Six Malaysian activists from Himpunan Hijau are in the midst of a week-long ‘occupation’ in front of the Lynas Corp headquarters in Sydney to protest at the toxic rare earth refinery in Kuantan, Malaysia.
Francis rocks church with radical rethink of economy
Francis, the Bishop of Rome, has come out with a new apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, that recognises the need to resolve “the structural causes of poverty” without delay.
Everyone should ponder over these words:
Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely temporary responses. As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality,[173] no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems. Inequality is the root of social ills.
As congestion worsens, Penang asks Putrajaya to fulfil public transport pledge
Penang is asking the federal government to fulfil its pledge on public transport by building an LRT or MRT system – but the danger with that is the state could risk having a monorail system dumped on it!
Tecoma folk step up campaign against fast food giant
Residents of Tecoma, a village 40km east of Melbourne in Australia, took their campaign against a fast food giant to a ‘higher note’ with this creative performance.
Crucial info missing from draft Penang Hill special area plan display
The Jabatan Perancang Bandar dan Desa will be briefing the public on the draft Penang Hill special area plan on Sunday, 1 December at 10.00am at Auditorium A, fifth floor, Komtar.
Deduct environmental pollution, health hazards from GDP figure
Blog visitor Phua Kai Lit points out that the way we calculate GDP is deeply flawed.
Mat Sabu retains Pas deputy presidency with bigger majority
Update, 24 November 2013:
The winners for the three vice-presidents’ spots –
Incumbent Salahuddin Ayub – 917 votes (753 in 2011),
Former information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man – 849 (n/a) and
Incumbent Husam Musa – 520 (660).
Incumbent Mahfuz Omar – 504 (616) and Abu Bakar Chik – 364 (previously contested for central working committee) failed to make it.
Original post 23 November 2013:
Mohamad Sabu has retained the Pas deputy presidency with an even larger majority, while Nizar Jamaluddin finishes third in the central working committee polls as the professionals and bridge-builders throttle forward despite the “hand-brake” applied by conservatives.
‘We have to consume less’ to save the planet from climate chaos
A couple of climate scientists speaking on the sidelines of the UN climate talks in Warsaw have called for radical economic change, including economic de-growth especially in developed nations, if we are to have any hope of curbing global warming. They also said high energy consumers, especially among the wealthier classes, have to reduce their carbon footprint.
Protesters gather at secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations
Activists have gathered in Utah this week to protest at the secrecy surrounding the latest round of TPP negotiations, which will grant large corporations extensive new powers at the expense of the environment, public health and national sovereignty.
Look who’s posing with anti-fracking activists
Francis, the Bishop of Rome, has been photographed with anti-fracking activists from Argentina. That’s not surprising. At the start of his ministry in the Vatican, Francis had mentioned his concern about our broken relationship with Creation. He is now believed to be preparing a major new encyclical on the environment.
