What is new with this blog.

I have been working on a comprehensive link page. I have only just begun with an environmental links page. It has been slow going but I aiming to have all of the major themes covered substantially by the end of April. I hope this will be a valuable resource for all of you. There will be many other categories such as the ones you see on this site. Until it is complete I will keep all the links on this page for now. If you have any suggestions to further sites feel free to comment on the links page, preferably on the page themed relevant to your suggestion.

You can find the link page at
www.rebuildinghistory-links.blogspot.com.

I have also removed the tagboard. Although it was convenient for me to leave messages for you all, and if you had any quick comments, the pop-up ads were driving me crazy, and I am sure they deterred my readers as well. Alas, I hope its absence provides for a much smoother read.

The Cancer Epidemic

We should all be thankful for people like anchor and host of Marketplace Wendy Mesley. Her ability to use a forum such as national television to spread legitimate concerns about important issues such as the lack of cancer prevention, which she did last night, is so important.
*Read her report here*

The issue being investigated was the fact that there is so much money, time and research being put into cures for cancer, but very, very little into the prevention of cancer, a disease which should be seen as a preventable one. I have previously brought this very issue to the attention of my friends and family. There is a crisis in this country (Canada), and it needs to be addressed immediately.

Highlights of Mesleys report included the fact that there is no money to be made in cancer prevention, so we wait for people to get it, and then provide them with the high priced drugs and care to prolong their life with the disease, an industry that rakes in the profits...where there is money to be made.

It boggles the mind as to why the Canadian government has failed to prevent carcinogenic material from entering our food and other sources.

After conducting just a bit of research, everything from my laundry detergent to the plastic containers that I use to pack my sons lunch contain trace amounts of carcinogens.

Cancer is not caused by one or two exposures to carcenogins. It occurs after frequent exposure to even small amounts of these cancer causing chemicals. And they are everywhere. They are literally impossible to avoid. I don't even know where I could find appropriate items to pack my sons lunch in that did not contain carcinogens. I suppose his soup could go in a glass jar, but how would I wrap his sandwich? And how much would you bet that the school would send me a letter requesting that I not send breakable containers as they are a hazard.

It is really very discouraging, depressing even, that the Canadian government continues to allow corporations to have the last word as to what is okay to sell to consumers, and as to what is labelled as "safe". Companies that sell these products have a lot of money to lobby the government with. As well, there is a pull by the pharmaceutical companies now because of the massive of profit to be made from cancer. There are new drugs everyday, and they are expensive. People are willing to pay anyting if it means they will live longer. Yet they would live even longer if they were cancer free to begin with.

1 in 2 Canadian men will get cancer, and 1 in 3 Canadian women. 1 in 4 Canadian will die from the disease. (Canadian Cancer Society) In my immediate family of 4, that means 2 of us will get it and one of us will die from it. I can only pray that will be my spouse and I and not my children. What an outook to have to have on the world, but that is the reality.

I was talking with some aquaintances of mine the other day about this very issue, and one commented that I worry to much. Isn't that the way of our society though. We ignore what doesn't directly affect our quality of life, until it does, or until it touches someone close to us.

As Mesley pointed out, the Canadian Cancer Society has placed the blame on the people that develop the cancer. It is the person with cancers' fault that they don't eat well enough, get enough exercise, or smoke. There is little if any energy put into placing at least part of the responsibility on those who produce products that contain carcinogens, not just in laundry detergent, but in the things we eat, drink and use on a daily basis. Household cleaners, cosmetics, deoderant, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, can foods, cigarettes, carpets, furniture, vehicles, lawn care products, food packaging....he list is never ending. If we had even the slightest of responsible governments there would be big changes to regulation of industry in Canada.

First of all, any items that contained ANY carcinogens would be BANNED from our shelves. They would not even be allowed to be produced anywhere. That includes cigarettes...my bet is that once these toxins were taken out of cigarettes they would be far less, if at all, addictive. Bye bye tobacco industry. I think we all agree this would be a step forward.

All forms of esthetic pesticides would be BANNED. Our society has labelled weeds as more evil than carcinogens. I don't even allow my kids in parks where I know that pesticides and herbicides have been used.

All forms of pesticides and herbicides that were to be used on or around any form of consumable material should be carcinogen free. That means the powder they use to keeps worms out of cabbage and that used on fields where cattle graze.

All manufactering sites must use the latest filters in their smoke stacks that remove harmful chemicals from our air.

I could go on but I think you get the picture. It is common sense really.

Any company that breaks any of these environmental and health regulations should not only receive a fine, and if possible be forced to correct the harm that they have done, but be banned from selling, or producing their good/service for ...let's say 5 years, unless they can prove that they are able to comply, let's say after two years. After that they should not longer be allowed to operate AT ALL for failure to comply.

I am sure that the argument against these regulations will be that there will be massive job losses, and the economy will slag. That is a crock. Many of the household and consumable products are able to remove all carcinogens, but choose not to because many of these chemicals are inexpensive. The companies are also cashing in on the time constraints and laziness of our society. Rather than spend time scrubbing the crayon marks off the wall, we would rather expose our kids to cancer causing formaldehyde over and over again in order to clean it faster and more efficiently.

Our meat is banned in the U.K. because it contains carcinogens, yet we here are still sold the product, and are for the most part unaware of its dangers, let alone the fact that it has be banned in several European countries. We also allow companies that use carcinogenic material in their products to sell their products to us without listing the ingredients. Companies will be required to list ingredients as of November 2006. Do you know what Trisodium nitrilotriacetate (NTA) is? Yes, it is a carcinogen, adn it can cause cancer. What do you think it is found in? You know that stuff you use to clean your clothes every week.....in there. So what does our society view as worse...dirt...or cancer?

We are surrounded by these chemicals, and yet it is the lack of fruits and vegetables that the Canadian Cancer society wants us to believe is causing us to develop cancer, a fatal disease. This is one issue that cannot wait another 20 years to deal with. Are we to wait until the cancer rate is 100%?

Remember when SARS came to Canada. More people died from the flue that year, yet we were all freaked out like a bunch of crazy fools. The likelyhood that we are to get cancer is much higher yet we talk about it like it is the threat of old age. We are so bought and sold ten times over an don't even realize it.

It is time to take action. Boycott as many products as you can that contain these materials. Inform yourself. And lobby not for better medications, but for the dissolution of thes materials from our society. Our children are counting on us...or do you plan to be the ignorant generation. They will have more to fix than the energy problem, but the existence of man-kind itself.

I highly recommend reading Wendy Mesleys report.

I also highly recommend the site Scorecard for more information on the chemicals that we are in contact everyday.

Here is another site that lists many known and suspected carcinogens.

Boycott List (more to come)

So as you have probably already noticed, I am a fairly socially conscience person. It isn't enough just to write about the problems. There needs to be solutions, the purpose of this blog being to spur development of solutions. Yet, I am the first to admit that coming up with solutions is the most difficult part of social, political and economic change.

The west has become misinformed, uninformed and most tragically, apathetic. Capitalism as it is practiced today forces us to look at our own wealth over that of others. I hear over and over again others say they don't even want to hear about the problems that plague our world, our lifestyle. Generally, people have a tough time hearing criticism at the best of times, let alone criticism about how they have been living their lives for years, especially since that is the way that our world has educated them how to live and has promoted it as the "right way."

Well, if you have one iota of social consciousness, I am here to help. After all, every great hike still requires that we take one step at a time to reach our destination.

I have compiled a list of companies that should be boycotted for a variety of reasons, and websites that can offer further information as to the reasons one should boycott them. I hope that you look beyond brand names and see the real consequences of our consumeristic tendencies, and our willingness to believe everything we see in the media, even if it is only a paid advertisement.

I know as much as anyone how difficult this can be. I have two small children that I have to feed and dress. It isn't always to make the right choices, or even informed decisions about the products we buy and use due to the lack of "real" information about how the product is manufactured and produced. This list is here to help you make socially conscious and healthier decisions.

It also requires that you invest some of your own time. Local markets are a great place to find organically grown food and handmade items and toys. Generally it is the person who has produced the items that sell them, and you are supported your local community and market as well.

BOYCOTT LIST

Household Products:

Unilever

Food Products:
Nestle
Unilever
McDonald's
Starbucks
PhilipMorris/Kraft Foods
Coca Cola

Pharmiceuticals:

Pfizer

Agriculture:

Monsanto**

Oil Companies:
Exxon-Mobile
Chevron-Texico
BP Energy
Shell

Clothing:
Adidas
Nike

Hi-tech products:
Fujistu Siemens
Acer

Supercentres:
Walmart

Tobacco Products:
Conscientious Consuming website has a comprehensive list of tobacco companies and their non-tobacco products and labels.

Other products:
Firestone

Corporate Accountability International has an excellent site that looks into companies and their dishonest, and inhumane practices all in search of the almighty dollar.

Global Exchange has a set of guidelines to help us as consumers buy sweatshop free items.

Never Enough, has a plethera of articles on our "consume MORE" attitude.

Ecolinks.net has a detailed list of companies to boycott.

ETAG's (Ethical Trading Action Group) findings on the transparency of 25 companies that sell appariel on the Canadian market in this report.
More information on this report and on labour practices can be found on the Maquila Solidarity website.

COOP America's retailer report card.

Boycott Bush.net has published a comprehensive list of the top 25 Republican donors, the amounts given to the party, and their consumer brands.

BuyBlue.org has a large directory of companies that list any abuses made by the company as well as their political contributions to both the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States.

Open Secrets.org also has a comprehensive list of political party donors.

Here is COOP America's Boycott Organizer's Guide which is very informative about the effectiveness of boycotts and the subsequent results of successful boycotts.

**In researching Monsanto for this list, as they are one of the worst abusers of human rights, I was sent to their privacy policy page. I suggest not going any further than this site considering the content, especially considering this statement:

"Also, you should know that your Personal Information, as well as Visit Information collected at a Monsanto site, may be used by Monsanto security personnel if deemed necessary to protect Monsanto from a threat or other perceived security risk and such information may be shared with law enforcement authorities if appropriate."

As I understand this sort of disclaimer is necessary and even "responsible" for the company to include. But I have paid close attention to the actions of the Monsanto company which leads me to be extremely wary of entering into any of those sites. If they are willing to take a poor farmer to court over wind carrying Monsanto seeds to his land, and wanting him to therefore pay them for it, I put nothing past Monsanto practices. Hell, they have already collected my information as I am most likely deemed a threat to their company due to the fact I have just listed them as a company to boycott.

Editorial Cartoon Gets It Right

I think that Malcolm Mayes - a brilliant editorial cartoonist for the Edmonton Journal - was extremely insightful when he made this cartoon which appeared in the February 28th issue of the paper. For various legal reasons I am not showing the cartoon on this site, but I have provided the link where you may view it as well as many other editorial cartoons by him and many others.

Rant on Journalistic UN-Integrity

The front page of the Edmonton Journal featured the picture of a dog that had been stabbed twice by his depressed owner. The front page, the page in the paper that is supposed to house the big stories.

It is not just the Edmonton Journal either. It is most mainstream newspapers, radio, newscasts...actually most media. Don't get me wrong. I am not picking on the dog, but I gotta tell you it is truly frustrating and disappointed to see how day in and day out the really important stories seem to be left out, or if reported on, tend to end up in the side column on page 36.

I was "surfin'" the net yesterday and came across pictures and stories of depleted uranium and its effects. Then I came across pictures of babies born to both civilians of the areas in which it was used, and from American GI's from the Gulf War (see image). Now why was I barely aware of this? I have got to tell you, if more people were aware of how these weapons affected people...children..then there would be more of an outcry against armed conflict, especially those fought under false pretenses, or for money and control, and not out of necessity. These pictures were horrific and depressing, but most importantly, they are reality, the reality of today.

Earlier I had asked my readers to give me their point of view as to why the United States never did enter into the Ottawa Convention to Ban Landmines. They have the biggest stockpile of them in the world. Now the only way that they could justify having this stockpile is if they plan to use them some day.

They also use cluster bombs despite the outcry from the international community about their dangers and inhumane nature. There are more people killed and injured in Afganistan from remnants from cluster bombs than from landmines. Why is it the United States, the most influential country in the world, isn't the one taking the lead on this. And why is it that there is only a limited outcry from its own citizens. The biggest "problem" is that we do not have to deal with the repercussions of our actions at home. Not in a concrete manner as they do in the countries that these criminal assaults take place.

The numbers of Iraqis that have been killed since the beginning of the war has now reached the hundred thousands. The outcry against the war, although growing, is not growing for the most part because of the innocent that are being slaughtered, or the innocent that are being held and tortured without charge, but because the growing rate of American soldiers killed.

The one thing that did seem to get the attention of people in the United States was the events of 9/11. The incredible response that was in large part used to justify the invasion and occuption of Iraq. Remember the weapons of mass destruction link to terrorism and so forth.

Considering the amount of violence and hardship that the United States have inflicted on a great portion of the world, it is almost surprising how little violence that the United States has had to deal with itself within its own country.

Certain people speculate that anger in the Islamic world is gaining momentum due to seemingly small and insignificant events such as that of caricatures, and the release of the film "Valley of the Wolves",they are being completely mislead. These events are made significant due to the history of abuse and violence that has been inflicted on them either directly or indirectly by the United States.

I would like to find just one person who could prove me wrong on this assumption. I am sure that there are those that would outright deny these claims with no proof, or try and justify these events with reasons of spreading freedom and so on, but that doesn't negate reality.

Soon reality is going to bite us in the ass, and deservedly so. I don't want this kind of destruction and horror in my backyard, I have a family who I love more than life itself, yet I too believe in a global existence. I don't feel that I deserve more than any other person on this earth. I do believe in equality and human rights.

We, in the western countries over consume to the demise of faceless people all over the world. We take for granted our position in the world and abuse it to the extent that we have grown into a heartless society of greed and consumption. We DO NOT deserve life more than all others, let alone to the demise of all others.

Something needs to be done, and I believe a significant step to be made would be for the mainstream media, as influential as it is, to take the right way, and report the truth of war. Dumbing down the issues, and mis-informing the public only does an injustice to society as it leaves us complacent and without compassion for our fellow human beings.