Lately I’ve been talking about “slivers of time” for self-care or reflection. If you can find half an hour today, watch this short film about a homesick immigrant who finds purpose and meaning in caring for an elderly neighbour with dementia. It’s a quiet film shot in my hometown of
Continue readingTag: Haiti
Paul S. Graham: Canada’s ongoing betrayal of Haiti
In this webinar, viewers discuss the film Haiti Betrayed with director, Elaine Brière, and the current Haitian situation with activist Jennie-Laure Sully. The webinar was hosted by Peace Alliance Winnipeg on Nov. 13, 2021. Background In 2004, Canada collaborated with the U.S. and France to overthrow Haiti’s elected president, Jean
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: UN offers Haitians “half apology” for peacekeepers’ role in cholera outbreak
UN peacekeepers were directly responsible for the 2010 cholera outbreak in in Haiti. Last week Sec-General Ban Ki-moon finally admitted “moral” responsibility, but offered only a “half apology” to Haitians. The post UN offers Haitians “half apology” for peacekeepers’ role in cholera outbreak appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: News Satire: U.S. will not tolerate foreigners acting like Americans, officials say
ILLUSTRATIONS: A map showing some of the countries in which the United States has interfered in the political process (grabbed from Geology.com). Below: U.S. CIA Director John O. Brennan, Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candid…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Harlem Renaissance is “Coming Back Again”
Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes dropped earlier this month. My esteem for Langston Hughes, his insight and vision, and the too-often ignored human/cultural catalyst that was the Harlem Renaissance came back again last night for me when I found Leyla McCalla on the internet. Merging Haiti, Hughes and
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Cheap T-Shirts Keep Harper in Power
Whenever I read stories about corporations wanting to do the right thing, I never hold my breath. Clothing corporations, the sector where “sweatshops” originates, want us to believe they care. They don’t. Read what nonsense they are trying to peddle to get us off their back for exploiting people so
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Minimum Wage: Not Just for Kids Anymore!
The 1% and their media apologists and think tank lackeys would have us all believe that minimum wage is for kids. It’s for unskilled labour in entry level jobs.And it’s ok. We shouldn’t worry. They’re just kids after all: no families or mortgages. They don’t have much training or life
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: MexAmeriCanada? We Are Not Thinking Creatively Enough
MexAmeriCanada doesn’t have to be our future. I think I’m guilty of being a bit slow and uncreative. The bogeyman of deep integration, North American Union, the United States-ification of Canada, the United States OF Canada, and Canada becoming states #51-60 plus three more protectorates is just too simplistic. We
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Message to Gary Doer: Now might be a good time to place a call to Ottawa, before you have to cross a picket line!
Canadian diplomats, as seen in the public’s imagination and doubtless as they will soon be portrayed by the Harper Government. Actual Canadian diplomats abroad do not appear quite as illustrated, even when dressed casually for picket line duty. Below: Gary Doer, Canada’s Ambassador to the United States; Treasury Board President
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: GroupThink ReSpun: The Death of Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chavez died of cancer on March 5, 2013. He represented an ideological pushback against neoliberal globalization. He pursued a progressive hemispheric trade agenda. He raised oil royalties dramatically to improve the social capacity of people in and around Venezuela. He revolutionized and democratized Venezuela’s constitution. He attracted the ire
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: What If We Treated Harper Like We Treated Haiti’s Aristide?
Supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide chant and display signs outside the courthouse in Port au Prince on Wednesday, Jan. 9. When they learned that the prosecutor, Lucmane Delille, had gone to Aristide’s home to question him, a river of tens if not hundreds of thousands of people marched
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Why is Stephen Harper Promoting Christian Values?
It was a bizarre sight. Stephen Harper standing in front of a giant poster for Dragon's Den, appearing to be deep in prayer.Although he was only at a newser in Montreal, trying to figure out what to say, after being asked an embarrassing question:Why is your government promoting Christian values?Read
Continue readingTrashy's World: Canada’s number one buffoon…
… is angling for a Senate seat, it appears. Although I don’t think he has the intelligence to engage in such strategic thinking. Regardless of whether his views are on or off-base, he-of-no-taste should stick to hockey and should shut up about the country’s foreign aid policies. He knows next
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Fantino’s Foot-In-Mouthitis Flares Again
Harper loose cannon Julian Fantino is at it again. Now safely distanced from the F-35 fiasco, Fantino has been unleashed on the International Cooperation portfolio. His diplomatic prowess was demonstrated in La Presse where Fantino announced Canadian aid to Haiti was being frozen. It turns out that nobody notified the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What A Man Must Be
“What a man can be, he must be.” – Abraham Maslow Whenever I taught Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I also taught my students about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, his theory of developmental psychology which posits that the final stage of development, self-actualization (the realization of our full potential), can be
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: GlobalTV Mocks Hurricane Deaths
Frankenstorm Promo How would you feel about a news organization that treats a hurricane as a campy Halloween ratings booster? I’m appalled. Watch the above clip from GlobalTV last Thursday night. Hurricane Sandy has killed dozens already and will likely kill more as it runs aground today in the northeast
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: RoboCon – The Waiting Game Is Rigged To Lose
The full exchange is on my Black Knight post. D.I.D. writes: If we revert to mob mentality and, like the French Jacobins, call for the King’s head, then we are no better than Harper and his political mafia. I think we have to start shaking some trees already, to see
Continue readingArt Threat: Blackitude by Vox Sambou evokes the power of resistance
Today we bring you Blackitude, a new music video from Montreal hip-hop artist Vox Sambou, filmed in Batey San Luis in the Dominican Republic by Ariel Mota. This latest video builds on a trajectory of socially conscious, contemporary hip-hop that has established Sambou as a key figure on the progressive
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Two years after the quake, Haiti festers
December 9, 2011: Angered by the UN-caused cholera epidemic that has claimed thousands, Haitians rallied at the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) Base at St. Marc. Photo: from a video produced by Nick Stratton, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux. Watch it at http://ijdh.org/archives/24340. Two years after an earthquake killed 158,000,
Continue reading350 or bust: Canadians Ignore the Warning Lesson of Haiti’s Environmental Destruction At Our Peril
Today marks two years since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti where more than 200,000 died and an estimated 1 million were left homeless. We are used to hearing that Haiti is a very poor country, yet rarely do we hear that at one point in its history, Haiti was the
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