Opposing Washington's violence against Venezuela

I’m happy to have recently signed this statement on… Washington’s unprovoked aggression against Venezuela (via Telesur): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has added his name to a growing list of Australian journalists, academics, politicians, trade unionists and solidarity activists calling on U.S. president… Barack… Obama to… revoke his executive… order against Venezuelan . On March 9, Obama issued… the order which… imposed sanctions… on…

Why the Wikileaks Party visit to Syria was so delusional

My weekly Guardian column is published below: The sight of Australian citizens associated with the WikiLeaks party… sitting and chatting… with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad… during their… recent… “solidarity… mission”, along with their comments about the regime, is a damning indictment on a party that ran a… dismal election campaign… in 2013 and has never bothered to explain… its subsequent collapse. For WikiLeaks supporters…

Julian Assange on fighting reach of the superpower

Typically tough piece by Julian Assange, published in the Guardian, that outlines the risks faced by every citizen around the world and why trusting state power is a fool’s game: The original cypherpunks were mostly Californian libertarians. I was from a different tradition but we all sought to protect individual freedom from state tyranny. Cryptography…

Why standing up for human rights, against the tide, matters

Salman Rushdie writes in the New York Times on 27 April: We… find it easier, in these confused times, to admire physical bravery than moral courage — the courage of the life of the mind, or of public figures. A man in a cowboy hat vaults a fence to help Boston bomb victims while others flee…

Lest we forget who led coalition of fools into Iraq

Today, the 10 year anniversary of the disastrous Iraq invasion, is time for reflection, anger and honesty. Too many politicians, journalists and war mongers want to forget. We should not allow it. Medialens is right: What was truly shocking in March 2003 was that Blair was able to weave this obvious web of deceit and…

What mainstream media deliberately ignores over Hugo Chavez

Almost on queue, the mainstream press coverage of the passing of Hugo Chavez followed a predictable pattern. The underlying agenda is that any leader who seriously challenges US hegemony will receive abuse from less than independent thinking journalists and commentators. Medialens examines the record: Following the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on March 5,…

Will the real Hugo Chavez please stand up?

On the passing of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, much of the Western corporate press has echoed the distortions that has been the irrational yet predictable pattern of hatred towards a man and leader that dared to challenge the Western economic consensus. Here’s Tariq Ali in the Guardian with a thorough examination of the Chavez legacy:…

How “liberal media” covers all those war-mongering Western leaders. Oh wait…

A typically astute Medialens analysis: Liberal journalism is balanced, neutral and objective, except when it’s not. A BBC news report on Hugo Chavez’s latest election triumph in Venezuela… commented: ‘Mr Chavez said Venezuela would continue its march towards socialism… butalso vowed he would be a “better president”.’ (Our emphasis. The article was subsequently amended, although the ‘but’…

Chavez wins in Venezuela and The New York Times must be devastated

Hugo Chavez has won another term as President of Venezuela. There’s rarely been a better example of Western corporate media outlets spending years demonising the man and yet he remains popular in his own country. The New York Times have been particularly bad offenders, publishing anti-Chavez propaganda as news. Read this and weep at the…

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