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Keith Rankin

Keith Rankin teaches political economy at Massey University, Albany, Auckland. ( Keith's papers ) He has told us about relatively recent European developments about Basic Income, for example (reporting on the 1996 BIEN conference in Vienna): "The tone of the conference was often one of impatience with arguments based on the old issues - like the free-rider problem. So Francesco Silva, an eminent Italian economist, raised (in this workshop) the point that modern economic growth theory clearly attributes genuine economic growth to 'social externalities', and that this argument - about social inputs to production, about social inheritance - is so powerful that it renders much of the earlier discussion as near to irrelevant. Clearly, a person receiving a basic income as a social dividend can be no more a free rider than can be any person possessing privately inherited wealth. I sensed that the southern Europeans - especially the Italians and Spanish - have come to grips with this argument more easily than have those from the north. Indeed, Italy has a long and wonderful tradition of scholarship in the history of economic thought."

Keith Rankin's Rankin File and Short Items, often on recent events in N.Z.

Signs of Hope:

 I really enjoy your website and I am grateful to know that more and more
 people are growing from the having mode into the being mode. 
 (Erich Fromm's book: To Have or To Be? )

 Regards,
           Renée
http://www.instatrade.com

"If only people could see each other as agents of each others' happiness, they could occupy the earth, their common habitation, in peace, and move forward confidently together to their common goal.
  The prospect changes when they regard each other as obstacles; soon they have no choice left but to flee or be forever fighting. Humankind then seems nothing but a gigantic error of nature."

Greens making an Impact in Europe!

- October 1998 -

  - NEW CHAPTER IN GERMAN GREEN POLITICS -
        - GERMAN GREENS IN GOVERNMENT -
- SLOVAK CITIZENS HAVE DECIDED ON CHANGE -

NEW CHAPTER IN GERMAN GREEN POLITICS

The German voters have opened a new chapter in the history of German Politics and ... of the German Greens.

The final result of the elections: Social Democrats: 40,9 % (+ 4,5 %; 298 MPs), Christian Democrats 35,2 % (-6,2 %; 245 MPs), Greens 6,7 % (- 0,6 %; 47 MPs), Liberals 6,2 % (-0,7 %; 44 MPs), Socialist Party 5,1 % (+0,7 %, 35 MPs). This result leads to a Red-Green absolute majority by 21 seats.

[T]he Greens and the Social Democrats ... negotiations towards a new Red-Green government in Germany.

... Both the Greens and SPD ... a strong start will be essential for the new government.
All in all, the situation is not bad considering that there is a Red-Green majority in both houses. More importantly, the German Greens have Green partners in government on a European level with Italy, France, Finland and potentially Sweden in the EU, as well as Georgia which will give them the opportunity to new Policy making on that level also.

Considering the national elections in Europe within the last 2 years, we have a completely new perspective for the Greens on the European level, and we shall use these victories over [economic-] neoliberal governments.

*** Consumers demand labeling of biotech foods

Despite an endless stream of corporate propaganda, consumers in the U.S. -- as well as the rest of the world -- remain troubled or anxious about genetically-altered food. Every major national poll in the industrialized world over the past 10 years has found 80-95% of consumers demanding labeling of biotech foods -- primarily so that they can exercise their right to avoid buying them if they so choose. ...
In a ... comprehensive poll by the biotech giant Novartis in February of 1997, a full 93% of Americans said that all genetically engineered foods should be labeled. In the same Novartis poll 73% said they felt "strongly" about mandatory labeling of gene-altered organisms, while 54% wanted to see agriculture move toward organic production methods. For a global summary of consumer polls on labeling genetically engineered food see:
www.consumersinternational.org/campaigns/biotech/surveys.html

Despite overwhelming public sentiment, Monsanto, the Clinton Administration, and biotech/ factory-farm interests remain unalterably opposed to mandatory labeling and safety testing of gene foods. Over the past two years U.S. authorities repeatedly have threatened to sue the E.U. under the new GATT rules for "restraint of trade" if they require mandatory segregation and labeling of U.S. agricultural exports containing gene- altered substances. ...

On May 19 U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky threatened France and the EU with trade sanctions on the g-e corn issue. In a statement to Reuters, Barshefsky stated: "This is very serious and threatens a very substantial trade row if these corn varieties are not allowed to be marketed fully."

U.S. free traders received further bad news on May 26 as EU farm ministers passed a long-awaited bill requiring mandatory labeling of g-e corn and soybean products. The law basically states that all foods with detectible levels of genetically modified corn or soya (gene-altered DNA or proteins) will have to be labeled. Although the law was condemned by U.S. authorities, European groups such as Greenpeace, the Green Party, and consumer associations complained that the law contains exemptions on non-detectible additives such as soy oil and lecithin -- which means that most processed foods, such as margarine and chocolate, will still not have to be labeled. Informed sources in Europe have told Food Bytes* that, although the Clinton administration doesn't like the soy and corn labeling law, they will not at this time try to challenge the rule at the GATT/WTO.
In the wake of the USDA organic standards fiasco and mounting global pressure for biotech labeling, U.S. authorities fear yet another public relations disaster if they attempt to overturn the May 26 law.

Even Monsanto has felt the need to try to placate their opponents recently, claiming, somewhat unconvincingly, that they no longer oppose labeling of gene-altered products in Europe. In the words of Monsanto's Europe-Africa President Bernard Auxenfans, quoted in the UK Farmers Guardian of May 22:

* from: Food Bytes #9, June 2 '98.

*** Dolphin conservation agreement signed

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 AFP

WASHINGTON (May 21, 1998 2:56 p.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) -
        The United States and six Latin American countries signed an agreement Thursday to protect dolphins from tuna fishing nets that threatened to devastate the mammals. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright hailed the accord as "one of the strongest agreements ever negotiated to conserve marine life."
        Under the accord reached in February following six years of negotiations, all tuna fishing vessels will be required to have observers on board to monitor catches and an international panel will be established to ensure compliance.
        Albright signed the International Dolphin Protection Program agreement with the ambassadors of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela, which were among the 13 countries to negotiate the accord.
        The United States has agreed to lift tuna trade embargoes on all nations that sign the pact.
        ''I am very pleased to participate in this signing ceremony,'' said Albright from the podium in the State Department's Benjamin Franklin Room.
        "It's not every day that I can honestly say we take action to benefit a group whose members are uniformly intelligent, open, friendly and can swim close to 40 miles an hour," she said.

*** Global warming issue pits north against south

Delegates to a 150-nation conference on global warming met in closed session Friday after saying there were large gaps to be overcome before a draft treaty could be approved at a December conference in Japan. The fight over global warming, thrust into the limelight this week when President Clinton presented U.S. proposals, pits industrial countries against developing nations who want a cleaner, cooler world but not obstacles to their economic growth. Delegates to the United Nations-sponsored conference on climate change in Bonn said the negotiations were expected to go down to the last minute in Kyoto, Japan, and would ultimately have to be settled at the highest levels.

Editor's picks Use Less Stuff bi-monthly Newsletter

Food activism

the World Bank has abandoned its long-running support for minimal government in favour of a strong and vigorous state. Its latest report on world development calls for "reinvigoration of public institutions" and says the role of government has been vital in encouraging the dazzling growth of East Asia. An 'effective state' is the cornerstone of successful economies

 
   (On the theme of this cartoon from 1994:)

MOM: "Any good mail today?"

DAD: "Mm...not really.
  - Here's a 'you're not covering the cost of all these mailings'
    charity request.  
  - You got a 'you're not attractive enough' women's magazine 
    with an article on swimsuits that minimize all your body flaws.
  - Here are some 'you're not stylish or ostentatious enough' 
    catalogs....and coincidentally, an invitation to go deeper into
    debt from a credit card company.
  - And here's our news magazine to identify the trends we're
    missing,.... 
  - and I got a hobby magazine featuring new equipment I ought to
    have. 
  - Yikes.... why do I get the feeling that society is trying to 
    make us discontented with everything we do and insecure about
    who we are?"

MOM: "I suppose if people thought about real issues and needs
    instead of manufactured desires, the economy would collapse
    and we'd have total anarchy."

DAD: (with evil grin) "So pitching this junk would make me
    some kind of terrorist, huh?"

MOM: "Yep. It's our patriotic duty to buy distractions from
    a simple life."

CAL: "Hey Mom, I saw a bunch of products on TV that I didn't know
    existed, but I desperately need!" 

Bruce Brummitt's experience with half-year heat storage.

Answering: "How Much is Enough?"

Links:

Hello! rudyw's world

Indonesian lizards & snakes

Might whales think better than humans? Paul Watson's recent essay: "The association or mental connecting of ideas is a measurable skill. A rat’s associative skill is measured at 9 to 1. This means that 90% of the brain is devoted to primary sensory projection, leaving only 10% for associative skills. A cat is 1 to 1 meaning that half the brain is available for associative ability.
A chimpanzee is 1 to 3, and a human being is 1 to 9. We humans need only utilize 10% of our brains to operate our sensory organs. Thus the associative abilities of a cat are measurably greater than a rat but less than a chimp and humans are the highest of all.

Not exactly. The cetacean brain averages 1 to 25 and can range upward to 1 to 40. The reason for this is that the much larger supralimbic lobe is primarily association cortex. Sensory and motor function control is spread outside the supralimbic in cetaceans as opposed to humans, leaving more brain area in the cetacean supralimbic for associative purposes."

Hopelessness and Nihilism; (from: The Pro-Life Activist's Encyclopedia)
the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, incl. The "Eco Depth Gauge"; Excerpted from KOOKS
From Metropolis to Design (by Tapio Periäinen) is a holistic vision of a healthy, well-functioning environment.
The Planetary Work Machine; & "futuribles (as the French say) are not very appetizing: they stink of renunciation, moralism, new labors"

Genetically-engineered food is all-pervasive in North America. Bill Duesing's broadcast.
The current Bill Duesing broadcast (and access to a 2½ year archive).

Toni Jeffreys PhD: "I fancy that most New Zealanders would walk quietly into the gas chambers on request ..."

Empowerment Resources for Personal Growth, Social Change, and Ecology;
- http://www.empowermentresources.com/ - over 180 good books (most discounted 20-30%)
and over 370 links on empowerment.  "A Quick Green Guide to Empowerment Resources on the Internet."

cdMom's Home-Schooling Software Centre

The Quiet Mind Body Shop: Alternatives 

The (US) Carrying Capacity Network's books for sale.

BEYOND FEEL-GOOD CONSUMERISM:
Solving Eco-Crisis Requires Political Commitment
by Travis Charbeneau

RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY :
"Central to all these problems is the deliberate restructuring of the economy that is under way, promoted chiefly by corporate policies with the acquiescence of government. Corporations are seeking to increase their profits and competitiveness by merging and downsizing (eradicating half a million well-paid jobs each year); replacing permanent full-time workers with temporary part-timers; deliberately destroying job security as a way of imposing discipline on working people; diminishing their power to demand decent wages and benefits such as health care and retirement packages; and degrading the environment (mining natural resources at unsustainable rates worldwide, and using nature as a toilet for unwanted, often toxic, byproducts). Government's most conspicuous role in all this has been to subsidize corporate restructuring .."

the Green Left Weekly, Issue #286 August 20, 1997.

Jay Hanson's BRAIN FOOD:
"I have updated my systems crash curve using
Duncan & Youngquist's new global oil production forecast.
You can even download the models and
run them yourself." See:
http://dieoff.org/page5.htm

The 2028 Asteroid which may hit the earth.

Government's Social Responsibility

People-Centred Development Forum - David C. Korten
cartoon - TransNational Corporations equal partners @ the U.N.

The Corsican Fisherman
___________________________

. . A lone fisherman sat on a stretch of beach. His single fishing pole was planted in the sand.
Along came a businessman on vacation.
"Why don't you have two poles so you can catch more fish?" the businessman asked.
. . "Then what would I do?" asked the Corsican.
"Then, you could take the extra money, buy a boat, get nets and a crew, and catch even more fish."
. . "Then what would I do?" asked the fisherman.
"Then," said the businessman, "you could move up to a fleet of large ships, go wholesale, and become very rich."
. . "Then what would I do?" asked the Corsican.
"Do whatever you want!" shouted the businessman.
. . And the Corsican replied, "I am."
____________________________________________________________________________
Source: Loose Change, 7/8, '97.

[return to top]               I made Kurt Partridge's Hotlist : http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/kepart/hotlist.html

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