Last night I appeared on ABCTV’s The Drum (video here) alongside Joe Stella and The Punch editor Tory Maguire. We talked about the faltering global economy – why oh why is the IMF treated with such respect after years of failed forecasts and neo-liberal “reforms” that have only caused misery for millions globally? – and…
Category General
Breaking news; NYT and Haaretz scare Israel because they (now and then) talk about occupation
Amazing and revealing… (via JTA): … Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s two greatest enemies are The New York Times and Haaretz, the editor of The Jerusalem Post said in a speech. Steve Linde, addressing a conference in Tel Aviv of the Women’s International Zionist Organization, said Wednesday that Netanyahu made the remark to him about…
Wikileaks and Assange remain rightly defiant
In a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Michael Hastings, Julian Assange outlines what is at stake in America’s determination to prosecute him for daring to expose its dirty little secrets: In diplomatic cables, the investigation into WikiLeaks by the U.S. government has been called “unprecedented both in its scale and nature.” How much do you…
Iran remains connected to much of the world (although MSM only sees Israeli and American views)
Every day now sees yet another threat of isolation… of Iran by Washington and Israel. The corporate press dutifully report every official statement but as usual miss the bigger story. Here’s Pepe Escobar in TomDispatch: Let’s start with red lines. Here it is, Washington’s ultimate red line,… straight from… the lion’s mouth.… Only last week Secretary of Defense…
While Sri Lanka shuns interest in human rights we must shun them
Sri Lanka remains a nation ruled by war criminals who rather love the idea of isolating and killing Tamils. For this reason, many people, including me, globally called for the boycott of the 2011 Galle Literary Festival due to its links to the Colombo establishment … and attempts to avoid serious discussion about the country’s police…
Iraq, quasi independent, dares challenge mercenaries
Being a truly independent nation, which Iraq clearly is not post US occupation, would mean that foreign security forces and private contractors would have strict rules of operation. Supporters of this ever-growing global movement might not like it, but this could well be the beginning of something important for the failed nation; exercising real autonomy…
Serco constantly fails human rights standards yet governments love to embrace them
How many more breaches will it take for global governments to realise that Serco aren’t fit to run prisons, detention centres or the local chicken shop? (via the Guardian): The unlawful use of restraint was widespread in privately run child jails in Britain for at least a decade, a high court judge has ruled for…
MSM journalists see role as stenography despite claims of independence
The role of real journalists is to question so-called established truths and make officials uncomfortable. Being too close to power is the role of court reporters. Sadly, the vast bulk of corporate hacks are dead keen to rub shoulders with the rich and powerful and remain unwilling to seriously challenge, for example, the rush to…
#Occupy where 2012?
Naomi Klein is one of the finest journalists and writers around at the moment, in my humble view. A strong supporter of the #Occupy movement, here she tells The Nation about what can and should come next: A friend, the British eco-and arts activist John Jordan, talks about utopias and resistance being the double helix…
Fight over the Kimberley has long way to run
Late last year I visited the Kimberley in Western Australia to document the attempts by big energy companies to exploit the area for gas. An upcoming documentary, Heritage Fight, covers the ongoing battle, one that must be won: