Story Archives - Page 462 of 661

Latin America: The War on Democracy – Documentary Online

John Pilger November 13, 2008 John Pilger

The War on Democracy is John Pilger’s first major film for the cinema – in a career that has produced more than 55 television documentaries. Set in Latin America and the US, it explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile.

"The film tells a universal story," says Pilger, "analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called war on terror." read more

Britain’s Digital Surveillance: Hiding from Her Majesty’s ‘Black Boxes’

Christopher Parsons November 11, 2008 Christopher Parsons

There are plans to deploy 'black boxes' in UK ISPs' networking hubs so that the government can capture and record every website that UK citizens visit. A similar operation is in full swing in the United States, where the NSA has hooked up their own 'black boxes' to American Internet Service Providers' (ISPs) networks to capture 'questionable content' passing through these networks. Unlike the Americans, who only examine questionable content, the UK government is planning to develop a database to hold the contents of all messages passing along their nations' telecommunications networks.

Rebuild Local Food Economies: Report from International Small Farmer Movements

Institute for Social Ecology November 10, 2008 Institute for Social Ecology

Brazil's MST

Today's food and energy crises are demonstrating what small-scale family farmers and rural peoples around the world have been saying for years: without support for local agriculture everywhere, hunger can grow anywhere. Rodrigo Lopes of the Landless Rural Workers Movement of Brazil (MST) and Stephen Bartlett of Agricultural Missions (based in Kentucky) are touring the US this month, aiming to clarify why this is so. Both groups are part of La Via Campesina, an autonomist, multicultural international movement of peasants, small farmers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth, and agricultural workers.

The Case for U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Sameer Dossani November 10, 2008 Sameer Dossani

US Troops in Afghanistan

In recent history, two concepts of justice have stood out. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., believed in a kind of justice that could only be achieved when systematic oppression had been eliminated from the world. George W. Bush, on the other hand, believed in the justice of old Western movies and gunfights. When he inherits the Bush legacy on January 21st, 2009, Barack Obama will have to choose between these two approaches. The decision he makes will reverberate around the world and be one of the first indicators of whether "Change We Can Believe In" was merely good sloganeering.

Activists Need to Push Beyond Elections After Obama’s Win

Michael Fox November 6, 2008 Michael Fox

Obama Rally in Denver

"I just got a call from the Associated Press," announced the speaker before the crowd of Obama supporters packed into the Virginia Democratic Headquarters in the McLean Hilton in Northern Virginia. "We just did what has not been done since 1964." The crowd erupted in to euphoria. Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama had just taken Virginia. And with Virginia - as was announced moments later - so went the presidency. The emotion was indescribable. Strangers hugged. Tears fell. Cheers rolled through the ballroom. The United States had a new president - an African American president, bringing new hope to a nation in difficult times.

Congo: How we Fuel Africa’s Bloodiest War

Johann Hari November 6, 2008 Johann Hari

Refugees Flee Congo Conflict

The deadliest war since Adolf Hitler marched across Europe is starting again - and you are almost certainly carrying a blood-soaked chunk of the slaughter in your pocket. When we glance at the holocaust in Congo, with 5.4 million dead, the clichés of Africa reporting tumble out: this is a "tribal conflict" in "the Heart of Darkness". It isn't. The United Nations investigation found it was a war led by "armies of business" to seize the metals that make our 21st-century society zing and bling. The war in Congo is a war about you.