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We need to develop a new economy because the current version is not working. The industrial economy is destroying every aspect of the living planet. And, as it turns out, we need a living planet for our own survival

Danish Journalist Tom Heinemann
Denied Visa To India
By Neha Dixit

Tom Heinemann, award winning documentary film maker from Denmark has been denied a visa by the Indian Embassy in Copenhagen. . The reason: In 2005 he made the film "A Killer Bargain” on the working conditions at i.e. Danish companies in India

The Fallacy Of The Tragedy Of The Commons
By Marq de Villiers

If the various natural systems of the earth, especially the air, the water, the land and its minerals, and the complex life systems they sustain, are indeed “the commons,” how do we guard against the “tragedy of the commons?” If no one owns the resource and anyone can use it, how do we protect it from depletion?

The Peak Oil Crisis: Election 2012
By Tom Whipple

Although it is likely that the President and his Secretary of Energy understand that a decline in world oil production is not far away, it is simply not a topic to be raised prior to an election as the political risk is simply too great. Someday, likely within the next decade, the US and the rest of world's governments will have to acknowledge there is a problem here

The Hydrogen Dream
By Luis de Sousa

Cesare Marchetti proposed hydrogen (H2) as a large-scale energy vector almost fifty years ago. The main concern then was to find a simple way to feed transport systems with what seemed to be a fountain of energy about to come from the expanding nuclear park. The nuclear dream is largely gone, but hydrogen lives on. Is this dream about to come true as a piece in the transition puzzle to a post-fossil fuel world?

Nuclear Fusion
By Tom Murphy

Our energy future is highly uncertain. Commercial fusion may come along decades down the road—mid-century at the earliest—but even then it is yet another source of heat that we can use to make electricity. Another step (mobile storage) must accompany fusion development to replace petroleum functions, and even then at significant disadvantage in energy density using current technologies. So yeah—I hope it helps us out one day. But I’m not sure we can wait that long

Malvinas in Britain’s Imperialist Claws
By Dr. Ismail Salami

The simmering tensions over the Malvinas Islands or Falkland Islands (off the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic) as called by the British occupiers have become a matter of great concern as the UK decided to deploy destroyer HMS Dauntless to the islands

Prophetic Politics: Charting A Healthy Role For
Religion In Public Life
By Robert Jensen

A review of Walter Brueggemann, The Practice of Prophetic Imagination: Preaching an Emancipatory Word

The West Versus Iran
By Jahanzeb Hussain

What are the odds that the US will accept Iran as a free country? That depends not on the American government but on its own people, as well as the people of the Middle East. On its own, the US will not cease to be an empire. One has to look at the Arab Spring and the Occupiers at Wall Street because hope comes from what they are trying to achieve

Sonoma County Daily Attacks Occupy Movement
By Shepherd Bliss

The Sonoma County daily’s Press Democrat Feb. 1 editorial “Occupy Movement in Ashes” is wishful thinking. Our phoenix will rise during this month. You wait. You watch. You see

Jungal Mahal And Recent 'Peace' Efforts
By Dipankar Chakrabarti

The Maoists must take into cognizance the ground reality. They should ponder over the desertion of other anti-CPI(M) forces from their side as well as large number of their cadres and sympathisers . They also need to be circumspect about their gradual isolation from the civil society and the common people in the wake of their excessive dependence on armed action and autocratic control over the mass organisations

Thane Cyclone: An Indication For
Re-visioning Disaster Management
By Rajkumar

It is time that our disaster management efforts needs a radical revamping in integrating concerns and direction in preventing potential damages caused to sustainable livelihood models of the communities which are not easily understood and left un-noticed

Take It or Leave It: Hunger or NFSA?
By Sachin Kumar Jain

The National Food Security Bill, in its present form, is not adequately endowed with a vision to address the very structural causes of Food and Nutritional Insecurity in India

02 February, 2012

US, RussiaClash Over Washington’s
War Drive Against Syria
By Chris Marsden

The United States, France, Britain and the Arab League are pressing for the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution on Syria, while denying that it is intended to pave the way for Western military intervention. Debate over the Arab League resolution has stalled, with Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, expected to veto it. Last night, diplomats at the UN leaving negotiations for the night said that “key differences” remained between the different countries

The Commonwealth Of Nations -
The Squalor In Some Member Countries
By George Venturini

This third and last part was originally titled ‘The poverty of countries’. It was clearly too broad and unspecific; broad in that what follows relates mainly to two Commonwealth countries, with some consideration about the United States because from there came that greedy, testosterone driven, male dominated, recent episode of American-born corporate criminality which is euphemistically called ‘the global financial crisis’; unspecific because the word ‘poverty’ is variously defined but does not include consideration of filth and misery, which seem to be the two constituent elements of squalor - even of an immaterial kind."

A Journey To The End Of Empire
By Phil Rockstroh

A Journey To The End Of Empire: It is always darkest right before it goes completely black

A Response To "Angry About Inequality?
Don't Blame The Rich"
By Paul Buchheit

Not an angry response, though. 'Amused' is probably more accurate, since a little research shows that James Q. Wilson's article "Angry About Inequality? Don't Blame The Rich" is filled with the tired old defense mechanisms of people eager to justify a 30-year transfer of wealth to the rich

Anti-Semitism And Israel’s
Inherent Contradictions
By Ramzy Baroud

How could anti-racist endeavors themselves become the subject of accusation by Halili and others like him

No Matter Who Wins, Americans Lose
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Why am I so sick of all the media attention to the Republican presidential primaries and all the blabbering about President Obama’s advantages and disadvantages for the coming election? I just cannot get excited. My answer may also be yours: No matter who wins, our nation loses

The Italian Movement For Boycott, Divestment
And Sanctions (BDS) Against Israel Gains Strength
By Stephanie Westbrook

Over the weekend of January 21-22, the third national meeting of the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel was held in Bologna, Italy. Roughly 80 activists from over 20 Italian cities representing groups, associations and political parties throughout Italy participated

The Importance Of Being Leader Of
The Opposition To Obiang Nguema
By Agustin Velloso

A trivial comedy for serious politicians set in Equatorial Guinea

Tea Labourers Dying Of Hunger In Assam
By Barak Human Rights Protection Committee

Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC) has learnt about 11 recent deaths due to starvation, malnutrition and lack of medical care in Bhuvan Valley Tea Estate, a privately owned tea garden, in the district of Cachar in North-East Indian state ofAssam. The conditions of at least 5 others are so bad that it would be hard for them to survive a month without urgent medical and nutritional intervention

FDI In Retail: Danger Signal
For The Indian Economy
By Sachin Kumar Jain

Indian society is at the mercy of the market today. Multinational companies are being given ownership rights to our resources and the people are being viewed as nothing better than captive consumers. That’s the hidden implications of the policy reforms we are witnessing today

On Course Correction: Why BJP Secretly Hates
OBC Reservation
By Samar

The writing is on the wall. You can delay this process of course correction but you cannot stop it. No one can, not even those who started it in the first place. The people are on the rise and they cannot be tricked anymore

Joint Statement On Brutal Corporate Attack
On Peaceful Protesters In Odisha
By Concerned Citizens

We are extremely shocked and distressed over the barbaric inhuman violence on peaceful protesters especially woman by the security guards and hired goons of Jindal steel plant in Angul, Odisha

Where Did All Of These Go?
By Gagan Rism

Gabbar's ‘Aak-thoo' is thing of past. And so is Om Prakash's whiny ‘aa haaan haaaan…' before delivering a dialogue and Utpal Dutt's ‘eeeeshhhh……'. Neither are seen anymore the miserly, cunning old Sahukars in our pastoral romances, nor the picnic-songs in the picturesque valley of Kashmir . At times, it leaves one wonder – where did all of these go?

31 January, 2012

US Military Preparations For War On Iran
By Peter Symonds

Despite claims that its focus is on diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran, the Obama administration is making barely disguised preparations for military strikes to back its threat to use “all options” to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran

Hormuz-Mania
By Michael T. Klare

Why Closure of the Strait of Hormuz Could Ignite a War and a Global Depression

Human Family's Ecocidal Death Wish
By Dr. Glen Barry

The human family's shared survival depends upon passionately defending Earth using all means necessary

Liberia: Plenty “Democracy”, No Electricity
By Thomas C. Mountain

While Liberia could afford an election in which the President Ellen Johnson ran unopposed the people of the country have neither electricity or running water

Anti-Koodankulam Nuclear Plant Agitation Leaders And Women Supporters Attacked
By PMANE

The representatives of Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (spearheading the campaign to stop the Koodankulam Nuclear Plant ) Pushparayan and Jesuraj and 20 women accompanying them has been attacked by hired thugs near Tirunelveli Collecotrate on their way to attend talks with the Central Government Expert Panel

To Ask or Not To Ask: A Few Thoughts
On The Garhwa Landmine Blast
By Ranjana Padhi

On the landmine blast by Maoists on Jan 21, the consequent state repression unleashed on CPI (ML) and the abduction of Sushma Mehta and 3 others by the Maoists

30 January, 2012

US, Arab League Push For UN Action Against Syria
By Jean Shaoul

The United States is working with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Arab League to push through a resolution for the United Nations Security Council to lay the basis for military intervention along the line of last year’s NATO war against Libya

Proxy War In Syria Threatens Catastrophe
For The Middle East
By Shamus Cooke

In an effort to undermine Iran by overthrowing its strategic ally, Syria, western nations are using their Middle East client states to conduct a multi-pronged attack against Syria through the media, the Arab League, the United Nations and now through military proxy forces

Another War For Oil With Iran?
By Sherwood Ross

Over and over again in the Middle East, we see the same pattern repeating itself: An oil-rich country takes control of its own oil fields and cuts out the Western oil companies. Right now, the U.S. is threatening Iran with war on grounds that it is making a nuclear weapons

Social Justice Quiz 2012: Thirteen Questions
By Bill Quigley & Sam Schmitt

Question One. The combined pay of the 299 highest paid CEOs in the US is enough to support how many median salary jobs?

Durban: Supplications of A Dead Man's Hand
By Vincent Di Stefano

Let us continue individually and collectively to work towards the creation of enduring communities, to cut through the destructive effects of greed and ignorance, and strive to preserve and perpetuate those sources of wisdom that will enable future generations to avoid the tragic errors that presently unfold around us

Unsettled, Unlawful, Unresolved: Israeli Settlers
In A Foreign Land (PDF)
By Graham Peebles

Violence, abuse, non-accountability, hate, such is communal living today within the occupied West Bank, where some 518,974 colonisers sit within “200” illegal settlements

30 Years After The Massacre At Sabra-Shatilla
Lebanese Politicians Still Block Palestinian Rights
By Franklin Lamb

We all know it is not just American and Lebanese politicians who use Palestinian refugees as political footballs during electoral campaigns. But they are currently the two most egregious apart from most Zionist politicians in temporarily occupied Palestine

Humanize or Euthanize
By Rosemarie Jackowski

The health care topic seems to be getting a lot of attention these days. In Vermont the Death with Dignity Bill was to be considered by the Legislature during the current session. It is now reported that the Bill will be put on hold. Physician assisted suicide is a controversial topic. Moral, philosophical, and scientific considerations are included in the debate

Booming Crisis And Bullish Profit
By Farooque Chowdhury

Capital is pocketing bullish profit in a period of booming crisis! Among others, a number of auto makers announce this fact of capitalist economy

Chronicling The Hindutva Threat
By Ram Puniyani

Book Review: "The Saffron Condition, Politics of Repression and Exclusion in Neo Liberal India" by Subhash Gatade

29 January, 2012

Cowards In Our Democracies
By James Hansen

Leading climate scientists have given their support to a Freedom of Information request seeking to disclose who is funding the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a London-based climate sceptic thinktank chaired by the former Conservative chancellor Lord Lawson. James Hansen, the director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies who first warned the world about the dangers of climate change in the 1980s, has joined other scientists in submitting statements to be considered by a judge at the Information Rights Tribunal on Friday. Hansen has posted “Cowards in Our Democracies: Part 1" — his submitted statement and an explanatory intro

James Hansen Risks Handcuffs
To Make His Research Clear
By Douglas Fischer

James E. Hansen never thought his decision to study atmospheric models would lead to his arrest. But there he was in handcuffs last summer, protesting at the White House against a pipeline that would carry crude oil from Alberta's oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico

Climate Change Movements: Where Are We Going?
By Elaine Graham-Leigh

Since 2009, the climate change movement has been losing momentum. But failure should not be taken as the whole story of Copenhagen and its aftermath, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

Attacks On Iran, Past And Present
By John Scales Avery

Any use of violence against Iran would be both insane and criminal. Why insane? Because the present economy of the US and the world cannot support another large-scale conflict. Why criminal? Because such violence would violate both the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Principles

The Global Worth of Human Life
By Jahanzeb Hussain

It is culturally accepted that when an innocent Iraqi, Palestinian, Afghan and a Pakistani dies they are not automatically accorded the same human right that Westerners and whites are. They are not viewed as valuable lives, but they are looked down upon as “collateral damage”

Demanding Justice For Yousef, A Quiet Boy
Killed By Israeli Settlers
By Bekah Wolf

The murder of Yousef Ikhlayl, the impunity with which the settlers acted and the military’s behavior at the funeral are common occurrences in the occupied West Bank. The death of a Palestinian, even a child, is rarely noted and quickly forgotten in much of the world

The Genius of Chavez
By Fidel Castro Ruz

Fidel Castro's take on President Chavez's annual report on activities carried out in 2011 and his program for 2012

Coming Downhill From Kashipur
By Deba Ranjan

Police firing and encounter deaths for corporate development in Odisha/India

"The Anti-Nuclear Movement Wants India
To Develop More Sustainably And Equitably"
An Interview with Lalita Ramdas

Lalita Ramdas has inspired a generation of activists working for social and environmental justice. Through her engagements with Greenpeace and other prominent organisation, she has provided immense help and direction to a wide-range of social causes. She is a leading member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace and has visited the Koodankulam movement recently. Dianuke.org interviewed her recently about the ongoing grassroots movements against nuclear energy in India

Analyzing The ‘OBC-Minority' Sub-Quota--Part IV
By Khalid Anis Ansari

4.5% Sub-Quota for OBCs within Minorities: The ‘Political' Dimension

Letter To President Ahmadinejad: Regarding
Mr. Hekmati, Islamic Mercy And Rahmah
By Mary Hamer, M.D. U.S.A.

Dear President Ahmadinejad, The Islamic Revolutionary Court & the Iranian people: Please have Islamic mercy on Mr. Hekmati; Please offer the United States & Mr. Hekmati a gesture of Reconciliation & healing; & Please free Mr. Hekmati to the United States for an education in Peace & International Conflict studies

28 January, 2012

Bahraini Government’s Use of Tear Gas
Claims Several Lives
By Abdulrazzaq al-Saiedi

The police have been targeting the Shi’a neighborhoods of Iker, Sitra, Nuwadrat, and Ma’ameer. Victims of such attacks describe the police using tear gas inappropriately – including firing into homes and other closed spaces. Since the start of the unrest in February 2011, at least 13 civilians have died from exposure to the tear gas

Four Deaths In Bahrain On The 25th of January,
Situation Rapidly Deteriorating
By Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Four people were killed by security forces on the 25th of January . Total of deaths in January has now reached 9, making it the highest number in one month since March 2011

Iran: The Price of Resistance
By Chandra Muzaffar

The demonization of Iran proves yet again that regardless of whether the target adopts a confrontational or conciliatory approach, the hegemon will continue to pursue its agenda. It is an agenda that has a power and potency of its own. In the context of WANA, Israel , it is so apparent, is the driving force behind US hegemonic power

Washington Wages War of Sanctions Against Iran
By Ismail Salami

Washington's double-edged sword of policies towards the Islamic Republic is not only exhausting the patience of the Iranian nation but it is provoking the ire of international conscience as well

Activist Priest, 83, In Solitary Confinement
By Abby Zimet

Jesuit priest and peace activist Father Bill "Bix" Bichsel, 83, is in his second week of a hunger strike to protest solitary confinement at Washington's SeaTac Federal Detention Center, where he'd been held for an earlier action against a proposed nuclear power plant in Tennessee

Waking In The Half World
By Peter Goodchild

Most estimates indicate that by 2030, more or less, annual global oil production will be about half of the peak rate. "Half" the oil with occur at the same time as "half" of everything else. How will it be waking up in a world where half of everything is spent

Analyzing The ‘OBC-Minority' Sub-Quota--Part III
By Khalid Anis Ansari

4.5% Sub-Quota for OBCs within Minorities: The ‘policy' and ‘technical' dimensions

27 January, 2012

Israel Prepares For War Against Iran
By Peter Symonds

A lengthy article, “Will Israel Attack Iran,” published in this week’s New York Times confirms that Israel has made advanced preparations for military strikes on Iran. The author—Ronen Bergman, a well-connected political analyst with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth—concluded: “After speaking to many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012.”

Human Beings With Feet of Clay
And Self-Proclaimed Masters of the Universe
By Steven Earl Salmony

Humankind could soon come face to face with an incredible and unprecedented situation. We are spectacularly successful at doing something potentially ruinous of all we claim to be protecting and preserving as we ever more rampantly increase our exploitation of natural resources and continually increase our food production and distribution capabilities. Stupidly we hold fast to a wicked idea that, if we do not do these things, a catastrophe will follow

The Struggle Continues: US vs. Genuine Reforms
At The United Nations
By Ramzy Baroud

The country that has long been known to abuse its powers and privileges in the United Nations is now leading a campaign to reform the same organization. While UN reforms are welcomed, if not demanded, by many of its member states, there is little reason to believe the recent US crusade is actually genuine. Rather, it seems a clear attempt to stifle any semblance of democracy in the world’s leading international institution

Eyewitness To Israel's Ethnic Cleansing
By Bill Mullen

Purdue University professor Bill Mullen traveled to Palestine with a delegation of academics to find out about the obstacles facing Palestinian students and educators

Can Occupy Save Labor?
By Kevin Zeese

The uniting of union militancy with Americans in revolt seems to have turned this conflict into a victory for workers

Misuse Of Intelligence: Right To Dissent
By S.G.Vombatkere

The national and state intelligence agencies have advised the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that “ some rights organisations ” that decry state violence are purposefully or at least effectively taking sides with Maoists and “ actively helping spread the Maoist ideology ”. They have suggested that “ the Union government take steps to limit the activities of leading human rights organizations ”

Open Letter by The Victims of
Police Surveillance in Kerala
Press Statement

The Government elected by people like us has a duty to protect the privacy of the citizens of this country. We are shocked to see that the same Government is in reality infringing upon our privacy. We consider this as an open violation of one of our basic human rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution

Analyzing The ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota--Part II
By Khalid Anis Ansari

The recent lower caste movements within the non-Hindu religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikhism have foregrounded the presence of caste-based differentiation and discrimination within these communities in the public sphere

Nothing Special about Special Economic Zones
By Devinder Sharma

By October 2011, ministry of commerce had approved 583 SEZs. As per news reports, one-third of these – approximately 202 -- have been already withdrawn. A majority of those who are still struck are known to be looking for better escape options

26 January, 2012

Why Climate Change Will Make You Love
Big Government
By Christian Parenti

In the face of an unraveling climate system, there is no way that private enterprise alone will meet the threat. And though small “d” democracy and “community” may be key parts of a strong, functional, and fair society, volunteerism and “self-organization” alone will prove as incapable as private enterprise in responding to the massive challenges now beginning to unfold

Green Economy And Growth:
Fiddling While Rome Burns?
By Manu V. Mathai

A truly green economy must be a revolution of democracy and equality as manifest in the technology infrastructure that is shaped by society, and which, in turn, is shaped by it

Turkey Threatens Intervention Into Iraq
By James Cogan

Relations between the Turkish and Iraqi governments have deteriorated sharply. In a speech to parliament on Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, the head of a Sunni Islam-based religious party, accused his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki, the leader of a Shiite-coalition, of promoting sectarian violence against the Sunni minority in Iraq

Comparing India And Australia On 26 January:
India 's Republic Day
And Australia 's Australia Day (Invasion Day)
By Dr Gideon Polya

26 January is the Republic Day of India and Australia Day. It is salutary to compare India , Australia and their considerable interactions, of which most - notably excepting those on the cricket field - have been kept from public perception

Analyzing The ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota—Part I
By Khalid Anis Ansari

The recent announcement of a 4.5% sub-quota for backward sections within minorities in the overall Central OBC quota by the UPA government on 22nd December, 2011 in the wake of elections in five states, including the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, has drawn in a number of reactions, some valid and others not

25 January, 2012

The Truth Behind The Coming
"Regime Change" In Syria
By Shamus Cooke

The United States appears to be using a strategy in Syria that it has perfected over the years, having succeeded most recently in Libya: arming small paramilitary groups loyal to U.S. interests that claim to speak for the native population; these militants then attack the targeted government the U.S. would like to see overthrown — including terrorist bombings — and when the attacked government defends itself, the U.S. cries "genocide" or "mass murder,” while calling for foreign military intervention. This is the strategy that the U.S. is using to channel the Arab Spring into the bloody dead end of foreign military intervention

IMF Warning On Global Downturn
By Nick Beams

The International Monetary Fund has added its voice to those of the World Bank and the United Nations in warning of a global slowdown and increased financial risks flowing from the eurozone crisis

Capital's Globe Wide Risks
By Farooque Chowdhury

Under the darkening shadow of capital's crisis hundreds of world capital bosses are meeting in Davos, a snow covered Swiss mountain village. On the eve of this annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), capital's salvation-searching convention, the Global Risk 2012 report “reveals a constellation of fiscal, demographic and societal risks signalling a dystopian future”

Killing Iraqis Makes Us Safer --
And Other SOTU Lies
By David Swanson

A deconstruction of Obama's State of the Union speech

Occupying Libido: Negotiating A Landscape Of
Hypocrisy And Hungry Ghosts
By Phil Rockstroh

Show your face to the world. Occupy libido by acts large and small, public and private

Is The Ocean An Alternative?
By Tom Murphy

As I cast about looking for reasons why I should not worry about our energy future, I find little solace when I look to the sea

Need Of The Hour: Green Investments
In The Marine Sector
By Marianne de Nazareth

The UNEP report, Green Economy in a Blue World, argues that the ecological health and economic productivity of marine and coastal ecosystems, which are currently in decline around the globe, can be boosted by shifting to a more sustainable economic paradigm that taps their natural potential - from generating renewable energy and promoting eco-tourism, to sustainable fisheries and transport

Declare Cold Wave As Disaster
By S. Mohammed Irshad

Cold Wave should be declared as a disaster to ensure at least bare minimum support to save lives. The people are exposed to extreme weather just because of being homeless

Confuse And Deceive – Email Interception In Kerala And The Formula For Political Survival
By Yaseen Ashraf

The issue of email snooping by the Kerala Special Branch CID has been distorted out of its true meaning by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his Government. The Government is now playing the good old trick of “confuse and deceive”

24 January, 2012

European Union Imposes Oil Embargo On Iran
By Peter Symonds

European Union (EU) foreign ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday imposed far-reaching economic sanctions on Iran, including an embargo on Iranian oil imports that will come into full force in July. The embargo is an act of economic war that heightens the danger of a slide into military hostilities in the Persian Gulf

Country By Country Analysis Of Fossil Fuel
Burning-Based Carbon Debt And Carbon Credit
By Dr Gideon Polya

A simpler and comprehensive analysis of Carbon Debt (Climate Debt) for all countries of the World is presented here that reports Carbon Debt in millions of tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuel burning alone (and ignores GHG pollution deriving from land use (agriculture and forestry), methane, nitrous oxide (N2O) and other GHGs

Shale Shocked: Fracking Gets Its Own
Occupy Movement
By Ellen Cantarow

This story isn’t about tragedy. It’s about a resistance movement that has arisen to challenge some of the most powerful corporations in history

Local Economies For A Global Future
By Jason F. McLennan

This article is about a simple, singular idea, yet the significance of the idea to modern society is profound and far-reaching. Here it is: In the near future anything heavy will become intensely local while at the same time the limits to things that are ‘light’, ideas, philosophies, information will travel even further than today—literally and figuratively. This is a new paradigm for humanity and it has huge implications for the complete reordering of society

Weapons ‘R’ Us
By William J. Astore

Sixty years ago, it was said that what’s good for General Motors is good for America. In 1955, as Bob Seger sang, we were young and strong and makin’ Thunderbirds. But today we’re playing a new tune with new lyrics: what’s good for Lockheed Martin or Boeing or [insert major-defense-contractor-of-your-choice here] is good for America

The Misadventure of Ron Paul
By Billy Wharton

The idea that Ron Paul offers a kind of alternative to mainstream politics falls apart quite easily upon inspection. There are three primary reasons for this – two relate to Paul himself and the other is a function of mainstream politics more generally. In the end, it is more accurate to say that Ron Paul is mainstream politics unmasked, a raw version of what both Democrats and Republicans desire to become if left to their own devices

A New Year Of Tough Times Ahead
By Jack A. Smith

The new year has dawned upon a deeply troubled America. Times are not good in the best of all possible nation states, which has suddenly discovered that the seven-league boots with which it is accustomed to stride the globe have become ill-fitting and down at the heels

Terror Error: Breakthrough in
13/7 Mumbai Blast Exposed
By TCN Staff Reporter

Hours after the Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria on Monday claimed to get a breakthrough in the July 13, 2011 Mumbai serial blasts by arresting three culprits, the Union Home Ministry said the Maharashtra ATS caught wrong men

Some Questions For The Maharashtra ATS Chief
By Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association

The Maharashtra ATS claims to have cracked the 13/7 blasts case. Its chief has revealed in a press conference that Indian Mujahideen was behind the Mumbai blasts. And yet, the Ministry of Home Affairs remains far from impressed—indeed, it appears rather irritated. And the press, also unusually, has been circumspect about his revelations

An Ode To The Women Who Became Statistics
By Samar

New Delhi, the capital of the biggest democracy of the world witnesses a rape every 18 hours, and an incident of sexual harassment takes place here every 14 hours

23 January, 2012

Protests In Romania Enter Their Second Week
By WSWS

As protests in Romania enter their second week, workers are facing increased pressure and threats from the ruling elite

Ten Steps For Radical Revolution In USA
By Bill Quigley

If those in government and those in power do not help the people do what is right, people seeking change must together exercise our human rights and bring about these changes directly. Dr. King and millions of others lived and worked for a radical revolution of values. We will as well

Are Wars Inevitable?
By William T. Hathaway

New research shows that war is not inevitable but rather a function of the stress a society is under. Our biological nature doesn't force us to war, it just gives us the potential for it. Without stress to provoke it, violence can remain one of the many unexpressed capacities our human evolution has given us

On Prospects Of Eco-Socialism
In Russia And The World
By Victor Postnikov

What is needed is neither capitalism, nor socialism, but a nature-based philosophy and democracy, where all creatures and plants have equal rights to flourish. Humanity badly needs a revival of its animistic roots, and luckily these have been preserved in the remaining aboriginal cultures

Israel Needs Blockbusters
By Uri Avnery

Five blocks dominate Israeli society. There are (1) the old Ashkenazim (Jews of European origin); (2) the Oriental (or “Sephardi”) Jews; (3) the religious (partly Ashkenazi, partly Oriental); (4) the “Russians”, immigrants from all the countries of the former Soviet union; and (5) the Palestinian-Arab citizens, who did not come from anywhere.Our first job is to break the barriers between the blocs, change reality, create a new Israeli society. We need blockbusters

China: Wukan Protest Shut Down
By John Chan

In a move to end 15 weeks of protest in Wukan village, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on January 15 appointed protest leader Lin Zuluan as the village’s new party secretary. He replaces Xue Chang, a local businessman who had run the village for four decades but is now under investigation for corruption

Lebanon's Maid of Darkness Facing
US Hates Crimes Investigation
By Franklin Lamb

Ms. Brigitte Gabriel has attracted the attention of the FBI investigating her organization, “Act for America!” for possible hate crimes and financial irregularities, according to US Congressional Judiciary Committee sources

The Plow And The iPhone: Conservative
Fantasies About The Miracles Of The Market
By Robert Jensen

Throughout history, the political projects of the wealthy have been driven by propaganda. There is no reason to expect that to change anytime soon, which means popular movements for economic justice and ecological sustainability not only have to struggle to change the future but also to tell the truth about the past

The Long Climb Up Hubbert's Peak
By Peter Goodchild

How much planning has been done, for example, to deal with the massive global famine that is approaching? None

22 January, 2012

Australian Report Predicts Peak Oil Around 2017
By Matt Mushalik

Australian Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics study predicts peak oil around 2017, followed by permanent decline

Transport Energy Futures: Long-Term
Oil Supply Trends And Projections
(Australian Peak Oil Report)
By Dr David Gargett

The modelling is forecasting what can be termed ‘the 2017 drop-off’. The outlook under a base case scenario is for a long decline in oil production to begin in 2017, which will stretch to the end of the century and beyond

Keystone XL | The Ivory Towers Crushing
The Last Remnants Of Climate Justice
By Cory Morningstar

Our climate justice movement has been co-opted by the plutocrats themselves. They own it. Yet no one even notices

Radical Environmentalists
By Michael A. Lewis

Lately, over the past five years or so, opponents of environmentalism have stepped up the ante at the table of public opinion. There is now an orchestrated effort to discredit environmentalists and environmentalism by calling us "radical environmentalists" and associating this appellation with "ecoterrorism."

The Sham And Shame of Slavoj Žižek's
“Honest Pessimism”
By Raymond Lotta

The December 2011-January 2012 issue of The Platypus Review features an interview with philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek. It is a fusillade of distortion of the historical experience of revolution and socialism in the 20th century, accompanied by an egregiously uninformed and unprincipled attack on Bob Avakian's new synthesis of communism

21 January, 2012

Governments Spend $1.4 Billion Per Day
To Destabilize Climate
By Lester R. Brown

Worldwide, direct fossil fuel subsidies added up to roughly $500 billion in 2010. Of this, supports on the production side totaled some $100 billion. Supports for consumption exceeded $400 billion, with $193 billion for oil, $91 billion for natural gas, $3 billion for coal, and $122 billion spent subsidizing the use of fossil fuel-generated electricity. All together, governments are shelling out nearly $1.4 billion per day to further destabilize the earth’s climate

How The Pipeline Died And How To
Bury It For Good
By Jamie Henn

This Wednesday afternoon, the Obama administration rejected the permit for Keystone XL, a 1,700 mile oil pipeline that would have run from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. The announcement is a huge victory for the grassroots climate movement

Ecology And The Pathology Of Capitalism
By Charles Sullivan

We are literally sacrificing the Earth’s life support systems and mortgaging the future, while attempting to satiate the greed of a few grotesquely wealthy individuals. Through lifelong indoctrination, Americans are persuaded that self-interested greed is in their best interest

Have Israel’s “Inner Circles” Discussed
Assassinating President Obama?
By Alan Hart

What is happening in America on the Republican side of the fence has about it the smell of what happened in Israel in the countdown to the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin by a Zionist fanatic. What do I mean?

World Peace Hanging By A Theread
By Fidel Castro Ruz

News is not only coming out of Iran and the Middle East, but also from other parts of Central Asia near the Middle East. These reports show the great complexity of the problems that can arise from this dangerous region

Iran War: US Eyes Mideast Gendarme Role
By Dr. Ismail Salami

The temptation of attacking Iran long entertained by Washington and Israel is gradually crystallizing into a reality of fear and angst and has already become an alarmingly worrisome idea even for those who are wont to see the glass half full

Human Rights Groups Charge NATO With
War Crimes In Libya
By Bill Van Auken

There is strong evidence that NATO carried out war crimes in its eight-month war for regime-change in Libya, according to a report released Thursday by Middle East human rights groups

King Who Condemned US Wars Again Betrayed
By War-Supporting Clergy’s Praise
By Jay Janson

We have just witnessed the annual birthday highlighted betrayal of Rev. KIng, with clergy leading the way, a betrayal of what King taught and was dedicated to when he was assassinated, namely, exposing the US overseas crimes against humanity for predatory investments, that were draining away men, money and resources. A review of clergy support of all US Wars no matter how blatantly unjust as the 1967 King had never existed

The Dilemma of Cow Slaughter in India
By Anshul Kumar Pandey

The Madhya Pradesh government's recently passed ‘GauVadhPratishedh (Sanshodhan) Act 2012' is a ridiculous piece of legislation and should be thoroughly criticized and debunked for its innate communal overtones. As a piece of legislation, it has set up new standards of intellectual and legislative bankruptcy of the political class of Madhya Pradesh and has exposed its obsession with injecting communal poison into the society