Posted: April 09, 2002
Updated: April 15, 2002

Venezuela - coup and counter-coup Conservative media pushed Venezuela coup but outraged public defeated it - Gregory Wilpert   Coup leaders' deluded selves, underestimating Chavez' popularity, but re-instated president has many personal flaws to overcome Coup in Venezuela: An Eyewitness Account - Gregory Wilpert. A backgrounder on Venezuela - Steve Ellner and Fred Rosen, NACLA   As Chavez's presidency came under attack from several fronts, the Chavista movement began to break under the tensions and confrontation that eventually produced the coup. Hugo Chávez: Venezuela's Redeemer? - Fred Rosen and Jo-Marie Burt, NACLA   A backgrounder.

Media files
Canadians have cause for concern about their media - Straight Goods panel - Kate Heartfield
  Convergence, cost-cutting and production pressure all reduce the quality of news coverage and the diversity of viewpoints citizens need to make up their minds independently.

SRI Reports* Are public-private-partnerships the face of creeping privatization? - Paul Weinberg   Public service unions debate whether to invest pension funds in companies that contact for public services.   * SRI Reports is a regular Straight Goods feature offering news and information on SRI - Socially Responsible Investment - to help Canadians invest wisely and ethically.

Middle East
An offer Israel must not reject - Eyal Benvenisti, Ha'aretz Daily
  Arab League's proposal offers solution to explosive "right of return" question.

Two by Robert Fisk, The Independent:
This week we will see who runs the US-Israeli alliance
  'Since US soldiers are blindfolding and gagging Muslim prisoners, why should Mr Sharon worry?'

Watching from on high as Israeli guns keep firing
  A report from the streets of Ramallah as Israeli soldiers take control.

Peace under fire - Scott Anderson, NOW Magazine
  Activists go where United Nations fears to tread.
 
 

Jersusalem IndyMedia
  It carries daily frontline updates guaranteed to shock and disturb. Not always reliable but a worthwhile counterbalance to convention news sources.

The Straight Goods Cyber Survey and Speaker's Corner with Larry Solway Selfishness litters our streets - literally   What does litter say about our cities, our world? Visit the Straight Goods Cyber Survey and Speakers' Corner and share your trashy thoughts. Qualify for a prize in the weekly Straight Goods draw.

Acts of kindness in our world of fear - Suzanne Elston
  Road rage, attack dogs and the proliferation of SUVs are manifestations of fears that make kindness all the more precious.
 

Left forward - imagining a post-capitalist future for the left - Duncan Cameron
  Instead of limiting our political imagination to the present, we must focus on what a post-capitalist society would look like.

Terrorists and Innocents - Part One - Mick Lowe
  Terrorism is, historically, as American as apple pie.
 
 

Is there a way out of this 'war'? - The Globe and Mail
  Yes, says Rick Salutin, and it begins with de-demonizing the other side.

From the publisher

Getting the media we need - Ish Theilheimer
  And that helpless sinking feeling over the Middle East.
 

Health Care
Auto crash disability assessment catches patients in the middle - Dr. Gordon Guyatt
  Patient claims depend on the final word of doctors hired by their insurance companies, not their own.
 

Seniors and Health Care**
Medicare is Canadian - Ontario Society (Coalition) of Senior Citizens' Organizations
  All Canadians are invited to join the movement to save our public health care system.
  ** A partnership with the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens Organizations -

Consumers
Disastrous electric power privatization - Myron J. Gordon, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
  Ontarians will pay a steep price for squandering hydro wealth.

Rate spread on credit cards highest ever
  Coalition calls for action on record high interest rates.
 

Credit card rates are artificially high - Lorne Nystrom
  Credit cards are practically a necessity, but the high rates we all pay are not.
 

New Word feature checks for copyright infringement - FutureFeedForward
  Word processor 'upgrade' to include "digital right management" to faciliate payment for use of copyright material.

Soft drink marketing to cash-strapped schools harms kids - Business Wire

Broeckx article ignores Canadian purchasing power - From reader John McManus

More media files
Ad tattoos get under some people's skin - USA Today

Eighteen tales of media censorship - Michelle Goldberg, AlterNet
  New book Into the Buzzsaw fights back against official lies, disinformation, and stonewalling.

FCC ordered to rewrite US media ownership rule - Law.com
  Can a wave of new mergers be far behind?

To Bush: Curb violence by taking action to reduce TV watching- Commercial Alert

Environment
Solar solutions to the water problem - San Diego Union-Tribute
  Two solar devices could economically bring clean water to all the world.

Corporate watch
Facing the Facts: A Guide to the GATS Debate - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
  A new book lifts the veil of obscurity on the little-known WTO service negotiations now in full swing.

Education
The daycare dilemma - Macleans
  Canada's children are suffering from a lack of commitment to a national child care system.

Take Action
Petition to withdraw Canada's support for the 'war on terror'.