Independent News
The Knuckleball Princess and Her Sister Slingers (in Life)
Today's Blockbuster Poem (in Tyee Books)
Native Youth, Clinging to Their Culture (in News)
Understanding Fetal Alcohol and why many of those affected end up in jail
It is becoming clearer, that prisons are where a lot of people living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are ending up. And prison is the last place they should be to find the support and interventions they need.
Stark Raven spoke with Vancouver lawyer, David Boulding about FASD and its relationship to the criminal justice system.
David became an advocate and educator on FASD, after many years of making mistakes working with clients in the system who had FASD. In the past decade he has done dozens of workshops, presentations and written papers on FASD and the law.
For more information on his work, check out davidboulding.com
The right to the city: Interview with Carnegie Community Action Project's Jean Swanson
Jean Swanson is the co-writer of Carnegie Community Action Project’s new report, Assets to Action: Community Vision for Change in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the author of Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion. Am Johal interviewed her in Vancouver.
Am Johal: The Carnegie Community Action Project has been organizing in the Downtown Eastside for some time. The gentrificiation pressures have continued to escalate. What were the main findings of your recent report?
Docudrama: The Canadian census, 91,000 document leaks and the challenges of democracy
Hypocrisy reigns as a government that hates the long form on the census invades Toronto with the G20 (and tells women what to do with their bodies), plus what does it mean to leak war documents?
Hypocrisy reigns as a government that hates the long form on the census invades Toronto with the G20 and likes to tell women what to do with their bodies, all the while dismissing the science of data to start with. And what does it mean to leak war documents? It seems to depend what and where you read them. Plus Stephen returns from a long trip in the U.S and comes back with hope. Lay off the tea drinks next Stephen. . ..
And of course we have our feature "Below the folks, news you might have missed":
Fraser Institute supports scrapping long-form census
Virtually alone in the growing outrage over the federal government's decision to scrap the long-form mandatory census, the Fraser Institute threw its support behind the government's decision with its chief economist Niels Veldhuis arguing that "voluntary surveys will yield enough accurate information about the country and critics saying otherwise are members of 'vested interest groups."
Radio Labour Solidarity Report July 25th - July 31st
* Iraq bans unions in the electrical sector
* A strike at a Honda supplier in China ends with a victory
* 900 dockworkers are locked out in Montreal, Canada
* Iran releases a union activist but more are in jail
* 100,000 garment workers on strike in Pakistan
* Hyatt hotel workers in the United States protest
Weekly Diaspora: Modified SB 1070 goes into effect and how federal law paved the way
Yesterday, 9th Circuit Judge Susan Bolton struck down many of the most controversial provisions in Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, including the section requiring police to ask anyone they suspect of being undocumented for proof of citizenship. It’s a small victory. Today, a modified version of the bill goes into effect.
Although Bolton’s decision weakened the state law, several problematic provisions remain in place, including one that allows Arizona residents to sue local police for not enforcing SB 1070, as well as one that makes it a crime to knowingly transporting an undocumented immigrant under any circumstance, even in an emergency. ColorLines has a good breakdown of pending lawsuits against SB 1070.
Canada must acknowledge international recognition of right to water
New York City -- In an impassioned speech to the UN General Assembly today, Bolivian Ambassador to the UN, Pablo Salon highlighted the dire situation of the global water crisis by snapping his fingers three times to indicate that a child dies every three and a half seconds from drinking dirty water. He urged the world take action by voting in favour of a resolution presented by Bolivia and co-sponsored by 35 states calling on the UN General Assembly to recognize water as a human right.
G20 arrestee made significant contributions to her community, say supporters
“Kelly is responsible for the free food program that we run every Saturday in Stratford and the harm reduction program too.”
“She is really selfless and goes out of her way to help people.”
“It’s just so amazing how someone can turn all their anger and frustration with society into something really beautiful which is what Kelly keeps doing over and over.”
“Through her actions and her work I was inspired to get involved and help out.”
Wikileaks: 'Leak can only strengthen the call for the war's end'
Wikileaks.org has done it again, publishing thousands of classified documents about the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The website provides a secure platform for whistle-blowers to deliver documents, videos and other electronic media while maintaining anonymity. Last March it released a video shot from a U.S. military helicopter over Baghdad, exposing the Army's indiscriminate killing of at least 12 people, two of whom worked for the Reuters news agency. This week, WikiLeaks, along with three mainstream media partners -- The New York Times, The Guardian of London and Der Spiegel in Germany -- released 91,000 classified reports from the United States military in Afghanistan.
Alberta Hides Dirty Truth as US Demands Tar Sands Facts (in Opinion)
Family Ties: Listening to Native Youth (in News)
CEP union president Dave Coles files a complaint over G20 police actions
The secret to success on Earth
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles by Bruce H. Lipton (Hay House, 2008; $29.95)
"What if everything you know is wrong?" So asks biologist Bruce Lipton in Biology of Belief, which illustrates how recent scientific discoveries, most notably those of quantum physics and the human genome project, require that we shift our thinking around health care.
