In Escalating U.S.-Russian Proxy War, Eastern Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Ignored
Interview with Lev Golinkin, author of “A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka”, conducted by Scott Harris
Twenty-four years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the ongoing civil conflict in Ukraine, many observers worry, could provide the spark to ignite a new Cold War between Russia and the United States. The stakes are high as President Obama comes under increasing pressure by Republican “war hawks” and some members of his own party to send lethal weaponry to the pro-western government in Kiev. Ukraine’s government and Washington charge that separatist rebels in the two eastern Donbas provinces are being aided in their 10-month fight for autonomy by Russian-supplied weapons, including tanks and artillery, as well as direct support on the ground from Russian troops, a charge that Moscow denies. Story continues
Opposing Cove Point Maryland LNG Terminal, Activists Launch Civil Disobedience Actions
Interview with Carling Sothoron, anti-LNG project activist, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
On Feb. 3, an anti-fracking activist climbed a 150-foot crane on the site of Dominion Resources’ liquid natural gas – or LNG – refinery and export terminal under construction at Cove Point, on southern Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay shore. Carling Sothoron, 27, works as a teacher at a farm school in Baltimore and is a member of the group SEED – Stopping Extraction and Exports Destruction. It’s one of many organizations – local and regional – campaigning to stop the $3.8 billion LNG project. Story continues
As FCC Readies New Net Neutrality Rules, Telecom Giants Plan Legal and Legislative Offensive
Interview with Michael Copps, former FCC commissioner, conducted by Scott Harris
When President Obama issued a statement on Nov. 10 declaring his public support for net neutrality, a principle that all traffic on the Internet should be treated equally, it was considered likely that the Federal Communications chairperson he had appointed, Tom Wheeler, would fall into line and issue new rules. Story continues
This week’s summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon
- Computer consultant Joachim Seizer provides advice to diverse gatherings on how to stop governments and big business from spying on them and their computer networks.
- Untreated sewage could give Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Olympic Games a black eye.
- In a sign of the times, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel appointed venture capitalist Deborah Quazzo to the city’s school board in June 2013.