Archive for April, 2011

On the Socialist Path, ‘A Cooperative is a Work of the Heart’

by Editors @ Saturday, April 30th, 2011. Filed under Economic Democracy, Solidarity Economy, Venezuela

Cooperatives in Venezuela Promote

Solidarity, Equality and Dignity

A Radio al Reves Interview
April 12, 2011

RADIO AL REVÉS: In Barlovento, a tropical coastal region of Venezuela, Ciro Ramos de Rodriguez sits poised to talk about MUDEBAR, a cooperative of 42 women who produce textiles for their local schools, and government officials, as well as other clothing needs within the region.  MUDEBAR is located in a quiet residential neighborhood in San Jose de Barlovento, and the clean, airy new building, which is home to over 100 sewing machines, shines bright in the hot afternoon sun.

CIRO RAMOS DE RODRIGUEZ: In reality, we didn't have money or anything until the government offered us credit so that we could achieve our objective, which was to associate ourselves as a cooperative.  The process was a call made by the government to participate in a social mission called Vuelvan Caras, a call to all the women who were in their houses without work, simply doing domestic work, doing housework until god called, watching our grandchildren and taking care of the house and when all of the women were called to the mission we began taking the courses. We took really good courses, and from that they prepared us to become a cooperative.

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Libya: It’s More to It Than Following the Money, It’s About Grabbing It

by Editors @ Wednesday, April 27th, 2011. Filed under Anti-War Movement, Libya, Middle East

Financial Heist of the Century:

Confiscating Libya's Sovereign Wealth Funds

 

By Manlio Dinucci

Solidarity Economy.net via Il Manifesto

April 22, 2011 - The objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters.

In the crosshairs of "willing" of the operation “Unified Protector” there are sovereign wealth funds, capital that the Libyan state has invested abroad.

The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) manages sovereign wealth funds estimated at about $70 billion U.S., rising to more than $150 billion if you include foreign investments of the Central Bank and other bodies. But it might be more. Even if they are lower than those of Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, Libyan sovereign wealth funds have been characterized by their rapid growth. When LIA was established in 2006, it had $40 billion at its disposal. In just five years, LIA has invested over one hundred companies in North Africa, Asia, Europe, the U.S. and South America: holding, banking, real estate, industries, oil companies and others.

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China: ‘New Left’ Meets ‘Red Culture’

by Editors @ Monday, April 25th, 2011. Filed under China, Marxism, Socialism

Socialism 3.0 in China

Photo: Bo Xilai

By Peter Martin and David Cohen
SolidarityEconomy.net via The Diplomat

April 25, 2011 - Bo Xilai has a reputation as a rising political rock star. But do his ‘Red Culture’ policies in Chongqing really offer a viable model for China?

As China’s 2012 power transition approaches, politicians and academics are racing to find the theme that will define the country’s direction for the next eight years. The inclinations of Xi Jinping, heir apparent to the presidency, are still unclear, but his recent visit to Chongqing suggests that he’s taking a particular interest in the ‘Red Culture’ policies of municipal Party Secretary Bo Xilai.

Bo is the highest-ranking Party member of the Chongqing Municipal area, an administrative zone four times the size of the US state size of New Jersey. It embraces acity of 10 million, as well as a vast rural hinterland that contains more than 1,200 towns and villages. Over the past few years, Bo has made himself the centre of media attention with eye-catching initiatives such as a ‘red song’ campaign and a ban on advertisements on local TV.

But the significance of Chongqing runs much deeper than socialist gimmicks—Bo has tried to rewrite the social contract of Chongqing with an attack on economic inequality, an expansion of the state role in the economy, and political moves taken straight from Mao Zedong’s playbook.

People often say that politics in China have stood still while the economy has raced ahead. But the placid surface of single-party rule conceals vigorous debate within the Communist Party over China’s future….

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Cuba Prepares for New Economic and Social Policies for Socialist Renewal

by Editors @ Monday, April 18th, 2011. Filed under Cuba, Marxism, Socialism, Solidarity Economy

CENTRAL REPORT TO THE 6th CONGRESS

OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA

By Raul Castro Ruz

SolidarityEconomy.net

Comrades all,

The opening of the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba this afternoon marks a date of extraordinary significance in our history, the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist nature of our Revolution by its Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz, on April 16, 1961, as we paid our last respects to those killed the day before during the bombings of the air bases. This action, which was the prelude to the Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) mercenary invasion organized and funded by the United States government, was part of its plans to destroy the Revolution and restore its domination over Cuba in league with the Organization of American States (OAS).

On that occasion, Fidel said to the people already armed and inflamed with passion: "This is what they cannot forgive us…that we have made a Socialist Revolution right under the nose of the United States…" "Comrades, workers and farmers, this is the Socialist and democratic Revolution of the people, by the people and for the people. And for this Revolution of the people, by the people and for the people, we are willing to give our lives."

The response to this appeal would not take long; in the fight against the aggressor a few hours later, the combatants of the Ejército Rebelde, police agents and militiamen shed their blood, for the first time, in defense of socialism and attained victory in less than 72 hours under the personal leadership of comrade Fidel.

The Military Parade that we watched this morning, dedicated to the young generations, and particularly the vigorous popular march that followed, are eloquent proof of the fortitude of the Revolution to follow the example of the heroic fighters of Playa Girón.

Next May 1st, on the occasion of the International Workers Day, we will do likewise throughout the country to show the unity of Cubans in defense of their independence and national sovereignty, which as proven by history, can only be conquered through Socialism.

This Congress, the supreme body of the Party, as set forth in article 20 of its Statutes, brings together today one thousand delegates representing nearly 800 thousand party members affiliated to over 61 thousand party cells. But, this Congress really started on November 9 last year, with the release of the Draft Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution, a subject that, as previously indicated, will be at the center of the debates of this meeting that is regarded with great expectations by our people.

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Ivanpah: Third Wave High-Road Green Capital at Work

by Editors @ Wednesday, April 13th, 2011. Filed under Environment, High Road Economics

Google Invests US$168 Million in the

World’s Largest Solar Power Tower Plant

Graphic: Model rendering of ISEGS, the world's largest solar power tower being built in California

By Darren Quick

Gizmag.com April 13, 2011

Google has chipped in a US$168 million investment in what will be the world's largest solar power tower plant. To be located on 3,600 acres of land in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will boast 173,000 heliostats that will concentrate the sun's rays onto a solar tower standing approximately 450 feet (137 m) tall. The plant commenced construction in October 2010 and is expected to generate 392 MW of solar energy following its projected completion in 2013.

Although solar power tower development is currently less advanced than the more common trough systems, they offer higher efficiency and better energy storage capabilities. Parabolic trough systems consist of parabolic mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto a Dewar tube running the length of the mirror through which a heat transfer fluid runs that is then used to heat steam in a standard turbine.

Solar power tower systems such as the ISEGS on the other hand focus a large area of sunlight into a single solar receiver on top of a tower to produce steam at high pressure and temperatures of up to 550 ° C (over 1,000° F) to drive a standard turbine and generator. The ISEGS also uses a dry-cooling technology that reduces water consumption by 90 percent and uses 95 percent less water than competing solar thermal technologies. Water is also recirculated during energy before being reused to clean the plant's mirrors.

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Argentina’s Women and the Solidarity Economy

by Editors @ Tuesday, April 12th, 2011. Filed under Argentina, Solidarity Economy, Women

Banking on Women's Experience

By Marcela Valente
SolidarityEconomy.net via Inter Press Service

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 11 (IPS) - Argentina's president is a woman, Cristina Fernández, and the country has one of the highest percentages of women lawmakers in the world. But women also have other leadership roles, outside the political system. Natalia Garabano, the coordinator of a research project that created a novel Experience Bank, told IPS that "identifying and drawing attention to the valuable experiences of women who are leaders of their social organizations was one of the project's goals."

In a recently published report on this research, 87 women leaders of civil society organizations share their experiences of working for the rights to housing, sexual and reproductive health, education, non-discrimination and non-violence.

Garabano, of the Latin American Justice and Gender Group (ELA), said: "In order to legitimize democracy and make it more robust, it is necessary to promote women's political participation, but in a broad sense, not just through political parties."

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Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race?

by Editors @ Wednesday, April 6th, 2011. Filed under China, Environment, Green Energy

 

One Chart, One Thousand Words

Source: G-20 Report



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Libya Bombing: The Rotten Deal Under the Perfumed Package

by Editors @ Saturday, April 2nd, 2011. Filed under Anti-War Movement, Libya, Middle East

Exposed: The US-Saudi Libya deal

By Pepe Escobar
SolidarityEconomy.net
via Asia Times Online: April 2, 2011

You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes" vote by the Arab League for a no-fly zone over Libya - the main rationale that led to United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.

The revelation came from two different diplomats, a European and a member of the BRIC group, and was made separately to a US scholar and Asia Times Online. According to diplomatic protocol, their names cannot be disclosed. One of the diplomats said, "This is the reason why we could not support resolution 1973. We were arguing that Libya, Bahrain and Yemen were similar cases, and calling for a fact-finding mission. We maintain our official position that the resolution is not clear, and may be interpreted in a belligerent manner."

As Asia Times Online has reported, a full Arab League endorsement of a no-fly zone is a myth. Of the 22 full members, only 11 were present at the voting. Six of them were Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, the US-supported club of Gulf kingdoms/sheikhdoms, of which Saudi Arabia is the top dog. Syria and Algeria were against it. Saudi Arabia only had to "seduce" three other members to get the vote.

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