Sunday, July 11, 2010

Capitalism and the economic crisis

In 11 minutes, and with fun pictures. This is kind of great.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Non-violent resistance in Palestine

"Budrus" is a documentary about a Palestinian village in the West Bank and its non-violent protest movement against the Wall. I want to see it very much.



More about the film here.

On a related note, here is some of what the Free Gaza Flotilla has sown:
Hamas and Hezbollah, groups that have long battled Israel with violent tactics, have begun to embrace civil disobedience, protest marches, lawsuits and boycotts-tactics they once dismissed.

...

"When we use violence, we help Israel win international support," said Aziz Dweik, a leading Hamas lawmaker in the West Bank. "The Gaza flotilla has done more for Gaza than 10,000 rockets."

...

After the incident, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on supporters to participate in the next flotilla bound for Gaza. Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of the Hezbollah politburo in Beirut, said it was the first time Mr. Nasrallah had forcefully and publicly embraced such tactics against Israel.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

I love this story so much

In the wake of the BP disaster, we've heard powerful stories from fishermen whose livelihoods may have been destroyed for decades or longer. However long it takes for the Gulf's fish, oyster and shrimp harvests to recover, those who've made their livelihoods harvesting them will need to create a powerful common voice if they're not going to continue to be made expendable. A powerful model comes from Seattle and Alaska salmon fisherman Pete Knutson, who has spent thirty-five years engaging his community to take environmental responsibility, creating unexpected alliances to broaden the impact of their voice, and in the process defeating massive corporate interests.
It's a great and inspiring story, with some twists stranger than fiction. Read it.

My kind of Canada Day

In pictures.

A reminder why: