Better for whom?

It is a commonly held misconception that we need to pursue further advances within the field of genetically modified crops and livestock in order to come to terms with the problem of feeding an ever growing human population. Beside the obvious - we have no idea what the effects of these genetically modified organisms are on the local and global ecosystems - this argument fails to acknowledge the real problem, which is one of distribution of resources and, consequently, power.

Optimize rather than maximize

By now it should be obvious to most that our current way of life is deeply and fundamentally flawed and unsustainable. We desperately need to change our policies and guiding principles if we as a species are to have a future on this planet. I believe a big part of the problem lies in the way we view the world and our place in it - rather than considering it a collection of discrete objects to be claimed in the name of private ownership, we ought to consider the world as the interconnected web of life that it is.

Society Burning - Internal Combustion (2010)

What better way to get started than with a review of Society Burning's Internal Combustion? The first new album of theirs in 13 years - not counting the 2009 releases of State.of.Decay, originally set for release in 1994, or the remastered and expanded Entropy.Lingua.Reloaded - sees the welcome return of Boom, Dave and Twitch. Formed as The Watchmen back in 1991 (hey Dave, still waiting for those Watchmen tapes man), settling for Society Burning a year or so later, these guys put out some of the defining coldwave/synth rock music of the 90's alongside other legendary acts such as Hate Dept., Chemlab and 16volt. Always with a heavy cyberpunk vibe both musically and lyrically. Their latest album picks up where 1997's Tactiq left of, bringing their music into the 21st century without losing anything of what made them so great in the first place.

Re:load and re:aim

It's been well over a month since the Swedish general elections (and also since my last post here), and corporate greed continues unabated with the "victory" of the right-wing alliance over the red-green coalition. The elections also saw a racist nationalist party enter parliament. We're set for four more years of dismantling of what remains of our solidarity and social welfare, four more years of policy aimed towards making the rich richer, at the expense of those most in need of help and support.