Mercury Rising: Asserting self-determination

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Published on Tuesday, 29 July 2014 09:20

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Published on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 17:00

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Survival Tribes News Act Now Donate

© G. Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Dear supporter,

An alarming number of uncontacted Indians have been sighted fleeing Peru and entering Brazil.

Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department has warned that they face imminent "death" as they enter into the territory of other uncontacted tribes and settled communities. Rampant illegal logging in Peru is believed to be at the heart of this impending disaster.

There are only about 100 uncontacted tribes left in the world today. Introduced diseases are their biggest killer as they lack immunity to viruses such as influenza, measles and chicken pox. It is not unusual for tribes to be virtually wiped out after first contact.

The Panará people of Brazil, for example, were decimated when a highway was bulldozed through their land in the 1970s. Hundreds of road builders moved in, and with them came waves of deadly epidemics. Just 69 Panará survived, out of a population of around 400.

Aké, a Panará leader who survived, recalls this dark time: “We were in the village and everybody began to die. Some people went into the forest and more died there. We were ill and weak and couldn’t even bury our dead. They just lay rotting on the ground.”

Uncontacted tribes are some of the most vulnerable peoples on the planet and they urgently need your help.

We simply mustn’t allow another people to suffer the consequences of our unsustainable appetite for natural resources. Uncontacted tribes add enormously to the diversity of human life. To lose a tribe is to lose a language, knowledge of plants and animals and a view of life that is unique.

They will only survive if their land is mapped out and protected. Survival is campaigning for the Peruvian and Brazilian governments to implement these measures and to honor their promise to improve cross-border coordination to safeguard the tribes’ welfare.

Our recent success in having loggers evicted from the Awá’s land proves that, with enough pressure, we can stop these illegal activities.

Read more: Only 100 left

"Violent attacks" caused uncontacted Indians to emerge - News from Survival

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Published on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 15:20

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"Violent attacks" caused uncontacted Indians to emerge

Seven uncontacted Indians made contact with a settled Ashaninka community near the Brazil-Peru border in June. Authorities have treated them after an outbreak of flu. © FUNAI

Highly vulnerable uncontacted Indians who recently emerged in the Brazil-Peru border region have said that they were fleeing violent attacks in Peru.

FUNAI, Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department, has announced that the group of uncontacted Indians has returned once more to their forest home. Seven Indians made peaceful contact with a settled indigenous Ashaninka community near the Envira River in the western Acre state, Brazil, three weeks ago.

A government health team was dispatched and has treated seven Indians for flu. FUNAI has announced it will reopen a monitoring post on the Envira river which it closed in 2011 when it was overrun by drug traffickers.

The emerging news has been condemned as “extremely worrying” by Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, as epidemics of flu, to which uncontacted Indians lack immunity, have wiped out entire tribes in the past.

Brazilian experts believe that the Indians, who belong to the Panoan linguistic group, crossed over the border from Peru into Brazil due to pressures from illegal loggers and drug traffickers on their land.

Uncontacted Indians face pressures on their land due to illegal logging, drug trafficking and oil and gas exploration (picture taken in 2010). © Gleison Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Read more: "Violent attacks" caused uncontacted Indians to emerge - News from Survival

3 stinging graphs that cut Stephen Harper's million jobs problem wide open

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Published on Saturday, 19 July 2014 12:40

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JUL 15, 2014 by PressProgress

This is what the real Conservative jobs record looks like in three graphs:

First, Tim Hudak had a "Million Jobs Plan" problem.

Now, Stephen Harper has landed in a bit of trouble with his claim that "one million net new jobs" have been created since the recession.

This well-worn line by Harper and cabinet ministers now underpins the Conservative Party's new "We're better off with Harper" campaign.

It should have an asterisk next to it, though.

There's a reason why the Conservatives use June 2009, a low point for the Canadian economy, as their starting point, writes economist Andrew Jackson in a new analysis of Statistics Canada's labour force data.

Read more: 3 stinging graphs that cut Stephen Harper's million jobs problem wide open

Can't understand how the US Senate can unanimously pass a resolution supporting the murderous Israeli assault on Gaza?

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Published on Saturday, 19 July 2014 12:40

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Get some clarity. Award-winning Author and Professor Emeritus James Petras gets between 5-7,000 hits on his website every day.

THE POLITICS OF EMPIRE

The US, Israel and the Middle East

by

James Petras

ISBN: 978-0-9860731-0-6
$18.95 / pp. / 2014

BUY NOW

EBOOK: $16.00

On December 8 2010 The Club of Mexican Journalists awarded James
Petras its prestigious International Journalism Prize for Investigation and
Analysis of the News within the global context.

"Dr. James Petras is one of the greatest personalities of critical intellect of our time. His
numerous books, which have been translated into many languages, and his opinion articles
which are invariably defined by their rigor and decisive data, widely documented and
placed within their social context, have turned this thinker into one of the most lucid and
coherent minds of recent times. Naturally, this has earned Dr. Petras the resentment of
those who feel affected by his tireless efforts. Nevertheless, countless readers all over the
world seek the words of this thinker to defend themselves from propaganda that intends to
make us sympathize with the single-minded thinking of neoliberalism."

ABOUT JAMES PETRAS

James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York. He is the author of 64 books published in 29 languages, and over 560 articles in professional journals, including the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, Journal of Contemporary Asia, and Journal of Peasant Studies. He has published over 2000 articles innonprofessional journals such as the New York Times, the Guardian, the Nation, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, New Left Review, Partisan Review, Temps Moderne, Le Monde Diplomatique, and his commentary is widely carried on the internet.

His most recent titles are The Power of Israel in the United States and Rulers and Ruled in the United States, (acquired for Japanese, German, Italian, Indonesian, Czech and Arabic editions), Zionism, Militarism and the Decline of US Power, Global Depression & Regional Wars, War Crimes in Gaza and the Zionist Fifth Column in America, and The Arab Revolt and the Imperialist Counterattack.

He has a long history of commitment to social justice, working in particular with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement for 11 years. In 1973-76 he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. He writes a monthly column for the Mexican newspaper, Le Jornada, and previously, for the Spanish daily, El Mundo. He received his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.



JAMES PETRAS

Read more: Can't understand how the US Senate can unanimously pass a resolution supporting the murderous...

Active governments increase people's happiness, says study

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Published on Friday, 18 July 2014 11:00

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JUL 14, 2014 by PressProgress

Government might not be able to give you a hug when you're sad, but people's happiness goes up as government intervention into the market economy increases, a new study has found.

That's the big takeaway from a new study by a team of researchers from Baylor University, Texas A&M University and the University of Notre Dame. Titled Assessing the impact of the size and scope of government on human well-being, the research adds to a growing body of evidence pointing to the positive benefits of active government involvement in market economies.

"As the degree of government intervention into the market economy increases, individuals' subjective well-being increases as well," the study states.

"Taking these results in their entirety, it seems that government intervention (however measured) matters, but it matters most for specific policies ... that seek to insulate citizens from the negative consequences of the market economy."

The study uses individual and aggregate-level data for OECD countries, including Canada, measuring the size of government, total social welfare expenditures, accessibility of services and degree of labour market regulations, and compares these with cross-national surveys tracking self-reported life satisfaction.

In addition to finding "robust evidence that citizens find life more satisfying as the degree of government intervention in the economy increases," the researchers note the results are "inelastic to changes in income; that is, high and low income citizens appear to find more 'leftist' social policies equally conducive to their subjective well-being."

In other words, active governments increase "the satisfaction of everyone, rich and poor alike."

Wait -- rich and poor alike!? Isn't money the only true measure of happiness!?

Read more: Active governments increase people's happiness, says study

Take action with Leadnow - the new 1%

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Published on Thursday, 17 July 2014 14:20

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When we sent out our mid-year report two weeks ago, we were thrilled to see that the Leadnow community has grown to over 360,000 members. In a little more than three years, over 1% of people in Canada have joined the Leadnow community by taking action for an open democracy, a fair economy, and climate justice.

You’ve been an ally at key moments - now let’s keep building to the biggest moment in our short history - the 2015 federal election.

Our democracy is being undermined every day, with secretive governments and unaccountable industries calling the shots. We can make the 2015 federal election a turning point for the issues we know our community cares about, but we need you and your networks, skills and passions in order to do it.[1]

We’re building an independent, connected, and engaged network of teams and groups across the country who can work together to elect a Parliament with a mandate for action on democracy, climate and equality - a network that can hold our representatives accountable well beyond election day. We want you to be a part of it.

Will you join us in building up our people-power this summer?

- Yes! This sounds exciting, I’d like to take part this summer!

- Sorry, my summer is full but sign me up for the fall.

- This looks awesome, but I’d prefer to support Leadnow in other ways.

We’ve developed a handy Summer Organizing Kit to provide a fun and powerful way to build strength together. The kit contains resources as well as suggested campaigns and tactics that you can take on over the summer, while receiving support from the Leadnow organizing team. Not only will you be making a difference on important issues, you’ll help build a strong network of people who are committed to creating real change in Canada.

Read more: Take action with Leadnow - the new 1%

Brazil: where Indian lives are not worth a traffic sign - News from Survival

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Published on Monday, 14 July 2014 13:20

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Brazil: where Indian lives are not worth a traffic sign

Damiana Cavanha, Guarani leader. Five of her relatives have been run over and killed. © Fiona Watson/Survival

Public prosecutors in Brazil have called on the government to pay 1.4 million reais (US$ 630,000) in compensation to Guarani Indians and to install road signs, after eight Indians from one community were run over and killed.

For decades the Guarani of Apy Ka’y community were forced to camp on the side of a perilous main road after they were evicted from their land, which is now occupied by a vast sugar cane plantation. Last year they reoccupied a part of their territory, but the road remains a serious threat.

Five of the hit and run victims were relatives of the community’s leader, Damiana Cavanha, who has been campaigning for the Indians’ ancestral land to be returned to them. The youngest victim was four years old.

Damiana believes they are being deliberately targeted by vehicles belonging to the ranchers occupying their land.

Read more: Brazil: where Indian lives are not worth a traffic sign - News from Survival

Berlin: Peru President urged to protect uncontacted tribes' land - News from Survival

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Published on Monday, 14 July 2014 12:00

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Berlin: Peru President urged to protect uncontacted tribes' land

It is thought that the uncontacted Indians who recently emerged in Brazil have been fleeing illegal logging and drug trafficking in Peru (picture taken in 2010). © Gleison Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Ahead of the visit of Peru’s President Ollanta Humala to Germany for a climate conference this week, Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, has written to the President urging him to protect the lands of highly vulnerable uncontacted tribes in the Amazon rainforest from illegal logging and drug trafficking.

The call follows alarming news that an uncontacted tribe has made contact with a settled indigenous community in Brazil. The Brazilian government believes that the Indians were pushed over the border from Peru due to the failure of the authorities to combat illegal logging and drug trafficking in their territory.

Uncontacted Indians in other areas of Peru’s Amazon also face threats from massive gas and oil projects on their land. Unless their lands are protected they face catastrophe from violence or deadly diseases to which they have no resistance.

In a letter to the President, Survival’s Director Stephen Corry wrote, “To ensure the survival and protection of uncontacted Indians, all legal and illegal work in their territories must stop immediately … I urge your government to act quickly to ensure the protection of the uncontacted Indians’ territories.”

Read more: Berlin: Peru President urged to protect uncontacted tribes' land - News from Survival

Bushmen face 10 years of abuse despite landmark legal victory - News from Survival

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Published on Monday, 14 July 2014 10:00

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Bushmen face 10 years of abuse despite landmark legal victory

Despite winning a landmark court case in 2006, the Bushmen have faced harassment, intimidation and torture by the Botswana government. © Survival

Exactly 10 years ago – on July 5, 2004 – a landmark court case started which successfully challenged the illegal eviction of Botswana’s Bushmen from their ancestral land. But since then, the Botswana government has continued its persecution of the last hunting Bushmen, for which it has been condemned nationally and internationally.

In 2006, Botswana’s High Court ruled that the Bushmen’s eviction from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve had been “unlawful and unconstitutional”, and that they had the right to live, hunt and gather inside the Reserve and did not have to apply for permits to enter it.

From the Kalahari to CourtThe extraordinary story of how the Bushmen of the Kalahari took their government to court and won.

But despite the ruling the Botswana government has:
- refused to provide water to the Bushmen in one of the driest places on Earth;
- prevented them from hunting for their survival by intimidation, torture and arrest;
- required most Bushmen to apply for restrictive permits to enter their Reserve;
- barred their long-standing lawyer, who successfully represented the Bushmen in three court cases, from entering the country and representing his clients;
- accused the Bushmen of harming the wildlife inside the Reserve (for which it has not produced any evidence), while allowing a diamond mine to go ahead and issuing licenses for fracking exploration.

Botswana’s High Court called the case “a harrowing story of human suffering and despair”; the UN’s former Water Advisor Maude Barlow said, “It’s hard to imagine a more cruel and inhuman way to treat people”; Botswana political activist and former Robben Island prisoner Michael Dingake said, “Without hunting, Basarwa [Bushmen} are literally being starved to surrender”; and the BBC’s John Simpson called the government’s policies “ethnic cleansing of the Kalahari.”

The Bushmen's lawyer Gordon Bennett with his clients in 2004. He has since been barred from entering the country.© Survival

Read more: Bushmen face 10 years of abuse despite landmark legal victory - News from Survival

Thanks for taking action on Energy East!

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Published on Friday, 11 July 2014 18:40

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r1

PAOV,

Thank you for adding your voice to call for the National Energy Board's new CEO to include climate change in the review of the Energy East pipeline. We're working to get thousands of people across Canada to join in and send a powerful message that this pipeline project is Canada's climate test -- and one that we can't afford to fail.

If you haven't already done so, will you take a moment to share the People's Intervention with your friends?

Click here to share on Facebook.

Click here to tweet about it.

We're gearing up to stage a massive People's Intervention in the National Energy Board review -- to make sure that climate change and the impacts of expanding tar sands development are considered.

We'll start by delivering your message along with thousands of others, and we'll be in touch about next steps soon. In the meantime, check out our Energy East...

Read more: Thanks for taking action on Energy East!

Help spread the word about EI reform

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Published on Thursday, 10 July 2014 11:00

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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is using the TFWP debacle to push for even more reforms to limit eligiblity of EI.

Here's a reality check about why EI reforms are needed to increase eligibility. Please share on FB and Twitter.

http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/just-how-low-does-canadian-taxpayers-federation-want-drive-down-ei-eligibility

How San Francisco is leading the Green Political Movement

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Published on Thursday, 10 July 2014 11:00

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Political legislation can either greatly help or gravely hinder a cause.

With permaculture and other green initiatives, it can easily go
either way. In this email, we’ll take a look at Lecture 54 of the
video series on Urban Permaculture Applications.

Whether we agree with all of the politics of San Francisco or not,
we can all learn from the leading city in green initiatives.
We can then adapt and apply them in our local communities.

The group leading the green charge is the
San Francisco Department of the Environment, a non-tax funded
city department whose mission is to create policies and programs
that promote sustainability. It is the driving force behind the
accolades awarded to the city, such as:

- The Greenest City in North America
- Best Green Building Policies of Any City in the World

You will learn about some of the latest initiatives of the program,
such as the ambitious target of Zero Waste by 2020. This plan
calls for all waste to either be recycled back into the industrial
resources pool or into the soil. As of 2014, they’ve achieved
80% of their target.

Another astonishing fact you will learn is that the taxis of San Francisco
are beating the protocols set forth by the Kyoto Agreement of 1997.
However, SF is incentivizing mass transit to encourage the public to
use public transportation and/or bikes.

The city is literally leading the nation in green-initiative legislation.
For example, the Healthy Products Healthy Children Ordinance was
the first to ban phthalates. This was also adopted by the state of
California and later by the United States.

Some of these examples showcase what can be accomplished on the
local level. While San Francisco is a large and wealthy city, many of
these programs and initiatives can be adapted to work on the smaller,
more local level.

Whatever ideal you have of permaculture, green living, and the
community, you can take action now in your own community and
make that change become reality.

Read more: How San Francisco is leading the Green Political Movement

Join Party Members Working for Proportional Representation

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Published on Thursday, 10 July 2014 10:40

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• About
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With the 2015 election just around the corner, there has never been a more important time to influence the candidates who will be running in the next election. We need to elect MPs to a majority of seats who are in favour of making our votes count.
In addition to the crucial work of educating and promoting proportional representation among Canadians, very important groundwork to achieving PR occurs within the political parties themselves. Studies show that only 1-2% of Canadians are actually members of parties, but the pro-PR members within the parties can have a significant influence pushing PR to the forefront - influencing party platform and direction! Right now, for example, there are local nomination races occurring across the country, where PR supporters are helping the strongest pro-PR candidates win the local nominations to run in 2015. If you are a member of a party, they need your support now. If you are a member of a party, would you like to help Fair Vote Canada's campaign by supporting other party members working to push PR to the front of the agenda, and be kept informed of opportunities to advance the prominence of PR within your party? Please help us grow and strengthen our FVC partisan caucuses by telling us your party affiliation here. We will connect you with just one person - the Fair Vote Canada volunteer who is the Liberals for Fair Voting, NDP for Fair Voting, Greens for Fair Voting or conservatives for Fair Voting team leader. We know many of you are not members of any political party, and we appreciate the numerous ways you support Fair Vote Canada's campaign! Please pass the Declaration of Voters' Rights on to anyone you know who is a PR supporter. Thank you to everyone for your support of Make Every Vote Count 2015! Sincerely, Anita Nickerson
FVC Action Coordinator

Read more: Join Party Members Working for Proportional Representation