All Commentaries
Pollution Knows No Borders
The three member countries of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America, a body created as part of NAFTA’s environmental side agreement, are facing high rates of emissions of mercury, arsenic, and chromium, according to Orlando Cabrera, the manager of the Air Quality Program and of the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry (PRTR) of North America.
Review: ‘Oceania’
The word Oceania typically conjures up images of reclining with a fruity cocktail under a canopy of palm trees while gazing out at the blue waters of the Pacific, whose waves softly embrace the pristine white sand beaches of what surely is paradise. However, this paradise is an illusion that hides a dark truth: villagers evicted from their ancestral homes after nuclear fallout, whole nations slowly sinking due to global warming, staggering unemployment and material deprivation. Unfortunately the rest of the world, which is quite content to continue policies of exploitation, ignores these problems and many others that plague the islands of the Pacific.
The US-Japan ‘Alliance’, Okinawa, and Three Looming Elections
World attention through the early months of 2010 focused on the tiny hamlet of Henoko in Northern Okinawa as Prime Minister Hatoyama struggled to find a way to meet his (and the Democratic Party of Japan’s) electoral commitment to see that no substitute for the existing Futenma Marine Air Station be constructed in Okinawa. Confronted by adamantine pressures from the US government, and surrounded by uncooperative (some would say even traitorous) bureaucrats who insisted there was no other way but to submit to the US-Japan agreement to construct a new base negotiated by the former LDP government.
‘Smart Sanctions’ on Iran are Dumb
In the face of the rising hysteria regarding Iran’s development of its nuclear power facilities, there is talk of preemptive military strikes against Iran. Meanwhile, sanctions on Iran — by both the UN Security Council and the United States — have become increasingly harsh. And to the extent they are successful, these sanctions will harm the wrong people and have little impact on the political leadership.
It’s “Groundhog Day” All Over Again in Pyongyang
Even sending Bill Murray to negotiate with North Korea is preferable to Obama’s Bush-like hard line, complete with sanctions.
Et Tu, Buddha? Rationalizing Violence in Buddhism
Despite its pacifistic reputation in the West, Buddhism can be as violent as any religion.
Why Don’t Iraqis and Afghans Embrace Democracy?
There are other reasons besides the bad example we set why states we occupy fail to jump through the U.S. democracy hoop.
The Other Oil Spill
Leading congressional Democrats are outraged at British Petroleum and others responsible for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But that stands in sharp contrast to their outspoken support of those responsible for a major oil spill in the eastern Mediterranean in 2006, the largest in that region’s history.
Bacevich Held Over Another Week!
By habitually responding to threats with the military instead of diplomacy, the U.S. makes itself weaker, not stronger.
Repackaging Assassination
Greetings from Yemen. It’s been a year since I corresponded directly with you. Perhaps you remember my 2009 memo in which I recommended outsourcing our assassinations – er, sorry, our “targeted killings” – to China. I suggested that China would do a better job of it than Blackwater. I never received a reply from you. I trust that this memo had nothing to do with my transfer from Shanghai to Sana’a. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to be in the thick of things here in Yemen. But I sometimes miss pork dumplings as well as reliable electricity and running water.