Posted: January 20, 2010

OUR ROLE IN HAITI'S PLIGHT by Peter Hallward
  Haiti's poverty is the direct legacy of brutal colonial exploitation.
 
 

WHY THE USA OWES HAITI BILLIONS by Bill Quigley
  As a matter of justice, the USA owes Haiti reparations.
 
 

GOVERNMENTS TURNING THEIR BACKS ON PENSION CRISIS by NUPGE National Union of Public and General Employees
  Most seniors will have to get by on $16,000 a year from CPP and OAS.
 

2010: INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR BIODIVERSITY by Antoine Blua
  World urged to step up efforts on protecting species.

Next week is Straight Goods' tenth anniversary! If an Internet year is three months, that makes us, uh, younger than springtime, right? :) Thanks for supporting independent journalism in Canada. Donate – subscribe – renew – today! (Our ISP has been experiencing intermittent problems which, from time to time, can cause delays in the opening of our articles or processing of transactions. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience: we hope, the issue will be resolved soon. Please keep trying...)

Editorial

OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP REBUILD HAITI by Ish Theilheimer
  And, exposing Harper's grandstanding "as a trained economist".
 

Gordon's corner

A LINE IN THE SAND ON PRIVACY? MAYBE NOT JUST YET by Charles Gordon
  Airport scanners, carry-on ban and other reflections on flying.
 
 

Science matters
AVATAR OFFERS LOADS OF FUN WITH A GREEN MESSAGE by David Suzuki, with Faisal Moola
  All of the issues in the movie are clearly the same as when Europeans first contacted indigenous people of the Americas.

MeanToons
A FRESH PERSPECTIVE
  Things could be worse.

www.meantoons.com

Canadian Politics

WILL HAITI SAVE HARPER'S BACON? by Geoffrey Stevens
  Swift action in humanitarian crisis might override public concern about proroguing.
 

BEST REASON TO BE A GOOD EMPLOYER: PERFORMANCE by Elsie Hambrook
  New "Equality at Work" designation will give employers bragging rights.
 

ACCUSED KILLERS GO FREE by Bill Tieleman
  Crime victims suffer.
 
 

LOOK OUT, STELMACH, HERE COMES TED MORTON by Gillian Steward
  "Right-winger with a PhD" gains power in Alberta cabinet.
 
 

WILDROSE ALLIANCE AND RENEWAL OFFER STATUS QUO by Ricardo Acuña
  Two new parties promise "change," just not to anything different.
 

World of labour

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT SOARS GLOBALLY by Harry Kelber
  And other labour news from Germany, Chile, UK, Spain, Bangladesh and Finland.
 
 

Consumers
WHEN BANKERS GIVE ADVICE... from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre
  Provinces should define and regulate financial planners.

Media files

TIME TO GO LOCAL by John Gordon Miller, Ryerson University
  Banks should stop trying to sell CanWest as one giant conglomerate.
 

PICK OF THE WEEK

WHIRLING WORDS Imagine a dictionary/thesaurus that mapped out possible word meanings visually. Visuwords offers definitions, synonyms, antonyms and parts of speech as brightly multicoloured whirligigs that unfold gracefully across the screen.   www.visuwords.com

Hot headlines
IN DEFENCE OF ONLINE COPYRIGHT by John Tierney
  Former Open Culture advocates re-think, seeking ways to encourage true creativity.

SRI LANKA'S FUTURE by Gwynne Dyer
  January 26 election not likely to soothe ethnic frictions.
 
 

Take action!
NO BOTTLED WATER ON MARCH 11 from the Canadian Federation of Students, the Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute
  Sign up for Bottled Water Free Day.

Feedback from our readers
WHAT ELECTORAL FRAUD? by Jim Colgan
  The Chief Electoral officer testified that electoral fraud was never an issue.

Humour
AL-GEBRA LATEST THREAT from the Internet
  There are three sides to every triangle.