Israel is “an island of stability”

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak tells a Jewish audience in the US that Zionism is peachy, occupation is lovely (oh, apart from this and this, of course, but he must have mentioned this when the recorders were off) and the Jewish state should be given even more Western backing. Who believes this nonsense (apart from…

Will Serco be continually rewarded for failure?

The ongoing chaos at Christmas Island – with refugees, guards and citizens all being led astray by the Australian government and Serco – is a blight on our conscience. We treat asylum seekers like animals, lock them up indefinitely, and wonder why their resist? As they should. Last night Immigration Minister Chris Bowen appeared on…

Wikileaks causes massive waves in India

While the West is focused on bombing Libya, Wikileaks’ cables are convulsing the world’s largest democracy: The Wikileaks’ expose on the cash-for-votes issue paralysed proceedings in Parliament on Tuesday with the Opposition demanding immediate discussion on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on the matter. The Rajya Sabha witnessed three adjournments and the Lok Sabha one…

Making serious money from “security” is way of the future

Private security firms are now global entities, turning up in the strangest of places. G4S recently announced it was allegedly pulling out of Palestine due to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists. Its record with refugees in Britain is highly troubling. Next stop for G4S? More government contracts, of course: Organisers of the 2012 Olympic games have…

Australian media finally starts to examine Serco

Well, it’s only taken a few years to seriously wonder how a British multinational, paid hundreds of millions annually, is so incompetently mismanaging immigration detention centres around Australia and Canberra is now paying them to build more facilities in remote locations. The glories of privatisation. Can we now have a discussion about placing these semi-prisons…

Attacking Libya isn’t about making us feel good

Bombing Libya is welcomed across the world from so many supposedly well-meaning types who haven’t a clue about what the country is like or what they’re really backing. But hey, Gaddafi is a bad man! This Haaretz editorial weighs the risks: While the joint Western and Arab action against Libya’s dictatorial regime has widespread support,…

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