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The Advent of Green Consumerism: 40 Years of Earth Days

Brian Tokar April 22, 2010 Brian Tokar

The 40th anniversary of the original Earth Day is upon us, and many seasoned environmentalists are nostalgic for the heady days of the 1970s, when 20 million people hit in the streets and eventually got Richard Nixon to sign a series of ambitious environmental laws. Those laws managed to clean up waterways that were turning into sewers, saved the bald eagle from the ravages of DDT, and began to clear the air, which in the early 1960s was so polluted that people were passing out all over our cities.

Quiet Corruption?: The World Bank on Africa

Yash Tandon April 21, 2010 Yash Tandon

The 'Africa Development Indicators 2010' report on 'quiet corruption' is one more example of the World Bank's distractive politics. Distractive because it seeks, wittingly or unwittingly, to sidetrack issues that are fundamental to understanding the continuing poverty and underdevelopment of Africa. Distractive also because it seeks, probably consciously and purposely, to exonerate the World Bank from its own role in perpetuating Africa's mal-development.

The Shock Doctrine in Haiti: An Interview with Patrick Elie

Beverly Bell and Patrick Elie April 20, 2010 Beverly Bell and Patrick Elie

Patrick Elie

The Shock Doctrine, the book by Naomi Klein, shows that often imperialist countries shock another country, and then while it's on its knees, they impose their own political will on that country while making economic profits from it. We're facing an instance of the shock doctrine at work, even though

Haiti

's earthquake wasn't caused by men. There are governments and sectors who want to exploit this shock to impose their own political and economic order, which obviously will be to their advantage.

A Hunger for Justice in Western Sahara

Stefan Simanowitz April 19, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

Anyone who saw the episode of the BBC documentary Tropic of Cancer last month in which journalist Simon Reeve traveled across Western Sahara would have seen Rachid Sghair. He was the human rights campaigner who bravely appeared before the camera to denounce the 35 year Moroccan occupation of his country and the resulting human rights abuses suffered by Saharawi people.

Roma Day in Eastern Europe: Assessing Roma Rights

Chuck Todaro April 15, 2010 Chuck Todaro

Roma at Pata Rat, Romania Garbage Dump

This year's Roma Day on April 8th marked the twenty-year anniversary since the Gypsies of East Europe freely acknowledged their ethnicity. The day has been celebrated throughout the region in gypsy style with music and dance, skewered pork or lamb and plenty of drink as means of celebrating life. The day memorializes the roughly one million Roma exterminated by the Nazis in what has been commonly dubbed the forgotten holocaust, though which Roma scholars have termed Porrajmos, the devouring.

Thailand: Regime Kills Protesters in Bloody Crackdown

Giles Ji Ungpakorn April 14, 2010 Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Protests in Thailand

Soldiers armed with live and rubber bullets attacked the peaceful pro-democracy Red Shirt protests in the centre of Bangkok on April 10. At least 12 people, including a Japanese Reuters reporter, have been shot dead. Tanks were used against peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators. Hundreds more people have been injured. Some soldiers have been taken prisoner and weapons seized. Red Shirt protesters outside Bangkok have seized many provincial headquarters.