The Effect, Lucy Prebble takes on pharma capitalism and the folly of a pain-free life.

Off-Broadway • Mar 21, 2016

http://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/the-effect_76408.html?cid=outbrain

So much of this play is about human resistance to uniformity and the scientific method itself: How can one person truly serve as a control for another when the two subjects have radically different backgrounds, attitudes, and chemical predispositions?

Fighting (and Dying) to Reclaim the Commons in Latin America

Fighting and dying – In Santa Helena Honduras, a US-backed corporate giant seeks to displace local farmers for a giant dam and hydroelectric project. This illegal eviction stems directly from the 2009 US-backed coup, in which Obama and Hillary Clinton supported the overthrow of the democratically elected Honduran president

And so it goes on and on
The multinationals have all the power. Why?

The Most Revolutionary Act

Land of Corn

Peace Brigades International (2015)

Film Review

Land of Corn is a documentary by Peace Brigades International about four environmental and land rights activists fighting to protect the commons in Oaxca Mexico, Santa Helena Honduras, Choco Columbia and La Primavera Guatemala. In each case, activists are fighting collusion between US-backed corrupt governments and international corporations to end their communal land rights and destroy their livelihood.

In Oaxca, a multinational corporation seeks to illegally evict residents to construct a giant wind farm.

In Santa Helena Honduras, a US-backed corporate giant seeks to displace local farmers for a giant dam and hydroelectric project. This illegal eviction stems directly from the 2009 US-backed coup, in which Obama and Hillary Clinton supported the overthrow of the democratically elected Honduran president.

In Primavera Guatemala, a multinational seeks to clear cut a rain forest residents’ ancestors have fought for generations to preserve.

In Choco…

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Affordable Housing

http://www.domain.com.au/news/why-my-family-has-given-up-on-the-sydney-property-dream–for-now-20160405-gnyjnq/

Above is a link to the blog that Nikki Wallman wrote about her family’s move from Sydney to Bowral. She points out that Sydney is much too expensive for first home buyers. Apparently they made a good choice in moving to Bowral where they bought “a lovely, light-filled, four-bedroom, three-bathroom house on a big block in a beautiful wonky street where daisies grow wild and cockatoos call to each other like grumpy old men.”

And she goes on writing:

“Enormous trees hug the skyline around our deck; we’re walking distance to town. We’ve made great friends who live down the road (Bowral seems flush with young families in similar situations to ours). We stroll there with the pram, past the “ducks crossing” signs, for drinks and playtime in the backyard.”

Nikki writes how much they love Sydney life. However, “the increasing stress of chasing tails and deposits and ever-rising house prices” was grinding them down.

This reminds me of C and M, who were renting for ten years a two bedroom unit in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. Paying rent in Sydney they would never have been able to save up enough money for a deposit on a house. Finally they decided they could commute from the South Coast. It means for them long hours on the train to Sydney and back. But finally they are in a position to save a bit of money and look for a suitable affordable place some distance away from Sydney.

C is our daughter. She lived with M for close to ten years already. M is the father of two children, who are by now both in their twenties and continue to live in Sydney. We offered to C and M to live with us for the time being. This should give them some time to look for suitable housing in our area. For Peter and me it is very beneficial to have family around. Right now C is away on an overseas business trip, and that means, we all miss her a lot. She’ll be away for all of April!

Many months ago, before the great influx of refugees to European countries, we did already some bookings for the month of June. So Peter and I are now looking forward to go to Berlin to see our German family once more, as well as some old friends. We are going to be there with quite a few of our Australian family which is rather exciting!

Offshore Financial Records

It is Monday night in Australia and we just watched the Four Corners’ program how these financial records expose secrets. Will governments all over the world show some willingness now to change the laws? I wonder

. . .

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/unprecedented-leak-of-offshore-financial-records-exposes-secrets/7293524

By the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Four Corners’ Elise Worthington

“An unprecedented leak of more than 11 million documents has revealed the hidden financial dealings of some of the world’s wealthiest people, as well as 12 current and former world leaders and 128 more politicians and public officials around the world. . . . “

Firm worked with more than 14,000 ‘middlemen’ on clients’ behalf

An ICIJ analysis of the leaked files found that more than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches had worked with Mossack Fonseca since the early 1970s to help clients manage offshore companies. . . .

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/four-corners-reveals-parallel-world-of-tax-havens/7295490

Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, 2 April 2016

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35947702

The threat from terrorists trying to launch a nuclear attack that would “change our world” is real, President Barack Obama has said.

The world has taken “concrete” steps to prevent nuclear terrorism, he told the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

But the so-called Islamic State (IS) obtaining a nuclear weapon is “one of the greatest threats to global security,” he added.

. . . . . . .

At the summit, Mr Obama was asked about recent comments by presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

The Republican front-runner had floated the idea that Japan and South Korea should have nuclear weapons, a dramatic departure from decades of US foreign policy.

“The person who made the statement doesn’t know much about foreign policy, nuclear policy, the Korean peninsula or the world generally,” Mr Obama said.

In The New Yorker a Question about Donald Trump

John Cassidy says in The New Yorker on 31st of March 2016:

“If Donald Trump were a normal political candidate, he would be in serious trouble at the moment. Over the past few days, he has said and done things that have raised more doubts about his temperament, judgment, and command of policy issues. Some of the Republicans trying to prevent him from becoming the Party’s Presidential nominee believe that they’re finally making progress. Are they right?”

http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/is-donald-trump-self-destructing?intcid=mod-most-popular

Month: April 2016