rabble is taking a holiday over the holidays. We’ll be back, rested and ready, on Monday, January 6, 2003. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of the best rabble has to offer right now! It’s a great time to catch up on those stories you missed throughout the year, and it’s a snapshot of 2002, too. So cozy up to your screen, and enjoy.

News:

Taking Liberties
January 21, 2002
New laws are in the works, including organized crime legislation, the expansion of diplomatic immunity, an anti-terrorism act, a bill allowing cabinet to issue emergency decrees, and one that gives the government both increased access to private information — and the ability to share it with other states. What are the bills? What is their purpose? And why are so many people worried? Here are some of the answers. >by Alejandro Bustos

A Movement of Movements
February 5, 2002
The genius of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is to bring so many movements together in one place. And what a place. This year’s forum is exploring alternatives to neo-liberalism. Delegates here discuss the agendas of the people of the world, not the agenda of the masters of the universe. >by Judy Rebick

Taking On Biotech Giants
February 27, 2002
Two Saskatchewan organic farmers have filed a suit against two producers of genetically engineered canola. The suit states that the companies’ canola was introduced without a full assessment of its safety, and without hearings that could have informed the public about the risks of contaminating neighbouring crops. Now a provincial judge is deciding whether this could become a class action suit, allowing other farmers to join as plaintiffs. >by Larry Lack

Civil Suit | Civil War
March 19, 2002
A Canadian oil company has long denied it has any connection to any murderous acts committed by the government of Sudan. A court case in New York City and a document filed for it could soon reveal that Talisman Energy of Calgary, Alberta, plays a bigger role than it would like to admit in the brutal politics of the African country. >by Byron Christopher

Welcome Mat for Wal-Mart
March 26, 2002
The reigning retailer has dealt with rezoning woes across the United States. Now, in Canada, Wal-Mart faces opposition in cities from one coast to the other. In Vancouver, British Columbia, community groups say one of the company’s proposed outlets will hurt smaller stores. They might be out of luck. New trade rules could strip municipalities of the power to control their land zoning. >by Sarah Cox

Tens of Thousands Rally in Vancouver
May 30, 2002
By 7:00 a.m., workers were strapping a huge effigy of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell into a cardboard S.U.V. Two hours later, the behemoth would be wending its way through dowtown — barely clearing transit wires — to join one of British Columbia’s largest-ever protest marches. >by Chris Bradshaw

Alexa Explains
June 7, 2002
When Alexa McDonough announced this week that she was stepping down after seven years at the helm of the federal NDP, she spawned a leadership race that could change the terrain of Canadian politics. And she did it on purpose. We caught up with McDonough at the end of a long day of explaining her resignation. >by rabble staff

Calgary Lockdown
June 21, 2002
In preparation for G8 meetings in Kananaskis next week, Calgarians are witnessing unprecedented security measures. So why don’t they feel safe? >by Penney Kome

Faces in the Crowd
June 26, 2002
“The G8 pretends they’re solving things but they’re just making everything worse,” says fifteen-year-old Meredith Bragg. She’s in Calgary with an array of activists from across the country. rabble spoke with protesters of the G8 Summit to discover the politics through the people. >by Erin George

What Happened
September 11, 2002
There was a lot to identify with. The planes that slammed into buildings had ordinary people in them. The workers jumping from so high up could have been anybody. The rescuers were never coming out of what remained after the World Trade Center’s collapse. But the feelings of fear were perhaps about something else, too. If this could happen to the Pentagon, to the heart of the West’s economic system, to the executive producer of Frasier, was anybody safe? >by Judy MacDonald

Tent City Torn Down
September 25, 2002
It’s been a bad week. Housing activists and residents of squats in Quebec, Vancouver and now Toronto have been evicted. The sudden razing of Toronto’s Tent City yesterday has come as a shock to many. By late afternoon, the sun had set on the community, leaving its former residents homeless and fearful of the coming winter. >by Krystalline Kraus

Quebec’s Left Talks Politics
October 2, 2002
But not sovereignty. While the speakers at a recent colloquium on the left in Quebec did debate about whether to prioritize running candidates (through the newly formed Union des Forces Progressistes) or focus on a broad-based mobilization campaign to fight the rising popularity of the right, they didn’t disagree on the issue that has dominated and divided Quebec politics for decades. Globalization, they say, has changed everything. >by Judy Rebick

Student Charged with, um, Activism
October 17, 2002
Late yesterday, Concordia student activist Yves Engler was removed from campus by police, banned from returning for twenty-four hours and charged with trespassing. Why? For distributing information on campus about upcoming anti-FTAA protests. In doing so, he violated a recent university ban. Engler’s goal was to persuade students of the dangers posed by corporate globalization to public education. Ironically, the show of force by the university made a good example. >by David Bernans

Peace, Can
November 19, 2002
Across Canada this past weekend, despite miserable weather, more than 35,000 people demonstrated against the threatened war on Iraq. Confidence is high, and many people believe this war can be stopped before it starts. Also find an accompanying rabble interview with Iraqi activist Yanar Mohammed “They Cannot Cancel Us.”>by Erin George

Features:

John and the Osama Hunter
March 6, 2002
His name was Special Agent Edward J. Seitz of the United States Department of State Diplomatic Security Service. He wanted to know who I knew, where Jaggi Singh was, whether I was aware that I looked like Osama bin Laden and if I preferred coffee or tea. I only lied once. >by John Clarke

One Night in April
April 1, 2002
Tripoli, Libya, 1986. American planes bombed a residential area. As a child of six, I was a witness to collateral damage. And, while I was lucky to have escaped great physical injury, that night haunted me for years to come, filling me with both a rage-filled hatred and a deep desire for war to end. >by Suhail Shafi

The Truth About Nancy
May 20, 2002
In a CBC documentary, correspondent Nancy Durham shows how she was tricked into spreading propaganda for the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic plans to use the piece in his defense against charges of war crimes. But Durham says her work was misused by propagandists on all sides. >by Milorad Ivanovic

Where There’s Killing, There Must be Oil
May 29, 2002
Inside Sudan, the refugees of war say oil companies — including Canada’s Talisman Energy — are a principal barrier to peace. And as the world’s eyes fix on the Middle East and Afghanistan, Sudan’s nineteen-year civil war grows increasingly brutal. >by J.B. MacKinnon

Do It Yourself
August 8, 2002
Forget novels, thinks our writer. I was born to make porn! Not the strung-out commercial, ugly stuff. Her film’s main character would be a riot grrrl. Not no porn, but better porn, right? So why is it that unlike its literary cousin — the zine — indie porn doesn’t register on our radar? >by Emily Pohl-Weary

Our Bodies, a Battleground
August 21, 2002
Forget Afghanistan under the Taliban, says one foreign aid worker, eastern Congo is the worst place in the world to be a woman. Women are the forgotten victims of Africa’s biggest war, where more than two million people have died and where the scale of systematic mass rape is only beginning to be understood. >by Finbarr O’Reilly

Bad Medicine
August 27, 2002
Now we know that hormone replacement therapy for women was, as many womenâe(TM)s health advocates suspected all along, no cure-all. But beyond this most recently learned lesson — donâe(TM)t use estrogen/progestin to prevent chronic disease — there is a broader warning: Pills for healthy people can be dangerous! And the marketing activities of pharmaceutical companies are serious threats to our well-being. >by Abby Lippman

The Thin Line
September 18, 2002
The people behind pro-anorexia Websites (known as “pro-ana”) say they are creating a space where those with eating disorders can find understanding and acceptance through a virtual community of like-minded people. Others argue the sites simply encourage already-sick women to get sicker. >by Jennifer O’Connor

Copyright or Wrong?
October, 2002
Our first rabble rumble, where pairs of progressives scrap about the issues that preoccupy us. Read what our rumblers have to say. And watch the archive of their live debate — first broadcast on October 29. And don’t hold back: join the fray in our online forum. Because sometimes infighting is exactly what we need.

Lip Reading
October 31, 2002
Lyla Ryeâe(TM)s video art piece Byte showing the artist with her ten-month-old daughter was seized from a local gallery show by Halifax police this summer, raising questions about what kind of images of mothers and daughters are deemed acceptable and what kind aren’t. The parent/child interaction is one of the most fundamental and complicated of human relationships, argues our writer, yet the images we see are almost entirely limited to sweet, smiling, ever-lovable babies and happy, relaxed, ever-loving moms. Now that’s scary. >by Christina Starr

Series and Events Coverage:

Conflict Close Up — Judy Rebick’s dispatches from Israel and the Occupied Territories.
June, 2002

The Election of Lula — including Everyone’s Invited To This Party (October 4, 2002), Lula Paints Brazil Red (October 8, 2002) and Landslide Lula Victory (October 28, 2002).

Columns:

Linda McQuaig
Concern About Africa is Misleading
June 19, 2002
Africa has left the stadium. African poverty is in the spotlight this month. With the latest showcasing of concern coming from rock stars, to shifty politicians, to the upcoming G8 for Africa, one could easily get the impression that world leaders and the mainstream media finally care.

Rick Salutin
Read Between the Lines
September 1, 2002
The language of war. A few months back, terms like regime change would have been cryptic. Who wouldn’t want a regime change? Kids want one from their parents. Fans want a regime change at the local losing team. Now everyone knows it means just one thing: replacing Iraq’s government with a U.S. approved one. It’s become universal shorthand.

Rachel Giese
Outrage at Squalid Saga Rings Hollow
June 6, 2002
Ahh if only. If only the scandal hunt and the Liberal power struggle were actually about more than scoring political points, and if only there was a glimmer of hope that all this outrage might lead to real change, and what consumed the media was policy, not politics, if I only…

Jane Kansas
Canada’s Beauty Queen: No Miss Conscience
September 9, 2002
It seems that a few Miss World contestants are doing a little thinking outside the my-goal-is-to-be-a-veterinarian-because-I-love-children box. Several contestants are saying they will boycott the pageant if it is held in Nigeria, because an Islamic court there has sentenced Amina Lawal, the mother of an eight-month-old baby, to death by stoning for adultery. Of course, some don’t care. Like Miss Canada.

Gil Courtemanche
The Infantile Disorder in Quebec Politics
May 29, 2002
No one — not even in the Action Democratique itself — expected that this party would reach the heights of popularity revealed in a poll this week. Neck-and-neck with the Liberals, and well ahead of the Parti Quebecois, Mario Dumont must be feeling like the world is his oyster. Meaningless blip or sign of things to come?

Lyle Stewart
Biotech Breakdown
June 14, 2002
Columnist Lyle Stewart has defected — he’s decided to become Ray Mowling, former Monsanto head and current director of the Council for Biotechnology Information. The occasion? An interview with activist Vandana Shiva about — what else? — the biotech industry.

Murray Dobbin
Gordon Campbell: Violating the Public Trust
June 24, 2002
Full of never-ending surprises. From his misleading election campaign promises to his continued blatant, breathtaking lies to the province, British Columbia Premier, Gordon Campbell’s double speak is one helluva party. And like a pinyada, he keeps bashing, and we keep falling out.

Scott Piatkowski
Flaky and Shaky
November 28, 2002
Since world leaders and environment ministers gathered in Kyoto, Japan (five long years ago) to sign an accord on the control of greenhouse gases, industrialized countries have been fighting successfully to water down both the emissions targets and the deadline for meeting them. This makes the suggestion that ratification is now being rushed even more absurd. We’re not that green.

Jerry West
May Day Roots Grow Deeper
May 1, 2002
As we celebrate May Day — the international working class holiday commemorating the Haymarket Riot victims — the blood red flag that became the symbol of the worker’s struggles for rights, needs to be raised even higher and waved even harder, as more workers take to the streets.

rabble interviews:

Chávez After the Coup
September 9, 2002
The situation is still precarious. Both President Hugo Chávez and the Venezuelan people are prepared for another coup. But the people feel strong. It was they who returned Chávez to power. They feel they are actors in this revolutionary situation. An interview with writer Marta Harnecker about what really happened in Venezula last April, whatâe(TM)s happening now and what the future could hold. >by Judy Rebick

Handmade in Colombia
September 20, 2002
What can happen when a community governs itself — an interview with Colombian community leaders Alirio Arroyave and Arquimedes Vitonás about direct democracy in action. First of a new feature &#0151 the rabble interview, relevant conversations with real people about issues that actually matter. >by Justin Podur

Seen But Not Heard
September 30, 2002
A rabble interview with Ghanaian feminist, journalist and academic Audrey Gadzekpo. Gadzekpo is critical of Western media’s portrayal of Africa and Africans — women especially. “African women are almost always written about as victims of backward cultural practices and attitudes, ” she says. “More coverage of women who have been empowered would help Westerners understand the similarities between the condition of women in Africa and in their own societies. ” >by Meera Karunananthan

Incorrigible Indeed
October 25, 2002
OK, so it was 1939. But the story is still shocking: Eighteen-years-old and pregnant, Velma Demerson was arrested for living with her Chinese-Canadian boyfriend to whom she was engaged. She was convicted under the Female Refuges Act and sentenced to a year at an institution for women where she lived in a small cell and was mistreated by staff. Now, she wants compensation, and an apology. But it may be too late. >by Leisha Grebinski

Close Your Eyes Norman Rockwell
December 11, 2002
After serving four years as an Airborne Ranger for Uncle Sam, culture jammer Micah Wright has turned his satirical sights on his former employer. Norman Rockwellâe(TM)s America is turned inside out in Wright’s growing series of government propaganda posters — with a twist. An interview with Wright, and a slide show of his work. >by Daron Letts

everyone’s a critic:

The National Literature We Deserve
May 8, 2002
The looming demise of Jack Stoddart’s book distribution network is a sword hanging over many of Canada’s small presses. If we ignore their plight, we’ll deserve what we’ll get: literary monoculture from coast to coast. >by Darren Wershler-Henry

Sisters in the Struggle
June 21, 2002
No Apologies. In this age of protest, being a woman and running with the black bloc means having to pad places other than your bra. Once a rare breed, super-femmes are now entering the black fold in greater numbers than ever. >by Krystalline Kraus

Diary of a Reluctant Protester
July 4, 2002
Movement must be towards something as well as away from something. Yet the global justice movement in Canada, laments our writer, shies away from discussing political visions, and ways to achieve them, in favour of unity and good protests. Doth the global justice movement protest too much? >by Corvin Russell

Solidarity Now, Or Else
September 2, 2002
Yes, public sector strikes are irritating. We want our kids to go to schools that are open. We want to wait for buses that, you know, come. But public sector unions — and the fights they wage against the privitization of services — are good for you. Really! This Labour Day our writer puts the “U” back in union. >by David Rapaport

House Guests
September 10, 2002
As flights were grounded and travellers stranded across the country a year ago, Canadians opened their homes and did what they could to help. Here is the story of one of those unexpected visits — a tale of unlikely friendships and instant community. >by Audra Estrones Williams

Do I Divest?
October 16, 2002
Yesterday’s South African township dwellers can tell you about today’s life in the Occupied Territories. Divestment from apartheid South Africa was fought by ordinary people at the grassroots. Union members pressured their companies’ stockholders; students compelled their universities to change their portfolios. Eventually, institutions pulled the financial plug, and the South African government thought twice about its policies. Similar moral and financial pressures on Israel are being mustered one person at a time. > Archbishop Desmond Tutu

modest proposals — serious solutions, for serious times:

Lesbian Rangers
October 18, 2002
Armed with only the motto “Do unto lesbians as you would have lesbians do unto you,” the intrepid Lesbian Rangers have scoured the continent to bring you the oft-hidden bounty of lesbian wildlife. It’s a lesbian-eat-lesbian world out there. So, whether you’re a veteran outdoors-woman or a novice bushwhacker, you’ll want to get to know: the Lesbian Rangers. A modest proposal. >by Rangers Shawna Dempsey & Lorri Millan

Hurry, You’ve Got Diploma Therapy
October 3, 2002
An alternative course calendar. Sure, a career as a door-to-door proctologist or a small animal repairman looked good in the course calendar. Then reality bit. At rabble, we care about post-secondary education. So, here, we present some alternatives to the programs offered at community colleges today. >by Wayne MacPhail

Your Favourites:

The Idea of Democracy
January 25, 2002
“What is new politics?” This question opened a debate last Saturday that was sponsored by the New Politics Initiative. Exchanges between activist Jaggi Singh and federal MP Svend Robinson were especially heated. “Men are so emotional, ” joked moderator Judy Rebick. “We need experiments in democracy, ” said writer Naomi Klein. >by Corvin Russell

Bragg Meets Moore
April 24, 2002
It’s Tuesday, April 16, in Toronto. Hogtown, usually an ugly shade of grey at this time of year, has turned bright red. An impromptu meeting of radical celebs is caught on camera.

My Interview with Andrej
May 1, 2002
Riven by inter-ethnic conflict and new waves of neo-liberalism, the former Yugoslavia is also home to germinal leftist movements and thinkers, offering fresh ideas on the past and for the future. I recently spoke with one of them. >by Judy Rebick

The Rebel Sell
November 14, 2002
Anti-consumerism is more popular, and marketable, than ever. Books deeply critical of consumerism — No Logo, Fast Food Nation — top the non-fiction best-seller lists. You can buy Adbusters at your neighbourhood music or clothing store. But, wait a second. How can we all denounce consumerism, yet still find ourselves living in a consumer society? Part One and Part Two

More Bests!

To review the year’s advice by straight-talkin’ auntie.com (not a bad idea before you make your New Year’s resolutions), explore Best of auntie in 2002?

Whether you’re a regular babbler looking to reminisce or a timid typist looking to join the fray, you’ll want to take a peak at favourite threads of the past at The Best of babble. Babblers chomping at the bit please note: babble will be closed the week of December 23 to facilitate a server transfer, but it will reopen before you know it. Check here for details.