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Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter
February 12, 2015
Water Rights and Water Struggles, SYRIZA, and War Propaganda
This week we're featuring
the 40-point program which SYRIZA, the Greek coalition of the radical
left, put forward to win the Greek election. Oliver Tickell writes about
the mass media's latest campaign of pro-war propaganda, this time
revolving around supposed "Russian aggression" in Ukraine, while Paul
Edwards looks at another form of war propaganda, Clint Eastwood's
'American Sniper'
The Topic of the Week is
Water Rights. Related items include the film "Blue Gold: World Water
Wars," the website International Rivers, and articles on water-related
struggles, past and present, including articles on the Walkerton water
disaster and the Cochabamba water war.
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"Russian aggression" and the drums of nuclear war
The drums of war are beating on
in the mass media, writes Oliver Tickell - naked propaganda about
fictitious 'Russian aggression' intended to soften us up for a war that
could wipe out life on Earth. We must refuse to fall for the endlessly
repeated lies, and tell our politicians that our highest priority of all
is peace. Read More
Keywords: Media Bias - Media Propaganda
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The Sociopath as Hero: Reflections on ‘American Sniper’
So much has been written about
this paean to a subhuman monster - much of it on whether or not it is
moral and heroic to murder people wholesale for flag and country - that
the only truly important thing about its success has not been
articulated. That is the grossly ugly fact that such a huge number of
Americans jubilantly support this morally dirty film and its message. Read More
Keywords: U.S. Military - War Criminals
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Burning Victims to Death: Still a Common Practice
The latest horrific ISIS
atrocity -- releasing a video of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot
being burned alive – has prompted substantial discussion about this
particular form of savagery. It is thus worth noting that deliberately
burning people to death is achievable -- and deliberately achieved -- in
all sorts of other ways. Read More
Keywords: Violence - Military Violence Against Civilians
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When Water is a Commodity Instead of a Human Right
The shutoff of water to
thousands of Detroit residents, the proposed privatization of the water
system and the diversion of the system’s revenue to banks are possible
because the most basic human requirement, water, is becoming nothing
more than a commodity. Read More
Keywords: Drinking Water - Water Rights
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Oscar Olivera remembers how the Bolivian people took back their land and their power in the Cochabamba water war in 2000. Read More
Keywords: Water Rights - Organizing
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Stories
told by Australia's Aboriginal peoples tell of the time, over 10,000
years ago, when the last Ice Age came to an end, and sea levels rose by
120 metres. The narratives tally with the findings of contemporary
science, raising the question: what is it about Aborigines and their
culture than so accurately transmitted their oral traditions across
thousands of generations? Read More
Keywords: Oral history - Traditional Ecological Knowledge
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A
tribute to Mike Marqusee, who died in January. Mike Marqusee was an
extraordinary writer and activist who enriched the left in the UK and
internationally.Read more
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Pete
Seeger collected and wrote songs that were rooted in the world. He
devoted himself to offering a critique that also was infused with hope
for a better society. He devoted his craft to challenging the
commodification of everything and the isolation produced by the
capitalist system. For Seeger, music served as an instrument of
rebellion and resistance. In a 1971 interview, he said he supported
'people who worked outside of the system' people like John Brown, who
was considered an outlaw, Frederick Douglas and the abolitionists. He
insisted that 'changing the system' was necessary and that 'there is no
other word for that but socialist.'.Read more
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See Water Rights in the Connexions subject index for information on this topic, as well as about organizing to bring about change.
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International
Rivers’ mission is to protect rivers and defend the rights of
communities that depend on them. They oppose destructive dams and the
development model they advance, and encourage better ways of meeting
people's needs for water, energy and protection from damaging floods.
Through research, education and advocacy, International Rivers works to
halt destructive river infrastructure projects, address the legacies of
existing projects, improve development policies and practices, and
promote water and energy solutions for a just and sustainable
world.They’re listed in the Connexion Directory here.
Keywords: Dams - Rivers
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Addresses the
problems facing agriculture today, such as topsoil erosion, lowered
water tables, reliance on pesticides, dependence on machinery, the
over-capitalization of agriculture, the decline of the rural economy,
the energy and dollar cost as well as the health problems associated
with commercial fertilizers, the shrinking number of family farms, the
increasing dependence on fossil fuels. Read More
Keywords: Agriculture/Ecology - Fertility of the Soil
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A
documentary, based on the book Blue Gold, by Maude Barlow and Tony
Clarke, which examines environmental and political implications of the
planet’s dwindling water supply, and posits that wars in the future will
be fought over water. The film also highlights some success stories of
water activists around the world and makes a strong case for community
action.
More Information
Keywords:Water - Water Resources
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February 14, 2015
Annual Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Toronto-Montreal, Canada
February 16, 2015
REUNITE: Families for Families in Detention Toronto-Lindsay, Ontario
February 21, 2015
International Mother Language Day----Worldwide
February 21, 2015
50 Years Since Malcolm X's Assassination: The Legacy Endures; The Struggle Continues! Halifax, Nova Scotia
The Connexions Calendar is an online calendar that exists to
advertise events that support social justice, democracy, human rights,
ecology, and other causes. We invite you to use it to promote your
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Read more →
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February 12, 1809
Birth of Charles Darwin, the founder of the science of evolutionary biology.
Birth of Abraham Lincoln.
February 12, 1874
U.S. forces intervene in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
February, 1894
The French anarchist Emile Henry throws a bomb into a cafe in Paris, killing one and wounding 20.
February 12, 1955
The first American military ‘advisors’ are sent to Vietnam. Their number eventually grows to 550,000.
Read more →
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Copyright
Connexions 2015. Contents are licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial License. This means you are welcome to share
and republish the contents of this newsletter as long as you credit
Connexions, and as long as you don’t charge for the content.
Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter, is available online here
Thanks to Tahmid Khan and Ulli Diemer for their work on this newsletter.
Connexions
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