The vital whistle-blowing of Edward Snowden continues to bear fruit. We have a right in a democratic society to know that our privacy is violated on a daily basis. And what we can do to protect ourselves. The Guardian… (by Glenn Greenwald, James Ball and Julia Borger): US and British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much…
Sydney launch event for Profits of Doom
My new book Profits of Doom was launched by independent journalist Wendy Bacon in Sydney in August at Gleebooks. The audio of this packed event is presented by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, where I’m a Research Associate:
How most Americans view the conflict in Syria
A far too accurate representation of how serious news is routinely viewed in popular culture: Alyssa Milano Sex Tape from Alyssa Milano
Triple R interview on Profits of Doom
It’s rare to get a chance in today’s media climate to have a long conversation about serious issues. This interview, about my new book Profits of Doom, was broadcast on Melbourne’s Triple R Spoke program, and we spoke in depth about the reality of privatised detention centres, privatised war in Afghanistan and challenging the seeming…
How Israel and the Gulf states maintain repression in the Middle East
The idea that the Western powers want freedom and democracy in the Middle East is a joke that’s not lost on the Arabs living there. Adam Shatz, writing in the London Review of Books, outlines brilliantly today’s messy region: One evening in January at a hotel bar in Manhattan, I tried to ingratiate myself with…
Beware slam dunk “intelligence” over Syria
The rush to war against Syria is gathering pace. But beware slimy politicians offering certainties (or the Zionist lobby). The truth is murky. One of the finest dissenting US journalists is Gareth Porter. His latest is essential reading (via TruthOut): Secretary of State John Kerry assured the public that the Obama administration’s summary of the…
How vulture capitalism evolves in Afghanistan
A key theme in my new book Profits of Doom… are the ways in which corporations enrich themselves in times of war. Here’s the latest example, via the New York Times: Dollar for dollar, Mahmood Karzai may well hold the title for getting the least value out of his pricey American lawyers. Mr. Karzai, a brother…
Challenging US-led Dirty Wars
My book review appears in today’s Sydney Morning Herald: Days after the Boston marathon bombings in April, the surviving suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, reportedly told authorities that he and his brother, Tamerlan, watched online the sermons of Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born cleric who was killed by an American drone in Yemen in 2011. It was just…
Missing the biting wit of George Carlin skewering US men loving war
We need such comedians today, people unafraid to call bullshit on futile wars:
Right Now radio interview on Profits of Doom
The human rights group Right Now has strongly covered my new book Profits of Doom. I was interviewed on their radio station on Melbourne 3RRR on vulture capitalism and the dangers of outsourcing asylum seekers to private corporations: