Oil Rents, Corruption & Conflict

Just as governments like the US and the UK need oil companies to
secure fuel for their global war-making capacity, so the oil companies
need their governments' military power to secure control over global
oilfields and transportation routes. It is no accident, then, that the
world's largest oil companies are located in the world's most powerful
countries.

Power has primacy in the oil business, because of the incomparable
value of key fields. Production costs vary widely from one place to
another, leading to intense competition for the lowest-cost locations.
The difference between cost and sales price is so large that
economists sometimes refer to the gap as a "rent" – an extraordinary
profit enjoyed by a producer with a unique market advantage.11

All producer companies want to gain control of such lucrative profits,
by fair means or foul. Company rivalry typically leads beyond ordinary
market-based competition. As many studies show, companies and...

The League Against Denial

Eldad Beck, Yedioth Ahronoth: "'The phenomenon of Holocaust
denial in the Arab world is wrong, misleading and causes
damage to the Palestinian cause.' In his new book,
Lebanese-French academic Gilbert Achcar grapples for the
first time with the Arab attitudes towards the Holocaust."
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Uh-Oh: Hurricane Season and the BP Oil Rig Disaster

Dave Lindorff, Truthout: "One thing you don't hear much
mention of in all the coverage of the BP oil rig blowout
that is now pouring 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the
Gulf of Mexico, just a few dozen miles off the coast of
Louisiana, is the 2010 hurricane season, which officially
starts on June 1, but which can start significantly
earlier."
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Meditations on Hip Hop

Tolu Olorunda, All Hip Hop: "Round about midway through the
last decade, no more was it acceptable to cling to that
absurd conviction claiming Hip-Hop was merely undergoing
'shifts' and 'trends,' and that much of the remonstrations,
showering down from all tunnels, were ill-begotten and
untimely and but the misguided ramblings of a few
East-Coast-elitists displeased with another region (the
South) assuming control of the Rap music machine. With the
silly and senseless parodies that came to count as true
artistic creations, most who once held skepticism to any
criticisms began losing faith."
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http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DEVjWiQw7DUcV%%2Bw188F12Bk...

"Soul of a Citizen": From an Eighth Grade Education to
Testifying Before Congress

Paul Rogat Loeb, Truthout: "Too many of us hold back from
community involvement because we think we don't know enough
to act on our beliefs, or don't have the standing or
confidence to take a public stand. When we see a woman who
begins with no money, no power, no education and no status
in the community, and then becomes a powerful voice for
change, it should inspire us all."
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Obama's Feminist Touch

Joe Conason, Truthout: "Someday, when Americans have learned
to live the true meaning of our creed, a Supreme Court
nomination of a woman, a Latino, an African-American or any
other variety of human being -- including a gay man or woman
-- will provoke no comment or concern. Until then, we should
applaud every step toward that future. The latest is
President Barack Obama's choice of Elena Kagan to become the
third female justice among the nine justices on the nation's
highest court."
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http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DLhDLxkUqn7E69b9zSLbVBkPdp...

The Urgency of Housing in Haiti:

First Priority in Addressing Widespread Rape
Beverly Bell, Truthout: "The 7.3 earthquake which struck
Haiti on January 12 was only the start of Haiti's most
recent catastrophe. It has been followed by an
ever-deepening social and economic crisis for those whose
survival was precarious before the quake, especially among
the 1.3 million who were left homeless or displaced."
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Corporate Speech and Campaign Finance Reform

William Bennett Turner, Truthout: "It's the most important
First Amendment decision of the 21st century, so far. It
powerfully reinforced fundamental free speech principles.
Unfortunately, the court invoked the principles on behalf of
business interests instead of the dissidents whose messages
actually need First Amendment protection."
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Iran Sanctions: Which Way Will China Go?

Tom Lasseter, McClatchy Newspapers: "As world powers wrangle
this month at the United Nations about how to handle Iran's
nuclear plans, China is attempting to balance its thirst for
Iranian oil and natural gas with its ambition to be a
diplomatic heavyweight."
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"Poor Countries Should Have a Seat at G20 Table"

Isolda Agazzi, Inter Press Service: "The global economic
crisis highlighted the necessity of transforming global
economic governance. But least developed countries (LDCs)
have little voice in this process. It is time they are
allowed a seat at the meetings of the Group of 20
industrialised and emerging economies."
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