Resist/Submit

Vodafone, Monsanto, Marriott, BP, General Dynamics, etc.: Managing Exploitation and Regime-Change in North Africa

2011-03-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

In the early days of Egyptian dictator Mubarak's active attempts at suppression of dissent, Vodafone Egypt (@Vodafone, part of Vodafone International @Vodafone_group and including @VodafoneUK, shareholders of whom partially own Verizon Wireless) aided Mubarak in shutting down the Internet. Not being in Egypt or intimately associated with Egyptian residents, I must rely on social networks and

In the quiet times after the revolution; beware democratisers and structural adjusters

2011-02-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

@alaa comments: "south africa taught me big struggle is the one after democracy, but that's still premature we are not at democracy yet in egypt." This is quite true. Forces of status quo, apathy, indifference and oppression have many tools in the toolkit. Mubarak may be gone. However, even as Mandela assumed his rightful place as leader of South Africa, the democratisers and structural

Congo Conflict Minerals Debate and the Arrogance of Academic "Expertise"

2010-08-14T06:07:00.006-06:00

The recent bill passed in the U.S. regarding conflict minerals has mobilized a strong debate about the Congo, an area that it seems is usually ignored in U.S. press. In this debate, the usual interests are out in force trying to influence how and where the debate is seen and felt. One would expect corporate interests in Congo, having failed to completely prevent awareness in places such as the

It is not wise to say "there are no politics involved" when talking about climate change

2009-11-29T07:01:00.001-07:00

I am a defender of the climate change and global warming thesis, for three major reasons. First, it is clear that more carbon is being released through human activity, and few people will deny that carbon traps the sun's heat. Second, I know personally defenders who have more grounding than I in the science underlying the thesis as well as the politics associated with skepticism. Their

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

2009-10-18T07:31:00.000-06:00

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:

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

2009-10-11T05:54:00.001-06:00

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

Kennedy Road: What is Happening to South Africa?

2009-10-09T05:35:00.001-06:00

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

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

2009-10-07T04:52:00.001-06:00

“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 oilHow 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"?

2009-10-05T05:34:00.001-06:00

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

Part I to New Regional Integration

2009-09-27T06:09:00.001-06:00

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

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

2009-09-26T08:37:00.001-06:00

"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’

Jonathan Pilger War on Demoracy

2008-06-05T19:07:00.001-06:00

Using del.icio.us network explorer

2008-02-26T04:49:00.002-07:00

I have been using delicious network explorer to try to understand better my delicious network. This has proved fascinating, as I have discovered social networking 'gurus' (hrheingold, cshirky, choconancy and kanter) as well as important centers for social justice in the context of Africa (BlackLooks, BeckyFaith). The social networking people generally have a very large fanbase and relatively

Chevron the human rights company: Nigeria and Burma

2007-11-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

Much good has been written already about Chevron in Burma and Nigeria, and elsewhere. One place to start is Malcom at Dandelion Salad as well as the rather optimistic posting of Jeremy Weate in regard to Nigeria. A recent article on Nigeria puts Chevron in the context of recent corruption scandals between the government and Shell, Chevron and Siemens in particular. Still another article

Controlling oil in the Gulf of Guinea

2007-11-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

Two rather simplistically presented myths for controlling oil in the Gulf of Guinea: Business myth: "We are not involved in politics. We just make profits for our shareholders through managing the oil." Reality: Shell and other companies have been intimately involved with Nigerian state figures in creating the type of instability amenable to Shell's control of petroleum production, in order to

Lucky Dube: Humble prophet who forecast his own manner of death

2007-11-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

My gratitude to Dibussi Tande for pointing out this tribute to our friend (may we be so brash as to call this great artist our friend? May I be so brash as to say "our"?). This tribute, so tellingly, was written by none other than Lucky Dube himself. So honest. So brutally honest. The civil structures of apartheid have been removed. Why do we now kill ourselves?http://www.dibussi.com/2007/

See previous post: Why worry about U.S. military in Gulf of Guinea

2007-10-27T06:45:00.001-06:00

Also very important to note Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's cooperation. clipped from allafrica.comThe foreign affairs minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, is not taking it lightly with the recent military cooperation policy of the U.S and the African continent. The U.S government is planning to establish a military command on

'US likes to have relative peace anywhere they have business interest'

2007-10-27T06:38:00.001-06:00

"Nigerians should not get unnecessarily worried." clipped from allafrica.comSpeaking at a forum in Abuja on Tuesday, the Defence chief said that Nigerians should not get unnecessarily worried over the matter as the troops are there just to give peace in the area. General Azazi said that US likes to have relative

U.S. Investors in Nigeria

2007-10-27T06:31:00.001-06:00

Combine this with U.S. military interests. When will the story of Nigerian terrorism then appear in U.S. corporate media? clipped from allafrica.comVisiting the Senate president yesterday, a team of American investors, the African Strategy Group, under the American Trade delegation led by Ambassador Lennon Walker

Nigerian Government Renegotiating Petroleum Contracts (no. 2)

2007-10-27T06:23:00.001-06:00

clipped from royaldutchshellplc.comRilwanu Lukman, chairman of Nigeria’s oil and gas reform committee, said this week the government wanted to take a fresh look at agreements signed with energy companies as part of a wider reform of the sector.One plank of the government’s reform proposals is to take a fresh look

Nigerian Government Renegotiating Petroleum Contracts

2007-10-27T06:16:00.001-06:00

This move needs to be combined, of course, with consideration of how petroleum revenues are distributed in Nigeria. In addition, the Nigerian government likely exercises increased leverage given situation in the Middle East. clipped from allafrica.comTHE Federal Government has commenced moves to renegotiate

China in Africa: Better than Western Colonialism?

2007-10-27T06:04:00.001-06:00

This will be a big story for a long time. One question is if the Chinese military will follow the Chinese investors. It seems the opposite is usually the case for the West, or at least the two come together. See following posts about increasing U.S. investor interest in Africa oil and accompanying U.S. military interventions in Gulf of Guinea and elsewhere.