UpSideDownWorld.org—As the story of the tragedy in Haiti continues to unfold, the spotlight seems to have turned away from the aid and the tragedy itself, and instead now largely focuses on the U.S. military aid effort. Doctors Without Borders and the director of French aid have both complained that the U.S. military has impeded the progress of the relief mission. Many have noted that the priority of the military would appear to be security over rescue, causing the delivery of medical supplies to be postponed while the military brings its troops and supplies.
Rape. Murder. Corruption. Environmental contamination. Impunity. These are just some of the charges and incidents that have plagued Canadian mining operations abroad for years. Now one Canadian lawmaker has taken on the Herculean challenge of legislating mining reform in a country that has traditionally acted like a parent in denial.
OpenMedia.ca has released a report entitled "Revitalizing a Media Reform Movement in Canada," which is focused on the potential for a broader movement for media change in Canada. The report is a collaboration between Simon Fraser University Communications Professor Robert Hackett, OpenMedia.ca and the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC).
People in the streets accusing Prime Minister of shutting down Parliament to avoid war crimes inquiry
TheRealNews.com — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has single-handedly shut down Parliament. It is the second time he has done this since being re-elected in October of 2008. Critics claim that the move was used this time in order to postpone an inquiry into accusations of war crimes complicity for members of his administration and the Canadian military. Stemming from evidence that Canada continued handing- over people detained in the War in Afghanistan over to Afghan prisons that they knew practiced torture. Produced by Jesse Freeston.
There may be more to diabetes than our diet, or whether or not we get enough exercise. According to several new studies, it may be the result of our exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants.
TheRealNews.com (audio) — Howard Zinn (24 August 1922 – 27 January 2010) was an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and playwright. He is best known as author of the best-seller 'A People's History of the United States'. Zinn was active in the Civil Rights and anti-war movements in the United States. Zinn was raised in a working-class family in Brooklyn, and flew bombing missions for the United States in World War II, an experience he now points to in shaping his opposition to war. In 1956, he became a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, a school for black women, where he soon became involved in the Civil rights movement, which he participated in as an adviser to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC and chronicled, in his book SNCC The New Abolitionists. Zinn collaborated with historian Staughton Lynd and mentored a young student named Alice Walker. When he was fired in 1963 for insubordination related to his protest work, he moved to Boston University, where he became a leading critic of the Vietnam War.
TheRealNews.com (video|audio) — Danny Glover, Peter Hallward, and Anthony Fenton contribute to breaking down the media avoidance of Haiti's history of foreign intervention. According to Hallward, Haiti's poverty can be explained as a series of foreign responses to the independence and strength of the Haitian people, but since the media doesn't acknowledge this, they are forced to propose weakness and bad luck as the sources of Haiti's poverty. Glover adds that without the history, we are prone to misunderstanding and the blaming of the victim, which in some cases serves to absolve us of our own responsibility for the situation. Fenton reminds that it's not only the U.S. that has taken part in undermining democracy in Haiti, in recent years Canada has played a very significant role, among others.
