When I wrote The Blogging Revolution in 2007 and 2008, I couldn’t imagine the ever-increasing focus on Western “security” firms working alongside repressive states to censor and spy on their people. I investigated this in the book (and the latest 2011 edition, just published in India, examines the reality during the Arab revolutions). Bloomberg has…
Showing all posts in June 2019
What’s at stake in the Bradley Manning case is fundamental to journalism
Following this week’s hearing against Bradley Manning in the US, something quite profound has occurred, largely ignored by the mainstream media. It’s a point made below by… Kevin Gosztola, who writes “The Dissenter” blog at Firedoglake, on Democracy Now! and should resonate with anybody who cares about journalism that challenges the fundamentals of the state: I…
I am sorry for destroying Fallujah; former US soldier
US Marine Ross Caputi in a remarkably honest piece deeply understands what he did to the Iraqi city of Fallujah: It has been seven years since the end of the second siege of… Fallujah… – the US assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more; the assault that…
If this isn’t Zionist apartheid, then what is part 553222?
Haaretz uncovers an important document: Israel’s Civil Administration issues 101 different types of permits to govern the movement of Palestinians, whether within the West Bank, between the West Bank and Israel or beyond the borders of the state, according to an agency document of which Haaretz obtained a copy. The most common permits are those…
Corporate media pays $100k to visit Christmas Island?
I recently visited Christmas Island to investigate the role of the Serco-run prison for asylum seekers. Very few journalists visit the place due to its isolation and cost but in this Crikey piece today, referencing a discussion on SBS TV last night, there is a remarkable admission: Former Channel Ten Producer Jim Carroll blames the…
Vulture capitalism logic; kill and abuse and ensure more business
American mercenary company Blackwater (now known as Academi, to ensure even more lucrative contracts) has an appalling record of human rights abuses. Gawker recently obtained a massive cache of documents that highlight this cowboy firm: Blackwater, the private mercenary firm that became synonymous with Bush-era war profiteering and reckless combat-tourism,announced yesterday that it has changed…
Life under occupation from Palestinian Bethlehem
Life in Palestine is often transmitted to the West by people who don’t live there, merely passing through. Father Peter Bray, the Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University, has… regularly written missives… about reality under occupation. This is his Christmas message: 22nd… December 2011 Greetings again from this holy place! I still find it amazing to be here in…
Israel’s growing anti-democratic tide deepens
My following essay appears in Lebanon’s Al Akhbar English: Radical Jewish colonists in the occupied Palestinian West Bank have been attacking Arabs for decades. In the past these incidents barely rated a mention in the Israeli press, let alone the global corporate media. It was only this month after a small group of Zionists rioted…
Egypt, where is your revolution?
As the US and Israeli backed Egyptian regime escalates its rhetoric and violent actions against those pushing for democracy (something deeply feared by Washington and Tel Aviv), local blogger Sand Monkey unleashes on those who helped spark the revolution: One of the biggest mistakes of this revolution, and there are plenty to go around, was…