(January 1, 2010) As the Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo argues, the concept of foreign aid is flawed — not just because corrupt dictators divert aid for nefarious or selfish purposes but also because even in reasonably democratic countries, aid creates perverse incentives and unintended consequences.
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The Language of Human Rights
(January 19, 2010) The very grammar of justice has fallen into the wrong hands, writes Robert Amsterdam in the Wall Street Journal.
Absence of Justice
(January 1, 2010) First in a series of oral histories, banned and famed Chinese environmentalist and journalist Dai Qing organized a team of journalists to record a remarkable collection of oral histories from the riverside towns and villages affected by the Three Gorges dam on China’s Yangtze River. “On November 18, 2002, the government of Dachang Zhen (Great Prosperity Town) in Wushan County, Yangtze River, sent the following dispatch about the wharf and the house belonging to Lu Chengming, who was to be relocated:…”
Bright Sun City’s Dark Intent
(January 1, 2010) The third in a series of oral histories from China’s Three Gorges region. Banned and famed Chinese environmentalist and journalist Dai Qing has organized a team of journalists to record a remarkable collection of oral histories from the riverside towns and villages affected by the Three Gorges dam on China’s Yangtze River.
Lost Lives: The Plight of the Migrants
(January 1, 2010) The fourth in a series of oral histories from China’s Three Gorges region, Banned and famed Chinese environmentalist and journalist Dai Qing has organized a team of journalists to record a remarkable collection of oral histories from the riverside towns and villages affected by the Three Gorges dam on China’s Yangtze River.
The Wushan Governor’s Murder
(January 1, 2010) Second in a series of the Three Gorges oral histories from the riverside towns and villages affected by the Three Gorges dam on China’s Yangtze. River. — A county governor accused of spending thousands ear-marked for Three Gorges resettlement on lavish feasts and women is murdered in cold blood. …
The Yangtze River Tow Men
(January 1, 2010) “The Yangtze River Tow Men” is the fifth in a series of oral histories from China’s Three Gorges region. — “When I was 10, I followed my dad into life on the boats. When I worked the boats then, we used to see a lot of cedar boats, really huge ones. It was only later that a few little steam ships appeared on the river. Older people used to say, “You can become a scholar after 10 years of study, but it’s nearly impossible to become a river man.” I remembered this my whole life—to try and be a true river man.”
The relationship between large reservoirs and seismicity
(January 2010) Following the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China, Chen Houqun, Xu Zeping and Li Ming discuss the question of whether large reservoirs can trigger strong earthquakes.
China auditor finds US$34 billion misused funds
(December 30, 2009) China’s auditor has found that 234.7 billion yuan (US$34.37bil) in public funds was misused in the first 11 months of 2009, with much of that tied to China’s massive stimulus package, the Caijing magazine said on Monday.
Liu Xiaobo, Chinese democracy advocate sentenced to 11 years
(December 30, 2009) On December 25, a Chinese court sentenced that country’s most prominent democracy advocate, Liu Xiaobo, to 11 years in prison. Now the 54-year old literary scholar is being likened to Vaclav Havel, Nelson Mandela, and Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi.
China speeds up resettlement in water mega-scheme
(December 29, 2009) China will use stimulus spending to speed up shifting 330,000 people slated to be displaced for a vast water transfer project, accelerating work on the troubled scheme, an official newspaper said on Tuesday.
Continental: The lure of Africa
(December 28, 2009) Bond markets will discover its attractions. For African governments it is clear that aid flows will go down in 2010, and dramatically so. Donor governments have slashed their aid budgets, and with most facing unfavourable demographic shifts and large deficits, to depend on their largesse is no longer sensible.
UMass Amherst Environmental Scientist Monitors Water Quality, Helps World Communities Threatened by Giant Hydro Projects
(December 29, 2009) Guy Lanza, director of UMass Amherst’s Environmental Science Program, says the hydro electric industry has mounted a public relations offensive to promote itself as green, and powerful institutions like the World Bank are buying it, but the reality is these projects are just the opposite of green and can cause severe, long-lasting damage. “I have real reservations about promoting hydropower as green power when in most cases it’s not,” he says.
China redirects trillions of gallons of water to arid north
(December 25, 2009) The villagers of Machuan, whose houses were bulldozed in August this year, were just the first of more than 330,000 Chinese peasants who will have to be delivered to new homes before the South-North Water Project is complete. At £37bn the project will cost more than twice as much as the Three Gorges Dam, delivering nearly 12 trillion gallons of water along three networks of tunnels and canals that will branch out into northern, eastern and central China.
Beijing raises water prices to fight shortage
(December 22, 2009) Beijing authorities said the water price for residential use will go up 8 percent, an increase that follows a jump of almost 50 percent in the price of water for nonresidential use last month, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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Probe International 