The State of the American Empire
The State of the American Empire:
How the USA Shapes the World.
Stephen Burman.
University of California Press, Myriad Editions. 2007.
On first perusal my perceptions told me this was my kind of book: lots of graphs, charts, and maps for my visual learning strengths, more akin to the National Geographic where I can glean most of the significant information from the photos and captions as much as I can from the text. But then as I delved into the text that introduces and accompanies the visuals, I realized that this was a bit more than just an atlas – it also made political statements through choice of words and topics.
How the USA Shapes the World.
Stephen Burman.
University of California Press, Myriad Editions. 2007.
On first perusal my perceptions told me this was my kind of book: lots of graphs, charts, and maps for my visual learning strengths, more akin to the National Geographic where I can glean most of the significant information from the photos and captions as much as I can from the text. But then as I delved into the text that introduces and accompanies the visuals, I realized that this was a bit more than just an atlas – it also made political statements through choice of words and topics.
Eight European governments. say nuclear power is incompatible with sustainable development
The Environment Ministers of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Norway supported by Luxembourg and Iceland meet in Vienna today, in order to enhance cooperation and contribute further to the discussions on the role of nuclear power in the climate change and energy efficiency debates.
The principal issues discussed were nuclear safety and security, the need for more and better information to be provided to countries neighbouring nuclear states; issues of transparency regarding nuclear projects, transparency regarding the true costs of nuclear power as well as alternatives to nuclear power and the need to ensure the development and provision of sustainable energy supplies and services.
In their discussions, Ministers
The principal issues discussed were nuclear safety and security, the need for more and better information to be provided to countries neighbouring nuclear states; issues of transparency regarding nuclear projects, transparency regarding the true costs of nuclear power as well as alternatives to nuclear power and the need to ensure the development and provision of sustainable energy supplies and services.
In their discussions, Ministers
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* Reaffirmed that it remains the sovereign right of each country to decide on its energy mix.
* Reiterated that the inherent safety, environmental and proliferation risks associated with the nuclear energy option remain.
The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God
The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God – A Political, Economic, Religious Statement. John Cobb, Richard Falk, David Griffin and Catherine Keller. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 2006.
Based solely on the title, this book appeared to be something that could have some strong revelations on the nature of the American Empire and its relationship with religion. Having read several books from the religious right, including the first volume of the “Left Behind” series (summed up as a compilation of Star Wars, Harlequin Romance, and end of times theology), I thought this volume might have a more rational approach than the fear mongering and devilish rhetoric that saturates the right wing material.
Based solely on the title, this book appeared to be something that could have some strong revelations on the nature of the American Empire and its relationship with religion. Having read several books from the religious right, including the first volume of the “Left Behind” series (summed up as a compilation of Star Wars, Harlequin Romance, and end of times theology), I thought this volume might have a more rational approach than the fear mongering and devilish rhetoric that saturates the right wing material.
Bad week for Bush on climate, but what now?
He looked like the fool he is, the liar, deceiver, hypocrite and evil man that he is. That’s how TV coverage showed George Bush speaking at his sham “major emitters” climate conference at the State Department on Thursday and Friday. There he was, acting as if he had the credentials to lead the world in the make-or-break battle to immediately slow and, over time, stop and reverse global heating.
Comments by delegates from the 16 countries invited to this conference, as reported in news stories, were mostly tepid, downright dismissive sometimes.
Comments by delegates from the 16 countries invited to this conference, as reported in news stories, were mostly tepid, downright dismissive sometimes.
Killer of Sheep: The black working class and the alienating effects of work
Killer of Sheep, a remarkable social document about urban working-class African- Americans in the Watts district of Los Angeles, is now playing at the Wexner Center through tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Director Charles Burnett shot the film over several weekends in the early 1970s, as a reaction to cartoonish and stereotypical blaxploitation films, and submitted it as his master’s thesis film at UCLA in 1977. Since then, the film languished in obscurity and had not been released due to music copyright issues. It is has been re-issued and is playing at various festivals and college campuses. A DVD release is scheduled for November.
Director Charles Burnett shot the film over several weekends in the early 1970s, as a reaction to cartoonish and stereotypical blaxploitation films, and submitted it as his master’s thesis film at UCLA in 1977. Since then, the film languished in obscurity and had not been released due to music copyright issues. It is has been re-issued and is playing at various festivals and college campuses. A DVD release is scheduled for November.
Secret USDA enforcement action revealed Aurora Farm’s certifier found to have willfully violated NOP rules
CORNUCOPIA: In a startling revelation today The Cornucopia Institute made public a document indicating that not only did the USDA find that the nation's largest organic factory-farm dairy operator "willfully" violated the federal organic standards, but that one of its certifiers, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, had, also, "willfully" failed to legally perform their oversight responsibilities under the federal regulations.
In a letter dated April 16, 2007, Mark Bradley, Director of the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP), notified Colorado of a formal Notice of Proposed Suspension of its accreditation as a certifying agent for organic livestock.
USDA investigations of both Aurora Organic Dairy, operating factory farms in Texas and Colorado, and their certifiers, were prompted by a formal legal complaint filed by The Cornucopia Institute in 2005. The USDA confirmed Cornucopia's allegations that the giant industrial-scale dairies, milking thousands of cows each, were not providing their cattle with pasture, as required by law, had illegally brought conventional cattle into their operations, and a committed a number of other serious improprieties.
In a letter dated April 16, 2007, Mark Bradley, Director of the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP), notified Colorado of a formal Notice of Proposed Suspension of its accreditation as a certifying agent for organic livestock.
USDA investigations of both Aurora Organic Dairy, operating factory farms in Texas and Colorado, and their certifiers, were prompted by a formal legal complaint filed by The Cornucopia Institute in 2005. The USDA confirmed Cornucopia's allegations that the giant industrial-scale dairies, milking thousands of cows each, were not providing their cattle with pasture, as required by law, had illegally brought conventional cattle into their operations, and a committed a number of other serious improprieties.
Voter purging: a legal way for Republicans to swing elections?
The Department of Justice's Voting Section is pressuring 10 states to purge
voter rolls before the 2008 election based on statistics that former Voting
Section attorneys and other experts say are flawed and do not confirm that
those states have more voter registrations than eligible voters, as the
department alleges.
Voting Section Chief John Tanner called for the purges in letters sent this spring under an arcane provision in the National Voter Registration Act, better known as the Motor Voter law, whose purpose is to expand voter registration. The identical letters notify states that 10 percent or more of their election jurisdictions have problematic voter rolls. It tells states to report "the subsequent removal from rolls of persons no longer eligible to vote."
"That data does not say what they purport it says," said David Becker, People for the American Way Foundation's senior voting rights counsel and a former Voting Section senior trial attorney, after reviewing the letters and statistics used to call for the purges. "They are saying the data shows the 10 worst voter rolls. They have a lot of explaining to do."
Voting Section Chief John Tanner called for the purges in letters sent this spring under an arcane provision in the National Voter Registration Act, better known as the Motor Voter law, whose purpose is to expand voter registration. The identical letters notify states that 10 percent or more of their election jurisdictions have problematic voter rolls. It tells states to report "the subsequent removal from rolls of persons no longer eligible to vote."
"That data does not say what they purport it says," said David Becker, People for the American Way Foundation's senior voting rights counsel and a former Voting Section senior trial attorney, after reviewing the letters and statistics used to call for the purges. "They are saying the data shows the 10 worst voter rolls. They have a lot of explaining to do."
Stiglitz - Making Globalization Work
Making Globalization Work.
Joseph Stiglitz.
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2007.
Having read Stiglitz' first work, "Globalization and its Discontents", having thought at the time that it was a strong work, then having read his second book "Fair Trade For All", which is not even mentioned in this current work - indicating perhaps that he is not that proud of it, as he should not be, it was terrible - and now having read his latest book "Making Globalization Work", I am now thoroughly disenchanted with his ideas and thought development.
"Making Globalization Work" is much like his first book in that it is a reasonably clear read, and while there is by necessity the use of the economic and political lexicon (that's jargon for 'jargon'), it is not so obtuse (that's jargon for difficult) that it is not unreadable. It is simply not well argued, and retains the major faults that were obvious in the middle work, "Fair Trade For All". [1]
Joseph Stiglitz.
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2007.
Having read Stiglitz' first work, "Globalization and its Discontents", having thought at the time that it was a strong work, then having read his second book "Fair Trade For All", which is not even mentioned in this current work - indicating perhaps that he is not that proud of it, as he should not be, it was terrible - and now having read his latest book "Making Globalization Work", I am now thoroughly disenchanted with his ideas and thought development.
"Making Globalization Work" is much like his first book in that it is a reasonably clear read, and while there is by necessity the use of the economic and political lexicon (that's jargon for 'jargon'), it is not so obtuse (that's jargon for difficult) that it is not unreadable. It is simply not well argued, and retains the major faults that were obvious in the middle work, "Fair Trade For All". [1]
How the GOP stole America’s 2004 election & is rigging 2008
When comedian Lewis Black said sardonically that he knew we shouldn’t go to Iraq, and he was just sitting on his couch, he also echoed how numerous Americans felt about the stolen presidential election of 2004. On November 3, of that same year, we woke up and felt that, once again, we had been had without knowing all the facts. We felt it because we knew that what had happened in 2000 had not been fixed. Sadly, before the 2004 election we proceeded on a noble mission to register thousands of more voters than ever before, believing that the truth of a great turnout would be the antidote to voter fraud, as if a higher paying job would resolve being robbed at the bus stop every day.
However, they, the GOP, had done it again, but how could we prove it, and what could we do, especially since another Democratic contender passively walked away from us? A collective depression set in and then we began the stages of grief, but somehow we weren’t able to go beyond denial. Fortunately, some followed the inference of the last election, and lifted themselves above the post-election stupor in order to find out exactly what happened.
However, they, the GOP, had done it again, but how could we prove it, and what could we do, especially since another Democratic contender passively walked away from us? A collective depression set in and then we began the stages of grief, but somehow we weren’t able to go beyond denial. Fortunately, some followed the inference of the last election, and lifted themselves above the post-election stupor in order to find out exactly what happened.
Stiglitz – a book with major flaws that reveal much truth
Fair Trade For All – How Trade Can Promote Development. Joseph Stiglitz and Andre Charlton. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K., 2005.
In 2003 Joseph Stiglitz published his much acclaimed and critically popular book Globalization and it Discontents. Its overall thesis, arguable particularly to those hidebound within the ‘Washington Consensus’, simply stated that following International Monetary Fund (IMF) rules and regulations – the combination of trade rules, loans, and ‘structural adjustments’ required to receive financial assistance – “the result for many people has been poverty and for many countries social and political chaos. The IMF has made mistakes in all the areas it has been involved in.”
In 2003 Joseph Stiglitz published his much acclaimed and critically popular book Globalization and it Discontents. Its overall thesis, arguable particularly to those hidebound within the ‘Washington Consensus’, simply stated that following International Monetary Fund (IMF) rules and regulations – the combination of trade rules, loans, and ‘structural adjustments’ required to receive financial assistance – “the result for many people has been poverty and for many countries social and political chaos. The IMF has made mistakes in all the areas it has been involved in.”