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The Libertine Lover

Sometimes I think – I love making love with a man who is sensitive, Who can hold a conversation about The important things afterwards A man interested in my psyche As well as my body and who conveys That sympathy in the depth of his embrace And the tenderness of words whispered in Poignant communion Then sometimes I think – […]

Syria War Diary: What Life is Like Under ‘Moderate’ Rebel Rule

Since the liberation of Aleppo, and the restoring of peace to Madaya and al-Waer, most Western media have gone silent on the areas, even though it is now possible to visit all of them and hear from civilians who lived under the rule of ”moderate rebels,” which is exactly what journalist Eva Bartlett did. SYRIA — (War Diary) — In early […]

It’s Time To Raise the Level of Public Debate about Syria

These past six months I have been getting to know the inter-media. They’re not formally part of mainstream, and they’re not very social, so I call them inter-media. They are like the maintenance team for the mainstream. To explain this, I’ll first say how I came to meet them. The context of these encounters is writing posts on Syria. Doing so, I rely entirely […]

Moral Injury: The Wounded Soul

  Veterans For Peace UK members John Bourton and Daniel Lenham each gave a fascinating talk at the Hexham Debates recently on ‘how to turn your child into a killer’ and ‘moral injury’ respectively. (See video above). John discusses ‘the psychological processes that go on to turn you from a child into a killer, which, essentially is what basic training […]

Ghosted

So. I’ve been analysed And diagnosed With ‘undesirable personality disorder’ Examined for danger And found ‘unsafe for use’ I’ve been ghosted Labeled an ‘unperson’ Unworthy of interest Sent to Coventry Expunged from history Left freezing in the blast Of your Siberian indifference You have averted your gaze. Like a king, Withdrawn your favour. Kafkaesque I’m left wondering What the charges […]

Neo-Liberalism Under Cover of Racism

It is indeed peculiar that Trump can be elected President on 47.4% of the popular vote. But not nearly as peculiar as that the Conservatives can have untrammelled power in the UK on 36.9% of the popular vote. Both electoral systems need reform, but the UK’s is absolutely indefensible. There is a tiny blogroll down the bottom right hand margin […]

Volunteers by day, terrorists by night: The double life of White Helmets

Volunteers of the White Helmets civil defense organization have a double life: they are ‘volunteers’ by day and terrorists by night. Photos, published online, reveal ‘the second life’ of volunteers of the White Helmets civil defense organization that operates throughout the Syrian territory, controlled by the ‘moderate’ opposition. According to the photos, the volunteers spend one part of their lives, […]

Defend the ZAD – A Call For International Solidarity

  For over 50 years, farmers and locals have resisted the building of a new airport for the French city of Nantes (which by the way already has one). Now in these rich fields, forests and wetlands, which multinational Vinci want to cover in concrete, an experiment in reinventing everyday life in struggle is blossoming. Radicals from around the world, […]

The deeper truths journalists are blind to

The problem is not just that foreign reporting is being stripped of financial resources as the media find it harder to make a profit from their core activities. It is, as Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky pointed out long ago in their book Manufacturing Consent, that the corporate media is designed to reflect the interests of power – and the corporations that control our media are power. They select journalists through a long filtering process (school, university, journalism training, apprenticeships) precisely designed to weed out dissidents and those who think too critically. Only journalists whose worldview aligns closely with those in power reach the top.