Wednesday-Night

China, Beijing Olympics ; Tibet
Official website
The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
The Olympic Emblem

August 7
Athletes pay price for IOC riches
This is the most extreme case of a longstanding phenomenon of holding Olympics just when sensible citizens (as in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004), are heading for the hills. It […]

August 1, 2008
Please see Uncertainty and Climate change

(Op-Ed, NYT) Recently the Web site The Politico asked Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, why she was blocking attempts to tack offshore drilling amendments onto appropriations bills. “I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she replied.
I’m glad […]

See also Rodrigue Tremblay on Wednesday-night.com
by Rodrigue Tremblay
I think the [US financial] system is basically sound, I truly do. George W. Bush, July 15, 2008
Since 1951, the budget of the Department of Defense each year exceeds the net profits of all U.S. corporations. So, in finance capital terms, that means that the management of that […]

July 31, 2008
(FT) Russia plans to form a state grain trading company to control up to half of the country’s cereal exports, intensifying fears that Moscow wants to use food exports as a diplomatic weapon in the same way as Gazprom has manipulated natural gas sales.
The move by Moscow, the world’s fifth-biggest exporter of cereals, […]

Taxing the Poor
Edward Gresser (Foreign Affairs) … most imports arrive not under FTAs but through the permanent tariff system, which receives far less attention in Congress. Rather than raising money and protecting jobs, permanent tariffs tend to increase clothing and shoe prices at home while creating especially high trade barriers that deter goods from approximately […]

More on oil See also Wednesday-Night.com Alberta and Oil Notes
July 31
Stepping up efforts to win over oil sands critics
(FP) CALGARY - Faced with an unflattering image as a global environmental disaster area, the oil sands sector is stepping up its offensive to counteract critics.
The sector has re-branded the Oil Sands Developers Group, a Fort […]

See photos and more
Starting this Wednesday Night on a different note (!), our very special diva, Susanna Eyton-Jones, and Shem Guibbory will give a brief performance as a warm-up to their in-studio recording the following week. They will present a 13-minute chamber piece for violin and soprano entitled ‘Iglesia Abandonado’, by […]

China’s missed understanding
Scientists, not government, should lead efforts to explain the benefits and risks of modern technology, says Li Daguang.
(SciDev.net) Controversies over the health and environmental impact of the Xiamen PX chemical plant and Three Gorges Dam projects have exposed the failings of China’s top-down approach to explaining science, writes Li […]

Trucks are loaded with sugar cane, which will be used to produce biofuels, in Brazil. Photograph: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters
More on Biofuels
July 28
Biofuels Down, Energy Saving Up in EU Climate Plan
(Reuters/Planet Ark) BRUSSELS - Biofuels are down and energy efficiency measures are up as the European Union’s ambitious plan to fight climate change works its way towards […]

Getty Images
July 25
The news from France may discourage some nuclear proponents, more likely the many who are wavering.
Too Many French Nuclear Workers Contaminated
The Independent Commission on Research and Information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD) also said a growing number of French nuclear workers were complaining about worsening working conditions and their likely impact on safety.
July 11 […]