Posted: February 12, 2002

Consumers force chocolate industry to takes steps to stop slave production - Paul Pellizzari
  Are those steps enough? What consumers ought to know and can do.

Also: Does chocolate industry mean business? - AlterNet

Shopping the heart out of St. Valentine's
  Pauline Brock just can't put her heart into a commercialized St. Valentine's Day.

The Straight Goods Cyber Forum with Larry Solway Who's more brainwashed, Americans or Canadians?   Big Macs, Big George, big Enron angst and a hope that out of this mess people will come to recognize we need more than markets and marketplaces. Do Canadians have any right to be smug? And how do you account for Bush's approval rating anyway? Take the Straight Goods Cyber Survey and have your say in our Speakers' Corner. Qualify for a prize in the weekly Straight Goods draw.

Afghanistan
What Really Happened on Sept 11th? - Part 3 (Osama bin Laden) - Barrie Zwicker
  Too many loose ends call for the toughest kind of media questions but they're not being asked…yet.

And -
What Really Happened... Part 4 (the Oiligarchy)
  Links between oil industry, Bush administration and Afghanistan war too significant to ignore - yet that's exactly what's happening.

Skeptical? - check out the sources.

Letter of the Week
Skeptical - A theory on conspiracy theories - From reader Tim Rourke

What do you think happened Sept 11? Tell Straight Goods

Canada must speak out when US flouts international rules - Linda McQuaig
  We're becoming more like a suburb of the US metropolis than an independent country.
 

Anti-Taliban Afghanis bombed, caged and beaten by US forces - Washington Post
  Stories of misdirected US strikes and civilian casualities continue to unfold - and confirm Christopher Johnson's Straight GoodsJanuary 18 scoop - posted three weeks before the story hit CNN.

The cost of bombing Afghanistan
  A collection of data and resources about the consequences of bombing Afghanistan.

Workplaces
US Labour takes on Wal-Mart - Joanne Wypesjewski, CounterPunch
  World's biggest company has already spent hundreds of millions fighting to keep unions out.

Farm workers' court win shows why unions needed - Michael J. Fraser, UFCW
  Landmark December Supreme Court ruling backed factory farm workers' rights

Ethics and government

Did Minna break federal ethics rules? - Aaron Freeman
  Ethics watchdog won't bite, won't say.
 

Enron and you
We might fight the Enron virus - Murray Dobbin, Globe and Mail
  Unless governments step in, there will be a lot more Enron scandals.

Enron's big environmental footprint - Gary Gallon
  Lobbyists promote development of gas and oil-reliant energy plan over renewable resources.

Understanding Enron - The Nation
  Artilces by Robert Scheer, William Greider, Robert Borosage, Russ Baker and Matt Bivens. Also John Nichols on Ralph Nader, who calls Enron "the supermarket of corporate crime for our time".

Do unto others... oh, never mind - Washington Post
  The Enron collapse is not a political or business scandal, but a collapse of conservative values.

Community, rights and change

Alternatives to Romanow's health care options - Reuel S. Amdur
  The system needs more federal money, not more user fees.
 

Yes, that Andersen
  Enron villain kissing cousins with consulting firm that pocketed $55 million of the $66 million it 'saved' Ontario by kicking people off welfare.

Consumers
80% want election on Ontario Hydro privatization
  Ontario's sleeper issue could shock Tories.

Whistle-blowers at Health Canada protect food safety
  Despite gag orders and reprimands, scientists fight to stop approval of hormones and antibiotics.
 

New research on schizophrenia, babies, cell phones - New Scientist
  A host of new studies have come out about everything from sunshine's effect on the mental health of fetuses, to the language-learning ability of babies, to the undiscovered dangers of mobile phones.

This Bud's Not For You - Time Magazine
  Not if you want to get high, anyway. But if hemp isn't a drug, why is the DEA treating it like heroin?

Environment

Asthma studies prove breastfeeding helps, ozone hurts - Suzanne Elston
  Reports confirm parents' intuition.
 
 

Will Bruce County become Canada's Yucca Mountain?
  The proposed site for tens of thousands of tonnes of radioactive waste is raising controversy on both sides of the border.

Media files
Axis of BushSpeak - David Frum - Washington Post
  Blame Canada? Right-wing export pens W's war rhetoric and his wife Danielle Crittenden boasts of it in leaked e-mail.

Fahrenheit 911
  Michael Moore waited four months while his publisher decided whether the words he had written about W. Bush in STUPID WHITE MEN were too offensive to print.
 

Mergers, convergence build political clout of corporate donors
  Larger contributions, fewer broadcasters, and less freedom of speech.

Commentary
Northern Exposure - Political time bombs litter Ontario - Mick Lowe
  Harris will leave a legacy of problems.

Financing a healthy public sector - Herschel Hardin
  Privatization and government cutbacks are choices, not economic necessities.
 

Fusion Biopolitics - Jeremy Rifkin, AlterNet
  Although reluctant to acknowledge it, some social conservatives and some left activists find common ground on the cloning issue.
 

Canada ready for a social audit - The Canadian Democracy and Corporate Accountability Commission
  There is consensus among Canadians that corporations need to be accountable to society as well as shareholders.

Take Action
Pennies for Lucy Lu Project
  Make a difference in the life of Lucy Lu, a Chinese woman in sanctuary at the Calvary Bible Church.

Grassroots Globalization
  Corpwatch reports on a new alternative to globalization. Why should the concept of a globalized society belong to the corporate world?