31 October 2015 — The Real News Network
31 October 2015 — Strategic Culture Foundation
31.10.2015 | 08:01 | Hannes HOFBAUER more
31.10.2015 | 00:08 | Sergei SOLODOVNIK
The news about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, signed by 12 countries in October 2015, was largely overshadowed by the latest reports about the fighting in Syria. Vietnam, a country with a population of over 90 million, was one of the signatories to that agreement. Let’s compare two different events. The first took place on May 29, 2015, when Vietnam signed a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The second was Vietnam’s signature on the TPP agreement on Oct. 5, 2015…
29 October 2015 — Monthly Review
The fast-reviving South African left is urgently coming to grips with the most acute national crises of structure and agency the country has experienced since the historic freeing of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and the shift of the entire body politic in favor of the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). At that time, the ANC soon took control of the country’s progressive forces, winning mass social hegemony, vanquishing other liberation tendencies (Pan-Africanism and Black Consciousness), and dissolving the anti-apartheid United Democratic Front (UDF) that civil society activists founded a decade earlier. It then negotiated the first democratic election, which it won handily in April 1994 under Nelson Mandela’s leadership. Afrikaner state managers and corporate titans, as well as multilateral agencies and other forces of imperialism, demanded from the ANC an elite transition that opened both the macro- and microeconomies. Property rights were granted maximum protection, even though whites had acquired the bulk of those through what is widely termed a crime against humanity: apartheid. Read the rest of the article HERE.
29 October 2015 — Pambazuka News
What started with rejection of the statue of a Dutch colonialist in Cape Town fast expanded to nationwide student protests against a racist, colonialist and classist education system that denies many South Africans the right to study. President Zuma finally respondend and turned an intended increase in tution into a 6 per cent cut for 2016, but this can only be a beginning.
27 October 2015 — Media Lens
In our previous media alert, ‘Sick Sophistry’, we examined media coverage of the deliberate US bombing of a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan on October 3. In particular, we exposed the BBC’s Pentagon-friendly reporting of the hospital as having been ‘mistakenly’ bombed.
26 October 2015 — 38 Degrees
In just a few hours, the House of Lords could kill off George Osborne’s cuts to tax credits. [1] If he isn’t stopped, the Chancellor’s plans will make life harder for millions of British families with low-paid jobs. [2]
25 October 2015 — Youtube
Students shook the South African nation to its very core this week as protests swept across campuses with the so-called born frees at the helm. “Shutting Down the Rainbow Nation” is a ten minute documentary that captures the energy and heart of the student-led movement, which shut down higher education institutions around the country. It speaks to the policing of the black body, state violence, and the fall of the ‘rainbow nation’, sewn together with videos posted by the public on Twitter and Facebook throughout the shutdown. History was re-written this week, as it became clear that even though the revolution may not have been (adequately) televised, it was certainly tweeted.
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24 October 2015 — Strategic Culture Foundation
24.10.2015 | 13:52 | Paul Craig ROBERTS
The Western media has only two tools. One is the outrageous lie. This overused tool no longer works, except on dumbshit Americans…
23 October 2015 —medConfidential
Quite a lot has happened over the past week. Events are still unfolding, but there has been progress in three key areas.
What just happened?
21 October 2015 — Black Agenda Report
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
It is paradoxical that African Americans, who politically most resemble the Scandinavian social democrats Bernie Sanders claims to admire, are not supporting Sanders for president. Based on a “calculus of fear,” African Americans “cast their votes in national elections seeking protection from the Greater Evil, rather than voting their line-item policy preferences, or even considering the platforms of parties that challenge the duopoly system.”
20 October 2015 — Media Lens
One of the defining features of the corporate media is that Western crimes are ignored or downplayed. The US bombing of a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on the night of October 3, is an archetypal example.
21 October 2015 — Black Agenda Report
Why Not Hundreds of Rise Up October Campaigns?When the Rise Up October campaign against police violence arrives in New York City for three days of demonstrations, this weekend, the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), based in Newark, New Jersey, will be there in strength. “We’re going to bring family members of victims of police from New Jersey to stand with the family members they are assembling from across the country,” said POP chairman Larry Hamm. Home-based organizing is critical. “We have to build strong movements at the local level, so that we can not only have thousands of people assemble in New York City, but thousands in every city across America,” said Hamm. “What an impact that would have!”
21 October 2015— http://www.statewatch.org/ • e-mail: office@statewatch.org
19 October 2015 — English PEN
In its new strategy, the government is proposing measures that may criminalise legitimate speech and shrink the space for open debate throughout society. The UK already has legislation dealing with criminal offences in this category, including the Terrorism Act and the Public Order Act, and there is no need for new laws that may seriously harm everyone’s right to freedom of expression in this country.
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17 October 2015 — Strategic Culture Foundation
17.10.2015 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
On October 6, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. Talking about the common enemy of «terrorism and the Islamic State» in Syria, Bettel stressed that the actions against extremism should be done in close consultation and through a close collaboration between all stakeholders. «There is a common enemy in terrorism and Islamic state. We need to find common ways to fight them», he said…
15 October 2015 — Housmans Books
Housmans Vaults Expansion
1. An appeal for our Vaults expansion
2. Competition: Tell us your book recommendations for our new sections – win a £50 Housmans voucher!
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14 October 2015 — Black Agenda Report
by BAR executive editor Glen FordThe #BlackLivesMatter organization is now part of the 2016 Democratic Party election machinery, assuming its role as a power broker on behalf of Black people. It’s a familiar historical pattern, except for the speed with which the transition has taken place. “The #BLM philosophy is that therapeutic dialogue with members of the power elite is politically more effective than the presentation of core demands.”
13 October 2015 — Coldtype
Download and read it – free of charge at www.coldtype.net
64 PAGES of great writing and photography.
We’e got two outstanding photo essays for you this month. The first features Syd Shelton’s images from the days of Rock Against Racism, the music industry’s fight against fascism; while the second is a wonderful set of photos by Ian Betley, showing inventive protests at this month’s British Tory Party conference. In addition, we’ve got a great selection of features on subjects as diverse as the Pope, the Black Panthers, suffragettes, Henry Kissinger, right wing media, Russia’s attack on ISIS, a mother’s fear of the future, cop killings, an excerpt from Mike Palecek’s new novel, and a poem from Philip Kraske.
13 October 2015 — Youtube
Artist Ayanda Mabulu talks about the controversy surrounding his painting after it was removed and then reinstated at the Jo’burg Art Fair.
It is an arresting artwork. The artist, Ayanda Mabulu, is sick and tired. In fact at this juncture, he describes his work as having transcended the artistic sphere and entered the realm of the spiritual. In addition to being sick and tired, Mabulu is agitated and angry. He is not concerned with niceties anymore.
12 October 2015 — 38 Degrees
It’s official: unless £2bn is urgently given to struggling hospitals, A&E waiting times will go up, cancer treatment will be delayed, and it’ll be impossible for hospitals to provide beds for people in need this winter. [1]
NHS experts say they’ve exhausted their options for saving money in hospitals, and now Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s cuts are putting patients’ lives in danger. [2]
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The New Dark Age 