The Securitisation of Everything

Picture: An American soldier in Afghanistan courtesy DVIDSHUB/Flickr. Jane Duncan - The images of 22 year old Londoner Michael Abedowale, hands dripping with blood from his fatal attack on soldier Lee Rigby, created shock waves around the world, including in South Africa. His explanation for his actions, caught on camera, portrayed the attack as revenge for the excesses of British foreign policy in prosecuting the war against terror. This incident, and the recent bombing of the Boston marathon, have given Britain and the United States (US) the justification to continue...

Six Ways to Stop Worrying and Find Work You Love

Picture: Better Living through Design Roman Krznaric - The idea of fulfilling work—a job that reflects our passions, talents and values—is a modern invention. Open Dr. Johnson's celebrated Dictionary, published in 1755, and the word “fulfilment” doesn't even appear. But today our expectations are higher, which helps explain why job satisfaction has declined to a record low of 47 percent in the U.S., and is even lower in Europe. If you count yourself amongst those who are unhappy in their job, or at least have that...

Julian Assange on Meeting with Google and His Response to Anti-WikiLeaks Attacks from New Film

Picture: As seen on Democracy Now! Video On Tuesday, Ecuador's foreign minister accused the British government of trampling on Julian Assange's rights by refusing to allow him to travel to Ecuador, which granted him political asylum almost a year ago. Joining Democracy Now! from the embassy, Assange addresses what he calls "attacks on all fronts against WikiLeaks", from a monetary embargo involving some of the world's largest financial firms to a new Hollywood documentary on WikiLeaks, "We Steal Secrets". Assange...

Israel/Palestine: Kerry On Peace Process

Picture: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu courtesy U.S. Department of State/Wikimedia Commons. Jamie Stern-Weiner - The biggest, boldest, most ambitious development in the Middle East peace process for two decades. With this faint praise, Secretary of State John Kerry introduced a new initiative to revive the Palestinian economy on Sunday at an annual World Economic Forum summit in Jordan. The project will see a team of business people working with Middle East Quartet representative Tony Blair to mobilize $4 billion of private investment in the West Bank and Gaza, providing jobs and growth for Palestinians...

Global Protest Against Monsanto

Picture: tertius v Video On Saturday 25 May, an estimated quarter million people in more than 400 cities around the world marched against Monsanto, one of the biggest and most powerful biotech corporations that promotes genetically modified products, more commonly known as GMOs. Activists used extensive social media and community outreach to raise awareness about Monsanto's influence in an attempt to galvanize millions to demand Monsanto be stopped. Among participating cities were Tokyo; Amsterdam; Paris; Vienna;...

Monsanto: The Most Hated Corporation on Earth?

Picture: march-against-monsanto.com Glenn Ashton - What does it take to be the most hated corporation on earth? How many global corporations have had an entire day of global protest declared to draw attention to their nastiness? Well, the worlds leading producer of genetically modified seed, Monsanto, has just managed this feat, with millions having participated in over 450 actions across 52 countries on the 25th of May. It is worth examining how and why Monsanto has become so uniformly hated around the planet. It is difficult to assume...