Global News and Analysis

 

Massive Methane Melt off Siberia

Julia Whitty March 8, 2010 Julia Whitty

Source: Mother Jones

– Image courtesy NOAA

Arctic seabed stores of methane are now destabilizing and venting vast stores of frozen methane-a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The paper, in the prestigious journal Science, reports the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf-long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane-is instead perforated and leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Melting of even a fraction of the clathrates stored in that shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming. Lead author Natalia Shakhova Shakhova of the International Arctic Research Center tells U of Alaska Fairbanks: read more

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DoD Releases Records of Illegal Surveillance

William Fisher March 3, 2010 William Fisher

Source: Truthout

Defense Department agencies improperly collected and disseminated intelligence on Planned Parenthood and a white supremacist group called the National Alliance, an Air Force briefing improperly included intelligence on an antiwar group called Alaskans for Peace and Justice, and Army Signals Intelligence in Louisiana unlawfully intercepted civilian cell phone conversations.

These are among the disclosures made this week in the release of more than 800 heavily-redacted pages of intelligence oversight reports, detailing activities that the Defense Department’s (DoD) Inspector General has "reason to believe are unlawful." read more

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Chinua Achebe: The Oracle of Africa

G. Pascal Zachary March 2, 2010 G. Pascal Zachary

Source: In These Times

Nigeria is no longer the butt of jokes, known only for spam mail importuning readers to assist in the recovery of an ill-gotten fortune. Home to one in every six black Africans, Africa’s most populous country is now a trendsetter worthy of serious attention, political analysis-and great puzzlement.

Anglicans in Nigeria now give orders to their American counterparts, who have aligned with them in opposing rights for gay Christians. Unrest in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region-where rebels abduct employees of Chevron, the California-based oil multinational-translates into higher gasoline prices for Americans, who consume more than 800,000 barrels of Nigerian crude a day (nearly as much as that provided by Saudi Arabia). read more

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Vermont Event: Report Back From Human Rights Delegation to Honduras

Toward Freedom February 23, 2010 Toward Freedom

Fear and Defiance in Post-Coup Honduras

Monday, March 1st, 7pm, FreeBurlington College 95 North Avenue, Burlington, VTCommunity Room

Call 802-881-3293 for more info.

"Nos tienen miedo porque no tenemos miedo." (They are afraid of us because we are not afraid.)  – Slogan chanted by activists in the grassroots movement for democracy in Honduras The Honduran oligarchy and their military, backed by Washington, have long ruled their country by spreading fear and violence. But when they overthrew the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009, they awakened a new spirit of resistance.

Burlington resident Peter Lackowski recently returned from a two week Rights Action delegation in Honduras. On this trip he met with many of the people who are creating a brave new movement which aims to break free of the US empire, the Honduran elite and establish a real democracy in their country. At this event Lackowski will cover the events leading up to the coup and the various maneuvers of Zelaya and his supporters. He will share stories and analysis from interviews with the people he met, both activists and others, on the strategy of the resistance and what people in the US can do in solidarity. read more

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Community and Popular Radio in Haiti Today

Beverly Bell February 23, 2010 Beverly Bell

Source: Truthout


Sony Esteus, popular radio promoter, at work in his post-earthquake office.(Photo: Roberto (Bear) Guerra)

Sony Esteus is squeezed into an elementary school chair, the kind with the curved piece of wood in front, in a courtyard. Around him are chickens, a fly-swarmed pile of compost, a truck and a tent. Sony runs his laptop off of an extension cord running out a window. The cord and the courtyard are on loan from a nonprofit, and they have formed Sony’s work station since the earthquake’s destruction of his own organization’s building. Sony is director of the Society for Social Mobilization and Communication – SAKS by its Creole acronym – which provides training, technical support, equipment and production to help popular radio stations educate and inform the community. read more