The White House recently released its National Security Strategy report and the UN DISPACH were happy to report the Millennium Development Goals are in it. From page 39, chapter “Promote Dignity by Meeting Basic Needs”: The freedom that America stands for includes freedom from want. Basic human rights cannot thrive in places where human beings…
Presidents: “War is money”
The – now former – German President Horst Köhler has just resigned after a slip of tongue in an interview about his visit to the German troops in Afghanistan. So, what did he say? [military operations serves to] protect our interests, for example, free trade routes, or to prevent regional instability, which might certainly have…
Pipeline bombed twice this week in Yemen
The pipeline isn’t the issue, it’s just a target of a tribes revenge on the government. “The pair attacks came in retaliation of an air raid that mistakenly killed a tribal dignitary, who also served as deputy governor of Marib province, Jabir Ali al-Shabwany, along with his four bodyguards […] The targeted pipeline is located…
Google Maps shows North Korea logging endangered tigers’ protected forest
This scandal has been reported on several websites: The sharp images from Google Earth clearly shows the North Korean communist dictatorship is logging forest areas in a UN national park. Not only does the megalomaniac Kim Jong-il seek to build a nuclear armament, impoverish his subdued people and occasionally sink South Korean ships – he’s…
Roosevelt’s WWII Bill of Rights
From President Roosevelt’s [Wikipedia] January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union in which he advocated a “Second Bill of Rights” [Wikipedia]. It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the…
Israel uses Golan to build wind energy industry
After decades of focusing on solar power, a natural enterprise for a country two-thirds desert, Israel is starting to pour resources into developing its wind energy industry. Much of that potential, it says, is in the Golan Heights, a strategic and windswept plateau captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Once the focal point of…
Does poor health cause crime?
Just found The New York Times / For Crime, Is Anatomy Destiny? via Hunter-Gatherer / Does poor health cause crime?The blog looks like something for the watchlist (John Durant, did you read some Kim Stanley Robinson?) and the article is very interesting. Some highlights: shorter men are 20 to 30 percent more likely to end…
Group of retired US military leaders campaign for climate bill
33 retired US generals and admirals have written a strong appeal for a climate change bill. Climate change is threatening America’s security. The Pentagon and security leaders of both parties consider climate disruption to be a “threat multiplier” – it exacerbates existing problems by decreasing stability, increasing conflict, and incubating the socioeconomic conditions that foster…
Blood Diamonds at TH!NK3
Conflict diamonds have now inspired (at least) two articles by my fellow TH!NK3’er Brazilian Luan Galani. Kimberley Process at stake Blood diamonds continue to be mined and sold from Marange (Zimbabwe) – which contains the largest known concentration of diamonds in the world – and find their way into jewellery stores worldwide. Kimberley Process is…
Water Wars at TH!NK3
Today there are two water war articles at TH!NK 3 Developing World: WATER IS ANOTHER MATTER by Hanna Clarys and Are you ready for Water Wars? by Hemant Jain. The latter is an illustration and a couple of links. Hanna’s article is about the situation in Palestine. A few excerpts: Palestinians have three main water…
Mekamui Message: No More Mining, No More Bloodshed (TH!NK3)
Bougainville Copper Limited’s Panguna mine closed in 1989 after an armed struggle against the company and the government of Papua New Guinea. BCL is controlled by mining giant Rio Tinto. Clive was a fighter for the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. Locals claim that up to 20,000 people died during the secessionist struggle, many from health related…
Press clips: Water, pollution, oil, diamonds…
Spending my time brewing up rants for development.thinkaboutit.eu Ecowar news stories get a little less attention. But here are a bunch from my news alerts that I couldn’t just delete. Some of the usual suspects. First diamonds: Dealers try to thwart conflict diamond trade in Zimbabwe, but loopholes persist The World Diamond Council (WDC) has…