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Daily edition of our Newsletter for the months of September 2007 to August 2008
The Global Community has held the Global Information Media (GIM) proclamations ever since 1985. A short list of our previous work on the
Global Information Media proclamations is shown here. 
For more recent work on the Global Information Media proclamations, read the following table.
For more recent work on the Global Information Media proclamations, read the following table.
| Date sent | Theme or issue | Read |
| August 29, 2008 |
A large scale war is now unavoidable, and we have all contributed to it through our obtuse obsession with ourselves and our ideals, and our lack of holistic understanding of human interaction.
Week after week, escalation is the game being played by ³our² governments. Every country flexing its muscle to see what it is able to obtain, as the cake of global resources is safely being distributed between those with access to the knife. The British fighting for the little bit of oil which they might be able to extract, if they push the boundaries of their empire past the legal 200 nautical miles from the shoreline of its colonized Ascension Island. The Americans pushing for their famous missile shield in the ex-soviet states, which for years now professor Chomsky has been labeling as a declaration of war. The Israelis focused on their territorial expansion on Palestinian land, through their now world-renowned settlements. The Russians with their personal conflict in Georgia, which the international community of hypocrites is unanimously condemning, with the same might as they unanimously support every aggression they personally wish to impart.
Literally every country in the world, no matter where we look, is bent on this culture of aggression. Nobody is able to trust anybody, because deep down we all know that we are selfish, and as soon as we can, we are going to do everything possible to get on top of the game. But the worse thing of all, is that we look at our countries as if they were people with a life of their own -- we talk about America as if it was a conquering woman, the pom-pom girl of world aggression, we look at Britain as the wise old fashioned conservative who thinks he knows everything, while Russia is the head of the Mafia and Israel the holder of the truth, the bearer of humanity¹s suffering.
Farcical stereotypes have been continuously set up by very effective spin-doctors with enough resources to govern the world. Put a barking dog behind a herd of sheep and they are bound to go in the direction you plan for them to follow. That is what we have today - barking dogs disguised as politicians, and sheep seeing themselves as citizens with a right to vote. The problem is that in this equation there is no shepherd to guide anyone to greener pastures. This is status quo necessary for those in power to remain in power, building fraudulent imagery about the true state of the world.
It is this Status quo, which allows popular debate to remain framed in words like hope and change for Obama, as he sits in the foundations of corporate America, presenting his strategy for change, while demonstrators outside of Denver¹s freedom cage are getting arrested. The same status quo, which constantly reminds us of McCain¹s bravery as a POW, in a war which was unjustified and which killed many innocent Vietnamese civilians. The status quo, which allows for 90 Afghan civilians to be killed in one day by American troops, without a single minute of mourning by civilized Americans who claim to be helping them.
The problem is that global populations seem either too naïve, too ignorant, too indifferent, or too powerless, to reject this social reality and confront it with serious intentions for change.
As our politicians keep fighting for power while rallying the national flag, millions of people are confronting each other without knowing each other. Yet, as the suffering keeps mounting with the ringing of war bells, none of those firmly behind their candidates are gaining much from these paramilitary adventures. Only the corporate interests of a very small global elite keep pushing ahead, as their lapdog politicians keep barking, and the herd of sheep keeps moving towards what Samuel P. Huntington coined as the clash of civilizations.
Mired in our own limited sphere of thought, dealing with our own personal problems, we are too disconnected from each other to ever get a grasp of the fact that no matter what our politicians tell us, Americans and Iraqis, French and Afghans, Iranians and Israelis, Russians and British and the rest of us, we are not all that different from each other. Yet, because most of us only know each other through the imagery of the television set, we allow our barking politicians to lead the way towards conflict.
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| August 29, 2008 | Georgian Crisis Heightens US-Russian Tensions Over Ukraine by Niall Green, WSWS.org, Countercurrents.org
The crisis in the Caucasus provoked by Washington’s belligerent policy toward Russia may soon be eclipsed by growing tensions over the future of Ukraine.
Following the Russian military response to Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia August 7, Ukraine’s pro-US president, Viktor Yushchenko, flew to Tbilisi to offer political support to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
On his return, he restated his intention that Ukraine become a member of the US-dominated NATO military alliance, adding that, in the light of the situation in Georgia, Ukraine should boost its military defences. “We very much hope that a positive decision will be taken this year,” Yushchenko said.
In a further provocative move, he issued a presidential decree demanding that Russia give 72 hours’ notice before moving vessels from its Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol in the Ukrainian province of Crimea. He also reiterated his call for Russia to remove its fleet from the Crimean port when its lease expires in 2017.
Immediately after the Georgian-Russian conflict, Yushchenko issued a decree ending participation in the 1992 agreement with Russia on the use of radar stations in Ukraine, claiming that Moscow had broken its side of the accord.
Instead, Yushchenko said he would welcome Western cooperation in running the radar stations. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said that the country could “launch active cooperation with European nations” on missile defence, possibly including “the integration of Ukrainian elements of missile early warning and space control systems with those of foreign countries that are interested in gathering space data.”
Into this highly combustible mix stepped British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. Speaking in Kiev on Wednesday, Miliband gave a confrontational speech condemning Russia’s actions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ignoring the Georgian assault that sparked the conflict.
In response to Yushchenko’s threats, Russian authorities accused Kiev of aiding the Georgian assault on South Ossetia. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Ukraine had been “supplying weaponry to Georgia so that it got armed to the teeth, and with that, directly encouraging the Georgian authorities to start the intervention and ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia.”
Ukraine had “no moral right to tutor others and seek to participate in the settlement,” the statement added.
During the fighting in Georgia, Moscow media reported that a Russian Tu-22 bomber was shot down over Georgia with an S-200 surface-to-air missile supplied by Ukraine. “We know that Kiev sold several SAM systems to Tbilisi. Among those, there could be the S-200 systems,” an unnamed Russian military figure said.
A republic of the Soviet Union until 1991, Ukraine today is at the frontline of Washington’s efforts to dominate Eurasia. Following the success of the so-called “Rose Revolution” in Georgia in 2003, which brought Shaakashvili to power with the aid of financial and logistical support from the US, Washington turned its attention to Ukraine, which had retained close political and economic ties to Russia. Over one million Ukrainians work in Russia, while 30 percent of Ukrainians have Russian as their first language. It was, in part, to close this window that Washington intervened by orchestrating and sponsoring the “Orange Revolution.” However, since gaining power, the “Orange” coalition has proven very unstable and has been beset by rivalries between different oligarchic interests. Despite coming to power on the promise of cleaning up corruption and improving the living standards and freedoms of the Ukrainian people, Yushchenko has presided over a regime that is widely hated for being at least as corrupt and servile to big business interests as the previous Kuchma-Yanukovich government. Opinion polls put support for Yushchenko at under 10 percent. Nearly two-fifths of the population live below the official poverty line. In foreign policy, Yushchenko has maintained the unpopular pro-Washington policy, based on demands for Ukraine admission to NATO—a move that polls have indicated is opposed by up to 75 percent of the population. There are well-founded fears in Kiev that a further souring of relations with Moscow and moves towards NATO membership could spark opposition within Crimea, an autonomous republic with strong historical, cultural and economic ties to Russia, raising the prospect of a South Ossetian scenario whose consequences would be even more catastrophic than the conflict with Georgia. |
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| August 28, 2008 | Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party presidential nomination by Senator Barack Obama
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough! This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive.
What is that promise?
It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.
It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of
the road.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our
toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.
That’s the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.
That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores. Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend. That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours – a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot. And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream. The men and women who gathered there could’ve heard many things. They could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred. But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one. “We cannot walk alone,” the preacher cried. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess. |
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| August 27, 2008 | Child abuse, child pornography on the Internet, and trafficking in human beings must be stopped
Letter to the Global Community sent by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
This is our fourth report on the global problems of child abuse, child pornography on the Internet, and trafficking in human beings, all of which must be stopped. First report October 2003: Global Community investigation concerning child pornography on Internet  Second report February 2003: Nuclear arsenal and child pornography on The Internet, both are products of mass destruction Third report February 14, 2007: The third option: Global Law, the need to have it, and the benefits (Part II) Fight against trafficking in human beings The Global Community has been one of the very first organizations to warn the public concerning child pornography on Internet. Along with child abuse and the trafficking in human beings, child pornography on Internet are very important global problems which we must deal with and stop. Over the years, these problems have intensified in scale, human pain and helplessness, and corruption of our basic moral values and principles which made us civilized. It is hard to see that these problems are practically out of control and will only get worse with the growing of the Internet. The Earth Community Organization (ECO) has been investigating child pornographic materials found on the Internet and their impacts on future generations. There are child predators on the Internet. Communications age has opened a whole new world for children to explore and learn from, the "information superhighway", the Internet, also has a dark side we all need to understand. Just as predators pray on land and nations (read Letter to the American People concerning american policies in the world), paedophiles are also predators. They surf the Internet waiting to lure innocent children into their web of deviance. This time technology has made it easy for a paedophile to find potential victims. The predator can remain in teen and pre-teen chat rooms indefinitely. Parents must educate their children of any age of the following rules: * Make sure the computer is clearly visible and not hidden away in a child's room. * Check on what your children are doing on-line. Who are they chatting to, what web sites are being visited. * Use software to disallow websites that show pornographic materials. * Your children must NEVER give out any personal information such as their name, address, telephone numbers, the school attended, or the shopping centres visited. * Your children must NEVER send anyone a photograph or any other item via The Internet to strangers without obtaining your permission. * Your children must NEVER communicate to any message that makes them feel uncomfortable. (unsolicited e-mail or e-mail from strangers) Don't allow someone to say nasty or naughty things to them. * Your children must NEVER agree to meet with anyone they have met on-line. |
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| August 25, 2008 |
Congratulations to the Chinese people for the quality of organization of the Olympic Games, high scores, and the quality of opening and closing of the games by Guy CREQUIE Ambassadeur de la Paix  Cercle Universel des Ambassadeurs de la Paix  Universal Ambassador Peace Circle guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr Global Community peace Movement Guy CREQUIE Global file Our Global Community volunteers will help you http://www2.blogger.com/profile/16097917629603014188 http://guycrequie.blogspot.com http://poetesaparis.aceblog.fr
Chers amis,
J'adresse en mon nom personnel, mes plus vives félicitations au peuple chinois pour la qualité de son organisation des jeux olympiques,ses résultats sportifs, la qualité de l'accueil et ses magnifiques : ouverture et conclusion des jeux. Vive l'amitié et la fraternité entre les peuples; dans le respect des diversités culturelles, afin de favoriser la paix et le dialogue entre les civilisations. Au-delà des débats et avancées nécessaires de la compréhension des uns et des autres sur certains points vitaux pour les droits et devoirs de la personne, c'est ce que je retiens de cette quinzaine des jeux. Cordialement. Guy CREQUIE Poète et écrivain français Dear friends, I address in my personal name, my more sharp congratulations with the Chinese people for quality of his organization of the Olympic Games, his scores, the quality of the reception and his splendid: opening and conclusion of the plays. Live the friendship and fraternity between the people; in the respect of cultural diversities in order to support peace and the dialog between civilizations. Beyond the debates and projections necessary of the comprehension of the ones and others on certain vital points for the rights and duties of the person, it is what I retain of these about fifteen the plays. Cordially. Guy CREQUIE French poet and writer |
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| August 25, 2008 | Evolving Indian Civilizational Setting: Pluralism vs. Fundamentalism by Purti Marwaha, Countercurrents.org
Instead of solving the Amarnath land issue, peoples mind is drifting towards other trifling and stern issues, which has bad ramifications for Indian Unity and Integrity. The fact which is causing utmost trouble is the rise of separatist forces in the valley, which are causing obliteration, destruction and almost elimination of the very bases of India that is, Unity and Integrity.
Four of the most important debates facing India are the bread vs. freedom debate, the centralization vs. federalism debate, the pluralism vs. fundamentalism debate and the 'coca-colonization' debate, or globalization vs. self-reliance debate. The debate on pluralism vs. fundamentalism is growing its branches to its maximum, and with the passage of time, the possibility is that this debate will change the color combination of Indian politics.
It is indeed undoubledly strange that the religion which should be confined to the individual personalities and perceptions of the people of the country being the means to find the God Almighty through their respective means has been exploited by the so called fundamental forces in the Nation which causes such a situation that the people instead of focusing on their growth and development start fighting on the issues, which not only infringes their growth and development but also creates volatile situation where the Nation's integrity itself comes to stake.
All this is likely to come, if the people attempt at educating themselves while breaking the shackles of religion, which indeed while having the highest pedestal in one's life has to be confined to one's life for the peaceful mergence of the soul with the God Almighty. For this one has to stop the so called communal forces from proceeding further with their designs and to work in concrete manner to the growth of this nation harmoniously rather than fighting egoistic wars which may only cause the disaster to the nation state. We, the Indians, should thus break the religious barriers and work for a changing nation, where the people have comfortable amenities to live and contribute in the growth of the nation state, which while competing with the world at large, ensure the self sustenance of the nation state.
Solution of this problem only lies within the hands of the masses. What is really called for is the evolution of the masses of the country to a state of harmony and tolerance in the situations of difficulty or so called igniting religious issues and to call upon them to concentrate on their growth while also working with a motivation to develop the nation. It means that the focus should not be on the traditional perception that "I am Right and You are Wrong", but on lateral thinking or parallel thinking. |
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| August 25, 2008 | Katrina Pain Index – New Orleans Three Years Later by Bill Quigley, Countercurrents.org
0. Number of renters in Louisiana who have received financial assistance from the $10 billion federal post-Katrina rebuilding program Road Home Community Development Block Grant – compared to 116,708 homeowners.
0. Number of apartments currently being built to replace the 963 public housing apartments formerly occupied and now demolished at the St. Bernard Housing Development. 0. Amount of data available to evaluate performance of publicly financed privately run charter schools in New Orleans in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. 10. Number of apartments being rehabbed so far to replace the 896 apartments formerly occupied and now demolished at the Lafitte Housing Development. 43. Percentage of child care available in New Orleans compared to before Katrina. 6,982. Number of families still living in FEMA trailers in metro New Orleans area. 12,000. Number of homeless in New Orleans even after camps of people living under the bridge has been resettled - double the pre-Katrina number. 14,000. Number of displaced families in New Orleans area whose hurricane rental assistance expires March 2009. 32,000. Number of children who have not returned to public school in New Orleans, leaving the public school population less than half what is was pre-Katrina. 39,000. Number of Louisiana homeowners who have applied for federal assistance in repair and rebuilding who have still not received any money. 71,657. Vacant, ruined, unoccupied houses in New Orleans today. 320 million. The number trees destroyed in Louisiana and Mississippi by Katrina. |
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| August 25, 2008 | Reinventing The Evil Empire by Stephen Lendman, Countercurrents.org
Russia is back, proud and reassertive, and not about to roll over for America. Especially in Eurasia. For Washington, it's back to the future, the new Cold War, and reinventing the Evil Empire, but this time for greater stakes and with much larger threats to world peace. Conservatives lost their influence. Neocons are weakened but still dominant. The Israeli Lobby and Christian Right drive them. Conflict is preferred over diplomacy, and most Democrats go along to look tough on "terrorism." Notably their standard-bearer, vying with McCain to be toughest.
Ten former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Republics are part of NATO: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In addition, Georgia and Ukraine seek membership. Russia is strongly opposed. And now for greater reason after Poland (on August 20) formally agreed to allow offensive US "interceptor missiles" on its soil. A reported 96 short-range Patriot ones also plus a permanent garrison of US troops - 110 transfered from Germany, according to some accounts. Likely more to follow. In addition, Washington agreed to defend Poland whether or not it joins NATO, so that heightens tensions further.
The Warsaw signing followed the Czech Republic's April willingness to install "advanced tracking missile defense radar" by 2012. In both instances, Russia strongly objected, and on August 20 said it will "react (and) not only through diplomatic protests." Both former Warsaw Pact countries are now targets. The threat of nuclear war is heightened. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock heads closer to midnight - meaning "catastrophic destruction." It's no joking matter.
The Iraq war and Iran are distractions by his calculus. The real Great Game embraces all Eurasia and assuring America comes out dominant - not Russia, not China, nor any rival US alliance.
He explained that Iran's missiles can't reach Europe, and that Washington rejected Russia's proposed Azerbaijan-based joint US-Russian anti-missile system - to intercept and destroy Iranian missiles on launch. He thus concluded that Washington's scheme is for offense, not defense. That it targets Russia, not Iran, with Alaskan and other installations close to Russia as further proof. He wrote: "The strategic significance of the system consists of intercepting those few dozen missiles Moscow (can launch) following a first strike. (It's) a crucial element....to develop a nuclear first strike capacity against Russia. The original plan is for....ten interceptor missiles in Poland. But once....established, their number could be easily increased."
For the moment, anti-Iranian rhetoric has subsided with Russia the new dominant villian.
Not a major media hint that Georgia is a US vassal state. That its military is an extension of the Pentagon. That its aggression was manufactured in Washington. That it's well-supplied and trained by America and Israel. That pipeline geopolitics is central. Beating up on Russia as well. Diverting Moscow from any planned intervention against Iran. Even enlisting Russia's cooperation - not to sell Iran sophisticated S-300 air defense missile systems and agreeing to tougher sanctions in return for perhaps Washington deferring on Georgian and Ukrainian NATO admission and recognizing S. Ossetian and Abkhazian independence. Perhaps more as well to put off greater confrontation for later under a new administration.
Clearly, however, the fuse is lit. It has been for some time. It relates to everything strategic about this vital area with its immense energy and other resources as well neutralizing Russia's power as America's top rival and key Eurasian competitor.
Controlling the region's oil and gas is crucial and what Michel Chossudovsky explains in his August 22 article titled: "The Eurasian Corridor: Pipeline Geopolitics and the New Cold War." He calls the Caucasus crisis "intimately related to the control over energy pipeline and transportation corridors (and cites) evidence that the Georgian (August 7) attack....was carefully planned (in) High level consultations (between) US and NATO officials" months in advance.
Efforts are largely directed against Russia, China and Iran as well as other Eastern-allied states. It's to turn all Eurasia into a "free market" paradise, secure it for capital, assure US dominance, control its resources, exploit its people, transform all its nations into American vassals, and likely aim to dismantle Russia's huge landmass if that idea ever comes to fruition.
The stakes are huge as both sides prepare to confront them. All part of the new Cold War and Great Game. Reinventing the Evil Empire and beating up on Russia as part of it. Risking a potential nuclear confrontation as well and what a new US president will inherit with no assurance a Democrat will be any more able than a Republican. And with a global economic crisis unresolved, either one may resort to the age old strategy of stoking fear, going to war, hoping it will stimulate the economy, and be able to divert public concerns away from lost jobs, home foreclosures, and a whole array of other unaddressed issues. Will the Doomsday Clock strike midnight? It moved two minutes closer on January 17, 2007 to five minutes to the hour. It cited 27,000 nuclear weapons, 2000 ready to launch in minutes. It said: "We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since....Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices." It said the situation is "dire." It called for immediate preventive action. |
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| August 25, 2008 | Obama Selects Biden To Reassure The US Ruling Elite by Patrick Martin, Countercurrents.org
The selection of Senator Joseph Biden as the vice-presidential candidate of the Democratic Party underscores the fraudulent character of the Democratic primary campaign and the undemocratic character of the entire two-party electoral system. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, the supposed protagonist of “change,” has picked as his running-mate a fixture of the Washington establishment, a six-term US senator who is a proven defender of American imperialism and the interests of big business.
The rollout of the Biden selection over three days of escalating media attention, culminating in the text-message announcement early Saturday and a kickoff rally in Springfield, Illinois, is a metaphor for the entire Obama campaign. His presidential candidacy represents not an insurgency from below, but an effort to manipulate mass sentiments, using Internet technology and slick marketing techniques, aided by a compliant media, to produce a political result that is utterly conventional and in keeping with the requirements of the US ruling elite.
Long gone are the days when the selection of a vice-presidential candidate by one of the two major big business parties involved a complex balancing act between various institutional forces. In the Democratic Party, this would have involved consultations with trade union officials, civil rights organizations, congressional leaders and the heads of particularly powerful state and urban political machines.
Today, neither party has any substantial popular base.
In both parties there is only one true “constituency”: the financial aristocracy that dominates economic and political life and controls the mass media, and whose interests determine government policy, both foreign and domestic. The selection of Biden, the senator from a small state with only three electoral votes, whose own presidential bids have failed miserably for lack of popular support, underscores the immense chasm separating the entire political establishment from the broad mass of the American people.
Obama has selected Biden to provide reassurance that, whatever populist rhetoric may be employed for electoral purposes in the fall campaign, the wealth and privileges of the ruling elite and the geo-strategic aims of US imperialism will be the single-minded concerns of a Democratic administration.
In the 1990s, with Bill Clinton in the White House, Biden was one of the principal proponents of US intervention in the former Yugoslavia, a role that he describes in his campaign autobiography, published last year, as his proudest achievement in foreign policy. In the mid-1990s he called for the US to arm the Bosnian Muslim regime against Serbia, and then advocated a direct US attack on Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, joining with a like-minded Republican senator to introduce the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, authorizing Clinton to use “all necessary force” against Serbia.
This legislative proposal provided a model for a 2002 congressional resolution authorizing Bush to wage war against Iraq, which Biden co-authored with Republican Senator Richard Lugar. The Bush administration opposed the Biden-Lugar resolution, because it was limited to ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, and successfully pressured the Democratic-controlled Senate to adopt a broader war resolution, for which Biden voted.
Biden was one of the most fervent Democratic supporters of the reactionary 2005 legislation overhauling the consumer bankruptcy laws, making it much more difficult for working class and middle-class families to escape debt burdens exacerbated by the corrupt and misleading marketing tactics employed by companies like MBNA. The 2005 law has compounded the problems of distressed homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure.
Biden defended the bankruptcy bill during the Senate debate and voted for the legislation along with the overwhelming majority of Republicans, including John McCain. Obama opposed the bill, and has attacked it repeatedly during the 2008 campaign as a punitive measure against working families.
Biden’s record on Iraq makes his selection as the vice-presidential candidate all the more cynical, since he was an enthusiastic supporter of the war far longer than most Senate Democrats. He advocated measures to drastically increase the scale of the violence in order to win the war, including the dispatch of 100,000 additional US troops and the breakup of Iraq into separate Sunni, Shia and Kurdish statelets—on the model of the former Yugoslavia—which would presumably be more easy to control.
In the run-up to the launching of the unprovoked US aggression in March 2003, Biden echoed Bush administration propaganda. At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee just after Secretary of State Colin Powell’s notorious appearance before the United Nations Security Council in February 2003, Biden gushed, “I am proud to be associated with you. I think you did better than anyone could have because of your standing, your reputation and your integrity ...” Every major element of Powell’s indictment of Iraq has since proven to be false.
Biden has carved out a niche as the Democratic presidential candidate most willing to publicly rebuke antiwar sentiment. In the course of the debate, Biden attacked those who suggested that by threatening a quick withdrawal, the US government could compel Iraqi politicians to establish a stable government in Baghdad. He denounced illusions “that there is any possibility in the lifetime of anyone here of having the Iraqis get together, have a unity government in Baghdad that pulls the country together. That will not happen.... It will not happen in the lifetime of anyone here.” In other words, the US occupation would have to continue indefinitely. There have been numerous suggestions from Democratic Party officials and the media over the past few days that, given Biden’s reputation for verbal confrontation, his selection signals a more aggressive attitude from the Obama campaign. On his record, however, it is quite likely that Biden will be deployed as an “attack dog” against antiwar critics of the Obama campaign. This response only confirms a fundamental truth about the political crisis facing working people in the United States: it is impossible to conduct a serious struggle against American imperialism, and its program of social reaction and war, without first breaking free of the straitjacket of the Democratic Party. Working people have no stake in the outcome of the Obama-McCain contest, which will determine, for the American ruling elite, who will be their commander-in-chief over the next four years. The task facing the working class is to break with the two-party system and build an independent political movement based on a socialist and internationalist program. |
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| August 25, 2008 | NATO: A Tool Of U.S. Imperialism by Ghali Hassan, Countercurrents.org
The U.S.-controlled North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has lost its purpose to continue as a defence alliance. However, its aggressive expansion is endangering world peace and the survival of the planet.
Despite its irrelevant role, NATO has become part of the U.S. military. Instead of dismantling the once defence alliance, the U.S. pushed to enlarge NATO and expand its boundaries. The U.S. has lured most European nations, including former Warsaw Pact members, the so-called “New Europe”, to join its military. Poland, Hungry and the Czech Republic joined in 1999; Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuanian, Estonia, Slovakia and Romania in 2004, others are waiting in line. Becoming a NATO member proves to be a profit bonanza for U.S.-Israeli weapon industries and arm dealers. All new recruits into NATO are obliged to increase their “defence” budgets to modernise and enlarge their military arsenals at the expense of vital public services.
It is important to bear in mind that the U.S.-NATO demands for expansion have met with opposition from Russia, China – with a legitimate concern against unprovoked threat – and nations such as Germany, the Netherlands and France. Almost all new mini-dictators supported the illegal U.S. aggression against the Iraqi people. They are in complete complicity in the war crimes committed by the regime of George Bush despite overwhelming majority of their citizens’ opposition to U.S. aggression. From the criminal U.S. aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the ongoing murderous occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, the new European armies have become U.S. foot soldiers serving U.S. imperialist interests.
Engineering and using crisis in Europe and elsewhere, the U.S. cancelled the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) in order to locate ABMs and to lure more nations to sign up for the system, including Australia, South Korea and Japan. Under the fraudulent pretext of defence against “rogue” states, the U.S. has just signed a “deal” with Poland to station on Polish soil U.S. “interceptor missiles”. The provocative deal is seen by Russians as a dangerous opportunity for the U.S. to expand its military presence and threat across the world. Poland hailed the deal as a counter to Russian “threat”. Of course Poland is fully aware that the missiles are against Russia not Iran, as the U.S. continues to mislead the public. After Poland, the U.S. is planning to build a twin anti-missile radar system in the Czech Republic. Many Poles as well as Czechs are against the deals and rightly believe their countries are becoming vassal states of a dangerous U.S. militarism.
Since the end of the so-called “Cold War”, the U.S. aim has always been a quest for imperialist domination of the globe through U.S. militarism, including the establishment of U.S. military bases in strategic areas of the world. The U.S. policy of destabilising Russia and undermining Russia’s integration with Europe is aimed at controlling Eurasia’s natural resources . The events of 9/11 provided the U.S. with a pretext to justify the U.S. war on Islam and a global imperialist expansion.
It is hard to believe that the recent unprovoked aggression by Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili against the semi-independent district of South Ossetia wasn’t engineered by the U.S. ruling class in Washington.
Russia has a legitimate right to protect its citizens. Most Ossetians are Russian citizens and do not want to be dominated by a racist Georgia. Russia’s response to Saakachvili’s aggression was swift and in full compliance with international laws. Saakashvili’s army of mercenaries – trained and armed by the U.S. and Israel – has suffered a deserving humiliating defeat that should be a lesson to all those “new” European vassals who think they can participate in U.S. war crimes and count on U.S. help.
The U.S. ruling class, the Bush regime in particular, has no moral standing whatsoever to criticize Russia for protecting Russian nationals and defending South Ossetia against unprovoked aggression. After more than five years of murderous Occupation, the Bush regime is directly responsible for the premeditated killing of more than 1.3 million innocent Iraqi civilians. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are imprisoned and tortured on regular basis, and at leas 5 million Iraqis have been displaced as refugees living in appalling conditions. The entire sovereign nation of Iraq is destroyed in a premeditated act of aggression justified by outright lies. Moreover, despite the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people’s opposition to the Occupation, the Bush regime refused to withdraw U.S. troops and mercenaries from Iraq and end the murderous Occupation of their nation. Finally, it is obvious that Western governments and their mainstream media are demonising Russia even if Russia is not the aggressor. As Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister told the media: “NATO is trying to make a victim of an aggressor and whitewash a criminal regime - save a collapsing regime - and is taking a path to the rearmament of the current leaders in Georgia”. Saakashvili as perpetrator of war crimes has become the victime by embarking on an ill-advised act of aggression not dissimilar from U.S. recent acts of aggression. World peace is greatly served by multilateralism and international institutions without an aggressive U.S. military expansion. The transformation of NATO into a tool of U.S. imperialism is endangering the survival of the planet. |
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| August 23, 2008 | Looking Back: Kya Khoya Kya Paya by Syed Ali Safvi, Countercurrents.org
Kashmir is burning. Jammu is not calm either. Both the regions, sadly, are up against each other over 40 hectares of forestland. So far more than 30 protestors have lost their lives in police firing in both the regions. The state is well and truly divided along regional lines, or, as some would prefer to say, along religious lines.
It all started when Jammu and Kashmir government decided to transfer 40 hectares of forestland in Kashmir to a Hindu Shrine Board, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). The decision triggered unprecedented protests in the valley where the order was seen as a conspiracy "to change the demographics of the valley". The state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoys a special status within the Indian constitution according to Article 370.
While the Jammu was burning, the valley was relatively calm until Hindu fanatics in Jammu imposed economic blockade on the valley. Muslim truckers were beaten to pulp and vehicles were burnt by a band of Hindu vagabonds. Brandishing swords, tridents, petrol bombs and country-made pistols, they attacked Muslims and Mosques, and killed, looted, ransaked at will. In the wake of economic blockade, Kashmir was reeling under an acute scarcity of essential commodities and, most importantly, life-saving drugs. Hundreds of fruit-laden trucks were stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar highway and at Srinagar's fruit mandi. Owing to the blockade of the highway by the sword-wielding mob of Hindu fanatics, these trucks were unable to reach their destinations. The Kashmir Fruit Growers Asociation (KFGA), in order to sell their harvest, decided to march towards Muzaffarabad. Hurriyat Conference issued "Muzaffarad chalo" call.
The mood in Kashmir is upbeat. It seems this time Kashmiris will not settle for anything less than freedom. Pro-India parties and leaders are facing the wrath of irate protestors.
The valley is abuzz with pro-freedom slogans. Thanks to the land row, secessionist groups in the valley have regained their lost political ground. The Kashmiri youth are seen rallying around the seperatists, an ominous sign for New Delhi.
The issue can destabilise the Indo-Pak peace process and with mounting international pressure on India over the killing of peaceful protestors, it has a pottential to sabotage the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The Pakistani governmnet condemned "the excessive and unwarranted use of force against the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir". India retorted back, saying "These statements constitute clear interference in the internal affairs of an integral part of India - such statements by leaders of a foreign country do not help the situation. Nor do they contribute to creating the atmosphere necessary for the dialogue process between India and Pakistan to move forward." |
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| August 22, 2008 | Land And Freedom by Arundhati Roy, Countercurrents.org
For the past 60 days or so, since about the end of June, the people of Kashmir have been free. Free in the most profound sense. They have shrugged off the terror of living their lives in the gun-sights of half a million heavily armed soldiers, in the most densely militarised zone in the world.
After 18 years of administering a military occupation, the Indian government's worst nightmare has come true. Having declared that the militant movement has been crushed, it is now faced with a non-violent mass protest, but not the kind it knows how to manage. This one is nourished by people's memory of years of repression in which tens of thousands have been killed, thousands have been "disappeared", hundreds of thousands tortured, injured, and humiliated. That kind of rage, once it finds utterance, cannot easily be tamed, rebottled and sent back to where it came from.
A sudden twist of fate, an ill-conceived move over the transfer of 100 acres of state forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board (which manages the annual Hindu pilgrimage to a cave deep in the Kashmir Himalayas) suddenly became the equivalent of tossing a lit match into a barrel of petrol. Until 1989 the Amarnath pilgrimage used to attract about 20,000 people who travelled to the Amarnath cave over a period of about two weeks. In 1990, when the overtly Islamist militant uprising in the valley coincided with the spread of virulent Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) in the Indian plains, the number of pilgrims began to increase exponentially. By 2008 more than 500,000 pilgrims visited the Amarnath cave, in large groups, their passage often sponsored by Indian business houses. To many people in the valley this dramatic increase in numbers was seen as an aggressive political statement by an increasingly Hindu-fundamentalist Indian state. Rightly or wrongly, the land transfer was viewed as the thin edge of the wedge. It triggered an apprehension that it was the beginning of an elaborate plan to build Israeli-style settlements, and change the demography of the valley.
Days of massive protest forced the valley to shut down completely. Within hours the protests spread from the cities to villages. Young stone pelters took to the streets and faced armed police who fired straight at them, killing several. For people as well as the government, it resurrected memories of the uprising in the early 90s.
However, none of these fears of what the future holds can justify the continued military occupation of a nation and a people. No more than the old colonial argument about how the natives were not ready for freedom justified the colonial project. Of course there are many ways for the Indian state to continue to hold on to Kashmir. It could do what it does best. Wait. And hope the people's energy will dissipate in the absence of a concrete plan. It could try and fracture the fragile coalition that is emerging. It could extinguish this non-violent uprising and re-invite armed militancy. It could increase the number of troops from half a million to a whole million. A few strategic massacres, a couple of targeted assassinations, some disappearances and a massive round of arrests should do the trick for a few more years. The unimaginable sums of public money that are needed to keep the military occupation of Kashmir going is money that ought by right to be spent on schools and hospitals and food for an impoverished, malnutritioned population in India. What kind of government can possibly believe that it has the right to spend it on more weapons, more concertina wire and more prisons in Kashmir? The Indian military occupation of Kashmir makes monsters of us all. It allows Hindu chauvinists to target and victimise Muslims in India by holding them hostage to the freedom struggle being waged by Muslims in Kashmir. |
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| August 22, 2008 | Impact of Culture in Developing Countries by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University Global Peace Movement
When we speak of the appreciation of culture we generally refer to the appreciation of arts that may include painting and music as well as theater and poetry. Cultural exhibitions that take place from time to time in various global areas tend to show what it has just been stated. Besides, the Olympics that have taken place in Beijing in 2008 revealed a vivid demonstration of culture. Culture may be viewed in many ways as transcendental in the sense that it is generally liked and respected by all people.
The enrichment of culture is the result of contributions made individually or collectively.
If we were to take a rapid tour around the world, we would be surprised to notice how many people of talent do exist in so many global areas. We should feel very grateful toward them because they have become the source of world enrichment. For those who might have visited France, they might have had the opportunity to listen to the cultural contributions made by Boudjemaa Zennouch whose talents in playing string instruments have instigated many to invite him to perform in a number of countries. What is the real impact of culture on developing countries? Such an impact has always been proven to be both positive and constructive. Culture is viewed in general as the product of the good an individual, a group or an entire nation, as a matter of fact, has to offer. As stated earlier, culture deals not only with painting and music but also with poetry and theater. These are items that are instinctively sought by all people from every walk of life and profession. They are elements that make people feel interiorly fulfilled. When we deal with culture in developing nations we need to make sure that we do respect and preserve their inherited culture. Besides, we could take the opportunity to bring to the natives of these less fortunate nations other cultures that would enrich or complement their respective cultures. In this process, we need to be gentle as to bring them peaceful music, the composition of uplifting poetry, and the proper use of the theater as to enable them to learn vividly from history anything that is positive and constructive. When people learn and practice the art of sharing with each other their feelings of both joy and concern, there will never be room for war, which should become obsolete the sooner the better. In view of what has been stated, it is obvious that we cannot take the importance of culture lightly. Culture gives satisfaction and fulfillment to everyone involved and concerned. Moreover, it is enables us to develop our sense of appreciation toward ourselves and others. It also enables us to bring peace and harmony in the midst of each community where everyone should feel a winner and no one a loser. The appreciation of culture should always be our goal in life. Download full WORD document by author
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| August 16, 2008 |
America Watches the War in Georgia with Dumb Goggles by Mark Ames AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, ForeignPolicy The war between Russia and Georgia has been framed as a tale of David versus Goliath. But it's far more complex than this, morally and historically. The initial war pitted the Goliath Georgia-a nation of 4.4 million, with vastly superior numbers, equipment and training thanks to US and Israeli advisers-against David-Ossetia, with a population of between 50,000-70,000 and a local militia force that is barely battalion strength. Reports coming out of South Ossetia tell of Georgian rockets and artillery leveling every building in the capital city, Tskhinvali, and of Georgian troops lobbing grenades into bomb shelters and basements sheltering women and children. Although true casualty figures are hard to come by, reports that up to 2,000 Ossetians, mostly civilians, were killed are certainly believable, given the intensity of the initial Georgian bombardment, the wanton destruction of the city and surrounding regions and the generally savage nature of Caucasus warfare, a very personal game where old rules apply. But you don't hear about this story from the Western media. Indeed, you hear little if anything about the Ossetians, who seem to hardly exist in the West's eyes, even though their grievance is the root cause of this war. While Russia and America see the conflict in abstract terms about spheres of influence and protecting allies, for Ossetians, who still recall the centuries of massacres Georgians committed against them, it is highly personal. They will still recall the Georgian massacres in the early 1920s, when Georgia was briefly independent, which exterminated up to 8 percent of the Ossetian population. In 1990, when Georgia was again moving towards independence, the ultranationalist leader Zviad Gamsakhurdia abolished Ossetia's limited autonomy, leading to another Ossetian rebellion that was only quelled by a peace agreement signed by Georgia, Russia and the Ossetians. Gamsakhurdia was subsequently deposed, and Georgia's ethnic chauvinism was shelved until the rise of current president Mikhail Saakashvili in 2003. Ossetians have traditionally relied on their powerful northern neighbor Russia for protection against Georgia. The Georgians, in turn, have tried to counter Russian hegemony, for which they are no match, by aligning closely with the United States, finding friendly ears among old cold warriors and Bush-era neocons. At the root of this conflict is a clash of two twentieth-century guiding principles in international relations. Georgia, backed by the West, is claiming its right as a sovereign nation to control the territory within its borders, a guiding principle since World War II. The Ossetians are claiming their right to self-determination, a guiding principle since World War I. These two guiding concepts for international relations-national sovereignty and the right to self-determination-are locked in a zero-sum battle in Georgia. Sometimes, the West takes the side of national sovereignty, as it is in the current war; other times, it sides with self-determination and redrawing of national borders, such as with Kosovo. In that 1999 war, the United States led a nearly three-month bombing campaign of Serbia in order to rescue a beleaguered minority, the Albanians, and carve out a new nation. Self-determination trumped national sovereignty, over the objections of Russia, China and numerous other countries. Why, Russians and Ossetians (not to mention separatist Abkhazians in Georgia's western region) ask, should the same principle not be applied to them? The question we must ask is: Are we willing to risk war, including nuclear holocaust, in order to fulfill the aspirations of Mikhail Saakashvili? |
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| August 15, 2008 |
The Delusion Revolution: We're on the Road to Extinction and in Denial by Robert Jensen AlterNet, The Mix is the Message Our current way of life is unsustainable. We are the first species that will have to self-consciously impose limits on ourselves if we are to survive.
Unsustainable systems can't be sustained. It's hard to argue with that; the important question is whether or not we live in a system that is truly unsustainable. There's no way to prove definitively such a sweeping statement, but look around at what we've built and ask yourself whether you really believe this world can go forward indefinitely, or even for more than a few decades? Take a minute to ponder the end of the era of cheap fossil energy, the lack of viable large-scale replacements for that energy, and the ecological consequences of burning what remains of it. Consider the indicators of the health of the planet -- groundwater contamination, topsoil loss, levels of toxicity. Factor in the widening inequality in the world, the intensity of the violence, and the desperation that so many feel at every level of society. Based on what you know about these trends, do you think this is a sustainable system? To be radically realistic in the face of all this is to recognize the failure of basic systems and to abandon the notion that all we need do is recalibrate the institutions that structure our lives today. The old future -- the way we thought things would work out -- truly is gone. The nation-state and capitalism are at the core of this unsustainable system, giving rise to the high-energy/mass-consumption configuration of privileged societies that has left us saddled with what James Howard Kunstler calls "a living arrangement with no future." The future we have been dreaming of was based on a dream, not on reality. Most of the world that doesn't live with our privilege has no choice but to face this reality. It's time for us to come to terms with it. The agricultural revolution set us on a road to destruction. The industrial revolution ramped up our speed. The delusional revolution has prevented us from coming to terms with the reality of where we are and where we are heading. That's the bad news. The worse news is that there's still overwhelming resistance in the dominant culture to acknowledging that these kinds of discussions are necessary. We are living today trapped by systems in which we did not evolve as a species over the long term and to which we are still struggling to adapt in the short term. Realistically, we need to get on a new road if we want there to be a future. The old future, the road we imagined we could travel, is gone -- it is part of the delusion. Unless one accepts an irrational technological fundamentalism (the idea that we will always be able to find high-energy/advanced-technology fixes for problems), there are no easy solutions to these ecological and human problems. We will need ways of organizing ourselves to help us live in a world with less energy and fewer material goods. We have to all develop the skills needed for that world (such as gardening with fewer inputs, food preparation and storage, and basic tinkering), and we will need to recover a deep sense of community that has disappeared from many of our lives. This means abandoning a sense of ourselves as consumption machines, which the contemporary culture promotes, and deepening our notions of what it means to be humans in search of meaning. We have to learn to tell different stories about our sense of self, our connection to others, and our place in nature. The stories we tell will matter, as will the skills we learn. |
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| August 14, 2008 |
How Taxpayer Money Is Wrapped Up in Georgian War by Sharona Coutts AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, ForeignPolicy A pipeline that runs through Georgia is the second largest in the world, and American tax dollars helped fund big oil projects in the region.
Russia's announcement Tuesday morning that it will cease its offensive in Georgia has created a potential lull in what was a rapidly escalating military and diplomatic crisis. Whether the fighting really ends, one result of the conflict is clear: it has thrown a bright light on that region's importance to global oil supplies. A pipeline that runs through Georgia is the second largest in the world. Georgia sits between the rich oil deposits of the Caspian Sea in the East, and the friendly shores of the Mediterranean in the West. Since 2006, a 1,100 mile pipeline has pumped that crude from Baku, in Azerbaijan, westwards across the conflict-torn continent to tanker ships waiting at the Turkish city of Ceyhan. The multi-billion-dollar Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is run by an international consortium, including American oil-giants Chevron and Conoco-Phillips. So, how is U.S. taxpayer money bound up in all of this? It has to do with the role of the two government agencies, the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), that lend money to private companies doing business overseas. The biggest player in the project is British Petroleum, which owns just over 30 percent of the pipeline. The U.K.'s export credit agency, as well as the European development bank, also put money into the deal. BP spokesman Robert Wine said despite the reports that the pipeline has been targeted by Russian planes, the "pipeline hasn't been affected by the conflict." He said that BP "continues to monitor the situation." |
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| August 13, 2008 | Using Georgia To Target Russia by Stephen Lendman, Countercurrents.org After the Soviet Union's 1991 dissolution, Georgia's South Ossetia province broke away and declared its independence. So far it remains undiplomatically recognized by UN member states. It's been traditionally allied with Russia and wishes to reunite with Northern Ossetes in the North Ossetia-Alania Russian republic. Nothing so far is in prospect, but Russia appears receptive to the idea. And for Abkhazia as well, Georgia's other breakaway province. The conflict also has implications for Transdniestria, the small independent Russian-majority part of Moldova bordering Ukraine, and for Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
Strategic importance of Georgia for the Anglo-American Caspian oil pipeline; its extension from Baku, Azerbaijan (on the Caspian) through Georgia (well south of S. Ossetia), bypassing Russia and Iran, and across Turkey to its port city of Ceyhan - the so-called BTC pipeline for around one million barrels of oil daily, adjacent to the South Causasus (gas) Pipeline with a capacity of about 16 billion cubic meters annually.
The regional stakes involved: Washington and Russia vying to control Eurasia's vast oil and gas reserves.
Israel's role in the region; its interest in the BTC pipline; its negotiations with Georgia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan to have it reach its Ashkelon oil terminal and Red Sea Eilat port; its selling Georgia state-of-the-art weapons, electronic warfare systems and intelligence; its use of military advisors to train Georgian forces in commando, air, sea, armored and artillery tactics as well as instruction on military intelligence and security.
The Israeli ynetnews.com highlighted "The Israeli Connection" and reported "Israeli companies have been helping (the) Georgian army (prepare) for war against Russia through arms deals, training of infantry and security advice;" it was helped by Georgian citizens "who immigrated to Israel and became businesspeople," and the fact that Georgia's Defense Minister, Davit Kezerashvili, "is a former Israeli fluent in Hebrew (whose) door was always open to the Israelis who came and offered his country arms;" deals went through "fast" and included "remote-piloted (Elbit System) vehicles (RPVs), automatic turrets for armed vehicles, antiaircraft systems, communications systems, shells and rockets."
What's at stake is what former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski described in his 1997 book "The Grand Chessboard." He called Eurasia the "center of world power extending from Germany and Poland in the East through Russia and China to the Pacific and including the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent." He continued: "The most immediate (US) task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role." Dominating that part of the world and its vast energy and other resources is Washington's goal with NATO and Israel its principal tools to do it:
-- in the Middle East with its two-thirds of the world's proved oil reserves (about 675 billion barrels); and -- the Caspian basin with an estimated 270 billion barrels of oil plus one-eighth of the world's natural gas reserves. "New World Order" strategy aims to secure them. Russia, China, and Iran have other plans. India allies with both sides. Former Warsaw Pact and Soviet republics split this way: -- NATO members include the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; -- Georgia and Ukraine seek membership; while -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazahkstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgystan ally with Russia. Georgia now occupies center stage, so first some background about a nation Michel Chossudovsky calls "an outpost of US and NATO forces" located strategically on Russia's border "within proximity of the Middle East Central Asian war theater." Breakaway S. Ossetia and Abkhazia, though small in size, are very much players in what's unfolding with potential to have it develop into something much bigger than a short-lived regional conflict. |
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| August 13, 2008 | A Path To Peace In The Caucasus by Mikhail Gorbachev, Countercurrents.org The past week's events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.
The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia's separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. This turned out to be a time bomb for Georgia's territorial integrity. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force -- both in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are similar -- it only made the situation worse. New wounds aggravated old injuries.
Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground.
Through all these years, Russia has continued to recognize Georgia's territorial integrity. Clearly, the only way to solve the South Ossetian problem on that basis is through peaceful means. Indeed, in a civilized world, there is no other way.
The Georgian leadership flouted this key principle.
What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.
Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia.
In other words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was expecting unconditional support from the West, and the West had given him reason to think he would have it. Now that the Georgian military assault has been routed, both the Georgian government and its supporters should rethink their position.
When the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia first flared up, I proposed that they be settled through a federation that would grant broad autonomy to the two republics. The region's political leaders need to realize this. Instead of flexing military muscle, they should devote their efforts to building the groundwork for durable peace. Over the past few days, some Western nations have taken positions, particularly in the U.N. Security Council, that have been far from balanced. As a result, the Security Council was not able to act effectively from the very start of this conflict. By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its "national interest," the United States made a serious blunder. Of course, peace in the Caucasus is in everyone's interest. But it is simply common sense to recognize that Russia is rooted there by common geography and centuries of history. Russia is not seeking territorial expansion, but it has legitimate interests in this region. The international community's long-term aim could be to create a sub-regional system of security and cooperation that would make any provocation, and the very possibility of crises such as this one, impossible. Building this type of system would be challenging and could only be accomplished with the cooperation of the region's countries themselves. Nations outside the region could perhaps help, too -- but only if they take a fair and objective stance. A lesson from recent events is that geopolitical games are dangerous anywhere, not just in the Caucasus. |
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| August 12, 2008 |
The Era of Catastrophe? Geologists Name New Era After Human Influence on the Planet by Mike Davis, Tomdispatch.com AlterNet, The Mix is the Message A striking report from the front lines of science suggests we're officially entering a period in which humanity may simply outrun history itself. If this seems unduly apocalyptic, consider that most climate models project impacts that will uncannily reinforce the present geography of inequality. One of the pioneer analysts of the economics of global warming, Petersen Institute fellow William R. Cline, recently published a country-by-country study of the likely effects of climate change on agriculture by the later decades of this century. Even in the most optimistic simulations, the agricultural systems of Pakistan (a 20 percent decrease from current farm output predicted) and Northwestern India (a 30 percent decrease) are likely to be devastated, along with much of the Middle East, the Maghreb, the Sahel belt, Southern Africa, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Twenty-nine developing countries will lose 20 percent or more of their current farm output to global warming, while agriculture in the already rich north is likely to receive, on average, an 8 percent boost. In light of such studies, the current ruthless competition between energy and food markets, amplified by international speculation in commodities and agricultural land, is only a modest portent of the chaos that could soon grow exponentially from the convergence of resource depletion, intractable inequality, and climate change. The real danger is that human solidarity itself, like a West Antarctic ice shelf, will suddenly fracture and shatter into a thousand shards. |
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| August 12, 2008 |
Bush Plans to Make The Endangered Species Act Extinct by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress AlterNet, The Mix is the Message Something tells me we're going to be seeing a lot more of this in his final months.
The Bush administration has been attempting to bypass or kill the Endangered Species Act for years. Recently, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used his power to waive federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, in order to expedite building the U.S.-Mexico border fence. Unclear if the new rules are the doing of Vice President Cheney, who has been maneuvering increased control over environmental policies.
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| August 7, 2008 | Global Footprint Network - China Report by Justin Kitzes, Susannah Buchan, Alessandro Galli, Brad Ewing, Cheng Shengkui, Xie Gaodi, Cao Shuyan Countercurrents.org There are two big challenges facing human
society in the new century, the environment
and development. The continuous
degradation of the environment has directly
affected the very survival and sustainable
development of human beings. How to
realise a more balanced development
of economic growth and environmental
protection has become a critical issue that
requires China and the whole world to
address urgently.
Globally, the ecological footprint has
been widely used to measure the human
demands on nature. Human consumption
of the natural resources has been constantly
increasing over the past four decades to
result in a growing overshoot of what the
Earth can sustainably supply. It has become
a premise and an important guideline
to understand the world's and China's
ecological footprints and integrate them
into the sustainable development strategies
for a holistic planning of environment
protection in China.
Sustainable development requires humans
to manage their demands on natural
resources strictly within the Earth's
capacity to regenerate, which describes the
concept of biological capacity. The Report
on Ecological Footprint in China expounds
the relation between ecological footprint
and biological capacity in China, and
proposes how to ease the conflicts between
them. The suggestions and strategies
will play important roles functioning as
guidelines for us to measure and improve
the environmental status for the realization
of sustainable development in China.
It's a critical period in coming 20 years
for China to realize its sustainable
development, which is determined by
important indicators including the balance
between the efficiency of natural resources
and the Earth's regeneration capacity
improvement. Therefore, the China
Council for International Cooperation on
Environment and Development (CCICED)
has worked with WWF to produce this
report on the ecological footprint in China,
which we hope, based on researches
conducted by experts from home and
abroad, will serve its reference accordingly.
The Ecological Footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land and water area needed to meet the demands of a population. By comparing this demand for area to biocapacity, the amount of biologically productive land and water available within a given region or nation, Ecological Footprint accounts can determine whether a nation, region, or the world as a whole is living within its ecological means. Footprint accounts have been used by governments, businesses, and individuals who wish to better understand the magnitude of their dependence on biological capital and how they might plan strategically in an increasingly resource constrained world. This report focuses on the Ecological Footprint of China within a global and regional context. Recent Ecological Footprint studies by Chinese scholars are reviewed, and China's Ecological Footprint is showcased in detail, including a discussion of the different types of land and water area necessary to meet China's resource and energy needs. A specific study of selected traded goods shows how the productive areas needed to produce these goods are “traded” with other nations around the world. The report concludes with strategies for managing China's Ecological Footprint and biological capacity. The report finds that: • In 2003, the most recent year data are available, global society demanded 25% more biological capacity than the planet was able to provide. This state of global overshoot will inevitably lead to the degradation of the planet's biological capital. • The United States, the European Union, and China represent more than 50% of the world's total Ecological Footprint and 30% of global available biological capacity. The decisions made by the respective governments and societies will largely determine whether the world is able to meet the sustainable development challenge in the coming century. • The Asia-Pacific region is home to more than half of the world's population, who demand nearly 40% of the planet's available biological capacity. • The calculation of Ecological Footprints in China began soon after the concept was first proposed in the mid-1990s, and has been used by local researchers to evaluate the ecological deficits of different provinces in China as well as the impacts of specific business and household activities. • Focusing on individual lifestyle, China's Ecological Footprint in 2003 was 1.6 global hectares per person, the 69th highest country in the world, and lower than the world average Ecological Footprint of 2.2 global hectares per person. • Despite this low per person consumption, however, China has run an ecological deficit since the mid-1970s, demanding more biological capacity than its own ecosystems can provide each year. In 2003, China demanded the equivalent of two Chinas to provide for its consumption and absorb its wastes. The majority of this deficit is due to emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels that are not sequestered. • China partially covers its deficit by importing biological capacity, in the form of natural resources, from other nations. In 2003, China imported 130 million global hectares from outside its borders, nearly equivalent to the entire biological capacity of Germany. • China's Ecological Footprint is connected through trade relations to nearly every country in the world, including many close by and many far away. An analysis of selected traded products suggests that China often imports biocapacity embodied in raw materials from countries such as Canada, Indonesia, and the United States and often exports biocapacity embodied in manufactured products to countries such as South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Australia. • Three factors control China's Ecological Footprint: population, consumption per person, and the resource-intensity of consumption. Two complementary approaches for reducing China's ecological deficit are quickly addressing (1) activities that are easy and cheap to change, such as the use of energy intensive light bulbs, and (2) investments in infrastructure that will have longterm implications for resource use in the future. • Specific strategies for China to move towards a sustainable future involve the CIRCLE approach: Compact urban development, Individual action, Reducing hidden waste flows, Carbon reduction strategies, Land management, and Efficiency increases. Download full pdf document of Report by authors 
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| August 6, 2008 |
People embrace the buying of local food; has the time come for local energy co-operatives, too? Most people simply take the grid for granted -- flip light switch on, light bulb goes on. The average person may not understand the extremely complex system that supports that simple act or why it may be important to change it in order to move to more locally supported energy projects. Electricity demand is at an all-time high in the United States. In 2007, total U.S. electricity generation was 4,159,514 gigawatt-hours (GWh) -- a 2.3 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Edison Electric Institute. But consumption of electricity is projected to increase a whopping 45 percent by the year 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. Whether this projection will actually be reached or not can be debated, but this probable increase in demand poses a real challenge to a grid that can barely keep up with present demand. To meet this new demand, the utility industry estimates that the cost of improvements to grid infrastructure could be at least $900 billion between now and 2020. There are two main alternatives to meet this demand. The first is to build new transmission capability (or to increase the capacity of existing transmission) and to build large new central generation facilities. This has been the most common approach for many years and is the strategy generally favored by Wall Street and most major utilities. The second strategy is to build new distributed generation (DG) where, or near where, it is needed, avoiding the need for new transmission. These DG facilities are normally smaller and scattered throughout a region to meet the needs of local customers. This strategy is supported by a growing number of local community activists and other local business interests who tend to view electricity as a basic public necessity rather than a commodity. Considering the huge cost of the first strategy, much of which would probably be borne by ratepayers, the second approach would seem to make a lot of sense, especially since transmission expansion is already severely limited in most urban areas in the United States. Distributed generation reduces the need for "importing" electricity from other regions and reduces transmission losses. And if the distributed generation is well positioned, it can actually provide "voltage support" for the existing transmission system and improve system reliability. This type of model can include small-scale individual or community solar, wind, hydro, geothermal or biomass DG systems that would enhance and provide greater stability to the portions of the grid where they are located. But not all DG projects fit this model. Large-scale commercial wind farms, for example, are normally located where the wind resource is best, but not necessarily where the electricity is needed. In this scenario, additional expensive transmission and distribution lines are often required. While there is a wide range of possible local DG projects, one of them stands out as a particularly attractive model: Community Supported Energy (CSE). These projects are somewhat similar to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), except that instead of investing in potatoes, carrots or cucumbers, with Community Supported Energy local residents invest in energy projects that provide greater energy security, a cleaner environment and a variety of other benefits. A cooperative or community-owned energy project offers many advantages. It stimulates the local economy by creating new jobs and new business opportunities for the community while simultaneously expanding the tax base and generating new income for local residents. A locally owned energy project also generates support from the community by getting people directly involved as owners. Another advantage of community energy projects is that they can be owned cooperatively or collectively through a variety of legal mechanisms. Ownership strategies can include limited liability corporations, cooperatives, school districts, municipal utilities or other municipal entities, or combinations of these models. Sometimes a partnership with an existing utility can be mutually beneficial. Community Supported Energy projects offer yet another advantage: They retain a greater amount of income in the local area and increase the economic benefits substantially over projects owned by out-of-area developers, according to a number of studies. OK, if Community Supported Energy is such a good idea, why aren't there more examples in the United States? The main barriers to wide-scale implementation of CSE is a general lack of national standards and an inflexible regulatory environment. In most states there is an outdated regulatory and approval process that does virtually nothing to encourage these types of projects. |
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| August 6, 2008 | Inflation And The New World Order by Richard C. Cook Dissindent Voice, Countercurrents.org in the contemporary economy, inflation benefits the wealthy because they pay their workers in deflated currency, while they can take advantage of inflation to further jack up prices and then income. [Thus] the upper classes have fortified their economic positions to take account of inflation through their power over prices, income and other compensations in a way that wage workers and people on fixed income and other vulnerable sectors cannot. Bankers protect their loans via adjustable interest rates. Monopoly resource owners jack up prices to retain profits. Wholesalers mark up prices to compensate for higher commodity prices. Large-scale retailers squeeze final consumers — the great majority at the bottom of the production and distribution chain.
Doubtless there is an impact from all these factors, though no one knows for sure how much. With regard to food prices, geopolitical factors deserve particularly deep scrutiny. Petras writes:
In Asia, particularly Pakistan, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Nepal, Mongolia, and China, hundreds of millions of workers, peasants, artisans, and low-paid self employed workers, as well as housewives and pensioners have engaged in sustained mass protests as they experience a decline in the quality and quantity of food purchases as prices skyrocket. In Africa, hunger stalks the land and major food riots have occurred from Egypt through Sub-Saharan Africa to South Africa. In the Caribbean, Central and South America, food riots have led to the overthrow of regimes, mass protests, road blockages from Argentina, Bolivia, through Colombia, Venezuela and Haiti.
The situation in many developing nations is desperate in part because the International Monetary Fund, under the “Washington consensus,” required them to give up their subsistence agriculture in favor of crops raised for export by agribusiness, while the people who once supported themselves on family farms have had to migrate to urban slums. The Western corporate-owned press calls it “free market reforms.”
As architects of the global economy, the World Bank and the IMF have enormous power and shape the conditions of peoples’ lives around the world. That power has been used to create a global economy friendly to the interests of the wealthy and multinational corporations, but devastating to the lives of hundreds of millions of impoverished people.
The IMF and World Bank, with the ‘structural adjustment programs’ (SAPs) they impose on indebted countries and their pro-corporate development projects, are the leading edge of oppressive globalization. The policies they have imposed in Africa, Latin America, and Asia have condemned people to stagnation, poverty, and death for twenty years, and those policies are now being adopted in the countries of Europe and North America too.5
IMF policies require governments to cut food price subsidies, restrict credit to farmers, and divert prime farmland to non-food export crops such as tobacco, coffee, and cotton in order to provide cheap bulk commodities to Western consumers. The victimized nations must then import wheat, rice, and other food products from outside. But prices for these food staples depend on world markets which they cannot influence, much less control.
At least the developing nations are now fighting back, with IMF lending running at a fraction of what it once did and some nations such as Venezuela dropping out altogether. Resistance is also being exhibited to similar policies of the World Trade Organization which likewise seeks to destroy tariffs and other trade barriers that developing countries might wish to use to protect their farmers and workers. Just last week the “Doha Round” of WTO trade talks collapsed at Geneva when India and China led the way in refusing to alter their tariff and subsidy policies. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the collapse was not surprising, “given the reluctance of India and other developing nations to sacrifice food security measures in the wake of the recent global spike in food prices.” According to Deborah James, Director of International Programs for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, who had been observing the talks in Geneva, “The tariff cuts demanded of developing countries would have caused massive job loss, and countries would have lost the ability to protect farmers from dumping, further impoverishing millions on the verge of survival.” Are we seeing the totalitarian dictatorship of the world’s financial elite being rolled out, with petroleum and food prices the primary weapon of a final coup d’etát against every national government on earth and their citizens? And if we knew who these “high-end investors” were, and who controlled them, wouldn’t we then understand who is in charge of the New World Order and for whom it really functions? |
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| August 5, 2008 | Pressures Mount Over Arctic Energy Resources by Niall Green, Countercurrents.org Across the globe, reserves of oil and gas that were previously regarded as uneconomical are being actively explored and developed. From the Arctic to East Asia to the South Atlantic, untapped billions of barrels of oil are attracting the interests of energy companies and speculative finance capital, seeking to take advantage of the high price of crude oil.
One of the greatest potential oil and gas bonanzas is to be found beneath the Arctic Ocean. A report issued by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), 24 July estimated that the Arctic region holds around 90 billion barrels of oil—equal to the total proven reserves of Russia, the world’s second biggest oil producer.
Up to 30 percent of the world’s unproven natural gas deposits could also lie beneath the ice, as well as a possible one-fifth of untapped reserves of natural gas liquids. To date, most of the Arctic Ocean is international water, covered all year by a thick ice sheet.
Russia, like all countries around the North Pole, claims sovereignty over the seas up to 200-nautical miles (370 km) from its coast.
Canada is developing military capabilities in its far north, with an army training centre based at Resolute Bay and a port for a new fleet of ice-strengthened patrol ships on the northern tip of Baffin Island. These capabilities, as well as a C$40 million mapping project in the Arctic, are aimed at fending off its rivals. Canada is especially concerned about the US claim that the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, should it open due to retreating ice, must be an international sea route. Ottawa insists that the passage would be an internal Canadian waterway. Energy reserves in Alaska and the Chukchi Sea have become a key part of US plans to boost domestic oil production. Speaking for the oil conglomerates who stand to make tens of billions of dollars from these oil fields, on June 18 President Bush pressed Congress to reverse the longstanding ban on offshore drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, as well approving the development of onshore production on federal lands. |
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| August 6, 2008 | Shifts And Faultlines In The World Economy And Great Power Rivalry: What Is Happening And What It Might Mean - Part III The European Union As A Potential Rival To U.S. Dominance by Raymond Lotta Countercurrents.org The EU has operated in partnership and alliance with U.S. imperialism in military affairs and in international forums like the World Trade Organization. There are huge inflows of U.S. capital into Western Europe, and huge inflows of West European capital into the U.S. At the same time, the EU represents a major, and growing, competitive challenge to U.S. imperialism within an international framework dominated by the United States.
How the EU challenge further develops will be influenced by the interplay of economic and non-economic factors:
- There is the question of the evolution of NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance of which major EU countries are a part. - There is the dynamic element of the EU’s relations with Russia and China, both of which are rising powers in the world economy and both of which are becoming ever more significant trading partners with the EU. - There are the wars for empire in the Middle East and in Afghanistan—where West European imperialism is heavily involved with the U.S.—and whose outcomes are far from determined. - There is a clash globally between an outmoded world-dominating and world-exploitative imperialism and an outmoded Islamic fundamentalism—which has thrived in response to the onslaughts of imperialism but which offers no real and liberating solution to imperialism. And within Europe reactionary Islamic fundamentalism is gaining ground and influence among sections of immigrants.[1] - There are the effects of social struggles in Europe today and around the world, and the potential for revolutionary struggle to emerge and to impact the situation in the EU countries and the world as a whole. The EU may find itself torn between those within its imperialist ruling classes calling for a more robust European military capacity and those that still want to rely on the NATO alliance. The pathways towards a greater or lesser EU international geopolitical role would be profoundly influenced by a major move by China to wrench more initiative in the world economy and/or to forge closer alliance with Russia. In June 2008, the French government announced a reorientation of French security policy towards deeper relations with NATO. But note closely: this was presented as a turn towards NATO and the EU—along with bolstering the EU’s capacity to plan and conduct its own military operations. Contradictions between France and Germany, core forces of the EU, and the U.S. over the war in Iraq have been very acute. And there have been other contradictions; for instance, a dispute broke out in 2005 when the EU lifted an arms embargo imposed on China after the 1989 Tiananmen uprising of students and workers. And even where there is more (apparent) unity, as in putting pressure on Iran, it is also the case that rivalries are playing out within the NATO alliance. The EU has necessity and freedom. The overall EU strategy seems to be one of “biding time”: promote further institutional integration within the EU bloc, seek out closer partnerships with other major powers, and take advantage of difficulties and setbacks of U.S. imperialism. But the pace, direction, and assertiveness of the EU will be influenced by underlying global trends and by unforeseen developments—internal and external to this bloc. |
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| August 5, 2008 | Shifts And Faultlines In The World Economy And Great Power Rivalry: What Is Happening And What It Might Mean. PART 2. CHINA’S CAPITALIST DEVELOPMENT AND CHINA’S RISE IN THE WORLD IMPERIALIST SYSTEM: ITS NATURE AND IMPLICATIONS by Raymond Lotta Countercurrents.org China is dependent on imperialism: on massive inflows of investment capital into the Chinese economy; and on access to the export markets of the advanced capitalist countries, like the U.S., Japan, and Germany. This is what has been and what is now most determining of China’s capitalist development.
At the same time, precisely because China has been such a profitable arena for imperialist investment—based on its vast supply of super-exploitable labor, which is China’s “competitive advantage” in the world system—China’s economy has been growing rapidly. As this has continued, and as China’s rulers have acted to strengthen their base of power and initiative, China has gained increasing influence and leverage. This is occurring in a framework in which imperialism, particularly U.S. imperialism, dominates China.
China may in fact be in transition to becoming an imperialist power. But whether it does, or does not, will not just be a function of economic factors, and certainly not simply those internal to China. Rather, this will turn on different and interpenetrating economic, political, and military developments in the world system, including unexpected developments: crises, wars, class struggles in China and the world, and revolutions.
China’s exceptionally high and sustained rate of growth and industrialization over the last two decades may well be without precedent in the history of capitalism. More to the point, this sustained growth is a) leading to an enormous buildup of productive capacity in China; b) profoundly influencing the trajectory of global capitalist development; and c) contributing to China’s rapid rise as a world economic power.
China has been able to sustain high growth rates. But it is a capitalist economy. It is not immune to instability and crisis. It is estimated that 75 percent of China’s industries are plagued by overcapacity, that is, too much investment relative to markets.[23] Inflation is heating up in China. Social polarization is widening: strikes, protests and confrontations in the countryside over corruption, land takeovers, and environmental damage have multiplied in recent years. The dynamics of China’s rise are complex. There is, however, a shaping contradiction: dependency and growing economic strength. China is dependent on foreign capital and foreign markets. But China has also emerged as a world economic power, a center of world manufacturing. It has accumulated vast foreign exchange reserves, and gained considerable financial leverage—increasingly over the dollar. And China is more aggressively seeking markets in the Third World and exporting capital beyond its borders. Stepping back, what seems to be guiding the Chinese ruling class is a long-term, strategic, and competitive orientation: to diversify and fortify a domestically rooted industrial base, to extend international economic and financial reach, and to strengthen military capabilities but to do so without provoking direct showdowns with U.S. imperialism. Could China evolve into an imperialist capital formation? It is a question that cannot be dismissed out of hand, though neither is it a straight-line, foregone conclusion. But it is a real possibility—China may be in a stage of transition to becoming an imperialist power. How likely is such a qualitative development, and by what pathways might it proceed? These are historically contingent matters that will turn on the interaction of the motion and development of Chinese capitalism with the class struggle in China, with larger shifts, displacements, and eruptions in world economics… and with big and unexpected developments in world politics, including wars and other conflicts, as well as revolutionary struggles. |
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| August 4, 2008 | Shifts And Faultlines In The World Economy And Great Power Rivalry: What Is Happening and What It Might Mean by Raymond Lotta Countercurrents.org
This is a research essay about changes in global capitalist accumulation, newly emerging relations of strength among imperialist and regional powers, and the force of competitive pressures and tensions. It is about great-power rivalries in a world system based on exploitation. To use an analogy to the complex motions of large parts of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, this is a discussion of shifting tectonic plates in the world economy: some of their longer-term movements and some of the more sudden and unexpected eruptions.
The U.S. remains the dominant, still hegemonic, power in the world. But it is facing heightened economic pressures and growing strategic necessity. Major transformations are taking place in the world imperialist system. Of central importance are shifts in the distribution of global economic power and the emergence of incipient constellations of geoeconomic and geopolitical power—that is, potential blocs of countries with growing capacity to challenge U.S. global dominance. China is a highly dynamic element in this equation.
These phenomena are interacting with other contradictions and conflicts in the world, especially the post-9/11 military offensive of U.S. imperialism and its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the difficulties it has been experiencing, and military threats against Iran.
The changing economic geography of the planet is also affecting world agriculture—to devastating and unequal effect in the Third World. Imperialism is transforming national systems of agriculture into globalized components of transnational production and marketing chains detached from local need—that is, food is grown more and more for export, not to feed people locally, or land is taken out of food production. Where, historically, food production has been at the foundation of the economies of most of these countries, increasingly, agriculture is becoming less “foundational” to many national economies of the Third World. Food production has been swept into the vortex of speculative commodity and financial markets at the same time that imperialist-led agro-industrial cultivation of biofuels displaces food crops. Basic food staples are no longer being produced in adequate supply in many parts of the Third World—while the forces of world competition, imperialist control over new agricultural technologies, and the vagaries of world price further undermine food security. And so in early 2008 a global food crisis unlike any experienced before in modern economic history exacts, and continues to exact, a terrible human toll in large parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This too is an expression of the deep divide between oppressor and oppressed nations. |
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| July 26, 2008 | Riches In The Arctic: The New Oil Race by Michael McCarthy, Countercurrents.org More than half of the undiscovered oil resources are estimated to occur in just three geologic provinces: Arctic Alaska (30 billion barrels), the Amerasia Basin (9.7 billion barrels) and the East Greenland Rift Basins (8.9 billion barrels). More than 70 per cent of the undiscovered natural gas is likely to be in three provinces: the West Siberian Basin (651 tcf), the East Barents Basins (318 tcf) and Arctic Alaska (221 tcf), the USGS said. The study took in all areas north of latitude 66.56 degrees north, and included only reserves that could be tapped using existing techniques. Experimental or unconventional prospects such as oil shale, gas hydrates and coal-bed methane were not included in the assessment.
The 90 billion barrels of oil expected to be in the Arctic in total are more than all the known reserves of Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Mexico combined, and could meet current world oil demand of 86.4 million barrels a day for almost three years.
The significance of the report is that it puts firm figures for the first time on the hydrocarbon riches which the five countries surrounding the Arctic - the US, Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark (through its dependency, Greenland) - have been eyeing up for several years. |
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| July 22, 2008 | An Era Of Disparity by Mir Adnan Aziz, Countercurrents.org Coming down to our times when confronted with the latest evidence of the startling growth of income and the ever increasing chasm of wealth inequality around the world, we need to recognize obscene social arrangements for what they are and demand something different.
Presently, there are nearly 500 billionaires worldwide whereas 1.2 billion live on a dollar a day or less. Tens of millions of children are locked out of school because their parents are unable to afford school fees. More than a million children die a year from diarrhea because their families lack access to clean drinking water. More than one billion people worldwide do not get essential health care. On average, developing countries have one doctor for every 6,000 people whereas industrialized countries have one for every 350 people. Under developed countries face a nightmare of almost no healthcare for their teeming masses.
We live in a world where all natural and human resources are exploited mercilessly, so that a small minority can consume far more than their rightful share of the world's real wealth. Now, as we push the exploitation of the earths social and environmental systems beyond their limits of tolerance, we face the reality that the industrial era faces a burnout, because it is exhausting the human and natural resource base on which our very lives depend. We must hasten its passage, while assisting in the birth of a new civilization based on life affirming rather than money affirming values. All over the world people are indeed waking up to the truth. We should strive and take steps to reclaim and rebuild our local economy. It should also be our goal to create locally owned enterprises that sustainably harvest and process local resources to produce jobs, goods and services. Ideally our economy should be local; rooting power in the people and communities who realize their well being depends on the health and vitality of their local ecosystem. We should favor local firms and workers, who pay local taxes, live by local rules, respect and nurture the local ecosystems, compete fairly in local markets, and contribute to community life. A global economy empowers global corporations and financial institutions, local economies empower people. It is our consciousness, our ways of thinking and our sense of membership in a larger community, which should be global. Perhaps the most important fact of all, albeit forgotten, is that life is about living, not consuming. A life of material sufficiency can be filled with social, cultural, intellectual and spiritual abundance that place no burden on the planet. It is time to assume responsibility for creating a new future of just and sustainable societies free from the myth that competition, greed and mindless consumption are paths to individual and collective fulfillment. |
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| July 22, 2008 | The Empire And China by G. Asgar Mitha, Countercurrents.org
No nation can become a superpower without being rich because it is only the wealth that builds a mighty army, air force and navy and subsequently leads to the nation becoming an empire. That was the cases with Turkey, Great Britain, Germany, USSR, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Japan in the last century. They all sought gold, silver, copper, iron and precious jewellery to amass a wealth and also robbed weaker nations of their essential resources but like the mighty Romans, they too were defeated only to become a chapter in the history of empires.
There is no dispute that it is about oil. It is oil and not gold, silver, copper, iron and precious jewellery that has now become the lifelines of all nations, including China and USA. Both these countries rank first and second as global consumers of the world’s oil production. Between them, they consume 30 million bbls crude oil per day or 35% of the global production. China was a net exporter of oil until 1993 and now, like the US, it is a net importer. Without oil, their industrial outputs would grind to a screeching halt. It is therefore natural that the source of the next conflict will be oil and the Middle East and the Indian Ocean as the fault lines between the nations of the east and the west.
Both the US and China are seeking security of energy supply but they both are doing so in different ways.
China is also aspiring for energy security but, unlike the US which has the psyche of an empire, it is seeking security of supply through investments and not occupation. The goals for energy security are in reverse modes. The US has been transformed from democracy to a capitalistic oligarchy whereas China is moving from oligarchy to socialist capitalism. The US is an indebted nation whereas China is a lender nation. The Americans are becoming poorer, lavish and lazy because of a lack of incentives and ideology from their leadership. The Chinese, in contrast, are becoming richer, frugal and hard working because of incentives and a cultural ideology. China has been investing heavily in Iran’s energy to the tune of billions of dollars and also in Canada, Africa and Central Asian countries.
Whereas China is seeking to protect shipments of oil, the US, in sharp contrast, is seeking plans to deny shipments of oil to China. These two divergent views will have to ultimately clash along the critical maritime flash points from the narrow Strait of Hormuz to the long and very narrow Strait of Malacca as the energy game speeds over the next 5 years. |
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| August 7, 2008 |
The Problem Is Simple: Too Many People, Too Much Stuff by Paul & Anne Ehrlich AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Water An equitable and humane solution to overpopulation and overconsumption may actually be possible.
Over some 60 million years, Homo sapiens has evolved into the dominant animal on the planet, acquiring binocular vision, upright posture, large brains, and -- most importantly -- language with syntax and that complex store of non-genetic information we call culture. However, in the last several centuries we've increasingly been using our relatively newly acquired power, especially our culturally evolved technologies, to deplete the natural capital of Earth -- in particular its deep, rich agricultural soils, its groundwater stored during ice ages, and its biodiversity -- as if there were no tomorrow.
The point, all too often ignored, is that this trend is being driven in large part by a combination of population growth and increasing per capita consumption, and it cannot be long continued without risking a collapse of our now-global civilization. Too many people -- and especially too many politicians and business executives -- are under the delusion that such a disastrous end to the modern human enterprise can be avoided by technological fixes that will allow the population and the economy to grow forever. But if we fail to bring population growth and over-consumption under control -- the number of people on Earth is expected to grow from 6.5 billion today to 9 billion by the second half of the 21st century -- then we will inhabit a planet where life becomes increasingly untenable because of two looming crises: global heating, and the degradation of the natural systems on which we all depend.
We believe it is possible to avoid that global denouement. Such mobilization means developing some consensus on goals -- perhaps through a global dialogue in which people discuss the human predicament and decide whether they would like to see a maximum number of people living at a minimum standard of living, or perhaps a much lower population size that gives individuals a broad choice of lifestyles. We have suggested a forum for such a dialogue, modeled partly on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but with more "bottom up" participation. It is clear that only widespread changes in norms can give humanity a chance of attaining a sustainable and reasonably conflict-free society. How to achieve such change -- involving everything from demographic policies and transformation of planet-wide energy, industrial, and agricultural systems, to North-South and interfaith relationships and military postures -- is a gigantic challenge to everyone. Politicians, industrialists, ecologists, social scientists, everyday citizens, and the media must join this debate. Whether it is possible remains to be seen; societies have managed to make major transitions in the recent past, as the civil rights revolution in the United States and the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union clearly demonstrate. We'll continue to hope and work for a cultural transformation in how we treat each other and the natural systems we depend upon. We can create a peaceful and sustainable global civilization, but it will require realistic thinking about the problems we face and a new mobilization of political will. |
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| August 2, 2008 | Letter sent by Abdul Basit to the Global Community Humanity At Crossroads: Attitudes And Climate Change basit72@gmail.com
The huge commotion, wide ranging research and intellectual discussions about the collapse of the civilization due to climate change has created apprehension and confusion about
the directions humanity should take to overcome the challenges to its existence. The variety of solutions recommended range from technological fantasies to pessimistic
resignation about the complete destruction of humanity. The solutions also include invading new planets, as well as constructing polar cities and Noah's model of ark, to sustain life
on earth. Most of the solutions are based on the assumption of total collapse, along with the end of civilization and human existence.
Despite these thought-provoking discussions about the influence of climate change on human existence and the solutions to tackle it, we are nearing, as time passes, the verge of a
major disaster and the options for solutions are declining. The increasing natural calamities, the concern about the tipping points due to further carbon emissions and its effects on
the habitability on earth have created great concerns.
Humanity is at crossroads. Gone are the days of extravaganza due to the unlimited supply of natural resources from nature and the habitable and comfortable climate that we had taken for granted. If we continue with the same attitudes and policies that we hitherto followed we are on the road to self-destruction. If we change our attitudes, lifestyle and policies to take necessary measures in order to create a society based on equality, sustainable development and peace, we still have the chance to maintain life on this planet. Beyond superficial steps, we need a total change to face the challenges of climate change. Dr. Rajendra Pachauri had recently advised the world to change lifestyle by implementing certain measures, including riding a bike and being a frugal shopper in order to help brake global warming. It is about time that the world takes immediate steps to bring this huge profit driven capitalist system to a grinding halt and peddle our way back to a bright and sustainable future. Summary of work from same author: 1.0 Wars and Climate Change: National Interests Verses Global Emergency
2.0 Humanity At Crossroads: Attitudes And Climate Change 3.0 Manifesto To Counter Global Warming And Climate Change 4.0 Obstacles To Counter Global Warming And Climate Change 5.0 Climate Change Solutions: Beyond Science And Above Confines |
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| July 31, 2008 |
Despite Overwhelming Evidence, Creationists Cling to Unreality by Nathan Schneider AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Rights & Liberties Battling creationists will not fix science education. Teaching science will.
As an institution, creationism has crossed social strata as easily as it crosses decades. Despite all that science and secularism can do to explain it away, the crusade against evolution -- the foundation of modern biology -- is as intransigent, and strangely modern in its anti-modernism, as ever. The actor-author-documentarian-presidential speechwriter Ben Stein, with his movie Expelled, has become only the latest in the long line of its media-savvy critics. Today, around half of all Americans prefer creationism, in some form, to the scientific consensus.
Creationists often cast their plight as a fight against censorship -- being unfairly silenced for simply exploring the scientific possibility that God had a hand in making us. In such debates, the First Amendment see-saws back and forth between two dictates: free speech and the disestablishment of religion. They are the political and legal engines that have kept the evolution controversies going all these decades. And they promise a future of even more intransigence. The pro-evolution science establishment wants to protect the methodology and public support that have allowed it to learn so much already and poise it for endless more. Secularists want to protect the American legal tradition that keeps church and state comfortably separate. Religious fundamentalists want to bear witness to the created truth of God before the invented truths of people, winning even as they lose. Together they are a recipe for endlessness. Despite its theatrical appeal, battling creationists will not fix science education. Teaching science will -- with high standards, qualified teachers, and access to lab equipment. If it is necessary to point out how abysmally American students fare compared to those in other countries, so be it. |
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| July 11, 2008 |
Brilliant Plans to Destroy the Planet: The World Bank Tackles Climate Change by Janet Redman AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Foreign Policy The World Bank's new Climate Investment Funds will do nothing to help the climate; they'll just give the bank more clout. President Bush and other leaders of the industrialized world managed to produce a masterfully vague, loophole-ridden statement on climate change at a Group of 8 summit held at a secluded resort on the banks of Lake Toyako in Japan this week.
Large developing countries, such as China and India, have clearly stated their opposition to climate funds being channeled through the World Bank. More than 130 developing nations issued a statement at climate talks in Germany in June that the United Nations, not the World Bank, should have control of any funds contributed for weathering climate change. If given to the World Bank, they argued, these funds should not count toward countries' obligations under the international climate change convention. By ignoring their unified position, the G8 support for this expanded World Bank role in climate funding jeopardizes efforts to bring developing countries to the table for a global climate deal.
Also offensive to developing countries is that the World Bank is asking the countries least responsible for causing climate change to take out loans to help pay for adapting to the inevitable impacts. According to the G8 statement, rich country "donations" to the Strategic Climate Fund will count toward those nations' obligations for development aid, stretching an already pitiful sum impossibly thin.
Piling more debt onto many already heavily indebted nations will mean less money for climate-related disaster preparedness, emergency services and food shortages in the future.
The World Bank's effort to reinvent itself as the global climate crusader is a dangerous charade. With $2 billion already spent on coal, oil and gas projects this year, the World Bank continues to be among the world's largest multilateral financiers of greenhouse-gas-emitting projects in the developing world. The new Climate Investment Funds proposed by the United States and others will house the Clean Technology Fund. Donations from rich countries will ostensibly be used to bring low-carbon technologies to developing countries, and clean energy access to their poorest citizens. It remains to be seen if U.S. taxpayers can match the vigor of global civil society groups gathered in Japan, or whether they will simply sit back as Congress prepares to throw $2 billion of their money out the window at a time of rising oil prices and economic downturn. People in the developing world hope, this time, they are paying attention. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
IS NESARA FACT OR FICTION
by Dr. Leo Rebello
1. Each country MUST ABOLISH their INCOME TAXES; 2. Each country must agree to institute common law; 3. Each country must have government leaders elected by the people; 4. Each country must agree to live in PEACE; 5. Each country must bestow UNIVERSAL PROSPERITY to ALL their citizens by using the money-making formulas and processes which have a proven 200-year track record of success in providing massive prosperity. Now WHO of intelligence could disagree with these ideals? Of course, the TRUE NESARA law has MANY more benefits than these, such as debt forgiveness, gold-backed currency, massive prosperity for all, open public communications with extraterrestrials and physical interaction with them, the release of vastly superior healing and free energy technologies for the upliftment of mankind, etc. etc. But the above five are the basics, and they're enough to win the heart of anyone who has a healthy spirit, a clear mind, and a pure heart. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
AIDS AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
by Dr. Leo Rebello
Every disease under the sun can be treated by Holistic Healing modalities. The principles of healing are very simple: (a) the body heals itself (b) there is an inner environment (c) treatment should not be worse than the disease.
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| July 15, 2008 |
Inner Environment
by Dr. Leo Rebello
In natural medicine, we talk of five elements, namely, Earth, Water, Air, Light and Ether (Ozone), of which our bodies as also the whole universe is made of. There is
approximately 70% water in our bodies, Green planet Earth too has 70% water - what we call seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, ground water, etc.
When the earth is plundered and destroyed by over use of fertilisers, food chain is contaminated and since we take such contaminated food, drink unclean water and top that with soft and hard drinks and drugs, prescription and non-prescription, we have what is known as polluted inner environment. Diseases can be classified into two : psychosomatic and somatopsychic. When we become non compos mentis (unsound mind) due to wrong intake, our solutions too are wonky; and if they be designed with only business and profits in mind, the end-result is bound to be disastrous as we see today in this WTO-GATT regime, where a private bank called World Bank rules from behind and Monsanto takes even our Supreme Court to ride. In natural medicine we also talk of four principles : (a) Healing is within. Hence, we treat/cure a patient in Holistic manner, that is, his/her body, mind and spirit. We are NOT like modern medicine experts, “who know more and more of less and less”. I call those MDs, “one-organ, one-disease” experts. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
COMMON VALUES IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
by Dr. Leo Rebello
The Eternal values common to all religions are: Truth is one. God is one. Love is ultimate. Universe is one. There is plenty in this universe for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed. Our
blood is one (Muslim blood is not green and Hindu blood is not saffron, African blood is not black and European blood is not white). Our hopes, fears, aspirations, longings are one. And the ultimate truth
is that Religion divides people instead of uniting and uplifting. Too much time has been wasted and too many lives have been lost in fighting over religion. The most important need of our generation is to rise
above our respective religions and extend the arm of friendship and unity for all the people. That is what Salokha (amity) is all about. Let us build on this further in these two days so that more precious
lives are not lost in communal carnage.
Through endless churning of the ocean came the nectar of the true, the good and the beautiful to make human life sublime. Through discussion comes undertaking, unity and peace. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
Revised Oath for Doctors
by Dr. Leo Rebello
I shall not prescribe unnecessary medicines and tests to my patients; I shall not give false counseling; I shall not overcharge and accept cuts and gifts; I shall not rape tiny tots with mercury laced innoculations or vaccinations, for they pollute the blood stream of small children leading to serious diseases like AIDS, Cancers, Autism, etc.; I shall not prescribe lethal drugs, like anti-retrovirals, chemotherapy, or give ECT to my patients; I shall not indulge in human organ thefts to the detriment of my patients; I shall not be afraid of any authority and fabricate medical records or give false evidence; I shall not exploit students studying under me; I shall not manipulate findings or results to win grants or awards. If I cannot treat a disease, I shall not say that AIDS, cancers, diabetes has no cure. But will tell the patient to try other systems of medicine. I shall treat health practitioners of other systems with respect and not tell deliberate lies to prove my importance. I shall study Holistic healing modalities to increase my knowledge and wisdom. I shall not even by mistake say that "HIV=AIDS=death" or cancers cannot be treated. I shall not frighten my patients with unnecessary comments, opinions or advice. I still remember what Hippocrates said, namely, "Let diet be your medicine" and shall accordingly prescribe fresh fruits, vegetables and good diet to my patients, rather than tonics, syrups, synthetic multi-vitamins, specially to children. I shall not perform surgery, unless it is absolutely must and will not indulge in rackets like amniocentesis, caesarian section, silicon implant or liposuction. I shall work to ban the useless and cruel animal experiments in the name of medicine. I shall participate in periodic workshops, seminars, and conferences at my expense or on scholarship (no pharma funding) to educate myself and speak from my conscience if I am called upon to speak or preside. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World
by Dr. Leo Rebello
'You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.'
1. Change yourself. 'You must be the change you want to see in the world.' If you change yourself you will change your world. 4. Without action you aren't going anywhere. 'An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.' Taking action is hard and difficult.You have to take action and translate the knowledge into results and understanding. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
Human Rights
by Dr. Leo Rebello
Hunger and Right to Food should get priority because more than 2/3 of the world population goes hungry, mainly in Africa and India. But it is largely neglected. 20% of food stocked in Indian grannaries
is wasted; another 15% is eaten or destroyed by rodents, while poor people starve. Ration shops that are meant to provide subsidized food and kerosene to cook the food are centres of extortion for
politicians. Families in places such as Rajasthan, replete with Palace Hotels, where foreigners come to frolic and have camel and elephant rides, still have to practice rotating hunger and thousands of
children every year die or are blinded by xeropthalmia due to insufficient nutrition. It is a shame that inspite of massive 'development' and modernization, we have not been able to eradicate hunger today.
As long as 2% insane capitalists control 98% of the world's wealth, through organisations like World Bank (which is a private bank), WTO-GATT regime, and decisions are controlled at the world bodies
like UN with veto power in the hands of conniving five, will human rights ever get priority?
Finally, RIGHT TO HEALTH is one issue that has not been answered at all. On the contrary, the UN or UN bodies have become the stooges of mercenary mafias. WHO is now known as "WHOre" since it makes mercury-laced lethal vaccines compulsory on children of the world. That has given rise to Autism (4 million cases in India alone), Cancers, AIDS, Polio deformities due to Oral Polio Vaccines. WHO has made it mandatory that the AIDS affected people should take Anti-Retrovirals (ARVs), which are known carcinogens. Codex, a sub-committee of WHO, consisting of junior persons like pharmacists, dietitians, so-called consumer activists and allopathic doctors, have now influenced several nations to enact back-door laws prohibiting even natural products like Honey, Garlic extract, Vitamin C, which are proposed for inclusion as Drugs. Tomorrow the idiots may legislate, "to eat vegetables and fruits you require Doctor's prescription" and later they may say "even a mother cannot feed her baby her milk till the Doctor certifies that her milk is safe", like they do in that mad country called USA, where if you refuse Chemotherapy or Anti-Retroviral Drugs for Cancers and AIDS, you can be jailed. |
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| July 15, 2008 |
REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL CONFLICTS AND TERRORISM HELD ON 22nd JANUARY 2007 IN PUNE, INDIA
by Dr. Leo Rebello
The root cause of Global Conflicts and Terrorism is America and its allies, who wish to colonise the space when the Green planet itself is being turned into brown. We need to concentrate on saving the green planet earth. That is our first and last priority.
Dr. Leo Rebello's speech was the most powerful among all the speakers. Here are some snippets from his speech. * World Disaster Clock has been set at 5 minutes to midnight and yet the world is sleeping. * 99.99% people of the Green Planet Earth are peace-loving, kind and good and only 0.01% people create conflicts and terrorism. * The ONLY known terrorist in the world is the USA - From Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Vietnam, From Somalia to Russia, from Afghanistan to Iraq, and next will be an attack on Iran in April 2007. * The world must pass sanctions against America instead of dancing with disaster. * Poverty and inequalities, Malnutrition, Drugs, Arms of Destruction and Armies, Neocons and their agenda of New World Order are the root cause of Conflicts and Terrorism worldover. Dr. Leo Rebello said when 60% people of the world do not have enough to eat, clothes to cover their bare bodies, shelter to rest their head and clean water to drink, talking of missiles and investing in arms and armies were wrong priorities. Poverty and Inequalities were there due to unequal distribution of wealth. Due to malnutrition millions have died and are dying daily. "Sanctions" he said, "was unjust and led to millions of deaths in poor countries". |
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| July 3, 2008 |
The media reports about Zimbabwe’s elections present them as a clash between the ‘evil’ Mugabe and the ‘heroic’ Tsvangirai, an electoral battle for Zimbabwe’s soul. Mugabe is depicted as having brought Zimbabwe to its knees, causing widespread poverty and enforcing terror and repression, and Tsvangirai is discussed as the harbinger of a dignified ‘revolution’ against Mugabeism (2). This is a fantasy. It ignores the key role played by Western governments and financial institutions in using sanctions, tough diplomacy and the proxy interventionists of the South Africa government and the African Union to isolate and harry Zimbabwe over the past decade. Such self-serving external meddling has contributed to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis - and it has dangerously distorted the political dynamics inside Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the south of Africa.
Over the past 10 years, American and European governments cynically transformed Mugabe’s Zimbabwe into the West’s whipping boy in Africa, the state they love to hate, a country against which they can enforce tough sanctions to demonstrate their seriousness about standing up to ‘evil’. The West has imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, warned off foreign investors, denied Zimbabwean officials the right to travel freely around the world, demonised Mugabe as an ‘evil dictator’, discussed the idea of military action against Zimbabwe, and used moral and financial blackmail to cajole South Africa’s president Thabo Mbeki to ‘deal with’ Mugabe.
Bashing Zimbabwe played a dual role for Western officials and commentators. It allowed those of a conservative stripe to defend the historic reputation of colonialism by comparing it favourably with the rule of individuals like Mugabe. Eton-educated British observers loathed Mugabe because they considered him a symbol of African cockiness, who had humiliated Ian Smith (the white minority ruler of a self-declared ‘independent’ Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979) before the eyes of the world. Attacking Mugabe’s rule became a way of rehabilitating the image of old-fashioned, British-tinged colonialism. At the same time, one-time anti-colonialist radicals - including most notably the gay rights activist Peter Tatchell in the UK - focused their political energies on opposing Mugabe, describing him as intolerant and not sufficiently respectful of minority rights. At a time when political radicalism is on the wane in the West, some activists sought to recover their old campaigning spirit by taking potshots at the easy target of a beleaguered African state. Indeed, radicals often led the charge for tougher economic and political punishment of Zimbabwe - and frequently, they got what they asked for. On the basis of little more than the fact that they needed a focus for their international pretensions, Western governments have put Zimbabwe into an economic straitjacket and warped its internal political process. If the sanctions, blackmail and withdrawal of trade have helped to push Zimbabwe’s economy into freefall, then the relentless backdoor political interventions have disempowered the people of Zimbabwe. The dynamic of Western intervention caused Mugabe to become more entrenched and paranoid about outsiders - and it encouraged the MDC to look to Western officials and radicals for their favour and flattery rather than to build a meaningful grassroots movement inside Zimbabwe. Indeed, for all the talk of a ‘revolution’ in Zimbabwe, both during minor street protests last year and during the elections this week, many people actually seem quite resigned about Zimbabwe’s fate. As one report recently said: ‘[T]he opposition hasn’t been able to mobilise tens of thousands of people…’ (18) Lots of the current news coverage continually shows Zimbabweans queuing up for hours to buy a newspaper for a few thousand dollars so that they can read about the elections. This footage is supposed to show how bad inflation has become in Zimbabwe, but it also reveals something else: that the West’s attempted strangulation of Mugabe’s regime reduced the people of Zimbabwe to observers rather than masters of their fate, who look to the front pages of newspapers to find out what might happen next in their country. |
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| June 27, 2008 |
Will the Last Superpower Recognize In Time What We Must Do to Save the Planet?
by David Korten YES! Magazine AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment In a time when the old order is shattering, a global movement is emerging to challenge the use of war as a tool of statecraft. Cheap oil provided an energy subsidy that defined the wars, economies, settlements, values, and lifestyles of the 20th century. The result was a century of wasteful extravagance and inefficiency that encouraged us to squander virtually all Earth's resources -- including water, land, forests, fisheries, soils, minerals, and natural waste recycling capacity. We are now waking up to the morning-after consequences of a brief but raucous party. These include depleted natural systems, unsustainable economies, an obsolete physical infrastructure, and a six-fold increase in the human population dependent on the diminished resources of a finite planet. Cheap oil also fueled a zero sum global competition for access to resources -- particularly cheap oil -- and for the military superiority required to secure that access. The United States combined the global projection of military power with the global projection of economic and cultural power to achieve unchallenged global dominance as the sole reigning superpower. Cheap oil is no more and the global projection of military and economic power it made possible is no longer viable. According to the scientific consensus, to avoid driving Earth's system of climate regulation into irrevocable collapse we humans must achieve at least an 80 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050 and possibly sooner. Less noted is the corresponding imperative that to avoid irrevocable social collapse, we must simultaneously achieve an equitable allocation of allowable emissions to meet the essential needs of every person on the planet. This presents a particular challenge for the United States. As the world's leading producer of green house gases, our emissions reduction must be closer to 90 percent. There is no place in this equation for war or the global projection of military power. Beyond the fact that military planes, ships, and vehicles are gluttonous consumers of oil, the central activity of warfare is to kill and maim people and destroy critical infrastructure to impair capacity for normal life. The collateral damage includes massive scale toxic and radioactive environmental contamination that renders growing portions of our crowded planet uninhabitable. The more we humans war the more certain our ultimate collective demise. The second is an emergent social movement calling all the world's parliaments to adopt the principles of Article 9 added to the Japanese Constitution following World War II. In the official translation it reads: ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.(2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. |
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| June 26, 2008 |
Evolutionary Forelawsship: Realizing Human Potential in the Age of Cosmic Genealogy on Earth
by Robert E. Cobb Forelaws on Board www.geocities.com/CosmicGenealogy/ email: panaltruism@yahoo.com
Human potential fully realized in the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth rests, finally, on resolution of deep human needs to know from whence we came, safety and security, meaning and purpose - consonant with
life-centered cosmologies recognizing the cognitive and formative basis of all compassionate global societies: mate selection, the nurturing of offspring, and early childhood education in a healthful, sustainable
environment.
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| June 26, 2008 |
To the question "Are we now living in the Anthropocene?" the 21 members of the Commission unanimously answer "yes." They adduce robust evidence that the Holocene epoch -- the interglacial span of unusually stable climate that has allowed the rapid evolution of agriculture and urban civilization -- has ended and that the Earth has entered "a stratigraphic interval without close parallel in the last several million years." In addition to the buildup of greenhouse gases, the stratigraphers cite human landscape transformation which "now exceeds [annual] natural sediment production by an order of magnitude," the ominous acidification of the oceans, and the relentless destruction of biota.
This new age, they explain, is defined both by the heating trend (whose closest analogue may be the catastrophe known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, 56 million years ago) and by the radical instability expected of future environments. In somber prose, they warn that "the combination of extinctions, global species migrations and the widespread replacement of natural vegetation with agricultural monocultures is producing a distinctive contemporary biostratigraphic signal. These effects are permanent, as future evolution will take place from surviving (and frequently anthropogenically relocated) stocks." Evolution itself, in other words, has been forced into a new trajectory.
Even in the most optimistic simulations, the agricultural systems of Pakistan (a 20% decrease from current farm output predicted) and Northwestern India (a 30% decrease) are likely to be devastated, along with much of the Middle East, the Maghreb, the Sahel belt, Southern Africa, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Twenty-nine developing countries will lose 20% or more of their current farm output to global warming, while agriculture in the already rich north is likely to receive, on average, an 8% boost. In light of such studies, the current ruthless competition between energy and food markets, amplified by international speculation in commodities and agricultural land, is only a modest portent of the chaos that could soon grow exponentially from the convergence of resource depletion, intractable inequality, and climate change. The real danger is that human solidarity itself, like a West Antarctic ice shelf, will suddenly fracture and shatter into a thousand shards. |
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| June 24, 2008 |
Climate Chaos Is Inevitable. We Can Only Avert Oblivion.
by Mark Lynas, The Guardian Countercurrents.org
We came up with three alternative visions of the future, and asked experts at the Met Office Hadley Centre to run them through its climate models to give each a projected temperature rise. The results were both surprising, and profoundly disturbing.
The most pessimistic was labelled "agree and ignore" - a world where governments meet to make commitments on climate change, but then backtrack or fail to comply with them. Sound familiar? It should: this scenario most closely resembles the past 10 years, and it projects emissions on an upward trend until 2045. A more optimistic scenario was termed "Kyoto plus": here governments make a strong agreement in Copenhagen in 2009, binding industrialised countries into a new round of Kyoto-style targets, with developing countries joining successively as they achieve "first world" status. This scenario represents the best outcome that can plausibly result from the current process - but ominously, it still sees emissions rising until 2030.
The third scenario - called "step change" - is worth a closer look. Here we envisaged massive climate disasters around the world in 2010 and 2011 causing a sudden increase in the sense of urgency surrounding global warming. Energised, world leaders ditch Kyoto, abandoning efforts to regulate emissions at a national level. Instead, they focus on the companies that produce fossil fuels in the first place - from oil and gas wells and coal mines - with the UN setting a global "upstream" production cap and auctioning tradable permits to carbon producers. Instead of all the complexity of regulating squabbling nations and billions of people, the price mechanism does the work: companies simply pass on their increased costs to consumers, and demand for carbon-intensive products begins to fall. The auctioning of permits raises trillions of dollars to be spent smoothing the transition to a low-carbon economy and offsetting the impact of price rises on the poor. A clear long-term framework puts a price on carbon, giving business a strong incentive to shift investment into renewable energy and low-carbon manufacturing. Most importantly, a strong carbon cap means that global emissions peak as early as 2017.
But the other great lesson is that sticking with current policy is actually a very risky option, rather than a safe bet. Betting on Kyoto could mean triggering the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet and crossing thresholds that involve massive methane release from melting Siberian permafrost. If current policy continues to fail - along the lines of the "agree and ignore" scenario - then 50% to 80% of all species on earth could be driven to extinction by the magnitude and rapidity of warming, and much of the planet's surface left uninhabitable to humans. Billions, not millions, of people would be displaced. |
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| June 16, 2008 |
How Do We Go from Empire to Earth Community?
by David Korten YES! Magazine AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment The day of reckoning for our reckless human ways that many of us have for decades warned would be coming is here. We cannot grow our way out of poverty. The only way to end poverty and heal our social divisions on an already over stressed planet is through a redistribution of resources from rich to poor and from nonessential to essential uses. Natural wealth was created by our Earth mother and is therefore a common heritage of all her children, including all non-human species. None of us has a right to abuse that wealth or to monopolize it to the exclusion of our sisters and brothers. This brings us to the third element of the big picture: the governing institutions to which we give the power to set our priorities and our collective course. We might wonder how such injustice could happen in a world governed by democratically elected governments. The answer is simple and alarming. Our world is not governed by democratically elected governments. It is ruled by global financial institutions in the service of financial speculators who exchange trillions of dollars daily in search of instance unearned profits to increase the fortunes -- and the power -- of the richest people on the planet. They bring down governments that displease them, and buy and sell the largest corporations like commodities. By design and law the defining priority and obligation of these governing institutions is to generate financial profits to make rich people richer, in short to increase inequality in a world in desperate need of greater equity. To this end, the corporations rise or fall at the pleasure of the speculator, assault of our eyes and ears with advertising messages intended to get those of who are already have more stuff that we need -- to buy more stuff. So what does this big picture overview tell us about what we need to do? How much suffering will changing our ways impose? Well, we need to grow strong caring communities in which we get more of our human satisfaction from caring relationships and less from material goods. We will need to end war as a means of settling international disputes and dismantle our military establishment. We need to reclaim the American ideal of being a democratic middle-class nation without extremes of wealth and poverty. And we need to encourage and support the rest of the world in doing the same. To do all this we will need create democratically accountable governing institutions devoted to the well-being of people and nature. There can be no trade offs between justice, sustainability, happiness, and democracy. They are all inseparably linked. The idea that beneath the surface of our wondrous cultural diversity most humans want the same thing is consistent with recent scientific findings that our human brains are wired for compassion, caring, altruism, and cooperation. It turns out that most people everywhere, irrespective of their skin color, religion, nationality, or language are happiest when they are being helpful, loving, peaceful, generous, and cooperative. Isn't that stunning? Think of the possibilities. People of color and women won recognition of their full human rights only as the civil rights and women's movements successfully exposed the fallacy of the story that people of color and women are less than fully human. Recognizing the full humanity of all peoples opens us to a deeper understanding of what it truly does mean to be human in all the rich potentials that our human nature embodies. The environmental movement is replacing the story that nature is a dark and evil threat to be subdued, vanquished, and used for whatever purposes please us with the story of Earth as a living being, the mother of life, a living spaceship. Through sharing stories about what makes us truly happy, we come to see the fallacy of the advertising story that material consumption is our source of happiness. Once this fallacy is seen for what it is, we can enthusiastically share our stories of how we are improving the quality of our lives by reducing the quantity of our consumption and gaining control of our time to do more of the things that make us feel fully alive. In everything you do, share the story of our human possibility and of our right and responsibility to create for ourselves and for future generations, the world of our shared dream. Our distinctive human capacity for reflection and intentional choice carries a corresponding moral responsibility to care for our Mother Earth and for one another. We must now test the limits of the individual and collective creative potential of our species as we strive to become the change we seek. In these turbulent and frightening times, it is important to remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment of creative opportunity in the whole of the human experience. The future is in our hands. Now is the hour. We have the power to turn this world around. We are the ones we have been waiting for. |
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| June 15, 2008 |
We can continue to believe our politicians as they echo messages of stability and order around our planet, and we can continue to feed off the BBC or the New York Times to get an insight into the normality of the global situation, but sooner or later, the collapse of our economies is going to affect us directly by hitting our pockets, and then perhaps we will be ready to act. Hopefully, against those politicians and global capitalists who are infecting our daily life by bringing a painful and miserable reality to the majority of humanity.
We have not been smart enough as a collective of global citizens to understand that we are being taken on a ride, that affected groups are being kept isolated by the magic wand of the mainstream media regurgitating the propagandistic message of the ruling elite. Everyday, the global situation is getting worse. As strikes are on the rise and unemployment is increasing, we must be alert, we must understand what is happening. The elites will continue to keep us divided, because divided is how they can control us, but we must be smarter than them and understand that the only strength we have against their policies, is the collective strength of united discontent. When will we understand that our politicians are lying to us? Will we ever understand that the mainstream media is not democratic and that the police are there to defend the interests of the wealthy? One can see clearly whose interest the police serves when those who protest and strike have guns pointed at them. We must begin to pave the path to peace in order to gain global stability, and that must be done by setting measures to stop speculators from benefiting from the misery of others, by punishing corrupt politicians, and by collectively understanding that bankers are rich because we have placed our money in their hands. Ultimately, unless we begin to see the world as a whole, in which things are truly interconnected, our governments will continue their hostilities, oil prices will keep on rising, and when the time comes for us to complain, we will be faced with the guns of the police whom we have helped to create with the payment of our taxes. The only positive thing coming out of this chaos, is that we are no longer able to avoid facing reality, and soon after this social Tsunami which has begun to unravel is over, we will be faced with a true opportunity to collectively construct global order. |
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| June 11, 2008 |
Permafrost Threatened By Rapid Retreat Of Arctic Sea Ice, NCAR Study Finds
by David Lawrence, Andrew Slater, Robert Tomas, Marika Holland, and Clara Deser Ucar.edu Countercurrents.org
The rate of climate warming over northern Alaska, Canada, and Russia could more than triple during periods of rapid sea ice loss, according to a new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The findings raise concerns about the thawing of permafrost, or permanently frozen soil, and the potential consequences for sensitive ecosystems, human infrastructure, and the release of additional greenhouse gases.
"Our study suggests that, if sea-ice continues to contract rapidly over the next several years, Arctic land warming and permafrost thaw are likely to accelerate," says lead author David Lawrence of NCAR.
Arctic soils are believed to hold 30 percent or more of all the carbon stored in soils worldwide. Although researchers are uncertain what will happen to this carbon as soils warm and permafrost thaws, one possibility is that the thaw will initiate significant additional emissions of carbon dioxide or the more potent greenhouse gas, methane. An important unresolved question is how the delicate balance of life in the Arctic will respond to such a rapid warming," Lawrence says. "Will we see, for example, accelerated coastal erosion, or increased methane emissions, or faster shrub encroachment into tundra regions if sea ice continues to retreat rapidly? |
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| June 6, 2008 |
The fate of global food production has now become the chief terror of the future. Much of our current recessionary intrigue has been aided and abetted by market speculation, from the oil and food sector all the way to the White House itself. For the last seven years, the Bush administration has placed climate crisis on the back burner in existential pursuit of resource wars and an "American way of life" that has turned from a dream of Hummers, housing and bling into a nightmare of price hikes, foreclosures and layoffs. Mission accomplished. But someone will have to pick up the pieces, which are going viral fast. In that chaos, food has stopped being our other energy problem and become a chief terror of the future. And considering increasing prices, decreasing dollars and a world that will soon house many more people but feed even less of them, we're probably in for a famine or two before all is said and done. Skyrocketing prices are hitting those who already spend 60 percent, sometimes even 80 percent, of their budget on food. These groups include the rural landless, pastoralists and the majority of small-scale farmers. But the impact is greatest on the urban poor. And the rises are producing what we're calling the "new face of hunger" -- people who suddenly can no longer afford the food they see on store shelves because prices have soared beyond their reach. |
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| June 12, 2008 |
FROM ONE TEACHER TO ANOTHER TEACHER - an important letter to the President of Iran, from India
by Dr. Leo Rebello
Inspite of your austere and simple life based on simple humanitarian principles,
the stories of oppression and islamic intolerance keep flying in the face. Your own Iranians in exile in India and elsewhere talk against the regime that violates
Human rights of its own citizens inspite of signing international protocols.
Take for example Haleh Rouhi, 29, Raha Sabet 33, and Sasan Taqva 32, were each sentenced to four years in prison and then suddenly taken into custody on 19th November 2007 on a trumped up charge of "propaganda against the regime" for running social service projects to help underprivileged children and youth in Shiraz. The details can be read on pages 8 and 9 of ONE COUNTRY, International Quarterly, which I received today (4 June 2008). Simply because they are Baha'I, to round them up for their beliefs which are more or less akin to Islam, is NOT proper and and I think you should immediately consider presidential Amnesty to them and censor those who interpret laws in un-islamic manner in an Islamic Democracy, which has stood the American onslaught. |
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| June 7, 2008 |
Biofuel production is certainly one of the culprits in the current global food crisis. But while the diversion of corn from food to biofuel feedstock has been a factor in food prices shooting up, the more primordial problem has been the conversion of economies that are largely food-self-sufficient into chronic food importers. Here the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) figure as much more important villains.
Whether in Latin America, Asia, or Africa, the story has been the same: the destabilization of peasant producers by a one-two punch of IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programs that gutted government investment in the countryside followed by the massive influx of subsidized U.S. and European Union agricultural imports after the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture pried open markets.
African agriculture is a case study of how doctrinaire economics serving corporate interests can destroy a whole continent’s productive base.
The lower cost of U.S. products stemmed from subsidies that were becoming more massive each year, despite the fact that the WTO was supposed to phase out all forms of subsidy. From $367 billion in 1995, the first year of the WTO, the total amount of agricultural subsidies provided by developed country governments rose to $388 billion in 2004. Subsidies now account for 40% of the value of agricultural production in the European Union (EU) and 25% in the United States.
The social consequences of structural adjustment cum agricultural dumping were predictable. According to Oxfam, the number of Africans living on less than a dollar a day more than doubled to 313 million people between 1981 and 2001 – or 46% of the whole continent. The role of structural adjustment in creating poverty, as well as severely weakening the continent’s agricultural base and consolidating import dependency, was hard to deny. As the World Bank’s chief economist for Africa admitted, “We did not think that the human costs of these programs could be so great, and the economic gains would be so slow in coming.”
In sum, biofuel production did not create but only exacerbated the global food crisis. The crisis had been building up for years, as policies promoted by the World Bank, IMF, and WTO systematically discouraged food self-sufficiency and encouraged food importation by destroying the local productive base of smallholder agriculture. Throughout Africa and the global South, these institutions and the policies they promoted are today thoroughly discredited. But whether the damage they have caused can be undone in time to avert more catastrophic consequences than we are now experiencing remains to be seen.
Walden Bello is a senior analyst at Focus on the Global South, a program of Chulalongkorn University's Social Research Institute, and a columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org). |
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| June 6, 2008 |
On May 23, 2007, the world reached a seemingly invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history the world's urban population outnumbered the rural one. Now more than half its human population, 3.3 billion is living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of our cities and the future of humanity itself, all depends very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth.
Towns and town creation play an important role to impose control over the country. It also directs the activities of urban residents towards the larger purpose of establishing an administrative network and helps attain national prosperity. Unfortunately powerful political and economic interests shape urban policies to line their own pockets. The middle and working classes pay the bills for humongous, perpetually undelivered projects and programs.
There is an ominous divide between the urban and rural economy. Incomes in the cities have greatly increased for some whereas rural residents, who make up a huge section of the population, have barely felt the effect. This economic differential leads to large scale resentment and a sense of deprivation. The widening divide in turn drives millions into the cities, creating slums filled with poor, dislocated people. To slow down this stampede, we have to bring jobs to the countryside. Investors should be encouraged to build factories away from the presently focused main cities and help boost the local cottage industry.
The course of sustainable development at the local and regional levels requires the pursuit of economic policies that do not add new burdens to the carrying capacity of our locale. Population shifts or migrations to urban areas globally have traditionally been a tell-tale sign of many issues. Here people move for assumed advantages, such as employment, educational and economic opportunities. There is also forced movement to flee environmental crises, persecution and violence at the hands of the feudal.
A lack of imagination, rather than lack of skills, is a far more critical distinction between survivors and victims. To learn to make our cities livable we will have to break some longstanding chronic habits. The hardest habit to break is the 'syndrome of tragedy', that brooding feeling, like we are terminal patients in almost all walks of life. There is absolutely no dearth of 'specialists' out to prove that change is not possible. What has to be explained to them is that it takes the same energy to say why something cannot be done as to figure out how to do it, provided an honest working will is there.
Today our struggling cities, like almost everything else, are portrayed as evolutionary dead ends, with no future to contemplate. Our vision should be less a dream, an end-point or an unrealizable utopian existence, out there somewhere in the future; it should instead be an unending process to promote social justice and economic well-being among all Pakistanis. We should work towards peace with nature and that enveloping ecosystem which sustains life on our planet and is the true source of our natural capital.
It is time to raise our voices in opposition to the degradation of our lives, the jeopardizing of our individual and collective health and well being and above all the pollution of our politics. The consumer culture we inhabit bombards us with messages to buy beyond our budgets and live beyond our means. We can be more happy and content if we could but get off the habit of buying too much and consuming thoughtlessly. Hiding our unhappiness by frolicking in this consumer paradise for some, we who can, eat too much, spend too much, and waste too much time on things that do not matter. Along the way, we contribute to the plunder of nature's depleting capital and the theft of our children's future.
It is time to construct a future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted. It is time to find the means for putting our urban house in order by planting seeds that will establish new roots for our urban community; enliven and enrich the nourishing soil on which we depend for human life itself.
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| June 6, 2008 |
Food, Water And Fuel. Three Fundamental Necessities Of Life In Jeopardy
by Michel Chossudovsky Global Research, Countercurrents.org
We are at the crossroads of the most serious economic and social crisis in modern history. The process of global impoverishment unleashed at the outset of the 1980s debt crisis has reached a major turning point, leading to the simultaneous outbreak of famines in all major regions of the developing World.
There are many complex features underlying the global economic crisis pertaining to financial markets, the decline in production, the collapse of State institutions and the rapid development of a profit-driven war economy. What is rarely mentioned in this analysis, is how this global economic restructuring forcibly impinges on three fundamental necessities of life: food, water and fuel.
The provision of food, water and fuel is a precondition of civilized society: they are necessary factors for the survival of the human species. In recent years, the prices of these three variables has increased dramatically at the global level, with devastating economic and social consequences.
These three essential goods or commodities, which in a real sense determine the reproduction of economic and social life on planet earth, are under the control of a small number of global corporations and financial institutions.
Both the State as well as the gamut of international organizations --often referred to as the "international community"-- serve the unfettered interests of global capitalism. The main intergovernmental bodies including the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organizations (WTO) have endorsed the New World Order on behalf of their corporate sponsors. Governments in both developed and developing countries have abandoned their historical role of regulating key economic variables as well as ensuring a minimum livelihood for their people.
We are dealing with a complex and centralized constellation of economic power in which the instruments of market manipulation have a direct bearing on the lives of millions of people.
The prices of food, water, fuel are determined at the global level, beyond the reach of national government policy. The price hikes of these three essential commodities constitute an instrument of "economic warfare", carried out through the "free market" on the futures and options exchanges.
These hikes in the prices of food, water and fuel are contributing in a very real sense to "eliminating the poor" through "starvation deaths". The sugar coated bullets of the "free market" kill our children. The act to kill is instrumented in a detached fashion through computer program trading on the commodity exchanges, where the global prices of rice, wheat and corn are decided upon.
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| June 5, 2008 |
The Roots of 'Necklacing': Why White Farmers in Zimbabwe Are Responsible for the Killings in South Africa
by Gary Brecher AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Foreign Policy South Africans wouldn't be killing Zimbabwean refugees if it weren't for the stranglehold Zimbabwe's whites have on its farmland. There was a sad little war in South Africa last week. Actually, it was one of the latest battles in a war that's been going on for over a hundred years. Like they say in the Congo, "Mokilo e komplike," "It's a complicated world. Like a lot of wars, this one was between two groups that lost out in the bigger war. Now they're forced to fight each other for scraps, while the real bad guys, the British, send camera crews to go "tsk-tsk" at how uncivilized it all is. The way the BBC tells it, this wasn't even a war, just "riots" by Zulu mobs targeting Zimbabwean immigrants, but it was war. In most places and most times, war isn't uniformed armies meeting on the field of battle, but mobs looking for people from the enemy tribe to kill. When they find them, they kill them just like the Zulu mobs killed any Zimbabwean immigrant lucky enough to fall into their hands: in the goriest way possible, in order to scare the rest of the enemy tribe off the disputed turf. A better question to ask would be, what sent so many Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa, driving wages down and messing up the place? The official answer to that in the Western press is that it's all the fault of Robert Mugabe, the old ex-guerrilla who runs Zimbabwe. I don't buy it. Mugabe's an old fool, an egomaniac, yeah -- most of the men who rule countries are. Bu the damage to Zimbabwe was done a long time ago, and Mugabe's in trouble with the Western newspapers for trying to fix things. That's what blows me away: in all this coverage of Zimbabwe, nobody asks simple questions like, "Who owns the farmland, and why?" The situation's changing fast now, but keep in mind that just ten years ago, 4000 white farmers "owned" three-quarters of all the good land. That's less than one percent of the country's population controlling three-quarters of its useful farmland. That's why Zimbabwe's a mess. Imagine what this country would look like if there were 300 million Native Americans crowded into shantytowns, with a few thousand European settlers living on huge plantations. That's the population profile of Zimbabwe. Mugabe's been taking that land back, and whatever else he's done, he was in the right. He has the military power, and for all you Christians out there, he has every moral right too, as far as I can see. After all, what right do those white settlers have to the land? Their great-grandfathers stole it at gunpoint, or got it by dirty tricks, a little over a century ago. Funny how nobody ever wants to talk about that. The man who took Zimbabwe for the Brits, Cecil Rhodes, was a classic Victorian closet case who distracted himself from his sinful urges with a bloodsoaked vision of British flags flying from Cape Town to the Mediterranean. Rhodes would use any sleazy trick to take the land he needed. When he couldn't force or trick King Lobengula, leader of the Matabele who ruled southern Zimbabwe, into selling off his land, he sent the king a British doctor who was under orders to turn the King into a morphine addict. Once the King was strung out, Rhodes grabbed the Matabeles' land. King Lobengula killed himself. That's how a few whites ended up with three-quarters of the decent land. And this didn't happen in the long-ago far-away time. It was barely over a century ago (1884-1902). So when rightwing papers like the UK Telegraph scream about Mugabe's land grabs, I have to laugh.You can't rob a thief, and the Brits who grabbed Zimbabwe's farmland are nothing but thieves who've lost their power to hold onto what they stole. They're just getting their loot taken back by the people they stole it from, but if you listen to the BBC you'd think these farm seizures are the greatest crime in history. BBC crews have been out there for years, filming every "white-owned farm" that gets handed over to Mugabe's guerrilla veterans, showing long sobby close-ups of the dear old white guys' heartbroken livestock as if this was the real tragedy. They love to focus on the little dogs especially -- boo hoo, little doggy lost its home! Nobody ever mentions the sick stuff that happened to put that farm into British hands in the first place. The Zulus who are necklacing a few poor Zimbabweans now lost out the same way, massacred by British armies using modern weapons in a series of wars a little over a century ago. Until they sent warriors armed with spears up against the redcoats' repeating rifles, they were one of the great empires of the world, moving south in their own wave of conquest. But like everyone who got in the Empire's way, they were slaughtered and forced off the good land by the same holier-than-thou white people who stole all the farmland in Zimbabwe. That's what we have here: two groups of Africans robbed and gutted by the Empire, forced to fight over scraps, while the descendants of the white land thieves still hold all the land and money. |
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| June 2, 2008 |
Why Is South Africa Being Torn Apart?
by Thandokuhle Manzi & Patrick Bond Socialist Worker, Countercurrents.org
The low-income black township here in Durban, which suffered more than any other during apartheid, Cato Manor, was the scene of a test performed on a Mozambican a week ago Wednesday morning.
Thousands of Zimbabweans and Mozambicans living in Johannesburg and Durban returned across the borders, but most went nearby to police stations, community centers and churches. The notoriously corrupt Cato Manor police station now has several hundred people sheltering in the immediate vicinity, and a large tent was erected for shelter.
In fact, when police do come–as to Johannesburg’s Central Methodist Church on January 30, where 1500 Zimbabweans had taken refuge–their agenda is often pure brutality. Host bishop Paul Verryn was beaten that evening, and almost all the Zimbabweans were arrested. But no charges stuck.
Apartheid-era super-profits for capital were the result. Now, with more porous borders and the deep economic crisis Zimbabweans face (in part because President Thabo Mbeki still nurtures the Mugabe dictatorship), South African corporate earnings are roaring.
It is hard to celebrate Africa Day given that, in the meantime, neoliberalism and paranoid nationalism imposed from above have made mockery of Africa’s ubuntu philosophy (we are who we are through others). From below, the thugs who beat up that Mozambican have merely joined a rapidly growing movement in the opposite direction: to barbarism.
Patrick Bond has written several books about African history and politics. Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation details how exploitative debt has helped keep sub-Saharan Africa mired in poverty. Fanon’s Warning shows how the New Partnership for Africa's Development counterposed sustainable growth to Africa's rapid integration into the world economy. Ashwin Desai’s We Are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa focuses on the Chatsworth community movement against cut-offs of water and electricity. |
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| June 1st, 2008 |
Federation of Global Governments essential services are offering the " Global Movement to Help " by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
Summary
As a first step to getting help, all nations can and should approve those first three sections on the Scale of Global Rights.
The approval would supersede the political and physical borders of participating member nations.
The Global Protection Agency (GPA) would have the approval from all member nations to give immediate help, bypassing normal government protocols.
Somewhat like an emergency unit but at the global level. That is what those first three sections mean. They represent an efficient and immediate emergency response to help.
First, participating member nations need to give their approval to the GPA.
The GPA is a global organization much like the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade between nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) for health,
or the European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFT), South American Community of Nations (SACON) for trade and economics.
The GPA offers an efficient emergency response to help.
The GPA is a short term solution, an immediate and efficient response to help. There are also long term solutions. As with the short term solution, the most significant long term solution is also related to
the Scale of Global Rights. The Scale was entrenched in the Global Constitution and is thus the fundamental guide to Global Law.
Now the Scale of Global Rights is a long term solution and is also a part of the Global Movement to Help of the Global Community.
The Scale was designed to help all life on Earth. What would be preferable is that nations unite amongst themselves to help.
Over time, we have seen the creation of the United Nations, the European
Union, the South American Community of Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Except for the UN, these organizations are mainly concerned with trade and economics.
The Global Community offers a more meaningful union in the form of nine or more Global Governments. For instance the South American Community of Nations can be
a Global Government by simply accepting the Global Constitution as a way of dealing between member nations. A Global Government is concerned not only with economics and trade,
but also with the environment, health, agriculture, energy, food, social, cultural and many other essential aspects.
The Federation of Global Governments is the place of meeting between Global Governments.
The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us, would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating member nations. The Global
Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here. All of them are already in operation on a small scale.
Introduction Key words: Global essential services, Global Community, Federation of Global Governments, Global rights, Scale of Global Rights, global citizens, Global Parliament,
Global Protection Agency (GPA), Global Information Media (GIM),
Earth Government, Earth Executive Council, House of Elected Representatives, House of Advisers, Global Ministries, Ombudspersons Office, volunteering for the Global Community,
Global Community Assessment Centre (GCAC)
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| May 29, 2008 |
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases. This unfolding trend will radically change human habitation on the Earth. Among the consequences will be the drastic reduction of food and fresh water available to people, not only in poorer parts of the globe, but throughout the planet.
Industrial societies with their industrial agriculture are dependent upon fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal for many things, including transportation, electricity, and making plastics and other modern essentials. Oil is the main ingredient in conventional food. As the supply of petroleum and other fossil fuels decline Peak Water and Peak Food will follow. In recent months we have seen the return of food riots in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.
Industrial societies run on electricity powered by the cheap energy of fossil fuels. As the supply of those energy sources decline and world-wide competition for them through wars and other means heighten, more electrical grids will fail, and with them access to both food and water.
The pace quickens. The signs are more numerous. We need even more than food security; we need food sovereignty. Who controls your food? Growing at least part of one's own food--and having something to trade--will be essential to survival.
Dr. Shepherd Bliss, sbliss@hawaii.edu, teaches at Sonoma State University and has run the organic Kokopelli Farm for most of the last 15 years. |
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| May 16, 2008 |
Toxic Chemicals Are Maiming Thousands Around the World
by Aquene Freechild Environmental Health Fund , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Over time, our bodies lose their ability to cope with toxic chemicals, and each exposure has a more severe
effect. My first visit to the SIPCOT Chemicals Hub in Cuddalore, India could have appeared deceptively pleasant to outside eyes. It's a beautiful day and there's a good breeze as we drive past the welcome sign for SIPCOT. The air in some places seems far cleaner than the air in nearby Chennai. In some spots it smells sweet, in others, like opening a bottle of ibuprofen -- an antiseptic, medicinal smell. A chemical that will have no visible effect on an adult, can have catastrophic effects on the developing fetus and the young child -- dulling the mind, triggering birth defects, and setting the stage for autism, asthma, allergies and cancer. What may only make an adult nauseated, will cripple the dreams of a child and of a family for a healthy future; a whole and better life. In the U.S., epidemics of cancer, autism, asthma, and reproductive birth defects in baby boys are sky high. Yet the air quality is far better in the U.S. than in most Indian cities. In India garbage piles are burnt spewing whole incinerator's worth of dioxin into the common air. Americans benefit from better environmental standards and enforcement for vehicle and factory emissions. Both India and U.S. have addressed the air quality problems of their cities -- particularly the places where the well-to-do live -- by exporting the sources of pollution -- Texas; Louisiana; Gary, Indiana; and the Port of Los Angeles are cases in point. The urban poor in either country would recognize these lit up refineries, chemical factories and power plants through the stinging fog. Childhood cancer increased .6% a year from 1975-2002 according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. One in almost 7 women will suffer from breast cancer in their lifetimes; hormonally active toxins may be determining cancer outcomes for our children before they are even born. We are just starting to see public discussion of the science of how certain chemicals attach to our DNA and are passed down from generation to generation. No longer is our chemical inheritance limited to in utero exposure and breast milk -- fathers are now known to contribute the effects of their chemical exposures as well. This widespread low level toxic contamination has been building its biological trap for more than four generations. In the U.S. and U.K., one in 250 boys is born with a malformed penis; one in 200 with autism. |
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| May 15, 2008 |
Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah.
Fallujah faces this new crisis after much of the city was destroyed by U.S. military operations in 2004.
The area around Fallujah city, which lies 70 km west of Baghdad, has traditionally been one of the most agriculturally productive in Iraq. Farmers planted tomatoes and cucumbers north of Fallujah, others grew potatoes south of the city near Amiriya. Both areas had plenty of date palm trees and small fruit plantations. Now production is down to a fraction of what it was.
Farmers have been struggling with changing times.
Residents say they are told of a world food crisis that may be affecting them. But their crisis arises mainly from local factors like shortage of water, fuel and electricity.
Whatever the reason, residents simply want relief. "We just want our lives back," said a college student who gave her name only as Nada. "We want to eat, buy clothes, get proper education and breathe pure air. No thanks to Americans for their effort to bring us democracy that killed half of us by their bombs and is now apparently killing the other half by starvation. Can you pass this message to the American people for us?"
According to the UN, at least four million people in Iraq do not have enough food, while approximately 40 percent of the 27.5 million population do not have access to clean drinking water. At least 30 percent do not have access to proper health services.
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| May 15, 2008 |
All beings have impact, and thus all of them leave an ecological footprint. Some of those impacts are in harmony with the biosphere and thus are in accord with the organizing principles of life; whereas others are discordant. Harvesting nuts in a sustainable manner, leaving enough for other animals to use and for the reproduction of the species in perpetuity is an example of harmony; whereas clear cutting and mountain top removal are examples of excess and discord. Some actions compliment life; others diminish it.
Over consumption and waste and the endless economic expansion they cause are the governing principle of capitalism and over population; and, like it or not, they fundamentally conflict with the natural order of things. This ideology is counter to the organizing principle of life and it has the effect of diminishing biodiversity and the ecological processes upon which all life depends.
Capitalism and reductionism hold that every component of the biosphere are resources when, in fact, they are sources of life. At some point in human history, man began taking things apart in an attempt to gain detailed scientific knowledge and understanding; however, in nature—anything apart from the organic whole is dead. It is easily understood that if someone removes another’s heart from his or her chest cavity, that person will quickly die. The heart is a vital organ that pumps blood to every part of the body; it is a part of a connected whole. Sever that connection and the body collapses and death ensues.
Likewise, nature has no unimportant parts. The earth functions like a single living organism of world-size proportions. Everything under the sun exists for a purpose; every organism plays a vital role in the local, regional, and the global ecology. Remove or destroy a part and the whole suffers; one has diminished possibilities, foreclosed options, and subverted natural processes, with consequences to untold numbers of species, including Homo sapiens.
Western humans tend to give value to the parts of nature that can be economically exploited, and under values those that cannot. By continually teasing out the separate parts of nature and isolating them from the organic whole, we are undoing the very fabric of life: we are playing god. Thus, we are living in the midst of the sixth great extinction episode in the earth’s 4.5 billion year history, and we are the primary cause. Few Americans are aware of this fact. It does not behoove capitalism to advertise that it is killing the biosphere; it is not good for business. Who wants to be a cancer? And fools believe that business, rather than ecology, makes the world go round. After all, the highway signs leading into West Virginia, the state where I live, are followed by these revealing words: open for business. Whatever happened to wild and wonderful?
Charles Sullivan is a nature photographer, naturalist, environmental educator and free-lance writer residing in the Ridge and Valley Province of geopolitical West Virginia. He welcomes your comments at: csullivan@copper.net |
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| May 14, 2008 |
The Triple Threat: Our Food, Water and Climate Challenges
by Shiney Varghese Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Food prices rose 4 percent in the United States last year, the highest rise since 1990. All over the world food prices are on the rise. At the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank finance ministers wanted to focus the world's attention on food crisis rather than the credit crisis. There are many factors contributing to this current crisis, including the rising price of oil, deregulated agricultural markets, financial speculation, and biofuels. Another key factor is climate change, which is affecting crop yield and food production. It is time for us to get serious about understanding the way climate change affects water resources for food production and conversely the way agricultural water use is leading to climate change. Agricultural practices geared towards growing export-oriented monoculture crops are chemical intensive and have resulted in high levels of pollution in local water systems. In addition, nitrogen used in fertilizers leaches into water courses increasing the indirect nitrous oxide emissions downstream. This model of production has intensified water use, both in terms of the water going into the growing of the commodities themselves, but also in terms of inter-basin water transfers. Protecting our waters in local watersheds and wetlands and using them judiciously in support of local agricultural systems and livelihood practices, rather than continuing with the current strategy of promoting export-oriented, monoculture, industrial, water-guzzling agricultural systems, is key to reducing the water sector's direct contributions to climate change. Moreover local practices that conserve and enhance local water availability to ensure resilience of rain-fed agricultural systems are necessary as an adaptation mechanism, to meet climate challenges and to help meet food security goals, two of the biggest challenges for developing countries today. It is time to reevaluate our agricultural policies that promote water and energy intensive agriculture. We will have to make some major changes in our agriculture systems to address some of the upcoming climate challenges. Doing so will help us cope with extreme changes in the hydrological cycle and resultant food and water crises many communities and nations are sure to face. Effective and sustainable water management in agriculture in support of healthy food systems needs to be part of the climate solution. |
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| May 12, 2008 |
The Pentagon Is America's Biggest Polluter
by Joshua Frank Health and wellness , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message The U.S. has a grossly corrupted health protection system. The nation's biggest polluter isn't a corporation. It's the Pentagon. Every year the Department of Defense churns out more than 750,000 tons of hazardous waste -- more than the top three chemical companies combined. Yet the military remains largely exempt from compliance with most federal and state environmental laws, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Pentagon's partner in crime, is working hard to keep it that way. For the past five decades the federal government, defense contractors and the chemical industry have joined forces to block public health protections against perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that has been shown to effect children's growth and mental progress by disrupting the function of the thyroid gland which regulates brain development. Perchlorate has been leaking from literally hundreds of defense plants and military installations across the country. The EPA has reported that perchlorate is present in drinking and groundwater supplies in 35 states. Center for Disease Control and independent studies have also overwhelmingly shown that perchlorate is existent in our food supplies, cow's milk, and human breast milk. As a result virtually every American has some level of perchlorate in their body. |
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| May 9, 2008 |
Portrait Of An Oil-Addicted Former Superpower
by Michael T. Klare Tomdispatch.com, Countercurrents.org
Nineteen years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall effectively eliminated the Soviet Union as the world's other superpower. Yes, the USSR as a political entity stumbled on for another two years, but it was clearly an ex-superpower from the moment it lost control over its satellites in Eastern Europe.
Less than a month ago, the United States similarly lost its claim to superpower status when a barrel crude oil roared past $110 on the international market, gasoline prices crossed the $3.50 threshold at American pumps, and diesel fuel topped $4.00. As was true of the USSR following the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the USA will no doubt continue to stumble on like the superpower it once was; but as the nation's economy continues to be eviscerated to pay for its daily oil fix, it, too, will be seen by increasing numbers of savvy observers as an ex-superpower-in-the-making.
When it comes to the U.S.-Russian relationship, just how much the balance of power has shifted was evident at the NATO summit at Bucharest in early April. There, President Bush asked that Georgia and Ukraine both be approved for eventual membership in the alliance, only to find top U.S. allies (and Russian energy users) France and Germany blocking the measure out of concern for straining ties with Russia. "It was a remarkable rejection of American policy in an alliance normally dominated by Washington," Steven Erlanger and Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times reported, "and it sent a confusing signal to Russia, one that some countries considered close to appeasement of Moscow."
For Russian officials, however, the restoration of their country's great power status is not the product of deceit or bullying, but a natural consequence of being the world's leading energy provider. No one is more aware of this than Dmitri Medvedev, the former Chairman of Gazprom and new Russian president. "The attitude toward Russia in the world is different now," he declared on December 11, 2007. "We are not being lectured like schoolchildren; we are respected and we are deferred to. Russia has reclaimed its proper place in the world community. Russia has become a different country, stronger and more prosperous."
The same, of course, can be said about the United States -- in reverse. As a result of our addiction to increasingly costly imported oil, we have become a different country, weaker and less prosperous. Whether we know it or not, the energy Berlin Wall has already fallen and the United States is an ex-superpower-in-the-making.
Michael Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and author of the just-released Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Metropolitan Books). |
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| May 1, 2008 | Global Rights year one
Letter to the Global Community sent by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community Global Rights year one is new impetus of the Global Community to educate everyone about the need for a change in thinking
and of doing things amongst all
nations. We need to realize what is a priority, what is the most important, and what is the least important for our survival. We need a clear vision. We need a common
vision. And we must all change! There are many important aspects of our lives we can longer do, or should never do anymore. They are destructive. Humanity and all life
can no longer afford activities that destroy life and the global environment. And there are other activities we must do, certainly thousands of them, to assure the survival of life on Earth.
In view of the planetary state of emergency we all must change, we must do things differently to give life on Earth a better survival chance.
And this is what Global Rights year one is about: to establish global fundamentals and a clear vision to follow.
Perhaps the Scale of Global Rights represents the strongest pillar of our vision. |
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| April 29, 2008 |
Food Crisis And The Failure Of The Capitalist Model
by Ian Angus Ian Angus is the editor of Climate and Capitalism. Countercurrents.org
This is the brutal world of capitalist agriculture – a world where some people destroy food because prices are too low, and others literally eat dirt because food prices are too high. We are in the midst of an unprecedented worldwide food price inflation that has driven prices to their highest levels in decades. The increases affect most kinds of food, but in particular the most important staples – wheat, corn, and rice. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that between March 2007 and March 2008 prices of cereals increased 88%, oils and fats 106%, and dairy 48%. The FAO food price index as a whole rose 57% in one year – and most of the increase occurred in the past few months. Another source, the World Bank, says that that in the 36 months ending February 2008, global wheat prices rose 181% and overall global food prices increased by 83%. The Bank expects most food prices to remain well above 2004 levels until at least 2015. These increases are catastrophic for the 2.6 billion people around the world who live on less than US$2 a day and spend 60% to 80% of their incomes on food. Hundreds of millions cannot afford to eat. Food is not just another commodity – it is absolutely essential for human survival. The very least that humanity should expect from any government or social system is that it try to prevent starvation – and above all that it not promote policies that deny food to hungry people. That’s why Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was absolutely correct on April 24, to describe the food crisis as the greatest demonstration of the historical failure of the capitalist model. |
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| April 28, 2008 |
Water sustainability: a looming global challenge
by Daniel W. McCarthy Courtesy of Black & Veatch Ltd Environmental Expert S.L.
The future of water is anything but clear. We face a future world fraught with water challenges – too much, too little, too contaminated or inaccessible to meet our needs.
We live in a rapidly changing world in which many of our expectations about natural resources may no longer be met. The seeming abundance of safe, low-cost water may falsely lead us to assume perpetual easy access to all the low-cost, high-quality water we want, when we want it. The water industry today must examine these assumptions. Although water covers 70 percent of our planet’s surface, less than one-half percent is freshwater available for our use. Most of our planet’s water is in oceans and too salty for many uses. Much of the remainder is locked in frozen glaciers, is remote from population centers or circulating in our atmosphere. So this seemingly abundant resource is actually quite constrained. |
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| April 28, 2008 |
Real Solutions to the Climate Crisis
by Guy Dauncey YES! Magazine, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment A look at climate-friendly options for buildings, electricity production, transportation, and food and forestry.
The crisis of global warming is deeply serious, yet many are finding that it is also powerfully energizing. Instead of trying to squeeze our existing way of life into a post-carbon life-jacket out of fear of a climate catastrophe, these people see the transformation as a great adventure. They are drawing on their imagination and courage to create the building blocks of a sustainable, post-carbon world -- one in which all beings -- not just humans -- will flourish and find fulfillment, within the harmony and limits that Nature provides.
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| April 19, 2008 |
The Hidden Battle to Control the World's Food Supply
by Amy Goodman Democracy Now! , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Water Food riots are breaking out across the planet. We must re-examine corporate control of the food supply.
The rise in global food prices has sparked a number of protests in recent weeks, highlighting the worsening epidemic of global hunger. The World Bank estimates world food prices have risen 80 percent over the last three years and that at least thirty-three countries face social unrest as a result. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned the growing global food crisis has reached emergency proportions.
In recent weeks, food riots have also erupted in Haiti, Niger, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. Protests have also flared in Morocco, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mexico and Yemen. In most of West Africa, the price of food has risen by 50 percent -- in Sierra Leone, 300 percent. The World Food Program has issued a rare $500 million emergency appeal to deal with the growing crisis. Several causes factor into the global food price hike, many linked to human activity. These include human-driven climate change, the soaring cost of oil and a Western-led focus on biofuels that critics say turns food into fuel. |
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| April 19, 2008 | Should the ban on commodity futures be widened? by Dr. Krishan Bir Chaudhary Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
Futures trading in wheat, rice and pulses like tur and urad has been
suspended by the Forward Markets Commission as it caused market
manipulation, leading to a rise in prices. But, still, futures trading is
being carried out in a number of agricultural commodities.
The government knows for certain that futures trading in farm commodities is the cause for market manipulation. | Read
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| April 18, 2008 |
Environmental experts have been warning that biofuels, far from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, actually have a negative environmental footprint. Biofuels gained from extensive plantations of oil palms, soybean, rapeseeds and the like have a negative environmental footprint due to massive use of pesticides and fertilisers, which leads to acidification of groundwater. You also have to consider whether for the production of soybean oil the tropical forest in Brazil or in Indonesia is being eroded. Problems with biofuels are numerous: deforestation, increase in greenhouse gas emissions, requirements for land that does not exist to achieve positive environmental effects, enhanced food insecurity, creation of more poverty, increased soil degradation, decreased biodiversity, (and) accelerated depletion of natural resources. A trade-off between fuel and food is taking place, and that the economically more attractive production of biofuels for the industrialised countries has crowded out food production for the poorest regions of the world. Increasing prices of food, and their scarcity, have recently sparked riots. |
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| April 18, 2008 |
Venezuela: Democracy, Socialism And Imperialism
by James Petras James Petras Site Countercurrents.org
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez remains the world’s leading secular, democratically elected political leader who has consistently and publicly opposed imperialist wars in the Middle East, attacked extra-territorial intervention and US and European Union complicity in kidnapping and torture. Venezuela plays the major role in sharply reducing the price of oil for the poorest countries in the Caribbean region and Central America, thus substantially aiding them in their balance of payments, without attaching any ‘strings’ to this vital assistance. Venezuela has been in the forefront in supporting free elections and opposing human right abuses in the Middle East, Latin America and South Asia by pro-US client regimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Colombia. No other country in the Americas has done more to break down the racial barriers to social mobility and the acquisition of land for Afro-Latin and Indio Americans. President Chavez has been on the cutting edge of efforts toward greater Latin American integration – despite opposition from the United States and several regional regimes, who have opted for bilateral free trade agreements with the US.
Even more significant, President Chavez is the only elected president to reverse a US backed military coup (in 48 hours) and defeat a (US-backed) bosses’ lockout, and return the economy to double-digit growth over the subsequent 4 years. President Chavez is the only elected leader in the history of Latin America to successfully win eleven straight electoral contests against US-financed political parties and almost the entire private mass media over a nine-year period. Finally President Chavez is the only leader in the last half-century who came within 1% of having a popular referendum for a ‘socialist transformation’ approved, a particularly surprising result in a country in which less than 30% of the work force is made up of peasants and factory workers. President Chavez has drastically reduced long-term poverty faster than any regime in the region, demonstrating that a nationalist-welfare regime is much more effective in ending endemic social ills than its neo-liberal counterparts. A rigorous, empirical study of the socio-economic performance of the Chavez government demonstrates its success in a whole series of indicators after the defeat of the counter-revolutionary coup and lockout and after the nationalization of petroleum (2003). |
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| April 18, 2008 |
War is definitely not green
by Alicia, Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tighe 
We are in love with our planet. One of the reasons we work for peace is to
nurture our entire planet; we want our
beautiful Mother Earth to flourish.
CODEPINK is one of the few groups that
connect war and the environment. Pink
and green are gorgeous together, don't
you think? As natural as a stem and a
flower.
War is definitely not green. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. The U.S. military is the single largest consumer of oil in the world and the world's larger polluter, generating 750,000 tons of toxic waste annually. If we stop funding the war for oil in Iraq, our tax dollars can go toward developing clean, green sources of energy that will help us build a healthy, peaceful planet. We like to think of CODEPINK as a perennial garden; we plant seeds of love and peace that flower throughout the year--often in surprising places (did you see the parody of CODEPINK on Saturday Night Live this weekend?) Help the CODEPINK garden grow. You can spread seeds of peace by signing our War is Not Green petition and sending it along to five friends. The more people who join us, the more we can work for the Earth. It is deeply inspiring to see what we can create when we come together. We witnessed a glorious blossoming in New Orleans, where we just planted a beautiful community garden in the still devastated Lower Ninth Ward. Click here to see pictures of the garden and photos from the phenomenal tribute to the women of New Orleans organized by V-Day--the campaign to end violence against women and girls. It was a true honor to bring love and beauty and hope to a community so desperately in need of healing. You can plant seeds of peace in your own community by downloading our War is Not Green petition and flyer and bringing them to your local Earth Day celebrations; you can also put our War is Not Green sign in your window. We need to remind our friends and neighbors how war hurts the Earth as well as her citizens. We need to remind them that we can all stand up and nurture both peace and the environment. |
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| April 16, 2008 |
How New Energy Order Will Dramatically Change our Daily Lives
by Michael T. Klare Tomdispatch.com, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Get ready for a new world order in which energy will govern what we eat, where we live, and if and when we travel.
This new world order will be characterized by fierce international competition for dwindling stocks of oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium, as well as by a tidal shift in power and wealth from energy-deficit states like China, Japan, and the United States to energy-surplus states like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. In the process, the lives of everyone will be affected in one way or another -- with poor and middle-class consumers in the energy-deficit states experiencing the harshest effects. That's most of us and our children, in case you hadn't quite taken it in.
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| April 16, 2008 | World leaders to discuss bio-fuel use. Will Brazil support curbing bio-fuel programme to contain rising prices? by ASHOK B SHARMA A special correspondent with The Financial Express indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in Other work by author published by the Global Community Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
Bio-fuel programme across the world has become controversial as food crops used in its production have caused food prices to soar up and the use of non-food crops like jatropha has displaced food
crops from cultivation and has also caused environmental problems. But Brazil basing on its decades of experience on use of ethanol as auto-fuel has now decided to take up bio-diesel programme in a big
way.
By the end of 2004, Brazilian federal government launched the National Programme of Bio-diesel Production and Use (PNPB). It was planned that from January 2008, B2 blends will be mandatory across the country. In January 2013, this mandatory mix will increase to 5% of bio-diesel (B5). Blends with higher shares of bio-diesel or even pure bio-diesel (B100) can be used, but in this case authorisation by the Petroleum, Natural Gas and Bio-fuels National Agency is required. The FAO has called a meeting of world leaders in early June to deliberate on the issue of rising global prices caused by the bio-fuel programme. The WTO mini-ministerial is slated to be convened in Geneva in May 19 to deliberate on reviving multilateral trade negotiations in the midst of rising food prices. It seems unlikely that Brazil, with its ethanol-based Economy, would support any view which would discourage bio-fuel programme. | Read
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| April 16, 2008 |
My Perspective On Modern World Events
by Mitchell Valentine An American teacher in the People's Republic of China Countercurrents.org
I don't claim any organized religion, prepackaged doctrine, political label, or even really scientific hypothesis. I merely consider myself a participant in the Earth as it exists at the current moment. Though I am educated and understand at least the basics of my former claims.
I was born in the United States of America and am therefore entitled to an American passport. Which I understand affords me a certain amount of global freedom that others passports may not warrant. I currently reside in the People's Republic of China. My rights stem from my acquisition of a Foreign Expert Certificate and a Temporary Residence Permit. There is recently a mass uprising all over the world about the current relationship between Tibet and China and I begin to ask myself a lot of questions being a resident here and all. There is mounting concern that the 2008 Olympics may be affected by the flack that arises. From my perspective on the ground here I have come to a few observations on what is really going on here. |
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| April 15, 2008 | GreenFacts Digest on Agriculture and Development: new pressing challenges identified by international assessment by Stephanie Mantell http://www.agassessment.org/ GreenFacts was created in 2001 by individuals from scientific institutions, environment and health
organizations, and businesses, who called for wider access to unbiased information on environment
and health topics. Scientific Facts on Agriculture & Development
The unequal distribution of food and conflict over control of the world's
dwindling natural resources present a major political and social challenge to governments and policy
makers.
To evaluate how to make better use of agricultural knowledge, science and technology to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and foster equitable and sustainable development. | Read
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| April 15, 2008 |
Jim Hansen, The Big Ice Melt And The Mainstream Media
by Bill Henderson Bill is at pacificfringe.net, Countercurrents.org
Imagine you have a choice between two scenarios on the future impact of climate change:
Scenario A: Climate change is real and human-caused, a gradual increase in global temperature that we have a long time to do something about (2050 targets) before drought, sea level rise, etc. get too severe; climate change can be effectively mitigated within continuing political and economic business as usual with carbon taxes and more efficient green technology. Scenario B: Climate change is an emergency where we must make Draconian cuts to our use of fossil fuels immediately and globally in order to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere this decade so that we don't continue over a tipping point where both polar ice caps melt completely, sea level rises by 75 meters, and conditions become fiercely inhospitable to humanity and most of the species with which we share this small blue planet. Political and economic business as usual is far too slow and path dependent for mitigation of this scale, so we must innovate a World War II-style government mobilization so that a systemic reconfiguration of the global economy is possible. |
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| April 15, 2008 |
Fatal food riots in Haiti. Violent food-price protests in Egypt and Ivory Coast. Rice so valuable it is transported in armoured convoys. Soldiers guarding fields and warehouses. Export bans to keep local populations from starving.
For the first time in decades, the spectre of widespread hunger for millions looms as food prices explode. Two words not in common currency in recent years — famine and starvation — are now being raised as distinct possibilities in the poorest, food-importing countries. Unlike past food crises, solved largely by throwing aid at hungry stomachs and boosting agricultural productivity, this one won't go away quickly, experts say. Prices are soaring and stand every chance of staying high because this crisis is different. A swelling global population, soaring energy prices, the clamouring for meat from the rising Asian middle class, competition from biofuels and hot money pouring into the commodity markets are all factors that make this crisis unique and potentially calamitous. Even with concerted global action, such as rushing more land into cultivation, it will take years to fix the problem. |
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| April 11, 2008 |
How to Change the Way We Think about Water
by Jennifer Greene World Pulse, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Water We need to shift our understanding of water as a commodity to an appreciation for water as a human and environmental right.
All human beings are deeply affected by water and its movements. When we go on vacation we go to the water. We slide over it, across it, through it. We swim in it. We take part in water rituals and want to be nurtured by water ... we thirst for it.
Yet water, in a very deep way, is a women's issue. It is vital to the role women play in caring for their families. Women bathe and nourish their young, often tend the crops, and are the keepers of the waters. When fetching potable water requires distance, there is less time for the family and abject poverty and disease result.
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| April 10, 2008 | New report: Logging in Canada's Boreal Forest could trigger carbon bomb impacting global climate by Greenpeace mail@ems02.com Greenpeace Canada 250 Dundas West Suite 605, Toronto (Ontario) M5T 2Z5 (416) 597-8408 or 1-800-320-7183
Logging in Canada’s Boreal Forest could trigger “carbon bomb” impacting global climate10 April 2008Print Send to a friend Turning up the heat
Enlarge ImageLogging in Canada’s Boreal Forest is exacerbating global warming by releasing greenhouse gases and reducing carbon storage, says a new Greenpeace report
released today. It also makes the forest more susceptible to global warming impacts like wildfires and insect outbreaks, which in turn release more greenhouse gases.
If this vicious circle is left unchecked, it could culminate in a massive and sudden release of greenhouse gases referred to as "the carbon bomb," the report warns. Canada's Boreal Forest stores 186 billion tonnes of carbon—equivalent to 27 times the world's annual fossil fuel emissions. A widespread outbreak of forest or peat fires could release much of this carbon, causing a disastrous spike in emissions. | Read
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| April 10, 2008 |
Winds Of Change
by Pablo Ouziel Pablo Ouziel is sociologist and freelance writer. Countercurrents.org
As a tax paying human being holding a Spanish Passport with the words “European Union” embossed on it, I have enjoyed the pleasures of being a global citizen
with rights that others have not enjoyed when moving around the globe. As a conscious human being, I have come to see my passport as a statement of my social
class in the globalized world.
I understand that within nations there are social classes, which are greatly defined by the economic wealth of each individual, I also understand that there is a borderless global upper class. However, these people to me are not important, because ultimately I understand they are there because the rest have not yet understood their true rights and their organized collective power. Society overall has accepted a system which leaves behind those who do not matter, who cannot make it. They don’t matter, because what matters are the statistics of humanity, statistics that are thrown at us on a daily basis with the sole purpose of dehumanizing social reality and promoting the interests of the rich and powerful. Again the important thing to me is not how these powerful individuals are able to maintain this situation, what is interesting to me is why the common people are so tolerant of this reality. |
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| April 9, 2008 |
Busting Paranoid Right-Wing Fantasies of Dissolving the Mexico-U.S.-Canada Borders
by Manuel Pérez Rocha and Sarah Anderson AlterNet, The Mix is the Message It's time to call BS on the idea of a mythical North American Union.
This month, President Bush will host the leaders of Canada and Mexico to advance the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). The SPP is presented as a big step towards a single world government, with David Rockefeller preventing any resistance by implanting us all with Vchips.
Launched in 2005, the SPP is an ongoing process of negotiation between the three countries' executive powers to change regulations and other policies to boost business and support the U.S. War on Terror. Twenty SPP working groups on everything from financial services to intelligence cooperation hammer out details in between the annual presidential summits.
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| April 7, 2008 | The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) Reports by Achim Steiner Executive Director, UNEP Intergovernmental Plenary Opening Address: April 7, 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa
Agriculture is not just about putting things in the ground and then harvesting them…it is increasingly about the social and environmental variables that will in large part determine the future capacity of agriculture to provide for eight or nine billion people in a manner that is sustainable
The goals of the IAASTD: how Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (AKST) can be used to reduce hunger and poverty, to improve rural livelihoods and to facilitate equitable environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development. Under the rubric of IAASTD, we recognize the importance of AKST to the multifunctionality of agriculture and the intersection with other local to global concerns, including loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate change and water availability. The IAASTD is unique in the history of agricultural science assessments, in that it assesses both formal science and technology (S&T) and local and traditional knowledge, addresses not only production and productivity but the multifunctionality of agriculture, and recognizes that multiple perspectives exist on the role and nature of AKST. For many years, agricultural science focused on delivering component technologies to increase farm-level productivity where the market and institutional arrangements put in place by the state were the primary drivers of the adoption of new technologies. The general model has been to continuously innovate, reduce farm gate prices and externalize costs. This model drove the phenomenal achievements of AKST in industrial countries after World War II and the spread of the Green Revolution beginning in the 1960s. But, given the new challenges we confront today, there is increasing recognition within formal S&T organizations that the current AKST model requires revision. Business as usual is no longer an option. This leads to rethinking the role of AKST in achieving development and sustainability goals; one that seeks more intensive engagement across diverse worldviews and possibly contradictory approaches in ways that can inform and suggest strategies for actions enabling to the multiple functions of agriculture. | Read
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| April 7, 2008 | Rising prices may change India's stand at WTO by ASHOK B SHARMA A special correspondent with The Financial Express indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in Other work by author published by the Global Community Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
New Delhi, Apr 6 In the backdrop of the rising global prices and the government resorting to drastic cuts in tariffs on many agricultural commodities, India's negotiating position at the farm talks in the
WTO may be weakened.
The recent rise in global prices has completely changed the earlier scenario where the developing countries accused the developed world for depressing global prices through heavy subsidies and thereby minimizing the gains of Third World producers. Several factors are, however, responsible for the turnaround in the global situation. The reports of UNCTAD, UN ESCAP, OECD and other UN agencies have held massive bio-fuel programme in Europe and in the US as one of the main cause for the rise in global food prices. The bio-fuel programme in the developed world backed by heavy subsidies has caused many farmers to cultivate crops for producing fuel rather than for food. The prices of bio-fuels have shot up in tandem with the fossil oil prices and the bio-fuel prices have had a spilling effect on food prices The member of the Planning Commision, Abhijit Sen agrees with the view and says : "The government has reduced tariffs with the good intention of importing food at cheaper prices to combat the price inflationary trend in the country. But this may soften our negotiating position at the WTO as we have already begun reducing our tariff barriers. It now would be difficult for the developing countries to raise the issue that developed countries' subsidies depresses global prices. Many poor net food-importing countries are facing problems of importing food at high prices." Another factor contributing to the rise in global food prices is the subprime crisis and the meltdown in the equity market. The investors are now shifting their investments to commodity Markets. Sen says : "The same thing is seen happening in India also." | Read
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| April 5, 2008 | Assocham critical about FTA with China by ASHOK B SHARMA A special correspondent with The Financial Express indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in Other work by author published by the Global Community Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
Assocham is particularly critical about the proposed FTA with China as that country has deliberately undervalued its currency to remain competitive.
In its study `India's FTAs and Indian Industry-2008' it said : "it is realized that in a globalised world Indian industry cannot shy away from international competition and it will be difficult to remain on crutches supported by the wall of high tariffs. But yes, if certain parameters are kept in perspective while starting negotiations on trade agreements with various countries and regions it may lead to a stronger and sustainable economic development in terms of improvement in employment and competitiveness." The study called a careful preferential trade agreement (PTA) before a FTA where India has some inherent trade advantage with products on the sensitive lists having a reasonable timeframe so tat industry can gear up for competition. It cautioned that some countries with zero or low tariff rates have already suffered. Before initiating FTAs a level playing field in terms of access to infrastructure, market determined exchange rate and fuel cost should be determined. The exports of raw materials should be discouraged and value added exports should be encouraged. Brand India should be marketed as provider of business solutions. Indian manufacturing business should overcome commodification of their products, the study said. It urged the Reserve Bank of India to see that the changes in valuation of currency is gradual as sharp change in exchange rates could affect industrial exports. Banks should also make their clients (exporters) aware about currency hedging. | Read
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| April 3, 2008 |
Bush Administration Wastes Trillions in Worthless Weapons
by Robert Scheer Truthdig, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, War in Iraq The government has invested trillions in weapons that are completely useless in the fight against stateless terrorists.
A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there, and soon you're talking real money. But when it comes to reporting on what the Bush war legacy has cost American taxpayers, the media have been shockingly indifferent to the highest run-up in military spending since World War II. Even the devastating defense spending audit released Monday by the Government Accountability Office documenting the enormous waste in every single U.S. advanced weapons system failed to provoke the outrage it, and five equally scathing previous annual audits, deserved.
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| April 2, 2008 |
The World Bank's Climate Profiteering
by Daphne Wysham and Shakuntala Makhijani AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment The bank is turning dirty carbon credits into gold -- bad news for those seeking a real solution to the climate crisis.
The World Bank's long-running identity crisis is proving hard to shake. When efforts to rebrand itself as a "knowledge bank" didn't work, it devised a new identity as a "Green Bank." Really? Yes, it's true. Sure, the Bank continues to finance fossil fuel projects globally, but never mind. The World Bank has seized upon the immense challenges climate change poses to humanity and is now front and center in the complicated, international world of carbon finance. It can turn the dirtiest carbon credits into gold.
How exactly, does this work, you ask?
Quite simply: The Bank finances a fossil fuel project, involving oil, natural gas, or coal, in Poor Country A. Rich Country B asks the Bank to help arrange carbon credits so Country B can tell its carbon counters it's taking serious action on climate change. The World Bank kindly obliges, offering carbon credits for a price far lower than Country B would have to pay if Country B made those cuts at home. Country A gets a share of the cash to invest in equipment to make fossil fuel project slightly more efficient, the World Bank takes its 13 percent cut.
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| April 18, 2008 |
Comments and opinions concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
by Dr. Michael Ellis mindquest@ozemail.com.au michaelellis@alumni.swinburne.edu
What we have in the current Christian religious tradition is the St James version of the bible which is a readers digest version and has no parallel with the truth that the great avatar Jesus Christ actually taught, which is the same as
what the Buddha taught.
The Dalai Lama preaches, I believe, a somewhat distorted version of this. I believe that his presence on the world stage means that his teachings are to a certain extent venerated without adequate understanding. He, for example,
doesn’t recognize the nature of the soul and believes in the void as the basis of mind which is something which was discussed and then clarified by Tien Tai the great Buddhist Sage and teacher to the emperors of China in about
400AD who systematized the teachings of the Buddha and was able to express the great secret law of life itself, which is in fact the secret hidden within the penultimate teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, namely the Lotus Sutra.
However, the Dalai Lama does preach complete compassion for all humanity and does express a deep reverence for the interconnectedness and oneness of all life.
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| April 18, 2008 |
More comments and observations concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
by Dr. Leo Rebello
The Dalai Lama, judged by his words and actions, may be put in the same category of Buddha, Lao Tze, Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi, Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Oscar Arias, Desmond Tutu
and the list goes on and on.
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| April 16, 2008 | New comments concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University Global Peace Movement
Your negative statements about the Dalai Lama reveal, at the very least, that you have never read any book he wrote where he reveals the depth of his holiness and spirituality.
This deeply spiritual man wants to help the Chinese through the opening of a dialogue with them who seem to have been reluctant to do so. I am not for this or that man but I am for what is right in the best interest of the welfare of all
people without exception.
You are dong a good job with your newsletter but this is an item you touched where you really went off guard. See comments in blue here below. Best regards.
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| April 4, 2008 | My opinion concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
I agree with virtually everything you stated except for your negative statementson the Dalai Lama whom you misinterpreted and clumniated. We read in the holy scriptures: "Judge a tree by the fruit
it gives." This means if the tree looks like an orange tree but produces lemons then we have to call it lemon tree.
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| April 4, 2008 |
Comments and observations concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
by Dr. Leo Rebello
We all know that America identifies (so-called leaders), trains them, promotes and uses them, keeps a tab on them, and then discards them. Now the time has come to
discard Dalai Lama. Hopefully, in the next general elections, Manmohan Singh, too, will be discarded for following the decadent USA and messing up with superior
Indian values and principles of good governance.
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| April 3, 2008 |
The Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of its leadership as a peacemaker
by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
The Global Community consider the Dalai Lama as a dangerous religious extremist. He ought to be brought to justice. His crimes include: a) organizing and leading deadly riots in Tibet for the purpose of putting down the Tibetan government and destabilizing China; b) associating himself with President Bush and the White House; President Bush is a wanted criminal and the White House along with NATO have been shown to be rogue organizations worldwide, and criminal in nature; to give speeches at the White House for the purpose of obtaining military help; to make a deal with the US that would allow the US to build a military base in Tibet in exchange of military help; to help the US continue destabilizing China; c) violating the human rights of those workers in Tibet whether they come from another part of China or not; d) planning to destabilize China, and that will have immense destructive and deadly consequences far beyond the area of Tibet and are a serious threat to * global security as defined by the Global Community,The fact that the Dalai Lama is aware of those consequences makes him even more dangerous. |
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| March 18, 2008 |
Climate Change: The World's Biggest Security Threat
by Nicole Itano
Christian Science Monitor AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Unchecked climate change could spark instability in energy-producing states and lead to the collapse of fragile states around the world.
Rising sea levels are what some nations fear most about global warming. But in Europe, climate change is likely to mean a new flood of immigrants from Africa and other poorer countries, according to a new report.
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| March 16, 2008 |
To respect Tibet and its specificity! by Guy CREQUIE Ambassadeur de la Paix Cercle Universel des Ambassadeurs de la Paix Universal Ambassador Peace Circle guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr Guy CREQUIE Global file Our Global Community volunteers will help you http://www2.blogger.com/profile/16097917629603014188 http://guycrequie.blogspot.com http://poetesaparis.aceblog.fr
I invite the Chinese leaders to join again the dialog with the Dalai Lama and his government in exile for a respectful exit negotiated of each one for an harmonious development of this
part of the world.
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| March 12, 2008 | Biofuels: the fake climate change solution
by Ben, Ricken, Iain, Galit, Paul, Graziela, Pascal, Esra'a, Milena the Avaaz.org team http://www.avaaz.org Each day, 820 million people in the developing world
do not have enough food to eat. Food prices around
the world are shooting up, sparking food riots from
Mexico to Morocco. And the World Food Program
warned last week that rapidly rising costs are
endangering emergency food supplies for the world's
worst-off. Wealthiest countries are using more and more biofuels -- alcohol made from plant products, used in place of petrol to fuel cars. Biofuels are billed as a way to slow down climate change. But in reality, because so much land is being cleared to grow them, most biofuels today are causing more global warming emissions than they prevent, even as they push the price of corn, wheat, and other foods out of reach for millions of people. |
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| March 5, 2008 | Enslaved by Freedom
by Sandhya Jain Kosovo's scandalous independence has driven another nail in the coffin of a deeply discredited United Nations and proved its complicity in the return of naked
eighteenth century colonialism. Nations with oil, gas, or other prized commodity may gear up for 'free trade' exclusively with Western corporates; Western military presence
to protect freedom as in Iraq; or self-determination of the kind that carved Christian East Timor out of Muslim Indonesia to become a virtual colony of Australian oil majors.
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| March 4, 2008 |
Protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling forever
by Rebecca Young  from Care2 and The Petition Site Team Sign in. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's own Energy Information Administration,
oil from the Arctic Refuge would have little or no impact on oil prices. Big Oil doesn't need the Arctic Refuge - polar bears do. Urge Congress to act immediately
to protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling forever! Thank you for making a difference today.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to caribou, snow fox and millions of migratory birds. It is also the most important onshore denning habitat for America's vanishing polar bears. But this natural treasure is constantly under siege. Time and time again, the oil industry and their allies in Congress have sought to open this special place to harmful new drilling, threatening all of the wildlife that depend on it for survival. And now President Bush has called for drilling in the Arctic Refuge by 2010 in his new budget proposal! We need to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge! |
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| March 4, 2008 |
Water Is the Next Commodified Resource
by Danny Fortson
Independent UK AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Pretty soon we will see a price on water just like there is now for carbon and carbon emissions. The right
to use water will soon follow in the footsteps of carbon emissions and become a commodity, like the right to pollute, that industry will have to pay for, executives
have warned. |
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| March 3, 2008 |
Is Corn Leading Us Towards Social Change or Ecological Disaster?
by George Naylor
Movement Vision Lab AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Understanding corn could be the key to social change that saves the planet and helps us create democratic communities and local food supplies.
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| February 8, 2008 |
It is high time to unite the forces, raise awareness so that Earth takes its true place as humanity's heritage by Jean Jacques Saussey Ambassadeur de la Paix Cercle Universel des Ambassadeurs de la Paix Universal Ambassador Peace Circle |
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| February 3, 2008 | Message of Peace from Jesus and Prophet Muhammad by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
The sacred books of two of the leading religions in the world, the Bible and the Koran, speak reverently and highly of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Bible we find several
references to Jesus whose presence on Earth, as the promised Messiah, was predicted for a number of centuries. References to His Blessed Mother Mary are also found
since the early days of creation.
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| July 28, 2007 | Read |
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| August 1, 2007 | Sent by DR. Charles Mercieca to the Global Community
China’s Transition into a Society of Social Harmony (Part II) China represents one of the oldest civilizations in the entire history of our earthly society. Its dynasties managed to leave legacies that have enriched the culture of China in
many unique ways. By nature, the Chinese are very kind people and they try to be helpful with those around and with those they come across. They also tend to live in
peace and to let others live in peace as well. The only ambition the Chinese people seem to have is to see the members of their relatives and friends equipped with all the
vital needs of life.
mercieca@knology.net |
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| September 16, 2007 | Sent by Jose G. Vargas-Hernández to the Global Community SCALE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN FIRMS, COMMUNITIES, NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
Global Environment Minister
Global file jgvh0811@yahoo.com, jvargas08@berkeley.ed Research Professor, Mexico The role of the nation-state is to regulate conflicts between the essential elements, the nation-state, capitalists (firms), laborers and consumers, binding together disparate and conflicting interests.
This paper is aimed to review the different levels of scale of conflicts between firms, communities, New Social Movements and the role of government. |
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or Download full WORD document of Research Paper by author |
| September 17, 2007 | Sent by Leslaw Michnowski to the Global Community World - Grid Type, Continuously Under-development - System Dynamics. Why do we need it? Manage the Sustainable Development Global Information Society website.
kte@psl.org.pl, elmamba@poczta.onet.pl Committee for Futures Studies "Poland 2000 Plus", Polish Academy of Sciences, The main goal of the United Nations is realization of sustainable development world society
vision. Such society would need to integrate social development with economic development and
environmental protection. For this end it is necessary to enable sustained economic growth,
internalizing externalities and DECOUPLING the range of economic growth from the range of deficit
natural resources depletion growth and degradation of environment. It is necessary also to COUPLE
economic growth with popular life-quality growth.
To achieve sustainable development OF THE WORLD SOCIETY we have to build, a
commonly accessible WORLDWIDE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION (SYSTEM DYNAMICS) SYSTEM for: - dynamic monitoring, - long range forecasting, and - measurable evaluation, of policy, economy, work, and other changes effects in life-conditions of human beings and nature in general. I propose a research program aimed at describing conditions of creation such big, grid, multi stage built, information system. |
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| September 24, 2007 | Sent by Guy CREQUIE to the Global Community A Decade of a Culture for Peace and Non-Violence for the Benefit of the Children of the World by Guy CREQUIE
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr We are assembled in this congress to debate on this ever so important topic of peace for all humanity. Perhaps some of you come from countries where civil war prevails! There may
be among you, poets who have gone through the pangs and sufferings caused by foreign invasion. |
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| September 25, 2007 | Sent by Guy CREQUIE to the Global Community THE CULTURE OF PEACE JUSTIFIES IN FAVOR OF DETERMINED UNIVERSAL CITIZENS AND ENGAGE
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr
Today, it is a confrontation between two designs: Political leaders in the name of the ideology (liberal and warlike) openly declined or which advances masked while misant on the
emotion that the evocation of the nation gets are made (in fact) from the nature of their speeches the cantors of the culture of the war, this, whereas we them poétesses and poets, we
are the carriers of a culture of peace. |
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or Download full WORD document of article by author
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| September 26, 2007 | Sent by Germain Dufour to the Global Community
Global Community 22 nd Year Anniversary Twenty two years ago the Global Community organization was created. Today the world is seeing the amazing accomplishments of the Global Community.
Back in 1985, I remember having accomplished my first 'soft activism'. It was such a memorable day for me as I actually stood up for a worthy cause: humanity, all life on Earth, and the protection of the
global life-support systems. Being a scientist I extended my principles to include standing up for them in public. This was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And the day was October 29. I was born again that
day! Standing up for what I believed in very strongly! I produced a brochure explaining everything I stood up for. Those who know me can easily imagine how meticulously long the brochure may
have been. Then I went to the University of Calgary campus and distributed the brochure to anyone I met. I also posted the brochure on bulletin boards. My first very intense exploration of my own
capability of reaching out to others and standing up for workable sound solutions to global problems. That day I became one with myself and all life on Earth. I became 'a Global Community'. |
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| September 26, 2007 | Sent by Dr. Glen Barry to the Global Community Earth Calls for Radical Social Change and Spiritual Transformation The population bomb has burst, the climate and biosphere are in tatters, and tyrannical, militaristic governments rule; yet there remains a path to global ecological sustainability Earth Meanders http://earthmeanders.blogspot.com/ Dr. Barry is founder and President of Ecological Internet; provider of the largest, most used environmental portals on the Internet including the Climate Ark at
http://www.climateark.org/ and http://EcoEarth.Info/ . Earth Meanders is a series of ecological essays that are written in his personal capacity. |
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| September 27, 2007 | Sent by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Global Community Full Text Of Ahmadinejad's Remarks At Columbia University by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad published by Countercurrents.org
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed students and
professors at the US Columbia University during his short sojourn
in New York before his address at the 62nd meeting of the UN
General Assembly.
His remarks at Columbia University were almost entirely
boycotted by western and specially US media; while he spoke of
such crucial issues as Iran's nuclear program and the Holocaust
which have always been at the center of western media's attention,
almost the only point the US press mentioned about Ahmadinejad's
address at Columbia university pertained to a few seconds of his
answer to a question about the rights of homosexuals in Iran.
The following is the full text of President Ahmadinejad's speech at
Columbia University.
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| October 1, 2007 | Sent by Jan Oberg to the Global Community The US, media and scholars contribute to war: Stop the MIMAC! by Jan Oberg TFF director http://www.transnational.org/sitemap.htm PeaceBrowser TFF@transnational.org
MIMAC has nothing to do with Mac or MiMac or that
sort of thing. It's the
Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex, and
we have just witnessed its mode of operation once
again during Iranian President Ahmadinejad's
visit to New York.
The Military Industry is solidly anchored in
Vice-President Cheney's and President Bush's
offices. The Media - many owned or influenced by
the Military Industrial corporations - managed -
again - to mis-translate, mis-interprete and
demonise the Iranian President. Nobody listened,
few cared about checking sources - the first duty
of any professional media person. So the
Holocaust denial and wipe-Israel-off-the-map was
repeated - irrespective of the fact that the man
has NEVER said any of it.
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| October 22, 2007 | Sent by Germain Dufour to The Honourable Paul Okalik, Premier of the Canadian territory of Nunavut Letter to the Honourable Paul Okalik, Premier of the Canadian territory of Nunavut concerning the Northwest Passage, Nunavut and Canada Sovereignty
The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the
native Inuit people. The Inuit is one of the first indigenous peoples in the Americas to achieve self-government. They have the right to participate in decisions regarding the land and water resources, and
rights to harvest wildlife on their lands.
Conservation, restoration, and management of the Earth resources
is about asking ourselves the question of "Who owns the Earth?"
The Global Community has proposed a democracy for the people based on the fact that land, the air, water, oil, minerals, and all other natural resources
rightly belong to the Global Community along with the local communities where those resources are found. The Earth is the birthright of all life.
To gain control of the Northwest Passage, Canada would have to show strong Earth management initiatives and the protection of its environment.
Without the fulfillment of the Global Community criteria for sovereignty no one can claim ownership - sovereignty - of both Nunavut and the Northwest Passage.
In Nunavut there is also a vast array of different life-form communities such as the polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, seals, beluga whales, northern fulmars, and those communities of organisms that inhabit the sea
floor like brittle stars, worms, zooplankton, microalgae, bivalves and some of the lesser known sea spiders.
And there are many more. Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership
of the North and of all its natural resources. It is their birthright. They dont express themselves in English, but we understand them. Human beings have a moral
obligation to protect and conserve the biodiversity of life on Earth.
Fot the protection of those global communities we will need to create a biodiversity zone in the North by way of Earth rights and taxation of natural resources.
We are all members of the Global Community. We all have the duty to protect the rights and welfare of all species and all people.
This letter may be a starting place for a group global discussion and roundtable on the issues of Canada sovereignty in the Nunavut and the control of the Northwest Passage. If you wish to send a reply I will post it on the Global Community website at http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/EmailDiscussions/ and http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/GPA/2008discussionroundtables.htm For now I started the process by researching and writing a paper concerned with the issues, and you will find the paper at http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/GIMProceedings/gimLetterNP.htm |
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| November 15, 2007 | Sent by DR. Charles Mercieca to the Global Community Islands of Peace: Hope of World Stability
In view of this, the time seems now ripe when we need to reform drastically the institution of the military by changing it from an element of destruction into one of
construction. In other words, we need to find healthy means to enable the military change its negative image into a positive one. As conscientious and responsible human beings, we should all work to help turn as many nations as possible into islands of peace. The creation of such nations would
generate among millions of people positive and constructive energy that is bound to influence the rest of the world at a time least expected.
Of course, we need to establish good criteria to make this providential peace event on a global scale meaningful. Here are some of the criteria for a nation to qualify to
become declared as an Island of Peace.
mercieca@knology.net |
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| December 1, 2007 | Sent by Guy CREQUIE to the Global Community LA TERRE….ET LE SIECLE A VENIR GROUND….AND THE CENTURY TO COME
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr |
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| February 2, 2008 | The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is illegal Ever wonder why Canadians and Mexicans were never asked in a referendum the kind of relationship we want to have with Americans and the White House? Ever wonder why Canadians and Mexicans dont have a veto power on the White House's policies and legislation, and yet we feed Americans with our resources? How is that possible? What does that do to the world, to all life on Earth, and to the next generations? As of January 30, 2008, the total U.S. federal debt held by the public was roughly $5.1 trillion and the annual deficit roughly $400 billion. They paid very little for our resources and with money they borrowed every year from China. Americans buy our ' home grown corporations ' with money they dont own. When they have not borrowed the money, they have invaded other nations and taken their resources. Blood resources. Blood money. How can we trust a partner
that is basically bankrupted morally and economically? How can we let our governments be dealing with the White House on an agreement such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)?
Letter to the Global Community of North America sent by Germain Dufour
Key words:Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and the Global Government of North America (GGNA). |
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| January 8, 2008 | Canadian society: a vibrant, modern, symbiosis global society
Letter to the Global Community sent by Germain Dufour
Key words: Canadian multiculturalism, diversity, the Canadian experience, immigration, symbiosis global society, symbiotical relationship, global ministries | Read |
| December 10, 2007 | Sent by Abdul Basit to the Global Community Wars and Climate Change: National Interests Verses Global Emergency This is an appeal to World Leaders and Scientific Community, who have gathered in Bali, Indonesia for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
I remind the world leaders and researchers, who are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, that they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. The decisions of
this conference will not only decide the future of existence of humankind, but also for preserving all the past cultures and contributions humanity has offered throughout its thousands of years history of
existence on this beautiful planet.
basit72@gmail.comSo, on behalf of the human race, I appeal to the world leaders to set aside their narrow national interests and play the historical and highly moral responsibility in saving this planet and its inhabitants. The very future for all of life, human and otherwise, depends on their meeting this obligation with nothing short of total resolve! |
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| January 6, 2008 |
The Soul of all Life, the Soul of Humanity, is the unifying religion of a modern symbiosis society, that of the global civilization of the 3 rd Millennium
Letter to the Global Community sent by the Soul of all Life, the Soul of Humanity
The teaching of the Soul The fundamental criteria of a global symbiotical relationship Guiding Souls and God want to help us manage Earth Guiding Souls to serve God is a part of a new unifying religion of a modern symbiosis society The Divine Plan and the higher purpose of humanity The Global Community teaching Global Law |
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| April 2008 | Global Community Peace Movement
by
Global Community Peace Movement website
What Peace amongst nations means?
Introduction to Peace amongst nations
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| August 2008 |
Global Community
Global Movement to Help offers Essential Services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth by
Global Movement to Help main listing:
Protection of the :
Peace and disarmament
Have shelter and basic clothing Global voting
Sustainable agriculture and food supplies
Water resources protection and drinking fresh water
Ombudspersons Office
Global Information Media ( GIM )
Volunteering Breathing clean air Global Community Assessment Centre ( GCAC) Preventive actions against polluters
Eating a balance diet
Sustainable use of human and natural resources
' Clean ' energy
Eradicating poverty and hunger
Universal health care and education for everyone Global Rights All of the above essentials for this generation and the next ones
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| February 2008 | The Soul of all Life, the Soul of Humanity, is the unifying religion of a modern symbiosis society, that of the global civilization of the 3 rd Millennium
by Germain Dufour The Soul of all Life, the Soul of Humanity, is the unifying religion of a modern symbiosis society, that of the global civilization of the 3 rd Millennium
The teaching of the Soul The fundamental criteria of a global symbiotical relationship Guiding Souls and God want to help us manage Earth Guiding Souls to serve God is a part of a new unifying religion of a modern symbiosis global society The Divine Plan and the higher purpose of humanity The Global Community teaching Global Law |
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| March 2008 | Direct Democracy Global Voting on the Net
by Germain Dufour
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| July 3, 2008 |
The media reports about Zimbabwe’s elections present them as a clash between the ‘evil’ Mugabe and the ‘heroic’ Tsvangirai, an electoral battle for Zimbabwe’s soul. Mugabe is depicted as having brought Zimbabwe to its knees, causing widespread poverty and enforcing terror and repression, and Tsvangirai is discussed as the harbinger of a dignified ‘revolution’ against Mugabeism (2). This is a fantasy. It ignores the key role played by Western governments and financial institutions in using sanctions, tough diplomacy and the proxy interventionists of the South Africa government and the African Union to isolate and harry Zimbabwe over the past decade. Such self-serving external meddling has contributed to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis - and it has dangerously distorted the political dynamics inside Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the south of Africa.
Over the past 10 years, American and European governments cynically transformed Mugabe’s Zimbabwe into the West’s whipping boy in Africa, the state they love to hate, a country against which they can enforce tough sanctions to demonstrate their seriousness about standing up to ‘evil’. The West has imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, warned off foreign investors, denied Zimbabwean officials the right to travel freely around the world, demonised Mugabe as an ‘evil dictator’, discussed the idea of military action against Zimbabwe, and used moral and financial blackmail to cajole South Africa’s president Thabo Mbeki to ‘deal with’ Mugabe.
Bashing Zimbabwe played a dual role for Western officials and commentators. It allowed those of a conservative stripe to defend the historic reputation of colonialism by comparing it favourably with the rule of individuals like Mugabe. Eton-educated British observers loathed Mugabe because they considered him a symbol of African cockiness, who had humiliated Ian Smith (the white minority ruler of a self-declared ‘independent’ Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979) before the eyes of the world. Attacking Mugabe’s rule became a way of rehabilitating the image of old-fashioned, British-tinged colonialism. At the same time, one-time anti-colonialist radicals - including most notably the gay rights activist Peter Tatchell in the UK - focused their political energies on opposing Mugabe, describing him as intolerant and not sufficiently respectful of minority rights. At a time when political radicalism is on the wane in the West, some activists sought to recover their old campaigning spirit by taking potshots at the easy target of a beleaguered African state. Indeed, radicals often led the charge for tougher economic and political punishment of Zimbabwe - and frequently, they got what they asked for. On the basis of little more than the fact that they needed a focus for their international pretensions, Western governments have put Zimbabwe into an economic straitjacket and warped its internal political process. If the sanctions, blackmail and withdrawal of trade have helped to push Zimbabwe’s economy into freefall, then the relentless backdoor political interventions have disempowered the people of Zimbabwe. The dynamic of Western intervention caused Mugabe to become more entrenched and paranoid about outsiders - and it encouraged the MDC to look to Western officials and radicals for their favour and flattery rather than to build a meaningful grassroots movement inside Zimbabwe. Indeed, for all the talk of a ‘revolution’ in Zimbabwe, both during minor street protests last year and during the elections this week, many people actually seem quite resigned about Zimbabwe’s fate. As one report recently said: ‘[T]he opposition hasn’t been able to mobilise tens of thousands of people…’ (18) Lots of the current news coverage continually shows Zimbabweans queuing up for hours to buy a newspaper for a few thousand dollars so that they can read about the elections. This footage is supposed to show how bad inflation has become in Zimbabwe, but it also reveals something else: that the West’s attempted strangulation of Mugabe’s regime reduced the people of Zimbabwe to observers rather than masters of their fate, who look to the front pages of newspapers to find out what might happen next in their country. |
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| June 27, 2008 |
Will the Last Superpower Recognize In Time What We Must Do to Save the Planet?
by David Korten YES! Magazine AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment In a time when the old order is shattering, a global movement is emerging to challenge the use of war as a tool of statecraft. Cheap oil provided an energy subsidy that defined the wars, economies, settlements, values, and lifestyles of the 20th century. The result was a century of wasteful extravagance and inefficiency that encouraged us to squander virtually all Earth's resources -- including water, land, forests, fisheries, soils, minerals, and natural waste recycling capacity. We are now waking up to the morning-after consequences of a brief but raucous party. These include depleted natural systems, unsustainable economies, an obsolete physical infrastructure, and a six-fold increase in the human population dependent on the diminished resources of a finite planet. Cheap oil also fueled a zero sum global competition for access to resources -- particularly cheap oil -- and for the military superiority required to secure that access. The United States combined the global projection of military power with the global projection of economic and cultural power to achieve unchallenged global dominance as the sole reigning superpower. Cheap oil is no more and the global projection of military and economic power it made possible is no longer viable. According to the scientific consensus, to avoid driving Earth's system of climate regulation into irrevocable collapse we humans must achieve at least an 80 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050 and possibly sooner. Less noted is the corresponding imperative that to avoid irrevocable social collapse, we must simultaneously achieve an equitable allocation of allowable emissions to meet the essential needs of every person on the planet. This presents a particular challenge for the United States. As the world's leading producer of green house gases, our emissions reduction must be closer to 90 percent. There is no place in this equation for war or the global projection of military power. Beyond the fact that military planes, ships, and vehicles are gluttonous consumers of oil, the central activity of warfare is to kill and maim people and destroy critical infrastructure to impair capacity for normal life. The collateral damage includes massive scale toxic and radioactive environmental contamination that renders growing portions of our crowded planet uninhabitable. The more we humans war the more certain our ultimate collective demise. The second is an emergent social movement calling all the world's parliaments to adopt the principles of Article 9 added to the Japanese Constitution following World War II. In the official translation it reads: ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.(2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. |
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| June 26, 2008 |
Evolutionary Forelawsship: Realizing Human Potential in the Age of Cosmic Genealogy on Earth
by Robert E. Cobb Forelaws on Board www.geocities.com/CosmicGenealogy/ email: panaltruism@yahoo.com
Human potential fully realized in the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth rests, finally, on resolution of deep human needs to know from whence we came, safety and security, meaning and purpose - consonant with
life-centered cosmologies recognizing the cognitive and formative basis of all compassionate global societies: mate selection, the nurturing of offspring, and early childhood education in a healthful, sustainable
environment.
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| June 26, 2008 |
To the question "Are we now living in the Anthropocene?" the 21 members of the Commission unanimously answer "yes." They adduce robust evidence that the Holocene epoch -- the interglacial span of unusually stable climate that has allowed the rapid evolution of agriculture and urban civilization -- has ended and that the Earth has entered "a stratigraphic interval without close parallel in the last several million years." In addition to the buildup of greenhouse gases, the stratigraphers cite human landscape transformation which "now exceeds [annual] natural sediment production by an order of magnitude," the ominous acidification of the oceans, and the relentless destruction of biota.
This new age, they explain, is defined both by the heating trend (whose closest analogue may be the catastrophe known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, 56 million years ago) and by the radical instability expected of future environments. In somber prose, they warn that "the combination of extinctions, global species migrations and the widespread replacement of natural vegetation with agricultural monocultures is producing a distinctive contemporary biostratigraphic signal. These effects are permanent, as future evolution will take place from surviving (and frequently anthropogenically relocated) stocks." Evolution itself, in other words, has been forced into a new trajectory.
Even in the most optimistic simulations, the agricultural systems of Pakistan (a 20% decrease from current farm output predicted) and Northwestern India (a 30% decrease) are likely to be devastated, along with much of the Middle East, the Maghreb, the Sahel belt, Southern Africa, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Twenty-nine developing countries will lose 20% or more of their current farm output to global warming, while agriculture in the already rich north is likely to receive, on average, an 8% boost. In light of such studies, the current ruthless competition between energy and food markets, amplified by international speculation in commodities and agricultural land, is only a modest portent of the chaos that could soon grow exponentially from the convergence of resource depletion, intractable inequality, and climate change. The real danger is that human solidarity itself, like a West Antarctic ice shelf, will suddenly fracture and shatter into a thousand shards. |
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| June 24, 2008 |
Climate Chaos Is Inevitable. We Can Only Avert Oblivion.
by Mark Lynas, The Guardian Countercurrents.org
We came up with three alternative visions of the future, and asked experts at the Met Office Hadley Centre to run them through its climate models to give each a projected temperature rise. The results were both surprising, and profoundly disturbing.
The most pessimistic was labelled "agree and ignore" - a world where governments meet to make commitments on climate change, but then backtrack or fail to comply with them. Sound familiar? It should: this scenario most closely resembles the past 10 years, and it projects emissions on an upward trend until 2045. A more optimistic scenario was termed "Kyoto plus": here governments make a strong agreement in Copenhagen in 2009, binding industrialised countries into a new round of Kyoto-style targets, with developing countries joining successively as they achieve "first world" status. This scenario represents the best outcome that can plausibly result from the current process - but ominously, it still sees emissions rising until 2030.
The third scenario - called "step change" - is worth a closer look. Here we envisaged massive climate disasters around the world in 2010 and 2011 causing a sudden increase in the sense of urgency surrounding global warming. Energised, world leaders ditch Kyoto, abandoning efforts to regulate emissions at a national level. Instead, they focus on the companies that produce fossil fuels in the first place - from oil and gas wells and coal mines - with the UN setting a global "upstream" production cap and auctioning tradable permits to carbon producers. Instead of all the complexity of regulating squabbling nations and billions of people, the price mechanism does the work: companies simply pass on their increased costs to consumers, and demand for carbon-intensive products begins to fall. The auctioning of permits raises trillions of dollars to be spent smoothing the transition to a low-carbon economy and offsetting the impact of price rises on the poor. A clear long-term framework puts a price on carbon, giving business a strong incentive to shift investment into renewable energy and low-carbon manufacturing. Most importantly, a strong carbon cap means that global emissions peak as early as 2017.
But the other great lesson is that sticking with current policy is actually a very risky option, rather than a safe bet. Betting on Kyoto could mean triggering the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet and crossing thresholds that involve massive methane release from melting Siberian permafrost. If current policy continues to fail - along the lines of the "agree and ignore" scenario - then 50% to 80% of all species on earth could be driven to extinction by the magnitude and rapidity of warming, and much of the planet's surface left uninhabitable to humans. Billions, not millions, of people would be displaced. |
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| June 16, 2008 |
How Do We Go from Empire to Earth Community?
by David Korten YES! Magazine AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment The day of reckoning for our reckless human ways that many of us have for decades warned would be coming is here. We cannot grow our way out of poverty. The only way to end poverty and heal our social divisions on an already over stressed planet is through a redistribution of resources from rich to poor and from nonessential to essential uses. Natural wealth was created by our Earth mother and is therefore a common heritage of all her children, including all non-human species. None of us has a right to abuse that wealth or to monopolize it to the exclusion of our sisters and brothers. This brings us to the third element of the big picture: the governing institutions to which we give the power to set our priorities and our collective course. We might wonder how such injustice could happen in a world governed by democratically elected governments. The answer is simple and alarming. Our world is not governed by democratically elected governments. It is ruled by global financial institutions in the service of financial speculators who exchange trillions of dollars daily in search of instance unearned profits to increase the fortunes -- and the power -- of the richest people on the planet. They bring down governments that displease them, and buy and sell the largest corporations like commodities. By design and law the defining priority and obligation of these governing institutions is to generate financial profits to make rich people richer, in short to increase inequality in a world in desperate need of greater equity. To this end, the corporations rise or fall at the pleasure of the speculator, assault of our eyes and ears with advertising messages intended to get those of who are already have more stuff that we need -- to buy more stuff. So what does this big picture overview tell us about what we need to do? How much suffering will changing our ways impose? Well, we need to grow strong caring communities in which we get more of our human satisfaction from caring relationships and less from material goods. We will need to end war as a means of settling international disputes and dismantle our military establishment. We need to reclaim the American ideal of being a democratic middle-class nation without extremes of wealth and poverty. And we need to encourage and support the rest of the world in doing the same. To do all this we will need create democratically accountable governing institutions devoted to the well-being of people and nature. There can be no trade offs between justice, sustainability, happiness, and democracy. They are all inseparably linked. The idea that beneath the surface of our wondrous cultural diversity most humans want the same thing is consistent with recent scientific findings that our human brains are wired for compassion, caring, altruism, and cooperation. It turns out that most people everywhere, irrespective of their skin color, religion, nationality, or language are happiest when they are being helpful, loving, peaceful, generous, and cooperative. Isn't that stunning? Think of the possibilities. People of color and women won recognition of their full human rights only as the civil rights and women's movements successfully exposed the fallacy of the story that people of color and women are less than fully human. Recognizing the full humanity of all peoples opens us to a deeper understanding of what it truly does mean to be human in all the rich potentials that our human nature embodies. The environmental movement is replacing the story that nature is a dark and evil threat to be subdued, vanquished, and used for whatever purposes please us with the story of Earth as a living being, the mother of life, a living spaceship. Through sharing stories about what makes us truly happy, we come to see the fallacy of the advertising story that material consumption is our source of happiness. Once this fallacy is seen for what it is, we can enthusiastically share our stories of how we are improving the quality of our lives by reducing the quantity of our consumption and gaining control of our time to do more of the things that make us feel fully alive. In everything you do, share the story of our human possibility and of our right and responsibility to create for ourselves and for future generations, the world of our shared dream. Our distinctive human capacity for reflection and intentional choice carries a corresponding moral responsibility to care for our Mother Earth and for one another. We must now test the limits of the individual and collective creative potential of our species as we strive to become the change we seek. In these turbulent and frightening times, it is important to remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment of creative opportunity in the whole of the human experience. The future is in our hands. Now is the hour. We have the power to turn this world around. We are the ones we have been waiting for. |
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| June 15, 2008 |
We can continue to believe our politicians as they echo messages of stability and order around our planet, and we can continue to feed off the BBC or the New York Times to get an insight into the normality of the global situation, but sooner or later, the collapse of our economies is going to affect us directly by hitting our pockets, and then perhaps we will be ready to act. Hopefully, against those politicians and global capitalists who are infecting our daily life by bringing a painful and miserable reality to the majority of humanity.
We have not been smart enough as a collective of global citizens to understand that we are being taken on a ride, that affected groups are being kept isolated by the magic wand of the mainstream media regurgitating the propagandistic message of the ruling elite. Everyday, the global situation is getting worse. As strikes are on the rise and unemployment is increasing, we must be alert, we must understand what is happening. The elites will continue to keep us divided, because divided is how they can control us, but we must be smarter than them and understand that the only strength we have against their policies, is the collective strength of united discontent. When will we understand that our politicians are lying to us? Will we ever understand that the mainstream media is not democratic and that the police are there to defend the interests of the wealthy? One can see clearly whose interest the police serves when those who protest and strike have guns pointed at them. We must begin to pave the path to peace in order to gain global stability, and that must be done by setting measures to stop speculators from benefiting from the misery of others, by punishing corrupt politicians, and by collectively understanding that bankers are rich because we have placed our money in their hands. Ultimately, unless we begin to see the world as a whole, in which things are truly interconnected, our governments will continue their hostilities, oil prices will keep on rising, and when the time comes for us to complain, we will be faced with the guns of the police whom we have helped to create with the payment of our taxes. The only positive thing coming out of this chaos, is that we are no longer able to avoid facing reality, and soon after this social Tsunami which has begun to unravel is over, we will be faced with a true opportunity to collectively construct global order. |
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| June 11, 2008 |
Permafrost Threatened By Rapid Retreat Of Arctic Sea Ice, NCAR Study Finds
by David Lawrence, Andrew Slater, Robert Tomas, Marika Holland, and Clara Deser Ucar.edu Countercurrents.org
The rate of climate warming over northern Alaska, Canada, and Russia could more than triple during periods of rapid sea ice loss, according to a new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The findings raise concerns about the thawing of permafrost, or permanently frozen soil, and the potential consequences for sensitive ecosystems, human infrastructure, and the release of additional greenhouse gases.
"Our study suggests that, if sea-ice continues to contract rapidly over the next several years, Arctic land warming and permafrost thaw are likely to accelerate," says lead author David Lawrence of NCAR.
Arctic soils are believed to hold 30 percent or more of all the carbon stored in soils worldwide. Although researchers are uncertain what will happen to this carbon as soils warm and permafrost thaws, one possibility is that the thaw will initiate significant additional emissions of carbon dioxide or the more potent greenhouse gas, methane. An important unresolved question is how the delicate balance of life in the Arctic will respond to such a rapid warming," Lawrence says. "Will we see, for example, accelerated coastal erosion, or increased methane emissions, or faster shrub encroachment into tundra regions if sea ice continues to retreat rapidly? |
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| June 6, 2008 |
The fate of global food production has now become the chief terror of the future. Much of our current recessionary intrigue has been aided and abetted by market speculation, from the oil and food sector all the way to the White House itself. For the last seven years, the Bush administration has placed climate crisis on the back burner in existential pursuit of resource wars and an "American way of life" that has turned from a dream of Hummers, housing and bling into a nightmare of price hikes, foreclosures and layoffs. Mission accomplished. But someone will have to pick up the pieces, which are going viral fast. In that chaos, food has stopped being our other energy problem and become a chief terror of the future. And considering increasing prices, decreasing dollars and a world that will soon house many more people but feed even less of them, we're probably in for a famine or two before all is said and done. Skyrocketing prices are hitting those who already spend 60 percent, sometimes even 80 percent, of their budget on food. These groups include the rural landless, pastoralists and the majority of small-scale farmers. But the impact is greatest on the urban poor. And the rises are producing what we're calling the "new face of hunger" -- people who suddenly can no longer afford the food they see on store shelves because prices have soared beyond their reach. |
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| December 10, 2007 | Ritual Gloating Postmortems - The Corporate Media v. Hugo Chavez by Stephen Lendman, Countercurrents.org, Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net Dateline December 3, 2007 - the corporate media is euphoric after Venezuelans narrowly defeated Hugo Chavez's
constitutional reform referendum the previous day. The outcome defied pre-election independent poll predictions and was a cliffhanger to the end. Chavez is resilient and will rebound from one electoral setback. Don't ever count him out or underestimate his influence. A historic transformation is underway in Latin America following more than a quarter century of neoliberal rule. The referendum and its outcome while important today is merely an episode in the struggle between authoritarian imperial centered capitalism (Chavez opposes) and democratic workers centered socialism. |
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| December 8, 2007 | Peak Oil And The Vision In The Mirror by Aaron Wissner, Countercurrents.org, LiVEJOURNAL Aaron Wissner, Organizer, Local Future Network What happens when the energy supply stops growing, but the population continues to grow?
More importantly, what happens when the energy supply begins to decline, as population continues to grow? Peak oil is not simply an issue of learning to conserve or finding ways to do more with less. It isn't simply about the possibility of economic collapse, war, starvation or global pandemic. It isn't just about changing our behaviors or our beliefs. It is about turning ourselves inside-out, and not only surviving the transformation, but also being and living equal and in harmony with all the rest. |
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| December 7, 2007 | Forests Could Cool or Cook The Planet by Stephen Leahy , Countercurrents.org, BROOKLIN, Canada, Dec 7 (IPS) - A two-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures could flip the Amazon forest
from being the Earth's vital air conditioner to a flamethrower that cooks the planet, warns a new report released at the climate talks in Bali, Indonesia Friday. The trees of the Amazon contain at least 100 billion tonnes of carbon -- 15 years worth of global emissions from all sources, he said. "It's not only essential for cooling the world's temperature but also such a large source of freshwater that it may be enough to influence some of the great ocean currents." It is in everyone's interest to keep the Amazon intact, but deforestation continues apace, driven by expanding cattle ranching, soy farming, conversion into sugar cane for biofuel and logging. This assault is drying out the forest, making it more vulnerable to burning. Rising global temperatures are also increasing evaporation rates, drying the forest further. |
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| December 10, 2007 | The Missing Link in Creationism by Sean Gonsalves AlterNet, The Mix is the Message How can social conservatives deny Darwin's theory of evolution while espousing social Darwinism? I confess my heresy: like the Jesuit theologian/paleontologist Pierre Teilhard did 50 odd years ago, I'm a believer whose made his peace with evolution. But then, I've never understood why science and faith are discussed as if they're mutually exclusive. Folks who think evolution is an inherently atheist argument or those who think evolution disproves the existence of God are people with little imagination. The evolution vs. creationism debate may be an unavoidable political fight but much more relevant and revealing is what many evolution-believing secular conservatives and evolution-denying religious conservatives have in common: a belief in social Darwinism. A popular misconception is that Darwin coined the phrase "survival of the fittest." Actually, Darwin's thing was "natural selection," which turns out to involve lots of cooperation. So while science battles evolution-opponents, I'm trying to understand a conservative political species that opposes evolution on religious grounds while supporting social Darwinism on the political and economic grounds. There's a missing link here. |
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| November 29, 2007 | Labor Goes to Bali: Unions Ready to Take on Global Warming by Brendan Smith and Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello, Global Labor Strategies AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, ForeignPolicy The devastating realities of climate change, and the scientific consensus around its cause and cure, are shifting the global political climate. Some people might say you are anti-business. Is that the case? This week trade unionists from around the world will travel to Bali for the December 3rd launch of negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol limiting greenhouse gasses. It will include delegates from such U.S unions as the Electrical Workers (IUE), Mine Workers, Service Employees, Boilermakers, Steelworkers, Communication Workers, Transport Workers (TWU), and UNITE HERE garment and textile workers. It will also include the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council as well as such labor-oriented groups as the Blue-Green Alliance, the Cornell Global Labor Institute, and the Labor Research Association. The Kyoto Protocol was signed by 172 countries - not including the U.S. The AFL-CIO, which then represented the great majority of all U.S. unions, opposed the Kyoto protocol. What will be the stance of American labor toward an even stronger version for the future? As trade unionists, we are confident that Bali will mark the beginning of a new and more ambitious process of social change, where our collective hearts and minds must aspire to save our planet, on the basis of solidarity and mutual respect. |
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| December 10, 2007 | Wars and Climate Change: National Interests Verses Global Emergency Letter sent by Abdul Basit to the Global Community This is an appeal to World Leaders and Scientific Community, who have gathered in Bali, Indonesia for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
I remind the world leaders and researchers, who are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, that they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. The decisions of
this conference will not only decide the future of existence of humankind, but also for preserving all the past cultures and contributions humanity has offered throughout its thousands of years history of
existence on this beautiful planet.
basit72@gmail.comSo, on behalf of the human race, I appeal to the world leaders to set aside their narrow national interests and play the historical and highly moral responsibility in saving this planet and its inhabitants. The very future for all of life, human and otherwise, depends on their meeting this obligation with nothing short of total resolve! |
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| November 14, 2007 | Palm oil: Cooking the Climate Once you pop, you can't stop by Greenpeace Canada http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/ Indonesia — If, as you read this, you're tucking into a KitKat or dipping into a tube of Pringles, you might be interested
to know that these products contain palm oil that is linked to the destruction of forests and peatlands in Indonesia. As our new report "How the palm oil industry
is cooking the climate" shows, it's a recipe for disaster. The manufacturers of these products - Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever - are sourcing their palm oil from suppliers who aren't picky about where they site their
plantations. As the volunteers at the Forest Defenders Camp in Sumatra have seen, this includes tearing up areas of pristine forest then draining and burning the
peatlands. Indonesia's peatlands act as huge carbon stores so replacing them with plantations them not only threatens the amazing biodiversity, including the rare Sumatran tiger,
it also releases huge volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. They only cover 0.1 per cent of the land on Earth, but thanks in part to the activities of the palm
oil industry they contribute 4 per cent to global emissions. If expansion of the palm oil industry continues unabated, that figure can only rise.
What's to be done? The Indonesian government should urgently introduce a moratorium on forest and peatland destruction, which will provide a chance to develop long-term
solutions and prevent further emissions from deforestation. And our eyes are fixed firmly on the UN climate meeting in Bali next month, where the next phase of the Kyoto
Protocol will be discussed. With deforestation accounting for up to a fifth of global emissions, including financing for forest protection as a core part of the plan to
tackle climate change is essential. |
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| December 1, 2007 |
LA TERRE….ET LE SIECLE A VENIR GROUND….AND THE CENTURY TO COME Poeme sent by Guy CREQUIE to the Global Community
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr |
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| November 27, 2007 | UNDP wants climate justice through trade
by ASHOK B SHARMA published by Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture and by Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) for the first time in its human development report has analysed the impact of climate
change. The Human Development Report 2007-08 – Fighting climate change : Human solidarity in a divided world is released at a time when the climate change agenda is
slowly gaining its entry in the WTO negotiations and the discussions on the review of the work under Kyoto Protocol is slated to take place in Bali in Indonesia in
December, this year.
The report documented the impact of climate change across the world also projected the likely scenario for the future. Making out a case for alternative sources of
energy and fuels like bio-fuels, the UNDP report said that global trade has a major role to play. It said : International trade could play a much larger role in the expanding Markets for alternative fuels. Brazil is more efficient than either the European Union or the United States in producing ethanol, Moreover, sugar-based ethanol is more efficient in cutting carbon emissions. The problem is that imports of Brazilian ethanol are restricted by high import tariffs. Removing these tariffs would generate gains not just for Brazil, but for climate change mitigation.Negotiations on emissions limits for the post-2012 Kyoto Protocol commitment period can – and must – frame the global carbon budget. Saying so it noted most developed countries like Canada fell short of the targets. Though the European Union and UK have both embraced their targets, they are likely to fall far short of the goals set unless they move rapidly to put climate mitigation at the center of energy policy reform. Two major OECD countries like US and Australia are not bound by Kyoto Protocol. The report suggested two ways to mitigate climate change, one is to directly tax carbon dioxide emission and the other is cap-and-trade. Under cap-and-trade system, the government sets an overall emissions cap and issues tradable allowances that grant business the right to emit a set amount. Those who can reduce emissions more cheaply are able to sell allowances. One potential disadvantage of cap-and-trade is energy price instability while the potential advantage is environmental certainty, it noted. While the transition to climate protecting energy and life styles will have short-term costs, there may be economic benefits beyond what what is to be achieved by stabilizing temperatures. These benefits are likely to be realized through Keynesian and Schumpeterian mechanisms with new incentives for massive investment stimulating overall demand and creative destruction leading to innovation and productivity jumps in a wide array of sectors, the foreward to the report said. While government leadership is going to be essential in correcting the huge externality that is climate change, Markets and prices will have to be put to work so that private sector decisions can lead more naturally to optimal investment and production decisions. | Read
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| November 11, 2007 | Deal climate injustice at home: Greenpeace India by ASHOK B SHARMA published by Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture and by Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. More than 800 million poor people in India are bearing the burnt of climate change. This is partly due to the emissions caused by
the few privileged rich people in the country, said a report released by Greenpeace India Society. The report on climate injustice entitled `Hiding Behind the Poor’
urged the government to apply the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” in the country to deal with the situation arising out of climate change.
The study authored by G Ananathpadmanabhan, K Srinivas and Vinuta Gopal, however advocated India’s right to seek common but differentiated responsibilities at the global level.
Referring to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, it said that India claims its right to development and thus its right to consume more energy from
fossil fuels, asking developed nations to create the carbon space. Implicit in this is the notion that the developed countries need to decrease their carbon dioxide emissions
drastically so that developing countries can still increase theirs without pushing the planet in the direction of climate change.”
However, the study pointed out that over the last few decades, emissions of rapidly developing countries like India and China have surged. In fact, rankings by the WRI of
top GHG emitters has US on top and developing countries such as China and India are ranked at No 2 and 5 respectively, making them amongst the world’s biggest emitters.
The Greepeace India made an urgent plea to the government to consider the situation especially when the next round of negotiations for the second phase of Kyoto Protocol
is scheduled to take place in Bali in Indonesia in December, this year.
The Greenpeace India report further said that India was faced with two sharply contradictory realities. On the one hand there was a rapidly growing rich consumer class
which has made the country the 12.
The largest luxury market in the world and on the other hand India has become the home to more than 800 million poor people on the planet who are extremely vulnerable to
the impacts of climate change. India’s per capita carbon dioxide emission has averaged to 1.67 tonne.
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| November 11, 2007 | Global warming speeds up: IPCC by ASHOK B SHARMA published by Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture and by Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon urged the national governments to do more to arrest the climate change. The report also offered blueprints to avert the worst
catastrophes, he said and added that climate change imperils the most precious treasures of our planet.
Ki-moon said that the report would be placed before the forthcoming UN framework on climate change meeting in Bali in Indonesia to review the progress made under the
Kyoto Protocol. The report noted that observational evidence from all continents and most oceans showed that many natural systems were being affected by regional climate changes,
particularly rise in temperatures. Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of the human
activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial value determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years.
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| November 11, 2007 | New hygiene norms for food items soon by ASHOK B SHARMA published by Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture and by Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. The 39th CCFH also decided to work on proposed guidelines for control of Campylobacter and Salmonella spp in broiler (young birds), chicken meat, meat carcass, and portions.
Poultry, egg and egg products, fresh fruits, and vegetable will soon be subjected to new hygienic standards in global trade. Based on the recommendations of an ad hoc
panel chaired by India, the 39th session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), which concluded in New Delhi early this month, agreed to take up the new work on
the code of hygienic practices for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Codex Committee agreed that the US should take the initiative and set up an electronic working group
for receiving comments and suggestions. The electronic working group would be open to all interested parties.
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| November 10, 2007 | Biotech to figure in new EU-India S&T cooperation by ASHOK B SHARMA published by Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture and by Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. Biotechnology in agriculture, bio-fuel, climate change and energy security are top on the agenda of the European Union’s new offer for science and technology cooperation with India.
I am confident that we are embarking upon a new eara in science and technology cooperation between the European Union and India. Our S&T cooperation agreement is
about to be renewed for a further 5 years and we are about to announce new exciting opportunities for collaborative research, which may include biotechnology in
agriculture, bio-fuel, climate change, energy security and computational material science. We will establish a road map of our strategic S&T cooperation for 2008
and beyond.
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| November 11, 2007 | Bunker Fuel in the Bay by Danielle Fugere , Friends of the Earth foe@foe.org On November 7, a container ship crashed into the San
Francisco Bay Bridge and spilled an estimated 58,000
gallons of bunker fuel -- a tragedy of immense proportions that
creates both immediate and long-term threats to marine life in
and around the bay. Today, Friends of the Earth is calling on Congress to ban the use of this dirty fuel forever. Will you join our call?
Bunker fuel literally comes from the bottom of the barrel. It is the asphalt-like gunk that's left over after crude oil is refined into gasoline for cars and is especially damaging when spilled in accidents.* Even when used as intended, though -- to power cruise and cargo ships -- it is extremely harmful. Indeed, a study released just last week found that more than 60,000 people died from shipping emissions in 2002, due in large part to the use of bunker fuel, which is more than 1,000 times dirtier than the highway diesel used by trucks and buses. Its reliance on this dirty fuel is also a key reason that the shipping industry is a major global warming polluter. Friends of the Earth's Clean Vessels Campaign has been leading the fight against shipping pollution for years, at the local level, nationally, and in the international arena, and phasing out the use of bunker fuel has been one of our key aims. Now, this dirty fuel has led to a disaster in the San Francisco Bay. Let's ensure that this tragedy isn't repeated and phase out this dirty fuel forever. Please sign our petition calling for an end to bunker fuel use today. The petition can be found at: http://action.foe.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=816 |
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| November 22, 2007 | Handy Hints For Post-Petroleum by Peter Goodchild , Countercurrents.org, petergoodchild@interhop.net The priority of these "hints" will vary as the years go by, but most of
them will remain relevant over the course of the century. The slight bias
toward northern North America is partly due to the fact that the area
meets most of the criteria.
Everything in the modern world is dependent on hydrocarbons. From hydrocarbons we get fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, lubricants, plastic, paint, synthetic fabrics, asphalt, pharmaceuticals, and many other things. When oil goes, our entire industrial society will go with it. We must therefore look to "primitive" technology. On a broader scale, one could can say that modern industrial society is based on (1) hydrocarbons, (2) metals, and (3) electricity. The three are intricately connected; each is only accessible — on the modern scale — if the other two are present. Electricity, for example, has been possible on a global scale only with hydrocarbons. The same is true of metals: most metals are now becoming rare, and the forms that remain can be processed only with modern machinery — which requires hydrocarbons. There is no way of breaking that "triangle." What we are then looking at is a society far more primitive than the one to which we have been accustomed. |
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| November 21, 2007 | Why Israel Has No "Right To Exist" As A Jewish State by Oren Ben-Dor , Countercurrents.org, okbendor@yahoo.com A recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish
state is a recognition of the Jews special entitlement, as eternal victims,
to have a Jewish state. Such a test of supreme stake for Jews is the
supreme criterion not only for racist policy making by the legislature but
also for a racist constitutional interpretation by the Supreme Court.The
idea of a state that is first and foremost for the sake of Jews trumps
even that basic law of Human Freedom and Dignity to which the Israeli
Supreme Court pays so much lip service. Such constitutional
interpretation would have to make the egalitarian principle equality of
citizenship compatible with, and thus subservient to, the need to
maintain the Jewish majority and character of the state. This of course
constitutes a serious compromise of equality, translated into many
individual manifestations of oppression and domination of those victims
of such compromise--non-Jews-Arabs citizens of Israel.
The demand is that
Palestinians recognise Israel's entitlement to constitutionally entrench a
system of racist basic laws and policies, differential immigration criteria
for Jews and non-Jews, differential ownership and settlements rights,
differential capital investments, differential investment in education,
formal rules and informal conventions that differentiate the potential
stakes of political participation, lame-duck academic freedom and
debate.
The Jewish state could only come into being in May 1948 by ethnically cleansing most of the indigenous population -- 750000 of them. The fate of the descendants of those 750000 Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed in 1948 would continue to be discriminated under a two-state solutions. The judaisation of the state could only be effectively implemented by constantly internally displacing the population of many villages within the Israel state. The Right of Return of Palestinians means that Israel acknowledges and apologises for what it did in 1948. It does mean that Palestinian memory of the 1948 catastrophe, the Nakbah, is publicly revived in the Geography and collective memory of the polity. It does mean that Palestinians descendants would be allowed to come back to their villages. If this is not possible because there is a Jewish settlement there, they should be given the choice to found an alternative settlement nearby. This may mean some painful compulsory state purchase of agricultural lands that should be handed back to those who return. In cases when this is impossible they ought to be allowed the choice to settle in another place in the larger area or if not possible in another area in Palestine. It is clear that part of the realisation of that right of return would not only be a just the actual return, but also the assurance of equal stake and citizenship of all, Jews and non-Jews-Arabs after the return. A return would make the egalitarian claim by those who return even more difficult to conceal than currently with regard to Israel Arab second class citizens. What unites Israelis and many world Jews behind the call for the recognition of the right of a Jewish state to exist is their aversion for the possibility of living, as a minority, under conditions of equality of stake to all. But if Jews enjoys this equality in Canada why can not they support such equality in Palestine through giving full effect to the right of Return of Palestinians? |
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| November 19, 2007 | A World Dying, But Can We Unite To Save It? by Geoffrey Lean , Countercurrents.org, The Independent Humanity is rapidly turning the seas acid through the same pollution that causes global warming, the world’s governments and top scientists agreed yesterday. The process — thought to be the most profound
change in the chemistry of the oceans for 20 million years — is expected both to disrupt the entire web of life of the oceans and to make climate change worse.
The warning is just one of a whole series of alarming conclusions in a new report published by the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Scientists add that, as the seas become more acidic, they will be less able to absorb carbon dioxide, causing more of it to stay in the atmosphere to speed up global warming. Research is already uncovering some signs that the oceans’ ability to mop up the gas is diminishing. Environmentalists point out that the increasing acidification of the oceans would in itself provide ample reason to curb
emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and felling forests even if the dwindling band of skeptics were right and the gas was not warming up the planet. Getting agreement on a new treaty to tackle climate change hangs on resolving an “after you, Claude” impasse between the United States and China, the two biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming. China insists - with other key developing countries like India and South Africa — that the United States must move first to clean up. It points out that, because of the disparity in populations, every American is responsible for emitting much more of the gas than each Chinese. But the US refuses to join any new treaty unless China also accepts restrictions. |
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| November 19, 2007 | Globalisation Or Militarist Imperialism? India Must Choose: the Indo-US nuclear deal by Rohini Hensman, Countercurrents.org, If India wishes to be a respected member of
the international community, it would need to uphold
international law. This would entail working with
other countries to outlaw weapons of mass destruction
(chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, including
Depleted Uranium weapons), as well as weapons that
target civilians, such as land mines and cluster
bombs, all of which violate international law by
failing to confine their effects to military targets.
Obviously this would imply halting the nuclear
weaponisation programme in India. It is easy to understand why the current US administration is so desperate to seal a strategic alliance with India, at a time when Pakistan, its traditional ally in South Asia, appears to be faltering. For India, however, the deal would be a disaster. Backing out of it under pressure from public opinion may be embarrassing, but not shameful; on the contrary, it is the only democratic option. Going through with it, on the other hand, would be detrimental to India in the multifarious ways outlined above. Clearly, the democratic option is both the wisest and the only honourable one. |
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| November 13, 2007 | US, British And Australian Forces Build Oil-Protection Base In Iraq by Patrick Martin, Countercurrents.org, WSWS.org The US Navy, with the assistance of British and Australian commandos, is building a permanent base to guard two oil-export platforms in Iraqi waters
at the northern end of the Persian Gulf. The military mission goes far beyond the patrols which US warships
have conducted in the Persian Gulf for the past 30 years, in the name of
keeping oil shipping lanes open. The Navy finds
itself with an additional, much more specific role: playing security guard
to Iraq’s offshore oil infrastructure. US, British and Australian military officers will control Iraq’s oil export
shipping for the indefinite future. Iraq is one of the least-explored countries among the major oil producers, and there are plans to explore for oil in the western desert (Anbar province) as well as the traditional oil-producing regions in the north and south. Iraq has 112 billion barrels in proven oil reserves, but UN estimates have placed its probable but as yet unproven reserves at 214 billion barrels, perhaps the world’s largest pool of untapped oil. The oil ministry reported last week that daily crude oil production in October hit a three-year high of 2.7 million barrels a day, of which 1.8 million barrels were exported. Hussein al-Shahristani, the oil minister, said that crude production should reach 3 million barrels daily by the end of the year. |
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| November 8, 2007 | US Alliance Afghan Genocide - Six Million Excess Deaths? by Dr Gideon Polya, Countercurrents.org, Post-invasion non-violent excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan - a month on from the 6th anniversary of the war criminal US invasion and occupation on 7th October 2001 – now total an estimated 3.2 million. However comparisons with Occupied Iraq (1.5-2 million TOTAL post-invasion excess deaths, and 0.8-1.2 million or about 50% of these being VIOLENT deaths) suggest that the post-invasion violent excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan could total 3 million.
The racist, war criminal US military state that they “don’t do body counts” of Indigenous victims but publicly-accessible UN demographic data allow us to estimate the carnage as outlined below. With Racist Zionist-beholden Bush America and Racist Zionist-run Apartheid Israel threatening to devastate remote, peaceful, non-invading, non-occupying, non-threatening, non-nuclear armed, democratic Iran (population 70 million, half of them KIDS and three quarters Women and Children), perhaps the best advice about how the World can stop these proto-Nazi, racist war-mongers is that given by outstanding CONSERVATIVE American economist, writer, academic and “Father of Reaganomics” Dr Paul Craig Roberts (see: http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02122007.html ), QUOTE : “Dump the Dollar! How the World can stop Bush … If the rest of the world would simply stop purchasing US Treasuries, and instead dump their surplus dollars into the foreign exchange market, the Bush Regime would be overwhelmed with economic crisis and unable to wage war ...The demise of the US dollar is only a question of time. It would save the world from war and devastation if the dollar is brought to its demise before the Bush Regime launches its planned attack on Iran.” |
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| November 2, 2007 | Six Steps To “Getting” The Global Ecological Crisis by John Feeney, Countercurrents.org, GrowthMadness.org Some of us who examine and discuss environmental matters are constantly puzzled and frustrated by the seeming inability of elected officials, environmental organizations, and environmental and political writers to “get” the nature of
our ecological plight. Could it be they’re simply unaware of the ecological principles which enable one to understand it? A finite earth can support only a limited number of humans. There is therefore a global “carrying capacity” for humans. A basic definition of carrying capacity is “The maximum number of people, or individuals of a particular species, that a given part of the environment can maintain indefinitely.” It is an axiom of ecological science that a population which has grown larger than the carrying capacity of its environment (e.g., the global ecosystem) degrades its environment. It uses resources faster than they are regenerated by that environment, and produces waste faster than the environment can absorb it without being degraded. |
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| November 15, 2007 | Islands of Peace: Hope of World Stability Letter sent by DR. Charles Mercieca to the Global Community
In view of this, the time seems now ripe when we need to reform drastically the institution of the military by changing it from an element of destruction into one of
construction. In other words, we need to find healthy means to enable the military change its negative image into a positive one. As conscientious and responsible human beings, we should all work to help turn as many nations as possible into islands of peace. The creation of such nations would
generate among millions of people positive and constructive energy that is bound to influence the rest of the world at a time least expected.
Of course, we need to establish good criteria to make this providential peace event on a global scale meaningful. Here are some of the criteria for a nation to qualify to
become declared as an Island of Peace.
mercieca@knology.net |
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| November 8, 2007 | Preparing for Life After Oil by Michael T. Klare, The Nation AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, ForeignPolicy Welcome to the Age of Insuffiency: As oil prices hit new highs and supplies sink, our way of life will drastically change. We are nearing the end of the Petroleum Age and have entered the Age of Insufficiency. Major investors are not likely to cough up the trillions of dollars needed to substantially boost production in the years ahead, suggesting that the global output of conventional petroleum will not reach the elevated levels predicted by the Energy Department but will soon begin an irreversible decline. This conclusion leads to two obvious strategic impulses: first, the government will seek to ease the qualms of major energy investors by promising to protect their overseas investments through the deployment of American military forces; and second, the industry will seek to hedge its bets by shifting an ever-increasing share of its investment funds into the development of nonpetroleum liquids. In considering these past events, it is important to recognize that the use of military force to protect the flow of imported petroleum has generally enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Washington. One might imagine that the current debacle in Iraq would shake this consensus, but there is no evidence that this is so. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: possibly fearful that the chaos in Iraq will spread to other countries in the Gulf region, senior figures in both parties are calling for a reinvigorated US military role in the protection of foreign energy deliveries. There is mounting perils to the safe flow of foreign oil. Concluding that the United States alone has the capacity to protect the global oil trade against the threat of violent obstruction, it argues the need for a strong US military presence in key producing areas and in the sea lanes that carry foreign oil to American shores. An awareness of this new "Washington consensus" on the need to protect overseas oil supplies with American troops helps explain many recent developments in Washington. Most significant, it illuminates the strategic stance adopted by President Bush in justifying his determination to retain a potent US force in Iraq -- and why the Democrats have found it so difficult to contest that stance. We should expect an increase in the use of military force to protect the overseas flow of oil, as the threat level rises along with the need for new investment to avert even further reductions in global supplies. |
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| November 5, 2007 | Farming With Passion For Wellbeing Of All by Umendra Dutt, Countercurrents.org, KVM is farmers based movement dedicated to natural farming, conservation of natural resources and traditional wisdom. Most of farmers associated
with KVM works through its Vatavaran Panchayats. KVM farmers are farmer with a mission, vision and action he take pledges to start natural farming in one go or in a
phased manner. KVM currently has around a 100 formal and 800 informal members. Natural farmers of Punjab say that the land has witnessed the destruction of the environment and particularly the soil ecology in the last few decades as a consequence
of chemical intensive farming. The soil has lost its nutrient pool. Burning of paddy straw has further destroyed the soil's health. Many professionals such as those from the medical field, college and university lecturers and professors, advocates, journalists, even government officials and civil servants have joined this movement for rejuvenation of the soil. They are in contact with the KVM and participate in its activities. |
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| November 8, 2007 | How to Hold Corporations Accountable by Kevin Danaher, Shannon Biggs and Jason Mark AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment When the system doesn't allow people to protect themselves from corporate harm to their communities, it is time to change the system. Can you tell us about "democracy"? It's a word used by everyone and can mean so many things. Some people might say you are anti-business. Is that the case? Many people in this country don't understand that corporations have personhood rights. Why does this come as such a surprise to some people? Speak about the regulatory system. It's supposed to keep corporations from doing harm, but everywhere you look -- the water, the land, the air -- everything is polluted. Some believe that laws such as anti-corporate personhood ordinances are a waste of time because they will be challenged and shot down, so why bother? What is the logic behind civil disobedience to the law? Do you believe it's possible to change the role of corporations in our society? |
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| June 12, 2008 |
FROM ONE TEACHER TO ANOTHER TEACHER - an important letter to the President of Iran, from India
by Dr. Leo Rebello
Inspite of your austere and simple life based on simple humanitarian principles,
the stories of oppression and islamic intolerance keep flying in the face. Your own Iranians in exile in India and elsewhere talk against the regime that violates
Human rights of its own citizens inspite of signing international protocols.
Take for example Haleh Rouhi, 29, Raha Sabet 33, and Sasan Taqva 32, were each sentenced to four years in prison and then suddenly taken into custody on 19th November 2007 on a trumped up charge of "propaganda against the regime" for running social service projects to help underprivileged children and youth in Shiraz. The details can be read on pages 8 and 9 of ONE COUNTRY, International Quarterly, which I received today (4 June 2008). Simply because they are Baha'I, to round them up for their beliefs which are more or less akin to Islam, is NOT proper and and I think you should immediately consider presidential Amnesty to them and censor those who interpret laws in un-islamic manner in an Islamic Democracy, which has stood the American onslaught. |
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| June 7, 2008 |
Biofuel production is certainly one of the culprits in the current global food crisis. But while the diversion of corn from food to biofuel feedstock has been a factor in food prices shooting up, the more primordial problem has been the conversion of economies that are largely food-self-sufficient into chronic food importers. Here the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) figure as much more important villains.
Whether in Latin America, Asia, or Africa, the story has been the same: the destabilization of peasant producers by a one-two punch of IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programs that gutted government investment in the countryside followed by the massive influx of subsidized U.S. and European Union agricultural imports after the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture pried open markets.
African agriculture is a case study of how doctrinaire economics serving corporate interests can destroy a whole continent’s productive base.
The lower cost of U.S. products stemmed from subsidies that were becoming more massive each year, despite the fact that the WTO was supposed to phase out all forms of subsidy. From $367 billion in 1995, the first year of the WTO, the total amount of agricultural subsidies provided by developed country governments rose to $388 billion in 2004. Subsidies now account for 40% of the value of agricultural production in the European Union (EU) and 25% in the United States.
The social consequences of structural adjustment cum agricultural dumping were predictable. According to Oxfam, the number of Africans living on less than a dollar a day more than doubled to 313 million people between 1981 and 2001 – or 46% of the whole continent. The role of structural adjustment in creating poverty, as well as severely weakening the continent’s agricultural base and consolidating import dependency, was hard to deny. As the World Bank’s chief economist for Africa admitted, “We did not think that the human costs of these programs could be so great, and the economic gains would be so slow in coming.”
In sum, biofuel production did not create but only exacerbated the global food crisis. The crisis had been building up for years, as policies promoted by the World Bank, IMF, and WTO systematically discouraged food self-sufficiency and encouraged food importation by destroying the local productive base of smallholder agriculture. Throughout Africa and the global South, these institutions and the policies they promoted are today thoroughly discredited. But whether the damage they have caused can be undone in time to avert more catastrophic consequences than we are now experiencing remains to be seen.
Walden Bello is a senior analyst at Focus on the Global South, a program of Chulalongkorn University's Social Research Institute, and a columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org). |
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| June 6, 2008 |
On May 23, 2007, the world reached a seemingly invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history the world's urban population outnumbered the rural one. Now more than half its human population, 3.3 billion is living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of our cities and the future of humanity itself, all depends very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth.
Towns and town creation play an important role to impose control over the country. It also directs the activities of urban residents towards the larger purpose of establishing an administrative network and helps attain national prosperity. Unfortunately powerful political and economic interests shape urban policies to line their own pockets. The middle and working classes pay the bills for humongous, perpetually undelivered projects and programs.
There is an ominous divide between the urban and rural economy. Incomes in the cities have greatly increased for some whereas rural residents, who make up a huge section of the population, have barely felt the effect. This economic differential leads to large scale resentment and a sense of deprivation. The widening divide in turn drives millions into the cities, creating slums filled with poor, dislocated people. To slow down this stampede, we have to bring jobs to the countryside. Investors should be encouraged to build factories away from the presently focused main cities and help boost the local cottage industry.
The course of sustainable development at the local and regional levels requires the pursuit of economic policies that do not add new burdens to the carrying capacity of our locale. Population shifts or migrations to urban areas globally have traditionally been a tell-tale sign of many issues. Here people move for assumed advantages, such as employment, educational and economic opportunities. There is also forced movement to flee environmental crises, persecution and violence at the hands of the feudal.
A lack of imagination, rather than lack of skills, is a far more critical distinction between survivors and victims. To learn to make our cities livable we will have to break some longstanding chronic habits. The hardest habit to break is the 'syndrome of tragedy', that brooding feeling, like we are terminal patients in almost all walks of life. There is absolutely no dearth of 'specialists' out to prove that change is not possible. What has to be explained to them is that it takes the same energy to say why something cannot be done as to figure out how to do it, provided an honest working will is there.
Today our struggling cities, like almost everything else, are portrayed as evolutionary dead ends, with no future to contemplate. Our vision should be less a dream, an end-point or an unrealizable utopian existence, out there somewhere in the future; it should instead be an unending process to promote social justice and economic well-being among all Pakistanis. We should work towards peace with nature and that enveloping ecosystem which sustains life on our planet and is the true source of our natural capital.
It is time to raise our voices in opposition to the degradation of our lives, the jeopardizing of our individual and collective health and well being and above all the pollution of our politics. The consumer culture we inhabit bombards us with messages to buy beyond our budgets and live beyond our means. We can be more happy and content if we could but get off the habit of buying too much and consuming thoughtlessly. Hiding our unhappiness by frolicking in this consumer paradise for some, we who can, eat too much, spend too much, and waste too much time on things that do not matter. Along the way, we contribute to the plunder of nature's depleting capital and the theft of our children's future.
It is time to construct a future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted. It is time to find the means for putting our urban house in order by planting seeds that will establish new roots for our urban community; enliven and enrich the nourishing soil on which we depend for human life itself.
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| June 6, 2008 |
Food, Water And Fuel. Three Fundamental Necessities Of Life In Jeopardy
by Michel Chossudovsky Global Research, Countercurrents.org
We are at the crossroads of the most serious economic and social crisis in modern history. The process of global impoverishment unleashed at the outset of the 1980s debt crisis has reached a major turning point, leading to the simultaneous outbreak of famines in all major regions of the developing World.
There are many complex features underlying the global economic crisis pertaining to financial markets, the decline in production, the collapse of State institutions and the rapid development of a profit-driven war economy. What is rarely mentioned in this analysis, is how this global economic restructuring forcibly impinges on three fundamental necessities of life: food, water and fuel.
The provision of food, water and fuel is a precondition of civilized society: they are necessary factors for the survival of the human species. In recent years, the prices of these three variables has increased dramatically at the global level, with devastating economic and social consequences.
These three essential goods or commodities, which in a real sense determine the reproduction of economic and social life on planet earth, are under the control of a small number of global corporations and financial institutions.
Both the State as well as the gamut of international organizations --often referred to as the "international community"-- serve the unfettered interests of global capitalism. The main intergovernmental bodies including the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organizations (WTO) have endorsed the New World Order on behalf of their corporate sponsors. Governments in both developed and developing countries have abandoned their historical role of regulating key economic variables as well as ensuring a minimum livelihood for their people.
We are dealing with a complex and centralized constellation of economic power in which the instruments of market manipulation have a direct bearing on the lives of millions of people.
The prices of food, water, fuel are determined at the global level, beyond the reach of national government policy. The price hikes of these three essential commodities constitute an instrument of "economic warfare", carried out through the "free market" on the futures and options exchanges.
These hikes in the prices of food, water and fuel are contributing in a very real sense to "eliminating the poor" through "starvation deaths". The sugar coated bullets of the "free market" kill our children. The act to kill is instrumented in a detached fashion through computer program trading on the commodity exchanges, where the global prices of rice, wheat and corn are decided upon.
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| June 5, 2008 |
The Roots of 'Necklacing': Why White Farmers in Zimbabwe Are Responsible for the Killings in South Africa
by Gary Brecher AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Foreign Policy South Africans wouldn't be killing Zimbabwean refugees if it weren't for the stranglehold Zimbabwe's whites have on its farmland. There was a sad little war in South Africa last week. Actually, it was one of the latest battles in a war that's been going on for over a hundred years. Like they say in the Congo, "Mokilo e komplike," "It's a complicated world. Like a lot of wars, this one was between two groups that lost out in the bigger war. Now they're forced to fight each other for scraps, while the real bad guys, the British, send camera crews to go "tsk-tsk" at how uncivilized it all is. The way the BBC tells it, this wasn't even a war, just "riots" by Zulu mobs targeting Zimbabwean immigrants, but it was war. In most places and most times, war isn't uniformed armies meeting on the field of battle, but mobs looking for people from the enemy tribe to kill. When they find them, they kill them just like the Zulu mobs killed any Zimbabwean immigrant lucky enough to fall into their hands: in the goriest way possible, in order to scare the rest of the enemy tribe off the disputed turf. A better question to ask would be, what sent so many Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa, driving wages down and messing up the place? The official answer to that in the Western press is that it's all the fault of Robert Mugabe, the old ex-guerrilla who runs Zimbabwe. I don't buy it. Mugabe's an old fool, an egomaniac, yeah -- most of the men who rule countries are. Bu the damage to Zimbabwe was done a long time ago, and Mugabe's in trouble with the Western newspapers for trying to fix things. That's what blows me away: in all this coverage of Zimbabwe, nobody asks simple questions like, "Who owns the farmland, and why?" The situation's changing fast now, but keep in mind that just ten years ago, 4000 white farmers "owned" three-quarters of all the good land. That's less than one percent of the country's population controlling three-quarters of its useful farmland. That's why Zimbabwe's a mess. Imagine what this country would look like if there were 300 million Native Americans crowded into shantytowns, with a few thousand European settlers living on huge plantations. That's the population profile of Zimbabwe. Mugabe's been taking that land back, and whatever else he's done, he was in the right. He has the military power, and for all you Christians out there, he has every moral right too, as far as I can see. After all, what right do those white settlers have to the land? Their great-grandfathers stole it at gunpoint, or got it by dirty tricks, a little over a century ago. Funny how nobody ever wants to talk about that. The man who took Zimbabwe for the Brits, Cecil Rhodes, was a classic Victorian closet case who distracted himself from his sinful urges with a bloodsoaked vision of British flags flying from Cape Town to the Mediterranean. Rhodes would use any sleazy trick to take the land he needed. When he couldn't force or trick King Lobengula, leader of the Matabele who ruled southern Zimbabwe, into selling off his land, he sent the king a British doctor who was under orders to turn the King into a morphine addict. Once the King was strung out, Rhodes grabbed the Matabeles' land. King Lobengula killed himself. That's how a few whites ended up with three-quarters of the decent land. And this didn't happen in the long-ago far-away time. It was barely over a century ago (1884-1902). So when rightwing papers like the UK Telegraph scream about Mugabe's land grabs, I have to laugh.You can't rob a thief, and the Brits who grabbed Zimbabwe's farmland are nothing but thieves who've lost their power to hold onto what they stole. They're just getting their loot taken back by the people they stole it from, but if you listen to the BBC you'd think these farm seizures are the greatest crime in history. BBC crews have been out there for years, filming every "white-owned farm" that gets handed over to Mugabe's guerrilla veterans, showing long sobby close-ups of the dear old white guys' heartbroken livestock as if this was the real tragedy. They love to focus on the little dogs especially -- boo hoo, little doggy lost its home! Nobody ever mentions the sick stuff that happened to put that farm into British hands in the first place. The Zulus who are necklacing a few poor Zimbabweans now lost out the same way, massacred by British armies using modern weapons in a series of wars a little over a century ago. Until they sent warriors armed with spears up against the redcoats' repeating rifles, they were one of the great empires of the world, moving south in their own wave of conquest. But like everyone who got in the Empire's way, they were slaughtered and forced off the good land by the same holier-than-thou white people who stole all the farmland in Zimbabwe. That's what we have here: two groups of Africans robbed and gutted by the Empire, forced to fight over scraps, while the descendants of the white land thieves still hold all the land and money. |
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| June 2, 2008 |
Why Is South Africa Being Torn Apart?
by Thandokuhle Manzi & Patrick Bond Socialist Worker, Countercurrents.org
The low-income black township here in Durban, which suffered more than any other during apartheid, Cato Manor, was the scene of a test performed on a Mozambican a week ago Wednesday morning.
Thousands of Zimbabweans and Mozambicans living in Johannesburg and Durban returned across the borders, but most went nearby to police stations, community centers and churches. The notoriously corrupt Cato Manor police station now has several hundred people sheltering in the immediate vicinity, and a large tent was erected for shelter.
In fact, when police do come–as to Johannesburg’s Central Methodist Church on January 30, where 1500 Zimbabweans had taken refuge–their agenda is often pure brutality. Host bishop Paul Verryn was beaten that evening, and almost all the Zimbabweans were arrested. But no charges stuck.
Apartheid-era super-profits for capital were the result. Now, with more porous borders and the deep economic crisis Zimbabweans face (in part because President Thabo Mbeki still nurtures the Mugabe dictatorship), South African corporate earnings are roaring.
It is hard to celebrate Africa Day given that, in the meantime, neoliberalism and paranoid nationalism imposed from above have made mockery of Africa’s ubuntu philosophy (we are who we are through others). From below, the thugs who beat up that Mozambican have merely joined a rapidly growing movement in the opposite direction: to barbarism.
Patrick Bond has written several books about African history and politics. Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation details how exploitative debt has helped keep sub-Saharan Africa mired in poverty. Fanon’s Warning shows how the New Partnership for Africa's Development counterposed sustainable growth to Africa's rapid integration into the world economy. Ashwin Desai’s We Are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa focuses on the Chatsworth community movement against cut-offs of water and electricity. |
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| June 1st, 2008 |
Federation of Global Governments essential services are offering the " Global Movement to Help " by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
Summary
As a first step to getting help, all nations can and should approve those first three sections on the Scale of Global Rights.
The approval would supersede the political and physical borders of participating member nations.
The Global Protection Agency (GPA) would have the approval from all member nations to give immediate help, bypassing normal government protocols.
Somewhat like an emergency unit but at the global level. That is what those first three sections mean. They represent an efficient and immediate emergency response to help.
First, participating member nations need to give their approval to the GPA.
The GPA is a global organization much like the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade between nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) for health,
or the European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFT), South American Community of Nations (SACON) for trade and economics.
The GPA offers an efficient emergency response to help.
The GPA is a short term solution, an immediate and efficient response to help. There are also long term solutions. As with the short term solution, the most significant long term solution is also related to
the Scale of Global Rights. The Scale was entrenched in the Global Constitution and is thus the fundamental guide to Global Law.
Now the Scale of Global Rights is a long term solution and is also a part of the Global Movement to Help of the Global Community.
The Scale was designed to help all life on Earth. What would be preferable is that nations unite amongst themselves to help.
Over time, we have seen the creation of the United Nations, the European
Union, the South American Community of Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Except for the UN, these organizations are mainly concerned with trade and economics.
The Global Community offers a more meaningful union in the form of nine or more Global Governments. For instance the South American Community of Nations can be
a Global Government by simply accepting the Global Constitution as a way of dealing between member nations. A Global Government is concerned not only with economics and trade,
but also with the environment, health, agriculture, energy, food, social, cultural and many other essential aspects.
The Federation of Global Governments is the place of meeting between Global Governments.
The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us, would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating member nations. The Global
Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here. All of them are already in operation on a small scale.
Introduction Key words: Global essential services, Global Community, Federation of Global Governments, Global rights, Scale of Global Rights, global citizens, Global Parliament,
Global Protection Agency (GPA), Global Information Media (GIM),
Earth Government, Earth Executive Council, House of Elected Representatives, House of Advisers, Global Ministries, Ombudspersons Office, volunteering for the Global Community,
Global Community Assessment Centre (GCAC)
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| May 29, 2008 |
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases. This unfolding trend will radically change human habitation on the Earth. Among the consequences will be the drastic reduction of food and fresh water available to people, not only in poorer parts of the globe, but throughout the planet.
Industrial societies with their industrial agriculture are dependent upon fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal for many things, including transportation, electricity, and making plastics and other modern essentials. Oil is the main ingredient in conventional food. As the supply of petroleum and other fossil fuels decline Peak Water and Peak Food will follow. In recent months we have seen the return of food riots in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.
Industrial societies run on electricity powered by the cheap energy of fossil fuels. As the supply of those energy sources decline and world-wide competition for them through wars and other means heighten, more electrical grids will fail, and with them access to both food and water.
The pace quickens. The signs are more numerous. We need even more than food security; we need food sovereignty. Who controls your food? Growing at least part of one's own food--and having something to trade--will be essential to survival.
Dr. Shepherd Bliss, sbliss@hawaii.edu, teaches at Sonoma State University and has run the organic Kokopelli Farm for most of the last 15 years. |
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| May 16, 2008 |
Toxic Chemicals Are Maiming Thousands Around the World
by Aquene Freechild Environmental Health Fund , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Over time, our bodies lose their ability to cope with toxic chemicals, and each exposure has a more severe
effect. My first visit to the SIPCOT Chemicals Hub in Cuddalore, India could have appeared deceptively pleasant to outside eyes. It's a beautiful day and there's a good breeze as we drive past the welcome sign for SIPCOT. The air in some places seems far cleaner than the air in nearby Chennai. In some spots it smells sweet, in others, like opening a bottle of ibuprofen -- an antiseptic, medicinal smell. A chemical that will have no visible effect on an adult, can have catastrophic effects on the developing fetus and the young child -- dulling the mind, triggering birth defects, and setting the stage for autism, asthma, allergies and cancer. What may only make an adult nauseated, will cripple the dreams of a child and of a family for a healthy future; a whole and better life. In the U.S., epidemics of cancer, autism, asthma, and reproductive birth defects in baby boys are sky high. Yet the air quality is far better in the U.S. than in most Indian cities. In India garbage piles are burnt spewing whole incinerator's worth of dioxin into the common air. Americans benefit from better environmental standards and enforcement for vehicle and factory emissions. Both India and U.S. have addressed the air quality problems of their cities -- particularly the places where the well-to-do live -- by exporting the sources of pollution -- Texas; Louisiana; Gary, Indiana; and the Port of Los Angeles are cases in point. The urban poor in either country would recognize these lit up refineries, chemical factories and power plants through the stinging fog. Childhood cancer increased .6% a year from 1975-2002 according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. One in almost 7 women will suffer from breast cancer in their lifetimes; hormonally active toxins may be determining cancer outcomes for our children before they are even born. We are just starting to see public discussion of the science of how certain chemicals attach to our DNA and are passed down from generation to generation. No longer is our chemical inheritance limited to in utero exposure and breast milk -- fathers are now known to contribute the effects of their chemical exposures as well. This widespread low level toxic contamination has been building its biological trap for more than four generations. In the U.S. and U.K., one in 250 boys is born with a malformed penis; one in 200 with autism. |
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| May 15, 2008 |
Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah.
Fallujah faces this new crisis after much of the city was destroyed by U.S. military operations in 2004.
The area around Fallujah city, which lies 70 km west of Baghdad, has traditionally been one of the most agriculturally productive in Iraq. Farmers planted tomatoes and cucumbers north of Fallujah, others grew potatoes south of the city near Amiriya. Both areas had plenty of date palm trees and small fruit plantations. Now production is down to a fraction of what it was.
Farmers have been struggling with changing times.
Residents say they are told of a world food crisis that may be affecting them. But their crisis arises mainly from local factors like shortage of water, fuel and electricity.
Whatever the reason, residents simply want relief. "We just want our lives back," said a college student who gave her name only as Nada. "We want to eat, buy clothes, get proper education and breathe pure air. No thanks to Americans for their effort to bring us democracy that killed half of us by their bombs and is now apparently killing the other half by starvation. Can you pass this message to the American people for us?"
According to the UN, at least four million people in Iraq do not have enough food, while approximately 40 percent of the 27.5 million population do not have access to clean drinking water. At least 30 percent do not have access to proper health services.
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| May 15, 2008 |
All beings have impact, and thus all of them leave an ecological footprint. Some of those impacts are in harmony with the biosphere and thus are in accord with the organizing principles of life; whereas others are discordant. Harvesting nuts in a sustainable manner, leaving enough for other animals to use and for the reproduction of the species in perpetuity is an example of harmony; whereas clear cutting and mountain top removal are examples of excess and discord. Some actions compliment life; others diminish it.
Over consumption and waste and the endless economic expansion they cause are the governing principle of capitalism and over population; and, like it or not, they fundamentally conflict with the natural order of things. This ideology is counter to the organizing principle of life and it has the effect of diminishing biodiversity and the ecological processes upon which all life depends.
Capitalism and reductionism hold that every component of the biosphere are resources when, in fact, they are sources of life. At some point in human history, man began taking things apart in an attempt to gain detailed scientific knowledge and understanding; however, in nature—anything apart from the organic whole is dead. It is easily understood that if someone removes another’s heart from his or her chest cavity, that person will quickly die. The heart is a vital organ that pumps blood to every part of the body; it is a part of a connected whole. Sever that connection and the body collapses and death ensues.
Likewise, nature has no unimportant parts. The earth functions like a single living organism of world-size proportions. Everything under the sun exists for a purpose; every organism plays a vital role in the local, regional, and the global ecology. Remove or destroy a part and the whole suffers; one has diminished possibilities, foreclosed options, and subverted natural processes, with consequences to untold numbers of species, including Homo sapiens.
Western humans tend to give value to the parts of nature that can be economically exploited, and under values those that cannot. By continually teasing out the separate parts of nature and isolating them from the organic whole, we are undoing the very fabric of life: we are playing god. Thus, we are living in the midst of the sixth great extinction episode in the earth’s 4.5 billion year history, and we are the primary cause. Few Americans are aware of this fact. It does not behoove capitalism to advertise that it is killing the biosphere; it is not good for business. Who wants to be a cancer? And fools believe that business, rather than ecology, makes the world go round. After all, the highway signs leading into West Virginia, the state where I live, are followed by these revealing words: open for business. Whatever happened to wild and wonderful?
Charles Sullivan is a nature photographer, naturalist, environmental educator and free-lance writer residing in the Ridge and Valley Province of geopolitical West Virginia. He welcomes your comments at: csullivan@copper.net |
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| May 14, 2008 |
The Triple Threat: Our Food, Water and Climate Challenges
by Shiney Varghese Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Food prices rose 4 percent in the United States last year, the highest rise since 1990. All over the world food prices are on the rise. At the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank finance ministers wanted to focus the world's attention on food crisis rather than the credit crisis. There are many factors contributing to this current crisis, including the rising price of oil, deregulated agricultural markets, financial speculation, and biofuels. Another key factor is climate change, which is affecting crop yield and food production. It is time for us to get serious about understanding the way climate change affects water resources for food production and conversely the way agricultural water use is leading to climate change. Agricultural practices geared towards growing export-oriented monoculture crops are chemical intensive and have resulted in high levels of pollution in local water systems. In addition, nitrogen used in fertilizers leaches into water courses increasing the indirect nitrous oxide emissions downstream. This model of production has intensified water use, both in terms of the water going into the growing of the commodities themselves, but also in terms of inter-basin water transfers. Protecting our waters in local watersheds and wetlands and using them judiciously in support of local agricultural systems and livelihood practices, rather than continuing with the current strategy of promoting export-oriented, monoculture, industrial, water-guzzling agricultural systems, is key to reducing the water sector's direct contributions to climate change. Moreover local practices that conserve and enhance local water availability to ensure resilience of rain-fed agricultural systems are necessary as an adaptation mechanism, to meet climate challenges and to help meet food security goals, two of the biggest challenges for developing countries today. It is time to reevaluate our agricultural policies that promote water and energy intensive agriculture. We will have to make some major changes in our agriculture systems to address some of the upcoming climate challenges. Doing so will help us cope with extreme changes in the hydrological cycle and resultant food and water crises many communities and nations are sure to face. Effective and sustainable water management in agriculture in support of healthy food systems needs to be part of the climate solution. |
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| May 12, 2008 |
The Pentagon Is America's Biggest Polluter
by Joshua Frank Health and wellness , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message The U.S. has a grossly corrupted health protection system. The nation's biggest polluter isn't a corporation. It's the Pentagon. Every year the Department of Defense churns out more than 750,000 tons of hazardous waste -- more than the top three chemical companies combined. Yet the military remains largely exempt from compliance with most federal and state environmental laws, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Pentagon's partner in crime, is working hard to keep it that way. For the past five decades the federal government, defense contractors and the chemical industry have joined forces to block public health protections against perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that has been shown to effect children's growth and mental progress by disrupting the function of the thyroid gland which regulates brain development. Perchlorate has been leaking from literally hundreds of defense plants and military installations across the country. The EPA has reported that perchlorate is present in drinking and groundwater supplies in 35 states. Center for Disease Control and independent studies have also overwhelmingly shown that perchlorate is existent in our food supplies, cow's milk, and human breast milk. As a result virtually every American has some level of perchlorate in their body. |
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| May 9, 2008 |
Portrait Of An Oil-Addicted Former Superpower
by Michael T. Klare Tomdispatch.com, Countercurrents.org
Nineteen years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall effectively eliminated the Soviet Union as the world's other superpower. Yes, the USSR as a political entity stumbled on for another two years, but it was clearly an ex-superpower from the moment it lost control over its satellites in Eastern Europe.
Less than a month ago, the United States similarly lost its claim to superpower status when a barrel crude oil roared past $110 on the international market, gasoline prices crossed the $3.50 threshold at American pumps, and diesel fuel topped $4.00. As was true of the USSR following the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the USA will no doubt continue to stumble on like the superpower it once was; but as the nation's economy continues to be eviscerated to pay for its daily oil fix, it, too, will be seen by increasing numbers of savvy observers as an ex-superpower-in-the-making.
When it comes to the U.S.-Russian relationship, just how much the balance of power has shifted was evident at the NATO summit at Bucharest in early April. There, President Bush asked that Georgia and Ukraine both be approved for eventual membership in the alliance, only to find top U.S. allies (and Russian energy users) France and Germany blocking the measure out of concern for straining ties with Russia. "It was a remarkable rejection of American policy in an alliance normally dominated by Washington," Steven Erlanger and Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times reported, "and it sent a confusing signal to Russia, one that some countries considered close to appeasement of Moscow."
For Russian officials, however, the restoration of their country's great power status is not the product of deceit or bullying, but a natural consequence of being the world's leading energy provider. No one is more aware of this than Dmitri Medvedev, the former Chairman of Gazprom and new Russian president. "The attitude toward Russia in the world is different now," he declared on December 11, 2007. "We are not being lectured like schoolchildren; we are respected and we are deferred to. Russia has reclaimed its proper place in the world community. Russia has become a different country, stronger and more prosperous."
The same, of course, can be said about the United States -- in reverse. As a result of our addiction to increasingly costly imported oil, we have become a different country, weaker and less prosperous. Whether we know it or not, the energy Berlin Wall has already fallen and the United States is an ex-superpower-in-the-making.
Michael Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and author of the just-released Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Metropolitan Books). |
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| May 1, 2008 | Global Rights year one
Letter to the Global Community sent by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community Global Rights year one is new impetus of the Global Community to educate everyone about the need for a change in thinking
and of doing things amongst all
nations. We need to realize what is a priority, what is the most important, and what is the least important for our survival. We need a clear vision. We need a common
vision. And we must all change! There are many important aspects of our lives we can longer do, or should never do anymore. They are destructive. Humanity and all life
can no longer afford activities that destroy life and the global environment. And there are other activities we must do, certainly thousands of them, to assure the survival of life on Earth.
In view of the planetary state of emergency we all must change, we must do things differently to give life on Earth a better survival chance.
And this is what Global Rights year one is about: to establish global fundamentals and a clear vision to follow.
Perhaps the Scale of Global Rights represents the strongest pillar of our vision. |
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| April 29, 2008 |
Food Crisis And The Failure Of The Capitalist Model
by Ian Angus Ian Angus is the editor of Climate and Capitalism. Countercurrents.org
This is the brutal world of capitalist agriculture – a world where some people destroy food because prices are too low, and others literally eat dirt because food prices are too high. We are in the midst of an unprecedented worldwide food price inflation that has driven prices to their highest levels in decades. The increases affect most kinds of food, but in particular the most important staples – wheat, corn, and rice. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that between March 2007 and March 2008 prices of cereals increased 88%, oils and fats 106%, and dairy 48%. The FAO food price index as a whole rose 57% in one year – and most of the increase occurred in the past few months. Another source, the World Bank, says that that in the 36 months ending February 2008, global wheat prices rose 181% and overall global food prices increased by 83%. The Bank expects most food prices to remain well above 2004 levels until at least 2015. These increases are catastrophic for the 2.6 billion people around the world who live on less than US$2 a day and spend 60% to 80% of their incomes on food. Hundreds of millions cannot afford to eat. Food is not just another commodity – it is absolutely essential for human survival. The very least that humanity should expect from any government or social system is that it try to prevent starvation – and above all that it not promote policies that deny food to hungry people. That’s why Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was absolutely correct on April 24, to describe the food crisis as the greatest demonstration of the historical failure of the capitalist model. |
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| April 28, 2008 |
Water sustainability: a looming global challenge
by Daniel W. McCarthy Courtesy of Black & Veatch Ltd Environmental Expert S.L.
The future of water is anything but clear. We face a future world fraught with water challenges – too much, too little, too contaminated or inaccessible to meet our needs.
We live in a rapidly changing world in which many of our expectations about natural resources may no longer be met. The seeming abundance of safe, low-cost water may falsely lead us to assume perpetual easy access to all the low-cost, high-quality water we want, when we want it. The water industry today must examine these assumptions. Although water covers 70 percent of our planet’s surface, less than one-half percent is freshwater available for our use. Most of our planet’s water is in oceans and too salty for many uses. Much of the remainder is locked in frozen glaciers, is remote from population centers or circulating in our atmosphere. So this seemingly abundant resource is actually quite constrained. |
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| April 28, 2008 |
Real Solutions to the Climate Crisis
by Guy Dauncey YES! Magazine, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment A look at climate-friendly options for buildings, electricity production, transportation, and food and forestry.
The crisis of global warming is deeply serious, yet many are finding that it is also powerfully energizing. Instead of trying to squeeze our existing way of life into a post-carbon life-jacket out of fear of a climate catastrophe, these people see the transformation as a great adventure. They are drawing on their imagination and courage to create the building blocks of a sustainable, post-carbon world -- one in which all beings -- not just humans -- will flourish and find fulfillment, within the harmony and limits that Nature provides.
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| April 19, 2008 |
The Hidden Battle to Control the World's Food Supply
by Amy Goodman Democracy Now! , AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Water Food riots are breaking out across the planet. We must re-examine corporate control of the food supply.
The rise in global food prices has sparked a number of protests in recent weeks, highlighting the worsening epidemic of global hunger. The World Bank estimates world food prices have risen 80 percent over the last three years and that at least thirty-three countries face social unrest as a result. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned the growing global food crisis has reached emergency proportions.
In recent weeks, food riots have also erupted in Haiti, Niger, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. Protests have also flared in Morocco, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mexico and Yemen. In most of West Africa, the price of food has risen by 50 percent -- in Sierra Leone, 300 percent. The World Food Program has issued a rare $500 million emergency appeal to deal with the growing crisis. Several causes factor into the global food price hike, many linked to human activity. These include human-driven climate change, the soaring cost of oil and a Western-led focus on biofuels that critics say turns food into fuel. |
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| April 19, 2008 | Should the ban on commodity futures be widened? by Dr. Krishan Bir Chaudhary Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
Futures trading in wheat, rice and pulses like tur and urad has been
suspended by the Forward Markets Commission as it caused market
manipulation, leading to a rise in prices. But, still, futures trading is
being carried out in a number of agricultural commodities.
The government knows for certain that futures trading in farm commodities is the cause for market manipulation. | Read
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| April 18, 2008 |
Environmental experts have been warning that biofuels, far from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, actually have a negative environmental footprint. Biofuels gained from extensive plantations of oil palms, soybean, rapeseeds and the like have a negative environmental footprint due to massive use of pesticides and fertilisers, which leads to acidification of groundwater. You also have to consider whether for the production of soybean oil the tropical forest in Brazil or in Indonesia is being eroded. Problems with biofuels are numerous: deforestation, increase in greenhouse gas emissions, requirements for land that does not exist to achieve positive environmental effects, enhanced food insecurity, creation of more poverty, increased soil degradation, decreased biodiversity, (and) accelerated depletion of natural resources. A trade-off between fuel and food is taking place, and that the economically more attractive production of biofuels for the industrialised countries has crowded out food production for the poorest regions of the world. Increasing prices of food, and their scarcity, have recently sparked riots. |
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| April 18, 2008 |
Venezuela: Democracy, Socialism And Imperialism
by James Petras James Petras Site Countercurrents.org
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez remains the world’s leading secular, democratically elected political leader who has consistently and publicly opposed imperialist wars in the Middle East, attacked extra-territorial intervention and US and European Union complicity in kidnapping and torture. Venezuela plays the major role in sharply reducing the price of oil for the poorest countries in the Caribbean region and Central America, thus substantially aiding them in their balance of payments, without attaching any ‘strings’ to this vital assistance. Venezuela has been in the forefront in supporting free elections and opposing human right abuses in the Middle East, Latin America and South Asia by pro-US client regimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Colombia. No other country in the Americas has done more to break down the racial barriers to social mobility and the acquisition of land for Afro-Latin and Indio Americans. President Chavez has been on the cutting edge of efforts toward greater Latin American integration – despite opposition from the United States and several regional regimes, who have opted for bilateral free trade agreements with the US.
Even more significant, President Chavez is the only elected president to reverse a US backed military coup (in 48 hours) and defeat a (US-backed) bosses’ lockout, and return the economy to double-digit growth over the subsequent 4 years. President Chavez is the only elected leader in the history of Latin America to successfully win eleven straight electoral contests against US-financed political parties and almost the entire private mass media over a nine-year period. Finally President Chavez is the only leader in the last half-century who came within 1% of having a popular referendum for a ‘socialist transformation’ approved, a particularly surprising result in a country in which less than 30% of the work force is made up of peasants and factory workers. President Chavez has drastically reduced long-term poverty faster than any regime in the region, demonstrating that a nationalist-welfare regime is much more effective in ending endemic social ills than its neo-liberal counterparts. A rigorous, empirical study of the socio-economic performance of the Chavez government demonstrates its success in a whole series of indicators after the defeat of the counter-revolutionary coup and lockout and after the nationalization of petroleum (2003). |
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| April 18, 2008 |
War is definitely not green
by Alicia, Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tighe
We are in love with our planet. One of the reasons we work for peace is to
nurture our entire planet; we want our
beautiful Mother Earth to flourish.
CODEPINK is one of the few groups that
connect war and the environment. Pink
and green are gorgeous together, don't
you think? As natural as a stem and a
flower.
War is definitely not green. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. The U.S. military is the single largest consumer of oil in the world and the world's larger polluter, generating 750,000 tons of toxic waste annually. If we stop funding the war for oil in Iraq, our tax dollars can go toward developing clean, green sources of energy that will help us build a healthy, peaceful planet. We like to think of CODEPINK as a perennial garden; we plant seeds of love and peace that flower throughout the year--often in surprising places (did you see the parody of CODEPINK on Saturday Night Live this weekend?) Help the CODEPINK garden grow. You can spread seeds of peace by signing our War is Not Green petition and sending it along to five friends. The more people who join us, the more we can work for the Earth. It is deeply inspiring to see what we can create when we come together. We witnessed a glorious blossoming in New Orleans, where we just planted a beautiful community garden in the still devastated Lower Ninth Ward. Click here to see pictures of the garden and photos from the phenomenal tribute to the women of New Orleans organized by V-Day--the campaign to end violence against women and girls. It was a true honor to bring love and beauty and hope to a community so desperately in need of healing. You can plant seeds of peace in your own community by downloading our War is Not Green petition and flyer and bringing them to your local Earth Day celebrations; you can also put our War is Not Green sign in your window. We need to remind our friends and neighbors how war hurts the Earth as well as her citizens. We need to remind them that we can all stand up and nurture both peace and the environment. |
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| April 16, 2008 |
How New Energy Order Will Dramatically Change our Daily Lives
by Michael T. Klare Tomdispatch.com, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Get ready for a new world order in which energy will govern what we eat, where we live, and if and when we travel.
This new world order will be characterized by fierce international competition for dwindling stocks of oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium, as well as by a tidal shift in power and wealth from energy-deficit states like China, Japan, and the United States to energy-surplus states like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. In the process, the lives of everyone will be affected in one way or another -- with poor and middle-class consumers in the energy-deficit states experiencing the harshest effects. That's most of us and our children, in case you hadn't quite taken it in.
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| April 16, 2008 | World leaders to discuss bio-fuel use. Will Brazil support curbing bio-fuel programme to contain rising prices? by ASHOK B SHARMA A special correspondent with The Financial Express indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in Other work by author published by the Global Community Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
Bio-fuel programme across the world has become controversial as food crops used in its production have caused food prices to soar up and the use of non-food crops like jatropha has displaced food
crops from cultivation and has also caused environmental problems. But Brazil basing on its decades of experience on use of ethanol as auto-fuel has now decided to take up bio-diesel programme in a big
way.
By the end of 2004, Brazilian federal government launched the National Programme of Bio-diesel Production and Use (PNPB). It was planned that from January 2008, B2 blends will be mandatory across the country. In January 2013, this mandatory mix will increase to 5% of bio-diesel (B5). Blends with higher shares of bio-diesel or even pure bio-diesel (B100) can be used, but in this case authorisation by the Petroleum, Natural Gas and Bio-fuels National Agency is required. The FAO has called a meeting of world leaders in early June to deliberate on the issue of rising global prices caused by the bio-fuel programme. The WTO mini-ministerial is slated to be convened in Geneva in May 19 to deliberate on reviving multilateral trade negotiations in the midst of rising food prices. It seems unlikely that Brazil, with its ethanol-based Economy, would support any view which would discourage bio-fuel programme. | Read
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| April 16, 2008 |
My Perspective On Modern World Events
by Mitchell Valentine An American teacher in the People's Republic of China Countercurrents.org
I don't claim any organized religion, prepackaged doctrine, political label, or even really scientific hypothesis. I merely consider myself a participant in the Earth as it exists at the current moment. Though I am educated and understand at least the basics of my former claims.
I was born in the United States of America and am therefore entitled to an American passport. Which I understand affords me a certain amount of global freedom that others passports may not warrant. I currently reside in the People's Republic of China. My rights stem from my acquisition of a Foreign Expert Certificate and a Temporary Residence Permit. There is recently a mass uprising all over the world about the current relationship between Tibet and China and I begin to ask myself a lot of questions being a resident here and all. There is mounting concern that the 2008 Olympics may be affected by the flack that arises. From my perspective on the ground here I have come to a few observations on what is really going on here. |
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| April 15, 2008 | GreenFacts Digest on Agriculture and Development: new pressing challenges identified by international assessment by Stephanie Mantell http://www.agassessment.org/ GreenFacts was created in 2001 by individuals from scientific institutions, environment and health
organizations, and businesses, who called for wider access to unbiased information on environment
and health topics. Scientific Facts on Agriculture & Development
The unequal distribution of food and conflict over control of the world's
dwindling natural resources present a major political and social challenge to governments and policy
makers.
To evaluate how to make better use of agricultural knowledge, science and technology to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and foster equitable and sustainable development. | Read
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| April 15, 2008 |
Jim Hansen, The Big Ice Melt And The Mainstream Media
by Bill Henderson Bill is at pacificfringe.net, Countercurrents.org
Imagine you have a choice between two scenarios on the future impact of climate change:
Scenario A: Climate change is real and human-caused, a gradual increase in global temperature that we have a long time to do something about (2050 targets) before drought, sea level rise, etc. get too severe; climate change can be effectively mitigated within continuing political and economic business as usual with carbon taxes and more efficient green technology. Scenario B: Climate change is an emergency where we must make Draconian cuts to our use of fossil fuels immediately and globally in order to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere this decade so that we don't continue over a tipping point where both polar ice caps melt completely, sea level rises by 75 meters, and conditions become fiercely inhospitable to humanity and most of the species with which we share this small blue planet. Political and economic business as usual is far too slow and path dependent for mitigation of this scale, so we must innovate a World War II-style government mobilization so that a systemic reconfiguration of the global economy is possible. |
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| April 15, 2008 |
Fatal food riots in Haiti. Violent food-price protests in Egypt and Ivory Coast. Rice so valuable it is transported in armoured convoys. Soldiers guarding fields and warehouses. Export bans to keep local populations from starving.
For the first time in decades, the spectre of widespread hunger for millions looms as food prices explode. Two words not in common currency in recent years — famine and starvation — are now being raised as distinct possibilities in the poorest, food-importing countries. Unlike past food crises, solved largely by throwing aid at hungry stomachs and boosting agricultural productivity, this one won't go away quickly, experts say. Prices are soaring and stand every chance of staying high because this crisis is different. A swelling global population, soaring energy prices, the clamouring for meat from the rising Asian middle class, competition from biofuels and hot money pouring into the commodity markets are all factors that make this crisis unique and potentially calamitous. Even with concerted global action, such as rushing more land into cultivation, it will take years to fix the problem. |
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| April 11, 2008 |
How to Change the Way We Think about Water
by Jennifer Greene World Pulse, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Water We need to shift our understanding of water as a commodity to an appreciation for water as a human and environmental right.
All human beings are deeply affected by water and its movements. When we go on vacation we go to the water. We slide over it, across it, through it. We swim in it. We take part in water rituals and want to be nurtured by water ... we thirst for it.
Yet water, in a very deep way, is a women's issue. It is vital to the role women play in caring for their families. Women bathe and nourish their young, often tend the crops, and are the keepers of the waters. When fetching potable water requires distance, there is less time for the family and abject poverty and disease result.
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| April 10, 2008 | New report: Logging in Canada's Boreal Forest could trigger carbon bomb impacting global climate by Greenpeace mail@ems02.com Greenpeace Canada 250 Dundas West Suite 605, Toronto (Ontario) M5T 2Z5 (416) 597-8408 or 1-800-320-7183
Logging in Canada’s Boreal Forest could trigger “carbon bomb” impacting global climate10 April 2008Print Send to a friend Turning up the heat
Enlarge ImageLogging in Canada’s Boreal Forest is exacerbating global warming by releasing greenhouse gases and reducing carbon storage, says a new Greenpeace report
released today. It also makes the forest more susceptible to global warming impacts like wildfires and insect outbreaks, which in turn release more greenhouse gases.
If this vicious circle is left unchecked, it could culminate in a massive and sudden release of greenhouse gases referred to as "the carbon bomb," the report warns. Canada's Boreal Forest stores 186 billion tonnes of carbon—equivalent to 27 times the world's annual fossil fuel emissions. A widespread outbreak of forest or peat fires could release much of this carbon, causing a disastrous spike in emissions. | Read
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| April 10, 2008 |
Winds Of Change
by Pablo Ouziel Pablo Ouziel is sociologist and freelance writer. Countercurrents.org
As a tax paying human being holding a Spanish Passport with the words “European Union” embossed on it, I have enjoyed the pleasures of being a global citizen
with rights that others have not enjoyed when moving around the globe. As a conscious human being, I have come to see my passport as a statement of my social
class in the globalized world.
I understand that within nations there are social classes, which are greatly defined by the economic wealth of each individual, I also understand that there is a borderless global upper class. However, these people to me are not important, because ultimately I understand they are there because the rest have not yet understood their true rights and their organized collective power. Society overall has accepted a system which leaves behind those who do not matter, who cannot make it. They don’t matter, because what matters are the statistics of humanity, statistics that are thrown at us on a daily basis with the sole purpose of dehumanizing social reality and promoting the interests of the rich and powerful. Again the important thing to me is not how these powerful individuals are able to maintain this situation, what is interesting to me is why the common people are so tolerant of this reality. |
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| April 9, 2008 |
Busting Paranoid Right-Wing Fantasies of Dissolving the Mexico-U.S.-Canada Borders
by Manuel Pérez Rocha and Sarah Anderson AlterNet, The Mix is the Message It's time to call BS on the idea of a mythical North American Union.
This month, President Bush will host the leaders of Canada and Mexico to advance the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). The SPP is presented as a big step towards a single world government, with David Rockefeller preventing any resistance by implanting us all with Vchips.
Launched in 2005, the SPP is an ongoing process of negotiation between the three countries' executive powers to change regulations and other policies to boost business and support the U.S. War on Terror. Twenty SPP working groups on everything from financial services to intelligence cooperation hammer out details in between the annual presidential summits.
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| April 7, 2008 | The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) Reports by Achim Steiner Executive Director, UNEP Intergovernmental Plenary Opening Address: April 7, 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa
Agriculture is not just about putting things in the ground and then harvesting them…it is increasingly about the social and environmental variables that will in large part determine the future capacity of agriculture to provide for eight or nine billion people in a manner that is sustainable
The goals of the IAASTD: how Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (AKST) can be used to reduce hunger and poverty, to improve rural livelihoods and to facilitate equitable environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development. Under the rubric of IAASTD, we recognize the importance of AKST to the multifunctionality of agriculture and the intersection with other local to global concerns, including loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate change and water availability. The IAASTD is unique in the history of agricultural science assessments, in that it assesses both formal science and technology (S&T) and local and traditional knowledge, addresses not only production and productivity but the multifunctionality of agriculture, and recognizes that multiple perspectives exist on the role and nature of AKST. For many years, agricultural science focused on delivering component technologies to increase farm-level productivity where the market and institutional arrangements put in place by the state were the primary drivers of the adoption of new technologies. The general model has been to continuously innovate, reduce farm gate prices and externalize costs. This model drove the phenomenal achievements of AKST in industrial countries after World War II and the spread of the Green Revolution beginning in the 1960s. But, given the new challenges we confront today, there is increasing recognition within formal S&T organizations that the current AKST model requires revision. Business as usual is no longer an option. This leads to rethinking the role of AKST in achieving development and sustainability goals; one that seeks more intensive engagement across diverse worldviews and possibly contradictory approaches in ways that can inform and suggest strategies for actions enabling to the multiple functions of agriculture. | Read
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| April 7, 2008 | Rising prices may change India's stand at WTO by ASHOK B SHARMA A special correspondent with The Financial Express indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in Other work by author published by the Global Community Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
New Delhi, Apr 6 In the backdrop of the rising global prices and the government resorting to drastic cuts in tariffs on many agricultural commodities, India's negotiating position at the farm talks in the
WTO may be weakened.
The recent rise in global prices has completely changed the earlier scenario where the developing countries accused the developed world for depressing global prices through heavy subsidies and thereby minimizing the gains of Third World producers. Several factors are, however, responsible for the turnaround in the global situation. The reports of UNCTAD, UN ESCAP, OECD and other UN agencies have held massive bio-fuel programme in Europe and in the US as one of the main cause for the rise in global food prices. The bio-fuel programme in the developed world backed by heavy subsidies has caused many farmers to cultivate crops for producing fuel rather than for food. The prices of bio-fuels have shot up in tandem with the fossil oil prices and the bio-fuel prices have had a spilling effect on food prices The member of the Planning Commision, Abhijit Sen agrees with the view and says : "The government has reduced tariffs with the good intention of importing food at cheaper prices to combat the price inflationary trend in the country. But this may soften our negotiating position at the WTO as we have already begun reducing our tariff barriers. It now would be difficult for the developing countries to raise the issue that developed countries' subsidies depresses global prices. Many poor net food-importing countries are facing problems of importing food at high prices." Another factor contributing to the rise in global food prices is the subprime crisis and the meltdown in the equity market. The investors are now shifting their investments to commodity Markets. Sen says : "The same thing is seen happening in India also." | Read
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| April 5, 2008 | Assocham critical about FTA with China by ASHOK B SHARMA A special correspondent with The Financial Express indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in Other work by author published by the Global Community Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
Assocham is particularly critical about the proposed FTA with China as that country has deliberately undervalued its currency to remain competitive.
In its study `India's FTAs and Indian Industry-2008' it said : "it is realized that in a globalised world Indian industry cannot shy away from international competition and it will be difficult to remain on crutches supported by the wall of high tariffs. But yes, if certain parameters are kept in perspective while starting negotiations on trade agreements with various countries and regions it may lead to a stronger and sustainable economic development in terms of improvement in employment and competitiveness." The study called a careful preferential trade agreement (PTA) before a FTA where India has some inherent trade advantage with products on the sensitive lists having a reasonable timeframe so tat industry can gear up for competition. It cautioned that some countries with zero or low tariff rates have already suffered. Before initiating FTAs a level playing field in terms of access to infrastructure, market determined exchange rate and fuel cost should be determined. The exports of raw materials should be discouraged and value added exports should be encouraged. Brand India should be marketed as provider of business solutions. Indian manufacturing business should overcome commodification of their products, the study said. It urged the Reserve Bank of India to see that the changes in valuation of currency is gradual as sharp change in exchange rates could affect industrial exports. Banks should also make their clients (exporters) aware about currency hedging. | Read
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| April 3, 2008 |
Bush Administration Wastes Trillions in Worthless Weapons
by Robert Scheer Truthdig, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, War in Iraq The government has invested trillions in weapons that are completely useless in the fight against stateless terrorists.
A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there, and soon you're talking real money. But when it comes to reporting on what the Bush war legacy has cost American taxpayers, the media have been shockingly indifferent to the highest run-up in military spending since World War II. Even the devastating defense spending audit released Monday by the Government Accountability Office documenting the enormous waste in every single U.S. advanced weapons system failed to provoke the outrage it, and five equally scathing previous annual audits, deserved.
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| April 2, 2008 |
The World Bank's Climate Profiteering
by Daphne Wysham and Shakuntala Makhijani AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment The bank is turning dirty carbon credits into gold -- bad news for those seeking a real solution to the climate crisis.
The World Bank's long-running identity crisis is proving hard to shake. When efforts to rebrand itself as a "knowledge bank" didn't work, it devised a new identity as a "Green Bank." Really? Yes, it's true. Sure, the Bank continues to finance fossil fuel projects globally, but never mind. The World Bank has seized upon the immense challenges climate change poses to humanity and is now front and center in the complicated, international world of carbon finance. It can turn the dirtiest carbon credits into gold.
How exactly, does this work, you ask?
Quite simply: The Bank finances a fossil fuel project, involving oil, natural gas, or coal, in Poor Country A. Rich Country B asks the Bank to help arrange carbon credits so Country B can tell its carbon counters it's taking serious action on climate change. The World Bank kindly obliges, offering carbon credits for a price far lower than Country B would have to pay if Country B made those cuts at home. Country A gets a share of the cash to invest in equipment to make fossil fuel project slightly more efficient, the World Bank takes its 13 percent cut.
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| April 18, 2008 |
Comments and opinions concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
by Dr. Michael Ellis mindquest@ozemail.com.au michaelellis@alumni.swinburne.edu
What we have in the current Christian religious tradition is the St James version of the bible which is a readers digest version and has no parallel with the truth that the great avatar Jesus Christ actually taught, which is the same as
what the Buddha taught.
The Dalai Lama preaches, I believe, a somewhat distorted version of this. I believe that his presence on the world stage means that his teachings are to a certain extent venerated without adequate understanding. He, for example,
doesn’t recognize the nature of the soul and believes in the void as the basis of mind which is something which was discussed and then clarified by Tien Tai the great Buddhist Sage and teacher to the emperors of China in about
400AD who systematized the teachings of the Buddha and was able to express the great secret law of life itself, which is in fact the secret hidden within the penultimate teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, namely the Lotus Sutra.
However, the Dalai Lama does preach complete compassion for all humanity and does express a deep reverence for the interconnectedness and oneness of all life.
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| April 18, 2008 |
More comments and observations concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
by Dr. Leo Rebello
The Dalai Lama, judged by his words and actions, may be put in the same category of Buddha, Lao Tze, Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi, Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Oscar Arias, Desmond Tutu
and the list goes on and on.
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| April 16, 2008 | New comments concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
Your negative statements about the Dalai Lama reveal, at the very least, that you have never read any book he wrote where he reveals the depth of his holiness and spirituality.
This deeply spiritual man wants to help the Chinese through the opening of a dialogue with them who seem to have been reluctant to do so. I am not for this or that man but I am for what is right in the best interest of the welfare of all
people without exception.
You are dong a good job with your newsletter but this is an item you touched where you really went off guard. See comments in blue here below. Best regards.
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| April 4, 2008 | My opinion concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
I agree with virtually everything you stated except for your negative statementson the Dalai Lama whom you misinterpreted and clumniated. We read in the holy scriptures: "Judge a tree by the fruit
it gives." This means if the tree looks like an orange tree but produces lemons then we have to call it lemon tree.
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| April 4, 2008 |
Comments and observations concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
by Dr. Leo Rebello
We all know that America identifies (so-called leaders), trains them, promotes and uses them, keeps a tab on them, and then discards them. Now the time has come to
discard Dalai Lama. Hopefully, in the next general elections, Manmohan Singh, too, will be discarded for following the decadent USA and messing up with superior
Indian values and principles of good governance.
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| April 3, 2008 |
The Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of its leadership as a peacemaker
by Germain Dufour Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
The Global Community consider the Dalai Lama as a dangerous religious extremist. He ought to be brought to justice. His crimes include: a) organizing and leading deadly riots in Tibet for the purpose of putting down the Tibetan government and destabilizing China; b) associating himself with President Bush and the White House; President Bush is a wanted criminal and the White House along with NATO have been shown to be rogue organizations worldwide, and criminal in nature; to give speeches at the White House for the purpose of obtaining military help; to make a deal with the US that would allow the US to build a military base in Tibet in exchange of military help; to help the US continue destabilizing China; c) violating the human rights of those workers in Tibet whether they come from another part of China or not; d) planning to destabilize China, and that will have immense destructive and deadly consequences far beyond the area of Tibet and are a serious threat to * global security as defined by the Global Community,The fact that the Dalai Lama is aware of those consequences makes him even more dangerous. |
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| March 18, 2008 |
Climate Change: The World's Biggest Security Threat
by Nicole Itano
Christian Science Monitor AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Unchecked climate change could spark instability in energy-producing states and lead to the collapse of fragile states around the world.
Rising sea levels are what some nations fear most about global warming. But in Europe, climate change is likely to mean a new flood of immigrants from Africa and other poorer countries, according to a new report.
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| March 16, 2008 |
To respect Tibet and its specificity! by Guy CREQUIE Ambassadeur de la Paix Cercle Universel des Ambassadeurs de la Paix Universal Ambassador Peace Circle guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr Guy CREQUIE Global file Our Global Community volunteers will help you http://www2.blogger.com/profile/16097917629603014188 http://guycrequie.blogspot.com http://poetesaparis.aceblog.fr
I invite the Chinese leaders to join again the dialog with the Dalai Lama and his government in exile for a respectful exit negotiated of each one for an harmonious development of this
part of the world.
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| March 12, 2008 | Biofuels: the fake climate change solution
by Ben, Ricken, Iain, Galit, Paul, Graziela, Pascal, Esra'a, Milena the Avaaz.org team http://www.avaaz.org Each day, 820 million people in the developing world
do not have enough food to eat. Food prices around
the world are shooting up, sparking food riots from
Mexico to Morocco. And the World Food Program
warned last week that rapidly rising costs are
endangering emergency food supplies for the world's
worst-off. Wealthiest countries are using more and more biofuels -- alcohol made from plant products, used in place of petrol to fuel cars. Biofuels are billed as a way to slow down climate change. But in reality, because so much land is being cleared to grow them, most biofuels today are causing more global warming emissions than they prevent, even as they push the price of corn, wheat, and other foods out of reach for millions of people. |
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| March 5, 2008 | Enslaved by Freedom
by Sandhya Jain Kosovo's scandalous independence has driven another nail in the coffin of a deeply discredited United Nations and proved its complicity in the return of naked
eighteenth century colonialism. Nations with oil, gas, or other prized commodity may gear up for 'free trade' exclusively with Western corporates; Western military presence
to protect freedom as in Iraq; or self-determination of the kind that carved Christian East Timor out of Muslim Indonesia to become a virtual colony of Australian oil majors.
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| March 4, 2008 |
Protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling forever
by Rebecca Young from Care2 and The Petition Site Team Sign in. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's own Energy Information Administration,
oil from the Arctic Refuge would have little or no impact on oil prices. Big Oil doesn't need the Arctic Refuge - polar bears do. Urge Congress to act immediately
to protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling forever! Thank you for making a difference today.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to caribou, snow fox and millions of migratory birds. It is also the most important onshore denning habitat for America's vanishing polar bears. But this natural treasure is constantly under siege. Time and time again, the oil industry and their allies in Congress have sought to open this special place to harmful new drilling, threatening all of the wildlife that depend on it for survival. And now President Bush has called for drilling in the Arctic Refuge by 2010 in his new budget proposal! We need to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge! |
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| March 4, 2008 |
Water Is the Next Commodified Resource
by Danny Fortson
Independent UK AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Pretty soon we will see a price on water just like there is now for carbon and carbon emissions. The right
to use water will soon follow in the footsteps of carbon emissions and become a commodity, like the right to pollute, that industry will have to pay for, executives
have warned. |
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| March 3, 2008 |
Is Corn Leading Us Towards Social Change or Ecological Disaster?
by George Naylor
Movement Vision Lab AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Understanding corn could be the key to social change that saves the planet and helps us create democratic communities and local food supplies.
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| February 8, 2008 |
It is high time to unite the forces, raise awareness so that Earth takes its true place as humanity's heritage by Jean Jacques Saussey Ambassadeur de la Paix Cercle Universel des Ambassadeurs de la Paix Universal Ambassador Peace Circle |
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| February 3, 2008 | Message of Peace from Jesus and Prophet Muhammad by Dr. Charles Mercieca President, International Association of Educators for World Peace Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
The sacred books of two of the leading religions in the world, the Bible and the Koran, speak reverently and highly of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Bible we find several
references to Jesus whose presence on Earth, as the promised Messiah, was predicted for a number of centuries. References to His Blessed Mother Mary are also found
since the early days of creation.
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| November 2, 2007 |
Eco-Humanism and Popular System Dynamics as Preconditions for Sustainable Development Luis T. Gutierrez, Editor of the Solidarity & Sustainability, Non-Violence homepage says the following about the book. The invited article this month is contributed by Leslaw Michnowski, a member of the Committee for
Futures Studies "Poland 2000 Plus," Polish Academy of Sciences. In this paper, which is a synopsis of his recently
published book on his vision for a sustainable development process "with a human face," he identifies the ingredients
that will be required to assure a future for humanity and the human habitat. The reader is warned that this paper is not
intended for casual, easy reading. Michnowski's intent is to define the information/knowledge infrastructure that will
be required, the technologies to be used, and the principles of solidarity and social justice to be adhered to, in order to
face the inevitable global crises now emerging as a consequence of the pervasive human misbehavior, socially and
environmentally, triggered by (most recently) the industrial revolution. The reader will notice the congruence between
this article and some of the issues and concerns discussed in page 1. The vision presented here is one that shows the
need for a global transition toward a new order of things, one in which technology and other resources are used to
balance individual interests with the common good. It is shown that it is a feasible vision, one that can be achieved if
the humans who populate the planet make a decision to overcome obsolete mindsets that seek the accumulation of
wealth and power as the only path to "happiness." The impending global crisis may trigger a sequence of events that
forces making such decisions in the midst of turmoil and much suffering. Let us pray and work for a transition from
homo economicus to homo solidarius. It may be painful, but it can be peaceful. This is the path of truth, freedom, and
care; the path toward a better world for our children and grandchildren. This is the only path of sure hope. ( A review of VISION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY – FUTURE OF THE WORLD FROM CYBERNETICIST PERSPECTIVE ) by Leslaw Michnowski Manage the Sustainable Development Global Information Society website.
http://www.psl.org.pl/kte kte@psl.org.pl elmamba@poczta.onet.pl leslaw.michnowski@neostrada.pl Committee for Futures Studies "Poland 2000 Plus", Polish Academy of Sciences This article is an overview of a book by the author: "VISION OF A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY – THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD FROM THE CYBERNETICIST PERSPECTIVE” (in Polish), published by Polish Academy of Sciences, Committee for Futures Studies "Poland 2000 Plus", Warsaw, Poland, 2006. This book contains his conclusions from many years of research on the current global crisis. This definitive work is based on the author’s System of Life evidence-based model that couples the realities of globalization and information technology with the urgent need to identify and analyze the conditions for transitioning the worldwide human community toward a new worldwide civilization that uses information and knowledge for sustainable development and, in particular, sustainable human development. |
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| October 31, 2007 | 11 Solutions to Halting the Environmental Crisis
by Yifat Susskind, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Here are 11 solutions already being put into practice by innovative communities around the world.
You probably don't need to be told that the threat of climate change is real. If you're concerned about the issue, it's fairly easy to conjure the apocalyptic scenes of widespread drought, frequent deadly storms, mass hunger, and wars over natural resources like oil and water. Much harder to come by are examples of positive actions that can avert these disasters and ease the crisis in places where they are already in play. So let's skip the litany of catastrophes that await if global warming is not controlled. Instead, why not focus on some solutions? None are perfect or complete, but each offers a model of positive change that is more than theoretically possible -- it is already happening.
Many of these examples are small-scale and local. That's instructive because our best hope for sustainability -- in agriculture, industry, energy, community design, and government -- may lie in local, small-scale models like some of those presented here. It may seem as though large-scale problems require large-scale solutions. But most big institutions and processes are driven by the very people and ideas that have generated our global crisis. It's in the local and the small that the majority of people can exercise agency and decision-making power.
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| October 22, 2007 | The Global Community perspective on the control of the Northwest Passage, Canada sovereignty of Nunavut and 'blood resources'
Investigative report by Germain Dufour, Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the
native Inuit people. The Inuit is one of the first indigenous peoples in the Americas to achieve self-government. They have the right to participate in decisions regarding the land and water resources, and
rights to harvest wildlife on their lands.
Conservation, restoration, and management of the Earth resources
is about asking ourselves the question of "Who owns the Earth?"
The Global Community has proposed a democracy for the people based on the fact that land, the air, water, oil, minerals, and all other natural resources
rightly belong to the Global Community along with the local communities where those resources are found. The Earth is the birthright of all life.
To gain control of the Northwest Passage, Canada would have to show strong Earth management initiatives and the protection of its environment.
Without the fulfillment of the Global Community criteria for sovereignty no one can claim ownership - sovereignty - of both Nunavut and the Northwest Passage.
In Nunavut there is also a vast array of different life-form communities such as the polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, seals, beluga whales, northern fulmars, and those communities of organisms that inhabit the sea
floor like brittle stars, worms, zooplankton, microalgae, bivalves and some of the lesser known sea spiders.
And there are many more. Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership
of the North and of all its natural resources. It is their birthright. They dont express themselves in English, but we understand them. Human beings have a moral
obligation to protect and conserve the biodiversity of life on Earth.
Fot the protection of those global communities we will need to create a biodiversity zone in the North by way of Earth rights and taxation of natural resources.
We are all members of the Global Community. We all have the duty to protect the rights and welfare of all species and all people.
This report may be a starting place for a group global discussion and roundtable on the issues of Canada sovereignty in the Nunavut and the control of the Northwest Passage. If you wish to send a reply I will post it on the Global Community website at http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/EmailDiscussions/ and http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/GPA/2008discussionroundtables.htm For now I started the process by researching and writing a paper concerned with the issues, and you will find the paper at http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/GIMProceedings/gimLetterNP.htm |
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| October 24, 2007 | Peace Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning by David Swanson, Afterdowningstreet.org Countercurrents.org What gives a life meaning is the awareness that you have dedicated your life to working to improve the world, not just at the end of a strategic sadistic adventure, but in every bit of the work you do. When you work for peace and justice, a little work does a little good, and a lot does a lot of good. And, while even your utmost exertion can fail, you know you will have done no harm, you will have set the right example, and you will have refused to sit silently by as crimes were committed.
Peace and justice activism, when it is serious, involves sacrifice and risk. Soldiers who refuse illegal orders risk prison. Citizens who engage in civil disobedience risk jail. And, increasingly, ordinary exercising of the right to free speech risks fines and other punishments. We also now collectively face the risk of state-based and non-state-based attacks on us in response to our government's policies. We face nuclear annihilation, global warming, and the declaration of complete martial law. We face the increased use of detention, torture, and murder. We face a growing difficulty and danger in doing what we do for peace and freedom. And we face the possibility of great glory and fame as our rewards. |
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| October 23, 2007 | Déclaration des poètes du monde pour la paix by Guy CREQUIE
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr
The beginning of the third millenium places the whole of inhabitants of our planet vis-a-vis stakes and challenges of a gravity rarely known before.
The poets brought together with the 1st International Festival of Poets in Paris, believe that the poetic word is committed compared to these challenges and declare: The poetic word is love and meeting, it supports the dialog between men and different cultures, it is the leaven of dialog and peace in a world devastated by wars and terrorism. The poetic word is fraternal, It revolts against all the demonstrations of xenophobia and racism which return to the load under all the latitudes The poetic word is freedom and tolerance, it says yes to the human rights for all the citizens of the planet, it says no to all forms of tyranny, oppression and torture. The poetic word is interdependent, it is opposed to the social injustices and the various forms of exclusion, it affirms that the rights to feed, to educate themselves, to look after themselves and to shelter themselves belong to the human rights The poetic word is fed on diversity, there are no cultures, nor minority languages, it is in the diversity that richness of humanity resides. Any culture, any language in danger, means danger to all humanity. The poetic word is history and beauty, culture and nature, it is committed, even before the birth of the writing, in the construction and the defence of the historical inheritance of various civilizations. The poetic word is rain and seed, it is for life, it rises against the environmental pollution, biodiversity, and threats that weigh on the various ecosystems which constitute a common good of humanity |
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or Download full WORD document of article by author
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| October 3, 2007 | Scrap Special Export Zones (SEZs), Promote Agri Export Zones (AEZs)
I have written an article on how big Corporate houses are grabbing farmlands from farmers in India at a platter. This is due to the government policy of Corporate pampering, ignoring the food security of the nation.
As per the National Rural Labour Commission, an average agricultural worker gets 159 days of work in a year; and as per NSSO (2005), the average daily wage of agricultural labour in rural areas is
around Rs. 51. Considering this, the estimated 82,000 agricultural labourers' households will lose Rs. 67-crore in wages. And put together, the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker
families is to the tune of Rs. 212-crore (Rs 2120 million) a year. For the marginalized, the loss of income – even if it hovers around the poverty line – has disastrous implications. Farmland is the economic
security for farmers and farm labourers. by Dr. Krishan Bir Chaudhary krishanbirchaudhary@gmail.com |
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| October 28, 2007 | Uncommon Grace: Biology And Economic Theory by Charles Sullivan, csullivan@phreego.com Countercurrents.org In a society that holds sacred the private ownership of property and economic self interest, it may seem strange that neither my wife nor I consider
ourselves property owners. At best, we are squatters or temporary guardians of something that has inherent value; an evolving biological entity that exists far beyond
the realm of economic self interest and monetary valuation systems. In an ownership society, the land is valued not as an evolved living biological entity with inherent value and rights, including the fulfillment of its own evolutionary destiny, but as a commodity — a natural resource. Ecological integrity is the foundation of planetary health. It is the organizing principle of life. Undermining that integrity for short term profits is to limit all future options in perpetuity, the ultimate incarnation of insensate greed and selfishness. Like all economic systems that are not based upon real science, or an appropriate land ethic, the concept of property rights and private ownership are misguided and ultimately self-destructive constructs. The public welfare and the ecological integrity of the earth exceed all economic self interests in importance. Economics are based upon self-serving, false premises, whereas ecology is real. The most precious things in life are those that cannot be commodified, and hence, owned. |
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| October 22, 2007 | It’s The Oil by Jim Holt, Countercurrents.org, London Review Of Books Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves. That is more than five
times the total in the United States. And, because of its long isolation, it
is the least explored of the world’s oil-rich nations. A mere two
thousand wells have been drilled across the entire country; in Texas
alone there are a million. It has been estimated, by the Council on
Foreign Relations, that Iraq may have a further 220 billion barrels of
undiscovered oil; another study puts the figure at 300 billion. If these
estimates are anywhere close to the mark, US forces are now sitting on
one quarter of the world’s oil resources. The value of Iraqi oil, largely
light crude with low production costs, would be of the order of $30
trillion at today’s prices. For purposes of comparison, the projected
total cost of the US invasion/occupation is around $1 trillion.
Who will get Iraq’s oil? One of the Bush administration’s ‘benchmarks’
for the Iraqi government is the passage of a law to distribute oil
revenues. The draft law that the US has written for the Iraqi congress
would cede nearly all the oil to Western companies. The Iraq National
Oil Company would retain control of 17 of Iraq’s 80 existing oilfields,
leaving the rest – including all yet to be discovered oil – under foreign
corporate control for 30 years. The occupation may seem horribly botched on the face of it, but the Bush administration’s cavalier attitude towards ‘nation-building’ has all but ensured that Iraq will end up as an American protectorate for the next few decades – a necessary condition for the extraction of its oil wealth. If the US had managed to create a strong, democratic government in an Iraq effectively secured by its own army and police force, and had then departed, what would have stopped that government from taking control of its own oil, like every other regime in the Middle East? On the assumption that the Bush-Cheney strategy is oil-centred, the tactics – dissolving the army, de-Baathification, a final ‘surge’ that has hastened internal migration – could scarcely have been more effective. The costs – a few billion dollars a month plus a few dozen American fatalities (a figure which will probably diminish, and which is in any case comparable to the number of US motorcyclists killed because of repealed helmet laws) – are negligible compared to $30 trillion in oil wealth, assured American geopolitical supremacy and cheap gas for voters. In terms of realpolitik, the invasion of Iraq is not a fiasco; it is a resounding success. |
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| October 12, 2007 | Surviving The Century by Chris Goodall, Countercurrents.org, Nature.com Surviving the Century: Facing Climate Chaos and Other Global Challenges. climate change is not a technical or scientific problem. The main impediment to tackling global warming is that many of the powerful institutions of the world, whether it be the World Trade Organization, BP or the investment banks that control the world's allocation of capital are resistant to radically changing the way we operate the world economy. The poor, whose share of world income is certainly not growing, are unable to successfully demand that policies be developed to protect them from climate change or from other environmental or economic disasters. The most productive and efficient economies, judged in the conventional sense, are often the most wasteful and destructive. |
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| October 11, 2007 | Our Drinkable Water Supply Is Vanishing
by Tara Lohan, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment We are faced with thoughtless development that paves flood plains and destroys wetlands; dams that displace native people and scar watersheds; unchecked industrial growth that pollutes water sources; and rising rates of consumption that nature can't match. Increasingly, we are also threatened by the wave of privatization that is sweeping across the world, turning water from a precious public resource into a commodity for economic gain.
The problems extend from the global north to the south and are as pervasive as water itself. Equally encompassing are the politics of water. Discussions about our water crisis include issues like poverty, trade, community and privatization. In talking about water, we must also talk about indigenous rights, environmental justice, education, corporate accountability, and democracy. In this mix of terms are not only the causes of our crisis but also the solutions.
It ultimately comes down to an issue of democracy. We came to see that the conflicts over water are really about fundamental questions of democracy itself: Who will make the decisions that affect our future, and who will be excluded? |
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| October 7, 2007 | Climate Change And Entire Landscapes On The Move by Stephen Leahy, Countercurrents.org BROOKLIN, Canada, Inter Press Service The hot breath of global warming has now touched some of the coldest northern regions of world, turning the frozen landscape into mush as temperatures soar 15 degrees C. above normal.
Entire hillsides, sometimes more than a kilometre long, simply let go and slid like a vast green carpet into valleys and rivers on Melville Island in Canada’s northwest Arctic region of Nunavut this summer, says Scott Lamoureux of Queens University in Canada and leader of one the of International Polar Year projects.
The entire landscape is on the move, it was very difficult to find any slopes that were unaltered, said Lamoureux, who led a scientific expedition to the remote and uninhabited island.
The topography and ecology of Melville Island is rapidly being rearranged by climate change.
Burning such fossil fuels is the major reason why the Arctic is losing ice. Scientists and native people note that it would be more than ironic should those emissions facilitate the extraction of even more fossil fuels with which to further warm our overheating global greenhouse. |
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| October 5, 2007 | Economic Sharing: A Shift In Global Values by Rajesh Makwana, Countercurrents.org Rajesh Makwana is the Director of Share The World's Resources (STWR), an NGO campaigning for global economic and social justice. He can be contacted at rajesh@stwr.net A growing body of progressives within the global justice movement, including environmentalists, economists and policy makers, broadly agree that a significant overhaul of the world’s economic and political systems is long overdue, and that without significant restructuring our most pressing problems will never be tackled.
It is time for a significant re-evaluation of global economic and political values and the creation of an economy that serves the needs of the global community as a whole, within our environmental limitations.
In order to consider how the ownership and management of key resources could be organized, it is useful to group them according to type. There are three general categories:
-Naturally occurring resources – e.g. land, water, oil, gas and mineral ores -Produced goods – e.g. agricultural produce, medicines, building materials and machinery -Services – e.g. utilities, healthcare and education |
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| October 6, 2007 | Big Banks Are Selling Us Out on Climate Change
by Tara Lohan, AlterNet, The Mix is the Message, Environment Whether we avert catastrophe with climate change may actually be decided by Citibank and Bank of America.
Citi has been busy funding dirty energy. Last year they gave 200 times more money for dirty energy than for clean. In the process they've helped underwrite some of the world's worst environmental and human rights offenders.
In 2006 they gave $4 billion to Peabody Energy, the world's largest coal mining company, which has been ravaging Dine and Hopi lands for 40 years, taking 2.5 million gallons of water out of their desert watershed each day and leaving behind a trail of toxic waste.
The disastrous Peabody Energy got $4 billion last year from BOA, which should help them on their way to building new plants in New Mexico, Illinois and Kentucky.
The banks are helping coal to take the wealth from us, to steal us blind and leave us in poverty, and leave us in poison. If those banks took the $141 billion they plan to spend on building new coal plants, and instead invested it in energy efficient measures, they could reduce electricity demand by 19 percent by 2025.
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| September 29, 2007 | Arctic Thaw May Be At ‘Tipping Point’ by Alister Doyle, Countercurrents.org A record melt of Arctic summer sea ice this month may be a sign that global warming is reaching a critical trigger point that could accelerate the northern thaw, some scientists say.
The Arctic summer sea ice shrank by more than 20 percent below the previous 2005 record low in mid-September to 4.13 million sq km (1.6 million sq miles), according to a 30-year satellite record. It has now frozen out to 4.2 million sq km.
This is a strong indication that there is an amplifying mechanism.
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| September 27, 2007 | Full Text Of Ahmadinejad's Remarks At Columbia University by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Countercurrents.org
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed students and
professors at the US Columbia University during his short sojourn
in New York before his address at the 62nd meeting of the UN
General Assembly.
His remarks at Columbia University were almost entirely
boycotted by western and specially US media; while he spoke of
such crucial issues as Iran's nuclear program and the Holocaust
which have always been at the center of western media's attention,
almost the only point the US press mentioned about Ahmadinejad's
address at Columbia university pertained to a few seconds of his
answer to a question about the rights of homosexuals in Iran.
The following is the full text of President Ahmadinejad's speech at
Columbia University.
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| September 26, 2007 | Earth Calls for Radical Social Change and Spiritual Transformation by Dr. Glen Barry GlenBarry@EcologicalInternet.org The population bomb has burst, the climate and biosphere are in tatters, and tyrannical, militaristic governments rule; yet there remains a path to global ecological sustainability Earth Meanders http://earthmeanders.blogspot.com/ Dr. Barry is founder and President of Ecological Internet; provider of the largest, most used environmental portals on the Internet including the Climate Ark at
http://www.climateark.org/ and http://EcoEarth.Info/ . Earth Meanders is a series of ecological essays that are written in his personal capacity. |
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| September 25, 2007 | THE CULTURE OF PEACE JUSTIFIES IN FAVOR OF DETERMINED UNIVERSAL CITIZENS AND ENGAGE by Guy CREQUIE
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr
Today, it is a confrontation between two designs: Political leaders in the name of the ideology (liberal and warlike) openly declined or which advances masked while misant on the
emotion that the evocation of the nation gets are made (in fact) from the nature of their speeches the cantors of the culture of the war, this, whereas we them poétesses and poets, we
are the carriers of a culture of peace. |
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or Download full WORD document of article by author
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| September 24, 2007 | A Decade of a Culture for Peace and Non-Violence for the Benefit of the Children of the World by Guy CREQUIE
guy.crequie@wanadoo.fr We are assembled in this congress to debate on this ever so important topic of peace for all humanity. Perhaps some of you come from countries where civil war prevails! There may
be among you, poets who have gone through the pangs and sufferings caused by foreign invasion. |
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| September 17, 2007 | World - Grid Type, Continuously Under-development - System Dynamics. Why do we need it? The main goal of the United Nations is realization of sustainable development world society
vision. Such society would need to integrate social development with economic development and
environmental protection. For this end it is necessary to enable sustained economic growth,
internalizing externalities and DECOUPLING the range of economic growth from the range of deficit
natural resources depletion growth and degradation of environment. It is necessary also to COUPLE
economic growth with popular life-quality growth.
To achieve sustainable development OF THE WORLD SOCIETY we have to build, a
commonly accessible WORLDWIDE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION (SYSTEM DYNAMICS) SYSTEM for:by Leslaw Michnowski, Manage the Sustainable Development Global Information Society website.
kte@psl.org.pl, elmamba@poczta.onet.pl Committee for Futures Studies "Poland 2000 Plus", Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. 3 Maja 2 m. 164, 00-391 Warszawa Poland, Tel.: +48 22 7681019. +48 601 264 164 - dynamic monitoring, - long range forecasting, and - measurable evaluation, of policy, economy, work, and other changes effects in life-conditions of human beings and nature in general. I propose a research program aimed at describing conditions of creation such big, grid, multi stage built, information system. |
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| September 16, 2007 | SCALE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN FIRMS, COMMUNITIES, NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT by Jose G. Vargas-Hernández
Global Environment Minister
Global file jgvh0811@yahoo.com, jvargas08@berkeley.ed Research Professor, Cerrada Petronilo Lopez 31, Cd. Guzman, Jalisco, 49000, Mexico The role of the nation-state is to regulate conflicts between the essential elements, the nation-state, capitalists (firms), laborers and consumers, binding together disparate and conflicting interests.
This paper is aimed to review the different levels of scale of conflicts between firms, communities, New Social Movements and the role of government. |
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or Download full WORD document of Research Paper by author |
| September 12, 2007 | What Is Being Stolen From Us All by Jeff Berg Countercurrents.org Once again, this time in Iraq, we see the natural resource wealth of an
entire nation enriching none but a criminal class and megacorporations. I
will assume a distinction. Once again this is only able to take place as a
result of the planned aggression and full cooperation of a government &
military that acts as if it is a wholly owned subsidiary of a monied elite.
Much the same thing is being done here in Canada but "thanks" to the
connivance of significant elements of our corporate and government
elite it is being achieved without the need for military force.
It should be noted however that to some in the corporate class the
missing military element is a major mistake even in Canada as it
seriously erodes the huge profit margins possible in war zones and
markedly reduces the amount of money that can be transferred from
citizens to shareholders in times of military conflict. (The quintessential
double dip) Admittedly this is a minority opinion but as Iraq will not be
the last to prove not an uninfluential one. Evidence of this influence here
in Canada can be seen by the massive increase in expenditures for our
military and security industrial complexes over the last few years.
NB. Before the Harper government's commitment to a $13 billion
increase in military spending Canada’s military spending was the 7th
highest in absolute terms in the OECD and 12th overall in the world.
If you are skeptical of the claim that Canadians are being all but
completely shut out of the benefits of their resource wealth go to the
Parkland Institute site and discover for yourself the pitiful fraction the
Albertan people receive of their resource wealth compared to the
people of Norway.
http://www.ualberta.ca/PARKLAND/
For we the Canadian people the situation is an even crueler joke as we
receive even less benefit while at the same time bearing more of the
brunt of the economic problems associated with being a resource
dollar. Aka. Dutch Disease
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dutchdisease.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
And it is all Canadians and especially Albertans and even the rest of the
world that are at the same time forced to pick up the massive
environmental tab even as the profits flee the province and the country.
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| September 12, 2007 | The End Of The World? by William M. H. Kötke , Countercurrents.org William H. Kötke author ofGarden Planet: The Present Phase Change of the Human Species. See at: www.gardenplanetbook.com and THE FINAL EMPIRE an underground classic book available for free download at: http://www.Rainbowbody.net/Finalempire . We are all looking at the end of the world as we know it. Our
attention is focused on the holes in the ozone layer, planet warming,
peak oil, the spread of DU weapons, the collapse of the house of credit
cards, and the prospect of the planetary financial elite quickly
establishing fascist control of the planet. Below this threshold of
conscious awareness our biological survival systems are rapidly
eroding. At this point some twenty percent of the planet’s soils erode
each twenty-five year period. Each year at least two hundred thousand
acres of irrigated crop-lands go out of production because of
salinization or water-logging and experts say that sixty to eighty percent
of all irrigated acreage is due to follow the eight to ten million acres that
have historically gone into ruination from irrigation. The total drylands of
the planet are 7.9 billion acres of which 61% are desertified, that is,
driven by human abuse toward uselessness. Globally, 23% of all arable
crop lands have been lost since 1945 through human use and experts
say that all arable land on the planet will be ruined in 200 years.
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| September 12, 2007 | Does Our Planet Have Too Many People? by Madeleine Bunting http://www.alternet.org/authors/8621/, published in AlterNet: The Mix is the Message, Environment, Reducing consumption is imperative, but it's pointless to cut out meat and cars while having lots of children.
When challenged, environmentalists have coherent arguments to defend their retreat from the population debate. They insist that the pressure on the earth's
resources - its water, forests, soil fertility - and carbon emissions are all about consumption and lifestyle, not about sheer numbers of human beings. They rightly
point out that the average American produces some 20 tonnes of carbon a year while some of those living in areas of the world with the fastest growing populations,
such as Africa, produce a tiny fraction of that kind of carbon footprint. They insist that the earth can support the 9 billion now predicted by 2050 (the increase
in the next 40 years will equate to roughly what the entire global population was in 1950) if everyone is living sustainable lifestyles. The focus of campaigning
must stay on the consumption patterns of the developed world, rather than on numbers of people. |
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| September 9, 2007 | Because humanity has developed jurisprudence systems by which various entities claim legal title to selected segments of the earth, the earth is owned by those entities by John R. Ewbank, johnewb@comcast.net
john.1916@yahoo.com
hmrl@libertynet.org USA (part of our group discussion by email) Because humanity has developed jurisprudence systems by which various entities claim legal title to selected segments of the earth, the earth is owned by those entities having, under the local jurisprudence,
the legal title to various areas. All systems invonving confiscation of such veted property rights can be attacked as "thievery".Rights of eminent domain have permitted government intervention for better use
of land, and this involves use not merely for government fbut also for rr and utilities,and other public interests. However, those asserting common ownership and or confiscation must be classified by at least
some analysts as thieves.
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see also |
| September 8, 2007 | Climate Change Solutions: Beyond Science And Above Confines by Abdul Basit, Basit72@gmail.com, Countercurrents.org Along with scientific research, we require political, religious, ideological, cultural, philosophical, economic, social and intellectual coordination.
Secondly, since human factor is the main reason for climate change, the
transformation in the method of lifestyle and concepts of economic
development required is much beyond the scope of science. Most
solutions provided by scientific research are very limited in scope such
as to fill up our automobile tanks with bio fuels instead of fossil fuels.
Such solutions will only aggravate the crises and create new problems.
What we need is a total transformation from what we have hitherto
followed. This transformation requires the change of the basic concept
of materialistic way of life and pursuit of wealth. This can only be
achieved by cultivating moral and spiritual values among the society and
by replacing materialistic pursuits with holistic and simple way of life.
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| September 6, 2007 | Earth Meanders: Now Is Time for Non-Violent Earth Revolution by Dr. Glen Barry, Earth Meanders Now Is Time for Non-Violent Earth Revolution. That begins by stopping ancient forest logging, ending burning of coal and restraining growth in aviation.
Insightful original Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues including peace and freedom. Thought-provoking,
raw and frequently outrageous - but always Bright Green. These are the personal writings of Dr. Glen Barry.
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| September 1, 2007 | Land degradation and its impacts in Bangladesh: A Case Study by Md. Hasibur Rahman Advisory Board to the Global Constitution Global Government of Asia Adviser Research Fellow Land Quality Assessment Project Department of Soil, Water and Environment Dhaka University, Dhaka 1000 Bangladesh and Executive Director Environment and Agricultural Development Studies Center Mirpur-11, Dhaka, Bangladesh Email: hasibur77@yahoo.com Bangladesh occupies an area of 147,570 square kilometers located between 8001/ and 92041/ east longitudes and 20034/ and 26038/ north latitudes. The country is bounded to the west, north and east by India and to the extreme south-east by Myanmar. The Bay of Bengal lies to the south. Almost the entire country of Bangladesh lies in the still active delta formed by three of the world's major rivers, namely, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, which flow into Bangladesh from the west, north and north-east. Bangladesh is a relatively flat country with its highest peak at only 1200m. In fact, 90 per cent of the land is fertile alluvial plain. On the basis of formation, three principal physiographic units are recognized, namely, the tertiary hills (part of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Chittagong, and Sylhet districts), the Pleistocene terrace (Madhupur Tract, Vhawal Tract and Lalmai in the middle and Barind Tract on the north of the country) and the recent alluvial plain (rest of the country). Rapid population growth is one of the major factors of land degradation in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries of the world. The total population is estimated to have been 123.1 million in January, 2001 and growing at a rate of 1.47 per cent. Average population density is about 834 per square kilometre. The population is overwhelmingly rural about 80% are engaged in various agricultural activities. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people employing 35.91% of the total labour force but per capita operated area is only 0.17 acres. Increasing population is occupying arable land for their habitat; roads and communication are causing decreases of agricultural land in every year. Sustainable agricultural practice will offer the way forward for a long-term land management. It is an urgent need to take necessary measures in order to control and minimize the adverse effect of human activities. And to ensure conservation of natural resources and planned urbanization, industrialization, sustainable agricultural development etc. are the main components. Proper implementation of environment friendly and sustainable development policy is most important along with a pragmatic implementation strategy. |
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| August 5, 2007 | Who should own the Earth ? by Norman Kurland thirdway@cesj.org Email discussion with Norman Kurland and Garry Davis of the Global Justice Movement, and with John Watkins of the Alliance for Human Empowerment |
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| August 1, 2007 | China’s Transition into a Society of Social Harmony (Part II) Letter sent by DR. Charles Mercieca to the Global Community mercieca@knology.net China represents one of the oldest civilizations in the entire history of our earthly society. Its dynasties managed to leave legacies that have enriched the culture of China in
many unique ways. By nature, the Chinese are very kind people and they try to be helpful with those around and with those they come across. They also tend to live in
peace and to let others live in peace as well. The only ambition the Chinese people seem to have is to see the members of their relatives and friends equipped with all the
vital needs of life.
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| July 28, 2007 | China in True Perspective Letter sent by DR. Charles Mercieca to the Global Community mercieca@knology.net |
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| July 25, 2007 | How the Political Parties are possible at World level under World Democracy? by Sabzali Khan yusufzai sa_yusufzai@hotmail.com Keeping in view the prevailed political and social Orders of the World it seems to be impossible in the near future that the dream of World Democracy would become true. Because,
under the prevailed Orders, the human community is divided in to so many small groups and identity on the base of Nationality, Race and Ideology. All these groups bear on their own
Agenda, objectives, ideology and recognition as such it is impossible to unite the present dispersed human community at global level for World Democracy. Therefore, keeping in view
the above facts and realities, the human community is hereby recognized on new such grounds that will gradually globalize not only all Citizens of the World for World Democracy but
also will leads them to a World Government in the near future. The following 9 (nine) global Parties of the human community are hereby identified on Professional base/ grounds along
with their universal rights, responsibilities, frame of work and objective as mentioned below in details |
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| July 19, 2007 | The Militarization and Annexation of North America by Stephen Lendman
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net Article promoted in the Portal of the Global Community of North America (GCNA) at http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/GlobalConst/gcnaindex.htm The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) unmasked |
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