, a Lakota activist. “We have thousands of ancient and historical cultural resources that…
Human Foot Found On Vancouver Beach For 11th Time In Four Years
It seems something strange is “afoot” in the Pacific Northwest. Also: why do gristly, unexplained crimes always seem to involve running gear? Via the New York Daily News:
For the eleventh time in four years, a human foot washed ashore near Vancouver – baffling investigators who are at a loss to explain the grisly trend.
The foot, which was inside a running shoe, turned up along the British Columbia coast late Tuesday, according to police. It spotted by a passerby near the Vancouver’s False Creek.
Police have no theories as to how the foot ended up in the water – but have not suggested that foul play is suspected. Since 2007, nearly a dozen feet encased in shoes have appeared on beaches in the area, including a few over the border in Washington state. The bizarre discoveries have attracted international attention – and spawned fears of a serial killer.
But cops have steadfastly denied…
Norway Wants Ship Back 80 Years After Sinking In Canadian Arctic
Photo: Ansgar Walk (CC)
Via Discovery News:
Eighty years after it sank in the Canadian Arctic, explorer Roald Amundsen’s three-mast ship Maud may once again sail across the Atlantic to become the centerpiece of a new museum in Norway.
Canada, however, must still agree to the repatriation plan hatched by Norwegian investors, amid strong opposition from locals in the Canadian territory of Nunavut who want the ship to stay for tourists to admire from shore.
The wreck now sits at the bottom of Cambridge Bay in Nunavut, but its hulk is partly visible above the frigid waters that preserved it for decades.
“The incredibly strong-built oak ship has been helped by the Arctic cold and clean water to be kept in a reasonably good shape,” said Jan Wanggaard, a Norwegian who recently visited the wreck to sort out technical problems with raising the ship as well as to survey the views from locals and officials.
[Continues…
Canada Unveils The First Canadian Android, Then Touches Her Inappropriately (Video)
C3PO she ain’t. In the video “Aiko” is presented as Canada’s first android, and is promptly sexually molested against her wishes. Seems like a strange way to display her synthetic skin and vocal responses to pain:
Canadian Meteorite Has All the Building Blocks for Life
Interesting article from Tim Barribeau on io9.com:
The argument that life on Earth may have been seeded from the stars just received a major boost, as scientists have found the building blocks of life inside a meteorite that landed in British Columbia in 2000.
The Tagish Lake meteorite landed in January of that year, a streaking fireball that burst into more than 500 fragments which rained down on the lake. In its trip from the outer reaches of the asteroid belt it burned down from 56 tonnes to 1.3, and deep inside the fragments there are the basic building blocks of life, including the amino acids, sugars and hydrocarbons that could have jump started life on our planet.
This meteorite is the only uncontaminated example we’ve ever found, thanks to the quick actions of the people who spotted it. What the researchers have found is that the organic compounds in the rock date back to…
Wikileaks Cables Show Race To Carve Up Arctic
BBC News reports:
Secret US embassy cables released by Wikileaks show nations are racing to “carve up” Arctic resources — oil, gas and even rubies — as the ice retreats.
They suggest that Arctic states, including the US and Russia, are all pushing to stake a claim.
The opportunity to exploit resources has come because of a dramatic fall in the amount of ice in the Arctic.
The US Geological Survey estimates oil reserves off Greenland are as big as those in the North Sea.
The cables were released by the Wikileaks whistleblower website as foreign ministers from the eight Arctic Council member states – Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland – met in Nuuk, Greenland on Thursday to sign a treaty on international search-and-rescue in the Arctic and discuss the region’s future challenges.
The cables claim the Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller joked with the Americans saying “if you stay…
Ruling Opens the Door to Legalize Marijuana in Canada
Sandro Contenta writes on GlobalPost:
TORONTO— Pot lovers are dreaming of July 10, the day Canada’s dope laws go up in smoke.
An Ontario judge has struck down key aspects of Canada’s marijuana laws, triggering a 90-day countdown when growing, possessing or smoking pot will become legal.
The April 11 court ruling gives the federal government three months to either reform the laws or appeal the ruling to a higher court.
At issue is a 2001 law that allows seriously ill Canadians to access marijuana for medicinal purposes. But Justice Donald Taliano found that the vast majority of doctors refuse to prescribe the drug. Patients are therefore forced to break the law, either by growing their own or buying it on the black market.
“Seriously ill persons who need marihuana to treat their symptoms are forced to choose between their health and their liberty,” Taliano, of the Ontario Superior Court, wrote in his ruling.
“If they…
Endangered Sea Turtles To Be Killed After Experiment
Green sea turtle. Photo: Wilfried Wittkowsky (CC)
Controversial news that’s causing an uproar. The Vancouver Sun reports:
Endangered green sea turtles that have been part of a University of B.C. research project for more than 10 years will be killed sometime this spring.
Bill Milsom, head of UBC’s zoology department, said seven turtles will be killed in order to complete a study into turtle diving depths. The turtles are at least 10 years old and can live to be 30.
The study was designed to measure the impacts of climate change on the animals and to help countries develop policies around fishing.
More than 85,000 green sea turtles died as “bycatch in the fishing industry” between 1990 and 2008, Milsom said. By studying diving depths, researchers could recommend how deep fish nets should be placed to avoid catching the turtles.
Asked why kill an endangered species, Milsom said “they were brought in for these experiments [at UBC]…
Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” Censored In Canada
Normally I’m against censorship for almost any reason, but now that Canada has found a way to censor Dire Straits I’m having second thoughts … Reuters reports:
Canadian radio stations have been warned to censor the 1985 Dire Straits hit “Money for Nothing,” after a complaint that the lyrics of the Grammy Award-winning song were derogatory to gay men.
