Greenspirational News: swine flu, madness, wind, tax breaks

Angela Bischoff greenspi at web.ca
Fri May 8 10:21:29 EDT 2009


Greenspirational News

"If you wanted to create global pandemics, you'd build as many of  
these factory farms as possible.  That's why the development of swine  
flu isn't a
surprise to those in the public health community. In 2003, the  
American Public Health Association--the oldest and largest in world-- 
called for a moratorium of factory farming because they saw something  
like this would happen. It may take something as serious as a  
pandemic to make us realize the real cost of factory farming."

Dr. Michael Greger, Humane Society of the U.S

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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room - Passionate Eye Sunday
Writer/director Alex Gibney tells the story of the notorious scandal  
behind the crash of the energy company. more

Sunday May 10 at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld

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Wind Power Installations Up 29 Percent in 2008

Global wind capacity increased an estimated 27,051 megawatts in 2008,  
with cumulative installations up almost 29 percent. The United States  
led in new installations, surpassing Germany to rank first in  
cumulative capacity and electricity generation from wind.

This new Vital Signs Update  provides data since 1980 on global and  
national cumulative capacity in the top wind-producing countries and  
sheds light on key financial trends in the sector.

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The Wholesale Sedation of America's Youth

Eight million kids today have been diagnosed with mental disorders,  
and most receive some form of medication. Is this child abuse?

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/139796

While the sheer volume of psychotropics being prescribed for children  
might, in and of itself, produce alarm, there has not been a  
substantial backlash against drug use in large part because of the  
widespread perception that "medically authorized" drugs must be safe.  
Yet, there is considerable evidence that psychoactive drugs do not  
take second place to other controlled pharmaceuticals in carrying  
grave and substantial risks. All classes of psychoactive drugs are  
associated with patient deaths, and each produces serious side  
effects, some of which are life-threatening.

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EU passes ban on seal products

The European Parliament voted to ban imports of seal products today,  
trying to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt, which animal  
rights groups have criticized as barbaric.

The EU assembly overwhelmingly endorsed a bill that said commercial  
seal hunting, notably in Canada, is “inherently inhumane.” The bill  
still needs the backing of EU governments, but officials called that  
a formality since national envoys had already endorsed the bill.

Canada's East Coast seal hunt is the largest of its kind in the  
world, killing an average of 300,000 harp seals annually.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090505.wseal0505/ 
EmailBNStory/International/home

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Victory For Seals! The European Union Bans Trade in Seal Products

http://www.hsicanada.ca/wildlife/seals/seal_hunt_2009/ 
sealtradeban_victory.html

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Environmental groups and AFL release groundbreaking Green Jobs report

EDMONTON, Canada — More than 200,000 green jobs could easily be  
created in Alberta if the government made renewable energy a  
priority, says a new report by Greenpeace, Sierra Club Prairie  
Chapter and the Alberta Federation of Labour.

The report, Green Jobs: It’s Time to Build Alberta’s Future, was  
released at a news conference in Edmonton by the three groups. The  
report suggests that transitioning to a green economy will breathe  
new life into Alberta’s economy and help improve its environmental  
track record, which has recently been criticized internationally.

The three groups joined forces to encourage the province to turn away  
from unproven, expensive technologies like Carbon Capture and Storage  
(CCS). Instead of investing $2 billion in taxpayer’s money in a false  
solution like CCS, the Stelmach government should be focussing on  
putting Albertan’s to work.

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/recent/green-jobs-report

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Canada's greenhouse gas emissions soared to new high in 2007

At 26 per cent above 1990 levels, emissions in violation of Kyoto  
Protocol pledge; rates far worse than in United States

The growth of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada soared at the  
fastest pace on record in 2007 to reach a new high, indicating the  
difficulties the country faces in trying to curb the release of  
pollutants many scientists say are responsible for global warming.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM. 
20090428.wemissions0428/BNStory/Science/home

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Agri-biz at root of swine flu?

The Real News Network

It's been 15 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement, and  
while debate still rages over the wisdom of the arrangement, the  
recent swine flu outbreak threatens to bring the pact under sharp  
criticism. Mounting evidence is pointing to a US-owned industrial pig  
farm as a likely source of the swine flu virus. The farm is one of  
many factory farms that set up shop in Mexico after NAFTA rearranged  
the laws to make such moves more profitable. Many experts have been  
warning for years about the potential for a swine flu pandemic to  
arise out of the conditions present in industrial pig farms.

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php? 
option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=3632&updaterx=2009- 
04-30+12:04:30

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Blame NAFTA for swine flu, experts say
Lax farming rules under free trade deal create breeding ground for  
virus, environmentalists argue

MEXICO CITY–Sewage-filled lagoons at a pig farm in eastern Mexico – a
product of the North American free trade deal – are suspected of
creating ground zero conditions for swine flu in this country.

Environmentalists argue lax regulations in the factory farming that
boomed in Mexico right after the 1994 North American Free Trade
Agreement with Canada and the U.S. are making people sick – and not
just with swine flu.

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/627157
http://www.thestar.com/article/627157#

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Farming Pathogens
Disease in a world of our own making: http:// 
farmingpathogens.wordpress.com/
For an interview with Wallace on Democracy Now, see: http:// 
www.democracynow.org/2009/4/29/the_nafta_flu

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The Meatrix, an animated film about factory farming: http:// 
www.themeatrix.com, or on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch? 
v=rEkc70ztOrc

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SWINE FLU: INVESTIGATE AND REGULATE

Evidence is emerging that traces swine flu to giant factory pig farms  
that are dirty, dangerous, and inhumane.

Let's call on the United Nations World Health Organisation and the  
Food and Agriculture Organisation to investigate and regulate these  
farms to protect global health. Big agrobusiness will try to obstruct  
any attempts at reform, so we need a massive outcry that health  
authorities can't ignore.

Sign the petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/swine_flu_pandemic/? 
cl=225017617&v=3271

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The CANSEC War Fair:
Weapons Galore and Global Warfare

Canada's top war industries have their sights set on Ottawa and are  
aiming to exhibit their wares at CANSEC 2009, Canada's largest  
military arms bazaar, at Lansdowne Park, May 27-28.

More than 50 of these Canadian military export industries are linked  
to the production of weapons systems that most people in this country  
probably recognize as morally reprehensible and thoroughly  
unCanadian, if not downright illegal.

Among the all-Canadian weapons exported by CANSEC 2009 exhibitors are:
   *  Anti-Personnel Cluster Bombs, Fragmentation Bombs and  
Phosphorous Bombs
   *  Automatic Weapons, Semi-Automatic Weapons, Machine Guns and  
Chain Guns

A new online report by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)  
reveals that CANSEC exhibitors are also engaged in the manufacture of  
essential high-tech components embedded in weapons systems that  
deliver the following:
   *  Nuclear Weapons
   *  Depleted Uranium Munitions
   *  Anti-Personnel Cluster Bombs
   *  Anti-Personnel Landmines

City of Ottawa to Host Canada's Biggest War Industry Bazaar May  
27-28, 2009
Please join us in opposing CANSEC.
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/CANSEC_campaign.htm

Find out more: Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

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Listening to Madness
Why some mentally ill patients are rejecting their medication and  
making the case for 'mad pride.'
Newsweek

We don't want to be normal," Will Hall tells me. The 43-year-old has  
been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and doctors have prescribed  
antipsychotic medication for him. But Hall would rather value his  
mentally extreme states than try to suppress them, so he doesn't take  
his meds. Instead, he practices yoga and avoids coffee and sugar.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195694

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Obama Proposes End to Oil, Gas, Nuclear Industry Tax Breaks

President Barack Obama wants to end $26 billion in oil and gas  
industry tax breaks, calling them 'unjustifiable loopholes' in the  
tax system that other companies do not get. Obama's proposed fiscal  
2010 budget, details of which were released Thursday, also more  
clearly spells out his intention to shut down a proposed nuclear  
waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada and calls for ending a  
government subsidy that helps utilities license and plan for new  
nuclear power plants.

http://www.truthout.org/050809L?n
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