Honduras’ Garífuna people, with their rich culture and homeland spread across the Caribbean Coast of Central America recently asked an international court in Costa Rica to help them recover ancestral land, which they say has been lost to development. We present the dark and the light of this vibrant way, threatened by neoliberal development schemes, palm oil plantations, mega-tourism, and drug trafficking.
Recent Posts
Great Canal of Nicaragua: Environmental Ruin and Fiscal Folly
A planned 300-kilometer Nicaraguan canal joining the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans could wreak environmental and cultural ruin, home of the Miskitu and other indigenous groups. Sam Gordon argues that many of the issues and impacts are hidden from public view and should require an independent environmental assessment.
Hands Across the Harbor: LA Residents Protest Dirty Fossil Fuels in Port and Beyond
On May 17, over 100 residents from across Los Angeles joined hands at Hands Across the Harbor in the Port of LA as part of the National Day of Action Against the Keystone XL Pipeline and Hands Across the Sand/Land. It was one of hundreds of synchronized events to raise awareness about the dangers of dirty fuels including tar sands and hydraulic fracturing or fracking, active threats to Harbor area residents.
Decommissioning San Onofre: Money Over Meltdown
San Onofre’s nuclear reactors are permanently shut down. However, Southern California Edison has left tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste that will remain on site for decades, if not longer. San Onofre’s spent fuel contains 89 times the amount of radiation (Cesium-137) released from Chernobyl. What is being done to rectify this situation?
Sprawl vs. Open Space: “Rio Santiago” Again Threatens Orange
Jack Eidt writes on the dangers of proposing mixed use development far from urban amenities and alternative transportation. The real estate industry in Orange County, California and beyond, has consistently violated engineering and planning wisdom by building in floodplains, paving over precious open space land and losing opportunities to preserve wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities amid the suburban sprawl at the edge of the wilderness.
Chumash Story: Seeds of Creation and the Rainbow Bridge
Hutash, the Earth Mother, created the first Chumash people on the island of Limuw, now known as Santa Cruz Island. They were made from the seeds of a Magic Plant.
Music of the Tree Rings: Sound of a Wild Forest
Austrian media artist Bartholomäus Traubeck has custom-built a record player that is able to “play” cross-sectional slices of tree trunks. The result is his art piece “Years,” an audio recording of tree rings being read by a computer and turned into music, much like a record player’s needle reads the grooves on an LP.