Monday 17 January 2011

 

Classical Revolution at Tinto

Been a while since we've posted anything about Tinto Coffee House here, but this event sounds really nice:


Tuesday January 18th 7 PM -- Classical Revolution Toronto: An evening of Classical chamber music!


Violinist Edwin Huizinga recently made Toronto his home from San francisco where he along with his friends and colleagues started the Classical Revolution movement in California.

"We are excited to bring the community together and share the beauty of classical music for all to listen!"
Edwin Huizinga

Edwin Huizinga recently moved from San Francisco where he and some colleagues started a movement called the classical revolution. On Tuesday night, January 18th, at 7 pm Tinto will host an evening of classical music with musicians from around the city who want to take the time to play together and share some beautiful music with the community.


This is not a concert! You can still order your food and drinks while listening to classical music in a relaxed environment. Want to make a comment to the person next to you? You may. It will no be considered a major offence. Want to talk to the musicians between pieces? Still no a major offence. Bring friends, family, strangers. Be welcome.


Tinto Coffee House
Fair Trade - Latin American - Organic
89 Roncesvalles Avenue
Toronto M6R 2K6
Ph/Fx 416-530-5885
www.tinto.ca
tinto@tinto.ca

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Bajo Suelos/Under Rich Earth kicks off 2011 movie series - Tues. Jan.25th

2011 – 6TH ANNUAL TorontotheBetter MOVIE SERIES

With Toronto gearing up for its role as host of the 2015 Pan-Am Games the 6th annual TorontotheBetter Pay What You Can movie series features movies on themes of mutual interest to Torontonians and Latin America, from the impact of Canadian mining on indigenous farmers, to the plight of aboriginal inhabitants. Through its collaboration with Toronto’s Hispanic Council TorontotheBetter is working to ensure that the Pan-Am Games process brings benefits to all Torontonians, especially Toronto’s in many cases marginalized Latino community. Contribute to a better Pan-Am process by attending our 2011 movie series and learning more. As usual, a question and answer session with movie producers follows each of our screenings.

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Our first screening of 2011 is Under Rich Earth by Canadian director Malcolm Rogge on Tues. Jan.25, 2011. 7pm – OISE, Room 2-150 (252 Bloor St. West @ Bedford) Canada has one of the biggest mining industries in the world, and many Canadian mines are in South America. As Toronto prepares for the 2015 Pan-Am Games we should know more about the effects of foreign mining on the people of the South. Our first Pay What You Can movie of 2011, Under Rich Earth/Bajo Suelos Ricos, tells us about the resistance of sugarcane farmers in Ecuador to the threat to their way of life posed by Ascendant Copper of Canada. ** Malcolm Rogge, the director of Under Rich Earth will be on hand to talk about the movie and answer questions.
MOVIE Under Rich Earth is a story about ordinary people with extraordinary courage. In a remote mountain valley in Ecuador, coffee and sugarcane farmers face the dismal prospect of being forced off their land to make way for a mining project. Unprotected by the police and ignored by their government, they prepare to face down the invaders on their own. Their resistance ultimately leads to a remarkable and dangerous stand off between farmers and a band of armed paramilitaries deep in the cloud forest. In a world dominated by news of massacres and terrorism, Under Rich Earth is a surprising and poignant tale of hope and determination.


Bajo Suelos Ricos

¿Qué pasa cuando una compañía minera virtualmente desconocida recauda millones de dólares en Toronto para financiar un proyecto en Ecuador, el cual campesinos locales están determinados a frenar? ¿Hasta dónde irá la compañía para imponer su visión de progreso y obtener ganancias? Bajo Suelos Ricos cuenta la historia de un extraordinario choque entre familias campesinas y la poderosa industria minera global. En un remoto valle en Ecuador, campesinos se enfrentan con la posibilidad de serán forzados a dejar sus tierras fértiles para abrir camino a un proyecto minero. Determinados a defender la tierra que ha sido colonizada por sus abuelos, ellos se unen y arriesgan sus vidas para detener la compañía minera. Su resistencia los lleva a un histórico enfrentamiento con un bando de paramilitares armados y escondidos en el bosque nublado. Apasionado y provocativo, Bajo Suelos Ricos trae las voces críticas de las personas cuyas comunidades están divididas por fuerzas globales.

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NOTE: A portion of PWYC proceeds from the movie will go to the Junin Distance Education fund for the residents of the affected area and to set up a fund for sports facilities in Toronto’s Latino neighbourhoods.

NOTE 2: Our 2011 movie series is in partnership with the Toronto Hispanic Council

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See below for our full schedule of movies from January to April 2011

Date
Film
Director / Speaker
Duration
Movie Info

January 25 –7pm in room 2-150 at OISE(252 Bloor St. West)
Under Rich Earth / Bajo Suelos Ricos (1)
Malcolm Rogge


96 min
Ecuador, Canada, 2008

February 22 – 7pm in Room 5-280 at OISE (252 Bloor St. West)
Cuba’s Green Revolution
Luis García and Laura Heller / Alvaro Venturelli
45 min
Cuba, Canada, 2007

March 22 – 7pm in Room 5-280 at OISE (252 Bloor St. West)
Matices (2): Toronto premiere
Araón Díaz / Janet McLaughlin
60 min
Mexico, Canada, 2010

April 12 – venue TBA
El Juicio de Pascual Pichún
María Teresa Larraín / David Sablosky
65 min
Chile, 2008




(1) http://underrichearth.ryecinema.com/?page_id=3

(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9IqKXTyRY4

Saturday 15 January 2011

 

Vote for Foxconn for World's Worst Company at Public Eye Awards 2011

From a recent Maquila Solidarity Network email:


Vote for Foxconn for World's Worst Company at Public Eye Awards 2011
Last year we asked you to participate in an action alert by writing to Apple urging the company to address the deplorable labour practices which have been linked to more than a dozen worker suicides last year at its Chinese supplier Foxconn. Now MSN is supporting our colleagues at GoodElectronics in their drive to get Foxconn voted as the world's worst company at the Public Eye Awards 2011.

The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer produces high-end equipment for Apple, Dell, HP, Nintendo, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and other global brands. Working under miserable conditions for minimal pay in giant Chinese factories at least 18 workers committed suicide in 2010. All suicide victims were migrant workers in the 17 to 25 age group.

Excessive mandatory overtime, miserable wages, military-style management, and humiliating punishments are the norm at Foxconn, and despite the public outcry over employee suicides working conditions at the world’s largest electronics supplier have not improved. Employees require approval even to go to the toilet and the only labour representation permitted is the company’s own pseudo trade-union.

Click here to vote for Foxconn for world's worst company.

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Wednesday 12 January 2011

 

MSN appeal: Support Cambodian workers fired for striking for living wage

Forwarded from the Maquila Solidarity Network:

"On September 18, 2010 over 300 Cambodian garment workers, many of them trade-union leaders, were unjustly suspended or fired from their jobs for participating in a nation-wide strike for an increase in the minimum wage. Since then, efforts to get them reinstated have failed, despite a court order and the government calling on employers to allow the workers to return to work.

The workers had been striking to demand a minimum monthly wage of US$ 93, which is considered to be the minimal "living wage" in Cambodia as calculated by labour groups and unions in the country. The strike lasted for three days and received massive support from workers throughout the country, culminating on the last day when over 200,000 workers from around 90 factories joined the protest.

The strike was called to an end by union leaders after the Ministry of Social Affairs invited them for a meeting to discuss their demands. However, when the garment workers returned to work the next day, they were confronted with mass dismissals of the unionized workers who had participated in the strike, and dozens of legal cases filed against union leaders."

Read more and take action!

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Sunday 9 January 2011

 

LET THEM STAY!

Day of Action in support of US Iraq War resisters
Join Canadians across the country in support of US Iraq War resisters, who are currently threatened with deportation by the Conservative minority government.

Saturday, January 22, 1:00pm-2:30pm
Steelworkers Hall
25 Cecil Street, TORONTO  (near College and Spadina)


With special guests:
Ashlea Brockway Ashlea and her husband Jeremy sought refuge in Canada with their family after he refused to return to fight in Iraq.
Alyssa Manning legal counsel
… and video interview with Iraq War resister Jeremy Brockway • mass letter-writing • refreshments
*****
     From January 15 to 22 people across Canada will participate in a national “Let Them Stay Week”. From film nights to public forums, from music events to information pickets, events are already being planned in Grand Forks, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Windsor, Sudbury, Toronto, Peterborough, Newmarket, Fredericton, Halifax and St. John's.
     It was seven years ago that Jeremy Hinzman and his family arrived in Toronto, after Jeremy refused to deploy to Iraq. Jeremy was the first US Iraq War resister to seek asylum in Canada.
     Since then, Canadians have mobilized by the thousands to ensure that US soldiers who refused to participate in the illegal and immoral war in Iraq be allowed to stay in Canada. The overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose the Iraq War and two-thirds support US Iraq War resisters. The Iraq War Logs released by Wikileaks show that war resisters were right to say no: by the US military’s own estimates, the Iraq War has killed more than 100,000 people, two-thirds of them civilians. Many were victims of massacres and torture.

     Canada's Parliament has voted twice to stop deporting Iraq War resisters and to let them stay—reaffirming Canada’s proud tradition of welcoming conscientious objectors. But the minority Conservative government has refused to respect the traditions and democratic decisions of Canadians, and instead has deported war resisters to be jailed in the US.
      Canada's Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney has prejudiced the immigration proceedings of Iraq War resisters by making biased comments in the media and by issuing a directive to immigration officers that singles out war resisters as potential criminals.
     The Harper government has been hoping that Canadians will forget about the Iraq War, and lose interest in the plight of the principled individuals who said no to that war. But Canadians have not forgotten – and Wikileaks has brought home the cruel reality of that war once again. We urge all those who support Iraq War resisters to make their voices heard during Let Them Stay Week and remind politicians, as Parliament gets set to resume at the end of January, that Canadians want to Let Them Stay!

Organized by the War Resisters Support Campaign
http://www.resisters.ca/
• 416.598.1222 •
resisters@sympatico.ca

Friday 7 January 2011

 

Workshop: Make History: An Unauthorized Biography of the World

Saturday, January 22nd, 1-4pm

An exploration with Michael Riordon, writer/documentary-maker/oral historian. His recent book, An Unauthorized Biography of the World, documents the recovery of silenced voices in several countries, including Palestine. Michael will illustrate oral history in action with audio excerpts from interviews he recorded in the Middle East for his new book, Our Way to Fight: peace-work under siege in Israel-Palestine.

We'll explore the whys and hows of drawing out life histories – negotiating trust, then recording, preserving, and sharing these vital resources. Please bring: your own voice, your history, and your imagination.

This exploration may evolve into a longer-term community project to ensure that the stories of Nakba survivors in the Toronto area live on.

Michael Riordon works in print (books and articles), film, video and radio documentaries, plays for stage, radio and the street. A primary goal of his work is to recover voices/stories of people(s) erased from the official version. Each adds an essential fragment to the human story, our collective work-in-progress. Michael also leads courses and workshops on how to do this work.

His forthcoming book, Our Way to Fight, explores the hazardous lives of people fighting for peace, justice and human rights on both sides of the wall in Israel-Palestine. It will be released in January 2011 by Pluto Press and Between the Lines. Visit: www.mywaytofight.ca. Blog: www.mywaytofight.wordpress.com

Books by Michael Riordon are available for sale at Beit Zatoun.

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Need to know:
- $10 for the workshop
- Sorry, not wheelchair accessible

Beit Zatoun
612 Markham Street (by Bathurst subway)
info@beitzatoun.org
647.726.9500
www.beitzatoun.org

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