Other Voices: The Connexions newsletter Issue #4

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Connexions Calender

August 21 to 24, 2014
A Peoples' Social Forum
Ottawa, Ontario

August 21 to 24, 2014
Six Nations Fair
Ohsweken, Ontario

August 23, 2014
Canadian Imperialism & Militarism: Fighting Back
Ottawa, Ontario

August 25 to 26, 2014
Conference on the health benefits of green infrastructure
Toronto, Ontario

More events

Seeds of Fire

August 21, 1831

Nat Turner's Rebellion: The largest slave rebellion in the United Stated

August 21, 1940
Leon Trotsky dies of wounds inflicted by an assassin the previous day

August 21, 1968
The Soviet Union with its Warsaw Pact Allies invade Czechoslovakia to put down Prague Spring reforms initiated by Alexander Dubeck's Czechoslovak Communist Party

More

Trying to change the world? We can help.

Getting your story across can be an uphill battle when your group is challenging the status quo. Our partner organization SOURCES can help you get your message out. As a SOURCES member, you have an array of media relation tools at your disposal to promote your events, books, articles, videos, etc. as well as tools to get you in contact with those who can help you achieve your goals. The SOURCES news release service is especially valuable for groups wants to inform the media (and the public) about their issues. For more information about Sources please click this link.

About Us

Connexions exists to connect people working for social justice with information, resources, and other people. The Connexions.org website includes:

* The Connexions Library, featuring thousands of articles, books, documents, periodicals, films, and other resources on a wide range of issues;

* The Connexions Directory, listing some 1,000 associations and grassroots groups working for social justice;

* Connexions Calendar. Canadian + selected international events. Event listings from past years are archived.

* A variety of tools for finding information and ideas, including an Intelligent Search tool, a browse-able Subject Index, as well as Author, Title, Date, Format, and other indexes and search features.

In addition to the Connexions website, there is also the Connexions Archive, a working archive holding a large collection of materials from grassroots groups spanning several decades of activism. A team of volunteers and interns works on scanning, abstracting, indexing, translating and digitizing these materials in order to preserve this history of grassroots activism and make it available in living, breathing form.

Your support is needed to keep Connexions doing its work

Most of the work of the Connexions project is done by volunteers, but our expenses include rent, phone and computer costs and technical support, as well as expenses related to our ongoing project of converting printed archival materials into digital formats. You can make a one time or regular monthly contribution through the donate page on the Connexions website.

Bequests

Many of us have made working for social justice a lifetime commitment. If you are thinking about leaving a legacy for social justice that will live on, you might want to consider leaving a bequest to Connexions in your will. If you'd like to discuss this option, please contact us: Connexions Archive and Library, Toronto, 416-964-5735.

Other Voices

The Connexions Newsletter
August 21, 2014

Dear Friends

Welcome to the fourth issue of Other Voices.

This week we feature an update regarding the disposal of testimonies of over 40,000 First Nation individuals who suffered horrible abuses during their forced stay at Canadian residential schools and we look into modern medical, ecological and humanitarian crises created by the rise of neo-liberal policies around the globe.

In Treasures from the Archives, we feature the radical leftist author Akiva Orr, who challenged the ideology of Zionism, and who advanced the idea of direct democracy as a way of ending the concentration of power in the hands of corporations and the state.

Remember that you're invited to contribute to this newsletter. if you know of news or resources you'd like to share, please get in touch via mailroom@connexions.org or 416-964-5735.

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This Week on Connexions.org

Moral bankruptcy of Capitalism: UK's top public doctor shames western society over Ebola (RT.com)

Western countries should tackle drug firms' "scandalous" reluctance to invest in research into the virus that killed over 700 people in West Africa, the UK's top public doctor says, adding, "They'd fine a cure if Ebola came to London"...More

Keywords: Pharmaceuticals and Economics

Catch your dream - utopia is possible!

Amid Spain's general depression, Marinaleda - an Andalucian town sometimes dubbed "the communist utopia"is bucking the moribund trend with a heady mixture of direct action, community level democracy, cooperation and mutual aid...More

Keywords: D irect Action - Direct D emocracy

Responding to capitalist disaster, in 1914 and today

World War 1 began a hundred years ago. Today's eco-socialist movement, says John Riddell, has much to learn from the revolutionaries who campaigned to stop that catastrophe...More

Keywords: Capitalist Crises - Ecosocialism

Globalizing Gaza

Israeli Leftist Jeff Halper warns of Israel's ongoing assault on international humanitarian law. It is an effort not only to get Israel off the hook for massive violation of human rights and international law, but to help other governments overcome similar constraints when they embark as well on "asymmetrical warfare", "counterinsurgency" and "counter terrorism" against people peoples resisting domination. It is a campaign that Israel calls "Lawfare" and had better be taken seriously by all of us...More

Keywords: Israeli Military - International Humanitarian Law

The Price of Books, The Value of Civilization

Toby Mundy says that books occupy a uniquely valuable position in our civilization because they are the only mediums for thick description of the world that human beings possess. By "thick" description, he means an extended, detailed, evidence based, written interpretation of a subject...More

Keywords: B ook Preservation - Book Distribution

Topic of the Week:
Killings by Police

Looking for resources and information about police brutality and killings? Learn more about the militarization of today's police force and how it is costing lives and billions of taxpayer dollars. Also view resources on the equipment and tactics used police including the express targeting of minorities, especially young black males. You can browse or use our search feature.

Group of the Week:
Librarians and Archivists with Palestine

This week, we spotlight Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP). LAP is a network of self-defined librarians, archivists and information workers in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for independence. They work to further the human right to information and end Israel's theft and appropriation of all Palestinian property - be it land, buildings, books or document.They are committed to the right of liberation of all peoples, and the end of discrimination and oppression everywhere. Connexions.org features a directory of more than 1,000 progressive groups and websites.

Website of the Week:
The Canadian Progressive

Tired of hearing the same old points and views repeated on your usual news outlet? If so, visit The Canadian Progressive. The Canadian Progressive is an unapologetically independent and activist minded news outlet that strongly believes in providing the reader a progressive stance on the everyday headlines. Committed to the enhancement of Canadian democracy through public debate, The Canadian Progressive is a progressive alternative to Canadian news outlets.

People's History and Grassroots Archives News

Residential School Survivors will decide fate of testimony documents

An Ontario Superior Court Judge ruled on August the 7th that the testimonies of 40,000 Indian residential school survivors will be destroyed after 15 years, unless a survivor chooses to preserve their stories in a national archive. The testimonies covered claims of sexual and physical abuse perpetrated by the Canadian residential school system...More

Darwin's Beagle library now online

Charles Darwin's voyage on the Beagle (1831-1836) was one of the most important scientific expeditions in history. His investigations would change science and the world forever. As a research vessel HMS Beagle may not have had internet, but she did have an impressive state of the art library with about 400 volumes. The library was housed in book cases in the poop cabin at the stern of the ship, which was also Darwin's Cabin. Thus Darwin lived and worked in the Beagle library for five years. That collection is now online...More

Treasures from the Archives

Five books by the late Israeli author Akiva (Aki) Orr (1931-2013) are now available as English-language PDFs on the Connexions website. Orr was a radical leftist who opposed Zionism as not only bad for Palestinians but bad for Jews as well. Equally critical of capitalism and the state, he advocated direct democracy as an alternative to Big Business and Big Government. According to Orr, citizens can - without representative - run society by voting directly for policies rather than politicians.

Available on the Connexions Website are:

Enlightening Disillusionment

For Political Equality

Politics without Politicians

Israel: Politics, Myths, and Identity Crisis

The UnJewish State: The politics of the Jewish Identity in Israel

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Copyright Connexions 2014. Contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. This means you are welcome to share and republish the contents of this newsletter as long as you credit Connexions, and as long as you don’t charge for the content.

Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter, is available online here

Thanks to Tahmid Khan and Ulli Diemer for their work on this newsletter.

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