‘Activism’ Articles

Buffy Sainte-Marie on Tar Sands: ‘You’ve Got to Take This Seriously’

Folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie is on Neil Young’s side when it comes to the tar sands in Alberta, Canada.

In an interview in Indian Country  Sainte-Marie tells writer David Ball:

“Almost a year ago I went to Fort McMurray (Alberta) and I was just devastated  with what’s going on there. Just devastated. I just told everybody I could:  ‘You’ve got to take this seriously.’ Even since I was there, other people have  really stepped forward in their own ways, Neil Young in particular. He’s caught  a lot of criticism because he didn’t involve me, Susan Aglukark or other Native  people. Neil came to the induction ceremony in Nashville, at the Musicians Hall  of Fame, and I told him I’d seen some of the criticism and not to listen to it  at all! Because it’s so important, it has to be everybody doing whatever they  can, whenever they can, and being effective at whatever level they can be. You  reach people your way, I do it my way and Neil does it his way. But people have  to see it.”

“Good for Neil for stepping up,” she said.

Sainte-Marie lives in Hawaii, maybe she is Neil and Poncho’s  neighbor.

Tags: Alberta oil sands, Buffy Sainte-Marie, First Nations, Tar Sands
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Autographed Neil Young dog bowl

Woof. Woof.  Who let Neil’s dogs out?

You can win a dog bowl autographed by Neil Young, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.

The Winnipeg Humane Society launched its first Celebrity Dog Bowl Auction today. Visitors to its website, winnipeghumanesociety.ca can bid on 20 autographed bowls signed by the likes of Young, Underwood, Rihanna, Fleetwood Mac, Joan Rivers, George Takei or even the dog whisperer, Cesar Millan.

“This is a huge gesture, as it helps raise awareness and much-needed funds for the thousands of animals that come through our doors,” said Bill McDonald, the Humane Society’s CEO.

The bowls were donated and decorated by Winnipeg’s Brush Fire Ceramic Studio.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/WHS-celebrity-dog-bowl-auction-features-big-name-autographs-250364541.html

Tags: Celebrity Dog Bowl Auction, Winnipeg, Winnipeg Humane Society
Posted in Activism, Fun-around-Neil, Neil-unsorted-MISC-trivia, News / Article | Comments Off on Autographed Neil Young dog bowl

Neil Young’s Pollution fears are vindicated.

As our Zuman friend Pat indicated,  Canada forgot to muzzle their scientists.

Elizabeth Willoughby at Look to the Stars World of Celebrity Giving wrote that a Canadian federal government report by scientists working with Environment Canada estimated last week that Alberta oil sands are polluting ground water and toxic chemicals are seeping into the Athabasca River at rates higher than previously suspected.

Oil companies in Alberta’s oil sands create lakes, called tailings ponds, to contain the processed water and chemicals used to separate the bitumen from the sand. Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has been complaining for years that their fish have become deformed and inedible, that wildlife has disappeared and that cancer in the community has risen dramatically since the oil sands began production.

More news about the study is printed at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/federal-study-says-oil-sands-toxins-are-leaching-into-groundwater-athabasca-river/article17016054/

The scientists took 20 groundwater samples from areas at least one kilometre upstream and downstream from development. They took another seven samples from within 200 metres of two of the tailings ponds. Samples were also taken from two different tailings ponds.

The analysis was focused on so-called acid-extractable organics, which include a family of chemicals called naphthenic acids. “Their enhanced water solubility makes them prime candidates for possible migration beyond containment structures via groundwater,” the report says.

Those toxins were found in groundwater both near and far from development. But their chemical composition was slightly different nearer the mines – closer to that found in the water from the ponds.

The reports can be read here:

https://www.ec.gc.ca/scitech/default.asp?lang=En&n=D0AF1423-1

Tags: Alberta oil sands, Environmental Canada, First Nations
Posted in Activism, News / Article | 1 Comment »

Crowd-sourced filmmaker has not given up

Tom Adams, the guy who created the controversial, crowd-sourced video performance at Cargenie Hall, is not about to give up.

Ever since his film has been removed by Warner Brothers – the content mafia – from media sources, he has been fighting to bring it back.

A recent post on his Reelife Productions blog, Adams writes:

“I am wholeheartedly pursuing making the Neil Young Carnegie Hall crowdsourced concert film available to the public. I’ve contacted Lookout Management and am “waiting to have a discussion” about the best way to make this happen…(I know, I know…don’t hold my breathe)”

He enlists the help of anyone “In the know.”

There’s also an excerpt from a letter he’s written to Young’s manager Elliot Roberts.

Read more at:

http://reelifeproductions.blogspot.com/2014/02/help-make-neil-young-carnegie-hall.html

Tags: Carnegie Hall, crowd-sourcing video, Elliot Roberts, Lookout Management, Tom Adams
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Beekeeper supports Neil

He says he’s joining Neil Young’s war on ignorance.

Gray Bear, a member of the First Nations, is featured in an article by the Oceanside Star.

He is dragging a cart behind him, bedecked with a huge First Nations flag, a white Teddy bear, a music case with the CBC logo and other symbols representing Canadian icons he sees as being under attack by the Harper government.

A beekeeper and musician by trade, he holds music legend Neil Young as an icon, praising him for taking a stand against the further development of tar sands in Alberta.”I adore him for having the courage to do what he did,” he said. “People don’t realize what danger he puts himself in. He puts himself on the spot and he knows he’s going to be persecuted. He’s waging a war on ignorance.”

Read more at:

http://www.oceansidestar.com/community/joining-neil-young-s-war-on-ignorance-1.848238

Tags: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, First Nations, Gray Bear, Tar Sands
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