I’m on tour in the US! Truth be told, I’ve been on tour for a week, appeared on National Public Radio, and West Coast Live (like Prairie Home Companion, but funnier and with fewer banjos), and have cropped up at a the Commonwealth Club, and a bookstore or two in the San Francisco Bay Area. But now I’m on the road, hitting Boston, New York, Washington DC, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles with the book in hand. Continue reading “The Value of Nothing in the US”
Ashes to Ashes
I cover the carbon trading disaster in The Value of Nothing, and every day brings more evidence that it’s an idea riddled with holes. Europol, the European Police Office, has recently uncovered over EUR 5 billion (over US$ 7 billion) in carbon fraud in the past 18 months alone. (They also provide a handy diagram explaining how the fraud works.) The problems aren’t exclusively European, though. The excellent Outlook India reports on the fiasco in the world’s second largest country. More below the fold.
Continue reading “Ashes to Ashes”
USDA: The companies believe this stuff is safe
I’m on the road for the next couple of weeks – and on Colbert tomorrow! – so I’ll be cross posting over the next couple of days. First up, a fine piece by Sonia Shah from Z-net. Choicest line is the quote from the USDA official: “the [pesticide] companies believe this is safe…” More below the fold.
Continue reading “USDA: The companies believe this stuff is safe”
Proud to be an American…
Raj Patel on the World Food Crisis
Raj Patel details the events leading up to the World Food Crisis on SBS Dateline News (aired: 1st of May 2008)
Durban’s bedtime stories: Abahlali baseMjondolo’s struggle continues
Published in Pambazuka News 2009-12-16, Issue 462.
In a house in a leafy Durban suburb, lightly festooned with Christmas decorations, a TV is playing the Adam Sandler movie ‘Bedtime Stories’. Across scenes of gumballs falling from the sky and Roman gladiator races, our hero tries to get ahead through wish fulfilment. Predictably, his dreams don’t come true in quite the way he hoped.
Continue reading “Durban’s bedtime stories: Abahlali baseMjondolo’s struggle continues”
Back from the dead
Right. I’m back, sort of. The next few weeks are going to be a little bonkers (see the Events schedule, for an indication). I’ll also be writing up some of my experiences from recent visits to Malawi and South Africa.
San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 6pm
World Affairs Council of Northern California
312 Sutter Street
Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94108
Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 6:30pm
Los Angeles Public Library
“ALOUD at Central Library”
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Portland, OR
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Powell’s City of Books
1005 West Burnside Street
Portland, OR 97209