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GAIA AND HOMOSAPIENS

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***** The Richard Dimbleby Lecture by HRH Prince Charles, titled “Facing the Future”
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***** Documentary - 43.39 min | The Arctic - The Nature of Things, A Changing World -
CBC - December 3, 2009 - A sponsor's ad precedes video.
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Jordan Page Pendulum Music Video
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"Listen" By Jordan Page
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NoteThe symbol ^ denotes that that article can be read in full at the link. Articles with titles in italics are from last issue.

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Imaging Life . . . and death

Video | Iraq Vet speaks out
Greanville Post - By Top Editor - December 27, 2009
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Commentary | A Dead End
National Interest - By Paul J. Saunders - December 15, 2009
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Imagine eating out with two hundred friends and then, when the waiter brings the bill, launching negotiations over who should pay what share. “Did you have the filet mignon?” “I only ordered water!” “You two didn’t pay the last time we went out, you should cover our dinner this time!” Now you might have a good idea what it would like to sit in on United Nations climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.

There is, of course, one crucial difference between the climate talks and the chaos of a 200-person debate about a restaurant bill: the world’s energy appetites (and resulting carbon-dioxide emissions) are much more concentrated, with the top ten economies producing around 80 percent of the emissions. The top two—China and the United States—generate over 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions between them. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data for 2006, the bottom one hundred or so emitters each produce less that one-tenth of one percent of total global emissions, meaning they release less than 10 percent of emissions collectively—and that they are basically spectators at the UN negotiations.

North Korea | Inside the hermit kingdom
A rare and fascinating glimpse of the lives of ordinary North Koreans
Salon - By Laura Miller - January 3,2009
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The image that opens the first chapter of Barbara Demick's "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" is a satellite photograph of North and South Korea by night. The southern nation is spangled with electric lights, including the vast, solid blotch of brightness that is Seoul, while the north is entirely dark except for the tiny dot of the capital, Pyongyang. The Western view of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is mostly made up of freakish pictures . . . , official footage of goose-stepping soldiers and automaton-like crowds performing tributes to "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il, eerie samizdat video of crisply uniformed police directing nonexistent traffic on empty streets, the bizarre spectacle of the vacant Ryugyong Hotel (aka the "Hotel of Doom") towering over Pyongyang, and the ubiquitous socialist-realist kitsch seemingly beamed in from the middle of the previous century.

National News

In Cuba, Hopeful Tenor Toward Obama Is Ebbing
HAVANA — The Obama honeymoon here is over.
The New York Times - By Marc Lacey - December 30, 2009
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A billboard in Havana in 2004 placed President George W. Bush alongside Adolph Hitler. When President Obama came to office, the unflattering billboards of George W. Bush, including one outside the United States Interests Section of him scowling alongside Hitler, came down and the anti-American vitriol softened. Raúl Castro, who took over from his ailing brother Fidel in 2006, even raised the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Obama, which would have been the first time one of the Castros met with a sitting American president.

But the tenor here has changed considerably, and Mr. Obama, whose election was broadly celebrated by Cuba’s racially diverse population, is now being portrayed by this nation’s leaders as an imperialistic, warmongering Cuba hater.

United States Government

US Is Increasing Its Hegemony As the "Global War Gladiator" Under Obama
What to watch for in 2010 from the country that spends more on war than the next 25 combined.
Alternet - By Tom Engelhardt and Nick Turse - January 4, 2010.
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Although our country delivers war regularly to distant lands in the name of our “safety,” we don’t really consider ourselves at war (despite the endless talk of “supporting our troops”), and the money that has simply poured into Pentagon coffers, and then into weaponry and conflicts is, with rare exceptions, never linked to economic distress in this country. And yet, if we are no nation of warriors, from the point of view of the rest of the world we are certainly the planet’s foremost war-makers. If money talks, then war may be what we care most about as a society and fund above all else, with the least possible discussion or debate.

In fact, according to military expert William Hartung, the Pentagon budget has risen in every year of the new century, an unprecedented run in our history. We dominate the global arms trade, monopolizing almost 70% of the arms business in 2008, with Italy coming in a vanishingly distant second. We put more money into the funding of war, our armed forces, and the weaponry of war than the next 25 countries combined (and that’s without even including Iraq and Afghan war costs). We garrison the planet in a way no empire or nation in history has ever done. And we plan for the future, for “the next war” -- on the ground, on the seas, and in space -- in a way that is surely unique. If our two major wars of the twenty-first century in Iraq and Afghanistan are any measure, we also get less bang for our buck than any nation in recent history.

For Obama, no opportunity too big to blow
Greanville Post - Ny Naomi Klein - Secember 21, 2009

Barack Obama will go down in history as a squasher of dreams and hopes. His first year is already notable for the highhanded betrayals of the public interest behind a mask of intelligent empathy. —Eds.

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Contrary to countless reports, the debacle in Copenhagen was not everyone’s fault. It did not happen because human beings are incapable of agreeing, or are inherently self-destructive. Nor was it all was China’s fault, or the fault of the hapless UN. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but there was one country that possessed unique power to change the game. It didn’t use it. If Barack Obama had come to Copenhagen with a transformative and inspiring commitment to getting the U.S. economy off fossil fuels, all the other major emitters would have stepped up. The EU, Japan, China and India had all indicated that they were willing to increase their levels of commitment, but only if the U.S. took the lead. Instead of leading, Obama arrived with embarrassingly low targets and the heavy emitters of the world took their cue from him.

Obama Continues to Privatize America’s Imperial Wars
Greneville Post - By Glen Ford - December 22, 2009
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The Pentagon has methodically insulated its wars from most of U.S. civil society. “For the United States, war has devolved to a matter of contracts, a multi-trillion dollar cash cow for corporations, a self-perpetuating financial bubble that feeds the planet’s most dangerous and nonproductive, useless classes.” The mercenary is the ideal corporate warrior.

A New Comptroller, Cheered by Asian-Americans Declaring a New Era
The New York Times - By Kareem Fahim and Karen Zraick - January 1, 2010
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Mr. Liu, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, energized a diverse band of voters in his bid for the comptroller’s job, allowing him to beat a field that included David Yassky, his City Council colleague, who had endorsements from the city’s major newspapers. Pushing him toward victory were Asian voters, including Koreans in Queens, Chinese in Manhattan and Pakistanis in Brooklyn. On Friday, in numbers, they headed to downtown Manhattan, to celebrate what they had helped make happen: electing the first Asian-American to citywide office.

Iowa governor touts 4-day workweek
Stateline.org - Staff Reports - December 29, 2009
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Topical News

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Activism at the Groud Level

Recommended ***** Colombia | Women Empowered by Restoring Desertified Land
Inter Press Service - By Helda Martinez - Saturday, January 2, 2010
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Natagaima, Colombia - Indigenous and rural women from southern Tolima, a province located in the heart of Colombia, are lending a hand to the bleak land around them, with the aim of simultaneously recovering the ecosystem and regaining their own dignity, in a community effort that is changing their environment and their lives.

Climate Change - As the World Turns

***** Video | Coal, tar sands and Copenhagen
The Real News - Interview by Paul Jay, Senior Editor, with Tzeporah Beman, Executive Director, PoweUp Canada
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Constitutional and Legal Issues

US | Editorial - Yes, It Was Torture, and Illegal
Bush administration officials came up with all kinds of ridiculously offensive rationalizations for torturing prisoners. It’s not torture if you don’t mean it to be. It’s not torture if you don’t nearly kill the victim. It’s not torture if the president says it’s not torture.
The New Tork Timws - January 3, 2010
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It was deeply distressing to watch the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sink to that standard in April when it dismissed a civil case brought by four former Guantánamo detainees never charged with any offense. The court said former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the senior military officers charged in the complaint could not be held responsible for violating the plaintiffs’ rights because at the time of their detention, between 2002 and 2004, it was not “clearly established” that torture was illegal.

The Supreme Court could have corrected that outlandish reading of the Constitution, legal precedent, and domestic and international statutes and treaties. Instead, last month, the justices abdicated their legal and moral duty and declined to review the case. A denial of certiorari is not a ruling on the merits. But the justices surely understood that their failure to accept the case would further undermine the rule of law.

Corruption / Criminality in Government

Southeast Asia | Tsunami Recovery Hit by Corruption, Apathy
Inter Press Service - By Marwaan Macan-Markar - Saturday 26 December 2009
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Economy and Finance

Bloomberg Economic News
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Bloomberg Current Worldwide Financial News
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Satan, the great motivator - The curious economic effects of religion
Boston Globe - By Michael Fitzgerald - November 15, 2009
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What makes economies grow? It’s a question that has occupied thinkers for centuries. Most of us would tick off things like education levels, openness to trade, natural resources, and political systems. Here’s one you might not have considered: hell. A pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort out the economic impact of religious beliefs or practices. They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies - and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell.

US | AIG Executives Failed to Repay Majority of Bonuses
Truthout - By Jason Leopold - Tuesday 29 December 2009
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Despite previous promises, beleaguered insurance giant American International Group (AIG) has failed to return tens of millions of dollars in bonus payments the firm doled out to executives following the company’s spectacular unraveling and subsequent multibillion government bailout, according to a recent report by the special inspector general for the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Food and Nutrition

US | The Fast Food Industry's 7 Most Heinous Concoctions
Alternet - By Brad Reed - August 27, 2009
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One of AlterNet's most popular articles of 2009: Some of America’s favorite chains offer some thoroughly repellent dishes. This was AlterNet's 7th most popular article of 2009.
Although the organic movement has certainly started to influence how Americans think about their food, it is still no match for the American fast food industry, which continuously finds creative new ways of piling sugar, salt and fat on a plate and charging customers $4.99 for the privilege of eating it.

In recent years, in fact, some of America's favorite chains have gone above and beyond the call of duty and concocted thoroughly repellent dishes that make the Double Quarter Pounder look like a celery stick. These companies have offered Americans these revolting meals despite the fact that roughly one-third of the country is now obese, a deplorable state of affairs that accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimates costs the U.S. health-care system $200 billion a year in wasted spending.

In this article, we'll name and shame the very worst offenders, whether they're 1,400-calorie hamburgers or 550-calorie cups of coffee. So let's get things rolling with …

Legal and Constitutional Issues

Bloomberg Index of Current Legal News
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Media and Freedom of Expression

Editorial « Canada’s Free Press
The New York Times - Jabiary 1, 2009
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In a welcome move toward increased freedom of expression, the Supreme Court of Canada has issued two rulings that will give reporters a new legal defense for “responsible communication.”

Libel law in Canada has long been heavily tilted against the news media. It has been far too easy for corporations and rich individuals in Canada to sue over news reports they do not like. Canadian journalists have had to worry far more than their American counterparts about being hit with large damage awards.

Last month, the Canadian Supreme Court changed the rules. One of the cases involved a lawsuit by a forestry executive who won a judgment of about $1.5 million against The Toronto Star, a newspaper that published an article suggesting that he had used political connections to get approval for a golf course expansion. The Supreme Court ruled that the judgment against the newspaper was improper because it had failed to give adequate weight to the value of freedom of expression. The court announced a new defense of “responsible communication on matters of public interest.” Journalists and other speakers can avoid liability, the court ruled, if they can show that the information they communicated — whether it turned out to be true or false — was of public interest and they were diligent in trying to verify it.

Religion and Philosophies

Catholicism | Commentary | Passions of Pope Victor
National Interest - By Philip Jenkins - December 16, 2009
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For millennia, the Catholic Church has been a predominantly Western institution. Yet as Europe secularized and the global South becomes the new market for potential converts, Christianity is undergoing a painful evolution. Millions of believers will be tempted by charismatic preachers, who combine anti-capitalist fervor with staunch social conservatism. Roman Catholicism must now compete in this marketplace. Westerners may well not like the new version of their faith.

center>Science & Technology

Bloomberg Index of Current Science News
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Sound and Fury

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CBC Hourly News
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