Other News

Sun newspaper criticised for “comedy” reporting of animal abuse in UK zoo

“The mistreatment of animals can all-too-often be normalised in our society and we regularly see newspapers reporting “cute” or “funny” stories about animals in which the individual animal’s welfare may be compromised. I must say, though, I have never read a news report which takes a clear example of animal abuse, and a potential breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and twists it into an attempt to gain cheap laughs from its readership. A person punching, hitting or otherwise attacking an animal is never funny. I am surprised and saddened that a newspaper like the Sun, which has strongly supported animal protection campaigns in the past, has chosen to highlight a serious incident in this thoughtless manner”

The more nefarious US foreign policy, the more it relies on media complicity

What would US foreign, military and so-called “national security” policy look like if the media reported the most important facts about it? There would be a lot fewer corpses abroad and returning home. And we wouldn’t be cutting “meals on wheels” or other nutrition programs for the poor or elderly in order to sustain the world’s most fantastically bloated military budget.

Why Won’t They Tell Us the Truth About NSA Spying?

“The NSA has previously claimed that 54 terrorist plots had been disrupted ‘over the lifetime’ of the bulk phone records collection and the separate program collecting the internet habits and communications of people believed to be non-Americans. On Wednesday, Inglis said that at most one plot might have been disrupted by the bulk phone records collection alone.”

I’m Gay and I’m Vegan – and They are Connected

That day, for nearly two hours, I sat at my computer and poured over undercover footage from inside factory farms. How could it be that in 30 years, no one had told me that this is how animals we eat become our food? I saw the terrified looks on the animals’ faces, the cruel beatings and torment they endured. I heard the desensitized farm-workers screaming in their faces. And inside, I felt hollow because I knew what this felt like. I knew it from growing up. I knew what it’s like to be bullied.

Al-Qaeda to the rescue

“Gentlemen, we have a golden opportunity here. We are under siege by defector spy Edward Snowden – liberated by the Soviets – and that terrorist hack Greenwald. Snowden may be winning: even among US public opinion, there’s a growing perception we may be more of a threat than al-Qaeda.

So we must show we are vigilantly protecting our freedoms. Yes; we’re gonna scream Terra, Terra, Terra!”

Sparrow Killing And the Chinese Famine

Sara Starkey comments on a short piece from The Guardian which relates how sparrow killing in the UK was still going on up until the 1930’s, and shares info on how the Chinese tried to eradicate these ‘pests’ suffering the consequences for tampering with the balance of nature. Her remarks on the grey squirrel, demonised after a killing campaign against the red squirrel, are very pertinent, highlighting how easily people unthinkingly absorb the propaganda against whatever species has fallen out of our favour.

Edward Snowden Granted Asylum

Interview on Russia Today with BSNews Co-Editor Mike Raddie

Discussing the example Edward Snowden has set and the implications for future whistleblowers as well as the fallout from the NSA scandal in the EU and the way the telecoms companies, the backbone of the public internet, have gone above and beyond, effectively serving the interests of the intelligence community rather than their customers.

That Most Charming of Couples: Nationalism and Hypocrisy

It’s not easy being a flag-waving American nationalist. In addition to having to deal with the usual disillusion, anger, and scorn from around the world incited by Washington’s endless bombings and endless wars, the nationalist is assaulted by whistle blowers like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, who have disclosed a steady stream of human-rights and civil-liberties scandals, atrocities, embarrassing lies, and embarrassing truths. Believers in “American exceptionalism” and “noble intentions” have been hard pressed to keep the rhetorical flag waving by the dawn’s early light and the twilight’s last gleaming.

Saudi Arabia prince defects from royal family

On Saturday, Khalid Bin Farhan said “With pride, I announce my defection from al-Saudi family in Saudi Arabia… This regime in Saudi Arabia does not stand by God’s rules or even [the country’s] established rules and its policies, decisions and actions are totally based on [the] personal will of its leaders.”

The Corporate Media’s Mass Hypnosis

Delivery systems and platforms for information may proliferate at blinding speed, but most Americans have no access to anything resembling the truth. They may know the names of the dead – like Trayvon Martin – but have no clue why they died. “Lies and nonsense are the standard fare for the most read and watched news sources in this country.”