A progressive analysis of politics and the arts.
by Lotty Clare
Fugitive, criminal or hero? Everyone seems to have an opinion on the sudden arrest of Julian Assange on April 11th, what the broader implications are, and what his fate should be.Continue Reading
by Andrejs Germanis
In the few years that I have been watching films it is a rare occasion that a film would receive an ovation at the end of the performance. This was the case during a recent preview showing of Snowden.
The latest Oliver Stone written and directed dramatization of actual events was shown as part of the 60th BFI London Film Festival. The film, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden and Shailene Woodley as Lindsay Mills, Snowden’s girlfriend, depicts the events that before and shortly after the shocking reveal of 2013 that the US government is spying on their citizens. The events are presented in an interview format between Snowden and the group of The Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto), Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and Ewan MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson).Continue Reading
While Islamophobia continues to run rampant on the streets of Europe, one critical aspect that tends to be overlooked by the mainstream media when it comes to the Western world’s relationship with the Middle East is the steady stream of armed aid the former provides to pro-Western regimes in the latter. Understanding the main source of grievances in the Arab world may offer us a clue as to why there is so much tension stemming from the Middle East today. For example, it’s no secret that the British government has for a long time been highly complicit in its arms dealings with Sunni Saudi Arabia, often used by the oil-rich kingdom to exterminate Shi’ite Houthi rebels in Yemen. And even more recently, leaked emails from Hillary Clinton also indicate that she is fully supportive of fanning the flames in Syria even further through the export of arms to extremist groups such as ISIS.
Two weeks ago, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened to mixed reviews from film critics, but nonetheless went on to perform spectacularly at the box office. Just this week, the Panama Papers were also unleashed into the public sphere, from the world’s fourth-biggest offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca. The 11.5 million document leak featured startling revelations on a web of shady offshore accounting, involving twelve prominent world leaders including David Cameron. Implicating a total of 143 world politicians, their families and close associates, the leaks demonstrated the various ways in which elite rulers have been exploiting secretive offshore tax regimes.
by Andrew McArthur
The world looks on with bated breath as the FBI and Apple discuss the access rights to the iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. But the world isn’t interested in the injustice of another American killer being granted his rights to privacy, despite the lives he ruined.
If the FBI is granted access rights to Farook’s device, the integrity of smart technology would suddenly be thrown into question. If you follow the work of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, then it becomes clear that the security of most electronic communications has been compromised for a long time.Continue Reading
“For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens,
as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone.” – David Cameron
Ever since Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks and The Guardian’s revelations about state surveillance and data gathering were largely greeted with indifference by the public, governments across the globe have continued to find ways to watch and obtain information about their citizens. Yet increasingly it is the actions taken by these governments in response to healthy criticism and protest and the sinister erosion of human rights that should strike a worrying chord in each and every person.Continue Reading
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