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Time for Transparency in the EU

Owen Espley October 18, 2005 Owen Espley

The Dutch and French rejections of the EU constitution make the time ripe for strong measures to create more transparency around lobbying in Brussels. The European Transparency Initiative, created by Vice President of the Commission, Siim Kallas, must not miss this opportunity. The EU's democratic deficit has long been discussed, andyet never seems to go away. The perception continues that the EU is an impenetrable fortress, where corporate and political elites make decisions with no room for citizens' involvement. The estimated 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels, the vast majority working for business interests, combined with dubious public affairs practices and a lack of any credible mechanism for ensuring transparency, give credence to this perception.

Manufacturing High Anxiety

Greg Guma October 17, 2005 Greg Guma

"Are you and your family at risk?" Almost anyone who watches television has heard that teaser during the news. The answer is often no, but the question itself has the power to set off a panic reaction that leads people to rush out for the latest cure or recommended precaution.

Several years ago, Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist in New York and frequent guest on TV news programs, began to notice what he calls "free-floating communicated fear" was causing his patients to personalize risks that were actually quite remote. In his new book, False Alarm: The truth about the epidemic of fear, he has assembled a convincing case that, misdirected by political opportunists and irresponsible media, we too often worry about the wrong things, and that fear itself poses a greater risk than any "bug du jour."

Operation Latin American Freedom

Benjamin Dangl October 13, 2005 Benjamin Dangl

Preparations are underway for renewed US militarization and intervention in Latin America. To protect its own hegemony and economic interests, the US government is using the threat of terrorism as an excuse for military operations aimed at destabilizing leftist movements and governments and securing natural resources such as oil and gas.

By focusing on social programs in education, land reform and healthcare, many of the region's new leaders have put the needs of the people ahead of the demands of multinational companies. This leftist resurgence makes corporate investors and other harbingers of the free market nervous. Recently, the Bush administration has gone to extreme measures to ensure that this leftist trend is put in check.

A History of Disaster: Land and Religion in Israel and Palestine

Mneesha Gellman October 11, 2005 Mneesha Gellman

View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

When the sun sets on the holy city of Jerusalem, the thick limestone buildings are cast in a shimmering gold light. The ancient Old City contains the Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armenian Quarters, and the religious mood is palpable in every alleyway. On Friday nights the air is thick with Hebrew singing welcoming in the Sabbath, mingling with the Arabic call to prayer from the mosques, and church bells peal through the dusk. The interconnection between land conflict and religious conflict is clearest in the Old City of Jerusalem where the Western Wall borders the Dome of the Rock. The Western Wall which stands today is part of the second temple complex which was gradually rebuilt by the Jews upon the ruins of the first temple when they returned from exile. After a period of rule by the Greeks, Jerusalem was incorporated into Roman-occupied Palestine in 63 BC, and when the Jews revolted against the Romans in 70 AD the second temple was destroyed. The part of the Western wall which remains standing is believed to be the closest place to the Holy of Holies that Jews are allowed to go.

UN to tackle Internet governance

Super User October 5, 2005 Super User

GENEVA – A growing number of nations are calling for UN oversight of the main computers that direct traffic on the Internet, arguing that no single country should be the ultimate authority over such a vital part of the global economy. To the surprise of the United States, even European Union negotiators have proposed “stripping the Americans of their effective control of the Internet,” as the International Herald Tribune put it.

The European decision to back the rest of the world in demanding the creation of a new international body to govern the Internet caught the U.S. negotiating team off balance and left them largely isolated at talks designed to come up with a new way of regulating the digital traffic of the 21st century. read more

El Alto, Bolivia: A New World Out Of Differences

Raúl Zibechi September 28, 2005 Raúl Zibechi

Protests in El Alto Against Privatization of Gas

El Alto, Bolivia, at 13,300 feet above sea level, is in shambles viewed from the outside, if one cultivates someone else's Western, colonial way of looking. Another perspective, though, reveals the history of an amazing place where social mobilization has called the powers that be into question and done it without centralized or unified organizations. Here are facts and insights for understanding the Aymaras' capital city that reinvented the word insurrection.