April 2011, No. 71
Questioning the ACTION Team
The ACTION teams are a big part of the increased police presence here in the last year. However, there has been little in the way of critical examination of the role that ACTION is really playing in our communities. What are they doing? Who is benefiting?
The Police, the Media, and Accountability
Are police above the law? Should police be above the law? These are not questions usually asked in the mainstream press. But in the last year we have seen them appear far more often in public debate. With the rise of social media, abuses of authority are far now easier to record, publish and share than ever before. In the wake of this explosion of discussion, it is also becoming far harder than ever before to ignore them.
Where can we go now? : Community space occupied by filing cabinets
Do you know about all of the amazing things that happen in the Jamesville Community Centre every day? The JVCC is one of the healthiest spaces that exists in the Jamesville neighbourhood today. But its continued existence has recently been threatened by a shocking and illogical move by the Catholic school board to replace active community space with filing cabinets.
Exploring the Spencer Creek: Beverly Swamp
The remaining wild spaces along the Spencer Creek show the marks of a patchwork history of land management and restoration practices that affect the health of everyone in the watershed today. To gain a better understanding, we begin in the headwaters at...
Japan's Unfolding Nuclear Disaster: If the brakes don't work, who's driving the reactor?
A 9.0 magnitude earthquake all by itself is an awesomely devastating thing, among the worst disasters in history. Combined with the enormous tsunami that battered cities along over 1000 miles of coastline, death toll estimates are over 18,000 and climbing.
Canada's Dirty Laundry Out in the Open
Canada’s dirty laundry is becoming increasingly difficult to hide. “Tar sands” is becoming part of daily talk rather than the cleaner-sounding “oil sands”. Small grassroots campaigns are forcing huge companies to fund advertising campaigns on greenwashing and the repression due to extractive industries like mining and gas.
Letter from the Editors
In this month’s Mayday Magazine, we return in more detail to some of the issues that came up around our November issue. Whether or not you think development in downtown Hamilton is gentrification, it is important that we not become bogged down by the definition(s) of a word. Some of the specific trends and symptoms of this development are harming people and reducing the health of our communities. We cannot afford to ignore this, regardless of our thoughts on the G-word.