What Comes Next: A secular democratic state in historic Palestine – a promising land Omar Barghouti

21 October 2013 — Mondoweiss

“Because it is a distortion of being more fully human, sooner or later being less human leads the oppressed to struggle against those who made them so. In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not in seeking to regain their humanity (which is a way to create it), become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers of the humanity of both.” [1] –Paulo Freire

Pambazuka-news Digest, Vol 277, Issue 2: Pambazuka News 643: Economies of misery, genetically modified colonialisms and Trayvon

15 August 2013 — Pambazuka News

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 643: ECONOMIES OF MISERY, GENETICALLY MODIFIED COLONIALISMS AND TRAYVON

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Video: Fracked Up!

6 August 2013 — 21st Century Wire

Journalist Patrick Henningsen interviewed Ian Crane about the drive by vested interests to develop shale gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing in the UK. He speaks about the implications for the environment and the resistance which is building…Fracking’s cast of characters includes the likes of Haliburton, Cuadrilla, Centrica and British Gas, to name only a few. Profits are the objective, and at any cost.

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Audio: The NSA Comes Recruiting

2 July 2013 — Mob and Multitude

Some students and I had an exchange with NSA recruiters today. The audio and a rough transcript below.

The NSA came to recruit at a language program at the University of Wisconsin where I am spending my summer learning a language. Two recruiters, a redhead who looked more like a middle-aged mother (listed as “NSA_F” below) and a portly, balding man (“NSA_M”), began to go through slides explaining the NSA and its work.

2013 NSA flyer copy

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Iraq: Hawija: War Crimes, Iraqi Resistance and America’s Weapons of Mass Destruction By Dirk Adriaensens

2 May, 2013 — Global Research

The parliamentary investigative committee in the Hawija massacre, that left more than 50 peaceful protesters dead, revealed on Tuesday 30 April that 90% of the victims of the Iraqi SWAT team raid were shot in the head, abdomen and chest. Some protesters were shot while their hands were tied behind their backs. The report affirms that the protest area was free of weapons. This confirms the claim made by the demonstration organizers, who assured the peaceful nature of the protest and vehemently denied possessing weapons or inciting violence.

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Dance on Thatcher’s grave, but remember there has been a coup in Britain By John Pilger

25 April 2013 — John Pilger

In the wake of Thatcher’s departure, I remember her victims. Patrick Warby’s daughter, Marie, was one of them. Marie, aged five, suffered from a bowel deformity and needed a special diet. Without it, the pain was excruciating. Her father was a Durham miner and had used all his savings. It was winter 1985, the Great Strike was almost a year old and the family was destitute. Although her eligibility was not disputed, Marie was denied help by the Department of Social Security. Later, I obtained records of the case that showed Marie had been turned down because her father was “affected by a Trade dispute”.  

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European Trade Unions and the Struggle for Public Services By Christoph Hermann

4 April 2013 — The Bullet • Socialist Project • E-Bulletin No. 797

The public sector is a key battleground for a progressive trade union strategy and for an alternative to neoliberalism in Europe. On the one hand the existence of a public sector is a continuing example that a not for profit driven production of goods and services is not only possible in the 21st century – it is also preferable. Continue reading

GMO Agribusiness and the Destructive Nature of Global Capitalism By Colin Todhunter

19 February, 2013 — Global Research

Capitalism is based on managing its inherent crises. It is also based on the need to maximise profit, beat down competitors, cut overheads and depress wages. In the 1960s and 70s, in the face of increasing competition from abroad, the US began to outsource manufacturing production to bring down costs by using cheap foreign labour. Other countries followed suit. Even more jobs were lost through the impulse to automate. To provide a further edge, trade unions and welfare were attacked in order to suppress wages at home. Problem solved. Or was it?

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Harvest of Hypocrisy: Farmers Being Blamed for GMO Crop Failures By Glenn Davis Stone

9 February, 2013 — Fieldquestions.com

Of all the GMO controversies around the world, the saga of Bt cotton in India continues to be one of the most interesting and important. In the latest chapter, reported by the Business Standard, cotton yields have dropped to a 5-year low, setting off a fascinating round of finger pointing.

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