Wednesday-Night

April 11
Gwynne Dyer: Controversial flame has never burned brightly
(New Zealand Herald) What’s actually colliding here are two irreconcilable views of the world. For almost all Chinese, the turmoil in Tibet is a threat to national unity.
We were struck by the contrast of the two opinion pieces excerpted below (there will assuredly be many more) and, […]

This Wednesday, it is a somewhat random-access agenda. Despite (or perhaps because of) our careful monitoring of topics of interest, we find that many are in the category of “been there, done that” too recently and there is little obvious progress in the files. However, there are others that have been somewhat neglected in […]

 See also Tibet and The Olympic Protest Primer

April 24
China to clear out students, refugees before Olympics
Beijing - China plans to order all foreign students to leave the country before the Olympic Games in August, strictly regulate the issuing of business and tourist visas, and deport refugees, sources said on Thursday (April 17).
‘Even if you have […]

April 8 2008
Asian Inflation Begins to Sting U.S. Shoppers
By KEITH BRADSHER
(NYT) BAT TRANG, Vietnam — For two generations, Americans have imported goods produced ever more cheaply from a succession of low-wage countries — first Japan and Korea, then China, and now increasingly places like Vietnam and India.
But mounting inflation in the developing world, especially […]

Obama’s young backers twist parents’ arms
As a small chorus of superdelegates has announced a preference for Senator Barack Obama in recent weeks, a theme is emerging: their children made them do it.
The list of Democrats who have cited the persuasive power of their own children as a factor in their Obama endorsements — either in […]

More on Biofuels
April 05, 2008
Scammers see green dollars
Scam artists can smell a fad. They feed on naive enthusiasm. In the green movement, they’ve found enough naive enthusiasm to sustain them for years.
(The Ottawa Citizen) Many consumers are learning, slowly, not to be dupes. They’re figuring out how to detect the same old polluting products […]

3 April 2008

La ministre Line Beauchamp était de passage à Montréal pour annoncer l’octroi d’un montant de 250 000 $ pour financer des projets étudiants relatifs à l’environnement. © Virginie Roy (Canoë)
Le défi lancé au gouvernement du Québec par les fondateurs du Pacte des générations, un projet de sensibilisation au développement durable, semble avoir […]

GETTY IMAGES
Completion of the 670-mile fence on the US-Mexican border would harm endangered species and ‘pristine wildlife habitats’, say environmentalists
 
April 3 2008 (The Independent) The Bush administration is pushing ahead with what critics say is a final act of environmental vandalism in casting aside more than 30 laws and regulations to complete a 670-mile stretch […]

Wednesday Night Goes Global - or at least partially!
On Wednesday April 2, a select group of Wednesday Nighters will gather in Athens on the first day of the New School of Athens (NSOA) Conference Athens-3 organized by Kimon Valaskakis OWN. Jaime Webbe and Cleo Paskal are participating in the Panel on Globalisation and Security: […]

2 April 2008
WALLINGFORD, Pa. — Democrat Barack Obama said Wednesday he talks regularly with former vice president Al Gore and would consider putting him in a Cabinet-level position or higher.
At a town-hall meeting, Obama was asked if he would tap the former vice president for his Cabinet to handle global warming. “I would,” Obama said. […]