Thinking

Getting better all the time…

I suppose now the Red Cross can be added to the list of dangerous subversives who deride the war in Iraq for their own crazy left-wing reasons. After all, they have released a report cataloguing the sheer horror of life…
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I’m too speechless to compose a title for this

This Islamophobia is astonishing! Well, really, I shouldn’t be astonished given the generally fucked up state of the nation, but I am. Manal Omar went swimming in an Islamic-style swimsuit, something she has done all over the world, but it…
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Guardian Books

I should read this more often. It actually has some interesting stuff. This week there’s Paulo Coelho on the Seven Deadly Sins, and some interesting pieces on writers I haven’t heard of but would like to try, like political fiction…
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Absolutely mindless

I think Lord Acton was wrong: power doesn’t corrupt. It lobotomises. Consider Michel Platini, for example. Gifted footballer, intelligent analyst of the game, articulate opponent of Lennart Johansson when campaigning to be UEFA President, complete moron as soon as he’s…
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Fortress Europe

From United Against Racism comes this list of 8,855 refugees who have died throughout Fortress Europe since 1993. The amount of drowning, suicide, murder and starvation on this list is overwhelming. Yet the only time the newspapers write about these…
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Financing Terrorism

This is a bit old, but I wanted to make note of it so I can find it again later. From Narco News: Chiquita admits making payments to Colombian death squads. Oh, and also this from ABC News: US has…
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Great news!

I write letters for Amnesty International. I have done (on and off) for many years, usually without any expectation of achieving anything. Every now and then, however, I get some good news. Today, for example, I received a letter saying…
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Classless Confusion

The Nation has an analysis of globalisation in its upcoming issue that is almost very good. I say “almost” because although he makes some excellent points, the author William Greider creates all kinds of confusion by studiously avoiding any mention…
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Suing the poor

As if botching a water project in one of the world’s poorest countries weren’t bad enough, UK company Biwater is now taking the Tanzanian government to court for cancelling its contract. Here are a few things that make me want…
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