Economy

(Via CleanTechnica) First Magma-Enhanced Geothermal System In The World Developed In Iceland (via Clean Technica) The first “magma-enhanced” geothermal system in the world — the IDDP-1 well at Krafla — has proven to be a great success, based on the first scientific reports on the project, which are now starting to be released. The well, […]

Economy

Billionaire Victimology is the Worst

contributors

(By Robert Freeman) Protesters calling for higher wages for fast-food workers stand outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Oakland, California December 5, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)The Tom Perkins “billionaires-as-victims” charade couldn’t be more surreal. It goes without saying that his comparing the 1% to victims of Hitler’s genocide is tasteless. That it is oblivious is obvious. And […]

Barack Obama

Dear President Obama: Tar Sands & Keystone XL are more Dangerous than an Iranian Atomic Bomb

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Dear President Obama: You have said repeatedly that if negotiations with Iran do not limit its nuclear enrichment activities solely to peaceful uses, i.e. production of fuel for energy plants, that you would be willing to go to war with that country to ensure that it does not develop an atomic bomb. […]

Economy

US Scam: Give the Rich Money & and they might Make us Slightly Less Poor (David “The Wire” Simon)

Juan Cole

Bill Moyers interviews David Simon on “America as Horror Show” and the fate of the “extra people” left over once the jobs were shipped to the Pacific Rim (they are hunted and 2.2 million incarcerated)

Economy

Gaza Photo Blog: Palestinian Fishermen Idled by Israeli Policies

contributors

(By Muhamad Sabah via B’Tselem) Following are images of the fishing docks in Gaza as captured by B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah. There is no denying the colorful sight of so many boats moored in the harbor. Yet in point of fact, the picturesque sight is evidence of a grim reality, with the boats out […]

Afghanistan

US Economic Policy in Afghanistan Doomed it: From Dogmatic Privatization to Neglect of Rural Sector

contributors

(By Graciana del Castillo via The Boston Review) . . . The promises made by President Bush in April 2002 to help rebuild Afghanistan in the tradition of the Marshall Plan created high expectations among the Afghan population after the rout of the Taliban and the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. But despite costly international […]

Barack Obama

Why Pres. Obama wants to Raise Minimum Wage: 49 mn Americans Food Insecure

Juan Cole

(Via PRNewswire) The State of Hunger in America: Feeding America Issues Annual Report (via PR Newswire) CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In connection with President Barack Obama’s . . . annual State of the Union address, Feeding America has issued its annual “State of Hunger in America,” assessing the prevalence of food insecurity and… […]

Egypt

The 18th Brumaire of Gen. al-Sisi in Egypt

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) On Monday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced that Field Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (also the minister of defense) was free to run for president if his conscience led him to do so. There had been a question whether the officers wanted him to get directly involved in politics. […]

Africa

Using up Everything Fast: Extractive Capitalism, Sealing and Muslim Slaves in Latin America

contributors

(By Greg Grandin) The Two Faces of Empire Melville Knew Them, We Still Live With Them By Greg Grandin A captain ready to drive himself and all around him to ruin in the hunt for a white whale. It’s a well-known story, and over the years, mad Ahab in Herman Melville’s most famous novel, Moby-Dick, […]