North Side Green Party

According to DemocracyNow! the Obama administration is planning to increase US production of nuclear weapons while insisting that Iran drop its (civilian) nuclear energy program.

The Green Party has historically opposed both the production of nuclear weapons and civilian use of nuclear energy.

CounterCurrents.org has an article from Lester Brown about the possibility of famine as a result of resource depletion and global warming.

He points to Saudi Arabia's recent decision to stop growing wheat. The aquifer upon which Saudi agriculture depended has nearly depleted. There is no alternative source of water. Saudi Arabia will henceforth be compelled to import its food supplies.

A blockbuster documentary about oil is coming. Film maker Joe Berlinger's Crude: The Real Price of Oil starts Friday.

The film documents the struggle of 30,000 indigenous people living in the Amazon rain forest against a US backed multinational, Chevron Oil.

The film will be showing for one week only (October 2 through October 8) at the Jean Siskel Film Center.

For several years the United States has been prosecuting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Low level hostilities against oil rich Iran and Venezuela have continued for some time with the constant threat of full scale military intervention.

What happened to the anti-war movement? Where are they? Arun Gupta is interviewed by DemocracyNow!

The anti-war movement has placed its faith in the Democrats, he says, and has received nothing in return.

On Thursday morning, DemocracyNow! interviewed Michael Moore on his new film, Capitalism, a Love Story. The interview runs 30 minutes and can be viewed or heard by clicking the above link.

Chicago showings of the film start Friday. Click here for more information.

An FDIC order imposing restrictions on the management of InBank became final today.

The order may have little effect, since the FDIC closed InBank on September 4.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is predicting that US emissions of CO₂ will have dropped 8.5% by year's end. The drop in emissions is believed due to poor economic conditions, which forced users to reduce consumption of fossil fuels.

Cathy Cummings, a former Green Party candidate for US Senator, will host a showing of Kilowatt Ours, a documentary. The film covers the adverse effects of using coal and nuclear power to generate electricity and suggests environmentally benign alternatives.

According to an editorial in Nature, US Defense Secretary Gates and others within the Obama administration are pushing for development of new nuclear weapons. Non-proliferation efforts may be undermined, the editors warn, if Obama fails to reject these proposals.

High fructose corn syrup may contain toxins harmful to honeybees, according research funded by the USDA.

The study does not address the issue of toxicity to people, but others are already asking this question.

The AFL-CIO have voted unanimously to "endorse the enactment of single-payer, universal healthcare for all Americans."

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have been willing to allow single payer on the table. The only alternatives presently under discussion are privatized health insurance plans.

Single payer is the model adopted by Canada, Britain, and France. The Greens have always favored single payer.

A story posted at Global Research by attorney Ellen Brown discusses a landmark ruling by the Kansas State Supreme Court which grants relief to a homeowner faced with foreclosure. The ruling apparently makes it impossible to foreclose on mortgages packaged into CDO's. CDO stands for "Collateralized Debt Obligation." CDO"s were a principle component of the "toxic debt" which helped send the world's economy into recession. In the US, sixty million mortgages are affected by the ruling.

On Monday Democracy Now! interviewed Naomi Klein on an article she wrote for Harper's. The interview focuses on the Obama administration's decision to boycott the Geneva Conference on Racism.

The Klein article,“Minority Death Match: Jews, Blacks and the ‘Post-Racial’ Presidency” appeared in the September Harper's.

There is a story posted on The Oil Drum which deserves attention. Jason Bradford is writing about sustainable food production. Agriculture removes essential nutrients from the soil. If these nutrients are not replenished, the soil loses its ability to support agriculture. Crop rotation schemes and the use of artificial fertilizer can ameliorate the situation temporarily, but eventually the piper must be paid.

Judy Hoy is an environmental voice crying out in the wilderness. She's been studying road kill and has noticed a disturbing trend of developmental malformations in deer. The story appears in the Miller-McCune Online Magazine.

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) met in Argentina to discuss US military intentions in the region. Twelve heads of state were in attendance. The US has been moving troops into Columbia.

The Daily Mail has a story about a huge ghost fleet lying at anchor just east of Singapore. The ships are idle because of the economic down-turn. The story includes some stunning pictures.

Gustavo Gutierrez OP, is the founder of the Theology of Liberation. He has been a voice for the poorest of the poor, and a thorn in the side of their oppressors.

Father Gutierrez will be awarded the Niebuhr Medal at Elmhurst College on September 20. The event starts at 7:30 pm, in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel. For directions, click here.

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO) web site has an interview with Robert Hirsch, who authored the 2005 DOE study of Peak Oil which for the first time confirmed publicly that there was a serious problem with world oil supply.

The HEART Committee is asking for volunteers to take part in a vigil at Resurrection Health Care. The goal of the vigil is to seek justice for health care workers employed at Resurrection. Those responding may give as much or as little time as they wish.