September

Cuba Undertakes Reforms in Midst of Economic Crisis

Carlos picks me up with his dated Soviet-made Lada at the Jose Marti International Airport on a hot sweltering day in Havana. It’s been eight months since I’ve seen him, last January to be precise, when I came to the island on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. “How’s it been?” I ask him as we begin the 20 minute drive to central Havana.

A Species in Danger of Extinction

Today I would have liked to speak about the extraordinary “Paz sin Fronteras” (Peace without Borders) Concert held at the José Martí Revolution Square 24 hours ago, but the stubborn reality forces me to write about a danger that threatens not just peace but the survival of our species.

Will the G-20 Stabilize or Change Historic Center/Periphery Relations

Leaders of 20 developed and developing countries, the G20 countries, will meet on September 24-25 in Pittsburgh to continue dialogue on the global economic crisis and financial regulation. One way to think about the G20 is to see it as an emergency response to an emergency situation, not necessarily a byproduct of the long and contradictory development of the global political economy.

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Corporate Interests Split Over Climate Change Bill?

While a strong majority of American voters continue to support climate change legislation which would control pollution that causes global warming and would create a new generation of 'green jobs,' much of corporate America and its right-wing congressional allies are digging in their heels to block it.

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The Truth About Death Panels

The American Right-Wing’s long history of fear mongering has achieved new lows during the current debate on health care reform. By now most Americans have heard the phrase “death panel” as an all-purpose pejorative against the idea of a public health plan.

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A Factory Like a City

Last month Toyota announced it would close the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, California, after General Motors annnounced it was withdrawing from the partnership under which the plant has operated for over two decades.

Atlanta: Judge Halts Grady Dialysis Closure after Board Approves It

This week, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge approved of an emergency injunction on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, to temporarily halt the closure of the Grady Health System Outpatient Dialysis Clinic.

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California Wildfires Preventable?

As wildfires consume parts of California larger than some smaller states, everyone is talking about how we can prevent such disasters from getting going in the first place. One novel approach is to enlist goats. Not as firefighters...

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The Specter of Big Government? Get Real

The framing of the debate along these lines – big versus small government – is misleading. It cleverly conceals what’s at the core of the present controversy that has divided Congress and the country: the role and responsibilities of government.

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Lonesome Hobo Visits Wall Street – and Gets the Obama Speech

Some on both the left, and Libertarian, sides of the political stream, are quick to oversimplify the current crisis as a cyclical crisis of overproduction, ho hum, 'that's capitalism,' love it or leave it. But I think there is more going on.

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