Posted: January 09, 2008

AMERICANS ARE SHRINKING by Linda McQuaig
  Height appears to be a useful measure of the well-being of a nation's citizens.
 
 

CELEBRATE OUR SUCCESSES by Ginette Petitpas-Taylor
  We can't stop fighting for social change — things would only get worse.
 
 

LAKOTA SIOUX INDIANS DECLARE SOVEREIGN NATION STATUS from the Lakota Nation
  Sioux cite UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous people to claim real estate over Five State Area in US West.

Gordon's corner

2008 AT A GLANCE by Charles Gordon
  The signs are all there for the year ahead, if you can read them.
 
 

MeanToons
ONE STATE AT A TIME by John Meaney
  Trounce me once, shame on you. Trounce me twice...

www.meantoons.com

Editorial

DEMOCRACY GETS OFF THE MAT WITH OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN by Ish Theilheimer
  Call it vision or framing, it works.
 
 

Canadian Politics

CREATING THE SCHREIBER PUBLIC INQUIRY by Geoffrey Stevens
  Harper must be dreading David Johnston's report on terms of reference, which is due this week.
 

ED STELMACH'S 2007 REPORT CARD by Ricardo Acuña
  After one year, Alberta Premier gives his government an A+. Not everyone agrees.
 
 

PRIVATE ELECTRICAL GENERATION PRICEY by Bill Tieleman
  BC Hydro quietly shifts to buying electricity from private producers.
 
 

ENVIRONMENT VS ECONOMY by Maggie Hughes
  Debaters tackle central question of global warming issue.
 

US election watch

IOWA VOTES AGAINST THE WAR by Michael Moore
  Seventy percent of Democrats chose candidates publicly opposed to US actions in Iraq.
 

Workplaces

LOCKOUTS, EAST AND WEST by Derek Blackadder
  St Thomas University, Sears, launched pre-Christmas lockouts of skilled staff.
 

FIRST WORLDWIDE SUMMIT ON ORGANIZING AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING by Harry Kelber
  December meeting fails to adopt strategy to fight multinationals on worker rights.
 

World beat
AFGHANISTAN'S CHILD BRIDES by Farangis Najibullah
  UNICEF's "Photo of 2007" highlights abuse of young girls.

Consumers
ANTIBIOTIC LEADS TO TENDON RUPTURES from Public Citizen
  Public Citizen sues FDA in federal court to force agency to act on petition seeking stricter fluoroquinolone warnings.

Media files
HOW THE WRITERS' STRIKE AFFECTS THE POLITICAL RACES by Chad Rubel, for BuzzFlash
  Only conservative guests will cross the picket lines for late-night shows.
 

PICK OF THE WEEK

CORPORATIONS VS DEMOCRACY Free to download, book traces and describes corporate influence. Corporations are the dominant force in modern life, surpassing even church and state. The largest are richer than entire nations, and courts have given these entities more rights than people. To many Americans, corporate power seems out of control. Author Ted Nace offers a detailed account of the growth of corporate influence in his 2003 book, Gangs of America: The rise of corporate power and the disabling of democracy. Now you can read the book chapter by chapter online, or download the whole thing, free of charge. Or you can buy the bound paper version for $25.   www.gangsofamerica.com

Hot headlines
HERETICS, BEWARE! by Nick Pisa
  Pope expands exorcist squads.

CONCERNS ABOUT US VOTING MACHINES by Clive Thompson
  Touch-screen computers seem all-too-fallible.
 
 

Take action!
PROTECT THE BOREAL FOREST from the Natural Resources Defence Council
  Urge the Manitoba government to grant permanent protection to the forest along the border of Manitoba and Ontario.

Feedback from our readers
"FRAMING" BENAZIR BHUTTO'S DEATH by Melissa Coleman
  Though her death was shocking, former Pakistan PM had feet of clay.

Humour
STUDENTS: COMMENTS TO AVOID DURING THE NEXT SEMESTER from the Internet
  Note: this is not a reference tool.