I was in Perth, Western Australia last week for a Profits of Doom book tour. There was a large public event at Perth’s state library. I spoke alongside Greens Senator Scott Ludlam about my book, left politics, the Greens and how to effect positive change (I was interviewed on Perth Indymedia radio on similar issues).…
Hussain's Journey from Pakistan to Australia
Australia’s official attitude towards asylum seekers is based on cruelty and punishment. We too rarely hear from refugees themselves, the privatised system deliberately obscures their stories and faces. The Global Mail has produced a stunning piece of multi-media, video journalism that details the reasons Hazara man like Hussein must leave Pakistan, due to threats on…
Add Saudi, insert extremism, change Syria, bring chaos
What could possibly go wrong (and since when is Saudi Arabia, that US-backed apartheid state in the Middle East, a believer in democracy?). Foreign Policy reports: Saudi Arabia, having largely abandoned hope that the United States will spearhead international efforts to topple the Assad regime, is embarking on a major new effort to train Syrian…
The Wounds of Waziristan documentary
A new film on US drones by the… Pakistani-American journalist Madiha Tahir:
America's rich war on the poor
So much for being the land of opportunity. Time to change the PR campaign, Washington. Gary Younge in The Guardian: During a discussion at… the University of Michigan in 2010, the billionaire vice-chairman of… Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway firm, Charles Munger, was asked whether the government should have bailed out homeowners rather than banks.… “You’ve got it exactly…
6PR Radio interview about Profits of Doom and Serco
During my Profits of Doom book tour last week in Western Australia, I was interviewed by one of the major commercial stations, 6PR, and its morning host Paul Murray. It was pleasing to hear robust criticisms of the British multinational Serco:
Taking note of unhealthy revolving door between State Department and making $
In October I investigated for the Guardian the worrying business moves by Kurt Campbell, former senior official in the Obama administration and now running a for profit consultancy business. I’m pleased that the US website Muckety (“Mapping connections of the rich, famous and influential”) has noticed and equally displayed concerns over Campbell’s record. Take a…
Global reach of the NSA is literally everywhere
Edward Snowden, a hero not a traitor, has provided the world with an invaluable insight into the scope of NSA spying. Surveillance is rampant and literally everything is being scooped up. Resistance is both vital and timely. A long and detailed report in the New York Times (a similar version appears in the Guardian) explaining…
Australia's treatment of indigenous population akin to apartheid
My weekly Guardian column is published today: Aboriginal levels of incarceration in Australian prisons have never been higher. In fact, country-wide rates of imprisonment are… worse per capita… for the black population than during apartheid South Africa. These numbers are also largely ignored. This silence, which stretches across the country only to reach the highest levels of…
ABC Radio Perth interview about Profits of Doom and religion/faith
I was interviewed this week by ABC Radio Perth’s Afternoon presenter Russell Woolf about my book Profits of Doom, Israel/Palestine and ethics: