Global Girl

Here in Brazil,  the theory that the United States and other international powers are trying to take control of the Amazon Rain forest is very well known.

One Brazilian diplomat responded to the idea that the amazon is a “world resource that must be protected” by replying, “Okay, I agree. The Amazon is a resource for the world…But then, why don’t we spread the prized works of the Lourve, the historic artifacts of Europe, and the great secrets of technology, etc around the world for us all to take advantage of!”

Lula once said that he will not listen to the complaints about the Amazon’s deforestation from countries who have already destroyed most of their own natural forests. At the World Social Forum in February of this year, Lula stated, ” People who visit Brazil must know the following: take care of what’s yours, Brazil will take care of what’s of its own.”

President Barak Obama seemed to want to take care of “his own.” In a press release by the Obama team, “Renewing U.S. Leadership in the Americas,” Obama promises to (among other things):

• Ensure the United States works with developing countries on climate change
• Confront Deforestation and Promote Carbon Sequestration
• Provide leadership at home.

However this “Leadership at home” doesn’t seem to hold true. (Maybe this statement was only meant to include the continental 48 states??) This week, the Obama administration approved the sale of timber in The Tongass National Forest, which is a 17 million acre temperate roadless national forest in Alaska–the largest in the United States.  (Read the story in the Huffington Post.)
Continue Reading…

Tweet This Post

Roberto Micheletti was sworn in as provisional president of Honduras after the Honduran military kidnapped and threw President Jose Manuel Zelaya into a helicopter to Costa Rica on Sunday June 28, 2009. President Obama declared that he was “deeply concerned” and he calls “on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.” See Obama’s reaction here.

The Organization of American States signed a resolution demanding for the Honduran government to reinstate the President Zelaya within 72 hours, but President Zelaya declared that he will not return within that time frame.

The Honduran Coup took place on the night of a referendum asking the Honduran people if the term of the recently ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya should be extended. Zelaya is a leftist that has often not gotten along with the military and supreme court. The congress had attempted to forbid his term extension referendum and the Honduran judiciary had declared it illegal.

One important piece that deepens the coup puzzle is how the United States  has provided Honduras with a lot of these arms that are now being used to by the military controlling this coup.

Continue Reading…

Tweet This Post

Listen First:     The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott Heron

The Iran “elections” are causing an uproar. People are rioting and demanding that their votes be counted after the former president was declared a landslide winner in two hours flat, which seems very unlikely since there were polling stations set up around the world and people used paper ballots. It is amazing and  spooky to see the pictures. The Huffington Post just published a blog, “One Dead, Many Injured After Gunman Open Fire.” I would recommend checking out their blog for more information on the Iranian election story.

After the headline on the Huffington Post, it says,  “follow the story on Twitter.”

I’m over here working on my blog at my mom’s house, which during the day is the “New Tricks” office, and my Mom’s friend/business partner Dene Shepherd brought up the Gil Scott Heron song, “The Revolution Will not Be Televised.”  We agreed: It will no longer be televised, because now Twitter will be taking over.

Tweet This Post