 | Online nowWilliam is a 38 year old married guy from Queretaro, Mexico. For too long an invisible hand has been urging us to spend money we don't have and wage wars we cannot win. There is a cost, but this has largely been borne by the poor and nature. Luckily, this system is crumbling. I'm here in the hope of learning and sharing ways to make the transition as quick and as painless as possible, and to get myself and others thinking about the type of new society we want to build. If we don't do this then what is left of the world post-meltdown may find itself subverted to a will even worse than the market. |
- Housing Minister: Spread of Arab population must be stopped...
 Jul 3, 4:48pm  (4 reviews) israel http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097...- The barmy Israeli state not only wants to segregate Arabs and Jews, but even separate orthodox Jews from secular ones.
Ariel Atias, the Israeli housing minister.
- Felipe Gonzalez takes on Blair for EU presidency -...
- Jul 1, 7:40pm (2 reviews) politics, europe http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...
- If the European Union gets a president, it might turn out to be Spaniard Felipe Gonzalez and not Tony Blair.
Gonzalez (to the right of this photograph) had previously been linked with the extra-judicial killing of Basque separatists but, even if true, this pales into insignificance when put beside the crime with which his competitor is charged: the ultimate crime of waging pre-emptive war; a crime with more than a million victims. Europe also needs someone who cares more about Europe than they do about the United States. For both of these reasons, Gonzalez should be favourite to beat Blair to the post.
- Freegaza - ISRAEL ATTACKS JUSTICE BOAT; KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS;...
- Jun 30, 9:40am
 (2 reviews) activism, sailing, middle-east http://freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-n... - In a scene reminiscent of Somali piracy, the Israeli Navy last night menaced then boarded an unarmed, civilian mercy ship bound for Gaza. The ship was in Gazan territorial waters within which Israel has no legal jurisdiction.
The Israelis kidnapped the civilian crew, which included a former US congresswoman and a Nobel Laureate, and stole the cargo of toys, medicines, olive trees and a small quantity of building supplies.
It may be possible to find worse regimes than that of Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, but none will have good trading relations with the European Union or receive billions of dollars annually from the US taxpayer. Hypocrisy!
- How America should get out of the crisis: Craig Barrett- International...
- Jun 29, 5:08pm (1 review) economics http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/arti...
- With oil back at US$70 a barrel, the pressure for Russia to innovate is off. And while the world allows to US to print more of the world's reserve currency, the pressure for America to reform is also off. Meanwhile, China is censoring the Internet.
None of these actions, according to Craig Barrett and Thomas Friedman, is going to help these three countries climb out of recession.
Barrett's radical suggestion: link ownership of a driving licence to finishing high school. It would be sure to increase the education level, but would further disadvantage those unable to make the grade - for whatever reason.
His other suggestions for the USA:
(1) Require every state to benchmark their education standards against the best in the world, not the state next door. (Too embarrassing!)
(2) Double the budgets for basic scientific research at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (How? By printing more money? By raising taxes? By cutting defence spending?)
(3) Lower the corporate tax rate. (Benefiting big oil and Coca-Cola more than solar panel makers and innovative upstarts.)
(4) Revamp Sarbanes-Oxley so it's easier to start a small business. (Most small businesses fail, costing the rest of society dearly.)
(5) Find a cost-effective way to extend health care to every American. (Again, where will the money come from?)
Interesting read though!
- Hugo Chávez vows to bring them down after seeing Honduran ally ousted...
- Jun 28, 6:24pm (1 review) politics, central-america http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun...
- We thought we'd seen the end of coups in Latin America. Hopefully this one in Honduras, which has been condemned internationally, will prove short lived.
Above: a supporter of the exiled Honduran president protests against the coup.
- Iran: Stop the Crackdown
- Jun 24, 9:19am (1 review) activism, politics, middle-east http://www.avaaz.org/en/iran_stop_the_cr...
- We won't recognise the legitimacy of the Iranian government until the issue of the disputed election has been settled PEACEFULLY. Petition to the Islamic Conference, the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations.
- http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/oil-boom-threatens-the...
- Jun 23, 7:51pm (1 review) animals, environment http://www.independent.co.uk/environment...
- Jardines, a British company founded almost 200 years ago to supply opium to the Chinese, is helping destroy the Indonesian rainforest and the habitat of the orang-utan.
Soaring demand for palm oil is the cause: the possible extinction of an intelligent primate, a reduction in biodiversity and vast emissions of greenhouse gases are the results.
It's worth avoiding products containing palm oils if you can - but as they range from lipstick to chocolate to milk powder to biofuels, this can be difficult. It's also worth having a word with your local supermarket.
- Op-Ed Contributor - Fictions on the Ground - NYTimes.com
- Jun 22, 7:26pm (1 review) politics, middle-east http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/opinio...
- Tony Judt calls the lie on Israel's 'settlements': whether authorised or unauthorised, they amount to colonies and are illegal under the Geneva Convention and the United Nations Charter.
The colonies, which are home to almost as many people as the District of Columbia, would not be possible without American funding.
So after Netanyahu's speech, which fooled many in the US into thinking Israel was offering the Palestinians a state, will Obama continue with the American policy of being Israel's patsy to the rest of the world's disgust?
If courageous columnists like Tony Judt have their way (and it takes great courage to speak the truth about Israel in the 'Land of the Free') then the answer is 'no'.
- Brilliant Atheist Bertrand Russell On Science And Religion & Gero's Blog...
- Jun 21, 8:41pm (14 reviews) atheist, religion, science http://jgero.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/br...
Today, scientists have asked Jews and Muslims not to slit the throats of live, un-anaesthetised animals because it causes great pain and distress. Unfortunately, while evidence is very good at changing the minds of some, others are afraid to stray from the roads laid by ignorant men many centuries past. So the pain and distress look set to continue; and not just for the animals.
- http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pak...
- Jun 18, 2:49pm (1 review) news, united-states, pakistan http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn...
- A pilotless US drone has fired two missiles on a village in Pakistan, killing between nine and eleven people.
Whenever I read news like this I am reminded of the apologists for Israeli aggression in Gaza and their assertion that no country would allow its citizens to be bombed without retaliating. I understand a fleet of Pakistani ships, some armed with nuclear weapons, to be on its way to Washington DC as I type.
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