May 2011 – Page 16

Destroying the Arctic for a three-year fix

How much oil lies under that Arctic ice? 90 billion barrels, according to the US Geological Survey.

But, how much really is that? If you ask an oil company, that’s a huge amount. With a barrel of oil over the hundred dollar mark, that’s nine trillion dollars worth at today’s prices – if you could get at it all.

However, there’s a much more important number than the mind-boggling figures that the oil companies deal in.

That’s the number of years the Arctic oil could keep our addiction going for.

Three years.

It’s astonishing. All the flag planting, dragging of icebergs and gambling with risky drilling, is all to dig up a dead fuel that will only keep us going for three years (global consumption is approx. 80 million barrels / day).

via Destroying the Arctic for a three-year fix | Greenpeace UK.

This blog promotes ‘The Free’, an adventure novel set in the collapse of Capitalism. free DOWNLOAD page, click HERE

No Justice, No Peace: Mining in Ecuador

No Justice, No Peace: Canadian Mining in Ecuador and Impunity |

Lawsuits against the blatant atrocities of mining corporations have been thrown out, one in Canada and the other in Ecuador, where projects are pushing ahead despite passionate united local, cultural and environmental opposition.

‘Water is worth more than Gold!’ is the popular warcry.

No Justice No Peace

”…Therefore, many communities could read into the defeat of the lawsuit that their only practical (and affordable) solution to the threats that mining and other extractive industries pose on their rights, land and cultures lies in physically standing up to these projects – even at the risk of being labeled terrorists or saboteurs….

This, at a time when special laws are being enacted in countries rich in natural resources, such as Ecuador, to judicially categorize acts of civil disobedience as terrorism.

As of today, there are nearly 300 activists in Ecuador facing terrorism and sabotage charges for standing up to mining and other extractive activities that threaten the livelihood, or well-being of communities and the environment….

Over half of these targeted activists are indigenous, including the leaders of the most important indigenous groups in the country…..

Ironically enough, this happens in the context of Ecuador’s progressive Constitution, which recognizes that nature has rights, and that Ecuadorians have the right to a good life (Sumak Kawsay)….

Take away the only effective tool that communities and indigenous people have to protect these rights from transnational corporations and you have the making of a major, and sustained, human rights nightmare supported by the State….”

Continued…

No Justice, No Peace: Canadian Mining in Ecuador and Impunity |

This blog promotes ‘The Free’, an adventure novel set in the collapse of Capitalism. free DOWNLOAD page, click HERE

Race to carve up Arctic as Ice Melts

Secret US embassy cables released by Wikileaks show nations are racing to “carve up” Arctic resources – oil, gas and even rubies – as the ice retreats.

They suggest that Arctic states, including the US and Russia, are all pushing to stake a claim.

The opportunity to exploit resources has come because of a dramatic fall in the amount of ice in the Arctic.

The US Geological Survey estimates oil reserves off Greenland are as big as those in the North Sea.

The cables were released by the Wikileaks whistleblower website as foreign ministers from the eight Arctic Council member states – Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland – me

continued…

via BBC News – Newsnight – Wikileaks cables show race to carve up Arctic.

Climate Change Denial Syndrome –

Climate Change Denial..Heads in The Sand

is the new book from ecologist Haydn Washington and the founder of Skeptical Science,

To begin with then, the authors recap climate science, talking us through the carbon cycle, the greenhouse effect, the natural changes and the man-made ones……

This is the science as accepted by every academy of science in the world and by 97 percent of climate scientists. That it isn’t accepted by a similar ratio of the general public is due at least in part to a concerted denial movement. Conspiracy theories, fake experts, misrepresentations and cherry-picked data proliferate, much of it sponsored by those with an interest in preserving the status quo. It is well known that Exxon has been a major funder of dissenting climate work, in partnership with the Global Climate Coalition. Koch Industries has since picked up the baton. This is not the truth seeking of true skepticism – it is big business paying millions to protect their own interests, by sowing doubt and kicking up dust..

Lobbying and paid experts are the tip of the iceberg. They’re the obvious villains but denial only takes hold because, fundamentally, it is something we want to believe……

At this point, those looking for another excuse to sneer self-righteously at the climate denial movement might get a wake up call of their own. Washington and Cook are adamant that we are all implicated. ‘We are compelled to conclude that we the people also have something to answer for. We as a society let denial prosper…

When they return from another round of failed talks, we don’t protest. We quietly prefer them to pretend. After all, if they actually paid attention to our petitions, they might take away our cars, holidays, and cheap imports.

via Climate Change Denial – Reviews – The Ecologist.

This blog promotes ‘The Free’, an adventure novel set in the collapse of Capitalism. free DOWNLOAD page, click HERE

‘Timber mafia’ devastate Russian forests

Siberian tigers under threat as ‘timber mafia’ devastate Russian forests

Sebastian Strangio

Criminal gangs are increasingly smuggling Russian timber into China for manufacture into baby cribs, picture frames and toilet seats sold in the west. Those trying to thwart them face violence and corruption….

…..The city is also the main transit point for a pernicious and largely unacknowledged international trade in illegal timber. Environmentalists say thousands of cubic metres of Russian hardwoods are being illegally exported by train through Suifenhe each day, prompted by a rising Chinese demand and a culture of official corruption and fear – a trade that also threatens the world’s last remaining populations of Siberian tigers…… CONT

via Siberian tigers under threat as ‘timber mafia’ devastate Russian forests – investigations – The Ecologist.

Stop the Cuts /contra les retallades / Barcelona,14 May

Indymedia Barcelona: Manifestació contra les retallades a Barcelona el 14 Maig, 11h. Plaça Urquinaona.

MANIFESTACIÓ 14-M: ATUREM LES RETALLADES SOCIALS, ALS SERVEIS PÚBLICS I A LES PENSIONS

11 h., Pça Urquinaona / Ronda Sant Pere.

La CGT de Catalunya juntament amb la CNT-AIT i la COS, moviments socials, assemblees de treballadors i de barri, crida a la ciutadania a manifestar-se el 14 de maig amb el sindicalisme que no es ven en contra les retallades socials, als serveis públics i a les pensions.

El 14 de maig ha de ser un dia de lluita, de lluita com la que des de fa setmanes els i les treballadores de la sanitat i ensenyament estan duent a terme. Per demostrar que la lluita no és patrimoni d’aquells que signen pactes socials d’esquenes als i les treballadores, el sindicalisme que no es ven i els moviments socials sortirem junts també aquest 14 de maig.

anti McDonalds.. huge resource center.

RESOURCE CENTER CLIC HERE.. M c S P O T L I G H T.

McDonald’s spends over $2 billion a year broadcasting their glossy image to the world. This is a small space for alternatives to be heard……..

our health

Many nutritionists argue that the type of high fat, low fibre diet promoted by McDonald’s is linked to serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

our fellow earthlings

Vegetarians and animal welfare campaigners aren’t too keen on McDonald’s – for obvious reasons. As the world’s largest user of beef they are responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of cows per year. In Europe alone they use half a million chickens every week, all from windowless factory farms. All such animals suffer great cruelty during their unnatural, painful and short lives, many being kept inside with no access to fresh air and sunshine, and no freedom of movement – how can such cruelty be measured?…….

I’m destroying it

One of the most well-known and sensitive questions about McDonald’s is: are they responsible for the destruction of tropical forests to make way for cattle ranching? McDonald’s say no. Many people say yes. So McDonald’s sue them. Not so many people say yes anymore, but does this mean McDonald’s aren’t responsible?

They annually produce over a million tons of packaging, used for just a few minutes before being discarded……

slave labour

Complaints from employees range from discrimination and lack of rights, to understaffing, few breaks and illegal hours, to poor safety conditions and kitchens flooded with sewage, and the sale of food that has been dropped on the floor. This type of low-paid work has even been termed ‘McJobs’…….

revolution

There is a much more fundamental problem than Big Macs and French Fries: capitalism. But what about anti-capitalist beliefs like socialism and anarchism? Is it possible to create a world run by ordinary people themselves, without multinationals and governments – a world based on sharing, freedom and respect for all life?…..