Despite concerns voiced by its close ally the United States, Britain, a conventional Atlantic force, will become the first major Western economy to join a China proposed financing mechanism, which will explore investment opportunities in, mainly, Asia. Downing Street believes its decision to apply to be a founding member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is “in the U.K.’s …
‘Disturbing’ Reports of Civilian Deaths in Yemen, Warn International Aid Groups
International aid organizations as well as the United Nations are sounding the alarm over “disturbing” reports of civilian casualties in Yemen as a Saudi-led coalition continued its bombing campaign for a sixth day. A reported 93 civilians have been killed since the start of the airstrikes, which are allegedly targeting locations held by Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels. An additional 364 Yemenis have …
Nature Needs a New Pronoun: To Stop the Age of Extinction, Let’s Start by Ditching “It”
Singing whales, talking trees, dancing bees, birds who make art, fish who navigate, plants who learn and remember. We are surrounded by intelligences other than our own, by feathered people and people with leaves. But we’ve forgotten. There are many forces arrayed to help us forget—even the language we speak. I’m a beginning student of my native Anishinaabe language, trying …
The Oceans Are Dying
I am an admirer of Dahr Jamail’s reporting. In this article, Oceans In Crisis, Jamail tells us that we are losing the oceans. http://truth-out.org/news/item/29930-oceans-in-crisis-one-woman-will-cross-the-pacific-to-raise-awareness He reports on the human destruction of the oceans. It is a real destruction with far-reaching consequences. That fact is indisputable. From my perspective the human destruction of the oceans is yet more evidence of the ruinous nature …
Deciphering the Mideast Chaos
Few Americans seem to comprehend what is unfolding in the Middle East – with the latest conflict involving Saudi airstrikes against the Houthi rebels who now control Yemen’s capital of Sanaa. In this swirl of regional wars, it’s often not clear where the U.S. government stands and how American interests are affected. The reason for the confusion is simple: Many key …
US Climate Plan ‘Treats the Wound But Does Not Stop the Bleeding’
With bold language and take-charge rhetoric, the White House on Tuesday unveiled its plan to cut U.S. carbon emissions by roughly one third over the next decade, a goal that environmentalists say is commendable but is not enough to keep global warming beneath the critical 2°C threshold. Submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ahead of a midnight …
Monsanto’s “Discredit Bureau” really does exist
Reuters is reporting that Monsanto is demanding a sit-down with members of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This international scientific body is being called on the carpet for reporting that Monsanto’s most widely sold herbicide, which is inextricably linked to the majority of their genetically engineered products, is probably carcinogenic to …
Who Spies for Israel in Washington’s Nuclear Negotiations?
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) (3/25/15) headlined: ‘Israel Spied on Iran Nuclear Talks with the US”. The article goes on to detail the way in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the confidential information to sabotage the talks, including ‘playing them back to US legislators to undermine US diplomacy’. The WSJ report of this incident tries to play down the serious implications of Israel’s …
Shell is ‘Psychopathic,’ Says Former UK Climate Change Envoy
The U.K.’s former top climate change diplomat says Shell and other oil companies are fighting tooth and nail to stifle climate change action. The United Kingdom’s former climate change envoy John Ashton has accused Shell of engineering a “psychopathic” attempt to block action on climate change. In an open letter to Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden published by the U.K.’s Guardian …
Seattle City Council Unanimously Declares Opposition to Fast Track, TPP
“Few things counterpose the interests of multinational corporations to the interests of workers, the environment, and democracy” like the TPP, says councilmember Kshama Sawant Deirdre Fulton The Seattle City Council resoundingly approved a resolution Monday evening cementing its opposition to so-called Fast Track authority that’s needed to speed passage of corporate-friendly, rights-trampling trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The resolution (pdf), …