October 2010 - Page 3 of 6

Ending Africa’s Hunger Means Listening to Farmers

Stephen Leahy October 19, 2010 Stephen Leahy

Africa is hungry – 240 million people are undernourished. Now, for the first-time, small African farmers have been properly consulted on how to solve the problem of feeding sub-Saharan Africa. Their answers appear to directly repudiate a massive international effort to launch an African Green Revolution funded in large part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Instead of new hybrid seeds, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, family farmers in West Africa said they want to use local seeds, avoid spending precious cash on chemicals and most importantly to direct public agricultural research to meet their needs, according to a multi-media publication released on World Food Day (Oct. 16). read more

Nigeria: Shell Oil’s ‘License to Kill’

Abena Ampofoa Asare October 19, 2010 Abena Ampofoa Asare

A judge in the Manhattan-based federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that transnational corporations who participate in gross human rights abuses cannot be held responsible for torture, genocide, war crimes and the like because, as corporations, their activities fall outside the jurisdiction of international law.

Bring Cochabamba to Cancun!

Various Authors October 18, 2010 Various Authors

Source: Green Left Weekly World People’s Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights held in Cochabmba, Bolivia in April. Photo: TheCityProject/Flickr

The following call was issued by Canadian-based non-government organisations, community groups and individuals to join the growing global movement for climate justice. It calls for mobilising in the lead-up and during the United Nations climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, over November 27-December 10.

The call was issued at a meeting of the endorsees with Bolivian President Evo Morales during the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York on September 23. The Bolivian government hosted a “people’s summit” for real action on climate change in Cochabamba in April that drew representatives of social movements and parties from around the world. read more

Beyond Wyclef: What Haitians Want From Elections

Beverly Bell October 18, 2010 Beverly Bell

We asked dozens of Haitians from different social sectors how they felt about the November 28 elections, and what they want or expect from a new government. Here are some of their responses.

Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America

Benjamin Dangl October 14, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

From dynamite-wielding miners in Bolivia to the struggles of landless farmers in Brazil and Paraguay, the new book Dancing with Dynamite discusses the relationship between movements and states in seven different Latin American countries.

The Politics of Videogames: Reality and Overreaction

Laura Flanders, Grit TV October 14, 2010 Laura Flanders, Grit TV

Source: Grit TV

‘Medal of Honor’ is a video game out this week set in modern day, war-torn Afghanistan. The controversy? As a player you can choose to play on the opposing force– as the Taliban. This has led to the game being banned at US Army base stores.

Another game causing a stir is called ‘Hey Baby,’ a simulation of street harassment that allows women to fight back. So is everything fair game when it comes to virtual gaming? To discuss this and more, we’re joined by two video gamer experts, Kieron Gillen, director of Rock Paper Shotgun and Lucas Siegel, site editor of Newsarama and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. read more