The Great Biofuel Fraud

F. William Engdahl writes in Asia Times:
That bowl of Kellogg’s cornflakes on the breakfast table or the portion of pasta or corn tortillas, cheese or meat on the dinner table is going to rise in price over the coming months as sure as the sun rises in the East. Welcome to the new world food-price [...]

Outsourcing Intelligence

R.J. Hillhouse writes in The Nation:
The unprecedented involvement of private corporations in the Iraq War has been well documented. Private soldiers working for Blackwater USA, Triple Canopy and others provide security services against military-level threats, and they regularly engage in combat. But what is not generally known is that the secret side of the Iraq [...]

Out How: The Economics of Ending Wars

Michael D. Intriligator writes in Truthdig:
In this 10-point essay, originally delivered as a speech at the 2007 conference of the Allied Social Science Association, economics expert Dr. Intriligator tallies up the astronomical costs of the Iraq war (one estimation put the price tag for the war at $2.267 trillion) and rips apart the Bush administration’s [...]

Trademarking Coffee: Starbucks Cuts Ethiopia Deal

Anton Foek writes in CorpWatch:
Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee shop chain, and the Ethiopian government are on the verge of unveiling a deal that the company hopes will end attacks on the company’s carefully constructed ethical image.
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Barrick’s Dirty Secrets: Communities Respond to Gold Mining’s Impacts Worldwide

CorpWatch writes:
Canadian-owned Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, is exploring, building and operating huge, open-pit gold mines on nearly every continent on the planet.
On average, gold mining today produces 70 tons of waste for every ounce of gold, while also consuming and polluting massive amounts of water. An estimated 50 percent of these mining [...]

Think Green

Derek Wall writes in Comment is Free:
Being an open-minded fanatic, I am dipping into Towards a Liberal Utopia? from the free-market, Thatcherite, Institute of Economic Affairs.
I am on the Green team and teach economics, so I am interested to look at what my polar opposites are saying. Economic thinktanks, it can be argued, whether [...]

No Development, No Peace

Jeffrey D. Sachs writes in Daily Times:
While international diplomacy focused on peacekeeping and on humanitarian efforts to save the lives of displaced and desperate people, peace in Darfur can be neither achieved nor sustained until the underlying crises of poverty, environmental degradation, declining access to water, and chronic hunger are addressed.
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New Diplomacy: Challenges for Foreign Policy

David Milliband, Britain’s secretary of state for foreign affairs, presented some main currents in his government’s foreign policy. The lecture was given at Chatham House, on 19 July 2007. An excerpt of the transcript is below:
David Miliband:
Every Foreign Secretary quotes Lord Palmerston, who famously said we have no permanent allies and no permanent enemies, only [...]

Puerto Rico’s Top Political Party Seeks U.N. Help

CNN posts:
Puerto Rico’s ruling party approved a resolution Sunday urging the United Nations to review the island’s status, hoping international pressure can help it gain greater autonomy from the United States.
It was the first time Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila’s Popular Democratic Party, which has favored the current commonwealth status, has called for such a change. [...]

Russian Subs Make Test Dive En Route to North Pole

The New Scientist writes:
As the Arctic icecap thins due to global warming, a race is looming to claim ownership of the rich energy resources under the North Pole.
The Russian mission involves a nuclear-powered icebreaker smashing through the ice to clear a path to the Pole for the Akademik Fedorov. This will launch the submersibles to [...]