In the first such analysis ever conducted, Swiss economic researchers have conducted a global network analysis of the most powerful transnational corporations (TNCs). Their results have revealed a core of 787 firms with control of 80% of this network, and a “super entity” comprised of 147 corporations that have a controlling interest in 40% of the network’s TNCs.
Archive | September, 2011
Who Runs the World ? – Network Analysis Reveals ‘Super Entity’ of Global Corporate Control | Planetsave
4 SepMust We Act As If They Mean What They Say? — Crooked Timber
3 SepYep, Americans be crazy. And so is the world.
The deeper question, I think, is why it appeals so much to so many Americans that conservatives constantly say things that they don’t really mean. Let’s go back to that oft-quoted line from Free and Cantril (The Political Beliefs of Americans: A Study of Public Opinion). Americans are “philosophical conservatives but operational liberals”. But, honestly, Americans aren’t really philosophers in a seminar room ‘this strictly implies that’ sort of sense. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that what Free and Cantril found is that when Americans say Big Things about American politics, whose consequences they aren’t really prepared to affirm, in practice, they say conservative things. Whereas when you find out what they really want, in practice, they are liberals.
via Must We Act As If They Mean What They Say? — Crooked Timber.
Green Energy Use in Germany Passes 20 Percent of Total Power Mix
2 SepDuring the first half of 2011, Germany for the first time generated more than 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, a new report says.
via : Green Energy Use in Germany Passes 20 Percent of Total Power Mix.
Job Growth at Halt in U.S. – Worst Showing in 11 Months – NYTimes.com
2 SepThe number of long-term unemployed — people out of work for 27 weeks or more — remained about the same as in July, at 6 million, as did the median duration of unemployment, at 19.6 weeks compared with 19.7 weeks in July.
The general unemployment rate, which counts only people who looked for work in the previous four weeks, held steady at 9.1 percent. But a broader measure that includes people who have looked for work in the last year and people who were involuntarily working part-time instead of full-time, fell to 16.1 percent from 16.3 percent. The percent of working-age adults who were employed, already at its lowest rate since 1983, ticked down from 58.6 percent to 58.5 percent.
via Job Growth at Halt in U.S. – Worst Showing in 11 Months – NYTimes.com.
Sane Conversation on Religion and Politics
2 SepAlas, to borrow a phrase from this conversation, some of my friends seem to think you’ve got to wear a hazmat suit to even think about religion. Not so.
http://static.bloggingheads.tv/ramon/_live/players/player_v5.2-licensed.swf
Toxicologist: Oil spill far more toxic than admitted | Michigan Messenger
1 SepFor Ott, it was a litany list of symptoms and voices of frustration she has heard from Alaska to South Korea to the Gulf Coast and now in Calhoun county. And Calhoun, she says, represents exposures to both tar sands and lighter oils, each with its own chemical make ups and attendant toxins.
“You’ve got the worst of two worlds. You’re getting a fully double whammy,” she says of the Cold Lake Crude Oil. “Peoples’ health problems (from the Enbridge spill) are identical to the Gulf.”
Ott says that studies about health impacts conducted by health officials since last summer are based on 40-year old science.
via Toxicologist: Oil spill far more toxic than admitted | Michigan Messenger.
Worker Cooperatives Reduce “Hard-Core” Unemployment | Truthout
1 SepThe income-generation initiatives that mushroomed in Argentina in response to the severe 2002-2003 crisis have come together in the National Confederation of Worker Cooperatives (CNCT).
Among the various models that sprang up, in addition to the state-promoted cooperatives, are worker-run factories that were salvaged by the employees after the owners declared bankruptcy – and, in many instances, actually fled.
José Sancha, the head of CNCT, told IPS that the cooperative federation is working with the ministry of social development to offer training courses for workers new to the cooperative movement who are entering the Argentina Works programme.
via Worker Cooperatives Reduce “Hard-Core” Unemployment | Truthout.
Ready or Not | Adapte We Must | Earth Island Institute
1 SepApart from a few holdouts, the global scientific community agrees that the growing number of weather-related catastrophes are linked to climate change – the fallout from a warming world. No longer can we rely on the stable climate that has sustained our “good life” on Earth. Bigger, meaner, and more frequent storms, heat waves, fires, floods, and droughts are the new normal.
It is unquestionably time to bring adaptation into the climate change conversation.
Let’s face it: We’ve failed at mitigation so far. Our two-decade-old global framework to address climate change is woefully inadequate. The Kyoto Protocol is a mess of unmet goals and bickering governments. Carbon trading schemes have been fraught with fraud, theft, and even the involvement of organized crime. Here in the US, the Senate couldn’t manage to pass watered-down climate legislation last year. Meanwhile, there are more greenhouse gases in the air than ever.
via Ready or Not | Earth Island Journal | Earth Island Institute.
Truth and Traditions 