Ecowar

Eco-terrorism and terrorist-journalism

2012-01-23T22:42:00.001+01:00

Course of events: a) Animal rights activists are raided by police b) Journalist cover the case Can you guess what's next? Probably not... c) Journalist is labelled 'extremist' and persecuted Can you guess the country? No, not the glorious nation of Kazakhstan. The USA. Get the facts straight for yourself: Check out Green is the new red blog and/or book which is about the

Abusing animals for fun & covering up pollution - busy day in the US Army

2012-01-14T10:56:00.001+01:00

Huffington Post / Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Cover-Up Hinted In Navy Letter The U.S. Navy is asking government investigators to suppress information concerning the toxic water scandal at the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune, according to a letter obtained Thursday by The Huffington Post. [...] Government watchdogs and environmental advocates said they interpret the letter as further evidence of

Watch DIRT! The Movie

2012-01-12T21:36:00.000+01:00

I just watched DIRT! The Movie for free at dotSUB. A really good movie about soil and the importance of a healthy biosphere of rich biodiversity. Takes a couple of detours (ie one about various spiritual connections to soil) that may seem weird depending on who you are and is quite a bit pro-organic agriculture but all in all a good, educational movie about not just soil, but about deforestation,

Musings on optimism vs fear, innovation vs collapse

2012-01-05T22:10:00.000+01:00

Today I happened upon this near one hour long couch talk by Geoffrey West (visit the site for audio or video). Among the themes he discuss is drawing some lines in the sand in the very long debate between Malthusian fears of over-population / over-exploitation of nature and the technological optimism that future inventions will solve anything and everything. "One of the bad things about

The blog is now a book, long live both

2011-12-28T21:45:00.004+01:00

Dear reader, You may already have noticed the orange graphic in the right sidebar? Yes, I have self-published a book based on this blog. And I'm literally giving it away, the price barely covers printing. What will happen to the blog now? Why self-publishing? What is up with that ecowar.eu site? Answers in the tale below... After many emails back and forth between publishers, experts and I

Trouble in Kazakhstan oil city

2011-12-18T12:29:00.002+01:00

Oil industry workers have been protesting layoffs and demanding raises. Authorities have answered with a crackdown: reports of dead and injured, mobile network and internet censored. International networks of hackers are providing dial-up internet communication just like they did in Egypt early 2011. "The protesters blocking the railway refused to leave the area and the clashes started. I am now

War for territory - World tour November 2011

2011-11-27T13:45:00.001+01:00

We live in peaceful times. Conflicts being linked to something as mundane as natural resources is a conspiracy theory. Just kidding... Cambodia: Villages razed to clear land for sugar plantation Amnesty International and other organisations have exposed the Cambodian authorities' systematic failure to protect people from forced evictions. Forced evictions in the name of economic development

Grease is the new copper

2011-11-12T18:29:00.001+01:00

Materials and resources once common, inexpensive or just non-existing pop up in a new league of the craved for or expensive. Copper and solar panels have been new objects of theft in recent years. Now grease is getting locked up to protect it from thieves. Yes, grease. Biofuel producers are now buying used cooking oil from restaurants. What was once foul waste is today a resource for the

America vs Europe trade war over carbon looming

2011-11-02T16:03:00.005+01:00

The European Union is about to take two small steps on the long journey of combating climate change: A small "tax" on air travel and another small tax on fossil fuels based on exactly how polluting the specific type of fossil fuel is. Both could ultimately end up in WTO courts; the former brought there by the US, the latter by tar sands would-be super-power Canada. The European Union Emissions

Occupy Wall Street? Occupy Earth! Nature is in the 99%

2011-11-02T14:22:00.004+01:00

Remember how Bill McKibben of 350.org gave a short speech at Wall Street lately? He's not the only one connecting the dots between the socially unjust financial crisis and the environment. When I went to Occupy Copenhagen last time I think most of the speakers were mostly going on about the bank bailouts - but I was chatting to the guy next to me about... socially unjust exploitation of natural

Climate change and the new geography of violence

2011-10-28T18:00:00.001+02:00

One of the unpleasant effects of climate change is its tendency to incite further conflict where such already exist and in some cases war is already looming. Sociologist and writer Christian Parenti is blaming "pathologies of neoliberalism" and Cold War leftovers that converge with climate change effects for inciting further conflict where it already lingers. Already by now large parts of the

Biofuel demand and CO2 quotas drive violent land grabs in Honduras

2011-10-20T20:29:00.000+02:00

To the country whose history coined the term "banana republic" land grabs is not a new phenomenon. The European Union funding it by buying carbon credits and biofuel from the perpetrators is, however. In the case of Honduras, the global rush for production of biofuel and access to carbon credits is making it profitable for national and international business to maintain the unequal distribution

Obama intervenes in Ugandan oil trouble zone

2011-10-16T12:38:00.003+02:00

Oil have been found in the underground below Lake Albert on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Western companies are working with the Ugandan government to get development under way but a myriad of issues seem to delay the project: Criminal and rebel activity is up and rising, Ugandan democracy is struggling for control with the shady closed door negotiations and

Free book: "Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa the Tragedy of Endowment" by Abiodun Alao

2011-09-27T21:37:00.002+02:00

Abiodun Alao Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa the Tragedy of Endowment Rochester Studies in African... (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

Blood and soil!? Scarcity and conflict re-revisited

2011-09-24T13:45:00.002+02:00

Inspired by the growing body of literature linking natural resource scarcity to conflict, dating back at least to the 1960s but gaining momentum in recent years, Norwegian Ole Magnus Theisen published a review of the statistical literature on this link in 2008. In short, his conclusion was that large scale violence was generally not linked to scarcity of natural resources; but in stead to poverty

Watch 'The Ambassador' first chance you get

2011-09-22T15:05:00.001+02:00

Mads Brügger - whose last documentary consisted entirely of ultra rare recordings from deep inside North Korea - is releasing a new documentary; this time about corruption in the Central African Republic (CAR). Not posing as a diplomat, but having bribed his way to actual diplomatic immunity, Mads travels to the capital Bangui to set up a consulate and mingle with shady businessmen and poor,

As on Helgoland, so in Cambodia

2011-09-06T14:23:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time... Forsete, son of Balder and Nanna, grandson of Odin, was a Norse and Frisian god of justice. The isle of Helgoland off the coast of what is now Schleswig-Holstein, Germany was sacred in his name. It was customary to settle disputes of all kinds by arranged battle on islands; the term for this, holmgang, means "walk on the isle". But Helgoland could have been the historical site

Three degrees warming doubles risk of civil war

2011-08-28T14:55:00.005+02:00

Global patterns of civil conflict are directly associated with planetary-scale climate change. Specifically in tropical countries, the risk of civil war have just been shown to double in warmer El Niño years (to about 6% risk per country per year) compared to cooler La Niña years (when the risk is about 3%). "When you think about it, car accidents happen all the time. But they become more likely

Risk of riots linked to food prices

2011-08-22T21:54:00.006+02:00

In 19th century Bavaria rye prices correlated to property crime rates (see Correlations from weather to sociology). When food prices spiked in 2008 commentators were smart enough to mention this might have something to do with the riots across the 3rd world (see World's poor are up in arms over food prices). The first half of 2011 has seen many riots in Africa and the Middle East and again

New evidence UN Secretary General was killed by British mercenaries in 1961

2011-08-21T14:38:00.004+02:00

This week new evidence that former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld was murdered on 18th September 1961 has been covered by The Guardian. The Wikipedia entry about him already lists a number of "conspiracy theories". Who was Dag Hammarskjöld? Swedish diplomat and economist who worked hard to promote peace tending to favor the independence of nations at a time when the world was locked in

News from Kenya: food price spike worsen hunger, smartphone sales skyrocket

2011-08-17T17:42:00.002+02:00

While the emergency in the Horn of Africa was triggered by prolonged droughts, especially in areas struggling with conflict and internal displacement such as Somalia, food prices that are near the record high levels seen in 2008 also contributed to the situation. - The World Bank, Food Price Watch report according to The Guardian, August 2011 / Africa famine: soaring food prices intensifying

News not on my TV, not in my newspaper...

2011-08-08T15:06:00.003+02:00

Colombia, oilThe Marxist rebels in Colombia, FARC, bombed an oil company's car. One died, six were injured. Why? Probably as part of an extortion scheme. "This attack ... is a true crime against humanity." - Vice President Angelino GarzonWell, at least it's an attack on the country's oil business. View Larger Map Sources: Reuters / Colombia bomb kills oil worker, injures 6 people, Latin

Where is the water? A 3 min video at Climate Change TV

2011-08-06T12:09:00.000+02:00

I made a three minute video about lakes disappearing from Google Maps satellite photos and a rainy day in Copenhagen for Climate Change TV. Check it out. If you like it, head over to the competition website and vote for it, please. I haven't had the time to watch all of the other videos yet. But among those I have seen I'd mention The world has malaria and What happened at COP16? Got another

How al Shabaab is wrecking Somalia

2011-08-05T13:04:00.001+02:00

All those of us not living under a rock are aware of the famine in East Africa. Some of us have even read a bit about the al Shabaab militia getting in the way of relief efforts. Should one donate when part of the contribution might end up bribing the militia? A recent UN report shed some light on the details of the al Shabaab regime. Al Shabaab generates $70-$100 million a year from various

Watch FUEL - the full documentary for free on YouTube!

2011-07-29T11:28:00.002+02:00

Director Josh Tickell takes us along for his 11 year journey around the world to find solutions to America's addiction to oil. A shrinking economy, a failing auto industry, rampant unemployment, an out-of-control national debt, and an insatiable demand for energy weigh heavily on all of us. Fuel shows us the way out of the mess we're in by explaining how to replace every drop of oil we now