India: After 60 Years of Independence, Indians Still Resisting Colonialism

Today, India marks 60 years of independence with the usual: song, celebration and speech.

But despite 60 years of formal independence, India remains burdened by global empire as British capital continues to exploit poor communities in its former colony.

Centuries after Britain's East India Company -- the world's first multinational -- faced protests in London, a group of villagers continue the tradition of resistance.

Read more at Lessons of Empire: India, 60 Years After Independence, a Corpwatch special.

It's Just Like Christmas!

It's time for the fourth International Rebuild Iraq Exhibition - the trade show dedicated to showing business owners how you, too, could be capitalizing on the destruction of the infrastructure and economy of Iraq.

Well, it was so much fun last year, I guess they just couldn't help themselves.

Canadian Mining Giant Goldcorp and Corporate Social Responsibility

Dangerous levels of lead and arsenic have been found in the blood of Honduran villagers living downstream from a controversial gold and silver mine owned by Canada's Goldcorp Inc., the world's third largest gold mining firm.

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Nearly 60 percent of the mining and exploration companies in the world are Canadian. They generate more than 40 billion dollars annually, representing about four percent of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP).

"Canadians are appalled when they find out what some Canadian companies are up to in the South," but few Canadians know what is going on at mine projects in South America or elsewhere due to limited media coverage, says Karyn Keenan, programme officer with the Halifax Initiative, a coalition of Canadian environmental and human rights NGOs.

But little by little, media attention has grown, especially recently, when people from Latin America affected by mines appeared in 2006 at a series of public forums about the corporate social responsibility of Canada's mining, oil and gas sectors.

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An official report on regulating the sector's out-of-country operations will go before the Canadian government shortly. The report is "unprecedented in Canadian history," says Keenan, because it represents a consensus between NGOs, mining industry and government officials.

"Industry doesn't want strong, binding Canadian laws on their operations overseas, but there are some who know they need to do more than publish codes of ethics on their websites," she added.

Although the content of the report remains secret, it is expected to recommend that an independent dispute mechanism and ombudsman office be established to investigate complaints and conduct audits of Canadian mining, oil and gas operations abroad.

Whether the current conservative Canadian government will act on the report's recommendations remains to be seen.

Excerpted from IPS News

Challenges to CanWest's Attempt to Overturn Drug Ad Ban

Ah, CanWest, publisher of fine corporate media products such as the National Post, has hit a snag in their battle to advertise drugs directly to Canadians. But it's not over yet.

From PR Watch:

A coalition of unions, women's and health groups have been granted intervenor status in a case in which CanWest MediaWorks is seeking to overturn the Canadian government's ban on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). The groups argue that if CanWest is successful it would push up healthcare costs and undermine the sustainability of the Canadian healthcare system. CanWest is arguing that the ban on DTCA is a violation of their right to freedom of expression. In an analysis of the case, Colleen Flood and Michelle Zimmerman from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, warn against assuming that the court won't decide in the media giant's favour. "In order for the current legislation to be upheld, courts will need to be persuaded that nothing short of the existing limits on DTCA would allow the federal government to achieve its other pressing societal concerns, such as protecting patient safety. This will be a difficult task," they wrote.
SOURCE: NewsWire, November 6, 2006

Drug ads generate billions of dollars in the USA, but at a cost to the public. Running the ads in Canada will benefit only the corporate interests of pharmaceutical companies and the giant media conglomerates who profit off of the advertising revenues. Let's hope the public interest wins out instead.

Halliburton Responds to Iraq for Sale

Robert Greenwald's new documentary Iraq for Sale has already sparked a reaction from Halliburton... He writes:

We are amazed that they [Halliburton] openly admit to not seeing the film, and then proceed to attack it because they can "deduce" its content! I kid you not. Maybe they can deduce what happened to the billions they overcharged.

They accused us of being "privately funded," which is their pathetic effort to smear the 3,006 of you who contributed to make the film happen! Perfect for a corporation where the head guy, David Lesar, one of THE top war profiteers, made over $40 million.

They attack us for getting the facts wrong, with no mention of any facts we got wrong. Then THEY distort the facts -- one of my favorite being, "By all accounts, KBR's logistical achievements in support of the troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan have been nothing short of amazing."

They cite 411 million meals served, but neglect to mention how many they overcharged for. They cite 5.85 billion gallons of water, and still haven't responded on how many gallons were contaminated.

And it goes on and on... read it for yourself if you want a good laugh. http://iraqforsale.org/hbattack.php

We think it's time for Halliburton CEO David Lesar to own up, and since he's not going to do it himself, we will do it for him. Watch this television ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAxIO0VtTiY

The fight is going to get tougher, harder, and meaner. The media attention on the war profiteers is escalating: CBS News, the Washington Post and the LA Times all featured stories this weekend. The stakes are significant and Halliburton, CACI, Titan, and Blackwater* are all watching very closely and will do everything possible to secure their profits.

Read more at the Iraq for Sale blog.

* Speaking of Blackwater, I have been hearing ever more about this very scary company. Laura Flanders recently interviewed Jeremy Scahill, who has done some incredible in-depth investigative journalism covering Blackwater in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and in Iraq. The interview (Listen to the Mp3) offers a nice summary of who/what Blackwater is, and why we should be concerned. I visited their website this weekend (www.blackwaterusa.com) where they describe themselves as "a professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firm".

Military privatization... just a bad idea: pricey, dangerous, ineffective, and hard to control. It brings the U.S. perilously close to being a Failed State according to commonly used definitions, because it lacks a "monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force". Makes ya think, huh?

Of course, Blackwater seems to have no qualms about creative marketing. Their Orwellian description says they "have become the most responsive, cost-effective means of affecting the strategic balance in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere."

UPDATE: WATCH IT HERE FOR FREE

Lie By Lie: How the Iraq War was Sold

Mother Jones has a really neat, interactive timeline showing just how the case for the war on Iraq was made, starting in 1990. This is nothing controversial - they use lots of well-known mainstream sources - but it is the placing of everything in context which is so effective. The floating Cheney heads were a little creepy, though. Definitely check it out.

Iraq: War Profiteers and Misinformation

IRAQ FOR SALE: The War Profiteers documentary is soon to be released. Screening in Toronto on October 15th, 2006 and worldwide during the week of October 8-14th.

"Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so." The war in Iraq is a huge money-making opportunity for soulless corporations in a system that puts profit before people. I guess making some bucks is well worth the death of between 30,000 and 100,000 Iraqis. Sick, Sick , Sick.

The director of Iraq for Sale, Robert Greenwald, has already brought us such brilliant pieces as Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (see the walmart parody here) and Outfoxed, the excellent exposé of Fox News' propaganda machine.

Speaking of Fox, the misinformation at Fox is so overwhelming and often ridiculous we progressives often ignore it. Millions of Americans don't. The lies are truly making their way into the popular consciousness, as shows in this podcast(free mp3) by The Rational Radical, which directly links Fox to the Harris poll that showed 50% of Americans think Saddam had WMD. Fox news viewers were most likely of all to have the most such misconceptions in several areas.

Other news stations are not exempt, by the way. Fox just happens to lead the way. For detailed coverage of media misinformation, visit MediaMatters.org

Filed under: Film | War in the Middle East | Media

The Walmart workers diet

From a series of Walmart parody commercials: WM*TV: Betty's Diet Plan