Political links

Virginie’s Lament
My friend Virginie, a French citizen who has lived in England for twelve years, reacts to British MPs’ vote against the opposition motion on the rights of EU nationals by 293 to 250 on the 19th of October 2016.

Soni Sori And Lingaram Kodopi On The Many Faces Of Bastar
A report on what is essentially civil war in Bastar (central India), including substantial (subtitled) recounts by two people with direct, personal experience of the terrible goings-on. (Now only from the Wayback Machine.)

A Nightmare Called Jaduguda
My friend Anuj Wankhede’s article about the uranium mine at Jadugoda in Jharkhand, India – where radioactive waste from the mine contaminates agricultural land and forests where people forage for tens of miles around, with no concern for the local inhabitants.

For 40 Years, Nuclear Poisoning Has Ravaged Lives In This Jharkhand Village
Another article about Jadugoda, by my friend Ankush Vengurlekar, who visited the area recently.

A Dam Big Problem – article about the misbehaviour of a fracking company in British Columbia (Canada).

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report on sustainable agriculture for food security in a changing climate
An excellent report, at last making many of the cases I’ve been making for years! They’ve got more clout than I have, and more resources for thorough research...

Karl Lam’s writings
Karl is a friend, a scientist & engineer who writes very well on politics & humanity.

Aidan’s Blog
Well worth reading. Aidan is my brother – and a responsible, thoughtful journalist.

Lorna Arnold’s books
Lorna Arnold was my aunt, still very with it until a couple of weeks before her death, aged 98, in March 2014. She had several books published, mostly on the history of the nuclear industry. Here are some extracts from My Short Century, her memoirs ranging from her childhood in rural poverty to her role as the Atomic Energy Authority’s official historian, and her obituaries in the Guardian and the Telegraph. I’m particularly impressed that the Telegraph finished their piece thus: “Lorna Arnold’s books were well-received on both sides of the nuclear debate because she had concentrated on description and explanation and tried to avoid taking sides. In fact, as she admitted in her memoir, she was strongly opposed both to nuclear weapons and to the civil use of nuclear power.”

The time we Nuked Mississippi
Interesting piece on underground nuclear bomb tests. I have a few comments, but look at the piece first!

Unprecedented and Unprincipled Adversary
Universities must work together to confront a large, adaptive and well-camouflaged apparatus that aspires to mimic and rival legitimate science, argues U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. He is discussing the fossil fuel industry, but the argument applies also to the nuclear and agrochemical industries.

Walt Patterson’s website
Walt is a man very much after – or in his case, before – my own heart. An expert on energy issues, nuclear in particular. Much higher profile than me and with more influence, and an old friend of my abovementioned aunt.

Madhusree Mukerjee’s website
Madhusree is a friend, and a Scientific American editor. I’m especially conscious of Is Nuclear Power Compatible With Democracy? but her whole website is really worth reading.

Doing Research in India can be a Dangerous Activity – an article in The Wire by Vani Xaxa, an Indian research worker who has personal experience of the dangers – in the state my wife comes from. (Coincidentally, Vani Xaxa is from the same tribe as my wife.)

Anti-coal-mine activist shot dead – objecting to having your land stolen and destroyed is also a risky activity in India. This young man was another member of my wife’s tribe.

Chhattisgarh ‘encounter’ probe indicts security forces: No firing by villagers, no proof they were Maoists.

Tribespeople illegally evicted from ‘Jungle Book’ tiger reserve – sadly a common occurrence in India. Nice tourist facilities to benefit the Indian elite, not actually benefitting the wildlife at all, quite the reverse, and totally unjust to the tribespeople.

Narmada River valley flooding crime – Adivasis (tribespeople) and Dalits (lower caste people) being forced from their homes and their land and their livelihoods by the rising waters of the Sardar Sarovar dam – without compensation or rehabilitation.

How the Tribal Affairs Ministry Allowed Tiger Reserves to get away with Displacing Adivasis – same sort of story all over again...

Rice and fall of great desi crop. Thirty years after my father-in-law first mentioned this to me, the Times of India has finally caught up. The much-trumpeted “Green Revolution,” which raised agricultural production in the short term, has, in the longer term, reduced the resilience of Indian agriculture in the face of a variety of threats.

Leon Rosselson
Leon Rosselson is a great singer songwriter whose lyrics are witty and incisively political.

Another Angry Voice
Excellent political blogger with whom I rarely if ever disagree.

PositiveMoney
An organization arguing for taking control of the economy away from private banks. What a VERY good idea!