The Western world is now infested with privatisation as the supposed ideal of society. In reality, the opposite is true. Take the recent report by the US-based Project on Government Oversight: Federal government employees were less expensive than contractors in 33 of the 35 occupational classifications POGO reviewed. In one instance, contractor billing rates were…
Showing all posts tagged United States
Palestine burns, Israel occupies and Zionists look to the sky over UN vote
This week (probably) sees the Palestinian Authority (PA) go to the UN and ask for something resembling statehood. It’s all so vague and so deeply troubling that too many in the Western world have blindly supported it (such as today’s UK Observer). Others, such as Gideon Levy in Haaretz, can’t understand why Barack Obama isn’t…
We cannot forget ongoing trauma in Bahrain
While Washington and much of the West turns away, citizens must continue raising their voices. Anthony Shadid writes in the New York Times: Activists trade stories of colleagues forced to eat feces in prison and high-ranking Shiite bureaucrats compelled to crawl in their offices like infants. Human rights groups say 43 Shiite mosques and religious…
How to represent the post 9/11 American decade
I’ve spent the last days at Australia’s first investigative journalism conference organised by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, where I’m an Honorary Associate. It was called Back to the Source and I spoke on the effect of Wikileaks on modern journalism (short version; it’s major, it’s profound and the mainstream press are nervous about…
Killing people remotely with drones is their American dream
How long before machines or robots are selecting targets from America in war zones across the world?
Who is dreaming of a completely privatised America?
Project of Government Oversight give us the facts and the public/media/political response is minimal. Simple question: at what point will a totally privatised world cause concern for society (hint: now)? The U.S. government’s increasing reliance on contractors to do work traditionally done by federal employees is fueled by the belief that private industry can deliver…
Chomsky on the real 9/11
This is classic clear-thinking from Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now! this week, views so rarely expressed in the corporate press: …The claim that the U.S. was being attacked [on 9/11] because, as the president put it, they hate our freedoms was completely untenable. They hated our policy. In fact, it would be more accurate to…
“It’s a Jewish obligation to criticise state violence”
The subtle but noticeable shift in American, Jewish public opinion towards Israel and Palestine. Occupation matters. Human rights abuses noticed. Blind backing for Zionism is unimaginable. Bring it on: Initial Development Trailer: Some of My Best Friends Are Zionists from Open Letter Productions on Vimeo.
