New Internationalist articles from April 2008

New Internationalist archives from April 2008

Indigenous peoples.(definition)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... 'Are you indigenous?' Jose Bailaba, a representative of Bolivia's Chiquitano people, asked me. A simple question to which the simple answer was 'no'. My attempts at a more 'thoughtful' one soon led me into a thicket of 'it depends on what...

Dogmatism.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I believe that NI is wrong to call for a boycott of Lonely Planet over the Burma guide (Ethical Travel, NI 409). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lonely Planet has not hidden the record of the Burmese regime, and they are entitled to present...

Tangled up.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Re: the 'Transport impact' table in the thought-provoking March issue (page 9, NI 409). There's one glaring omission, and a surprising one given that Britain is indisputably an island--ferries! If we are to forego the dubious pleasures of cheap...

The bigger picture.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I was disappointed by your coverage of the flying debate in Ethical Travel. I was hoping to get some fresh insights and perspectives that would help people evaluate the full range of ethical considerations one needs to make when looking at the...

DU risks.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Re: Randal Leavitt's letter (Letters, NI 409). Uranium is a radioactive element naturally distributed in the environment. People ingest very small amounts in their food and drink. However more than 99 per cent of ingested uranium goes through...

Useless torture.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Your reader GA Watson (Letters, NI 409) accuses David Ransom of 'factual inaccuracies' and cites Guy Fawkes as one who 'spilled vital beans under duress'. In the history I was taught, the conspirators who hired Guy Fawkes 'blew' their own...

Mass campaigns.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... 'Off the buses' (Human Rights in a time of terror, NI 408) was great, and on a topic that doesn't get a lot of attention, but it omitted something I thought NI would pick up on. While the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)...

Right to refuse.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Re NI 408: 'The right to refuse to kill, or participate in war' should have been the first 'human right' spelled out in 1948 by the UN. After all, the 1945 UN Charter mentions the 'scourge of war', and the 1945 Nuremberg trials didn't accept...

No special pleading.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Letters from fellow Christians (NI 408) complain that contributors to the NI single out Christians for particularly harsh treatment while being soft on abuses by followers of other religions, particularly Muslims. I, for one, have a hard time...

Turn, turn, turn.(Cairo, Egypt)
April 1, 2008... So much has changed in the years of my residence in Cairo that the city I once knew is nearly gone. The older generation that lived through it all, from colonization to so-called democratization, is dying out, and with them, not only history...

The colour of dreams: Aboriginal art.(Christine Christopherson and Bronwyn Bancroft)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... I did not dance (2004) by Christine Christopherson. From the Kakadu region, Northern Territory, Christine Christopherson has campaigned for indigenous land rights. More recently, like her mother Jane before her, she has become a leading...

Questing the ayllu: the journey continues to North Potosi--and some surprises.
April 1, 2008... Every now and again there's a flash of lightning that illuminates an eerie lunar landscape of partially devoured mountains, of hollowed-out dead and dying mines, and pale greenish slag heaps. The solitary jeep carries on, through the dark,...

Plenty to shout about.(indigenous peoples' rights)
April 1, 2008... THE FACTS Indigenous peoples have good reason to be fighting back and resisting. These facts show something of what they are up against. Numbers At least 350 million people are considered to be indigenous. They are divided into at...

Arise! Various ways in which indigenous people are fighting back.
April 1, 2008... Zapatistas and others No-one can accuse Mexico's indigenous activists of lacking imagination. These women from the '400 Pueblos' movement were difficult to ignore when, in May 2006, they donned masks of the then President Vicente Fox and...

Contacts and resources.(international organizations)(Directory)
April 1, 2008... INTERNATIONAL International Workgroup for Indigenous Affairs (IGWIA) www.iwgia Publishes Indigenous Affairs magazine and The Indigenous World annual report Survival International www.survlval-international.org ...

The people vs Starbucks: homely and caring is how the frothy coffee giant Starbucks likes to portray itself. So why are producers, consumers and workers blasting it? Rowenna Davis investigates.
April 1, 2008... I'm writing this in Starbucks, but it's hard to concentrate. The guy behind the counter keeps bellowing incomprehensible orders, ('Extra-Hot-Signature-Spiced-Pumpkin-Latte-With-Soya-Milk!' 'Skinny-White-Choc-Mocha-No-Cream!') while the...

Trouble in paradise: Venezuela spreads oil on tropical waters.(Dominica's plan for oil refinery)
April 1, 2008... Things seem strangely out of place in Dominica these days. This natural jewel of the Windward Islands in the eastern Caribbean is a small island state smothered in thick green volcanic jungle. It survives on its beauty and an ability to produce...

Africa resists EU bullying.(FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS)(European Union)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... A meeting of African civil society organizations and trade officials in Cape Town, South Africa, at the end of February called for continued and increased resistance to the introduction of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)--free trade...

The language of the built environment ...(Currents)(housing and land use)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Word power 37 CONsult v. to pretend to consider views of locals in town planning ghetto n. storage unit for poor people greenbelt n. (archaic) protected important natural land which cannot be built on; (modern) building site ...

Kosovo's other colonizers: UN's pitiful performance draws to a close.(United Nations)
April 1, 2008... Kosovo hit the headlines recently as the region shuffled towards independence. On 17 February, following Serbia's re-election of pro-Western President Boris Tadic, Kosovo Premier Hasim Thaci made a formal declaration of independence, which was...

Fistful of yuan.
April 1, 2008... Compared to the euro, the value of the US dollar has fallen 76 per cent in the last five years. So who would want to be paid in a currency that's losing its grunt? Not Iran. It's hedging its bets by selling its oil in a basketful of currencies...

E-wasted.(NIGERIA)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Lagos, a city whose population is rapidly approaching 20 million, has a huge waste disposal problem. And, thanks to the monthly arrival of up to 500 shipping containers of waste from the US and Europe, the problem is getting worse. According to...

Activists accused of terrorism: government to be investigated for human rights abuses.(NEW ZEALAND/AOTEAROA)
April 1, 2008... On 15 October 2007, armed police conducted dawn raids at 50 houses and places of work across New Zealand/Aotearoa. They arrested and imprisoned 16 activists involved in the Tino Rangatiratanga (Maori self-determination), anarchist,...

Speechmarks.(Currents)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... "Extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC), Roman writer, senator and outspoken critic of power; executed for offending the ruling triumvirate

Cockroached.(Saparmurat Niyazov's firing of television staff due to cockroach incident)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The demise of Turkmenistan's nutty leader Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006 brought relief to those forced to endure nearly two decades of his idiosyncratic despotism and brutality. Niyazov's golden swivelling statues and 'ice palace' in the desert...

NI prize crossword.
April 1, 2008... 128 by AXE Win a copy of the latest World Guide reference book... All correct solutions received by the 25th of the cover month will be put into a draw--though only the winner will be notified. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Post your...

Big bad world.(Comic)(Cartoon)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Interview with Vandana Shiva: environmentalist extraordinaire.(Making Waves)
April 1, 2008... 'The land where Gandhi spun for freedom has turned into a suicide belt,' says Vandana Shiva, her eyes flashing. 'Globalization does not work for everyone.' In the past decade, 200,000 farmers have committed suicide in India, and--according...

Import Export a la Turka.(Import Export a la Turka: Turkish Sounds from Germany)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Import Export a la Turka by Various Artists (Trikont US-0373 CD) Three years ago, Einsturzende Neubauten's Alex Hacke hosted an engaging documentary made by Fatih Akin entitled Crossing the Bridge. As a critical study of the myriad...

Kul & Ashes.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Kul & Ashes by Mircan (UCM 704 CD) It's not often that you find trained earthquake engineers delivering songs capable of causing tremors all on their own, but Mircan Kaya's Kul & Ashes has a seismic presence that pulverizes lesser...

We Are Together (Thina Simunye).(Movie review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... We Are Together (Thina Simunye) directed and co-written by Paul Taylor (82 minutes) The title of this documentary gets it exactly right. At the Agape Orphanage, in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, the children have their own choir and sing...

African Psycho.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou translated from the French by Christine Schwartz Hartley (Serpent's Tail, ISBN 9781846686320) Alain Mabanckou's scathing attack on greed and material values, first published in French in 2003,...

The Whistler.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Whistler by Ondjaki translated from the Portuguese by Richard Bartlett (Aflame Books, ISBN 9780955233975) This beautifully crafted fable by Angolan author Ondjaki casts a spell on the reader that resonates far beyond its...

The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg by Sibusiso Nyembezi translated from the Zulu by Sandile Ngidi (Aflame Books, ISBN 9780955233999) This splendid novel by Zulu novelist and teacher Sibusiso Nyembezi, first published in South...

The Trouble with Diversity.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Trouble with Diversity by Walter Benn Michaels (Metropolitan Books/Holt, ISBN 0-8050-8331-6) Walter Benn Michaels is angry. He thinks the Left has been duped or has duped itself into pursuing the holy grail of identity...

Southern exposure: highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.
April 1, 2008... 'Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities' Asia-Pacific Photo Competition The United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons is observed annually on 3 December. It provides an opportunity to focus on the gains to be made from...

The triumph of triviality: John F Schumaker asks if consumer society is too shallow to deal with the deepening crises facing the planet.(Essay)
April 1, 2008... The results of the cultural indoctrination stakes are not yet in but there is a definite trend--triviality leads, followed closely by superficiality and mindless distraction. Vanity looks great while profundity is bringing up the rear....

Lebanon.(Country Profile)(Country overview)
April 1, 2008... Living in Lebanon is like watching a dramatic thriller unfold. At times it's exciting, at other times heart-wrenching or just petrifying. The Lebanese people endured 15 years of civil war between 1975 and 1990 that cost around 150,000 lives and...