As the eurozone authorities move closer to accepting the inevitable Greek debt default/restructuring, there are some who have pointed to the Jamaican debt restructuring of last year as a model. It’s hard to imagine a worse disaster for Greece. It is worth a closer look at what has been done to Jamaica, not only as […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
Kaiser Election Results KOed: Judge Orders Rematch between SEIU and NUHW
When the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) defeated the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) in balloting among 43,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente (KP) last October, SEIU Executive Vice President Dave Regan was exultant. SEIU’s victory was “a huge achievement,” he said. “NUHW is now, for all intents and purposes, irrelevant. We’re thrilled.” On a […]
Credit Rating Agencies
Rating Agency: “Don’t take it wrong, but some companies are paying me to come here to tell you that you have no future.” Juan Ramón Mora is a cartoonist in Barcelona. This cartoon was first published in his blog on 14 July 2011 under a Creative Commons license. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | […]
Brazil Needs to Quit Haiti
U.S. diplomatic cables now released from Wikileaks make it clearer than ever before that foreign troops occupying Haiti for more than seven years have no legitimate reason to be there; that this a U.S. occupation, as much as in Iraq or Afghanistan; that it is part of a decades-long U.S. strategy to deny Haitians the […]
Revolt in the Arab World, But Not in Iran — Why?
Iran is a different case because the country already had a revolution in 1979. Even those Iranians who are in the opposition called for reform within the system rather than revolution. It is not a climate of fear that explains the survival of the Islamic Republic but the absence of revolutionary fervour. No state can […]
Price Formation in Financialized Commodity Markets: The Role of Information
Excerpt: The mid-2000s marked the start of a trend of steeply rising commodity prices, accompanied by increasing volatility. The prices of a wide range of commodities reached historic highs in nominal terms in 2008 before falling sharply in the wake of the financial and economic crisis. Since mid-2009, and especially since the summer of […]
US Embassy at Work in Syria
“Conspirators Wanted” Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela. His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). Cf. Fayez Nahabieh, “Réflexion sur les origines de la crise syrienne et les moyens d’en sortir” (InfoSyrie, 15 July 2011); Alastair Crooke, “Unfolding the Syrian Paradox” […]
What Happened at Fukushima and Why It Can Happen Here
“The primary cause is an extended loss of power at the power plant, as ironic as that might be. When the earthquake occurred, the normal grid was lost, and the plant’s own in-plant power from the generators was also lost because of the result of the earthquake. . . . The tsunami came in […]
Global Oil Prices
There was a time when global oil prices reflected changes in the real demand and supply of crude petroleum. Of course, as with many other primary commodities, the changes in the market could be volatile, and so prices also fluctuated, sometimes sharply. More than anything else, the global oil market was seen to reflect not […]
Prisoners Strike against Torture in California Prisons
The torture of prisoners in U.S. custody isn’t confined to foreign countries. For more than two weeks, inmates at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison have been on a hunger strike to protest torturous conditions in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) there. Prisoners have been held for years in solitary confinement, which can amount to torture. […]
Electricity Privatization in Brazil
Privatized electricity distribution companies, strangling working people with high electric bills . . . Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. Cf. “On one hand, daily productivity gains made by professionals working in the electricity sector are not reflected in their salaries. On the other hand, consumers are already paying high costs at the end of […]
Still Trying to Detonate a War against Syria
Still lacking a fire starter called diplomacy, Uncle Sam fails to detonate a war against Syria. Hamid Karout is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was first published in Tishreen on 14 July 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. Cf. “‘The OIC has a strong desire to build national dialogue between governments and […]
Brazil: New Forest Code for Transnationals
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. Cf. “Nota da Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (SBPC) e da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (ABC) sobre a decisão da Câmara dos Deputados com relação ao Código Florestal” (25 May 2011); Mario Osava, “Brazil: Politicians Out of Sync with Public Sentiment on the Environment” (Inter Press Service, […]
Blues on the Border: Legendary Rock Guitarist Javier Batiz Plays and Sings for “My Beloved and Beautiful Tijuana”
Javier Batiz, the great Mexican rock-and-roll guitarist, played and sang last week in a concert that embodied and gave voice to everything that is most wonderful about Tijuana and the U.S.-Mexico border region. Batiz, who since he was thirteen has played in the bars and nightclubs of Tijuana, performed this time with the Baja California […]
Why the Euro Is Not Worth Saving
The Euro is crashing today to record lows against the Swiss Franc, and interest rates on Italian and Spanish bonds have hit record highs. This latest episode in the Eurozone crisis is a result of fears that the contagion is now hitting Italy. With a two-trillion dollar economy and $2.45 trillion in debt, Italy is […]
Shashe Declaration: 1st Encounter of Agroecology Trainers in Africa Region 1
We are 47 people from 22 organizations in 18 countries (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Angola, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Central African Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Portugal, USA, France, and Germany). We are farmers and staff representing member organizations of La Via Campesina, along with allies from other farmer […]
The Politics of Iran’s Space Program
Iran’s recent successful launch of a second satellite into orbit has drawn considerable attention around the world. As in the past, Iran’s announcement of the launch of its domestically built satellite into space received mixed reactions in the West. Some mainstream U.S. media treated the announcement with skepticism and ridicule. “Before you cancel that European […]
Venezuelan Opposition Dusts Off Its Old Slogan
“Chávez, go away already!” Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela. His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). See, also, Victor Nieto, “What the Hell Do They Want?” (MRZine, 27 June 2011). Cf. “Bolivian Leader: Hugo Chavez’s Health Improving” (Associated Press, 10 […]
“Not Only for Facundo Cabral, But Also for the Future of Our Children”
Argentinean singer Facundo Cabral, best known for his song “I’m Not from Here, Nor Am I from There,” was murdered this morning on his way to Guatemala’s La Aurora airport after a concert tour of that country. In his 2006 interview with Télam, Cabral said: “People often call me maestro, singer-songwriter, poet, troubadour, minstrel, and […]
Power and Water at Risk: The Energy-Water Collision
Excerpt: Cooling power plants requires the single largest share of U.S. freshwater withdrawals: 41 percent. This water dependence threatens both the availability and the quality of our water resources. . . . The water use habits of power plants pose risks, not only to the water sources and to other users, but also to […]
