Mostly Water — "Canadian" and International alternative news feed

August 28, 2010 - Vancouver Media Co-op

...[A] division seems to have been created of “junkies”, and “drug dealers” versus “families”. What needs to be recognized is that this is a division that is created in the interests of the businesses and wealthier (newer) residents of [Commercial] Drive. The fact is that as the working class residents of this neighborhood, we are all under attack together. When they wipe a few of us out of the picture based on whatever racist, classist suspicions we are all left standing on our own.

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Recover was an illusion. The worst is yet to come.

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By James Carroll - August 23, 2010

...Israeli leaders happily collaborate with a reactionary American religious movement which, while having learned to downplay its Jew-denigrating End Time theology, nevertheless aims in its very essence at the elimination of Jewish faith. Israeli leaders, in their dependence on such Christians, exchange short-term benefit for long-term jeopardy. American Christian Zionism is a particularly lethal form of contemporary fundamentalism.

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25 August 2010 - The Electronic Intifada

This violence meted out by [Palestinian Authority] forces...comes amidst growing dissent within Palestinian political parties against the leadership of PA President Mahmoud Abbas...His decision to attend US-brokered direct talks with Israel -- despite the continued construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land and the ongoing Israeli siege on Gaza, amongst other rights violations -- has been greeted with condemnation.

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Some experiences and photos from an August climate camp gathering and protest in Dunham, Quebec -- just north of Vermont. A tar sands pipeline ("Trailbreaker") and pumping station project was our main target at the camp. That campaign is a way of blocking tar sands expansion, while helping out local victims, at the same time. The pipeline project cuts across Maine, Quebec, Ontario, Michigan, Chicago, and other areas -- so there are plenty of points of intervention, and plenty of grounds for solidarity.

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By Seth Klein - August 27, 2010

Among the common reactions to the arrival of the MV Sun Sea is the proposition that Canada's alleged lax immigration laws make us a global sucker — a target for many of the world's migrants. This is absurd.

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08/27/2010

Hamilton, Ont. - On Thursday August 26, the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area (SACHA) organized a protest outside the Hamilton Court House after a rape trial was stopped and the accused was set free..."I think the evidence that I heard yesterday, particularly from the complainant...was quite unbelievable. The demeanor of (the woman) was off the wall ... I don't know whether that was because she was strung out on drugs. She certainly had that appearance..."

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By Yavar Hameed and Jeffrey Monaghan - August 25, 2010

Canadian military officials have undertaken a comprehensive effort with their Israeli counterparts to “pursue deeper relationships,” to borrow from Israel’s weapons, war training, and counter-insurgency strategies, and to strengthen diplomatic ties, according to documents obtained through access to information (ATI) requests.

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By Joseph Jones - August 26, 2010

...[P]oliticians boost developer profits by no longer collecting ordinary municipal revenue, and leave (often low income) renters who live in Vancouver to cover the resulting financial gap. Then, they use "expedited processing" (aka queue jumping) to let developers glom onto major financial concessions...The City of Vancouver has shackled its finances to the shaky foundation of development activity. While manufacturing declines, the city's remaining industrial land provides rich soil for sprouting lucrative condos.

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By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - August 27-29, 2010

Encouraged by its success in breaking the law, the executive branch early this year announced that the Obama regime has given itself the right to murder Americans abroad if such Americans are considered a “threat.” “Threat” was not defined and, thus, a death sentence would be issued by a subjective decision of an unaccountable official.

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The Lobby's influence is sinister and harmful to American interests.

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A campaign declaring solidarity with 33 detained Mapuche hunger strikers has attracted substantial local and international attention to the Mapuche struggle.

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By DANTE CASTRO ARRASCO - August 26, 2010

The dangerousness of Lori Berenson...occurs to the ignorant. The MRTA ceased to exist and there is no political situation favorable to the renewal of armed struggle. The ex-prisoners of the MRTA have reincorporated themselves into society and try to function politically by democratic means. None of the former Tupacamarist prisoners have suffered a Calvary like that of Lori Berenson.

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The worst for area residents is yet to come.

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By Glenn Greenwald - Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Could Barack Obama become the first person in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize two consecutive years? It is hard to dispute the premise that awarding him the Prize this year would be every bit as justifiable as last year's award. Fresh off his Nobel-winning escalation of the war in Afghanistan, we now have this monument to world peace...

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By Bill Templeman - August 26, 2010

At the end of World War II, John Godfrey, the former Director of Britain's Naval Intelligence Division identified two major weaknesses of the Nazi espionage bureaucracy: ‘wishfulness' and ‘yesmanship'. Wishfulness and yesmanship are not real words; they are strictly Godfrey's concoctions. Yet the behaviours behind these terms have changed history. And they are still with us today.

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By Justin Saunders and Megan Kinch - August 25, 2010

"Police actions during the G20 were heavy handed and largely illegal. Many people were arrested indiscriminately and without evidence in a large number of cases. This is why we are seeing withdrawals and diversions so early on."

- Mac Scott, legal worker with the Movement Defence Committee

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By YVES ENGLER - August 26, 2010

Market extremists argue that the private sector can do almost everything better than governments...The growth of private security companies...is generally seen as a result of the success of extreme market arguments...Less commented upon is a parallel growth of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in health-care, education and social services development...that [were] once provided by public institutions.

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By Chris Arsenault - Thursday, August 26, 2010

When police arrested Anthony Graber for speeding on his motorbike, the 25-year-old probably did not see himself as an advocate for police accountability in the age of new media...But Graber...is now facing 16 years in prison...for a Youtube video he posted after receiving a speeding ticket...The video...shows a plain clothes officer jumping out of an unmarked car and pointing a pistol at the motorcyclist.

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By Susan George - August 26, 2010

The European Union (EU) has just forced through a constitution, under the name of the Lisbon Treaty...The European Union is not a democratic entity. We have to vote how they want us to vote or it doesn't count...The treaty also confirmed a further push towards the privatization of public services...We have become subject to the British Conservative Party's vision of Europe which has no social vision, but sees Europe only in market terms.

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