overhear Social Consciousness Resources for Artists

Sep 20, 2006
Middle East: Imperial assault and tasks for the left (Ardeshir Mehrdad interviewing Alex Callinicos)
The present interview with Alex Callinicos was performed over several weeks by email spanning late July to mid September. The early questions took place at the start of the Israeli attack on Lebanon. The last five questions were answered in one go in mid September.
by Alex Callinicos and Ardeshir Mehrdad

Sep 19, 2006
Responsibility to Protect?
Does the Canadian-promoted “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine include murder rape, and threats of violence [in Haiti]?
by Yves Engler and Nik barry-shaw

Aug 6, 2006
Haiti's Election Looking Back
Haiti’s occupiers and elites badly needed the legitimacy of a “democratic” election. Unfortunately for them, the poor majority took them at their word….
by Roger Annis

Oct 27, 2005
The disaster of Canadian colonialism
There’s an old, awful joke that – in direct proportion to its offensiveness and horrific frankness – gets to the heart of one of the fundamental hypocrisies of Canadian apartheid and the comfortable air of superiority with which we tend, from here, to observe the catastrophic racial dystopia south of the 49th:

Q: What do they call n*ggers in Canada?
A: Indians.

by Charles Demers

Sep 3, 2005
Kanye West is my hero
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family and they say we are looting, you see a white family and they say they are looking for food. And, you know, its been five days because most of the people ARE black ... We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way. And now they've given them permission to go down and shoot us. George Bush doesn't care about black people."
by Justin Felux

Sep 2, 2005
The Wholesale Looting of the Gulf Coast
If you are more interested in and disgusted by rumors of civilian "troublemakers" on the streets of New Orleans and other Gulf Coastal communities than in the massive failings of the United States government before, during and since this tragedy began, consider a career in journalism.
by Brian Dominick

Aug 24, 2005
CBC Workers Should Lock Themselves In
All progressive Canadians should support workers who are currently “locked out” by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation management. They are fighting an important struggle over the future of public service broadcasting in an era when powerful political and economic forces would be pleased by CBC’s demise. But lost in the fog of advertising-driven media obfuscation is the reality that this battle is fundamentally about workers’ power and independence.
by Yves Engler

Aug 17, 2005
Alternatives... to what? Why is this Canadian NGO acting as a tool of imperialism?
It is a strange day indeed when a progressive NGO finds itself on the same side of an issue as Roger Noriega, the U.S. diplomat notorious for his role in organizing the Contra army that terrorized Nicaragua throughout the 1980s. Yet this is precisely the case with Alternatives, a Quebec-based "non-governmental international solidarity organization" dedicated to promoting "democracy" and "socio-economic justice and equality".
by Nikolas Barry-Shaw

Aug 10, 2005
Fair and Balanced Reporting Canada's New Export to Haiti
As part of the Canadian government's strategy to legitimate the elections, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is providing two million dollars to Canadian NGOs to work with Haitian media organizations and journalists for the "strengthening of the media's ability to provide fair and balanced reporting". However, looking at the quality of recent Canadian media coverage on Haiti, one might wonder whether Canada is in a position to teach anyone a lesson in this regard.
by Isabel Macdonald

Dec 11, 2004
Announcing the P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2004
"The P.U.-litzer Prizes were established a dozen years ago to provide special recognition for truly smelly media performances."
by Norman Solomon

Dec 7, 2004
Canada to Exterminate Lavalas (Satire)
"On November 26th, Prime Minister Paul Martin named Denis Coderre as Canada's "special advisor to Haiti." In this capacity, Coderre will monitor Canada's role in the extermination of supporters of ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide's political party, Lavalas."
by Anthony Fenton

Dec 4, 2004
You asked for my evidence, Mr Ambassador. Here it is
"In Iraq, US forces and their Iraqi surrogates are no longer bothering to conceal attacks on civilian targets and are openly eliminating anyone - doctors, clerics, journalists - who dares to count the bodies."
by Naomi Klein

Nov 24, 2004
Resist Bush in Canada
by Samer Elatrash

Nov 7, 2004
Peace?...
Speech on Accepting the Sydney Peace Prize
by Arundhati Roy

Oct 25, 2004
Media Disinformation on Haiti
by Anthony Fenton

Sep 21, 2004
Canada in the Haitian Coup
"Canada is perhaps as deeply involved in Aristide’s ouster as any client government has been historically in assisting the U.S. in enforcing Monroe Doctrine-like principles in the hemisphere, and this includes the present cover-up that is being undertaken."
by Anthony Fenton and Derrick O'Keefe

Sep 21, 2004
Rolling Haiti Back to Colonialism
Charles Boylan of Vancouver Co-op Radio interviews Kevin Pina

Sep 17, 2004
One Man's Democracy is Another Man's Chains
The Untold Story of Aristide's Departure from Haiti
by Kevin Pina

Sep 15, 2004
Interview With Denis Paradis on Haiti Regime Change
"Despite Paradis contradicting what he himself told [journalist Michel] Vastel, which was also, according to Vastel, corroborated by the French government, Paradis denies that regime change was discussed in January 2003."
interview by Anthony Fenton

Aug 26, 2004
Engineering the Overthrow of Democracy - Canada in Haiti
"For those seeking to understand the roots of Canada's latest intervention in Haiti, there appears to be no better place to begin than the central figure of the emerging Canada-Haiti controversy, Quebec MP Denis Paradis."
by Anthony Fenton

Jul 26, 2004
Iran: U.S. New Whipping Boy
"Those Who Deceived America Into Attacking Iraq Maybe At It Again"
by Eric Margolis

Jul 24, 2004
More good old Canadian hypocrisy
"The Canadian government is using the Kazemi case as a convenient cover for its diplomatic game with the United States and Israel, whose now openly stated priority is to isolate the government of Iran before a mandated "regime change" in 2005 or 2006."
by Stephen Kerr

Jul 18,2004
Bushites are trying to rewrite history because they failed to see what millions did: There was no reason to attack Iraq
by Linda McQuaig

Jun 29, 2004
Canada!
"The Canadian population, like India's a few months ago and Spain's before that, has stared into the abyss and decided not to jump in."
by Justin Podur

Jun 26, 2004
The Robbery of Reconstruction
"If the occupation chief Paul Bremer and his staff were capable of embarrassment, they might be a little sheepish about having spent only $3.2bn of the $18.4bn Congress allotted - the reason the reconstruction is so disastrously behind schedule. At first, Bremer said the money would be spent by the time Iraq was sovereign, but apparently someone had a better idea: parcel it out over five years so Ambassador John Negroponte can use it as leverage. With $15bn outstanding, how likely are Iraq's politicians to refuse US demands for military bases and economic 'reforms'?"
by Naomi Klein

Jun 22, 2004
Propaganda and Terrorism: Canada's Election Threat
"At all costs Canadians should not be voting for either of the sociopathic corporate propagandist parties [the Liberals or Conservatives], for both equally represent a firm commitment to the war on terror, neo-imperialism, an emerging [Bush-fuelled]neo-fascism, and all of its implications."
by Anthony Fenton

Jun 19, 2004
Moore warns of swing to the right
"Firebrand filmmaker Michael Moore hopes his controversial new work Fahrenheit 9/11 will help stop Conservative Leader Stephen Harper from becoming Prime Minister, along with throwing U.S. President George W. Bush out of office."
by Peter Howell

Jun 11, 2004
Canada: Spain in reverse
"While the current, Liberal prime minister, Paul Martin, helped out the coup in Haiti and has been a useful tool for US foreign policy and US/Canadian corporate interests, there are a few differences between him and Harper."
by Justin Podur

Jun 11, 2004
Conservative platform will put government in deficit
Can the three major national parties pay for what they say? A pre-election comparison of the Conservative, Liberal, and New Democratic platforms, by economists Ellen Russell and Sheila Block, assesses the ability of the parties to balance their budgets and deliver on their promises. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Jun 11, 2004
Is Paul Martin ready for a U.S. attack on Cuba?
"While he [Paul Martin] is desperate to please the U.S., and is under unrelenting pressure from the Bay Street's Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) to do whatever the U.S. asks, Martin is sitting on a long-standing Canadian policy regarding Cuba, a policy that differs dramatically from that of the U.S."
by Murray Dobbin

Jun 9, 2004
Alliance Atlantis brings 'Fahrenheit 9/11' to Canada
The Canadian company that helped produce Michael Moore's Oscar-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine has won the rights to distribute the filmmaker's latest movie in Canada this summer.

Jun 7, 2004
Why did Canada support a U.S. coup in Haiti?
"The U.S. occupation of Haiti is not unlike that in Iraq, but very few Canadians or Americans are aware of it. In the long run, Canada may regret not taking the high road of support for Caribbean sovereignty instead of the expedient path of least resistance to U.S. policy goals."
by Tom Reeves

May 31, 2004
Tax cuts: nothing considered too wacky or extreme
"...the people of Europe and Scandinavia pay a lot more tax, but they get a lot more services - like national day care, extensive parental leaves, comprehensive home care and drug programs, free dental care for children, free university tuition - things that would be dismissed here as pie-in-the-sky dreaming."
by Linda McQuaig

May 28, 2004
Open letter to state members of the Coalition in Iraq
by Irene Khan (Secretary General, Amnesty International)

May 26, 2004
The View from Hubbert's Peak
"...a map of the 'war against terrorism' corresponds with such uncanny accuracy to the geography of oil fields and proposed pipelines. From Kazakhstan to Ecuador, American combat boots are sticky with oil."
by Mike Davis

May 24, 2004
When is Prisoner Abuse Racial Violence
"Two weeks into the [torture] scandal, the exceptional violence argument rules the day and the word racism is not even uttered as a possible contributing factor."
by Sherene Razack

April 17, 2004
By Endorsing Ariel Sharon's Plan George Bush Has Legitimised Terrorism
by Robert Fisk

April 15, 2004
Rogue States Embrace the Bush-Sharon Press Conference
"Bush’s embrace of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s unilateral plan to annex six major West Bank settlement blocs and reject the internationally-recognized Palestinian right of return as a quid pro quo for Sharon’s pull-out from most Gaza settlements represents a major defeat for Palestinian human rights and international law, and a huge consolidation of the U.S.-Israeli alliance."
by Phyllis Bennis

April 12, 2004
Report from Fallujah Destroying a Town in Order to "Save" it
by Rahul Mahajan

April 10, 2004
The one simple truth about this war:
Iraqis do not want us
by Robert Fisk

April 6, 2004
Witch Hunt in Haiti by the Bush and ‘Boca Raton’ Regimes
"...Luigi Einaudi, who, according to sources at the Canadian Embassy, was part of the "Ottawa Initiative on Haiti" at which, it was leaked by Denis Paradis, "regime change" was planned in Haiti, and there was discussion of the "need" for a military presence."
by Anthony Fenton

March 11, 2004
The Canadian Connection
Haiti is 'Debated' in the Canadian House of Commons.
by Anthony Fenton

March 09, 2004
US-Haiti
by Noam Chomsky

March 05, 2004
Paul Martin's Haitian Adventure
In which the Canada Steamship State sails into uncharted waters, and all we get is a cheap T shirt.
by Stephen Kerr

Music serves many purposes, from "just" being entertainment to social commentary. A collection of links to websites dealing with social issues will be maintained here so that artists and fans interested in helping to make life a little better by educating through music (or supporting socially-conscious artists), have some places on the web to start.

A mix of sites will be added here - from organisations directly working with the arts to those that, although not specifically involved with the arts, deal with issues that may interest you.

One of the most important aspects of being responsible socially is education. Having access to alternative media - alternative to mainstream, corporate media - is required for a balanced view of the world. - ken rieger, overhear.com

Music-Related Organisations

One World Beat is a non-profit organization that unites musicians of all genres to unite and convey a message of hope through their music.

Bands from around the world perform gigs under the One World Beat banner and use their place in the spotlight to do more than just sing about changing the world - they actually do it. By raising funds and awareness for the One World Beat help projects they inspire people and music fans to step out of the shade and take action.

Since 2002, the One World Beat community has grown from a visionary idea to a network of people and artists around the world.

"The idea of giving musicians the possibility to be part of a humanitarian project in a direct way was a natural one to me," says Andy Tomac Treichler, founder of One World Beat. "After all, so much music is about changing the world, about making it better. I see One World Beat as a way to allow musicians like myself to do something more than just sing about making a difference. Now, we have an opportunity to actually do it."

Alternative Media

OneWorld.ca presents news and views from progressive social movements in Canada and beyond our borders.

rabble.ca rabble.ca is a new kind of publication, one built on the efforts of progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists across the country. In addition to original news stories, in-depth features, provocative interviews, commentaries and more, rabble publishes columns from some of the few progressive voices in mainstream media and reprints articles you wouldn't want to miss from Canada's best independent magazines.

Znet "A community of people committed to social change." A huge website updated daily to convey information and provide community. Thousands of articles and commentaries by writers and journalists from across the world on issues affecting our lives.

Environment

Greenpeace "Greenpeace is an independently funded organization that works to protect the environment. We challenge government and industry to halt harmful practices by negotiating solutions, conducting scientific research, introducing clean alternatives, carrying out peaceful acts of civil disobedience and educating and engaging the public."

Sierra Club of Canada "Mission: To develop a diverse, well-trained grassroots network working to protect the integrity of our global ecosystems. Sierra Club of Canada’s mission focuses on five overriding threats:
* loss of animal and plant species;
* deterioration of the planet’s oceans and atmosphere;
* the ever-growing presence of toxic chemicals in all living things;
* destruction of our remaining wilderness;
* spiralling population growth and over-consumption."

Federal Election

Genetically Engineered Foods

Human Rights

Human Rights Watch "Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly."

Poverty

Racism

AAR (Artists Against Racism) is a non-profit, international organization and registered charity that is geared toward educating youth, especially, via public education campaigns, that: regardless of one's religion, ethnicity, nationality or skin colour, we are all one people.

Star Wars

Ceasefire.ca Canada’s internationally-recognized cultural, political, and intellectual figures have joined together to send a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin today, urging him to keep Canada out of the Bush administration’s missile defence system. The letter was organized by a group of citizens and civil society organizations from across Canada.

War

Canadian Peace Alliance The Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA) is the largest umbrella peace organization in Canada. Since its foundation in 1985, the organization has been helping its member groups to act as a broad coalition in order to provide a strong, coordinated voice for peace issues at the national level. Our common goals include redirecting funds from military spending to human needs; working toward global nuclear disarmament; making Canada a consistent leader for world peace; strengthening world institutions for the peaceful resolution of conflict; and protecting the rights of all people to work for social and economic justice.

Clear Landmines The roads and paths, forests and pastures of an estimated 70 countries around the world have been made treacherous by landmines. Landmines affect some of the most impoverished people in the world. Each year, 26,000 people are killed or mutilated by landmines of which 8,000 are children.

Doctors Without Borders Médecins Sans Frontières (also known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF) delivers emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics, and natural and man-made disasters, and to others who lack health care due to social or geographical isolation.

The Iraq Body Count Project This is a human security project to establish an independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq resulting directly from military action by the USA and its allies. In the current occupation phase this database includes all deaths which the Occupying Authority has a binding responsibility to prevent under the Geneva Conventions and Hague Regulations. This includes civilian deaths resulting from the breakdown in law and order, and deaths due to inadequate health care or sanitation.

War Child (Canada) War Child Canada is working across North America and around the world to assist children affected by war. We touch the lives of thousands of children and youth in war zones, helping to relieve them from the horrors of war and restore their sense of hope and dignity.