The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) is best known for his political thought, and deservedly so. His vision of the world is strikingly original and still relevant to contemporary politics. His main concern is the problem of social and political order: how human beings can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. He poses stark alternatives: we should give our obedience to an unaccountable sovereign (a person or group empowered to decide every social and political issue). Otherwise what awaits us is a “state of nature” that closely resembles civil war – a situation of universal insecurity, where all have reason to fear violent death and where rewarding human cooperation is all but impossible. (Read Further)
For all South Africa’s faults, its press has at its best been riotously, exhilaratingly free. The country’s 1996 constitution, one of the most liberal in the world, includes a protection of free speech and a right to “access any information held by the state”. In a democracy dominated by one party, as South Africa is, a free press is an especially important check on the abuse of power by the government. Yet some in the ANC [ruling party] have never liked the press’s freedom to criticise. Hence a proposed new Protection of Information Bill that would impose arbitrary restrictions on access to government information, backed up by extreme punishments of up to 25 years in jail. (Read Further)
The following is an excerpt of Vandana Shiva speaking about “food and seed sovereignty” at the International Meeting on Resisting Hegemony held 2-5 August 2010 in Penang, Malaysia. The complete presentation and others from the meeting are available at the TV Multiversity channel on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/channels/tvmultiversity.
The UN’s announcement came after Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin extended the country’s ban on grain exports. The ban has been partly blamed for a 5% increase in global food prices worldwide over the last two months, hitting their highest level in two years. The price of wheat has had its biggest monthly rise for 37 years. “In the past few weeks, global cereal markets experienced a sudden surge in international wheat prices on concerns over wheat shortages,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said. (Read Further)
“I must distance myself from this complicity with racism, including anti-Muslim racism.” Judith Butler’s. “Civil Courage Prize” Refusal Speech. Christopher Street Day. June 19, 2010.
The unemployment rate edged up and private-sector job creation continued at a modest pace in August, the government said Friday, reflecting an economy that is treading water, neither accelerating into a robust recovery nor slipping into another recession. (Read Further)
Ayman Al-Amir, Al-Ahram’s former correspondent in Washington writes that the US war against the Iraqis will continue, but at a more covert level.
“In pre-election congressional campaign hype, US President Barack Obama will announce next week that the full withdrawal of US combat troops in Iraq has been completed on schedule. They will leave behind not only a wreck that was once Iraq but a continuing war with different, more brutal rules of engagement. One-third of the full complement of the invasion force, or 50,000 troops, will remain in Iraq for support, assistance and training purposes that may reach far beyond that, including more combat missions. They will receive crucial assistance from an army of paramilitary contractors who are closely attuned to the lethal tactics of the notorious Blackwater USA. Blackwater killed 17 Iraqis in 2007 and has recently been fined $42 million for security violations and illegal arms smuggling. (Read further)
Sarah Kleinman of the Global Policy Forum speaks with Catherine Dumait-Harper, who served as the UN Delegate of Médecins Sans Frontières from 1993 to 2005, about the integration of military and humanitarian affairs in conflict. During this period, she coordinated MSF’s advocacy efforts related to the conflicts in East Timor, Kosovo, Afghanistan, West Africa, and elsewhere. In this interview, Catherine discusses the need to keep military operations distinct from humanitarian activities because this “blurring of lines” has led to confusion, tension, and increased vulnerability for aid workers in the field. She also argues that by overlapping security and humanitarian roles, many international organizations – both military and civilian – have violated.
In this Oct. 6, 2009 file photo, a Rwandan Hutu rebel gropes a local woman as he passes her on a crowded mountain path near the village of Kimua in eastern Congo. Congolese community leaders say they warned local U.N. officials and army commanders of the dangers and begged them to protect villagers days before rebels gang-raped scores of people from a month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother. (AP Photo/ Rebecca Blackwell, File)
UNITED NATIONS – The number of women raped by rebel groups during last month’s raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has risen to over 240, U.N. officials told reporters here today (2 September 2010).
Following the raid(s) that occurred between 30 July and 3 August, rebels are now believed to have continued pillaging in and around neighbouring areas of Mubi and Pinga: In addition to those previously reported, an additional 75 rape victims have been identified. (Read Further)
What is the most common cause of hunger in the world? Is it drought? Flood? Locusts? Crop diseases? Nope. Most hunger in the world has absolutely nothing to do with food shortages. Most people who go to bed hungry, both in rich and in poor countries, do so in places where markets are filled with food that they cannot have.
Despite this fact, much of the discourse about reforming our food system has focused on the necessity of raising yields. Though it is true that we might need more food in coming years, it is also true that the world produces more food calories than are needed to sustain its entire population. The problem is unequal access to food, land, and wealth, and any discussion must begin not from fantasies of massive yield increases, but from the truth that the hunger of the poor is in part a choice of the rich. (Read Further)
