No Picture

Brzezinski attacks Bush’s “suicidal statecraft”

WASHINGTON – Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser to Pres. Jimmy Carter and architect of the late 1970s plan to back Muslim fundamentalists against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, has issued a scorching denunciation of the Bush administration’s “war on terror,” charging that it is “dangerously undercutting America’s seemingly secure perch on top of the global totem pole by transforming a manageable, though serious, challenge largely of regional origin into an international debacle.” read more

No Picture

Catholic leaders back off on Bible accuracy

LONDON – At a time when some Christians want a literal interpretation of the story of creation as told in Genesis taught alongside Darwin‘s theory of evolution in U.S schools, the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible aren’t actually true.

According to the UK’s Times newspaper, the Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland have warned their 5 million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect "total accuracy" from the Bible. "We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision," they explain in The Gift of Scripture, which says the Bible must be approached with the knowledge that it is “God’s word expressed in human language.” read more

No Picture

Venezuela to join South American trade bloc

Montevideo – In December, Venezuela will become a permanent member of the South American trade bloc Mercosur, a move likely to strengthen the group and serve as a major step toward Latin American economic integration. Officials in Uruguay, the trade bloc’s current president, announced the decision Prensa Latina reports.

"This is something that is historic for us," President Hugo Chavez told reporters during an Ibero-American summit meeting in Spain last week. Mercosur was founded by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay in the 1990s. Venezuela, along with Peru, Bolivia and Chile, are currently only associate members. read more

Abidjan

Conflict, Crisis and Soccer in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa exporter, producing 43% of the planet's supply. For thirty years, cocoa production, in addition to coffee crops, logging and seaport activities, constituted the backbone of this West African republic's economic success, enabling political stability and social harmony. Thus, while most African countries were engaged in violent struggles for independence, Cold War geo-politics or ethnic conflicts, Côte d'Ivoire was one of the continent's success stories. Today however, Abidjan's modern skyline is only a reminder of the days of peace, unity and prosperity. The critical Presidential election of October 30 has been postponed due to technical and political unfeasibility, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Alter-EU

Time for Transparency in the EU

The Dutch and French rejections of the EU constitution make the time ripe for strong measures to create more transparency around lobbying in Brussels. The European Transparency Initiative, created by Vice President of the Commission, Siim Kallas, must not miss this opportunity. The EU's democratic deficit has long been discussed, andyet never seems to go away. The perception continues that the EU is an impenetrable fortress, where corporate and political elites make decisions with no room for citizens' involvement. The estimated 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels, the vast majority working for business interests, combined with dubious public affairs practices and a lack of any credible mechanism for ensuring transparency, give credence to this perception.

False Alarm

Manufacturing High Anxiety

"Are you and your family at risk?" Almost anyone who watches television has heard that teaser during the news. The answer is often no, but the question itself has the power to set off a panic reaction that leads people to rush out for the latest cure or recommended precaution.

Several years ago, Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist in New York and frequent guest on TV news programs, began to notice what he calls "free-floating communicated fear" was causing his patients to personalize risks that were actually quite remote. In his new book, False Alarm: The truth about the epidemic of fear, he has assembled a convincing case that, misdirected by political opportunists and irresponsible media, we too often worry about the wrong things, and that fear itself poses a greater risk than any "bug du jour."