Where the coalition for Darfur blog posts scores upon scores of articles about Darfur, Helena boils it down to one or two cogent posts. Check out her post, Darfur: negotiators close to peace agreement?
I hope the peace talks in Abuja can really succeed, and the rebuilding process that they envision can really take hold. That is far and away the best way to end the commission of atrocities in Darfur and start rebuilding a rule-of-law-based society there.
But what about the reports of the recent escalatory acts? Let’s hope they were just one last push that each side was making, trying to win one last spot of negotiating advantage, before they both sign onto the peace deal…
She knows about conflict resolution and she knows about Africa. If you read just one person’s opinions about Darfur, you should read her.
Here’s an excellent gallery of pictures from Chernobyl, many taken shortly after the disaster. Here’s a view of the destroyed reactor #4:
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If you have not seen the “Kid of Speed” site, check it out. There is some dispute about the authenticity of the story of this woman’s motorcycle through the Chernobyl exclusion zone. But you can take the photos at face value. They are powerful.
Clearly, Chernobyl’s memory is still vivid for Gorbachev
“You don’t actually solve problems by finding solutions that create more problems down the track. It doesn’t add up economically, environmentally or socially. Of all the energy options, nuclear is the most capital intensive to establish, decommissioning is prohibitively expensive and the financial burden continues long after the plant is closed.”
OhMyGod. That does it. I absolutely must have this device. I’ve been wanting one for over a year now, and it looks like it’s a good thing I waited. Pandora’s Box
the Squeezebox recently became the first non-PC device that can stream Pandora channels.
If you haven’t discovered Pandora yet, go check it out.
Now the big problem is that my stereo is a joke. I need a home theatre sounds system to go with this squeezebox. This could get expensive….
US states grossly underestimate levels of obesity
Widespread wishful thinking has left some US states with gross underestimates of their obesity rates, a new study suggests.
They rely on phone interviews? Of course they’re understimating. Not only are we fat. We’re liars!
Political Animal wrote it down before I could. The notion that FEMA is beyond repair seems incredible to me. To Kevin Drumm too: The Washington Monthly
FEMA was a fine organization for eight years under Bill Clinton, widely recognized as one of the best run agencies in the federal government. But after a mere five years of George Bush’s stewardship there’s now a bipartisan consensus that it’s so rundown that the only choice is to get rid of it and build a completely new agency in its place. Astonishing.
I guess it goes without saying that FEMA will remain broken during the coming hurricane season…
This is tempting… Lifehacker takes note of another way to purge a major distraction and a major time waster from your life. Turn off your TV this week
Could you do without the tube for an entire week? Would it make a difference in your TV habits the rest of the year?
My recent post about the dangers of fast food fries and nuggests seems to have worked. Sam has sworn off that junk food! Getting him off the tube would be really, really good. But no NBA playoffs? Gotta think about this…
In memorium, Jane Jacobs in her own words:
“Being human is itself difficult, and therefore all kinds of settlements (except dream cities) have problems. Big cities have difficulties in abundance, because they have people in abundance. But vital cities are not helpless to combat even the most difficult problems.”
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
“Vital cities have marvelous innate abilities for understanding, communicating, contriving, and inventing what is required to combat their difficulties… Lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over for problems and needs outside themselves.”
“In our American cities, we need all kinds of diversity.”
“Intricate minglings of different uses in cities are not a form of chaos. On the contrary, they represent a complex and highly developed form of order.”
Part I of The Death and Life of Great American Cities was one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read. It changed my life, and probably shaped who I am, where I live, and how I live. I just might have to pick it up and re-read it now.
Josh Marshall is hot today. Check out his summation of an E.J. Dionne op-ed about the recent changes in the White House. TPM: the real meaning of the White House shake-up
The White House and the entire DC GOP for that matter is just sitting on too many secrets and bad acts. The bogus investigations of the pre-war intel is just one example, if one of the most resonant and glaring. Keeping control of the House and the Senate is less a matter of conventional ideological and partisan politics as it is a simple matter of survival.
They have too much to cover up. They could not survive sunlight.
He also takes some info from a 60 Minutes interview with a retired CIA officer and discredits Congressional investigations into pre-war intelligence failures. Check it out.
