December 2012 - Page 5 of 6

[This essay will appear in “Intoxication,” the Winter 2012 issue of Lapham’s Quarterly. This slightly adapted version is posted at TomDispatch.com with the kind permission of that magazine.]

The question that tempts mankind to the use of substances controlled and uncontrolled is next of kin to Hamlet’s: to be, or not to be, someone or somewhere else. Escape from a grievous circumstance or the shambles of an unwanted self, the hope of finding at a higher altitude a new beginning or a better deal. Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars; give me leave to drown my sorrow in a quart of gin; wine, dear boy, and truth. read more

Vandana Shiva: Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest

Vandana Shiva December 11, 2012 Vandana Shiva

My ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. My father was a forest conservator, and my mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India and Pakistan. It is from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that I learned most of what I know about ecology.

Monsanto Cotton: Dirty White Gold

Belen Fernandez December 10, 2012 Belen Fernandez

Source: Al Jazeera

Monsanto’s claim that it’s a “sustainable agriculture company” doesn’t hold water.

The website of US-based biotech giant Monsanto boasts that the corporation qualifies as “a sustainable agriculture company”.

Given Monsanto’s legacy as a producer of the lethal defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, Southeast Asian agriculture would presumably beg to differ with this characterisation.

Sustainability is also not the first word that comes to mind when contemplating Monsanto’s policy of sowing the earth with genetically modified seeds that destroy soil and are designed with nonrenewable traits so as to require constant repurchase as well as acquisition of a variety of other company products like fertilizers and pesticides. read more

CWA protest against Trans-Pacific Partnership

Human Rights Day: Building the Movement to Reclaim Democracy

Beverly Bell and Larry Cohen December 10, 2012 Beverly Bell and Larry Cohen

An interview with Larry Cohen, who has headed the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America (CWA), under the banner of “Fight Back,” since 2005.

Palestine’s New Status: A History Rerun or a New Palestinian Strategy

Ramzy Baroud December 10, 2012 Ramzy Baroud

Palestine has become a “non-member state” at the United Nations as of Thursday November 29, 2012. The draft of the UN resolution beckoning what many perceive as a historic moment passed with an overwhelming majority of General Assembly members: 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.

End of the World Party

Toward Freedom December 5, 2012 Toward Freedom

The board of Toward Freedom invites you to gather as the Mayan calendar winds down, and share your visions of the not-too-distant future. What will be happening politically, culturally, or otherwise?

Month: December 2012

Raiding Consciousness: Why the War on Drugs Is a War on Human Nature

Vandana Shiva: Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest

Monsanto Cotton: Dirty White Gold

Human Rights Day: Building the Movement to Reclaim Democracy

Palestine’s New Status: A History Rerun or a New Palestinian Strategy

End of the World Party