A grand plan to save Italy from collapse
Yesterday, Mr. Angelino Alfano, leader of Italy’s “People of Freedom” (PdL) party, publicly presented a plan aimed at saving Italy from economic collapse. I listened to the whole thing. And I was horrified.
Politics
The Degeneration of Politics
One of the richest ironies of the crisis of contemporary America is the number of problems it currently faces that are the direct result of much-ballyhooed reforms. As the United States trudges wearily through yet another vacuous presidential election in which substantive issues are the last thing either candidate wants to talk about, it may be worth talking about one of the major examples of that wry reality. Brandishing an old straw hat with a red-white-and-blue Truman in ’48 hatband, the Archdruid explains.
The end of the European dream
The European debt crisis is making the front page, again. Moody has changed the outlook of Germany to negative and Spain is forced to borrow at more and more unsustainable rates. The fate of the Euro is more and more uncertain and while it is not certain, it is quite possible that Greece, and perhaps other Mediterranean countries, will abandon it at some point of the future. This, of course, would trigger a trust crisis which would in turn further damage the position of a currency which has no need for that.
Climate change and the next U.S. Revolution
The U.S. heat wave is slowly shaking the foundations of American politics. It may take years for the deep rumble to evolve into an above ground, institution-shattering earthquake, but U.S. society has changed for good.
ODAC Newsletter – July 27
Lower oil and US gas prices saw Q2 profits down at most of the oil majors, though Exxon recorded another record quarterly profit of $15.9 billion due to asset sales…
The Peak Oil Crisis: Middle Eastern Chaos
In surveying the multiple, uprisings, insurgencies, insurrections, confrontations and what have you currently going on in the Middle East, it is hard to believe that all this turmoil will not eventually find its way to our local gas pumps. In the last week the overall situation clearly has taken a turn for the worse with large numbers of Syrian insurgents infiltrating Damascus and Aleppo for the first time accompanied by the spectacular bombing of a security meeting that killed four of the regime’s top leaders.
Shale gas – July 25
-Frackers Fund University Research That Proves Their Case
-Doing Some Math on Fracking Propaganda
-Industry money and questionable ethics contaminate UT Austin fracking study
-Nationwide Mutual Declines to Cover Fracking
-U.S. calls New York anti-drilling lawsuit premature
Truth-telling and activism – July 24
– The most honest three and a half minutes of television, EVER… (from HBO)
– John Perkins: Occupy the Dam: Brazil’s Indigenous Uprising
– Appalachia Turns on Itself (over coal)
– ‘Deep Green Resistance’ — how not to build a movement
Destroying the Commons: How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta
Down the road only a few generations, the millennium of Magna Carta, one of the great events in the establishment of civil and human rights, will arrive. Whether it will be celebrated, mourned, or ignored is not at all clear. That should be a matter of serious immediate concern. What we do right now, or fail to do, will determine what kind of world will greet that event. It is not an attractive prospect if present tendencies persist — not least, because the Great Charter is being shredded before our eyes.
Small town Sebastopol – frontline battle against big-time developer
Small town Sebastopol residents in Northern California have been waging a fierce David vs. Goliath struggle against the powerful Chase Bank, CVS Pharmacy, and Armstrong Development for over two years. The implications of this struggle extend beyond this one town, as big business continues to seek to expand its wealth.
Massacres, droughts, and a society unraveling
In the anger phase of societal unraveling, we must not only be aware of its perils but prepare ourselves with great intention to navigate it. One of the first issues we must grapple with is the reality of trauma. Increasing dissolution of the fabric of the culture is by definition traumatic for those who rely on it for basic necessities, identity, lifestyle, distraction, and sense of well being.
Diggers 2012 set up camp at Runnymede
In development that feels strangely like kismet, an encampment of dispossessed young people who wish to opt out of the corporate system and reclaim a basic freedom of working the land, have made their way to Runnymede, a hallowed site in the history of the commons.
