So much for being a democracy at the end of the civil war. This is what ongoing discrimination against free speech looks like. Andrew Buncombe reports for The Independent: It is not simply dedication to his job that has led newspaper editor MV Kaanamyl-nathan to not leave his office for five-and-a-half years. In the spring…
Category General
Arab world not fooled by real American agenda; Israel, Israel and Israel
The numbers prove it (via IPS): Despite repeated expressions of support by President Barack Obama for democratic change during the “Arab Spring”, the United States remains widely distrusted in the region, according to a major new survey of public opinion in five Arab countries released here Monday. Instead, Turkey is viewed as having played the…
Serco, we have a problem
Yet more evidence that the British multinational Serco, running Australia’s detention centres, simply aren’t up to the task. But don’t expect the government to do anything about it any time soon. They need somebody, anybody, to take the blame for its dysfunctional refugee policies (via The Age): The multinational company that runs Australia’s immigration detention…
Lessons of Keystone XL for #Occupy
How to mobilise people power against corporate power is a key task of the 21st century, as disaster capitalists attempt to swarm around energy resources. Interesting piece by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker: Last spring, months before Wall Street was Occupied, civil disobedience of the kind sweeping the Arab world was hard to imagine…
NGOs and engaging “terrorists”
Now this is interesting. Since September 11, 2001, we’ve heard constant bleating from many conservatives and keyboard warriors that we shouldn’t “deal with terrorists” (er, apart from our friends who practice terrorism, of course). The Guardian on reality in the real world: A controversial new book produced by one of the world’s best-known aid agencies,…
Hello terror, we can make money from you
Post 9/11, countless companies saw an opportunity to make a killing on the desperate desire of both democracies and repressive states to monitor citizens. And when the US government, supposedly the freest nation on Earth, brazenly spied on people in the name of “security”, the path was set. The Wall Street Journal reports: Documents obtained…
Getting inside the head of Julian Assange
My following book review appeared in yesterday’s Sydney Sun Herald: Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography Julian Assange (Text, $29.95) This is unlike any book you’ve ever read. Take one of the most recognisable figures in the world, sit him down for hours of interviews and sign a multimillion-dollar contract to publish an authorised autobiography. Talk…