Getting Somalia Wrong?

Somalia is a failed state, representing a threat to itself, its neighbours and the wider world

Zed Books | 13 March 2012

Getting Somalia Wrong: Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State by Mary Harper

9 February 2012 – Paperback - ISBN: 9781842779330 - 232 pages

 

 

 

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When the Mining Is Over, a Toxic Mess Remains

The East Kalimantan administration has revealed that 230 degraded coal mining concessions in the province have never been restored by the concession holders, despite their obligation to do so

Tunggadewa Mattangkilang | Jakarta Globe | March 08, 2012

Coal mining at Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), PT. Bumi Resources in East Kalimantan. Land reclamation efforts in East Kalimantan have been hampered by the central government's reluctance to release jamrek funds. The province is now littered with toxic abandoned mines. (Photo Courtesy of PT. Bumi Resources)

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Japan's Hamaoka nuclear plant sees tsunami defense in (very big) wall

Japan's controversial Hamaoka nuclear plant, shut down after Fukushima, wants to reopen once a 54-ft.-high, mile-long wall is finished. But the plant also sits on a seismic fault line, raising more than a few doubts

By Peter Ford | Christian Science Monitor | March 10, 2012

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Entire nation of Kiribati to be relocated over rising sea level threat

The low-lying Pacific nation of Kiribati is negotiating to buy land in Fiji so it can relocate islanders under threat from rising sea levels

By Paul Chapman | The Telegraph | 07 Mar 2012

The low-lying Pacific archipelago of Kiribati Photo: REUTERS

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Climate Market Failure: Whatever Happened to Constructive Conflict?

In 2007, former World Bank chief economist Nick Stern termed climate change the worst ‘market failure’ in history – since those who pollute greenhouse gases are not charged, and since they threaten future generations and vast swathes of natural life – and at that moment, even the 1991 ravings of another former Bank chief economist, Larry Summers, made sense

by PATRICK BOND | Counterpunch | February 29, 2012

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German Apprenticeship vs US/UK Uni-Jobless System

It is no big secret that youth unemployment is especially high in Anglo-Saxon economies at the present time

Emanuel | International Political Economy Zone | March 1, 2012

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Imperial leftovers

You probably don’t know it, but Réunion Island has been racked by riots about the price of gas last week. For those of you who happen not to be specialists of African geography, Réunion Island is a French département, roughly half the size of Rhode Island, located in the Ocean Indian, not far from Madagascar. It is officially a part of France, even if, of course, Frenchmen care about it only when it affects the mainland, such as when a chikungunya epidemic threatened to spill over Southern France

by Damien Perrotin | Feb 29 2012 by The View from Brittany in Energy Bulletin | Feb 29 2012

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Farming and energy: lessons from collapsed civilisations

Renewable energy technologies and agro-ecological farming represent opportunities to avoid the mistakes of the past

Andrew Simms | guardian.co.uk | 1 March 2012

We are more aware now of the likely consequences of our choices than any society in history. Photograph: Martin Bernett/ AFP

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After the Durban climate talks: State and market climate failures amplified by civil society failure

In 2007, former World Bank chief economist Nick Stern termed climate change the worst "market failure" in history – since those who pollute with greenhouse gases are not charged, and since they threaten future generations and vast swathes of natural life – and at that moment, even the 1991 ravings of another former World Bank chief economist, Larry Summers, made sense

By Patrick Bond | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal | February 28, 2012

Durban, December 3, 2011. Photo by Anne Petermann/GJEP-GFC.

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Somali famine 'will kill tens of thousands'

The UN in Somalia says tens of thousands of people will have died of starvation by the time the famine in the Horn of Africa ends

BBC News | 15 January 2012

Many Somalis have fled across the border into Ethiopia to seek aid

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The Blood of the Earth, or Pulp Nonfiction

Some of my readers have wondered aloud why it is that I’ve devoted so much time in recent weeks to the current flurry of 2012 prophecies and their close equivalents. One reason is that there’s good reason to think that we’re going to hear quite a bit more about these prophecies in the months to come; unless I miss my guess, the apocalyptic bubble that’s inflating now, and will pop this coming December 22, is going to be one for the record books. Still, there’s at least one more reason to pay close attention to that bubble just now

by John Michael Greer | Jan 11 2012 by The Archdruid Report in Energy Bulletin | Jan 11 2012

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Canadian natives warn against pipeline to Pacific

Aboriginal leaders opposed to a C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) oil sands pipeline backed by Canada's government warned on Tuesday that the project could devastate fishing and traditional life on the rugged Pacific Coast and called for it to be stopped

By Jeffrey Jones | Reuters | Jan 10, 2012

Hereditary Chief of the Haisla First Nation, Sam Robinson (L), testifies next to Henry Amos, a band councillor, before the Enbridge's Inc's Northern Gateway pipeline Joint Review hearing in Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, January 10, 2012. Aboriginal leaders opposed to a C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) oil sands pipeline backed by Canada's government warned on Tuesday that the project could devastate fishing and traditional life on the rugged Pacific Coast and called for it to be stopped. Credit: Reuters/Robin Rowland

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Climate Change Models May Underestimate Extinction, Study Shows

Climate change projections may “grossly” underestimate the extinction of animal and plant varieties because the models don’t account for species movement and competition, U.S. researchers said

By Rudy Ruitenberg | Bloomberg | Jan 4, 2012

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Will the World End in 2012?

The millenarian prophecies of doom that have rumbled on since 2000 are coming to a head this year, with the Mayan prophecy of the end of the world receiving serious news coverage

by Molly Scott Cato | Gaian Economics | 3 January 2012

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Don’t feed the world? How food aid can do more harm than good

While the media again reports 'famine in the horn of Africa' caused by 'drought', Rasna Warah looks at the real reasons why people are going hungry

Rasna Warah | Red Pepper | January 2012

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New Year Brings Economic Aftershocks

Hideo Sato, 47, and his family escaped to this snowy city 200 km from the radiation emitting Fuksuhima power plant that was struck by a massive earthquake-driven tsunami on Mar. 11

By Suvendrini Kakuchi | Inter-Press Service | Jan 1, 2012

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Europe cannot save the euro, nor save itself from the euro

The deflated apparatchiks of the EU watch powerlessly as a tragedy unfolds

By Christopher Booker | The Telegraph | 31 Dec 2011

Commission President Barroso and Council President Van Rompuy at a summit in Brussels, December 2011 Photo: Isopix/Rex Features

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Review: "The Wealth of Nature" by John Michael Greer

John Michael Greer takes on economics, a subject in desperate need of his characteristic, level-headed analysis. The usual growth oriented fantastical notions that have plagued the subject over the last half century were in particular need of such cool headed dispatching

by Amanda Kovattana | Energy Bulletin | Dec 30 2011

The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered
By John Michael Greer
263 pp. New Society Publishers – May 2011. $18.95

 

 

 

 

 

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Hawaii: Our Very Own Island Nation, Battling Climate Change Via Innovation

Amid the abstract arguments that often dominate discussions of climate change (let’s face it, for the average person climate models and debates over half a degree here or there don’t hold much relevance), the pleas of island nations have helped to put a human face on things

Amy Westervelt | Forbes | December 29, 2011

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Philippines floods death toll nears 1,500

The death toll from flash floods that swept away entire villages in the southern Philippines climbed to nearly 1,500 today, as authorities widened their search for bodies

Associated Press in NZHerald.co.nz | Dec 27, 2011

Flash flood victims cross a river after receiving relief goods in Iligan city, southern Philippines on Christmas day. Photo / AP

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