From Mont-Royal
four vultures
circled over McTavish and Sherbrooke.
In the McGill Bookstore
the women said Notre-Dame
withheld the name
of the student in surgery
who was beaten by police,
and the sociologist said
Le Village Gai
was the “perfect storm,”
but the rainclouds blew off
and orange clouds sprayed
from out of his fractured bone
to drench the island with his spirit.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Hey look I'm in the news: http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2012/03/gaybashing-on-mac-campus-not-isolated-incidents/
and I just want to say that the student strike today in Montreal, 200,000 people, was just beautiful!
and I just want to say that the student strike today in Montreal, 200,000 people, was just beautiful!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tangled Roots: Dialogues exploring ecological justice, healing, and decolonization
Matt Soltys is writing a book. It's a collection of interviews he has done through Healing the Earth Radio, titled Tangled Roots: Dialogues exploring ecological justice, healing, and decolonization. It's coming out this summer.
As of today, Matt's launching his book's website and a fundraising website to sell advance copies. His website is www.healingtheearthpress.org, and there's a fundraising website where you can buy copies in advance to raise money for printing at www.indiegogo.com/tangledroots.
Check it out! And it would be a huge help if you could pass this on to anyone you can possibly think about who may be interested in supporting this project by getting a copy. It's a book that Matt hopes will appeal to a range of people, including left-leaning and enviro-minded folks, and those who are already fairly radicalized.
As of today, Matt's launching his book's website and a fundraising website to sell advance copies. His website is www.healingtheearthpress.org, and there's a fundraising website where you can buy copies in advance to raise money for printing at www.indiegogo.com/tangledroots.
Check it out! And it would be a huge help if you could pass this on to anyone you can possibly think about who may be interested in supporting this project by getting a copy. It's a book that Matt hopes will appeal to a range of people, including left-leaning and enviro-minded folks, and those who are already fairly radicalized.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Poem to post on Macdonald campus walls during the strike
Have you listened to Jim Nicell
referring to himself as “we?”
Nice, hell, Jim's a fuss about
institutional emergency.
Jim has told us that he has
a response team who decides
to send us emails, to communicate
with the rest of us. Besides,
He advises we avoid Sherbrooke Street
and the people waiting there.
He wants you to know about those things
that might unsettle, disturb, or scare
Of unlawful students you ought to be
especially aware.
While it is safe to leave buildings
(sometimes it is quite quiet)
Jim warns us to be cautious
of downtown's simmering riot.
He warns us specifically
of the south and east,
because that's where the students clash
with Montreal police.
That tricky bureaucrat!
Shall we let him decide
to manipulate us, saying
“For the moment, stay inside”?
referring to himself as “we?”
Nice, hell, Jim's a fuss about
institutional emergency.
Jim has told us that he has
a response team who decides
to send us emails, to communicate
with the rest of us. Besides,
He advises we avoid Sherbrooke Street
and the people waiting there.
He wants you to know about those things
that might unsettle, disturb, or scare
Of unlawful students you ought to be
especially aware.
While it is safe to leave buildings
(sometimes it is quite quiet)
Jim warns us to be cautious
of downtown's simmering riot.
He warns us specifically
of the south and east,
because that's where the students clash
with Montreal police.
That tricky bureaucrat!
Shall we let him decide
to manipulate us, saying
“For the moment, stay inside”?
Friday, February 24, 2012
How very long it has been since I posted 2 things in 1 day
#1
Dear Editor of The Montreal Chronicle: I'm disappointed by the Public Safety Minister's comments in the House of Commons last week. He accused Francis Scarpaleggia - and perhaps all of us - of "siding with the child pornographers." In any case, as can be seen by the perpetually hacked status of the FBI and Interpol websites by Anonymous et al., law enforcers simply aren't as savvy as they are frequently & fictitiously portrayed. In any case, according to a poll by the government's privacy commissioner, 8 out of 10 Canadians oppose legislation that would grant authorities warrantless access to our private information. Such detailed surveillance of the citizenry would require an enormous number of spies, and as such it would necessarily be prohibitively expensive. More than mere apology for his comments, which would be warranted, I would like to see Minister Toews resign. (In my opinion, Harper's Conservatives ought to be drummed out of town altogether.) At the very least, the Canadian government ought to commit to abandon any online spying legislation. They ought to commit to removing the warrantless access provisions in the legislation, insert privacy safeguards and enforcement, and provide a clear plan to offset the estimated $80,000,0000 this will cost Canadian families and businesses. I encourage everybody to join the 112,000+ people who have already voiced their opposition to Bill C-30 by signing the Stop Online Spying petiton at stopspying.ca
#2
This is Arturo's blog! Check it out!
Dear Editor of The Montreal Chronicle: I'm disappointed by the Public Safety Minister's comments in the House of Commons last week. He accused Francis Scarpaleggia - and perhaps all of us - of "siding with the child pornographers." In any case, as can be seen by the perpetually hacked status of the FBI and Interpol websites by Anonymous et al., law enforcers simply aren't as savvy as they are frequently & fictitiously portrayed. In any case, according to a poll by the government's privacy commissioner, 8 out of 10 Canadians oppose legislation that would grant authorities warrantless access to our private information. Such detailed surveillance of the citizenry would require an enormous number of spies, and as such it would necessarily be prohibitively expensive. More than mere apology for his comments, which would be warranted, I would like to see Minister Toews resign. (In my opinion, Harper's Conservatives ought to be drummed out of town altogether.) At the very least, the Canadian government ought to commit to abandon any online spying legislation. They ought to commit to removing the warrantless access provisions in the legislation, insert privacy safeguards and enforcement, and provide a clear plan to offset the estimated $80,000,0000 this will cost Canadian families and businesses. I encourage everybody to join the 112,000+ people who have already voiced their opposition to Bill C-30 by signing the Stop Online Spying petiton at stopspying.ca
#2
This is Arturo's blog! Check it out!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Reposting my post from McGill University's discussion blog
[posted here]
I'm sure people with positions in the McGill University hierarchy will want to protect their gains and the comforts of their elevated positions.
However, we need to abandon the insensitive & rigid traditional hierarchical structure.
We have been disappointed too many times by the collusion of elites in the hierarchy with economic and military actors who have been too destructive and too guilty of the chaos into which our society, economy, and ecology are descending.
We need an adaptive and intelligent institution that receives information from its members, by sensitive and non-hierarchical communication. This means that what have been institutional decisions at the highest level must be made non-hierarchically, collectively.
We need Reason to chart our course and not Capital.
We need an institution that doesn't merely purport to be ethical, but actually IS ethical.
If McGill doesn't become more sensitive and adaptive in this way, it won't have much of a future.
I'm sure people with positions in the McGill University hierarchy will want to protect their gains and the comforts of their elevated positions.
However, we need to abandon the insensitive & rigid traditional hierarchical structure.
We have been disappointed too many times by the collusion of elites in the hierarchy with economic and military actors who have been too destructive and too guilty of the chaos into which our society, economy, and ecology are descending.
We need an adaptive and intelligent institution that receives information from its members, by sensitive and non-hierarchical communication. This means that what have been institutional decisions at the highest level must be made non-hierarchically, collectively.
We need Reason to chart our course and not Capital.
We need an institution that doesn't merely purport to be ethical, but actually IS ethical.
If McGill doesn't become more sensitive and adaptive in this way, it won't have much of a future.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health
de Vendômois, J.S., Roullier, F., Cellier1, D., Séralini, G.-E. 2009. A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health. Int J Biol Sci 5(7):706-726
We present for the first time a comparative analysis of blood and organ system data from trials with rats fed three main commercialized genetically modified (GM) maize (NK 603, MON 810, MON 863), which are present in food and feed in the world. NK 603 has been modified to be tolerant to the broad spectrum herbicide Roundup and thus contains residues of this formulation. MON 810 and MON 863 are engineered to synthesize two different Bt toxins used as insecticides. Approximately 60 different biochemical parameters were classified per organ and measured in serum and urine after 5 and 14 weeks of feeding. GM maize-fed rats were compared first to their respective isogenic or parental non-GM equivalent control groups. This was followed by comparison to six reference groups, which had consumed various other non-GM maize varieties. We applied nonparametric methods, including multiple pairwise comparisons with a False Discovery Rate approach. Principal Component Analysis allowed the investigation of scattering of different factors (sex, weeks of feeding, diet, dose and group). Our analysis clearly reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded.
http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm#headingA11
We present for the first time a comparative analysis of blood and organ system data from trials with rats fed three main commercialized genetically modified (GM) maize (NK 603, MON 810, MON 863), which are present in food and feed in the world. NK 603 has been modified to be tolerant to the broad spectrum herbicide Roundup and thus contains residues of this formulation. MON 810 and MON 863 are engineered to synthesize two different Bt toxins used as insecticides. Approximately 60 different biochemical parameters were classified per organ and measured in serum and urine after 5 and 14 weeks of feeding. GM maize-fed rats were compared first to their respective isogenic or parental non-GM equivalent control groups. This was followed by comparison to six reference groups, which had consumed various other non-GM maize varieties. We applied nonparametric methods, including multiple pairwise comparisons with a False Discovery Rate approach. Principal Component Analysis allowed the investigation of scattering of different factors (sex, weeks of feeding, diet, dose and group). Our analysis clearly reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded.
http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm#headingA11
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