Israel 2011 (via Haaretz): About 10 days ago, a fish merchant in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda outdoor market noticed a young man with sidelocks and a skullcap trying to determine which of the stalls employ Arabs. The merchant, Saleh, called the police, who detained the man for questioning on suspicion that he was planning a terror…
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…
MSM once again, like Iraq 2003, ramping up war against Iran
Seymour Hersh writes in the New Yorker that in the rush to accept the Israeli and American line over Iran – Tehran is a major threat and must be isolated (pretty much the same argument they’ve been making for a decade or more) – skepticism and rationality has once again disappeared: I’ve been reporting on…
Here’s why #Occupy is not only important but essential
Via the New York Times: They drive cars, but seldom new ones. They earn paychecks, but not big ones. Many own homes. Most pay taxes. Half are married, and nearly half live in the suburbs. None are poor, but many describe themselves as barely scraping by. Down but not quite out, these Americans form a…
The Jewish Taliban are on the march
The Middle East’s Only Democracy Inc (via the Guardian): Jerusalem’s secular mayor, Nir Barkat, has pitted himself against the city’s swelling ranks of ultra-orthodox extremists by demanding that local police enable women to reclaim their position in the public domain. Over recent months, women’s faces have disappeared from billboards across the city amid mounting pressure…
How to deal with a Murdoch editor
British MP Tom Watson offers a lesson in media management: Yesterday I wrote a column for the Express and Star. It was picked up by a Times journalist this morning. Here is the text exchange between Ben Webster and me, you may find it of interest and or amusing. Ben Webster: Hi Tom, could you…
Clueless Hollywood romanced by occupation-loving Israel
Are these captains of… the entertainment industry totally clueless, and have no idea that they’re being co-opted into selling the image of “cool Israel”? Haaretz reports: Two delegations from Hollywood are visiting Israel to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one comprised of actors and another mainly featuring directors. Today, both groups will meet with President…
Occupy movement has demands (and rejects disaster capitalists making a buck)
While Arundhati Roy addressed Washington Square Park in New York, held at Judson Memorial Church this week: I like her vision: We want to put a lid on this system that manufactures inequality. We want to put a cap on the unfettered accumulation of wealth and property by individuals as well as corporations. As “cap-ists”…