Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
– Oil Climbs From Four-Week Low as Iran Warns of Hormuz Supply Disruption
– India to pay for Iran crude in rupees
– Juan Cole: Iran Hype undermined by Obama Administration Admissions
– Iran playing war games, but not in video arcades
As the struggle for dominance in the 21st century global marketplace intensifies the battle over which currency that economy will be denominated in is becoming more explicit. Can we see Osborne’s appeals to China to use London as its banker to Europe and the world as the final betrayal of the dollar empire?
-Cornell Study Links Fracking Wastewater with Mortality in Farm Animals
-U.S. Shale Bubble Inflates After Near-Record Prices for Untested Fields
-Study needed on shale gas effects on health: group
-Ministers slammed over fracking
-Fracking is ‘pretty safe’, says British Geological Survey
-Bulgarians protest, seek moratorium on shale gas
“Democracy,” wrote John Dewey, “is more than a form of government.” The image we are given of democracy is often reduced to administration, the implementation and management of the necessary, but the legitimacy of the state in democracies is inseparable from some notion of the general will. Democracy, as Rousseau argued, requires some process for the formation of the “general will,” by reference to which decision-making can be measured.
– Sopa plans set to be shelved as Obama comes out against piracy legislation
– Wikipedia to shut for 24 hours to stop anti-piracy act
– Explainer: understanding Sopa
– How PIPA and SOPA Violate Free Speech and Innovation
– Momentum shift: SOPA, PIPA opponents now in driver’s seat
– Rupert Murdoch Goes on Twitter Rampage Targeting Obama, Google
– Revolving Door: From Top Futures Regulator to Top Futures Lobbyist
– Pew Research Center: Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor
– Bill Moyers: Back With a New Series
– Bill Moyers: “They are occupying Wall Street because Wall Street has occupied America.”
Am I the only person who is so cynical as to think that ‘no news’ rather than being ‘good news’ is actually an indication that the news hasn’t quite been prepared for public consumption yet?
Fears of an EU recession gained ground this week with news that the German economy shrank in Q4. In oil markets this dunked oil prices to a New Year low – though they quickly recovered on Thursday in response to renewed concerns of supply disruption. In Nigeria unions threatened to escalate nationwide strikes to the oil production sector at the weekend if the government fails to reverse recent cuts in fuel subsidies.
Four uprisings of global significance surprised the world in 2011, and the spirit of all four will surprise those who manage the food system in 2012—which leads to my choice of year-end and year-beginning indicators that pick up the colors of these uprisings in emerging habits related to eating.
While U.S. action on climate change remains stalled, four south Florida counties have joined forces to plan for how to deal with the impacts — some of which are already being felt — of rising seas, higher temperatures, and more torrential rains.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
As Chavannes Jean-Baptiste points out in the interview that follows, climate justice and the proliferation of false solutions to the climate crisis, such as “Climate Smart agriculture,” carbon markets, and REDD, are a primary concern for La Via Campesina. La Via promotes food sovereignty, Chavannes says, not only to resolve the food crisis, but also the climate crisis.
