A new Energy Department report says much about how elites view the oil shock—and why the US is in Iraq. It actually mentions the impacts of biofuels, but that’s a sideshow to the inexorable threat of China‘s economic rise. This synopsis does not… Read moreEnergy Department sees surging world consumption
It is pretty depressing that 29 years after Three Mile Island and 22 after Chernobyl, the nuclear industry has recouped its propaganda losses to the point that both candidates are obliged to pay lip service to the oxymoron of “safe… Read moreMcCain, Obama: both pro-nuke
Iran has announced it is reviewing the launch of a joint development bank with Venezuela. “Iran and Venezuela have positive cooperation and are currently reviewing the launch of a joint bank after five meetings held on this issue so far,”… Read moreIran, Venezuela to launch joint development bank
Lt. Col. Héctor Herrera, president of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Civil-Military Front, decried a “new, unfounded accusation” by the US Treasury Department that a Venezuelan diplomat and Venezuelan travel agent, both of Lebanese decent, are financial supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Herrera, whose… Read moreVenezuelan charges “mud-slinging” over Hezbollah accusations
At least four Somali government soldiers were killed and four civilians wounded when a roadside bomb hit a military vehicle in Mogadishu June 22. (Xinhua, June 22) Fighting has killed at least 38 since the “peace deal” was concluded in… Read moreSomali PM says peace deal is on —despite continued war
Sri Lanka’s air force launched helicopter attacks on rebel-held territory in the island’s north June 21, as ground troops killed at least four guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar district. “Sri Lanka air force MI-24… Read moreAir attacks in Sri Lanka
In a brief Associated Press account of the sentencing of supposed ELF operative Briana Waters, the New York Times June 20 uncritically uses the loaded term “ecoterrorist” in the headline. If you actually read the blurb, it turns out she… Read more“Ecoterrorist” Briana Waters gets six years
With the near-simultaneous Beijing Olympics and Hokkaido G8 summit about to open, China and Japan announce they have resolved their dispute over gas fields in the East China Sea. What a feel-good globalization-fest we are going to be subject to… Read moreChina, Japan to cooperate in offshore gas exploitation
What a telling medley of articles in the New York Times June 19. First this, from the front page: Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages… Read moreExxon back in Iraq —ANWR next?
Despite the supposed ceasefire, fighting again broke out between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian occupation troops in several attacks around Mogadishu June 18, leaving 11 dead. Nine were civilians; two were Somali police. (Africa News, June 19) Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf,… Read moreArab governments plot Somali destabilization?
Wired reports June 19 reports from Marlborough, MA, where the US Air Force held a confab to promote its new Cyber Command, which is to go operational in 105 days. While the command’s mission is still “very much in question,”… Read moreWill Air Force Cyber Command quell or fuel conspiracy theories?
