Greenspiration News: the right of mother earth

Bischoff Angela greenspi at web.ca
Wed Mar 10 23:08:54 EST 2010


Greenspiration News

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The right of mother earth
By Leonardo Boff

Consider that the earth and humanity are part of a vast evolving  
universe and share the same destiny and constitute in all their  
complexity a single entity. The earth lives and behaves as a single  
self-regulating system made up of physical, chemical, biological, and  
human components that give rise to the production and reproduction of  
life, and for this reason it is our great mother and our common home.  
It is comprised of the sum of the ecosystems through which it  
generated a magnificent array of forms of complementary and  
interdependent life, sacred and unified,such that the human being, men  
and women, are the same as the earth, which speaks, thinks, senses,  
loves, cares for, and venerates.

http://motherearthrights.org/2010/02/26/the-right-of-mother-earth/

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Budget 2010: Overview and summary
This budget includes two major measures: another tax cut for business   
and ongoing cuts to federal public services.
Check out CUPE's comprehensive budget analysis on evereything from  
climate to child care to EI to education, water, women and more.

http://cupe.ca/budget/budget-2010-overview-analysis-summary

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Climate Debt: Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein gave a fantastic talk last week in Toronto on the issue of  
climate debt. It provides a radically compelling and utterly rational  
view of the problem of climate change. It is posted on YouTube in 6  
parts (55 min. total):

http://www.rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/03/features/naomi-klein-speaks-climate-debt-toronto

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Weed killer causes male frogs to lay eggs

One of the most common weed killers in the world, atrazine, can  
chemically castrate male frogs, turning them into females that lay  
eggs, say U.S. researchers. Atrazine continues to be used on corn  
fields in Canada, although it is no longer approved for use in Europe.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/03/02/tech-frog-weed-killer.html

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Happy IWD: Assessment of women's movement 40 years after Royal  
Commission the Status of Women
BY JUDY REBICK

I am thrilled to see the women’s movement become more global, more  
diverse, more radical and more integrated into other movements for  
social and environmental change.  Even if in the short time, we are  
less effective in making change, in the long term the change will be  
deeper and broader.

http://Rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2010/03/happy-iwd-assessment-womens-movement-40-years-after-royal-commission-st

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Watch TEDx video of:

The 7 Wonders of the 21st Century
or the 7 amazing things we can achieve in this century if we put our  
minds to it!
with Guy Dauncey

15 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEf4qzYsh5A

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Over Six Hundred and Counting - Paxil Birth Defect Cases

Since Paxil came on the market in 1992, there have been three separate  
types of failure to warn lawsuits filed against GlaxoSmithKline over  
Paxil; birth defects, suicide, and addiction.

Roughly 150 suicide cases were settled for an average of about $2  
million, and about 300 cases involving suicide attempts were settled  
for an average of $300,000, according to a December 14, 2009 report by  
Bloomberg News. Glaxo paid an average of about $50,000 each to resolve  
about 3,200 cases linking Paxil to addiction problems. The drug giant  
has also paid about $400 million to end antitrust, fraud and design  
claims, Bloomberg reports.

All total, Glaxo has paid out close to $1 billion to resolve Paxil  
lawsuits since the drug came on the market in1992.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Over-Six-Hundred-and-Count-by-Evelyn-Pringle-100305-479.html
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Violence against women is epidemic around the world
By Amy Goodman
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists/2010/03/violence-against-women-epidemic-around-world

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Indigenous voices challenge Royal Bank tar sands policies, supported  
by hundreds at shareholder meeting

RBC is clearly feeling the public pressure over their tar sands  
financing. They spent half their shareholder meeting addressing the  
issue.
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/joshua-kahn-russell/2010/03/indigenous-voices-challenge-royal-bank-tar-sands-policies

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20 mph speed zones cut road injuries by 40%, study says

UK cities should have more 20mph speed zones, as they have cut road  
injuries by over 40% in London, a study claims. In particular the  
number of children killed or seriously injured has been halved over  
the past 15 years, the British Medical Journal reported. Cyclist  
injuries fell by 17% once 20mph zones came in, and injuries in  
pedestrians have been cut by almost a third.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8406569.stm
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A war-free economy is possible

Federal budgets are about priorities. The numbers in this week's  
budget will underscore the Harper government's prioritization of  
corporate profits and war. Canadian military spending is now the  
highest it has been since World War II. Canada is one of the top 15  
military spenders in the world and the sixth largest of NATO's 28  
member countries.

The Canada First Defence Strategy, launched by Harper in 2008,  
outlines how he will have Canada spend up to half a trillion dollars  
on weapons and other aspects of the military. The 20-year, $490  
billion plan aims to increase annual military spending from $18  
billion in 2008, to more than $30 billion annually by 2028. This works  
out to about $13,000 per Canadian. Peter Mackay confirmed last year in  
a speech to the Ottawa arms trade show CANSEC that at least $60  
billion of these funds are earmarked for military corporations.

http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/03/war-free-economy-possible

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As the days go by, it has become clearer that the earthquake in Chile  
(Feb. 27) was a major one – it’s impact just setting in. If you’re  
able to contribute, here are some suggestions:

Canadian Red Cross: http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=34242&tid=001
Fundacion Un Techo Para Chile: http://www.untechoparachile.cl
Habitat for Humanity: http://habitat.ca/chileearthquakenewsreleasemarchp3531.php
Unicef:  http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/chile_52861.html
Direct Relief International http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2010/EarthquakeChile.aspx
  Spanish speaking people can go to: http://www.chileayudaachile.cl
Or directly to the Chilean government emergency relief fund at: Banco  
del Estado / "El Mundo Ayuda a Chile", (Deposito en US$) Account  
#001.080.29501, RUT Ministerio del Interior: 60.501.000.8

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Love Hate and Propaganda

CBC and Radio Canada present a 6 part documentary series about the  
role propaganda played during World War Two. With newsreels, posters,  
speeches, rallies, songs and radio, entire populations were convinced  
to go to war. Love, Hate and Propaganda is a primer on the art of mass  
persuasion, aimed directly at a media-savvy generation.

First episode: Thursday March 11 at 9 pm on CBC-TV
Repeating Fridays at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC News Network.
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/lovehatepropaganda/
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Sierra Club Canada has launched a campaign to
Stop the Terry Fox Extension in Ottawa and save the Blanding's Turtle.

Use the web form to send a personal message to Ontario Minister of the  
Environment John Gerretsen and Minister of Natural Resources, Linda  
Jeffrey.
More transit, fewer roads!

http://www.sierraclub.ca/en/endangered-species/save-blandings-turtle?1085152489=1

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Bt cotton ineffective against pest in parts of Gujarat, admits Monsanto

For the first time anywhere in the world, biotech agriculture giant  
Monsanto has admitted that insects have developed resistance to its Bt  
cotton crop. Field monitoring in parts of Gujarat has discovered that  
the Bt crop is no longer effective against the pink bollworm pest there.

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/06/stories/2010030658401400.htm

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Wacky winter a signal of years to come: climatologist.

 From the balmy Arctic, to the open water of the St. Lawrence and  
snowless western fields, this winter has been the warmest and driest  
in Canadian record books.
``It's beyond shocking,'' David Phillips, a senior climatologist with  
Environment Canada, told Canwest News Tuesday. Records have been  
shattered from ``coast to coast to coast.''

``It is truly a remarkable situation,'' says Phillips, noting that  
he's seen nothing like it in his 40 years of weather watching. He also  
warns that ``the winter than wasn't'' may have set the stage for  
potentially ``horrific'' water shortages, insect infestations and  
wildfires this summer.

http://www.canada.com/technology/Wacky+winter+signal+years+come+Climatologist/2663423/story.html

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> Starving for Change

> Canada has an opportunity to take a historic leadership role in  
> solving climate change.


That's why I, Dante Ryel, have been participating in a water-only fast  
from March 3rd, the Day parliament resumed, until I can be assured  
that Bill C-311 will become law. Bill C-311 is also known as the  
Climate Change Accountability Act.  If we want to avoid a more than  
two degree increase in temperature, a climate change tipping point,  
then our M.P.s must vote for this historic Bill.

The NDP introduced Bill C-311 and the Bloc Quebecois will support it.  
We must pressure the leaders of the Liberal and Conservative parties  
to vote yes on Bill C-311.
In fact, all we need is Liberal support! However, the Liberals have  
made no commitment and many people are scared that some in the party  
will vote no. We need to pressure them.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives have consistently voted against Bill  
C-311, and have prevented any meaningful progress on climate change,  
but we should still ask them for their support. You never know.

The duration of my fast will be determined by the Liberals and/or the  
Conservatives because neither party has made a commitment to the bill.  
We are so close to making history but we must make sure our  
politicians do the right thing!

You can click the following link to send off an email to each federal  
party asking them to support this critical climate bill.

http://www.canadians.org/action/2009/10-Dec-09.html

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