Alternative News
Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.
Three days left to keep BC's forests public!
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 27 May 2014 17:20
- Written by editor
Produce or pipelines? BC farmland is under threat
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 22 May 2014 16:40
- Written by editor
The BC government is rushing a bill that could dismantle our Agricultural Land Reserve, and pave the way for pipelines and runaway real estate sprawl.
Once our farmland is gone, there’s no getting it back. Click here to tell your MLA to defend BC’s farmland and reject Bill 24.
In just days, the BC Liberal government could pass a bill that would make sweeping changes to BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve. Cabinet minister Bill Bennett is ramming it through the legislature with almost no public consultation.
Bill 24, the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, proposes fundamental changes to the ALR that could result in the permanent loss of protected BC farmland, and pave the way for oil and gas pipelines across the province.
BC’s farmers, ranchers, and fruit growers are speaking out. Many have rejected the government’s claim that the changes will be good for farmers.[1] The opposition MLAs - BC NDP, BC Greens, and Independent Vicky Huntington - oppose Bill 24 and have said they will vote against it.
If enough of us speak out right now there’s a chance we can stop this dangerous legislation before it becomes law. But we have to act fast because a final vote on the bill is expected within a week.
Once our farmland is gone, there’s no getting it back. Click here to send an urgent message to your MLA calling on them to defend BC’s farmland, and reject Bill 24 now.
For over 40 years the ALR has protected farmland in British Columbia as a valuable, shared resource for all of us and for future generations. The ALR is a proud part of BC’s heritage, and vital to our rural economies. It reduces our dependence on external food sources while enhancing our ability to produce and market safe, local and healthy food.
Bill 24 weakens province-wide stewardship of our farmland. It will dismantle the Agricultural Land Commission in favour of 6 regional panels and cut the ALR in two - putting 90% of the ALR at increased risk from oil and gas pipelines, fracking, and runaway real estate development.[2-3]
The vote on Bill 24 could happen in just days. Send your message to Bill Bennett, Christy Clark and your MLA now, calling on them to defend BC’s farmland and reject Bill 24.
Read more: Produce or pipelines? BC farmland is under threat
Fair Vote Canada Spring Newsletter! / Les actua
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 22 May 2014 16:40
- Written by editor
Français à suivre
Dear Friends,
So much has happened since our last newsletter!
In the last few months, Fair Vote Canada has been busy engaging citizens across the country to Make Every Vote Count! In January and February, we sent out over 400 volunteers to talk to over 80 MPs; we attended the Liberals’ Policy Convention with our friends Liberals for Fair Voting to pass an important resolution; Fair Vote Canada delivered testimony on the "fair" elections act; we attended Leadnow Connect meetings across the country to make every vote count; opened registration for the AGM and; we are ready to launch the Campaign 2015 website!
Our campaign “Make 2015 The Last Unfair Election” is gaining momentum!
MP Visits: 
In January, our Action Coordinator, Anita Nickerson asked you to visit your MP to talk about Proportional Representation. We knew we were asking a lot of you and that it might require a step out of your comfort zone to be spokespersons for one of the most important electoral reform campaigns in Canada’s history. You overwhelmed and inspired us with your responses! To date, over 400 volunteers have visited over 80 MPs (and still counting). It brings to mind Margaret Meade’s famous quote: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Thank you for your commitment to this campaign!
See the photos here: http://www.fairvote.ca/mpvisit2/
India: tribes face harassment and eviction for "tiger conservation"
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 22 May 2014 16:40
- Written by editor
The Khadia were evicted from their homeland inside Similipal Tiger Reserve in December 2013. They are now living in dire conditions under plastic sheets and have not received the compensation they were promised.
© Survival International
Survival has received disturbing reports that several tribal villages are facing imminent eviction from Tiger Reserves in Odisha in eastern India, despite the villagers’ desperate appeal to stay on the land and to involve them in protecting the forest.
Testimony obtained by Survival shows that tribes in Similipal Tiger Reserve, who have been living with the forest’s wildlife for generations, are determined to stay on their land, but have been facing years of harassment and pressure from forest guards to force them out of the reserve.
A Munda man from Jamunagarh, one of the villages slated for eviction, told Survival, ‘We are very much dependent on the forest…We don’t have any conflict with the wildlife. We don’t hunt or cut down trees. If we leave we will face a lot of hardship… Please don’t displace us!’
In potential breach of the law, wildlife authorities in Odisha are determined to clear ‘core areas’ inside Tiger Reserves of all human habitation. Three out of six villages have already been removed from Similipal and eviction plans are currently underway in the neighboring Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
Read more: India: tribes face harassment and eviction for "tiger conservation"
We did it! Victory for the Awá
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 22 May 2014 16:20
- Written by editor
Survival Tribes News Act Now Donate
The Awá: an historic victory
In 2012 we launched a global campaign to save a little-known tribe in the Amazon, one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes left in Brazil. With more than 30% of their forests destroyed by illegal logging, we asked you to help save the Earth's most threatened tribe.
You responded in your thousands, and, because of your emails, Awáicons and donations, the campaign made headlines around the world. Brazil's Minister of Justice was forced to act, sending in troops and federal agents to expel the loggers.
The operation has just been completed; all loggers and ranchers have been removed from the Awá indigenous territory. This is an incredible victory which would never have happened without your help.
Here is your story>Watch the film
The story is currently on the front page of the BBC website and will be featured in BBC2’s leading in-depth TV news programme, “Newsnight”. UK supporters can watch it tonight (Thursday 22 May) at 10.30pm (BST). The story will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday at 11.30am (BST).
No to trade deals that threaten democracy!
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 21 May 2014 11:00
- Written by editor
No to trade deals that threaten democracy!
Usually we write you with very concrete requests to support workers fighting for their rights in specific conflicts. We know from experience that messages can make a difference, and we appreciate your continued support and solidarity.This time we're sending a different kind of action alert and asking for a different kind of support.
Governments are currently negotiating, under conditions of strict secrecy, two giant trade and investment treaties which will impact enormously on our lives as workers, citizens and consumers: the EU-US trade deal now known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the twelve-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.
If these treaties come into force, they will weaken elected government and strengthen corporate power at all levels. They must be defeated, and popular pressure can do this, just as it stopped the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
A new IUF publication, Trade Deals That Threaten Democracy, exposes the corporate
power grab at the core of these two mega-treaties, how they build and expand
upon the toxic web of the thousands of investment treaties which have been
layered on to the WTO rules and why the labour movement should throw its full
support behind the growing movement in outright opposition to these
deals.You can download the brochure here. We urge you to read it, distribute it, spread the word in your unions and in your communities, and tell your political representatives "No to trade deals that threaten democrtacy!"
Journey to the Supreme Court
- Details
- Published on Monday, 19 May 2014 13:20
- Written by editor
Help Put Proportional Representation Front and Centre!
- Details
- Published on Monday, 19 May 2014 02:40
- Written by editor
Dear ,
Since 2011 Canada has seen a steady stream of rallies, protests, and similar events. Prorogations, omnibus bills, robocalls, serious environmental, trade, and social justice issues, the “Fair Elections Act”, and more have all brought Canadians out to raise the alarm about the state of democracy in Canada.
Whenever people talk about democracy, Fair Vote Canada supporters are there, helping put proportional representation front and centre!
Can you help us increase our visibility at protests and events between now and 2015? We'll send you a Fair Vote Canada vinyl banner and literature to distribute.
We know the root of these crises is our dysfunctional voting system. It wastes 7 million of our votes in each federal election. One party got 39.6% of the vote. First-past-the-post handed it 100% of the power. Winner-take-all voting provides both the means and the incentives for the continued degradation of democracy.
Read more: Help Put Proportional Representation Front and Centre!
BOOK Flashpoint in Ukraine / Risking World War III?
- Details
- Published on Monday, 19 May 2014 02:40
- Written by editor
UKRAINE: Worth risking the unthinkable?
FLASHPOINT IN UKRAINE
How the US Drive for Hegemony is Risking
World War III
edited by
Stephen Lendman
ISBN: 978-0-9845255-8-4
$24.95 2014 238 pp.
EBOOK ISBN: 978-0-9845255-9-1
$18.00
Available from
- Clarity Press,
- amazon.com.
- amazon.co.uk
- amazon.ca
- Available from Distributors
in the USA, the UK/Europe,
Middle East, Malaysia/Singapore
View Table of Contents
geopolitical crisis since WW II. Possible global war looms.
Viewed from the perspective of Western mainstream media, the
crisis arose due to pro-democracy activists overturning a brutal
dictatorship, which led swiftly to Russian incursion into Ukraine and
annexation of Crimea.
Viewed from the perspective of the 20 highly-credentialed analysts
who have contributed to this anthology, it’s an entirely different
story. Obama's pivot is global, in pursuit of unchallenged worldwide
dominance, leading to multiple direct and proxy wars. Neocon-
dominated Washington seeks to marginalize its Russian and Chinese
rivals, surrounding both countries with US bases. Ukraine is in the
eye of the storm, the crown jewel of NATO eastward expansion, the
last step in Washington's drive to incorporate all former Soviet
republics and Warsaw Pact countries into NATO and install missile
defense sites on Russia’s very border.
To that end, the US has poured some $5 billion into “pro-democracy”
NGOs which, counter to intention or not, were soon swept aside by
neo-Nazi groups, and leading to the installation as President of
former banker, Arseniy Yatseniuk, advance leaked as the unelected
pick of Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State for European
and Eurasian Affairs.
Read more: BOOK Flashpoint in Ukraine / Risking World War III?
Sierra Life: Let's Keep B.C. Parks Pipeline-f
- Details
- Published on Monday, 19 May 2014 02:20
- Written by editor
Sierra Life: Let’s Keep B.C. Parks Pipeline-free
Rolling Out the Repeal
Question: How long a piece of paper do you need to list 166,000 names? Answer: 90 feet! That’s the length of the petition we presented to the B.C. government asking them to keep pipelines out of B.C. parks and scrap the Parks Amendment Act.
Who's Giving B.C.'s Forests Away?
Forests and climate campaigner, Jens Wieting explains why we should be concerned about the B.C. government's plan to give forestry companies more control over B.C. forests. Read more about this issue.
More Damming Findings on Site C
The joint review panel released their findings on the Site C dam last week. The panel were as unconvinced as we are that B.C. needs Site C, an expensive project that would destroy agricultural land, threatens wildlife and violates First Nations rights. Keep BC's forests public – act now!
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 15 May 2014 12:20
- Written by editor
Worst. Idea. Ever.
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 12:00
- Written by editor
U.S. telecom giants are about to force many of your favorite websites into an Internet Slow Lane. U.S. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is about to give in to their demands but we can stop him. We have less than 24 hours until a crucial FCC meeting where this will be decided and we need you to speak out. Help us stuff the FCC comment system with our Say No to the Internet Slow Lane message right now.
One of the things we love the most about the Internet is the way it gives us the freedom to read and watch what we want, and express ourselves when we want, without anything getting in the way.
But that freedom is under grave threat - giant U.S. telecom conglomerates are about to force every web service that can’t pay expensive new fees into an Internet Slow Lane1.
This Slow Lane plan will affect us all2 – especially here in Canada, where so much of our Internet traffic travels through U.S. servers. The plan will cripple your favourite websites and content, while making it more expensive for you to use the Internet.
Big Telecom wants to make your Internet look a lot more like cable TV, where they can pick and choose what you can watch. They’re trying to force you to watch the content they own, by slowing everything else to a standstill.
Big Telecom’s army of lobbyists have been pushing for these gatekeeper powers for years, and U.S. FCC Chair Tom Wheeler is about to give in.3 That's why we've partnered with The Nation magazine to help you speak out.
Reindeer herders take on Russian oil-giant as tribal rights in Siberia weakened
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 10:20
- Written by editor
s16 r18.
The reindeer-herding Komi-Izhemtsi people in western Siberia have rejected the takeover of their land for oil exploration and drilling by Russian oil-giant LUKOIL. They are demanding that the company suspends oil exploration, production and transport in their territory until their demands are met.
The Izhemtsi are a semi-nomadic reindeer herding people living in the Komi republic of Russia, just west of the Ural mountains. The Izhemtsi were angered by the discovery of several oil rigs on the edge of one of their villages in February. The rigs had been built without the agreement, or even knowledge, of the local community.
The communities are also objecting to what they see as LUKOIL’s inadequate ‘clean up’ operation following an oil spill in March – the spilt oil was ignited. Communities 10 km away from the spill reported seeing plumes of black smoke from the fire for two days.
Fifteen Komi-Izhemtsi communities have issued a declaration stating, ‘We, Komi-Izhemtsi, are indigenous people and this is our land. We are no longer willing to tolerate the predatory exploitation of our mineral resources and the environmental irresponsibility of LUKOIL. We must become equal partners in the implementation of any industrial projects in our lands’.
Meanwhile, south-east of Komi, in the Khanty-Mansiisk region of Siberia, home to the Khanty and Mansi tribes, the regional parliament is seeking to weaken the legislation that protects the tribes’ land rights. The lands of many Khanty and Mansi communities had previously been protected, making it harder for oil and gas companies to enter the land without the permission of the tribes and without fulfilling a number of environmental obligations.
However, under the new system, the conservation requirement will be removed, opening the tribes’ lands up to greater exploitation and leaving them even more vulnerable to manipulation and pressure by the companies.
Read more: Reindeer herders take on Russian oil-giant as tribal rights in Siberia weakened
Join in the National Day of Resistance
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 13 May 2014 19:20
- Written by editor
...
Thanks to Lowes, 37 million bees died!
- Details
- Published on Monday, 12 May 2014 09:40
- Written by editor
Bees are dying in record numbers -- and we know what's killing them.
Tell Home Depot, Lowe's and other retailers to stop selling bee-killing pesticides now!
Bees are dying off around the world in record numbers -- but big retailers are still selling the poison that is killing them.
Last season, 37 million bees (!) died on a single North American farm. Scientists now know why – study after study shows that deadly pesticides called "neonics", manufactured by Bayer, are killing them.
Home Depot and Lowe's are still selling the deadly pesticides, but pressure is mounting. If one of the stores commits to stop carrying the pesticides, it could start a snowball effect that sees rival stores drop the bee-killing chemicals too.
In just two weeks, SumOfUs' activist beekeepers will travel to deliver our petition to the corporations on their home turf. Can you add your name now, so the retailers see the tide of public opinion and commit to stop selling bee-killing pesticides?
Tell Home Depot and Lowe’s to stop selling bee-killing pesticides.
Earlier this year, SumOfUs supporters called on these retail giants to stop selling neonics, with thousands flooding their phone lines and speaking out in store. Now, we've learnt that Home Depot could be on the cusp of doing the right thing and taking the bee-killing chemicals off its shelves. We need to send a message to tip Home Depot over the edge, and pressure its rival Lowe's to act as well.
The dangerous chemical Bayer makes is a neonicotinoid, or neonic. Neonics are soaked into seeds, spreading through the plant and killing insects stopping by for a snack -- and sold in garden stores around the world, too. These pesticides can easily be replaced by other chemicals which don’t have such a devastating effect on the food chain. But companies like Bayer and Syngenta make a fortune from selling neonics -- so they’ll do everything they can to protect their profits.
This week @ rabble.ca: UP! Canadian labour rising
- Details
- Published on Monday, 12 May 2014 09:40
- Written by editor
09 May 2014
Hey rabble readers!
This week, we launched our new series "UP! Canadian labour rising," which invites debate and solutions to the challenges facing Canada's labour movement. In her introduction, guest editor Nora Loreto writes about the vision for UP!, and her hopes for labour's future, and in the first installment, Duncan Cameron reflects on why the labour movement is more important than ever. You can check out the rest of the series here.
The Canadian Labour Congress Convention kicked off on Monday in Montreal, and rabble.ca was there, bringing you news from the convention floor -- including results from the nail-biting leadership election. Mainstream media didn't cover the CLC convention, but our labour reporter, H.G. Watson, did! Catch up on all of our convention coverage right here.
Mayworks Festival of...
Read more: This week @ rabble.ca: UP! Canadian labour rising
May 9th Indigenous news on rabble.ca
- Details
- Published on Monday, 12 May 2014 09:40
- Written by editor
rabble.ca weekly e-news for May 9th, 2014
This is your daily dose of our Editor top picks! For more new rabble content, visit www.rabble.ca-->Indigenous This week's top news and analysis about the struggles of indigenous peoples for rights and sovereignty. For more on indigenous issues visit our topic page: http://rabble.ca/indigenous
Don't stop the pressure on the First Nations Education Act May 9, 2014 | By Pamela Palmater Even following National Chief Shawn Atleo's resignation, the First Nations Education Act is not dead, only "on hold." Don't stop fighting until it's dead, says Pamela Palmater. Inside the unlikely alliance that's changing the climate movement May 8, 2014 | By Kristin Moe The Cowboy Indian Alliance has formed...
3000! Harper could approve Enbridge in weeks
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 08 May 2014 17:00
- Written by editor
Over 3,000 people have already RSVPd to be part of Defend our Climate, Defend our Communities events this Saturday, May 10th! It’s just five days away, and we’d love to see you there.
Click here to find an event near you, RSVP and share: http://www.defendourclimate.ca/
Thank you!
Logan, on behalf of the Leadnow.ca team
In just a few weeks, the Harper government could give Enbridge’s risky pipeline and tanker project a final stamp of approval, despite powerful opposition across BC.
An unbroken wall of First Nations have vowed to block the project, and tens of thousands of British Columbians like you have taken action against pipelines and tankers. But Enbridge is spending millions on misleading ads, and we know that Harper will do almost anything to get this pipeline built.
Now, on Saturday, May 10th, thousands of people are coming together across the country to Defend our Climate and Communities from pipelines, tankers and extreme energy projects. If we can work together to get thousands of people in the streets across the province, we can show the Harper government that approving Enbridge could cost them the next election.
We can’t do this without your help. Click here to find an event in your community, RSVP and spread the word.
We live in an historic time. In 2011 for the first time more money was invested in creating renewable energy than all fossil fuels combined and the share of renewable energy production continues to grow. We’re at the beginning of a great transition to replace fossil fuels with clean energy and ensure a safe climate for all generations.[1-2]
Meanwhile, in Canada, our federal government is trying to bet our economy on boom-and-bust dirty energy projects that pollute the water and climate while piping profits out of our communities. Now, it’s time to take the next step to defend our climate and defend our communities.
The Truth Comes Out About Private Power
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 08 May 2014 17:00
- Written by editor
r19 | r14 | r0
Like
Tweet
Forward
Check out our new report!
Hi Michael,
If you're wondering about the latest developments...
More Articles...
- Enbridge
- New report: Alberta oil sands ranks highest in global financial risk analysis
- If it were 1186 missing or murdered white women, would it be different?
- Pardon Cecily McMillan NOW!
- It's happened to 1 in 34 Canadians
- This week @ rabble.ca: Celebrating the labour movement
- Sierra Life: Sailing the Seas of Change
- AFN Chief Resigns Over First Nations Education Act
- AFN Chief Resigns Over First Nations Education Act
- May 2nd, 2014 Indigenous news on rabble.ca
