I came across this somewhat informative video series of a lecture that John Perkins delivered to a gathering of some anti-war veterans group. John Perkins is a former economic hit man for the U.S. corporatocracy who decided to 'do the right thing' by defecting and sharing his story with 'the people'. As he says in the video, he speaks only from experience (he doesnt claim to be any sort of intellectual) and consequently his analysis is not at all deep or thorough, but he gives us some excellent insights into the day-to-day practices of hegemonic capitalists.  (continued...)

I've been meaning to post something about the widening crisis among apiculturists in some of the world's most important food exporting nations. For those who havent been paying attention; beekeepers are reporting massive mysterious dieoffs in their hives...hives totally abandoned, without even the bodies of dead bees, yet untouched by foragers, among other strange symptoms. It's been termed Colony Collapse Disorder and I havent read one article about it that isnt quite alarmist (and rightly so), but this article from the Associated Press stood out. Not only is it thoroughly "mainstream", it's probably the most apocalyptic of all the bee extinction articles I've seen. (continued...)