Archives Archives - Page 463 of 625

This Toxic Life: Our World is Awash With Petro-Chemicals

Wayne Ellwood October 6, 2008 Wayne Ellwood

A Bale of Plastic Bottles

'Every time I come here my body gets sad and angry at the same time,' says Ron Plain. 'You can't put into words what it means to me.' We've just tumbled out of Ron's jeep near the end of a three-hour tour of Sarnia, Ontario's 'chemical valley'. Ron calls it his 'toxic tour'. He's done it dozens of times so the patter is easy and familiar. Sarnia is a gritty blue-collar community of 70,000 people at the top of the St Clair River, on the Canadian side, about a 100 kilometres north of Detroit.

New Zealand: The Maori Struggle for Land and Life

John Schertow October 2, 2008 John Schertow

The Maori People of Aotearoa (New Zealand) are now standing at a crossroads, forced to choose between sovereignty and colonialism. Within the recent Maori settlement program, the government offers large sums of money and small fragments of land. In exchange, the Maori are expected to give up their independence and become New Zealand citizens. Recent history shows that the New Zealand government is more than willing to use intimidation and violence to control and assimilate the Maori.

Videos: Analyzing and Protesting The Wall St. Bailout

Various Media October 2, 2008 Various Media

Tax wealthy to pay for bailout:

Sen. Bernie Sanders proposes amendment to make the wealthiest in US shoulder the costs of the bailout

Economist Dean Baker shares his thoughts on the bailout panic during a public panel held at the Institute for Policy Studies on Sept 30, 2008. Dr. Baker is the Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC and a columnist for The Washington Post and Atlantic Monthly. [Americans News Project]

On September 25, 2008, filmmaker Laura Hanna took her camera to Wall Street and captured protesters gathered to express their opposition to the proposed Wall Street bailout. The $700 billion bailout Bush endorses has been widely unpopular with the public, the lack of support reaching beyond party affiliation or ideological sympathies. No more "privatizing profits and socializing losses," declared one protester. "They live by the free market, let them die by the free market." -Erica Landau [Video Nation] read more

Latin America Censored: Toward Freedom Editor Receives Project Censored Award

Toward Freedom & Project Censored October 1, 2008 Toward Freedom & Project Censored

A number of recent developments have dramatically changed the military and political landscape of Latin America. While some electoral victories in Latin America signal a regional shift to the left, Washington continues to expand its military and navy presence throughout the hemisphere. This year Toward Freedom editor Benjamin Dangl received a Project Censored Award for his coverage of Washington's intervention in Latin America. Each year Project Censored selects the top 25 most important censored news stories chosen out of hundreds of articles.

Non-Violent Peace Brigades: How Fast Can We Move?

René Wadlow September 30, 2008 René Wadlow

Mahatma Gandhi

The United Nations General Assembly has designated October 2 as the International Day of Nonviolence. October 2 is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. For Gandhi, non-violence was at the center of his philosophy and actions. Thus it is appropriate to mark the day with an analysis of one aspect of non-violent action: the role of peace teams as observers in conflict situations.

Bad Samaritans: How Rich Country “Help” Hurts the Developing World

Ha-Joon Chang September 29, 2008 Ha-Joon Chang

In theory the world's wealthiest countries and supra-national institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO want to see all nations developing into modern industrial societies. In practice, though, those at the top are 'kicking away the ladder' to wealth that they themselves climbed. Why? Self-interest certainly plays a part. But, more often, rich and powerful governments and institutions are actually being 'Bad Samaritans': their intentions are worthy but their simplistic free-market ideology and poor understanding of history leads them to inflict policy errors on others.