By Chris HedgesPosted on 14 September 2010 by rockingjude The United States, locked in the kind of twilight disconnect that grips dying empires, is a country entranced by illusions. It spends its emotional and intellectual energy on the trivial and the absurd. It is captivated by the hollow stagecraft of celebrity culture as the walls […]
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ and GARANCE BURKE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS8 November 2011 CADIZ, California – Off historic Route 66 in the heart of the California desert, the barren landscape of dry scrub and rock abruptly gives way to an oasis of tall green trees heavy with lemons and grape vines awaiting next month’s harvest. Some think […]
21,000 villagers are in “full revolt” against Communist authorities, for illegally selling farmland and pocketing the profits. Chinese Authorities Lose Control as Village Revolts Technorati Tags: China,Asia,conflict,corruption,agriculture
By Rachel Cernansky16 December 2011 Over the last decade, more than 200 million hectares of land in developing countries have been sold off in large-scale land transactions that tend to benefit “national elites” while harming the world’s poor and rural populations, according to a new report from the International Land Coalition (ILC). The group calls […]
By Rhett A. Butler, www.mongabay.com 16 December 2011 Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) continues to mislead the public about its role in destroying rainforests and critical tiger habitat across the Indonesian island of Sumatra, alleges a new report from Eyes on the Forest, a coalition of Indonesian environmental groups including WWF-Indonesia. But APP is sharply […]
By arevamirpal::laprimavera16 December 2011 Declaring a cold shutdown, even with “state”, is a joke, but Noda went further and declared the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident to be over. Why did he do that? Asahi Shinbun (12/16/2011) reports that: 「事故の収束」という、より強い表現に置き換えることで、風評被害など国内外に根強い原発事故への不安を払拭（ふっしょく）したいという狙いがある。政権は今後、放射性物質の除染を進めていく方針。避難区域の縮小も行い、住民の帰還へとつなげたい考えだ。 By using the word “the accident is over”, the government wants to dispel […]
By Chris McGreal in Washington, www.guardian.co.uk 14 December 2011 Barack Obama has abandoned a commitment to veto a new security law that allows the military to indefinitely detain without trial American terrorism suspects arrested on US soil who could then be shipped to Guantánamo Bay. Human rights groups accused the president of deserting his principles […]
By William Pesek 13 December 2011 Want to know why Japan’s earthquake recovery efforts are moving in slow motion? Ask the whales. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to shocking news items since the earth shook and the oceans rose: the nuclear meltdown has proven far worse than the government admitted; radioactive cesium made its way into […]
By Krista Mahr12 December 2011 They’re baaaaaaaccck. Whale hunting season kicked off in Japan last week as three ships set off with a security vessel on their annual pilgrimage to cull hundreds of minke and fin whales in Antarctic waters. And so begins the annual showdown between the whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, […]
Bangkok, December 11 (DPA) – Thailand’s flood disaster has been made worse by government corruption, business leaders have complained, a news report said Sunday. Thai Chamber of Commerce chairman Pongsak Assakul was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying the flooding was one of the worst crises ever to hit the kingdom. ‘And state corruption […]
