Consumer demand for organic, fair trade chocolate is helping to revive an entire sector of the economy in Sao Tome. Thanks to an initiative first proposed by IFAD, 1400 farmers on this island 230 kilometres of the west coast of Africa have switched to organic cocoa production and are earning more money as a result.Consumer demand for organic, fair trade chocolate is helping to revive an entire... more
After baptizing the remaining HD DVD faithful, Warner has moved on to teaching new Blu-ray converts the five pillars of faith with a trade-up program. Send in your old DVDs (just the box art won't cut it this time around, better buy some blanks and get to ripping if you still enjoy Training Day on long car trips), $7.95 - $9.95 per movie plus $4.95 for s&h (orders over $25 ship for free) and expect HD versions back in 4 - 5 weeks. Is it worth it? Depends on how many of the 55 flicks on the approved list you own (included after the break) but for most you're probably better off keeping the ones you have and eyeing budget bins carefully, nabbing catalog flicks like Harold & Kumar for less than $15 without any mail-in shenanigans shouldn't be too hard for the truly thrifty.
The longer we sit home and imagine the Chinese buying our sh**ty cars or exotic financial securities, the shorter the road to serfdom for more generations of US citizens who will be stuck paying off the reckless debts of our elders ...The longer we sit home and imagine the Chinese buying our sh**ty cars or exotic... more
President Barack Obama faces tensions with China over trade and Tibet on his first visit to the emerging superpower for a summit that will grapple with economic imbalances and the future of the yuan.President Barack Obama faces tensions with China over trade and Tibet on his first... more
China is now Wisconsin's (and the country's) third-biggest export market, buying more American soybeans, oil seeds, hides and animal skins, raw cotton, copper, nonferrous metals, wood pulp, semiconductors and miscellaneous chicken parts (a.k.a. chicken feet) than anyone else. Get used to dancing to their tune.China is now Wisconsin's (and the country's) third-biggest export market, buying more... more
After activists block their permit, Canadian company uses US trade agreement to sue Salvadoran gov'tAfter activists block their permit, Canadian company uses US trade agreement to sue... more
This pod is a quick look at the holy town of Pushkar and its Camel Festival that just took place in Rajasthan, India. This is my first pod... and first time out filming... so apologies for the shaky footage and beginner's editing! Despite all of this, I highly recommend a visit to Pushkar, in the middle Rajasthan's deserts, to witness the pilgrims at the ghats and enjoy the backpacker scene. Milkman is an incredible hostel to stay at, for those interested. Be warned, however, that hawkers, beggars and others will try for your money constantly. All in all, a worthwhile place to stop by on a trip to India.This pod is a quick look at the holy town of Pushkar and its Camel Festival that just... more
I'm frustrated. Everyone is talking about the loss of jobs from the recession and no one pays attention to the loss of jobs from off-shoring. Everyone's attention is directed to the Iraq War and the Afghan War and no one pays attention to the Trade War.
After World War II, Japan launched a Trade War for market share by closing its domestic market, subsidizing its manufacture, selling its export at or near cost, and making up the profit in its closed market. Thus, Toyota is Number 1 while GM is bankrupt.
In 1960, I was drafted as a witness in the Trade War in 1960 to testify on behalf of the northern and southern textile industries before the old United States Tariff Commission. I attested to Japan's dumping textile imports at less than cost, costing us jobs. This job loss has continued for fifty years, not only in textiles, but in shoes, electronics, radios, TVs, watches, computers, automobiles, advanced technology, and now research.
Follow link for the rest of this Op/Ed By Fritz Hollings at The Huffington Post.
Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed concerns about the traffic of weapons and drugs across the country's porous borders, but there is also an older and more surprising commodity being smuggled into Iraq — cadavers.
For centuries, Shiite Muslims from all over the world have sought to be buried in what might be the world's largest cemetery, in the holy city of Najaf. During the past 30 years of rebellions, invasion and war with Iran, the traffic of the dead was halted. But it is now a big business once again.
Lion + Tiger = LIGER! Freckles was rescued from a failed backyard sanctuary in mississippi Dec 2008. 16 year old Freckles is one of the oldest Ligers around but she is one of the most recent arrivals to Big Cat Rescue. At the time of her rescue we could see a big hole in her jowl, and feared that it would lead to her demise, but she was in such bad shape that we just couldn't risk knocking her out to get a better look. Being a cranky old cat, she wasn't about to let us get a good look any other way either. She was given antibiotics in case it was just an injury, but now that she has become more calm in her new setting we can see that the problem stems from several broken teeth. Caged cats will often break off their teeth trying to chew their way out of their prison cells and when she was left behind to die in Mississippi she probably did just that.
The dental work was completed on Freckles without any problems and she as made a full recovery. Let's hope that the dental as taken away her pain and she will have no more problems in the future.Lion + Tiger = LIGER! Freckles was rescued from a failed backyard sanctuary in... more
Anyone who read Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s bestselling Freakonomics and came away still wondering what the hell freakonomics was supposed to be, will gain some reassurance from its sequel. As the authors admit in their introduction, they didn’t know either. The title was dreamed up in a moment of desperation – their publishers hated it – and all they were really saying, they insist, was that people respond to incentives.
The fun part, though, came from the way in which they applied economic theory to areas where you’d never expect to find it – sumo wrestling, crack-dealing and so on. Essentially, Superfreakonomics consists of more of the same. This might get wearying were it not for the fact that Levitt and Dubner’s zeal for statistical anomalies is as undimmed as their eye for a good story.Anyone who read Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s bestselling Freakonomics and came... more
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama deserves a failing grade for his handling of U.S. trade policy during his first nine months on the job, a senior Republican senator said on Monday.
"If you go to class, college, and you don't do anything, you get an F," Senator Charles Grassley said at the Reuters Washington Summit.
Grassley's tough language reflects Republican frustration with White House inaction on free trade pacts with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, which were negotiated by the administration of former President George W. Bush.
"If there's anything that would help us with this economic downturn, it would be to promote trade ... If you're in a recession and trade would help you get out of it, you shouldn't be doing nothing," Grassley said at the summit, held at the Reuters office in Washington.
The Iowa Republican also expressed concern about the recent drop in the value of the U.S. dollar, saying it sent a bad signal "to the rest of the world that the United States doesn't have its economy under control."
Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, gave Obama an A for his efforts to rescue the U.S. economy, in a separate interview. But like all presidents, his record on trade is "a mixed picture," Levin said, adding that Democrats have concerns about all three free trade pacts that must be addressed.
Carol Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, defended the administration's record, saying "USTR has racked up a significant list of trade-promoting accomplishments" since Obama took office.
They include negotiating a market-opening agreement for U.S. beef in Europe, taking China to the World Trade Organization for restrictions on raw material exports that push up costs for steel producers and working to keep markets open to U.S. farm products during the swine flu crisis, she said.
...More...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama deserves a failing grade for his... more
Nature News reported last week that vulcanologists have concluded that climate disruption will increase the number of volcanic eruptions. According to the article, the reason is that climate disruption is expected to reduce the amount of ice present atop volcanoes and thus reduce the amount of material keeping volcanoes from erupting.
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Last week, the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General found that approximately 11% of the standard gases for blends of SO2, CO2, and nitrous oxide (NO) they had purchased and had independently tested were different from the stated amount of gas by 3% or more when the acceptable range was within 2% of the stated amount.
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According to a NYTimes article, two German vessels, the Beluga Fraternity and Beluga Foresight, steamed north from South Korea and transited the Northeast Passage, also known as the Northern Sea Route. This route was largely ice free this year, and the two ice-hardened specialty cargo vessels took advantage of the clear waters to cut thousands of miles off the southern route via the Suez Canal.
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According to an investigative report in the UK’s Daily Mail, there is a massive fleet of idled shipping vessels anchored off the coast of Singapore and southern Malaysia. These ships, and others taken out of service around the world, represent 12% of the the entire global merchant marine fleet, sitting idle.
And much more at the link.Nature News reported last week that vulcanologists have concluded that climate... more
The nerve of this Blue Dogshit half wit apparently knows no bounds. But not to worry, nobody on either side of Health Care reform has any interest in his pointless, self-indulgent bill.
Sen. Max Baucus - D Mont.
Just another in a long line of Democratic disgraces. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has for some reason convinced himself that he’s more important than the President of the United States.
This Baucus, in his arrogance, has presumed to draft his own Health Care Legislation.
It reads like HR 3200 but with a few differences.
The Baucus bill mandates that all Americans buy insurance. But offers nothing to those who cannot afford it except that they pay the penalties for not being able to afford it.
It supports “co-ops” which as history teaches us, grow up to become FOR PROFIT entities like the ones we’re trying to save the country from now.
In other words, Max Baucus wrote legislation that changes nothing.
LOL, What an asshole.
Max Baucus is a tool who is bought and paid for by the insurance industry. Hence the anti-American, pro-Corporate legislation….
Fuck you, Max. That’s about all that need be said.
Baucus Fact Box:
Connections to Jack Abramoff
In December 2005, following the public corruption probe of con man Jack Abramoff, Baucus returned $18,892 in contributions that his office found to be connected to Abramoff. Included in the returned donations was an estimated $1,892 that was never reported for the use of Abramoff’s skybox at a professional sports stadium and concert venue in downtown Washington in 2001.[13]
Economic issues
Baucus has a 74% pro-business voting record as rated by the United States Chamber of Commerce. He twice voted to make filing bankruptcy more difficult for debtors,[14] once in July, 2001 to restrict rules on personal bankruptcy, and a second time in March 2005 to include means-testing & restrictions for bankruptcy filers.
He has frequently visited places of employment within the state and has personally participated in activities that he calls “Work Days.” He has also hosted economic development conferences.
Trade
In March 2005, Baucus voted against repealing tax subsidies that benefit companies that move US jobs offshore. On January 4, 2007, he wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal calling on Democrats to renew Bush’s fast-track authority for international trade deals.[15] In response, the Montana State Senate passed a 44-6 resolution “that the U.S. Congress be urged to create a replacement for the outdated fast track system” [16]The nerve of this Blue Dogshit half wit apparently knows no bounds. But not to worry,... more
Scott Lope as dedicated the past 10 years of his life to animal welfare and rescues. He works as Operations Director at Big Cat Rescue, Tampa FL a sanctuary for over 130 big cats that were abandoned, abused and unwanted. Please vote for Scott to become Animal Planet HERO OF THE YEAR 2009!
"HONG KONG — An increasingly acrimonious trade dispute between China and the United States over the past three days is officially about tires, chickens and cars, but is really much broader.
Both governments face domestic pressure to take a tougher stand against the other on economic issues. But the trade frictions are increasing political tensions between the two nations even as they try to work together to revive the global economy and combat mutual security threats, like the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.
On Friday evening in Washington, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would levy tariffs of up to 35 percent on tires from China. China’s commerce ministry issued a formulaic criticism of the American action on Saturday, but after a frenzy of anti-American rhetoric on Chinese Web sites, the ministry unexpectedly announced on Sunday night that it would take the first steps toward imposing tariffs on American exports of automotive products and chicken meat."
The US and PRC have faced off on a number of issues before, including the undervaluing of the yuan. President Obama's administration placed a 35% tariff on Chinese tires following a promise to US unions to enforce laws on trade with China. Not surprisingly, this move riled up nationalists in the PRC, who took to internet discussion boards denouncing not only the tariff on tires, but the financial relationship between China and the US (they hold about $2 trillion in US debt).
Will the trade dispute escalate? It seems unlikely, as China has enjoyed a trade imbalance with the US for years. If the dispute does get worse, however, cooperation between the two nations outside of trade, like the efforts dealing with international terrorism as well as North Korea, could be in jeopardy."HONG KONG — An increasingly acrimonious trade dispute between China and the United... more
A single country produces 95 percent of the planet's rare metals: China. This gives China the whip hand when it comes to manufacturing "hybrid cars, low-energy-consumption light bulbs, iPods, portable computers and even certain missiles." Read your history and then comment as to what you think will happen next.A single country produces 95 percent of the planet's rare metals: China. This gives... more
There are 11 key prongs of the deglobalization paradigm:
Production for the domestic market must again become the center of gravity of the economy rather than production for export markets.
The principle of subsidiarity should be enshrined in economic life by encouraging production of goods at the level of the community and at the national level if this can be done at reasonable cost in order to preserve community.
Trade policy - that is, quotas and tariffs - should be used to protect the local economy from destruction by corporate-subsidized commodities with artificially low prices.
Industrial policy - including subsidies, tariffs, and trade - should be used to revitalize and strengthen the manufacturing sector.
Long-postponed measures of equitable income redistribution and land redistribution (including urban land reform) can create a vibrant internal market that would serve as the anchor of the economy and produce local financial resources for investment.
Deemphasizing growth, emphasizing upgrading the quality of life, and maximizing equity will reduce environmental disequilibrium.
The development and diffusion of environmentally congenial technology in both agriculture and industry should be encouraged.
Strategic economic decisions cannot be left to the market or to technocrats. Instead, the scope of democratic decision-making in the economy should be expanded so that all vital questions - such as which industries to develop or phase out, what proportion of the government budget to devote to agriculture, etc. - become subject to democratic discussion and choice.
Civil society must constantly monitor and supervise the private sector and the state, a process that should be institutionalized.
The property complex should be transformed into a "mixed economy" that includes community cooperatives, private enterprises, and state enterprises, and excludes transnational corporations.
Centralized global institutions like the IMF and the World Bank should be replaced with regional institutions built not on free trade and capital mobility but on principles of cooperation that, to use the words of Hugo Chavez in describing the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), "transcend the logic of capitalism."There are 11 key prongs of the deglobalization paradigm:
Production for the... more
The shipping industry is an invisible and nearly unregulated environmental disaster, and if you haven’t heard much about its poor record, you’re not alone. Compared to power plants, cars and even commercial aviation, shipping has drawn little scrutiny ─ it gets few mentions in the media, and activist groups tend to focus their attention elsewhere. Seen as little more than an expensive tourist option or a humdrum conveyor of goods, the modern sea vessel is a mystery to the average person, either a love boat or a floating tractor trailer. If there were no pirates or seasick honeymooners, the shipping industry would barely register in the public consciousness.The shipping industry is an invisible and nearly unregulated environmental disaster,... more
Today the Guardian reported Brown's meeting with Gaddafi at the G8 summit, where the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdulbaset al-Megrahi was discussed. In that same meeting Brown also discussed increasing UK oil interests in Libya.
