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"Gunslinging" Canadian MP Tries to Soften Gun Rules Even Further - With Remarkably Bad Timing.
Dear Editor , A tragic thing happened in my province on Christmas eve. A Winnipeg woman was shot with a pellet gun and suffered, according to police, a "life-altering injury." A pellet gun is a weapon my Member of Parliament, Robert Sopuck (CPC - Dauphin/Swan River/Marquette - above) is convinced is "literally, not a firearm." Scant weeks before this unfortunate incident, Mr. Sopuck had introduced a private members bill to amend the Criminal Code. Its purpose - " to clarify that low-velocity rifles such as BB guns and air rifles should not be considered firearms.” And a bit before that, the Supreme Court had declared that they were so, firearms!
Global Efforts Needed to Stop Deadly Banana Disease
UN News Centre Without global efforts to respond to a fungal disease affecting banana production, the $36 billion global industry, which provides a source of income or food to some 400 million people around the world, is under threat, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ). Story here.
Fracking Dealt Another Setback by Quebec Report
THE GLOBE & MAIL Quebec’s environmental bureau has dealt a setback to companies that want to use hydraulic fracturing techniques to develop the province's promising shale gas deposits, saying it appears the economic benefits would not outweigh the environmental costs. Story here. Related: "Free Trade - Path to Prosperity or Back Road to Corporatism?"
More Good News for Canada's Embattled, World-Class Experimental Lakes Area.
New charitable status will allow Experimental Lakes Area to realize full fundraising potential. WINNIPEG—The International Institute for Sustainable Development-Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) is pleased to announce that it has now been granted full charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency. This is a crucial step in allowing the world-class freshwater research facility to reach its full fundraising potential and to realize its research, educational and operational goals.
The Murder of Women (Femicide): A Humanitarian Crisis in Central America, and a Growing Problem Worldwide
La Via Campesina El Salvador has had the highest rate of femicide in the world, with 2, 250 between 2010 and 2013. Guatemala has the third and Honduras the seventh highest rate of femicides. In Guatemala, only 2% of murdered women's cases were investigated in 2013 and likewise in Honduras less than 2% were investigated. For cases that somehow make it to court in Guatemala, 90% of defendants are not convicted. It is much the same in El Salvador. In 2014 alone, between January and October, over 300 bodies of young women between the ages of 12 and 18 years old have been found in unmarked common graves.
Another 5,000 Farms Disappear Under Conservatives
New Democratic Party OTTAWA – New numbers from Statistics Canada reveal that the number of farms in Canada continues to decline. “In just one year, almost 5,000 farms of all sizes disappeared from the Canadian landscape. We need to act now to help farming families and protect our local food system,” said Agriculture critic Malcom Allen (Welland), “With food prices going up, the last thing we need is less security in our food supply.” Earlier this year, New Democrats raised the alarm that less than a tenth of farms are operated by an owner under the age of 40. “Conservatives are turning a blind eye as our rural economies suffer. We need to give our family farms the support they need before they disappear,” added deputy critic Ruth Ellen Brosseau (Berthier – MaskinongĆ©). – 30 – For more information, please contact: VĆ©ronique Breton, Press Secretary, (613) 408-1483 or veroniqu...@parl.gc.ca http://www.ndp.ca/news/ another-5000-farms-dissappear- unde
Why so Many Canadian Farmers Miss the Wheat Board
The Globe and Mail An historic row of wooden grain elevators, restored to their past glory in Inglis, Manitoba - for tourists. Larry Powell PinP photo. E xhilaration soon turned to dismay as farmers tried to capitalize on their good fortune. Canada produces the best wheat in the world, and the 2013 harvest was potentially worth between $6 billion and $9 billion on the open market. But when it came to buying the wheat and delivering it overseas, the privatized marketing chain seemed paralyzed with incompetence. Story here.
Sowing Seeds of Misinformation: Let’s Set the Record Straight on GMO Crops and Foods!
Two Canadian citizens’ respond to the pro-GMO propaganda of American Professor, Dr Kevin Folta, while lecturing in Winnipeg during late October 2014. Letter to the Editor: by-- Rose Stevens, Winnipeg , and John Balatinecz, PhD, Toronto We are two Canadians, one a hobby organic farmer (RS), the other a retired university professor (JB). We are deeply concerned about the impacts GMO crops have on human and environmental health. In fact, that concern is what brought us to meet on the web. And if that concern makes us into “ACTIVISTS”, so be it. At least we care about people and environmental health. The same cannot be said of the corporate transnational agri-giant cartels, the producers and promoters of GMOs, with their so-called “gifts of “modern agriculture”. You can not grow healthy foods with poison! Cartoon credit - www.seppo.net Dr Folta was quoted in the Winnipeg Free Press, as saying: “Concerns about GMOs are based on misinformation and fear
The Ocean Now Has At Least 700 Pieces Of Plastic Per Person On Earth
CLIMATE PROGRESS A study published on Wednesday estimates that the ocean contains over 260,000 tons, or 5.25 trillion pieces, of plastic. The study found that the amount of microplastics, pieces of plastic that are less than half a centimeter, found on the ocean’s surface were much smaller than expected. Story here.
PinP is Pleased to Provide a Platform for This Billionaire, Who Was Banned Elsewhere For Exposing Capitalism’s Biggest Lie (Video)
Via Business Insider: "As the war over income inequality wages on, super-rich Seattle entrepreneur Nick Hanauer has been raising the hackles of his fellow 1-percenters, espousing the contrarian argument that rich people don't actually create jobs. The position is controversial — so much so that TED is refusing to post a talk that Hanauer gave on the subject. National Journal reports today that TED officials decided not to put Hanauer's March 1 speech up online after deeming his remarks "too politically controversial" for the site...".
Rhetoric vs. Reality. A Tale of Self-Deception.
by Larry Powell It is a common human trait to embrace nature - or at least the notion of nature - in our everyday pop culture and in the ways we portray our civilization to others. Animals abound in TV and print commercials as they obviously strike a chord within the customers who buy the "stuff" being advertised. Not a strong enough chord, however, for us to actually preserve the habitat they need for their survival; and that you and I may well need for our own emotional wellbeing.
New Project in Manitoba, Canada, Provides Information to Farm Operations Switching to Loose Sow Housing
Government of Manitoba. Screen image from 'Crated Cruelty, Canada's pork industry animal abuse exposed' website. A Mercy For Animals Canada undercover investigation t hat took place in 2012 looked into animal abuse at Puratone, one of the nation's largest pork producers located in Arborg, Manitoba. Hog producers will benefit from research on switching from gestation stalls to loose sow housing as a result of a pilot project underway at a Maple Leaf Foods barn near Steinbach, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn announced today.