by Emira Woods, AlterNet
After 26 years of chaos and war, Liberia, on the shores of West Africa, is reemerging as a beacon of hope in a difficult region. A peaceful democratic transition ushered in Africa’s first woman president, a successful UN peacekeeping effort, and a wave of repatriates eager to build for the future.
One glaring [...]

by Ruthie Ackerman, in The Nation
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, the world’s largest seller of tires, is spending more than $10 million as “official tire sponsor” of the Super Bowl halftime show in Phoenix, to be broadcast on Fox this Sunday–and will likely spend that much and more to sponsor the event in 2009. But [...]

A Firestone executive and an author square off over the company’s role in this troubled nation.
Dan Adomitis, President of Firestone Natural Rubber Company, responds to an earlier opinion piece by Dave Zirin. Zirin responds to this, dismissing Adomitis’ remarks as ‘corporate spin’.
Read both letters, as well as reader comments here.

by Jamie Menutis for Foreign Policy in Focus
What’s more American than football, apple pie and Chevrolet? How about cool brand new radial tires?
That’s what Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC wants us to believe. The former American, now Japanese-owned, tire manufacturer is spending about $10 million to sponsor this year’s Super Bowl halftime show in [...]

by Dave Zirin in the Los Angeles Times
The Super Bowl is perhaps the last cultural event that unites a majority of Americans. Whether the game is a thriller or a snooze, Super Bowl Sunday is a day to gather with friends, rate the commercials, assess the halftime show and wear pants with elastic waistlines.
On Feb. [...]