"I woke up this morning crying, and that's not easy for a grown man to admit"

By John Ballard

Something important is going on in Copenhagen.

Lndsay Bayerstein noticed.

Tuvalu and its supporters want a treaty to protect island states. They also seek legally binding emissions targets for all countries geared to stop global warming at 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures. Last week, Tuvalu managed to get the negotiations suspended while delegates informally considered its proposal.

Obviously, it's not just in Tuvalu's interest to get serious about climate change. According to a report released last week, even if we check warming at 2 degrees, the rise could still acidify the oceans enough off most cold water coral, the bedrock food chains that help feed millions. The prospect of entire countries and low-lying regions being inundated raises the specter of mass migrations.

During the aftermath of the Iranian election, supporters sported green twitter icons to show their support for the protesters. In that spirit, I decided to change my twitter icon to an "I heart Tuvalu" button. The picture is from Tuvalu's official Cafe Press store. Join me!

Naomi Klein was there as well. 

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I've been watching her for some time.

I think she's on to something.

It's a simple idea that will in the end be deeply offensive to true believers in what is reverentially called capitalism. But this is not a snapshot of your Daddy's capitalism, folks. This is capitalism at its most manipulative best. This is capitalism with a conspiracy twist. This is a reincarnation of what once was known as class warfare. But this time there is a new and improved model with all the bells and whistles that technology, information science, smart bombs and covert operations can provide.

Not since Toffler's Future Shock as the word been applied so effectively. And in the same way that that book became a touchstone for the Sixties and Seventies, Klein's book will be an anchorpoint for the next few years. Wait and see.

She mentioned Jubilee South. Here is a link to the homepage.

Jubilee South is a network of jubilee and debt campaigns, social movements, people's organizations, communities, NGOs and political formations. The Jubilee South network aims to and is in the process of emerging and developing as an international South movement on the debt.

It has members from over 40 countries from the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia/Pacific, composed of 85 groups.

It was formally constituted in November 1999 in a South-South Summit held in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. The Summit brought together 119 leaders and representatives from various groups in 35 countries of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, and established Jubilee South as an international network and movement of peoples of the South.

Jubilee South can trace its beginnings to 1997 and 1998 when various unrelated initiatives and exchanges began taking place among groups from within and between the three regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia/Pacific which all had a common thread: the dream of a South-South process that would enable the articulation of a united perspective, position and agenda on the issue and build a global campaign based on these.