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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
November 4, 2012
ATLANTA—A police helicopter flying low on a nighttime search for a missing 9-year-old child crashed near a major Atlanta intersection overnight, killing the two officers aboard on impact, authorities said early Sunday.
Police spokesman Carlos Campos confirmed the deaths and said no one was hurt on the ground in an area blocks from a busy east-west artery, Interstate 20, and in a neighbourhood populated by fast food restaurants, stores, a major pharmacy and a light rail commuter station. A police statement said the helicopter plunged to the ground about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Photographers aired on local television soon after the crash showed flaming debris in a roadway. Emergency vehicles with their lights flashing rushed to the area little more than 4 miles west of downtown Atlanta. The names of the dead were being held while relatives were being notified, police said. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1282558--two-officers-killed-as-atlanta-police-helicopter-crashes-amid-search-for-missing-child
Two officers killed as Atlanta police helicopter crashes amid search for missing child
ATLANTA—A police helicopter flying low on a nighttime search for a missing 9-year-old child crashed near a major Atlanta intersection overnight, killing the two officers aboard on impact, authorities said early Sunday.
Police spokesman Carlos Campos confirmed the deaths and said no one was hurt on the ground in an area blocks from a busy east-west artery, Interstate 20, and in a neighbourhood populated by fast food restaurants, stores, a major pharmacy and a light rail commuter station. A police statement said the helicopter plunged to the ground about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Photographers aired on local television soon after the crash showed flaming debris in a roadway. Emergency vehicles with their lights flashing rushed to the area little more than 4 miles west of downtown Atlanta. The names of the dead were being held while relatives were being notified, police said. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1282558--two-officers-killed-as-atlanta-police-helicopter-crashes-amid-search-for-missing-child
November 4, 2012
from NOW Toronto:
Woody Harrelson pushes tree-free paper
Eco-actor now marketing 80% ag waste paper aims for 100.
By Ellie Kirzner
Add a new enthusiasm to effervescent Woody Harrelson’s long list of planetary passions.
Now the actor, biodiesal promoter and raw food afficinado is aiming to make no-tree paper, made of 100 percent agricultural waste.
At the end of October, Canadian-based Prairie Pulp and Paper, a company Harrelson has an interest in, got the seal of approval from the carbon measuring group, Offsetters for it’s modestly-named Step Forward Paper, made of 80% straw and 20% Forest Stewardship Council paper.
And now, Harrelson is revved for the next phase in his 14-year entrepreneurial odyssey to go completely forest-free. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=189516
Woody Harrelson pushes tree-free paper
from NOW Toronto:
Woody Harrelson pushes tree-free paper
Eco-actor now marketing 80% ag waste paper aims for 100.
By Ellie Kirzner
Add a new enthusiasm to effervescent Woody Harrelson’s long list of planetary passions.
Now the actor, biodiesal promoter and raw food afficinado is aiming to make no-tree paper, made of 100 percent agricultural waste.
At the end of October, Canadian-based Prairie Pulp and Paper, a company Harrelson has an interest in, got the seal of approval from the carbon measuring group, Offsetters for it’s modestly-named Step Forward Paper, made of 80% straw and 20% Forest Stewardship Council paper.
And now, Harrelson is revved for the next phase in his 14-year entrepreneurial odyssey to go completely forest-free. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=189516
November 4, 2012
from the Next American City blog:
Unlike the Chains, Local Businesses Stay Open in Sandy’s Wake
New York | 11/01/2012 11:29am |
Corinne Ramey | Next American City
[font size="1"]A survey of the area of Manhattan that still doesn’t have power reveals a landscape where most chain stores are closed. Credit: Corinne Ramey[/font]
On Wednesday, the day after Hurricane Sandy tore through Manhattan, the usually bustling Whole Foods in Union Square was closed. The nearby Starbucks and McDonald’s had both locked their doors. But down the street, Coffee Shop, a diner and bar, was open for business. A server dressed as a pirate greeted customers at the door, where strains of Bach’s Air on a G String, played by a violinist and drummer, drifted onto the street.
There are many arguments for locally owned businesses: They give communities character, increase diversity of goods and tend to support other local services via something like a trickle-down effect. But the post-Sandy destruction offers a more pragmatic argument. Simply, small businesses are what manage to be open. They have the flexibility to make decisions quickly, don’t have to deal with layers of corporate bureaucracy and can build relationships with their neighborhoods. Staff is likely to live closer to work, or be part of the family.
A survey of the area of Manhattan that still doesn’t have power — generally south of 30th Street — reveals a landscape where most chain or corporate stores are closed, with no clear plans of when they might reopen. But, amid nonfunctioning traffic lights, lack of cell service and people aimlessly wandering the streets, small businesses appeared to be thriving. Their lights were off and most could only accept cash. But on street after street, these local groceries, convenience stores and even clothing stores opened to thankful customers.
Natasha Amott, owner of Whisk, a kitchenware and tabletop store, walked from her Brooklyn home to her store, on Broadway near 22nd Street. A sign out front read, “We have tea lights and votives” in green marker. The store, which had no power, was entirely dark and cold on Wednesday. But it was open. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/daily/entry/unlike-the-chains-local-businesses-stay-open-in-sandys-wake
Unlike the Chains, Local Businesses Stay Open in Sandy’s Wake
from the Next American City blog:
Unlike the Chains, Local Businesses Stay Open in Sandy’s Wake
New York | 11/01/2012 11:29am |
Corinne Ramey | Next American City
[font size="1"]A survey of the area of Manhattan that still doesn’t have power reveals a landscape where most chain stores are closed. Credit: Corinne Ramey[/font]
On Wednesday, the day after Hurricane Sandy tore through Manhattan, the usually bustling Whole Foods in Union Square was closed. The nearby Starbucks and McDonald’s had both locked their doors. But down the street, Coffee Shop, a diner and bar, was open for business. A server dressed as a pirate greeted customers at the door, where strains of Bach’s Air on a G String, played by a violinist and drummer, drifted onto the street.
There are many arguments for locally owned businesses: They give communities character, increase diversity of goods and tend to support other local services via something like a trickle-down effect. But the post-Sandy destruction offers a more pragmatic argument. Simply, small businesses are what manage to be open. They have the flexibility to make decisions quickly, don’t have to deal with layers of corporate bureaucracy and can build relationships with their neighborhoods. Staff is likely to live closer to work, or be part of the family.
A survey of the area of Manhattan that still doesn’t have power — generally south of 30th Street — reveals a landscape where most chain or corporate stores are closed, with no clear plans of when they might reopen. But, amid nonfunctioning traffic lights, lack of cell service and people aimlessly wandering the streets, small businesses appeared to be thriving. Their lights were off and most could only accept cash. But on street after street, these local groceries, convenience stores and even clothing stores opened to thankful customers.
Natasha Amott, owner of Whisk, a kitchenware and tabletop store, walked from her Brooklyn home to her store, on Broadway near 22nd Street. A sign out front read, “We have tea lights and votives” in green marker. The store, which had no power, was entirely dark and cold on Wednesday. But it was open. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/daily/entry/unlike-the-chains-local-businesses-stay-open-in-sandys-wake
November 4, 2012
from In These Times:
End Times for Michele Bachmann?
Hamming for the Right, without bringing home the bacon, may have put Bachmann in electoral jeopardy.
BY Theo Anderson
Michele Bachmann’s late-career incarnation as a far-Right superstar has always been a high-wire act.
Bachmann’s signature stunt is her willingness to say—loud and proud—outlandish things that make her sound, to many people, delusional. She has said, for example, that America’s founders “worked tirelessly” to end slavery. In 2009, she swatted away the pesky science of climate change by declaring that “there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.” And last summer, she claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood might be infiltrating the U.S. government and shaping our foreign policy through Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Abedin, who is of Pakistani descent, was born in the U.S. and is married to Anthony Weiner, the former Congressman from New York.
The danger of the act isn’t that Bachmann, who has been the U.S. representative from Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District since 2007, will say something so off-the-charts nutty that it discredits her with a majority of voters in the district. At this point, that may not be possible.
The danger is that she is so occupied with her crusades that she isn’t bringing home the bacon for the people of her district. Fighting threats from big government and foreign subversives is an excellent way to build your national right-wing reputation. But voters expect their representative to deliver concrete benefits as well. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14124/is_it_the_end_times_for_michele_bachmann
End Times for Michele Bachmann?
from In These Times:
End Times for Michele Bachmann?
Hamming for the Right, without bringing home the bacon, may have put Bachmann in electoral jeopardy.
BY Theo Anderson
Michele Bachmann’s late-career incarnation as a far-Right superstar has always been a high-wire act.
Bachmann’s signature stunt is her willingness to say—loud and proud—outlandish things that make her sound, to many people, delusional. She has said, for example, that America’s founders “worked tirelessly” to end slavery. In 2009, she swatted away the pesky science of climate change by declaring that “there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.” And last summer, she claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood might be infiltrating the U.S. government and shaping our foreign policy through Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Abedin, who is of Pakistani descent, was born in the U.S. and is married to Anthony Weiner, the former Congressman from New York.
The danger of the act isn’t that Bachmann, who has been the U.S. representative from Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District since 2007, will say something so off-the-charts nutty that it discredits her with a majority of voters in the district. At this point, that may not be possible.
The danger is that she is so occupied with her crusades that she isn’t bringing home the bacon for the people of her district. Fighting threats from big government and foreign subversives is an excellent way to build your national right-wing reputation. But voters expect their representative to deliver concrete benefits as well. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14124/is_it_the_end_times_for_michele_bachmann
November 4, 2012
from the New York Times:
Gay Pakistanis, Still in Shadows, Seek Acceptance
By MEGHAN DAVIDSON LADLY
Published: November 3, 2012
LAHORE, Pakistan — The group meets irregularly in a simple building among a row of shops here that close in the evening. Drapes cover the windows. Sometimes members watch movies or read poetry. Occasionally, they give a party, dance and drink and let off steam.
The group is invitation only, by word of mouth. Members communicate through an e-mail list and are careful not to jeopardize the location of their meetings. One room is reserved for “crisis situations,” when someone may need a place to hide, most often from her own family. This is their safe space — a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pakistanis.
“The gay scene here is very hush-hush,” said Ali, a member who did not want his full name used. “I wish it was a bit more open, but you make do with what you have.”
That is slowly changing as a relative handful of younger gays and lesbians, many educated in the West, seek to foster more acceptance of their sexuality and to carve out an identity, even in a climate of religious conservatism. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/world/asia/gays-in-pakistan-move-cautiously-to-gain-acceptance.html?hp
Gay Pakistanis, Still in Shadows, Seek Acceptance
from the New York Times:
Gay Pakistanis, Still in Shadows, Seek Acceptance
By MEGHAN DAVIDSON LADLY
Published: November 3, 2012
LAHORE, Pakistan — The group meets irregularly in a simple building among a row of shops here that close in the evening. Drapes cover the windows. Sometimes members watch movies or read poetry. Occasionally, they give a party, dance and drink and let off steam.
The group is invitation only, by word of mouth. Members communicate through an e-mail list and are careful not to jeopardize the location of their meetings. One room is reserved for “crisis situations,” when someone may need a place to hide, most often from her own family. This is their safe space — a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pakistanis.
“The gay scene here is very hush-hush,” said Ali, a member who did not want his full name used. “I wish it was a bit more open, but you make do with what you have.”
That is slowly changing as a relative handful of younger gays and lesbians, many educated in the West, seek to foster more acceptance of their sexuality and to carve out an identity, even in a climate of religious conservatism. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/world/asia/gays-in-pakistan-move-cautiously-to-gain-acceptance.html?hp
November 4, 2012
from OnTheCommons.org:
The Commons as a Transformative Vision
Essay from a new book explains the world beyond market & state
By David Bollier & Silke Helfrich
Originally published in The Wealth of the Commons
It has become increasingly clear that we are poised between an old world that no longer works and a new one struggling to be born. Surrounded by an archaic order of centralized hierarchies on the one hand and predatory markets on the other, presided over by a state committed to planet-destroying economic growth, people around the world are searching for alternatives. That is the message of various social conflicts all over the world—of the Spanish Indignados and the Occupy movement, and of countless social innovators on the Internet. People want to emancipate themselves not just from poverty and shrinking opportunities, but from governance systems that do not allow them meaningful voice and responsibility. This book is about how we can find the new paths to navigate this transition. It is about our future. But since there is no path forward, we must make the path. This book therefore is about some of the most promising new paths now being developed.
Beyond the Market and State
For generations, the state and market have developed a close, symbiotic relationship, to the extent of forging what might be called the market/state duopoly. Both are deeply committed to a shared vision of technological progress and market competition, enframed in a liberal, nominally democratic polity that revolves around individual freedom and rights. Market and state collaborate intimately and together have constructed an integrated worldview – a political philosophy and cultural epistemology, in fact – with each playing complementary roles to enact their shared utopian ideals of endless growth and consumer satisfaction.
The market uses the price system and its private management of people, capital and resources to generate material wealth. And the state represents the will of the people while facilitating the fair functioning of the “free market.” Or so goes the grand narrative. This ideal of “democratic capitalism” is said to maximize the well-being of consumers while enlarging individual political and economic freedoms. This, truly, is the essence of the modern creed of “progress.”
Historically, the market/state partnership has been a fruitful one for both. Markets have prospered from the state’s provisioning of infrastructure and oversight of investment and market activity. Markets have also benefited from the state’s providing of free and discounted access to public forests, minerals, airwaves, research and other public resources. For its part, the state, as designed today, depends upon market growth as a vital source of tax revenue and jobs for people – and as a way to avoid dealing with inequalities of wealth and social opportunity, two politically explosive challenges. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/magazine/commons-transformative-vision
The Commons as a Transformative Vision
from OnTheCommons.org:
The Commons as a Transformative Vision
Essay from a new book explains the world beyond market & state
By David Bollier & Silke Helfrich
Originally published in The Wealth of the Commons
The Wealth of the Commons ($22.50 Levellers Press) is an expansive anthology probing the promise of commons-based solutions all over the world. Bill McKibben praises it as a “fine collection (that) makes clear that the idea of the commons is fully international, and increasingly fully worked-out.”
Edited by our former OTC colleague David Bollier and German activist Silke Helfrich—two cofounders of the Commons Strategy Group— the book enlists authors from around the globe to explore the full dimension of what the commons means in our lives and to detail ways it can be applied to transform politics, economics, culture and the fabric of our communities. This essay is adapted from the book’s introduction. —Jay Walljasper
It has become increasingly clear that we are poised between an old world that no longer works and a new one struggling to be born. Surrounded by an archaic order of centralized hierarchies on the one hand and predatory markets on the other, presided over by a state committed to planet-destroying economic growth, people around the world are searching for alternatives. That is the message of various social conflicts all over the world—of the Spanish Indignados and the Occupy movement, and of countless social innovators on the Internet. People want to emancipate themselves not just from poverty and shrinking opportunities, but from governance systems that do not allow them meaningful voice and responsibility. This book is about how we can find the new paths to navigate this transition. It is about our future. But since there is no path forward, we must make the path. This book therefore is about some of the most promising new paths now being developed.
Beyond the Market and State
For generations, the state and market have developed a close, symbiotic relationship, to the extent of forging what might be called the market/state duopoly. Both are deeply committed to a shared vision of technological progress and market competition, enframed in a liberal, nominally democratic polity that revolves around individual freedom and rights. Market and state collaborate intimately and together have constructed an integrated worldview – a political philosophy and cultural epistemology, in fact – with each playing complementary roles to enact their shared utopian ideals of endless growth and consumer satisfaction.
The market uses the price system and its private management of people, capital and resources to generate material wealth. And the state represents the will of the people while facilitating the fair functioning of the “free market.” Or so goes the grand narrative. This ideal of “democratic capitalism” is said to maximize the well-being of consumers while enlarging individual political and economic freedoms. This, truly, is the essence of the modern creed of “progress.”
Historically, the market/state partnership has been a fruitful one for both. Markets have prospered from the state’s provisioning of infrastructure and oversight of investment and market activity. Markets have also benefited from the state’s providing of free and discounted access to public forests, minerals, airwaves, research and other public resources. For its part, the state, as designed today, depends upon market growth as a vital source of tax revenue and jobs for people – and as a way to avoid dealing with inequalities of wealth and social opportunity, two politically explosive challenges. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/magazine/commons-transformative-vision
November 4, 2012
from YES! Magazine:
Alberta Tar Sands Illegal under Treaty 8, First Nations Charge
In 1899, First Nations in northern Alberta signed a treaty with Queen Victoria that enshrined their right to practice traditional lifeways. Today, it’s the basis for a legal challenge to Shell Oil’s mining of tar sands.
by Kristin Moe
posted Oct 17, 2012
Fort Chipewyan is a small indigenous community on the edge of vast Lake Athabasca in Alberta’s remote north, accessible only by plane in summer and by snow road in winter. The town is directly downstream from the Alberta tar sands—Canada’s wildly lucrative, hotly debated, and environmentally catastrophic energy project.
Residents say that tar sands mining is not only dangerous but illegal because it violates the rights laid out in Treaty 8, an agreement signed in 1899 by Queen Victoria and various First Nations. Their legal challenge to the tar sands project could have a powerful impact on the legal role of treaties with First Nations people.
It should come as no surprise that Fort Chip’s relationship to the tar sands industry is a contentious one. Being first in line downstream means that residents are the first to feel the effects of pollution: poisoned water, air, and animals. The deformed fish with bulbous tumors that residents pull from Lake Athabasca are legendary, as are the stories of Fort Chip’s abnormally frequent cases of rare forms of cancer.
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), many of whose members live in Fort Chip, responded on October 1 with a landmark constitutional challenge to Shell Canada’s expansion of its Jackpine tar sands mine. The challenge states that the expansion would be a further assault on their rights as First Nations people, which are federally protected under Treaty 8. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/alberta-tar-sands-illegal-treaty-8-first-nations-shell-oil
Alberta Tar Sands Illegal under Treaty 8, First Nations Charge
from YES! Magazine:
Alberta Tar Sands Illegal under Treaty 8, First Nations Charge
In 1899, First Nations in northern Alberta signed a treaty with Queen Victoria that enshrined their right to practice traditional lifeways. Today, it’s the basis for a legal challenge to Shell Oil’s mining of tar sands.
by Kristin Moe
posted Oct 17, 2012
Fort Chipewyan is a small indigenous community on the edge of vast Lake Athabasca in Alberta’s remote north, accessible only by plane in summer and by snow road in winter. The town is directly downstream from the Alberta tar sands—Canada’s wildly lucrative, hotly debated, and environmentally catastrophic energy project.
Residents say that tar sands mining is not only dangerous but illegal because it violates the rights laid out in Treaty 8, an agreement signed in 1899 by Queen Victoria and various First Nations. Their legal challenge to the tar sands project could have a powerful impact on the legal role of treaties with First Nations people.
It should come as no surprise that Fort Chip’s relationship to the tar sands industry is a contentious one. Being first in line downstream means that residents are the first to feel the effects of pollution: poisoned water, air, and animals. The deformed fish with bulbous tumors that residents pull from Lake Athabasca are legendary, as are the stories of Fort Chip’s abnormally frequent cases of rare forms of cancer.
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), many of whose members live in Fort Chip, responded on October 1 with a landmark constitutional challenge to Shell Canada’s expansion of its Jackpine tar sands mine. The challenge states that the expansion would be a further assault on their rights as First Nations people, which are federally protected under Treaty 8. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/alberta-tar-sands-illegal-treaty-8-first-nations-shell-oil
November 3, 2012
Published on Nov 1, 2012 by RussiaToday
Wearing a mask in Canada could now cost you up to ten years in jail. The country's MPs have approved a bill banning people from hiding their faces during riots - READ MORE http://on.rt.com/p1n87m
Mask Avengers: Canadian protesters to show faces or get 10 yrs in jail
Published on Nov 1, 2012 by RussiaToday
Wearing a mask in Canada could now cost you up to ten years in jail. The country's MPs have approved a bill banning people from hiding their faces during riots - READ MORE http://on.rt.com/p1n87m
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