With only two days left until Donald Trump’s inauguration, today’s two guests look at the turn to the right that’s already well under way across parts of the global South. First, I speak with the historian, journalist and author Vijay Prashad about the nationalist Narendra Modi’s economic agenda in India. Vijay’s books include
Continue readingTag: Brazil
Michal Rozworski: Focus on Latin America: Colombia’s rejected peace and the Pink Tide in trouble
Political Eh-conomy Radio returns with a new logo, new life and a new episode focused on Latin America. First up: Aaron Tauss, assistant professor of International Political Economy at the Universidad National in Medellin, Colombia. I spoke with Aaron to better understand the devastating and unexpected “No” vote in Colombia’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: News Satire: U.S. will not tolerate foreigners acting like Americans, officials say
ILLUSTRATIONS: A map showing some of the countries in which the United States has interfered in the political process (grabbed from Geology.com). Below: U.S. CIA Director John O. Brennan, Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candid…
Continue readingWednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Glenn Greenwald interviews Alex Cuadros about his new book on how Brazil has been warped politically and economically by the whims of its billionaire class. And PressProgress takes a look at the impact…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Ed Broadbent, Michal Hay and Emilie Nicolas theorize that Canada’s left is on the rise. Matt Karp takes a look at the policy preferences of younger American voters, including a strong willingness to fund far …
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When the Taps Run Dry, Where Do You Go?
Sao Paulo Riots Imagine telling the residents of Toronto that they have to flee the city and travel elsewhere in search of water. Well something along those lines may be in store for the millions of residents of Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo.As south-east Brazil grapples with its worst drought
Continue readingThings Are Good: Painting Neighbourhoods
Artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn create community art by painting entire neighborhoods, and involving those who live there — from the favelas of Rio to the streets of North Philadelphia. What’s made their projects succeed? In this funny and inspiring talk, the artists explain their art-first approach — and
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Tipping Point of Amazonian Proportions
It’s the largest and wealthiest city in South America. With a population of 12-million, Sao Paulo, Brazil, came to be known as “Cidade da Garoa” or the city of drizzle. The once reliable drizzle resulted from the hydrological cycle of the Amazon rainforest. It’s what made Sao Paulo capable
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Dear Scotland: Do whatever you think is best … but remember, the Globe and Mail never has your interests at heart
A typical Western Canadian scene: snapped in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2014. The Scotch, as we used to say when I was growing up in B.C., pretty much built Western Canada, leastways the European superstructure of buildings, roads and railways that lies atop the land of the first inhabitants. You need
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How South Americans are Killing Their Environment
In some places, cutting down trees can have huge consequences. In South America, the impacts are especially far-reaching. Deforestation has picked up again in the Amazon. That, in turn, is causing havoc to the region’s hydrological cycle, triggering severe drought. The unprecedented drought now affecting São Paulo, South America’s giant
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: India – Superbug Time Bomb
India is the worst but it’s not alone. All of the emerging economic superpowers share the same problem – the abuse of antibiotics. For India, it’s the result of a population coming into new wealth that still has just one doctor for every 1,700 people. You get sick, you get
Continue readingTHE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE: The World Cup You Won’t See on TV: Protests, Tear Gas, Displaced Favela Residents
Democracy Now! discusses the stuff you won’t see on TV during the ongoing 2014 World Cup competition in Brazil: poverty, protests, tear gas, and displaced favela fesidents. The post The World Cup You Won’t See on TV: Protests, Tear Gas, Displaced Favela Residents appeared first on THE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE.
Continue readingPostArctica: Women Are Heroes
Courtesy of JR, this classic film shows the artist’s Women Are Heroes project in the Morro da Providencia flavela in Rio de Janiero, Brazil in 2008. JR’s intention in Women Are Heroes is to highlight the dignity of women who occupy crucial roles in societies, and find themselves victims of
Continue readingPostArctica: Women Are Heroes
Courtesy of JR, this classic film shows the artist’s Women Are Heroes project in the Morro da Providencia flavela in Rio de Janiero, Brazil in 2008. JR’s intention in Women Are Heroes is to highlight the dignity of women who occupy crucial roles in societies, and find themselves victims of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Ecosia: A Search Engine That Plants Trees
Ecosia is a search engine that is trying to make the world better. Every time you search the net on their site a good percentage of ad revenue is used to pay for planting trees in Brazil. Their goal is one million new trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest by August
Continue readingThe brutal costs of the World Cup
As the scandal over Vladimir Putin’s $50-billion Olympics begins to fade, equally sordid scandals about the World Cup come to the fore. Brazil, which has won more World Cups than any other country. is holding the Cup this year. To date, things are not going well. Five stadiums scheduled for
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s “letter to the Brazilian people”
“At the NSA, I witnessed with growing alarm the surveillance of whole populations without any suspicion of wrongdoing, and it threatens to become the greatest human rights challenge of our time,” says whistleblower Edward Snowden in this “open letter to the Brazilian people”, published by the Folha de S Paulo
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Corporate claustrophobia and sheer frivolity
Manic, rude, cut-throat and insane – yes, corporate culture is just lovely. No wonder two thirds of the people have one foot out the door – and the other third are looking for an exit. See the films, The Corporation, Office Space, and Brazil, if you want to better understand
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: PRISM: Top Secret BS
The latest leak from Snowden reveals the shocking aim of Canada’s signals intelligence. Now that the global ware on terrorism is apparently won, the prodigious number of analysts apparently are tasked with corporate espionage for the benefit of Enbridge. That’s a heck of a big, Made In Canada problem the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Of Embraer and Bombardier
When I think of Canada spying on Brazil the first name that comes to mind is Embraer. The second is Bombardier. The Canadian aircraft manufacturer and its Brazilian counterpart have been intense rivals for many years. Both are now trying to move up-market into territory normally the preserve of
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