Dec 2, 2011

The legacy of “Occupy Everywhere” by Geoff Olson At the time of this writing, Occupy Vancouver’s tent camp is no more. Across North America, the remaining occupations are under siege from law enforcement and negative press, to say nothing of harsh weather. Is the global flareup from October 15 just a historical flash in the pan, and its...

Dec 2, 2011

FILMS WORTH WATCHING by Robert Alstead One of the main criticisms levelled at the Occupy movement has been that it is unclear what it is about. Critics have pointed to a plethora of issues – corporate greed, government debt, indigenous rights, unemployment, homelessness, ecological destruction, GMOs, climate change, and more – that seemed to be...

Dec 1, 2011

Beyond the camps by John Restakis As the co-op movement in Canada gears up for celebration of the UN International Year of Co-operatives in 2012, a very different movement has burst upon the scene, taking shape and occupying plazas, parks and other urban spaces in over 2,000 cities around the world. The Occupy movement, sparked with little more than a hope and...

Dec 1, 2011

by Lyndsie Bourgon Dr. Shiv Chopra is tireless. Speaking from his home in Ottawa, Chopra describes how he and his Health Canada colleagues were consistently harassed, reprimanded and eventually dismissed for whistleblowing on issues involving public health and food safety between 1988 and 2004. “It’s not just our right, it’s our obligation to...

  DRUG BUST by Alan Cassels As someone who sees himself as acutely sensitive to potentially unnecessary medical treatment, it was only when I sat in front of a health professional that I realized a startling and embarrassing truth: it is extremely tough to practise what you preach. I recognize I might not be an ordinary patient. For the book I’m...

by Allan Lawry Have you ever stepped off the bathroom scales and said, “Wow, how did I gain that much?” or “I didn’t think I had lost that much weight.” Chances are you may have experienced both situations, but did you ever wonder what kind of weight it was? When you gain or lose weight, it will be one or more of three body weights:...