Greenspiration News -- smog, hallucinogens, Olympics, Georgia
angela bischoff
greenspi at web.ca
Sun Aug 17 21:22:58 EDT 2008
Greenspiration News
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"The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are
selling...their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their
weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and
they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not
only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her
breathing."
Arundhati Roy
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National smog picture: 21,000 deaths
August 13, 2008
New CMA Report Warns Poor Air Quality Killing Canadians
The Canadian Medical Association released staggering new data today
showing that this year alone as many as 21,000 Canadians will die
prematurely from the effects of air pollution. While most of those deaths
will be due to chronic exposure over a number of years, almost 3,000 will
be the result of acute, short-term exposure.
Specific findings of the No Breathing Room: National Illness Costs of Air
Pollution report include:
- In 2008 there will be over 9,000 hospital visits, 30,000 emergency
department visits and 620,000 doctor's office visits due to air pollution.
- The economic costs of air pollution in 2008 will top $8 billion. By
2031, they will have accumulated to over $250 billion.
The full report, including provincial data and tables, is available at
<http://www.cma.ca/>www.cma.ca
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Oil Sands Reclamation: Fact or Fiction
After 41 years of oil sands mining operations in northern Alberta only 0.2
percent (about one square kilometer) of disturbed land has been certified
as reclaimed by the Government of Alberta. In addition, 1.8 billion litres
of liquid tailings waste are produced per day. Tailings "ponds" are fatal
to wildlife. To date, no tailings ponds have been successfully reclaimed.
An additional cause for concern is the inadequacy of financial security
deposits made by companies to guarantee reclamation costs are covered.
Canadians may have to foot the bill for reclaiming vast areas of mined
land if a company fails to do so. These facts and more are discussed in a
new report, Fact or Fiction: Oil Sands Reclamation, produced by the
Pembina Institute.
Download <http://www.oilsandswatch.org/pub/1639>Fact or Fiction: Oil Sands
Reclamation.
Related media release: <http://www.pembina.org/media-release/1660>New
Policy Fails to Address Risks Posed by Toxic Tailings Waste
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<http://www.pembina.org/op-ed/1673>Canada's Reputation Tarnished by Tar Sands
By Steven Guilbeault, Co-founder and Deputy Executive Director of
Équiterre and Marlo Raynolds, Executive Director of the Pembina Institute.
While Canadians take pride in having a positive international reputation,
this is quickly being tarnished as we become increasingly known for
producing "dirty oil" and taking a head-in-the-sand approach to global
warming.
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Privatization and Commercialization of Health Care
The Canadian Medical Association is meeting this weekend, and they plan to
discuss the privatization and commercialization of health care.
Canadians should be very concerned this. Already across the country, the
number of private clinics extra billing, user fees, and other illegal
practices are growing while Health Minister Tony Clement and the
Conservative government refuse to administer or enforce the Canada Health
Act.
But not all doctors want privatization. In fact, many of them want to
protect, expand and improve public health care, rejecting the CMA's push
to privatize. CUPE applauds these doctors for resisting for-profit
medicine, and asks you to join us in making that support clear to Minister
Clement.
Please use the form below to send a message in support of public health
care, and share the link with your friends, family, and networks.
http://cupe.ca/action/keephealthcarepublic
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SIX NATIONS PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP GATHERING
August 22 to 24 a historic gathering of the people of Six Nations and
their allies from across Ontario and Turtle Island is being planned
including workshops, talks and presentations related indigenous
sovereignty, environmental politics and issues of anti-racism and social
justice; plus lots more!
For more information:
http://solidarityfestival.wordpress.com
Email: peaceandfriendshipgathering at gmail.com
Ken Hill: (519) 445-2403
Or on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=28132984466&ref=nf
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Psychological Benefits of Hallucinogens Tested
The Guardian, UK, Aug. 12
Scientists are exploring the use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD to
treat a range of ailments from depression to cluster headaches and
obsessive compulsive disorder.
http://www.truthout.org/article/psychological-benefits-hallucinogens-tested
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Green Doors Open Ontario
This site showcases green buildings across Ontario. For the first time, a
number of green buildings are taking part in Doors Open Ontario, giving
you a rare opportunity to gain access to innovative, surprising and
sustainable green buildings. You can find out about buildings
participating in Doors Open or read about the green features of other
sustainable structures in our online guide:
http://www.cleanairpartnership.org/greendoorsopen/
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Unprecedented Arctic melt ice could set new record
The Arctic Ocean ice cover has melted so rapidly in recent weeks that
experts now say the ice loss by mid-September could exceed 2007's
record-setting summer meltdown. Some researchers predict that the tipping
point of an ice-free Arctic during the summer months could be reached as
early as 2013.
Read the story:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=a6475b46-616e-4003-84d7-f8e4e9a18060
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Walkers to bring climate solutions from Toronto to Ottawa
A group of activists will walk from Toronto to Ottawa in October to
promote climate justice and the needed transition from fossil fuels to
clean, sustainable energy sources. The walkers will leave Toronto on
October 4 and collect letters and pictures promoting clean energy
solutions along the way, to be delivered to Parliament on October 21.
Read the story: http://sunshinewalk08.blogspot.com/
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Naomi Klein on China and the Olympics
"The security, central planning, surveillance state is an ideal cocoon for
global capitalism"
The Real News Network
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2029
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Russia "invaded" Georgia out of the blue and entirely unprovoked, right?
Not quite.
In fact, it's amazing how successfully the US news media doctored the basic
facts of the story.
Mikhail Gorbachev was invited to provide commentary on the Larry King show
and surprised and baffled King by laying out the simple chronology of what
actually happened.
Compare this with the well coordinated US-UK propaganda campaign.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/402.html
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