Tuesday 30 April 2013

Idle No More and Respecting Mother Earth in Hollister, California



It's encouraging that Idle No More continues to inspire care for the earth.  Here's an example of how there are communities beyond Canada in solidarity with INM.  This article is from the Santa Cruz Indymedia:

On April 27 community members in Hollister, California (SE of San Francisco), gathered in solidarity with the Idle No More movement and First Nations people. Organizers of the gathering asked supporters to, "join the Communities of Hollister as we gather with songs and prayers in solidarity with our Northern Brothers and Sisters and all Indigenous People."

idle-no-more-hollister-april-27-2013-1.jpg
Photo Source: Santa Cruz Indymedia
"When we are coming out here today it is very important to make an awareness about respecting Mother Earth and protecting her, you know, she's getting raped everyday," one of the women who organized the gathering said.

"People think that she's going to be there forever, but she's not, if we don't protect her today and tomorrow and in the future we won't have a future. Our future generations won't have Earth, or water, or air, or land to grow anything...if we look everyday we see how polluted the air is...we cant even drink water in the rivers."

She emphasized that, "all nations are in this battle together."

The gathering was held at the busy corner of 4th and San Benito Streets in downtown Hollister, which at a population of just over 35,000, is the largest city in the very rural San Benito County.

Individuals held signs with statements such as "No XL Pipeline," "Earth is Everyone," "Ohlone Territory," "Honk for Indians," "Desocupada No Mas," and "Idle No Mas."

Continue reading here.

- Submitted by Gareth

Monday 29 April 2013

From Mourning and Outrage to Action


Bev received this letter from Linda Foxvog (International Labour Rights Forum).

Right now, scores of garment workers are still trapped under the rubble of a building in Bangladesh which housed six factories making clothes for dozens of US and European brands. These workers were denied their right to refuse dangerous work: they were told they would lose a month’s pay if they didn’t report to work the day after cracks appeared in the walls. Over 370 people have perished as a result of Wednesday’s tragedy, and it remains unclear how many more victims will lose their lives as the rescue operation continues. This is now the deadliest disaster in the garment industry in known history. 


Rana Plaza building. Photo by ILRF.
Image included in email to Bev
Today, on International Workers’ Memorial Day, ILRF is observing a day of mourning for workers who have been killed as a result of corporate greed and criminal negligence. Then tomorrow we are kicking off a Week of Action to Stop the Murders of Garment Workers. Please click here to sign our new petition to H&M, Walmart and Gap - the largest buyers of clothing from Bangladesh - and we’ll keep you updated on ways to help echo the voices of workers who are demanding change. 

Mother of a garment worker who died in Tazreen fire grieves. Photo by Kevin Frayer / AP.
Image included in email to Bev
With your help, we can build enough momentum to make real change. We’ve just wrapped up our 10-city “End Death Traps” tour with Sumi Abedin, a young woman who survived the Tazreen fire. The tour received excellent news coverage – check it out on our facebook and twitter pages. Please help us keep growing this movement for safe workplaces and justice for garment workers.


In solidarity,

Liana Foxvog
International Labor Rights Forum


- Submitted by Bev R.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Cheap clothes help fuel social revolution

I found this a very interesting article in the Globe this morning.

My immediate reaction when I hear about things like the disaster in Bangladesh is to stop purchasing any clothing made there, or generally to reconsider what I'm buying and why.  The article points out where simply boycotting clothing made in any one particular country may not be the solution.  Here's a good quote that encapsulates what the whole article is about:

"A despairing friend who says she struggles to pay the price of Canadian-made clothes, or shop only at the Maritime second-hand chain Frenchy's, asked me this week if she had to "go naked" in order not to feel guilty.  But our cheap clothes have helped fuel a social and economic revolution in Bangladesh, and Bangladeshis do not want that to end."

Food for thought.

- Submitted by Nancy R.

Friday 26 April 2013

Bangladesh Death Toll Passes 250

Western Firms Feel Pressure as Toll Rises in Bangladesh 


Photo source:  NY Times, April 26, 2013


Excerpt from NY Times article, Friday, April 26, 2013:

“Even in a situation of grave threat, when they saw cracks in the walls, factory managers thought it was too risky not to work because of the pressure on them from U.S. and European retailers to deliver their goods on time,” said Dara O’Rourke, an expert on workplace monitoring at the University of California, Berkeley. He added that the prices Western companies pay “are so low that they are at the root of why these factories are cutting corners on fire safety and building safety.”

You can read the rest of the article here.
 - Submitted by Gareth 

Clover Leaf is the worst!

Thanks to consumers and supporters like you demanding change, more sustainable tuna products are increasing on store shelves, and companies are starting to shift their tuna sourcing policies and practices. However, some companies just won't listen. Canada's biggest brand of canned tuna, Clover Leaf, has been ranked last in our 2013 Canned Tuna Sustainability Ranking.
» Urge bottom-ranked companies to change their ways!
- submitted by Bev

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Three new Recommended Websites

This evening, the Just Living group decided to add three new websites to its Recommended Website list.  They are:

AVAAZ - The World in Action
David Suzuki Foundation
KAIROS Canada - Faithful Action for Justice


Monday 22 April 2013

The Garden Remains

You'll find a most thoughtful meditation by Gary Paterson (United Church moderator) in his blog (linked in the Recommended Blogs list).  His meditation reflects on the death of his mother, but also finds hope in the garden that he visits from his past.

Read "The Garden Remains" here.
-Submitted by Gareth

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

                                


    Touch the earth lightly... every day.

Submitted by Karla
photo by Cori E.

Sunday 21 April 2013

GAP - "Detox Our Water" Campaign



The textile industry in Indonesia has been caught dumping wastewater with a pH of 14 directly into the Citarum River. If you can't remember your chemistry lessons from school - most drinking water has a pH between 6.5 and 8.5. Oven cleaners have a pH around 12. 14 will burn your skin.

The owner of the offending facility is in business with a number of global fashion brands, including Gap. I don't think that's what Gap means when they talk about basic clothing.

Photo Source: Greenpeace.org

It gets worse - the same facility is also releasing a number of hazardous chemicals, some with hormone-disrupting properties - taking advantage of a system that requires little transparency. Most people who live alongside this river and who depend upon it for their livelihoods do not know what is being released into it. But this is our water, and we have a right to know!

Companies like Gap have the power to influence their suppliers and work with them to provide greater transparency. Their major competitors have all committed to Detox, what is Gap waiting for?

Facebook Photo: Detox our Water

Thank you,

Marietta Harjono,
Detox Campaigner
Greenpeace International

PS: if you're not on Facebook, you can forward this email to your friends and family and invite them to check our detailed page to spread the word!

- Submitted by Bev

Saturday 20 April 2013

Our Sunday, April 14th conversation...

Photo by Karla W.


After Christine's beautiful and heartfelt opening prayer we began with our group check-in and welcomed our new member, Shirley.
During our check-in we discussed a number of issues raised in the articles which have been recently posted on the blog site. Cori brought along the recent Winnipeg Free Press, Our Past Our Future insert relating to aboriginal awareness. Bev noted some discussion items around Project Peacemakers (e.g. colonization, violence and militarism in Canadian society). *Oak Table AGM to take place next Tuesday with a number of key speakers.


Shelley and others noted the personal impact of going through the "slavery footprint" exercise (see Recommended Websites). Ongoing response to Bill 18 was reviewed.  Gareth mentioned a book of interest entitled, The Inconvenient Indian, by Thomas King. Some discussion ensued with regards to information communication (i.e. blog post vs. group email).


Mike brought up a troubling article he had read regarding the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Program and the concern over the fate of community pastures now that the Federal Government has abandoned this along with many other environmental protection programs.  Mike also reminded us of the resources available through the Sandy-Saulteaux training center such as sweats, work/help days and the Feast for Friends held each September, that can help us build relationships with our aboriginal neighbours.  Christine introduced the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives Manitoba resource, Breaking barriers, building bridges, also relating to aboriginal and non-aboriginal relations.

The main topic of discussion was initiated by Gareth and Michelle who had met back in mid-March to discuss strategies to bring about change and ethical consideration to our consumptive practices. Examples from purchase of food and clothing to technology and travel were given along with ideas such as a voluntary gas tax and how it has been used to increase user awareness, as well as raising money for a group-selected environmental project. Doris Janzen Longacre's book, Living More With Less, as well as Fair Trade Manitoba's Consumer Guide (see Recommended Websites) were suggested resource materials.


Various people stepped forward to further explore a number of these areas for future, more focused study as we continue to learn, to do, and to be.

Next meeting at Nancy's home, April 23, 7 p.m.

Submitted by Karla


Wednesday 17 April 2013

Tell Nike: Stand Against Slavery

Nike claims to be a champion of human rights, but if that is true, why is Nike doing business with Daewoo International, a company that is knowingly profiting from forced labor in Uzbekistan? Join us in calling on Nike to stop doing business with slave cotton companies, like Daewoo International.
Every year, during the cotton harvest in Uzbekistan, over a million children and adults – including teachers, nurses and doctors – are forced to work in the cotton fields and meet daily picking quotas enforced by the Uzbek Government.

Over 130 apparel companies (including Nike) have taken a stand against forced labor in Uzbekistan by pledging to not buy forced labor cotton from Uzbekistan. Now, Uzbek human rights activists are calling on apparel companies to completely cut ties with companies, like Daewoo, that are profiting from Uzbek cotton.

Unfortunately, Nike, which sources synthetics from Daewoo, is refusing to end its relationship with the South Korean company in spite of the fact that several other companies, including H&M, The Limited, C&A, and Michael Kors, have moved to cut ties with Daewoo. Nike’s decision to protect Daewoo sends a dangerous message to other companies and damages the efforts of Uzbek citizens who have risked their lives to bring justice to Uzbekistan’s cotton fields.
Please join us in asking Nike to stop doing business with Daewoo and agree to implement the Daewoo Protocol – a series of steps the company needs to take to eliminate forced labor cotton from Nike’s supply chain.

Sincerely,

Sean Rudolph
International Labor Rights Forum



- Submitted by Bev R

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Jacob's Wound - A Search for the Spirit of Wildness

When, at our last meeting, Mike drew our attention to the article in Globe and Mail about the federal government's abandonment of the prairie grasslands (see previous post), I hadn't initially noticed who the author is.  When I did notice Tervor Herriot's name, I recognized his name as author of Jacob's Wound, a book I've read in the past.  So I went back to it, and am reading it again.  One reviewer describes the book this way:  "Composed of nature writing, philosophy, religious history, journalism, and memoir, the book is an exploration of the “spirit of wildness” and an evocation of an Earth-based spirituality".

Given our group's interest in living simply, and living in harmony with the earth, I'd like to share one section of the book.  I think this also connects with Karla's reference to her walk through the Charleswood forest with Mike earlier in the week, a walk that clearly inspired thoughtful conversation.

I hope you enjoy this poetic reflection on the power of "wildness".  So, this is from Jacob's Wound, pages 30 & 31.

- submitted by Gareth

Photo-Source: McClelland.com

Shelter 3

Like everyone else, I get out of town to be in a place where a good chunk of nature remains available to my senses.  When our souls want restoring we do not go sit in the middle of parking lots.  We go where life is a little less scripted, a little less conscripted.

An older couple stopped by for a visit one afternoon while we were out at the Land.  Retired people, well-off, well-educated.  We sat gazing out over the valley and Lake Katepwa in the middle distance.  On cue, the woman said, "My, what a place!  I can just feel the stress melting away."

You hear such talk, the same clinical terms, from people for whom a gravel road is an adventure.  The wind fresh from poplars and meadows eddies through  their  blood and yet they are at a loss to name the thing that moves them.  One step beyond constructed and landscaped surfaces and we are in terra incognita.  We are dying within our shelter.  People used to die of exposure.  Nothing gets a piece of us any more if we can help it.  Wind, rain, ice, and sun, the creatures that bite or hook into us, wait for us on the other side of doors and walls and caskets.

Once, children inoculated themselves with mud and microbes.  Remember?  People pulled foals from mares.  Woke to crowing birds.  Who stumbles now in storm from porch to barn door?  The long hours of lying in grass are gone.  Time with lambs and calves, bird nests and dragonflies made us.  Time apart from them is unmaking us.
-------
Pre-dawn dispatches from the cerebellum urge a lowering of barriers, a return to the senses:  abandon shelter, find communion in exposure.  See this luffing sail, hear this canine howl, taste this bread, smell this violet, touch this stone.  Blessed are the unwanted abrasions, invasions, and privations;  the grace of all that, in eluding and pursuing our flesh, draws us nearer sacrament.

Sunday 14 April 2013

Why is Ottawa abandoning swaths of prairie grassland? 

 Trevor Herriot is the author of the award-winning River in a Dry Land and more recent Jacob's Wound - A Search for the Spirit of Wildness.  A self-taught naturalist, and a Catholic who has recently returned to the Church, Herriot has lived most of his life in Saskatchewan.

In this special to the Globe and Mail, he writes about the federal government's decision to close the 77 year old Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

The PFRA story is about land, big pieces of it. We call them pastures, but this isn’t your uncle’s weed-filled back forty. The Val Marie pasture spans 100,000 acres and is just one of 62 the PFRA manages in Saskatchewan, along with 22 in Manitoba and one in Alberta.

The vast majority of all that acreage is native grass, the ancient buffalo prairie that has never felt the plow. Failed farms account for just 20 per cent.

As rare and ecologically important as coastal old-growth forest, the PFRA grasslands are listed by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) as lands that Canada has made a commitment to protect.

The federal government abandoned that commitment when it discontinued the PFRA.

No policy study, no rationale; in fact, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz did not even bother to trot out the usual austerity arguments. He simply announced that the program had done its work, and could stand down. “The pastures are now well-established in the Prairies,” he explained in a news release last April 18. “This change will create a great opportunity for provinces, stakeholders or those who use the land to take over pasture management.”

You can read the entire article by clicking this link. 

- Mike M drew our attention to this article during today's Just Living meeting.

Walk for Mother Earth, April 21


Photo-Source: http://www.123rf.com


Join the Boreal Forest Network in their 10th Annual Seventh Generation Walk for Mother Earth, on Sunday, April 21st, 2013.  The walk this year is in support of the Voices of Indigenous Women and in solidarity with the growing Idle No more Movement.  Events start at 12:30 p.m. at Central Park.  More information is available by clicking here.

- Karla informed the Just Living group of this walk during today's meeting

Friday 12 April 2013

Project Peacemakers Bulletin, April 12

Follow the link in "Recommended Websites" to the Project Peacemakers website, and open the April 12 newsletter to find out more about the following.  The link to the newsletters is the first one under the heading "Stay informed about Peacemaking".
  • April 16:  Make Poverty History Manitoba will be gathering inside the Legislative Building beside the bisons at the bottom of the central staircase at 2:45pm on April 16th to discuss and determine our response to the outcome of the provincial budget, which the provincial government will be delivering that day. All are welcome.
  • May 1:  May Day events, beginning at City Hall at 5:30 p.m..  Speakers and a march commencing at 6.
  • May 4:  Stephen Lewis Foundation Solidarity Tour at U of W (6:30 - 9:00 p.m.).
  • May 16-18:  World premiere of JAIL BABY, a play that examines the life of incarcerated women and women in the justice system.
- Info taken from Project Peacemakers Bulletin, April 12, 2013

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Spur Winnipeg: April 26–28, 2013

Unnatural Histories

Manitoba’s environment has always informed the people who inhabit its lands. The lakes and plains first shaped the lives of indigenous peoples, the fur trade brought together Europeans and First Nations and the natural—and human-built—environment continues to inspire its artists. Over the past 150 years, agriculture, energy and a diversified economy have led to an increasingly urban reality. Between the earth and human ambitions remains the need for environmental and economic sustainability. How can the past and the future be reconciled?

 

About Spur

Spur is Canada’s first national festival of of politics, art and ideas, to be launched in April 2013 by Diaspora Dialogues and the Literary Review of Canada.
Spur will be an annual festival designed to engage Canadians in a feisty, nation-wide search for ways forward on the most current of issues. It is multi-partisan, forward-looking and solutions-oriented—spurring ideas into action.

Comment from Bob:  "This 'festival' looks extremely interesting."  Find out more here.

- Submitted by Bob

Thursday 4 April 2013

Chris Hedges' "The Treason of the Intellectuals"

This is in reference to Nancy's earlier post (April 2), in which she informed us about the speaking engagement of Chris Hedges on September 21 at the West End Cultural Centre.  A friend of mine alerted me to his most recent column in Truthdig, where he is a regular columnist.


The Treason of the Intellectuals

The rewriting of history by the power elite was painfully evident as the nation marked the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. Some claimed they had opposed the war when they had not. Others among “Bush’s useful idiots” argued that they had merely acted in good faith on the information available; if they had known then what they know now, they assured us, they would have acted differently. This, of course, is false. The war boosters, especially the “liberal hawks”—who included Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Al Franken and John Kerry, along with academics, writers and journalists such as Bill Keller, Michael Ignatieff, Nicholas Kristof, David Remnick, Fareed Zakaria, Michael Walzer, Paul Berman, Thomas Friedman, George Packer, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Kanan Makiya and the late Christopher Hitchens—did what they always have done: engage in acts of self-preservation. To oppose the war would have been a career killer. And they knew it. ...

(Read the whole article here.)

- Submitted by Gareth 




Tuesday 2 April 2013

We're listed at Wondercafe

 


At Gareth's suggestion, I sent the link for the Just Living Blog to Wondercafe, the United Church's discussion /  fun blog / church link webpage. They added the Just Living blog to their list of United Church bloggers. You can see the full list of blogs here.

We also link to Wondercafe on our site.
- Submitted by Nancy 

Chris Hedges: September 21 at WECC

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges will speak at the West End Cultural Centre Saturday, Sept. 21, about his latest best-selling book Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. Hedges, a foreign correspondent with the New York Times from 1990-2005 who also served as bureau chief in the Balkans and the Middle East, will speak about his experiences travelling to depressed pockets of the United States while he reported on the recession. 
Photo-Source: Truthdig.com
 Advance tickets went on sale March 25 for $25 and are available through Ticketmaster, West End Cultural Centre, the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, Mondragon, McNally Robinson and Organic Planet. Tickets at the door will go for $30.

Other books include: Losing Moses on the Freeway and American Fascists:  The Christian Right and the War on America.

Could be a really interesting talk. He was interviewed by the Observer a few months ago. Here's the link to the interview: http://www.ucobserver.org/interviews/2013/01/interview_chris_hedges/ 

- Submitted by Nancy R.

Monday 1 April 2013

Summary of Tuesday March 26 meeting

We had a great meeting on Tuesday at Christine's place.  After the check in, Gareth presented material for discussion about Amos, the Old Testament prophet of Social Justice. It was striking how the issues of poverty and inequality in Amos' time still resonate today.  We discussed the idea that living simply, with respect for the land, without an abundance of possessions, is perhaps the more natural state in comparison to the consumerism of modern society.  
We also talked about the Idle No More events attended by some of the group members in March, such as the Wab Kinew presentation and the symposium at the University of Winnipeg.  The Idle No More movement is important in many ways;  to initiate discussion on aboriginal rights, to demonstrate aboriginal culture, to unify all Candians concerned about Bill C-45, among others. We talked about how to show solidarity with the Idle No More movement on a personal level - to reach out and make personal connections with the aboriginal community. 
It was a wonderful discussion. Thanks to all who attended and especially to Christine for hosting.
- Submitted by Amanda