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?
"Now remember a few months ago it was all about, ooh, if there's too much regulation, it's going to kill creativity in the banking sector. Well, thank you very much for creativity, we don't need too much of that," says Christine Lagarde, the French Finance Minister, who with President Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading reforms in the French banking sector, aimed at reducing the bonuses of bankers. A BBC poll has found that 67% of French people support more regulatory oversight over...
Laura Flanders of GRITtv interviews Phyllis Bennis author of "Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict" after the release of Justice Richard Goldstone's report on Gaza -- an extremely high level investigative report that looked into the abuse of international human rights law. Bennis is interviewed immediately after the report was released at the United Nations (UN) in a session that she attended. This is the most important report of many that have been released about Gaza...
Glenn Ashton -
The South African government is quietly disclosing information about a seismic shift in our national climate change policy. The 15th September communiqué from the new Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs reinforces this, in stating that our medium term response to our energy crisis is a continued reliance on coal, with a long-term shift away from fossil fuels. Long term? Have we got the time?
Unchecked climate change holds an unthinkable threat not just to people but also to...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
If a day were a long time in politics, then a decade would be akin to an eternity. As Cosatu members gather for their 10th national congress, they will cast their minds back to 1999, when the labour federation hosted a special national congress. The primary task of hosting the “special” congress was electing a ‘new leadership’, as many Cosatu national office bearers were ‘deployed’ to serve in the ANC government after the second democratic election....
In this timely interview, one year after the closure of Lehman Brothers, which coincides with the anniversary of the global financial crisis, The Real News Network talks to Sony Kapoor, Managing Director of Re-define.org. Kapoor is an ex-Lehman Brothers investment banker who now applies his skills for social benefit. He sheds light on the intriguing world of financial markets, exposing the house of cards we familiarly refer to as the international financial system. *** PAUL JAY: Welcome to...
Saliem Fakir -
One of the obvious and glaring things about the financial crisis is how much of it involves saving the rich rather than the poor. And, how much the poor continue to be disadvantaged by the failures and reckless pursuits of the rich – there is certainly a deferment of their interests.
Noam Chomsky, in a recent article of the Boston Review (September/October 2009), showed how other pressing crises such as food shortages, desertification and lack of progress on the Millennium Development...
