Wednesday-Night

May 17
Aid pours in, but time runs for China quake survivors
(IHT) Remarkably, relief officials said they had rescued a child buried alive in the ruins of a middle school about 80 hours after the quake struck.
May 16
CHINA: Quake Helps Mend Image After Tibet Crackdown
BEIJING, May 16 (IPS) - A sense of solemnity has […]

See also Avaaz on Burma

Myanmar News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
An aerial view of a town in the southern Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar that was devastated by the cyclone More Photos

China Backs […]

Last Wednesday Night’s discussion encompassed lunar-based solar technology, reports by Kimon of exciting developments in the New School of Athens global governance initiative, the environment, the economy and, of course, acclamation of the publishing achievement that has given birth to The Metropolitain. It was a full and challenging evening which we […]

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Haiti, among the countries hit hardest by the global food crisis, should return to more homegrown food staples such as corn, experts say. But in this analysis of why the Caribbean country’s food crisis runs so deep, the Los Angeles Times reports that local farmers see such a path […]

As Home and Resort Development Cools,
Conservationists Snap Up More Land
By JIM CARLTON
(Wall Street Journal) There’s a green lining to the real-estate cloud: Developers are dropping plans to build on some choice pieces of land and instead are selling [them] for such uses as public parks and nature preserves.
One of the big beneficiaries is Trust for […]

See also Tibet and The Olympic Protest Primer

May 11
Don’t coddle Beijing - it must account for its role Darfur: Roméo Dallaire
Many consider it taboo to speak of the genocide in Darfur and the upcoming Beijing Olympics in the same breath. I disagree entirely. I believe the two should be firmly linked in the public’s mind, […]

AIRSHIP
George Monbiot in The Guardian
If there is a God, he’s not green. Otherwise airships would take off
Many will cite the Hindenburg, but flying without harming the planet is possible. These craft are worth developing
Of all the charges levelled against environmentalists, perhaps the most unfair is the accusation that we are opposed to technological […]

—–Original Message—–
From: Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org [mailto:avaaz@avaaz.org]
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 7:02 AM
Subject: Burma: 100,000 dead
Dear friends,
Staggering new estimates suggest that 100,000 people may have died in Burma’s terrible cyclone. Incredibly, the corrupt and brutal Burmese government has stopped most international aid at the borders and is impeding the relief effort.
In under 24 hours, Avaaz […]

See also Global Monitoring Report 2008
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Foreign Policy May/June 2008
When China Met Africa (complete article available only to subscribers to FP)
It seemed a perfect match: A growing country looking for markets and influence meets a continent with plenty of resources but few investors. Now that China has moved in, though, its African partners are […]

We talked about the moon which made me think about Odysseus who must have spent a lot of time looking at it as he was trying to find his way home. We are trying to find our way out of the energy problem and are looking at the moon again. We talked about nations being […]