Allafrica.com-Adamu Adamu: Obama - Nobel War Prize

Though it will probably not be Obama, the time is not far when an American president will come who can cut down Zionism to size, liberate the American spirit, so that American statesmen will work only for the interest of their republic and no one else. When that time comes we will see the American Republic out there fighting wars of liberation, not wars of attrition or occupation.

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Obama - Nobel War Prize (Page 1 of 1)

We must all dream of this occasion, and wonder about the mechanisms of Adamu's confidence that "the time is not far." Furthermore, is it not a contradiction to hope for "[cutting] Zionism down to size" and at the same time "work only for the interest of their republic"? Aside from the parochialism of national interest, is not coddling of Zionism part of the interests of "the republic"?

Biofuels, corporate agriculture and the predicted crisis of land and food

Recently, Pambazuka (here and here) and the Oakland Institute have brought to increasing attention what people have known for a long time: biofuels and other large-scale corporate agriculture development hurt production of food, no matter what proponents (including Brazil's Lula da Silva) say.

The Oakland Institute describes its report The Great Land Grab in this way:

The Great Land Grab critically examines the role of the private sector in agricultural development and exposes implications of private sector control over food resources. The report concludes that those who promote the benefits of private sector growth in agriculture fail to recognize that acquisition of crucial food-producing lands by foreign private entities poses a threat to rural economies and livelihoods, land reform agendas, and other efforts aimed at making access to food more equitable.

Nikolaj Nielsen, for Pambazuka News, likewise throws into question otherwise laudable work for reduction of fossil fuels, arguing that European countries such as Sweden are buying up food land in Africa to produce fuel.

Sweden, for instance, has set a 40 per cent target for 2020 and a new government bill requires its transport sector to be fossil-free by 2030.

While such initiatives may be applauded, Sweden is as a result investing heavily in research and influencing EU-wide policy that provides financial incentives for companies to buy up land in Africa for biofuel production.

Likewise, Ethiopia is putting pressure on food production through its initiatives for renewable energy:

For Ethiopia to replace its consumption of 29,000 barrels of oil a day by renewable energies it will need to cultivate 24 per cent of its entire surface. The highest yields are invariably located on arable lands or forests where rainfall is abundant.

News such as this has been percolating for many years, particularly as the food crisis hit.  That reports such as the above are validating concerns about the impact of biofuels (and corporate agriculture in general) on food production should bolster criticism of current biofuel strategies and more importantly the search for truly sustainable renewable energy systems.  As former World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin put it in a recent IPS article: "It is wrong to burn the food of the poor to drive the cars of the rich." (see also this Avaaz call-to-action).

Kennedy Road: What is Happening to South Africa?

What is happening to South Africa,and why is Kennedy Road not being widely publicized except in the movement literature (of which Pambazuka, below, is one of the best for Africa)?  It is perhaps important that South Africa is associated so closely with Brazil, one of the leaders of the "developing world" and now the country with the second largest gap between rich and poor. 

The country is spending US$1.1 billion just to build new stadiums, while those who fought apartheid wait in shack settlements for running water and electricity. Levels of human development are now lower than in 1994, and South Africa has overtaken Brazil as the country with the widest gap between rich and poor.

Pambazuka - Democracy’s everyday death: South Africa's quiet coup

But why have we heard so little about this brutal attack on some of society’s most vulnerable members? Is it because common opinion is true — that the ANC led the attack and so negative press has been avoided?

Is the ANC the big bad wolf in Kennedy Road?

FT.com / Africa - Militants criticise China’s plans to tap Nigerian oil

“existing [oil companies operating there] are no better except that they adhere to standards under the right conditions”.

FT.com / Africa - Militants criticise China’s plans to tap Nigerian oil

How widespread is the idea that the Chinese companies are worse than Western companies because Western companies show the potential for following decent standards of human dignity?

Diana Johnstone: How to revitalize "popular idea of socialism"?

One way or another, the future of democracy in Europe depends on enabling the popular idea of socialism to evolve into political reality.

Diana Johnstone: Is Socialism Really Dead in Europe?

This article provides important elaboration on an important question, but fails to dig into what I think is the more important set of questions.  First, why does the right seem to mobilize sentiment better than the left, even as corporate finance is/was imploding?  The second question follows from the first.  How can movements successfully mobilize publics to support progressive rather than reactionary transformation?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Part I to New Regional Integration

Part II is the official replacement of the G7(8) with the G20.

in reference to:

"Bolívar said the final declaration will issue a strong call for reforms aimed at democratising the United Nations, and will reiterate the developing South's demands that the nations of the industrialised North assume greater commitments with respect to climate change, fair international trade, the fight against poverty and measures to overcome the global financial crisis that broke out last year in the United States."
- SOUTH AMERICA-AFRICA: Summit for South-South Cooperation - IPS ipsnews.net (view on Google Sidewiki)

"Pambazuka - Capitalism's ecological footprint condemns South to poverty".

"Capture of ecology by vulgar ideology" combines the problem of quantitative rather than qualitative measurement, with the ideology of "consensus" rather than recognizing the essentially contested relationship between ecology and capitalism.

in reference to:

"Capture of ecology by vulgar ideology operates on two levels: On the one hand by reducing measurement of use value to an ‘improved’ measurement of exchange value, and on the other by integrating the ecological challenge with the ideology of ‘consensus’. Both these manoeuvres undermine the clear realisation that ecology and capitalism are, by their nature, in opposition."
- Pambazuka - Capitalism's ecological footprint condemns South to poverty (view on Google Sidewiki)