How can Canada help prevent a global ‘tragedy of the commons?'

One for the Mother.
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By David Booth
How can Canada help prevent a global ‘tragedy of the commons?'
In 1892 my great-uncle was pulled overboard during an Atlantic fishing expedition, subsequently dying entangled in his own nets in the icy waters off the coast of Nova Scotia.
The refusal of the Canadian government to fulfill its obligations to protect its fisheries has led to a macabre reversal of fortunes – it is now our coveted fish stocks that are threatened with forthcoming demise, tangled in nets of governmental inaction and ecologically destructive fishing practices. Much like my ill-fated relative, our future will be inseparably linked with our ocean harvests.
Global fish stocks are currently on the precipice of disaster. Canada has historically been a global leader in marine ecosystem management and oversees one of the largest fisheries in the world. Yet the Harper administration’s characteristic inflexibility on environmental issues is threatening to undermine both Canada’s global leadership on marine protection, and its priceless Atlantic fisheries.

Guest Workers Seek Global Horizons

Another fly in the immigration-argument ointment
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By Kari Lydersen
U.S. company finds its niche exploiting migrant labor
About 170 Thai migrants paid thousands of dollars to recruiters in Bangkok for the opportunity to work in the bountiful orchards of Washington state. Their tale illustrates the pitfalls of the H-2A guest worker program which is a mainstay – along with undocumented labor – of the U.S. agricultural system.
The migrant workers paid up to $8,000 each to Thai recruiters working for Global Horizons, a California-based company, which then obtained H-2A agricultural guest worker visas for them, flew them to Washington and set them up in housing, as required by the federal program.
Before taking the jobs, the workers had been told they would live in apartments, eat meals catered by a Mexican restaurant and be able to send significant amounts of money home to their families, according to the Seattle Times.

How the Republicans Could Win It All Back in 2008

Let's not get to comfy yet folks. This is a great article.
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By Heather Wokusch
Was the sweep a set-up?
As much as I enjoyed the midterm rout, I just can’t shake the feeling that it might be a set up.
A number of bloggers have noted the perfect storm which helped drive the GOP out of power: Bob Woodward’s book on the administration’s mishandling of Iraq, intelligence estimates that Iraq had become a recruitment vehicle for terrorists, the steady stream of corruption scandals culminating in Mark Foley’s timely resignation over the Congressional page scandal. Too good to be true usually is.
Curious that the Republicans failed to use its army of attorneys to challenge the election results. Curious also that Rumsfeld’s inevitable departure came after the elections.
The obvious fear is that six years of Bush & Co.’s gross mismanagement will be pinned on the Democrats in 2008.

The Media's Iraq Offensive

It seems as though there are more parallels than we thought.
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By Norman Solomon
The media's major offensive against the option of withdrawing from Iraq
The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
In the latest media assault, right-wing outfits like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal editorial page are secondary. The heaviest firepower is now coming from the most valuable square inches of media real estate in the USA—the front page of The New York Times .
The present situation is grimly instructive for anyone who might wonder how the Vietnam War could continue for years while opinion polls showed that most Americans were against it. Now, in the wake of midterm elections widely seen as a rebuke to the Iraq war, powerful media institutions are feverishly spinning against a pullout of U.S. troops.

An imprisoned Blogger

Josh’s Acceptance Speech at SPJ Dinner
Posted by liz in Uncategorized
Good evening. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it tonight to accept this award. But I just couldn’t leave my live-work loft. I’m sure the food there tonight will blow the roof of whatever I will be eating here.

I’d like to thank the Society of Professional Journalists for supporting my struggle. SPJ came out on my behalf very early on. They have helped immeasurably – both in terms of getting the word out and also through providing generous aid in my defense.

Thousands Protest Ga. Military School

Sunday November 19, 2006 11:01 PM


AP Photo GAEM604

By ELLIOTT MINOR

Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Thousands of demonstrators paraded, chanted and raised white crosses Sunday outside the Army's Fort Benning as they continued a 17-year-long effort to close a military school they blame for human rights abuses in Latin America.

``This is about men with guns,'' said the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Catholic priest who spent five years as a missionary in Bolivia and founded the group SOA Watch in 1990 in the effort to close the school.