The Shock Doctrine

Corporations are already lining up to profit off this crisis:
Multinationals Profit Billions From Food Crisis
Biotech Firms See an Opportunity in the Food Crisis
Firms Seek Patents on 'Climate Ready' Altered Crops

Sarah van Gelder invokes The Shock Doctrine and looks at ways to resist disaster capitalism in the context of the food crisis. Burma
Read Naomi's latest article, "Regime-Quakes in Burma and China."

Here is a message from a trusted source monitoring the situation closely. Reports are also emerging that the Junta's cronies are receiving reconstruction contracts while local people are blocked and harassed when they try to give aid.

China
We are also following the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake. More soon...

Cambodia
This astounding Guardian article examines how the Cambodian government is selling prime land to foreigners at discounted rates and with huge perks, all the while evicting Cambodians and cracking down on those who resist.

These Shock Doctrine Readers Think So.
Ian Anderson, April 15, 2008
Robert Johnson, Firedoglake, March 26, 2008
David Sirota, San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2008
Scott Thill, Alternet, January 28, 2008
Barbara Ehrenreich, The Nation, January 22, 2008
Daily Kos, January 22, 2008

"Private investment firms have been amassing what may seem like unusual stakes in New York real estate: they have bought hundreds of apartment buildings with thousands of rent-regulated units across the city that produce decidedly meager returns....New York provides an unusual opportunity because it is one of the few cities with a large inventory of apartments whose rental rates are regulated and kept below market levels. In the last four years, developers backed by private equity firms have acquired almost 75,000 rent-regulated apartments....These companies often make clear that raising rents is crucial to their financial goals."
- Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times, May 9, 2008