Category: indigenous

Who’s to blame for 258,000 dying of hunger in Somalia?

f31_RTR2P7N2 Almost 260,000 people, half of them young children, died of hunger during the last famine in Somalia, according to a UN report, with the world body admitting it should have done more to prevent the tragedy. Senait Gebregziabher, director of the aid group Oxfam in Somalia, said “The world was too slow to respond to stark warnings of drought” and that “these deaths could and should have been prevented.”

SO WHY DID IT HAPPEN?

First we have racism, if this was a western country it would never have been let happen. Continue reading “Who’s to blame for 258,000 dying of hunger in Somalia?”

Oil Mafia insists on Tar Sands Pipe.. But Resistance Grows

stop tar sandsDebunking Nature’s arguments for Keystone  By David Roberts and Emma Cassidy

There was a bit of buzz last week when the august scientific journal Nature endorsed the Keystone XL pipeline (ironically, in the course of pleading with Obama to do

something about climate change). Despite the

In latest Keystone Pipeline protest, environmentalists storm offices of oil giant TransCanada
In latest Keystone Pipeline protest, environmentalists storm offices of oil giant TransCanada

hubbub, it was not the first time the journal had done so. Back in September 2011, it boosted Keystone … in the context of pleading with Obama do to something about climate change. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

Neither editorial makes a fully fleshed-out case for Keystone, but together they advance three common arguments, all of which I find unconvincing…. Continue reading “Oil Mafia insists on Tar Sands Pipe.. But Resistance Grows”

Global Sq/Occupy WSF online meeting Sun 3 Feb 13

 

Invitation: GlobalSquare online meeting, Sunday 3 February 2013

 

Jan 29, 2013 by en español abajo

 

wsf_2011Next meeting of GlobalSquare (also known as Occupy the WSF initiative)

 

  • Location: Occupytalk.org server, room: Assemblies & Round Tables > OPEN SPACE (Mumble instructions below)
  • Date: Sunday, 3rd of February 2013
  • Time: 19.00 GMT/UTC, check your local time here: time zone converter

About our initiative

From 26-30 March 2013 the World Social Forum (WSF) will take place in Tunis. The WSF is a global meeting, held regularly since 2001, bringing together civil society organisations, social movements and activists to discuss our struggles to build another world. Continue reading “Global Sq/Occupy WSF online meeting Sun 3 Feb 13”

Mexican revolution, resistance is fertile

by Jen Wilton 

Post image for In the new Mexican revolution, resistance is fertile

From the rise of the #YoSoy132 student movement to the resurgence of the Zapatistas, Mexico remains at the very heart of the global cycle of struggles.

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

~ Albert Camus

The winds of change are blowing in Mexico.

A growing wave of resistance is gathering momentum and can be found in the jungles and mountains of the south and in small indigenous communities and big cities alike. It is present along the coasts and across the plateaus, up to the bastions of power in Mexico City and beyond to the regions of the north, so badly scarred by the war on drugs. Continue reading “Mexican revolution, resistance is fertile”

‘Idle No More’ block Rail and Roads as chief’s Hunger Strike goes on

Idle No More protesters stall railway lines, highways

5-hour blockade of railways between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal

First Nations chiefs and Idle No More activists staged Canada-wide protests Wednesday, as part of a national day of action
It is time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to condemn a rising tide of violence against aboriginal Idle No More protestors, said representatives of hunger-striking Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence on Friday.“I think the Prime Minister of Canada needs to take responsibility and a true leadership role in denouncing these acts of violence,” said Ellen Gabriel, a member of the Indigenous Women of Turtle Island.

“There was a young aboriginal woman in Thunder Bay who was raped and she was told that all aboriginal people deserve this,” said Gabriel, referring to the brutal abduction, strangulation and rape of 36-year-old mother on Dec. 27. The attackers allegedly told their victim “You Indians deserve to lose your treaty rights,” and called her a “dirty squaw.”

First Nations demonstrators stopped passenger railway traffic lines between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal today, while others stalled major highways and rail lines in parts of Manitoba, Alberta, New Brunswick and Ontario as part of the Idle No More Movement’s national day of action.

Protesters also gathered in Windsor, Ont., near the Ambassador Bridge to Michigan, slowing down traffic to North America’s busiest border crossing for several hours, the CBC’s Allison Johnson reported.

Activities including rallies, blockades and prayer circles were staged across the country Wednesday as part of the grassroots movement calling for more attention to changes that were contained in Bill C-45, the Conservative government’s controversial omnibus budget bill that directly affected First Nations communities. Continue reading “‘Idle No More’ block Rail and Roads as chief’s Hunger Strike goes on”

“The Assassination of Hugo Chavez” see the film

why_we_occupy_dvdBig Oil, Big Ketchup and “The Assassination of Hugo Chavez”

By Greg Palast, January 9, 2012.  Source: truthout

Free Download the film here: http://www.gregpalast.com/chavezdownload/

Greg Palast reviews the extraordinary career of Venezuelan President and Robin Hood figure Hugo Chavez, how he has cheated kidnap and assassination and may yet cheat death by maintaining his accomplishments.

Venezuelan President Chavez once asked me why the US elite wanted to kill him. My dear Hugo: It’s the oil. And it’s the Koch Brothers – and it’s the ketchup.

[As a purgative for the crappola fed to Americans about Chavez, my foundation, The Palast Investigative Fund, is offering the film, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, as a free download here. Based on my several meetings with Chavez, his kidnappers and his would-be assassins, it was filmed for BBC Television. DVDs also available.]

Reverend Pat Robertson said: Hugo Chavez thinks we’re trying to assassinate him. I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. Continue reading ““The Assassination of Hugo Chavez” see the film”

Idle No More: support the Indigenous Movement!

by Nozomi Hayase on January 5, 2013  The indigenous movement sparked in Canada has gone beyond borders and across the ocean to countries like New Zealand and England. It has been gaining strength as a force of healing and regeneration. Idle No More calls for all to join in and participate.Chief Theresa Spence has now entered the 24th day of her hunger strike. At the end of a recent interview, she remarked that “I’m doing this for the children, not just [the] First Nations children, but for all.. children.”

Post image for Idle No More: the rise of an indigenous movementCan you hear that sound deep beneath the malls and streets? It is the voice of our ancestors reminding us that we have the power to heal this planet.

At the end of 2012, the sounds of drumming began to resound in an unexpected place — in an American shopping mall. On Saturday in Minneapolis, the usual scenery of typical consumer life was interrupted for a moment. Uplifting beats and joyful singing rang out as if to break down the walls. It was contagious, inviting passing shoppers one by one into the circle. Welcome to Mother Earth!

At the center of the mall, a large circle emerged. Thousands gathered, chanting and dancing. The message delivered through the moving flash mob was simple, yet profound: no more colonization, attacks on indigenous rights, or violation of protected land and water!

Continue reading “Idle No More: support the Indigenous Movement!”