Geopolitics & Military

WikiLeaks – Dec 12

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– WikiLeaks Is the New Journalism
– Could Wikileaks change or destroy the Internet as we know it?
– NYT: Keeping Secrets WikiSafe
– Predicting the future of WikiLeaks: Follow the media!
– Pentagon scrambles to prep for ‘thermonuclear’ Wikileaks release
– Six Anti-Theses on WikiLeaks
– Guardian’s country-by-country round-up

Cancun and Bolivia – Dec 12

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– Cancún agreement rescues UN credibility but falls short of saving planet
– Cancun climate breakthrough: It’s not perfect, but it’s a deal
– Bolivia’s defiant leader sets radical tone at Cancún climate talks
– Medea Benjamin: Reading the Coca Leaves: Climate Change, Cancun and Bolivia
– Evo Morales Speaks on Climate Change and Capitalism

Climate change and regime longevity in the DPRK (North Korea)

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In the short to medium term, climate-driven food insecurity is likely to pull Pyongyang into increasing reliance on its nuclear weapons program as leverage to bargain for international largesse in the form of food, energy and fertiliser supplies. The increased importance of the nuclear bargaining chip in the context of climate change, in conjunction with the numerous other justifications for its nuclear proliferation (domestic politics, security, ideology), makes it even more unlikely that the regime will relinquish its nuclear weapons capability.

WikiLeaks (how and why) – Dec 9

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– A Case Study in Web Survivability
– Live with the WikiLeakable world or shut down the net
– Massive Release of Raw WikiLeaks Files Threatened if Assange Harmed
– WikiLeaks avoids shutdown as supporters worldwide go on the offensive
– WikiLeaks, the web and the power of the people
– WikiLeaks a blueprint for things to come
– How to Think About Wikileaks

WikiLeaks (energy and climate) – Dec 9

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– Shell boasts it has infiltrated Nigerian government
– WikiLeaks climate change cables
– Wikileaks Reveals Hushed Concern Over Tar Sands Oil in US State Dept.
– Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solón Responds to Secret U.S. Manipulation of Climate Talks
– WikiLeaks: oil deal executive ‘was paid £46,000 a month’

Environmentalism and political struggle

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“You say things are happening … give me an example. Numerous organizations are doing lots of great work – permaculture, relocalization, etc. This is wonderful, and I’m involved in it. But everything measurable is going the wrong way. So whatever we’re doing is not working. … Unless all this community work is linked with a broader political struggle, we’re not really going to get anywhere.”

Taking down America: four scenarios for the end of the American Century by 2025

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A soft landing for America 40 years from now? Don’t bet on it. The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines. If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that in 2025, just 15 years from now, it could all be over except for the shouting.

WikiLeaks (diplomacy and secrecy) – Dec 4

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– Steve LeVine: Why diplomats secretly love WikiLeaks
– On WikiLeaks and Government Secrecy
– Dispatches from a beleaguered America in imperial retreat
– State Department To Columbia University Students: DO NOT Discuss WikiLeaks On Facebook, Twitter
– US blocks access to WikiLeaks for federal workers
– Cyber-Con (quotes on transparency from Obama and Clinton)

New threat to global food security as phosphate supplies become increasingly scarce

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A new report from the Soil Association reveals that supplies of phosphate rock are running out faster than previously thought and that declining supplies and higher prices of phosphate are a new threat to global food security….

Intensive agriculture is totally dependent on phosphate for the fertility needed to grow crops and grass. …. Recent analysis suggests that we may hit ‘peak’ phosphate as early as 2033, after which supplies will become increasingly scarce and more expensive.