June 2012

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Beware the Naked Women!

Picture: FEMEN protest in France courtesy of Wikimedia. Gillian Schutte - In April 2009 women stripped half naked and took to the streets of Ado-Ekiti (Nigeria) to protest the rerun governorship election. Protesting under the title “Peace rally in support of democracy in Nigeria,” the protesters gathered under the auspices of Ekiti Women for Peace and Development. Led by a former Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, Chief Ronke Okusanya, more than 300 women, comprising the young and the elderly, took part in the protest over the delay in...

Can Big Tech Go Green? How Facebook, Apple and Google Stack Up

Picture: Compiled from various sources by SACSIS. Joshua Frank - Most are aware of Facebook's privacy assaults, but few know of the company's reluctance to embrace green energy, a challenge Apple has readily accepted. As Facebook's first public offering on May 18 failed to meet expectations, causing a number of stock market analysts to predict the social network's ultimate demise, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was no doubt giggling in greed-filled joy. He even topped off his celebratory weekend by tying the knot with his longtime sweetheart....

Making Sense of Public Service Wage Negotiations

Picture: katerw/Flickr Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen - Wage negotiations in the public sector have reached an impasse. Unions have rejected a 6.5% wage increase offer from government, holding out for 8% and as well as a housing subsidy of R1500. Commentary on the state of negotiations is focused on themes of fiscal sustainability and performance in the public service. The propaganda of both government and unions focuses on winning the proverbial hearts and minds of communities, should a dispute be declared. Strikes seem a likely possibility...

Syrian Atrocities and the Fog of War

Picture: damascusbureau.org Video Lebanon-based Ali Hashem, a war reporter who resigned from Al Jazeera citing bias, is interviewed by Paul Jay of the Real News Network about the situation in Syria following the gruesome massacre of more than 100 Syrians, many of whom were children killed execution style. Many in the West blame the Assad regime for the massacre. According to Hashem while it's obvious that the Syrian regime have and continue to commit atrocities, there may be a third force operating in the country, which...

Here We Go Again: The Africa Cup of Nations 2013 - Who's Going to Benefit and Who's Going to Pay?

Picture: Wikipedia Dale T. McKinley - The ghosts of the 2010 Soccer World Cup are coming back to haunt South Africa. Less than two years on and with preparations for the 2013 Soccer African Cup of Nations (AFCON) underway, the key lesson that should have been learnt from that grand orgy of egoism and money-grubbing appears to have already been stuffed right back into the closet. The lesson was that as long as the ‘game’ being played is one in which a domestic and international elite is the player, referee and owner,...

Political Humour: Julian Assange vs Rupert Murdoch

Picture: As seen on Juice Rap News. Video "Is an honest Fourth Estate the only Force than can restore peace and balance to the Galaxy?" ask Juice Rap News, as they caricature the Julian Assange extradition case in this Star Wars spoof. Juice Rap News consults two of journalism's most influential and inflammatory figures: Rebel journalist, enfant terrible, Julian Assange, who  could soon be 'Sextradited' to Sweden. And, on the opposite end of the journalistic spectrum, Rupert Murdoch, head of the mighty NewsCorp...