24 February 2016 — Housmans
NEWS
1. Housmans Fundraising for Refugees Quiz Night
IN-STORE EVENTS
2. ‘Consequences’ with Elizabeth J. Lister and ‘Kissyface’ with Elsa Wallace
3. ‘Being Red: a Politics for the Future’ with Ken Livingstone
4. ‘Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming’ with Andreas Malm and Mika Minio-Paluello
5. ‘Remembering Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ with Mike Jackson
Continue reading
21 February 2016 — Global Research
Washington has requested Moscow not to bomb areas of Northern Syria where US Special Forces are being deployed. These areas are under the jurisdiction of so-called “moderate opposition” rebels who are supported by the US and its allies.
The areas in question pertain to pockets of Northern Syria in which various US-NATO supported jihadist groups including the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Nusrah are fighting Syrian government forces (SAA) and their allies. These terrorist pockets are protected by the US-led coalition and Turkey:
Continue reading
27 February 2016 — Liberty
A couple of weeks ago we called for the Government to ‘pause, take stock and redraft’ their new surveillance plans following the mauling the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill received at the hands of campaigners, security experts, the tech industry and three cross-party parliamentary committees. We have now heard that the Government plans to publish the IP Bill next week. Which means they will have taken all of 3 weeks to incorporate over 120 recommendations into a landmark piece of legislation that will affect each and every one of us.
23 February 2016 — FAIR
New York Times illustration (by Mike McQuade) depicts drone strikes literally as pinpoint attacks.
Retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of both the NSA and CIA, began his New York Times op-ed (2/21/16) with 24 paragraphs of dialogue illustrating how carefully the US government chooses drone targets so as not to put the innocent at risk:
The decision maker asks if there are civilians nearby.
“The family is in the main building. The guys we want are in the big guesthouse here.”
“They’re not very far apart.”
“Far enough.”…
He asks the probability of killing the targets if they use a GBU-12, a powerful 500-pound, laser-guided bomb.
“These guys are sure dead,” comes the reply. “We think the family’s OK.”
“You think they’re OK?”
“They should be.” But the analyst confesses it is impossible to be sure.
22 February 2016 — Statewatch
NGOs and volunteers helping refugees in Greece to be placed under state control:
View as pdf: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2016/feb/greece-state-control-ngos.pdf
– only in the Soviet Union and under the STASI in East Germany were NGOs expected to hand over lists and personal details of all their members/volunteers
– “In particular there should be no attempts by public authorities to make NGOs effectively agencies working under their control..”
(Council of Europe)
– “the registration of volunteers has no place in a democracy” (Director of Statewatch)
13 February 2016 — Global Research
Washington’s strategy consists in spearheading a broader regional war by inciting Turkey, Saudi Arabia as well as Israel to do the “dirty work for us”.
10 February 2016 — Coldtype
COLDTYPE Issue 112 Mid-February 2016 – is now on line
Download and read it – free of charge at www.coldtype.net
GO TO HELL! Does political correctness trump free speech? John W. Whitehead says not, and explains why society needs to be more tolerant of hateful words and bullying. Other top stories include Felicity Arbuthnot on drone strikes and government lies, Aviva Chomsky on the politics of newspaper delivery, Jonathan Cook on Julian Assange and the UN, George Monbiot on the rigging of oil markets, and Edward S. Herman on terrorism. We’ve also got photo stories on England’s ‘Decent Paparazzo,’ and the brilliant photographer who died in poverty. And much more great reading . . . Continue reading
25 February 2016 — Black Agenda Report
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford“Black Power” has been turned on its head on the electoral front, put at the service of corporatists like Hillary Clinton. “Paralyzed by fear of the White Man’s Party, Black voters find a false sense of power in clustering around the perceived ‘winners'” on the Democratic Party menu. “The mantra is, effectively, ‘All Power to the Democratic Party!'” – brokered, of course, by the Black Misleadership Class.
11 February 2016 — FAIR
Comrades! Commissar Milbank has exposed Bernie Sanders as a false revolutionary! (image: Reuters video accompanying Dana Milbank’s column)
The day before the New Hampshire primary, the Washington Post (2/8/16) ran a column headlined:
—written by Dana Milbank, that noted expert on revolutionary movements.
“For a guy running against the establishment, Bernie Sanders sure seems to crave its approval,” wrote Milbank. “Sanders portrays himself as an iconoclast, an anti-politician. But he behaves in many ways like a conventional pol.”
8 February 2016 — Statewatch
Statewatch monitoring the state and civil liberties: 8 February 2016 (04/16) Statewatch EU Justice and Home Affairs Archive 1976-2000
Paper document collection available free to a good home
Our archive of 7,000+ paper documents on EU justice and home affairs policy needs a new home.
7 February 2016 — Media Lens
Even a progressive journalist like Glenn Greenwald can’t shake off a rose-tinted view of the paper he once wrote for:
‘Like everything, it’s very imperfect, but survival of the @Guardian as a large, vibrant media outlet is important’
But in what sense is the Guardian’s survival actually ‘important?’ Our response:
‘Important for the hawking of Perpetual War as “humanitarian intervention” and corporate tyranny as “democracy”.’
5 February 2016 — The Anti-Empire Report
“Self-described socialist” … How many times have we all read that term in regard to Vermont senator Bernie Sanders? But is he really a socialist? Or is he a “social democrat”, which is what he’d be called in Europe? Or is he a “democratic socialist”, which is the American party he has been a member of (DSA – Democratic Socialists of America)? And does it really matter which one he is? They’re all socialists, are they not?
5 February 2016 — The Real News Network
After the UN finds Assange to be arbitrarily detained, Assange attorney Carey Shenkman explains how the UK is undermining the authority of the UN while simultaneously relying on it to release detained UK citizens Continue reading
4 February 2016 — Pambazuka News
AFRICAN UNION REFUSES TO INVADE BURUNDI *Ann Garrison*
<http://www.pambazuka.net/en/category.php/features/96536/> How serious is the political crisis in Burundi to warrant international armed intervention? Despite pressure from the West, the African Union last week decided not to send troops to the central African nation. But what the AU and everybody else won’t discuss – at least openly – is the fact the crisis is the handiwork of external forces pushing for regime change in Bujumbura.
3 February 2016 — 38 Degrees
The government’s plans on fracking have been exposed. It’s been leaked that they’re trying to change the law so dirty energy companies can drill for gas in our countryside – regardless of what local communities want. [1]
1 February 2016 — Housmans
NEWS
1. Ongoing Sale!
IN-STORE EVENTS
2. Anarchist Federation present: ‘Revolutionary Women’ with Nick Heath
3. ‘The Hammer Blow – how 10 women disarmed a warplane’ with Andrea Needham
4. ‘The Influencing Machine’ with Mike Jay
5. KEY CONCEPTS SERIES: ‘Postanarchism’ with Saul Newman
6. LGBT HISTORY MONTH BOOK LAUNCHES
‘Consequences’ with Elizabeth J. Lister and ‘Kissyface’ with Elsa Wallace Continue reading
31 January 2016
Here are eight stories on the Zika virus now ravaging Brazil. Four investigate a possible link between the outbreak and the introduction of genetically modified mosquitos to Brazil, and four, all from the mainstream/corporate press, take the complete opposite position, claiming that the introduction of yet more genetically modified mozzies can save the situation!
1 February 2016 — Statewatch
Statewatch News Online, 1 February 2016 (03/16)
Web link to this story: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2016/jan/eu-med-crisis-criminalising-civil-society.htm
Refugee crisis: Council proposals on migrant smuggling would criminalise humanitarian assistance by civil society, local people and volunteers and in Greece: NGOs and volunteers have to “register” with the police and be vetted
The New Dark Age 