World

World notes: Feb. 2, 2008

February 1, 2008

South Africa: Energy crisis looms After a week of unprecedented power cuts, the South African government declared a “national electricity emergency.” The action follows rising demand attributed to industrial expansion and introduction of electricity into almost...

Aramark preys on Detroit schools, union, pols say

January 30, 2008

School predators don’t always appear as shadowy figures lurking on the fringes of playgrounds. Sometimes they come in brightly lit corporate offices wearing three-piece suits. Detroit area union officials and politicians charge that Aramark Corp., the...

Different Drummers: indigenous rights and corporate free trade in South America

January 27, 2008

Indigenous rights renewal in Latin America flourishes in some quarters, but there are many reminders of the continued misery of first peoples at the hands of propertied and commercial classes. In Brazil, especially in Mato Grosso...

China, Cuba by the numbers

January 27, 2008

Public health statistics reflect overall social well being. Educational levels, nutrition, housing, preventative health care, access to urgent care, and hopes for a decent life are all big factors in what overall health looks like. That...

Lets not bomb Iran

January 26, 2008

Iran has a lot more oil than we have in the U.S. We envy them that. However, that does not make them an evil empire as President Bush indicated several years ago. The fact that Iranians...