CUBA: OBAMA EXTINGUISHES THE HOPES HE RAISED

A little over a year ago the world was swept by surprise when it learned that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. We had been witness to a change that many felt was unthinkable: a young black man renowned for his intelligence became president of the most powerful country on earth, one that had been a bastion of racism and that in recent years has become a hotbed of conservatism, an exporter of war, and neo-liberal economic Eden.

NEOLIBERALISM: A SURVIVOR BY DEFAULT

The recent collapse of the global economy, caused by among other things the lack of regulation of financial markets, has further eroded the credibility of neoliberalism. And yet it continues to exercise a strong influence on the majority of economists and economic managers, for whom, despite its obvious shortcomings, it remains the default discourse.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA Lionfish Alert: Lionfish Alert

Venezuela fears the arrival in its Caribbean islands of the lionfish (Pterois volitans), "a voracious predator that seeks refuge in reefs and lies in wait for its prey, especially young invertebrates, lobster and fish."

Ecobreves – CUBA: Call to Reactivate Zeolite Mining

Zeolite "would increase fertility of the organic substrata of urban farming, but currently it is not utilized due to difficulties in transporting it from the sites where it is produced," Alfredo Lino, Cuban expert in farm sciences, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Castor Oil Used in Metallurgy

An emulsion of castor oil can be used as a substitute for petroleum-based oils in the production of metal tools, molds and components for machines, according to a study by experts at the University of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Potential for Biogas in the South

A public-private initiative found that the southern Chilean province of Valdivia has the potential to manufacture biogas, as well as biofertilizers, from organic waste produced on small farms.

Plants Finally Get DNA Barcodes

The "barcode" of the plant world, the parts of the DNA unique to flora, has been revealed, thanks to a scientific breakthrough that could revolutionize herbal medicine and improve regulations of the timber trade.

Listen to the Earth, Say Indigenous Peoples

The idea of "wilderness" also encompasses its opposite: urbanized, exploited or altered lands. That is why it is beyond the traditional conceptions of the world's indigenous peoples.

HUMAN EXISTENCE IS AT REAL AND IMMINENT RISK

The current economic and climate change crises are both rooted in the unsustainable nature of the existing economic system. The rapid and unexpected economic meltdown, which began in the United States and quickly spread throughout the world demonstrated dramatically that the phenomenon of globalization and interdependence has a dramatic downside of shared risks and vulnerability.

A LAY EUROPE FOR ALL FAITHS

Exponents of the Catholic Church and the Italian government have reacted angrily to the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights requiring the removal of crucifixes from all schools in the country. Since the November 3 decision, both entities are on war footing and are mobilising to have the decision reversed or its enforcement blocked. The court is based in Strasbourg and has representatives from 47 nations, not all from Europe.

AMERICAN WORKERS FACE UNCERTAIN RETIREMENT

For the first postwar generation of American workers, putting in a faithful forty years 'working for The Man' may have sometimes felt like a jail sentence, but it offered a handsome reward. Corporate and state employee pensions bolstered the federal government's Social Security system to provide a secure if not always lavish retirement for a substantial majority of Americans. But recent and long-term trends have eroded that assurance. Their children and grandchildren will likely inherit a far less ample retirement, if indeed they receive any at all.

Towards Carbon-Free Chimneys

An invention by Brazilian chemists that absorbs greenhouse gases reverses the predominating approaches to carbon dioxide reduction. Instead of attempting to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it prevents emissions at the site of origin: the industrial chimney.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Environmental Budget Plummets

Despite the Mexican government's statements in favor of environmental protection, the 2010 national budget sets aside only a small amount of money for it, denounced the environmental watchdog Greenpeace.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Recycling Greenhouse Gases

A device invented by the company Carbono Brasil and the Federal University of Santa Catarina captures carbon dioxide and methane generated by industry and turns the gases into inputs for other productive activities.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: The Reforestation of El Merendón

Around 58 hectares of forest hit by a weevil plague will be reforested with cedar and mahogany over the next five months in El Merendón mountain range, which serves as the lungs of the northwestern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Breaking the Silence of Chagas Disease

One hundred years after the discovery of Chagas disease, endemic in many Latin American countries, the organization Doctors Without Borders (Médicos Sin Fronteras) staged a photo exhibit in Buenos Aires, as well as informational talks and concerts to raise awareness of the disease.

NO FINANCIAL REFORM IN SIGHT AS BANKS RESUME BUSINESS AS USUAL

The financial landscape has now been blessed with a new American company that lists divorce settlements of millionaires on the stock market. Investors pay the high legal costs of one of the parties and shares in the proceeds if the judgment goes their way. All of this, as the financial crisis has added 100 million more poor to the world.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL, TOO BIG IS UGLY

Trading is arguably the core activity in all market economies. Free trade is the mantra of all economists -left, right and center. Trading is considered indispensible and more trade is always seen as better. The financial crisis caused a closer look at trade and financial traders to see if these conventional beliefs are still valid and whether stock markets have spun out of control.

CUBA: THE INVISIBLE FUTURE

If a person's past is the accumulation of the life experiences that made him who he is, the future embodies the dreams and the expectations of what this person wants to be and what he needs to have a better life, materially and spiritually. This ability to direct one's gaze forward and try to extract from the present the qualities of the future is one of the intrinsic components of the human condition and the source of people's and societies' ability to endure.

Samsø Island, Beyond Fantasy

A small Danish island in the North Sea is experimenting with a model of energy production and consumption that could provide some answers in the fight against climate change.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: German Power Plants Burn Amazon Coconut

The babasú coconut (Orbignya phalerata martins), a typical palm species of the Brazilian north and northeast, will replace 17 million tons of coal Germany’s thermal power plants by 2015.