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Bid For UNESCO World Heritage Designation Deferred One Year

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Winnipeg Free Press Mount Fuji in Japan looks like it will get the nod, but the east side of Lake Winnipeg will not — at least not yet. Details here.

Save the CBC From Harper! Please Sign!

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Dear Larry, Prime Minister Harper is using his latest budget bill to seize  unprecedented   power over the CBC . Independent public media is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy,  and we canot stand by and let the CBC be  silenced and controlled for partisan political gain. We've teamed up with the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting to fight back --  Please join us and  sign the urgent petition to Free the CBC from political interference ,  then forward this  to everyone. With hope and respect, Matthew on behalf of the Leadnow.ca ----- Forwarded Message ----- Dear Friend, Jian Ghomeshi, Carol Off, Peter  Mansbridge and every other journalist and creative person at the CBC  will be  beholden to Stephen Harper  if he succeeds in the biggest  and most sinister media takeover Canada has ever seen. Please help us to stop Harper by signing the Free CBC  petition right now.

The Counter-Enlightenment

George Monbiot- the Guardian How government science advisers misrepresent science. Details here.

Pollinator Protection - Europe Shows Us How It's Done

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Dear Editor,  Oh, to be in Europe, now that they have put us to shame, once again!  Member states of the European Union have just voted to clamp a temporary (2 year) ban on members of that "devil family" of bee-killing insecticides known as "neonicotinoids." It is now illegal to use the stuff anywhere over that entire continent! While Europe has finally seen the light, they're still applied prodigiously on food crops in North America. The seeds of crops such as corn and canola are now shot-full of them before they even go into the ground!

Bee-Harming Pesticides Banned in Europe

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The Guardian EU member states vote ushers in continent-wide suspension of neonicotinoid pesticides. Details here. PLT: Below is a comment I left in the comments section following this story in "The Guardian." "Damn straight, the EU did right by banning these chemicals! They are a curse & a threat to both the natural world and the future of many human food crops! As a blogger and journalist, I've written extensively on this topic, chronicling the disgusting and shameful, do-nothing approach of my own Canadian government, which acts more like an agent for Bayer et al than a representative of real people. I'd invite you to read one of my articles on this topic which I wrote some time ago." "Are Canada's Pesticide Regulators on the Take? Canadian Authorities Refuse to Protect Precious Pollinators From Known Toxins. Is Something Crooked Going on Here? "

Should Capital Punishment be Applied in the Bangladeshi Garment Tragedy?

by Larry Powell I don't believe in capital punishment. Never have.  But maybe now is the time for me - and the rest of society- to step back, take a deep breath, and take another look. The profound evil which has been at play in the recent, horrific collapse of the garment factory in Bangladesh - killing hundreds of innocent workers - sinks to such depths of depravity in every aspect, such a re-assessment seems suddenly appropriate. And I'm not sure I'd stop at the owners of the building. Western multinational corporations  have blood on their hands, too, by using such despicable sweatshops to make their clothing, cheap - Wal Mart, Sears, Loblaws (the latter through its "Joe Fresh" clothing line in Canada and the 'States) - they've all filled their boots with more than their share of guilt. And the history of such things, steeped in blood as it has already become over the years, offers no way out for these heartless entities, to somehow claim ign

Canadian Officials Should be Ashamed for Attacking Scientists

rabble.ca - BY ELIZABETH MAY   Earlier this week, our Minister for Natural Resources, the Hon. Joe Oliver, went to Washington on what the Canadian media mistakenly insists on calling a "charm offensive." It really cannot be described as having anything to do with "charm"… Details here.