September 2008

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Trailer: Battle in Seattle

'Battle in Seattle' is the story of the 1999 WTO Protest that took place on the streets of Seattle. The movie was written and directed by Stuart Townsend and stars South Africa's Charlize Theron. The official 'Battle in Seattle' movie premiered on September 19, 2008. Read a review of the movie here and visit the movie's official website here.

Battle in Seattle: Hollywood Hypes Up WTO Activism

Picture: Townsendtheronblogspot.com David Solnit - What really happened at the 1999 WTO demonstrations in Seattle? On television, it looked like vandalism and random violence. On the streets, it looked like part festival, part uprising, part police riot. Now there’s a movie version. Activist and author David Solnit was there—organizing in the streets and speaking up on the set. My stomach clenched the first time I heard that actor Stuart Townsend was making a mainstream movie about the 1999 shutdown of the WTO ministerial...

The Fuel Duel

Is biofuel the answer for energy security? The simple answer is no, but it can play a role in an energy mix, argues Bjorn Stigson of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Much also depends on the new generation of biofuels that are being developed, which will not be dependent on food crops.  Looking for new solutions to the world's energy crisis, the tendency is that car producers and the oil industry are now divorcing says economist Ruiz Quintans. The automobile...

The Oil Crisis and the Search for a New Way of Living

Picture: howstuffworks.com Saliem Fakir - We live in interesting times that promise both peril and opportunity. Things have changed so fast within the span of just a year that it's putting a strain on our ability to adapt. It took five years from 2002-2007 for the oil price to go up by $60/barrel; but in the last 12 months, the price of oil surged by an additional $70/barrel. The surge in oil prices is making life for everybody uncomfortable, as its ripple effects are being felt throughout the global and South African economies. It...

Sarah Palin Fails by Her Own Standards

Picture: McCain Blogette Steven Rosenfeld - Editors Note: You may also be interested in reading Top Ten Most Disturbing Facts and Impressions of Sarah Palin Is it ethical to support Sarah Palin? Five Reasons the World Wants Obama to Win How Obama Lost the Election Deepak Chopra - Obama and the Palin Effect and The world's verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for ********** Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accepted the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nomination Wednesday night in a confident and insistent address...

Going on an Imperial Bender: How the U.S. Garrisons the Planet and Doesn't Even Notice

Picture: Soldier Tom Engelhardt - Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which U.S. soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit. In startling numbers of countries, our soldiers not only arrive, but stay interminably, if not indefinitely. Sometimes they live on military bases built to the tune of billions of dollars that amount to sizeable American towns (with accompanying...