New Internationalist articles from November 2006

New Internationalist archives from November 2006

Ethical shopping.(From this month's editor)
November 1, 2006... 'Irony officially died when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but it twitches back to life with alarming frequency.' This is how Ian Nixon (no relation to Kissinger's former boss), who designed this magazine, reacted to my...

Buy now, pay late: with the planet dying of consumption, can a shift in our shopping habits save the day? If only it were that simple, sighs Jess Worth.(KEYNOTE)
November 1, 2006... When I was growing up, I remember my parents used to drink something called 'Campaign Coffee'. Its name was always accompanied by a slight shudder because it was: a) quite expensive and b) pretty foul. Heroically purchased by a committed clique...

Stopping the Shopocalypse: a short sermon from Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping.
November 1, 2006... As the Devil's logos force us up on to the Interstates, we'll be damned if we can tell--hey, am I just driving home from work again or is this the FINAL MOMENT OF HUMAN HISTORY? It's so hard to know, because the Shopocalypse is coming through...

Fair enough? Big business, mass markets and fretting farmers--Albert Tucker reports from the frontline of the battle for fair trade's soul.(FAIR TRADE)
November 1, 2006... When I came into fair trade ten years ago, the market researchers told us we would not get more than two per cent of consumers buying our 'niche' products. We refused to accept such limitations, and pioneered models of producer ownership where...

Don't believe the hypermarket: with supermarkets proudly trumpeting their eco-credentials, Sarah Irving of Ethical Consumer magazine investigates whether the monster megastores really mean it.(SUPERMARKETS)
November 1, 2006... If you believe the hype, supermarkets the world over are going all green and cuddly. The British giant Tesco has announced that it is bolting renewable electricity generation on to its stores and rewarding customers for re-using plastic bags....

21st century consumers.(CONSUMERISM)
November 1, 2006... How should we think about the consumer? As a god-like figure, before whom markets and politicians bow? A weak and malleable creature--a mere pawn in corporate games played in invisible boardrooms? A political trendsetter with the power to save...

Sweating over sweatshops: supporting 'clean clothes' campaigns to end the extreme exploitation that pervades the textile industry is not as simple as just picking the 'right' brand to buy, reveals Mark Engler.(SWEATSHOPS)
November 1, 2006... When confronted with the reality that so many of our garments are produced under abysmal working conditions, the first question on many consumers' lips is: 'Where can I buy clothes that weren't made in sweatshops?' [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Punk rock capitalism? Is Bono's brainchild of raising money for the fight against AIDS from big brands inspi(red) or ill-conside(red)? Jess Worth interviews Tamsin Smith--Head of Product Red, and Sheila Roche--Red Director of Global Communications.(Interview)
November 1, 2006... Product Red is 'a constellation of some of the world's most iconic global brands' (American Express, Gap, Converse/Nike, Motorola, Armani) who have created special 'Red' products. A proportion of the profits go to the Global Fund (1) to buy...

Consumption--the facts.
November 1, 2006... Global Consumption In the past 100 years, world consumption has grown at a rate unprecedented in human history The world's consumers * In 1900, a total of $1.5 trillion was spent by public and private consumers. By 1975 it was...

How to be an ethical consumer? There are no easy answers--but here are some questions that can help point the way.
November 1, 2006... 1 Do I really need it? No, I can do without it. Yes, I do need it. 2 Can I avoid buying a new one? Yes. * Perhaps I can borrow from or share with someone I know? (Car-shares/pools, neighbour's machine tools or lawnmower.)...

Murder in Moscow: the death of a courageous woman.(FREEDOM OF SPEECH)(Anna Politkovskaya, opposition journalist)
November 1, 2006... Russia's most outspoken opposition journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, was brutally gunned down in the lift of her Moscow apartment building on 7 October, leaving many in Russia's democratic and human rights community in despair. [ILLUSTRATION...

Gulag for journalists.(ERITREA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Five years after Eritrean authorities launched a massive crackdown on independent journalists and media outlets, 13 journalists continue to be held in secret jails according to Reporters Without Borders. Eritrea is the fourth leading jailer...

Speechmarks.(Currents)(Charles N. Haas' remarks on mercury poisoning)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... "Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day; but teach a man how to fish and he'll be dead of mercury poisoning inside of three years." Charles N Haas, US environmental engineer

The language of communication ...(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Word power 22 bubble-wrap n. spin. letter n. (archaic) written epistle showing care and thought. press-release n. free speech. smokescreen n. PR for the tobacco industry. statement n. governmental version of events. ...

Fouled coastline: oil mess legacy of Israeli bombardment.(LEBANON)(oil spills)
November 1, 2006... THE sea off the coast of Jiyyeh gleams azure blue in the late summer sun, inviting war-weary Lebanese to dip in and forget their troubles. But hidden beneath the shimmering surface is another deadly legacy of Israel's war with the Lebanese...

Enough fiddling while the planet burns!(CLIMATE CHANGE)('Camp for Climate Action' demonstrations)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Mass protests are planned in 45 countries on the eve of the next round of UN talks on climate change. The meeting, which starts in Nairobi on 6 November, is the latest in a series of painfully slow-moving and increasingly compromised...

Sudan's other crisis: apathy and violence plague efforts to resettle millions.(REFUGEES)
November 1, 2006... THE turmoil in the Darfur region of west Sudan has received too little international attention. Yet the plight of the southerners has been neglected even more in recent months. In early July 2006, the United Nations High Commissioner for...

Faulty Forsmark.(nuclear accidents)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... On 17 August 2006, there was a 'class two' incident that occurred at the Swedish atomic reactor Forsmark. A short circuit in the electricity network caused a problem inside the reactor and it needed to be shut down immediately, using emergency...

Chocolate and child slaves.(Nestle S.A.'s corporate social responsibility)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Seriously readers will be delighted to hear that Nestle--the world's most boycotted company--has been taking its corporate social responsibilities very 'seriously'. This is good news for those of you who've been concerned about recent...

Stephen Harper.(prime minister of Canada's Conservative Party )
November 1, 2006... Status: Prime Minister of Canada's Conservative minority government. Reputation: Right-wing ideologue, control freak, George Bush North. When Stephen Harper's Conservative Party eked out a victory in the last Canadian federal election,...

Between the Desert and the Sea.(Video recording review)
November 1, 2006... Between the Desert and The Sea by El Tanbura (World Village/Harmonia Mundi 450002 CD) Hymns of praise can be--and often are--addressed to all manner of beloveds, but it's possible that 'The Canal Song' of Port Said group El Tanbura is...

Everything Must Change.(Video recording review)
November 1, 2006... Everything Must Change by Orange Blossom (Wrasse Records WRASS 175 CD) Patterning programmed beats, scything guitars and the majestic curves of chanteuse Leila Bounous's Arabic vocals, there's a fantastic flamboyance and verve about...

Red Road.(Movie review)
November 1, 2006... Red Road written and directed by Andrea Arnold Something isn't quite right with Jackie. She's sociable, but oddly passive--sometimes, after work, she meets a married colleague for joyless sex in his car. She once had a family but...

Man Push Cart.(Movie review)
November 1, 2006... Man Push Cart written and directed by Ramin Bahrani Ahmad, a Pakistani, makes a living selling bagels and coffee from a Manhattan street cart. He gets up in the early hours, stocks his cart, pushes it through the streets to his pitch....

The Star of Algiers.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The Star of Algiers by Aziz Chouaki Translated by Ros Schwartz and Lulu Norman (Serpent's Tail ISBN 1 85242 924 0) Aziz Chouaki's novel, first published in France in 2002, is an eloquent and scathing attack on the damage done to...

Freedom Next Time.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Freedom Next Time By John Pilger (Bantam Press ISBN 0593055535) The wider perspective of world history, and the recycled lies it can reveal, is scarcely visible in the mainstream media. John Pilger is a rare beacon. And the longer he...

As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela Underground adventures in the arms & torture trade by Mark Thomas (Ebury Press ISBN 009190921 X) It works! Stand-up comedian writes book and it's as fast-paced and riveting as anything he does...

Southern exposure: highlighting the work of photographers from the Majority World.(Abdallah Farah)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... 'The story of a pyromaniac photographer' is the first part of the Wonder Beirut project. We based our work on the collection of a Lebanese photographer named Abdallah Farah. Between 1968 and 1969, he was commissioned by the Lebanese State to...

Walls.(View from Montevideo)
November 1, 2006... The Berlin Wall made the news every day. From dawn to dusk we read about it, heard about it, and saw It: The Wall of Shame, the Wall of Infamy, the Iron Curtain. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Eventually, this wall, which deserved to fall,...

Free software: you can't usually do the right thing without inconveniencing yourself. Bruce Byfield reckons free software is a rare opportunity.(Essay)
November 1, 2006... When you turn on your computer, you're making a political statement. If, like most people, your computer boots Microsoft Windows, the statement you're making is that transnational corporations should control access to the most powerful...

NI prize crossword.
November 1, 2006... 114 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.(Cartoon)
November 1, 2006... Polyp [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Interview with Sharla Musabih as she builds the City of Hope.(Making Waves)(domestic violence in Dubai)(Interview)
November 1, 2006... Dubai leaves little to the imagination. Oozing class and prosperity, this Gulf city is an undisputed Arab capital of cool. The largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it is a haven for both tourist and expatriates alike. For this is a...

Build on our victories.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... I'm a subscriber and supporter of NI. However, I thought your Europe issue (Europa!, NI 394) was quite inadequate, as it did not show your readers what victories and gains we have won at the European level. The Trades Union Congress (TUC)...

Subtle connections.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... The excellent issue on advertising (Advertising overload, NI 393) did not consider the subtle connection between sports reporting and advertising. In my opinion, sports reporting is a form of advertisement, advertising the organizations which...

Billboards and trees.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Thank you for the enlightening issue, Advertising overload. It really opened my eyes to the subversive tactics used by advertising agencies around the world. While reading the articles I was reminded of a poem by Ogden Nash called 'Song of the...

Account closed.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... I thank Dheephti Namasivayam for her cogent article 'The bang in the buck' (Banks exposed, NI 392), and you for your reference to BankTrack in the same issue. I have closed my accounts with the ANZ Bank and instructed the trustees of my family...

More alternatives.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Your issue looking at banking practices (NI 392) didn't place enough emphasis on the many alternative models emerging from both the Majority World and the West. Microfinance institutions, such as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, have proved that...

Carbon banking.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... The article by Adam Ma'anit (Keynote, C[O.sub.2]nned, NI 391) is one I've awaited for over a decade, as the idea of carbon banking has been corrupted and degraded by those seeking to prolong the status quo. Where I'd differ with him is in the...

Defending offsets.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... I work for an Australian financial services company which has recently developed and tested a carbon offset offer for our customers. My role on the project was to ensure that the project was aligned with good environmental sustainability...

Displacement activity.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... I agree we have to be careful with carbon offsets (NI 391) but I think, in general, the whole issue came down a little hard on what is essentially a well-intentioned idea. Money continues to be poured into the black hole of fossil-fuel...

Moving essay.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... John F Schumaker's essay 'The happiness conspiracy' strikes me as brilliant. I was interested to note that Schumaker is an American expat in New Zealand, because his essay underscores much of the reason I emigrated to New Zealand from the US....

Insulting cartoon.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... It beggars belief that just four months after NI dedicates an entire issue to 'the politics and potential of cartooning' (NI 387), it publishes an insulting cartoon of Jesus Christ (Big Bad World, NI 391). It is even more incredible that in the...

Farce as reality: a 1930s vision of the future stuns Lindsey Collen with the shock of the new.(Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times )(Column)
November 1, 2006... The film club that Ram and I are in, not at all a highbrow one, varies its choice of monthly film so that members get to watch and discuss newish films with a difference and also old classics. The old classics vary--from serious stuff like...

Thailand.(Country overview)
November 1, 2006... In September 2005, Thailand expanded its list of tourist attractions with one of the world's most laid-back military coups. Tourists and local residents alike posed for photos alongside the tanks and cheerful soldiers. Thais are typically...