British multinational Serco is constantly in the news, the company that runs all of Australia’s detention centres with little or no accountability; just the way they like it. And now this: The mastermind behind the sacking of more than 50,000 public servants during the Greiner and Fahey Liberal governments has been quietly advising Barry O’Farrell’s…
The shock doctrine is alive and well in the world’s super-power
I’m currently working on a book about disaster capitalism and rampant privatisation, diseases that seemingly sweep all before it. The idea that selling everything into private hands will solve our economic problems is ludicrous and yet both major sides of politics in many Western states back the idea. Resistance is key, so here’s Paul Krugman…
Why did most Western elites not want to see Arab anger?
Al-Jazeera’s director general Wadah Khanfar on the Arab revolution that most in the West simply didn’t expect. Why? Because we fear Islamists, because we hate the idea that Arabs may vote for parties we don’t like and because we fear that poor little undemocratic Israel may be challenged. Times are changing: Indeed, it should surprise…
TehelkaTV interview on Israel/Palestine and changing Jewish views
During my recent appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival in India I was interviewed by TehelkaTV, one of the country’s leading current affairs magazines (my recent article with them about the Egyptian uprising is here). We talked about the Middle East, why the Tunisian revolution would spread and the rise of dissenting Jewish voices:
PressTV interview on Australian aid to the Middle East
Why is it acceptable for Australians to donate money (and receive tax deductions) to illegal settlements in the West Bank but the Australian government isn’t able to openly provide aid to citizens living under the rule of Hamas and Hizbollah? The corruption of international aid by politics. Here’s an interesting report on PressTV and my…
Vogue gives template example of sychophantic writing
The Arab world is exploding against its dictators but Vogue is seemingly oblivious. Here’s a nauseating profile of Syria’s First Lady Asma al-Assad. Somebody should tell the “journalist” that Syria is a brutal police state that tortures its own citizens. But not to worry, she lets her children play with Lego: Asma al-Assad is glamorous,…
Repression against dissent continues in Egypt
Independent journalism in Cairo by Australian reporter Austin G. Mackell:
How far would Obama admin go to bring down Wikileaks?
The Colbert ReportTags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive The Colbert ReportTags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
What the West fears is true independence in the Arab world
The following article by Kate Ausburn appears in Green Left Weekly: Popular uprisings in the Arab world have challenged a political landscape dominated by undemocratic regimes and fronted by dictators, a panel of academics and journalists said at a Sydney University forum on February 15. Speakers discussed the regional and international ramifications of the uprisings…
Naomi Klein on think-tank logic
Wonderful and accurate quote from 2007: By think tanks I mean the people who are paid to think by the makers of tanks.