Democracy & Civics

Ghana’s Oil — Blessing or Curse?

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With the discovery that Ghana is sitting atop an estimated three billion barrels of oil, the impoverished West African nation is facing not just a flood of new wealth, but also its potential “undoing.” So said President John Kufuor at an extractive industries forum in March. His words echo widespread concerns that the unrelenting poverty and corruption that plague other African oil nations could easily take hold in Ghana. According to the United Nations news service, Ghanian officials say managing the flow of oil and revenue, expected to kick off in 2010 at 100,000 barrels a day, is the country’s greatest challenge since its independence 51 years ago. The “Nigeria Scenario” is considered the benchmark to avoid.

Democracy & Civics

A Political Resurrection in Malaysia

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Almost 10 years after he was driven out of office by a bizarre series of corruption and sodomy charges, Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim returned to politics this week with a big rally and big plans. Anwar, who like many Malaysians goes by his given name, celebrated the expiration of a five-year ban on political activity with a midnight rally in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. According to the New Straits Times, 10,000 people showed up to the unauthorized rally Monday night before it was shut down by police. According to Australia’s ABC online, Anwar dispersed the crowd by saying, “The police chief has asked us to stop so we are stopping, but remain peaceful, because soon we will be running this country.” Anwar also officially requested that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi open an investigation into alleged abuses of power by the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Democracy & Civics

Not Your Father's Hate Groups

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A national survey has found the number of active hate groups in the United States has increased by 48 percent since 2000. But the study by Alabama’s Southern Poverty Law Center doesn’t count just the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups and other usual suspects; it also counts anti-immigration groups and the black nationalist Nation of Islam. “You might be surprised at which group in Greenville is listed as among the 888 hate groups in America,” reads the headline on a story from the Delta Democrat Times in Greenville, Miss. The only listed group that is active in the area is the Nation of Islam. Elsewhere, the report listed an anti-immigration group in Framingham, Mass., that has lashed out against immigrants from Brazil.

Democracy & Civics

Israel: Homelessness Spikes for Girls

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The percentage of homeless teenage girls in Israel jumped from 15 to 25 percent last year, driven by the social stresses of immigration and family discord, the Jerusalem Post reports. The problem includes not just homeless youth, but also teens who “loiter” on the streets, many of whom are from immigrant families whose parents work multiple jobs and are rarely home. Left in charge of their younger siblings by absent parents, the teens take their brothers and sisters with them onto the streets in search of food and other necessities. Some girls, in need of shelter, may opt to go home with an adult male, trading sex for a roof over their heads. One critic said that 99 percent of young homeless females in Israel eventually find their way into the sex industry.

Democracy & Civics

Cultivating Change in Lebanon

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Caught between warring militias and Israeli reprisal, Lebanon’s farmers have a hardscrabble life that is only exacerbated by the threat of unexploded munitions littering the fields, forests and mountain slopes. Radio Netherlands reports that support for rural communities is “scant,” and blamed a “clannish and corrupt” government of elites for their plight. Enter Rami Zurayk, a professor at the American University in Beirut, whose small aid group Land and People provides technical assistance, marketing support and more to rural communities in need. This includes programs to shift from chemical fertilizers to banana-leaf compost, and financial aid to purchase a mechanical shredder vital for the composting process. Land and People also helped a women’s baking cooperative market its goods, and supports soapmaking operations using wild berries in the bombed-out village of Ayta al Shaab.

Democracy & Civics

The Ends of the Internet?

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How shall the Internet come to an end? Let us count the ways. GigaOm.com, an online media service focusing on emerging technology, outlined 10 specific ways in which the Internet as we know it could conclude. These include everything from hostile lawyers and the end of net neutrality, to technical problems, such as a hacker-assisted virus that disrupts the “self-healing” mechanism of Internet routers. And what about all those spam emails?

Democracy & Civics

Rhode Island: Secrecy Affirmed for Cable TV

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Rhode Island’s lead cable TV regulator has agreed to keep secret previously open data about the business operations of the three cable providers in the state. Cox Communications, Verizon Communications and Full Channel TV successfully lobbied the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers to prevent public access to details from their annual reports, including how many customers they have and financial information. The Providence Journal newspaper has filed a request with the state to review the secrecy decision. According to the Journal, Eric Palazzo, the state’s lead cable regulator, said, “we do not want to do anything that the companies feel would be negative in their competitive environment.” Linda Lotridge Levin, a journalism professor at the University of Rhode Island, said the move goes against open-government practices, and could negative effect on consumer choice and rights.

Democracy & Civics

An Investor's Guide to Presidential Candidates

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Pondering a donation to a presidential candidate? Looking for the right choice given the needs of your special-interest group? Friends — look no further than Opensecrets.org, a data-rich Web site published by the Center for Responsive Politics. Using a handy drop-down menu, Open Secrets provides a quick and easy reference guide to which special interest groups and which candidates are most copacetic. Lawyers and lobbyists prefer Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, with more than $15 million and $13 million in donations, respectively, as of March 20.

Democracy & Civics

Windmills and Foul Air in the Navajo Nation

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To much environmentalist acclaim, the Navajo Nation has announced plans to create a new wind-power plant on a reservation in Arizona. But Navajo leadership is still trying to win approval for a coal-fired power plant that environmentalists have bitterly opposed. The wind project, a joint venture with Boston’s Citizens Energy Corp., would produce 500 megawatts of power and provide jobs and up to $100 million in revenue for the Navajo Nation. Plans call for hundreds of windmills reaching as high as 400 feet, the Arizona Republic reported. In an interview with Reuters, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley also discussed his continuing attempts to develop a $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt coal-burning plant on Navajo land.

Democracy & Civics

'The Great Firewall' Lets Down its Guard

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While China, confronted with violence in Tibet, was shutting down some parts of the Internet, it opened access to one long-unavailable site. The BBC reported last week that, after years of being blocked by Chinese authorities, its English language news Web site was suddenly available to the Chinese public. Under a policy that has been called the “Great Firewall of China,” the communist government routinely blocks foreign news sites and other sites that it deems objectionable. China has never openly stated that it was interfering with access to the BBC, but the news site reported that it had been unavailable in China for years until recently. The BBC’s Chinese-language site remained blocked in most of China when the English site reported the news.