Yes: Film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, theatre director Michael Attenborough and actress Dame Harriet Walter are among the 117 signatories to a letter of protest over the “harsh” punishment. They claim that artists should be allowed to express themselves freely “without fear of financial or professional retribution”. The four musicians – Tom Eisner,…
Showing all posts in June 2019
Thank you developing world for allowing us to exploit you so quietly
If this doesn’t fit the definition of disaster capitalism, the term has no meaning (via the Guardian): The scale of the rush by speculators, pension funds and global agri-businesses to acquire large areas of developing countries is far greater than previously thought, and is already leading to conflict, hunger and human rights abuses, says Oxfam.…
Witness the necessary passing of US power in Mid-East
The New York Times documents the shift in the Arab world at a time when Washington is largely viewed as siding with occupiers (Israel) and brutes (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain etc): A last-ditch American effort to head off a Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations faltered. President Obamatried to qualify his own call, just…
Outsourcing death in war is the new American way
The “war on terror” has seen an explosion of private contractors making a killing from catching and killing all Arabs, I mean, terrorists, around the globe. Accountability is close to non-existent so we have no real idea which companies are involved, how many people are hired or what they’re actually doing. Remember, we’re told we…
Why Obama and America have lost the Arab world, and rightfully so
Barack Obama’s speech to the UN overnight was farcical in its ineptitude, showing once again how beholden America remains to a vision of apartheid Israel. Some “highlights”: We seek a future where Palestinians live in a sovereign state of their own, with no limit to what they can achieve. There is no question that the…
What is happening with Al-Jazeera?
The former head of the media company is stepping down, amidst allegations he was too close to the US as revealed by Wikileaks, but he denies this: The wider question, asked in Foreign Policy, is will the station retain its (mostly) aggressive style of insightful journalism?” In recent weeks, the details of conversations between U.S.…
Worry not, energy seekers, exploitation is never far away
This week’s New York Times featured an investigation about sourcing future energy needs. The world is open, so we’re told, and human beings, indigenous groups or the environment are ignored. That’s “business journalism” in a nut shell: Brazil has begun building its first nuclear submarine to protect its vast, new offshore oil discoveries. Colombia’s oil…