The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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Leonardo DiCaprio argues that human addiction to oil has brought us to the brink of destruction. Our burning of oil and other fossil fuels has dumped over seven hundred billion tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, causing global warming. At the same time, big corporations and politicians have not done enough to save us. They have gained too much money and power off our addiction to oil, making them resistant to change.
Japanese company, Genepax has invented a car that runs on water. The company says that any kind of water, including rain and sea water will do. Once water is poured into the car, an energy generator takes hydrogen from the water releasing electrons that power the car. It takes just a litre of water to keep the car's engine running for about an hour at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour. Genepax has plans to mass produce the vehicle.
John Cusack talks about his new movie War Inc., a comment on corporate profiteering that has become the hallmark of the war in Iraq. He refers to the war as a "disastrous free-market utopian enterprise", and labels the free market of today, nothing more than a "vast protectionist racket". Privatisation has gone too far argues Cusack, pointing out that there are as many contractors as there are soldiers in Iraq where everything is outsourced, including torture. This,...
Geoff Budlender talks about how the South African Constitutional Court gives meaning to the expression of "health as a human right," particularly in relation to how the state should be prioritising its health budget. He argues that the Constitution obliges the state to spend its budget in a progressive and transformative manner, which means that it must have a pro-poor tilt aimed at eradicating inequalities.
While we here at SACSIS are not impressed by Barack Obama's foreign policy stance on the Middle East and Cuba, we acknowledge that the nomination of the first black candidate as the Democratic presidential hopeful is a watershed moment in American and indeed world politics; and bring you his famous 'Yes We Can' speech immortalized in song by a production of the Black Eyed Peas. Related Reads: Obama at Aipac, Obama Goes Over the Top, Who is Barack Obama?
In analysing the role of journalism in democracy, Robert McChesney argues that healthy journalism is axiomatic to vibrant and healthy democracies in this Media Education Foundation video clip that critiques the ownership model of the American media, contending that the model has been a detriment to American democracy. To see Part One of this series, please click here. To see Part Three of this series, please click here.
