Travis Tomchuk, legendary front-dude of G7 heavy-weights Malefaction was recently in up in Tyendinaga (Mohawk land being stripped of resources by the Federal and Provincial Government of Ontario), helping install insulation for the coming winter. He also forwarded the following interview with Shawn Brant, spokesperson for the Bay of Quinte Mohawks who is facing 12 years in jail for his part in actions that closed the CN rail lines through Tyendinaga on April 20, 2006 and 2007, and the 401 and rail lines June 29, 2007. Very interesting indeed. For more information, solidarity action suggestions, and donations details for the Tyendinaga Legal Defence Fund go here. Interview with Shawn Brant, Nov. 7, 2007. by Matt Silburn, Kingston Indigenous Solidarity Network Matt Silburn: I don't feel like regular Canadians, understand that what seems like an increased militancy on indigenous territory within Canada is coming from a cultural revitalization. Or that's how it seems to me anyway, I wonder if you'd speak to that. Shawn Brant: Well it's interesting because I think the cultural revitalization comes from the militancy and not the other way around. I think that what has happened even in the last year has created a sense of pride and optimism that wasn't otherwise available to young people living in First Nations communities. Particularly when the demographics show that 50% of the community is under the age of 22. There really wasn't a belief that learning the culture, learning the language, learning that attachment to the land was important because there was no pride that was being taken in the community or from leadership or a direction that promoted that. I think in the last year, young people have come to realize that there are options available rather than the status quo and waiting for things to happen and it's that whole taking control of your life and making things happen. I think that that has allowed for what we see now, that community, that culture, that integrity and that pride. And people are seeing that in First nations communities just because you're poor, doesn't mean that you're lacking of character and integrity and culture. And it's nice. It's a nice change. We know that those are the types of feelings that reduce the number of suicides. And even if there isn't any immediate financial relief, there needs to be immediate an social relief. And that's best demonstrated by the actions that have been taken, and militant action.

As G7 has long been among the handful who have made (colossally modest) contributions to "enriching and enlarging the pursuit" of Participatory Economics (Parecon), it seems only fitting to acknowledge Michael Albert's staggeringly sober and often hilarious reflections on his relentless decade-and-a-half advocacy of a proposal to reorganize society. Parecon ...

This is from back in February, but is related to a recent post i made on the Propagandhi site about Ralph Nader. I could not have said it better myself: Hedges on Nader

(Reprinted here from Counterpunch) By Natsu Saito In the next few weeks, the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado (CU) will vote on the dismissal of Professor Ward Churchill. This is the final opportunity for public input in this process. Over the past two and a half years, many of you have opposed CU's attempts to fire Ward. Ward and I have engaged in this struggle not for the sake of his job (he will always write, speak and teach), nor because we enjoy battling bureaucracy, but because it has become emblematic of contemporary efforts to silence those who insist on discussing uncomfortable truths. Since February 2005, CU administrators have been under intense political and financial pressure to fire Ward for his statements about the 9/11 attacks. To avoid blatantly violating the First Amendment, they have resorted to a pretextual investigation of his scholarship. After combing through a media barrage of unfounded allegations and his more than 20 books, 100 articles, and over 12,000 footnotes, CU has settled for firing Ward Churchill, a tenured full professor, for six instances of alleged improper footnoting or author attribution (see details below). Predictably, this has provided sufficient excuse for those who wish to distance themselves from this "controversy" and still believe they support academic freedom. For organizations like Lynne Cheney's neoconservative American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), it is a major victory for the corporatization of higher education. However, those who look beyond the headlines and CU's self-serving pronouncements have recognized it as a charade.

The name William Blum may be familiar to some of you, if not for his contributions to Propagandhi records then perhaps for his unsolicited and hilariously surreal endorsement from one Osama Bin Laden. Mr. Blum is the author of the Anti-Empire Report, a monthly (give or take a month) dressing ...