Month: March 2014

Help Bring Bad Mining Companies to Court

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Q’eqchi’ communities in Guatemala have been resisting the push of Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals into their land. This resistance has been met by dubious practices by the Toronto-based mining corporation and now they are being brought to court. A group supporting the Q’eqchi’ communities is looking to bring attention to this matter as well as gather signatures to present.

Sign the petition now!

Q’eqchi’ communities in the Izabal region of Guatemala have faced an onslaught of these and other abuses over the past five decades at the hands of a series of Canadian mining companies who have owned the Fenix Nickel Project.

On April 4th 2014 a criminal trial will begin in Guatemala to seek justice for some of the countless acts of violence communities have faced – and continue to face – at the hands of these mining companies. On this day, Mynor Padilla, the former Head of Security for the mine, under the ownership of Canadian company Hudbay Minerals and local subsidiary CGN, will be tried for the murder of Aldofo Ich Chamán. Ich Chamán was a respected Maya Q’eqchi’ community leader, father of six, and an open critic of human rights violations and environmental damage caused by corporate mining activities. Padilla will also be tried for the shooting of seven others on the same date, September 27, 2009 near El Estor, Izabal: Haroldo Cucul Cucul, German Chub Coc, Alejandro Chuc, Ricardo Acte Coc, Samuel Coc Chub, Alfredo Tzi Ich, and Luciano Choc. One man, German Chub, lives with a number of grave medical conditions as a result of this shooting, including a collapsed lung and a spinal cord injury that has left him paraplegic.

In a series of separate civil cases being heard in Canada, Hudbay Minerals and CGN are being tried for these shootings and the murder of Ich Chamán, while Hudbay Minerals is additionally being tried for gang-rapes committed in a nearby community during an eviction.

Read more here.

Thanks to Sonya!

Band of the Month: Revelstoke

- Greg

Happy Spring! We made it!!

Today’s band is Revelstoke.

Revelstoke, inspired by a sleepy town nestled in the foothills of the Rocky’s, and propelled by the influence of the Toronto urban soundscape. His first ep, ‘My oh My’ is a gentle journey through memorable vocal refrains, guitar looping, and occasionally accented by frantic and unconventional banjo layering. Revelstoke depicts the wonderfully patient and beautifully brooding marriage between the calm and the chaotic.

Check it out!

Band of the Month by Greg O’Toole

Eat Less Meat and Save More Wildlife

- Adam Clare

Just reducing the amount of meat one has in their diet can have a positive impact on our food system, the planet, and wildlife. Take Extinction Off Your Plate is a campaign to get people not to be vegetarian, just to get people to reduce their meat intake. Producing meat in the modern farming system requires a lot of energy; indeed, Stanford warns about the dangers of global meat production.

It’s easy to be vegetarian, but remember – even decreasing your meat consumption can have positive impacts on the world and your health!

Meat production is one of the main drivers of environmental degradation globally, and the crisis is rapidly growing worse. Production of beef, poultry, pork and other meats tripled between 1980 and 2010 and will likely double again by 2020. This ever-increasing meat consumption in a world of more than 7 billion people is already taking a staggering toll on wildlife, habitat, water resources, air quality and the climate. And Americans eat more meat per capita than almost anyone else. By reducing our meat consumption, we can take extinction off our plates and improve our own health along with the health of the planet.

Check it out!

Play A Game Inspired by Dogecoins: AstroDoge

- Adam Clare

Dogecoin is an open source cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Indeed, Dogecoin uses Bitcoin as its underlying codebase; the difference between the two is that Dogecoin has a ridiculous, hilarious, and enthusiastic community. The nice people who mine Dogecoins have done a lot for fund-raising for good causes:

Find out more at Dogecoin Foundation.

The community is so filled with fun and joy that it inspired me (and the rest of the team at Wero Creative) to make AstroDoge. The game captures the goal of the Dogecoin community: to the moon! In the game you steer a spaceship in between asteroids by only controlling the thrusters.

Google Play

Via my other website I guess.

Documentary on Finland’s Education System

- Adam Clare

Finland has one of the best education systems in the world and repeatedly ranks amongst the top 3. Why? Basically Finland’s education system is diametrically opposite to how education in North America. Kids are allowed to play, homework is scarce, and teachers are treated with respect.

Via Reddit.

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