A golden staircase greets guests to De Warande, an exclusive club in central Brussels. Built in the late eighteenth century, this mansion was acquired in 1907 by François Empain, a banker who helped his royal chum Leopold II loot the Congo. With its historical association to imperial conquest, it is surely an apt venue for furtive talks on how to […]
European Union
A Quarterpounder with starvation
One million died in the Ethiopian famine of 1984 and yet the country was growing and exporting food for European animals by Thomas Swann (Scottish Socialist Voice) Faminie in Ethiopia In 2005, a report by the World Health Organisation showed that 1.6 billion people in world were overweight and of these 400 million suffered from obesity. Around the same time the […]
‘Limited But Persuasive’ Evidence – Syria, Sarin, Libya, Lies
By David Edwards Last month, a ComRes poll supported by Media Lens interviewed 2,021 British adults, asking: ‘How many Iraqis, both combatants and civilians, do you think have died as a consequence of the war that began in Iraq in 2003?’ An astonishing 44% of respondents estimated that less than 5,000 Iraqis had died since 2003. 59% believed that fewer […]
Ireland and the Basque Country
Massive Flight (Emigration) or General Strike? By James Petras Many billions of Euros are being extracted from Europe’s vassal-debtor nations – Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland –and transferred to the creditor banks, financial speculators and swindlers located in the City of London, Wall Street, Geneva and Frankfort. Under what has been termed ‘austerity’ programs vast tributary payments are amassed by […]
Catfight – and it’s US vs EU
Lovers of turbo-neoliberalism, rejoice – and take your bottles of Moet to a prime ringside seat; there won’t be a nastier catfight this summer than the opening rounds opposing two Western giants. Forget about the Pentagon “pivoting” to Asia without ever abandoning the Middle East; nothing compares with this voyage in the entrails of turbo-capitalism, worthy of a neo-Balzac by […]