MIT professor, author and dissident intellectual Noam Chomsky, spoke at the Riverside Church in Harlem on June 12, 2009 at an event sponsored by the Brecht Forum. More than 2,000 people packed into the Church to hear his address, titled "Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours." In his talk, Chomsky discussed the global economic crisis, the environment, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, resistance to American empire and much more. Democracy Now recorded the event on camera...
The latest G8 meeting is underway from 8-10 July 2009 in Italy. Topping their agenda is the global financial crisis, but environmental NGO, Greenpeace, has sent G8 leaders a strong message about climate change. Known for their radical activism, Greenpeace took over four coal-powered stations across Italy and unfurled huge banners, which asked, "G8: Climate leaders or losers?" It is understood that activists from 18 countries were involved in the action. The G8 hopes to reach...
Mohamed Motala - There are a few high profile labour disputes currently taking place in South Africa. The public have entered the fray, influencing the labour debates by engaging with them via newspapers and talk radio programmes. At the same time, public sentiment is being influenced by the manner in which the media is presenting the various labour disputes. Who is allowed to strike? Who has the right to decent pay? Who has the right to decent working conditions? Who has the right to a decent standard of...
Democracy Now - Award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker, John Pilger, joins Amy Goodman of Democracy Now for a wide-ranging conversation on Honduras, Iran, Gaza, the media, health care, and Obama’s wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. *** AMY GOODMAN: From the events in Honduras, we step back to reflect how the media’s been covering the coup in that country. Last week, award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger was visiting the United...
Friday, 3 July 2009, was International Day of Support for Victims of Torture. In light of the occasion, the Real News Network asked, "Just how is the Obama administration holding accountable, people who tortured?" Paul Jay interviews Michael Ratner, President of America's Centre for Constitutional Rights, to answer the question. Ratner says that the Obama administration's scorecard on holding people accountable for torture is very bad. The administration has performed poorly on...
Glenn Ashton - Book: The Spirit Level By Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett Published by Allen Lane/Penguin ISBN: 978-1-846-14039-6 You know how you feel when you see a new product that seems so intuitive, so obvious, you wished you had invented it? Some time ago I found myself wondering why nobody has yet managed to put together, in a convincing way, the thesis that unequal societies are far more prone to social ills than those with greater financial equality. Even before I...