Palestinians Denied Water - Amnesty Int'l.

Tu. Oc, 27, '09 by BBC News - Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of...

(REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Protesters Disrupt Question Period

October 26, 2009 - CBC News

A loud protest in the visitors gallery of the House of....
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"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." JFK

Can Your Diet Make You Happy?

Eco Salon - Oct. 26th - '09

Farmers' Market - Regina SK. l.p. photo
Wanna be happy and kick Prozac to the curb? Start eating your...

Manitoba Pork Producers To Benefit From $70 Million More...

Editor's note: If this is "sustainable agriculture," what, pray tell, is not? l.p.

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Manitoba News Release
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October 26, 2009

In response to increased challenges facing Manitoba's pork industry, pork producers will now be able to access 75 per cent of their estimated 2009 AgriStability payment. This increase to the targeted advance payment will make an additional $70 million available in cash flow assistance to the industry.

"This Government is always willing to adjust programs to make sure they hit the farmgate and that's why we're announcing targeted advances to Manitoba pork producers," said federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "We're working side-by-side with the Government of Manitoba to help pork producers weather the
current storm and get back to profitability."

"The challenges facing our pork producers have neither decreased nor stabilized since June when we announced TAP funding available to help support Manitoba's pork industry," said Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuk. "This additional funding will strengthen the current cash flow for producers as they persevere through this extended period of unprecedented market challenges."

Earlier this year eligible producer applications claimed approximately $22 million of the $31 million that was made
available to producers through TAP. With the new funding approximately 290 eligible producers in Manitoba will be
accessing an estimated total of $92 million ($22 M + $70 M). The average advance could now be in the range of $317,000.

The ministers noted this additional funding reflects the commitment made last June to adjust payment rates based on a producer's need for further advances and clearly demonstrates on-going support of an industry that is important to Manitoba and Canada.

Manitoba pork producers will soon be receiving a letter advising them of the advance they will be eligible to receive. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2010.

The AgriStability program is designed to help farmers deal with income reductions by providing assistance when their margins fall below average. The federal government pays 60 per cent of the
cost of the program and the provincial government pays 40 per cent.

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Forests Count in Our Fight Against Climate Change

Science Matters - October 23'09

By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

In 1992, I attended an event that filled me with hope. Canada and the rest of the world had just signed a climate change treaty...

Biofuel Displacing Food Crops May Have Bigger Carbon Impact Than Thought

ScienceDaily (Oc 25'09) A report has found that carbon loss stemming from the displacement of food crops and pastures for biofuels crops may be twice as much as...

Canola field. l.p. photo

Poisoning Nature's Pollinators

Please visit the Sasquatch, Saskatchewan's newest alternative magazine, for my latest update on declining world populations of honeybees and the shadowy role which giant makers of agri-chemicals are playing in this tragedy. As usual, your comments are welcomed!

- the saskquatch news with a bite -

Honeybee hive - (Note queen in upper left) l.p. PinP photo

Author Larry Powell has been researching and writing about these important and endangered pollinators for some time.

Check the Sasquatch link, not just for this but other stories critical to the future of our Prairie region.
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Author's note: Few things smack of collusion between government "regulators," politicians and the agrochemical industry more than the honeybee debacle. While we know what these poison products are doing to the bees, they continue to be used. The message seems to be, we must solve every last facet of the CCD mystery before anything can be done. It's a bit like saying, "We might as well all keep smoking until cures for all cancers are found!" l.p.
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Reader's Comment:

Collapsing Bee Colony is an interesting topic for me, so I read some further places:

http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2007/03/clothianidin-neonicotinoid-pesticide.html

How do we get back control from these corporations and irresponsible governments? For instance in the voting system as is now, the Green Party will never get elected people in. And how do we keep from being boiling mad all the time at the ineptness & calculated maneuvering that "our" governments & big business are so proficient at. - Maggie Romak

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A new British movie is now showing in the UK on this important issue. Watch the preview, below!

Toxic Waters: Regulatory Absence Allows Chemical, Coal and Farm Industries to Pollute US Water Supplies

By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. Posted October 23, 2009.

No federal regulations specifically govern the disposal of
power plant discharges into waterways or landfills...

USDA photo

Winnipeg Forest Activist Wins North America's Top Environmental Prize for Youth

Posted: 23 Oct 2009 - the Green Pages

Student Earns Award For Effort to Protect Nearly One Million Acres of Boreal Forest From Industrial Logging

Berkeley, CA-Robin Bryan, a 21-year-old student at the University of Winnipeg, will be
among the six recipients of the 2009 Brower Youth Award. Hosted by Earth Island Institute, the Brower Youth Awards are North America's most prestigious prize for young environmental leaders.
Bryan fought for years as a campaigner with the Wilderness Committee to put an end to industrial logging activity within the boundaries of provincial parks in Manitoba. Originally from Prawda, Manitoba, Bryan is now completing his degree at the University of Winnipeg.

MB Wildlands

While attending school full-time, Bryan organized rallies, spoke with elected officials, delivered classroom presentations about the issue, fundraised tirelessly,
and organized volunteers to write and collect 20,000 letters to the government.

Bryan lives in close proximity to the world's largest single land storehouse of carbon and most abundant source of fresh water, the boreal forest of the East Shore Wilderness Area in Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. As a young activist canvassing with the Wilderness Committee, he "began to realize just how much is at stake both locally and globally if the ecology of this province isn't protected in historic proportions. I also began to realize just how unregulated and destructive industrial logging and mining have been in Manitoba. If I didn't begin to dream big, act fast, and lead by example, I felt that I would have to sit back and watch a historic opportunity to stand up for public lands and protect the second largest wild area in the biosphere pass me by."

In 2008, Bryan was rewarded for his efforts when the Manitoba Legislative Throne Speech banned logging in four of the five parks with logging operations. Bryan is now actively campaigning for the protection of the Eastshore Wilderness, encompassing over 100,000 square miles of Ontario and Manitoba.

In October 2009, Earth Island Institute's Brower Youth Awards will celebrate its tenth anniversary of spotlighting North America's boldest young environmental leaders. Bryan will join five other environmental leaders under the age of 23 in receiving the Brower Youth Award and a $3,000 cash prize for their achievements, while being recognized at a gala celebration in San Francisco on October 20, 2009, with 900 individuals in attendance.

The six winners were chosen from more than 125 applicants for their creative and effective work tackling problems ranging from food justice to deforestation, global warming to pollution. The thirteen judges for the award are leaders in business, journalism and the nonprofit sector, including Josh Dorfman of The Sundance Channel's "Lazy Environmentalist", Judith Helfand, the director of the global warming film "Everything's Cool", and Philippe Cousteau, CEO of EarthEcho International and grandson of Jacques Cousteau.

In the first ten years of the program, the 61 current and past award recipients have raised more than $1.4 million for environmental causes, trained more than 3,000 youth in advocacy, involved more than 32,000 in projects, implemented 20 university-wide environmental policies, passed eight pieces of legislation, organized more than 3,300 events and actions, produced more than 20 documentary films, and held 500 plus lobby meetings with elected officials.

The Brower Youth Awards are generously supported by Earth Island members, as well as Visa, Clif Bar, and Klean Kanteen. More information about the Award recipients and the Award is available at http://www.broweryouthawards. org/2009media.

Manitoba Rules Out Proposed Development At Meditation Lake

Manitoba News Release

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October 22, 2009

PROVINCE RULES OUT PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT MEDITATION LAKE
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Government Renews Commitment to Work with Tim Horton Children's Foundation To Build Camp for Underprivileged Youth: Struthers

Based on water testing results at Meditation Lake and feedback
from public consultations, the province and Tim Horton Children's
Foundation will now seek another location in Whiteshell
Provincial Park for a youth leadership camp. The decision was
announced today by Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and Tim
Horton Children's Foundation vice-president Dave Newnham.

"We will look at an alternate location in the Whiteshell to meet
the program and wilderness experience needs required by the youth leadership camp proposal while keeping in mind the needs of current and future park visitors," said Struthers. "The public review held in the spring on the Meditation Lake proposal provided many valuable suggestions that will be considered in the review of an alternative site."

Water testing at Meditation Lake over the past summer indicated
the natural variability in water quality does not meet the
criteria for the development of a major camp. The area at
Meditation Lake will continue to provide a walk-in camping
experience and access to the backcountry for the public and there
are no plans for development. Work identifying another site is
underway and will include public consultations through an
open-house format.

The goal of the Tim Horton camp is to help provide
underprivileged youth the opportunity to learn lifelong
leadership skills through activities and experience in wilderness
settings. The proposed facility would host youth aged 13 to 17 in
an innovative youth leadership summer program and could be
available year-round to Manitoba school children and
organizations that provide strong environmental programs.

"We appreciate the support of the provincial government in
working to find and evaluate alternative sites in the
Whiteshell," said Newnham. "We are confident another site will
be found that will respect the environmental sustainability needs
of the park, and provide a unique experience for children and
youth from economically disadvantaged homes."

The Tim Horton Children's Foundation is a non-profit, charitable
organization providing opportunities for children to develop into
positive, contributing members of their communities. It operates
six camps in Canada and the U.S., and has provided unique outdoor experiences to more than 120,000 economically disadvantaged children in the past 35 years at no cost to their families.

Open houses in Winnipeg and Whiteshell Provincial Park will be
announced later this fall to review a new proposal.

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Livestock's Contribution to Climate Change Hugely Underestimated - Worldwatch

by Robert Goodland & Jeff Anhang - WWI

Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are...cows, pigs, and chickens?