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Hannah Arendt: The Trouble With Representative Government in the US

Jeff Nall November 26, 2008 Jeff Nall

Hannah Arendt

Having good representatives in government isn't enough. In fact, if you think about it, how on earth can individuals honestly represent the interests of such large bodies of people and their vast views? Moreover, how involved are we really? We vote, choosing candidate A or B. We have our views expressed via polls. We side with MSNBC over FOX News. Let's face it, representative government isn't all its cracked up to be.

Thai Opposition to Potash Mine Becomes Community-Wide Fight

Tanya Roberts-Davis November 18, 2008 Tanya Roberts-Davis

Nuentang Taamain

Entering the North-Eastern Thai village of Ban Nonsomboon, one could be fooled by the appearance of rural tranquility: Children, parents and elders chat amongst themselves, relaxing in hammocks and sharing baskets of freshly cooked sticky rice. It doesn't take long, however, to notice the banners, stickers and posters throughout the community declaring, "No to Potash Mining!" Green flags signifying a commitment to a toxic-chemical-free zone wave in the breeze.

Queer India: The Fire Inside

Nick Harvey November 18, 2008 Nick Harvey

Lesbianism in India has traditionally been the great unmentionable - and the treatment meted out to women who love women still leads many couples to opt for suicide pacts, often burning themselves to death. But in the wake of a groundbreaking film, lesbians are asserting themselves more - and seeing some encouraging signs of change.

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.

Studs Terkel: He’ll Never Be Silenced

Jeff Cohen November 3, 2008 Jeff Cohen

Studs Terkel

The irrepressible Louis "Studs" Terkel was many things - oral historian, radio and TV host, actor, activist, Bronx-born icon of Chicago, the "great listener" who was hard of hearing, Pulitzer Prize-winner. But most of all he was an inspiration. He inspired every younger activist or independent journalist who ever met him. And who among us wasn't younger than Studs. The self-described "guerilla journalist" died Friday at 96. He was almost 70 when I first met him, more than twice my age. But I couldn't keep up.

Vermonters Stand Up to War Profiteer General Dynamics

Jonathan Leavitt October 29, 2008 Jonathan Leavitt

Whether Barack Obama or John McCain wins the election, war profiteer and military contractor General Dynamics will be well represented in the next administration. That was one of the messages from a group of peace economy activists speaking at a radical bookshop in Montpelier, Vermont on Monday; John McCain has a General Dynamics lobbyist, Rob Chamberlin, working for his campaign. And that "voice for change" Barack Obama? According to the NY Times, James S. Crown, a board member of General Dynamics, is on Obama's national finance committee. With these kinds of connections, General Dynamics' war profiteering will likely continue well into the next presidency - but not if a group of Vermont peace activists gets its way.