Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. Cree Nation Tribal Prophecy

  • “Italy’s economy shrank 0.7% in the second quarter, underlining a deepening recession, as government austerity measures continue to affect everything from factory activity to consumer spending.”
  • “China is changing. Its miraculous growth is slowing. Wages are rising. The endless labor supply has reached its limit. It’s normal for economies to ebb and flow, but a more fundamental shift is emerging. This series explores that trend and the people for whom it’s a daily reality.”
  • Aljazeera: Mexican farmers sow seeds of productivity
  • “François Hollande was so unfazed by his soaking from a deluge of rain during his inauguration parade last May that even the previously critical Economist magazine called him ‘waterproof.’ That was before lightning delayed the French president’s much-anticipated initial meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by striking his plane in the air. And that was only his first day on the job.”
  • “Drug firm Pfizer has paid the US government $60m (£38m) to settle charges alleging it paid millions of dollars in bribes to build its business in Europe and China.”
  • Truthout: Group that Sustains ALEC’s Voter Suppression Agenda Releases Sham “Study,” to Acclaim from Right-Wing Media
  • Aljazeera: Cornel West and Paul Street weigh up Obama’s achievements and shortcomings as we ask if he should get a second term. (Video)
  • The Guardian: Arthur Conan Doyle and the mystery of the medical student’s Arctic adventure

“But cool and candid people will at once reflect, that the purest of human blessings must have a portion of alloy in them, that the choice must always be made, if not of the lesser evil, at least of GREATER, not the PERFECT good; and that in every political institution, a power to advance the public happiness, involves a discretion which may be misapplied and abused. They will see therefore that in all cases, where power is to be conferred, the point first to be decided is whether such a power be necessary to the public good, as the next will be, in case of an affirmative decision, to guard as effectually as possible against a perversion of the power to the public detriment” Federalist No 41, 19 Jan 1788 – James Madison (emphasis in original)

The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off.