The Terrors of the Earth
May 6, 2008
Ramallah Underground
May 1, 2008
Ramallah Underground are a collective based in Ramallah Palestine . They have collaborated with artists from across the globe including Lebanon, UK, Switzerland, USA, France and much more. Their lyrics are an expression of anguish and defiance – the voice of the colonised against the coloniser. The website not only contains many excellent tracks (some of which are sampled below) but also an impressive visual art gallery.
Another Occupied Town
Tales from the Frontline
Taht Il Ankad
I also recommended Reporting Live – all tracks available for download on the site.
Government in the Future
April 6, 2008
Noam Chomsky at his finest discussing the essence of man and which social structure is best suited for his advancement and happiness. In the lecture he breaks down the philosophies of Classical Liberalism, State Capitalism, State Socialism and Libertarian Socialism arguing that the later is the best model.
“To inquire and to create-these are the centers around which all human pursuits more or less directly revolve…….Whatever does not spring from a man’s free choice, or is only the result of instruction and guidance, does not enter into his very being, but remains alien to his true nature; he does not perform it with truly human energies, but merely with mechanical exactness” Chomsky quoting Von Humboldt
I Don’t Believe in Atheists
March 16, 2008
It is amusing how some on the ‘left’ have once again rushed to embrace the drink-soaked popinjay and implacable warmonger Christopher Hitchens (see Richard Dawkins’s fawning portrayal of Hitchens; the popinjay also features frequently on the formers website), now that he has come out with a book attacking Islam (don’t confuse it with ‘religion’ as his target in the book, much like Sam Harris, remains Islam, despite claims to the contrary). Is it not ironic that the so called ‘antiwar’ left cheers a man denouncing religion as the cause of all the world’s ill even as he continues to remain the leading cheerleader for Bush’s ‘crusade’.
In the following interview Chris Hedges discusses his new book with Charly Wilder. ‘Foreign correspondent and intellectual provocateur Chris Hedges explains why New Atheists like Christopher Hitchens are as dangerous as Christian fundamentalists.’
Also check out John Gray and Terry Eagleton‘s elegantly caustic demolitions of the New Atheists.
To listen to a podcast of the interview, click here.
Many charges have been leveled at foreign correspondent Chris Hedges over the years, but shrinking from conflict isn’t one of them. Hedges spent nearly seven years as Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times, covered the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and was part of the New York Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of global terrorism. He took on the American military-industrial complex with his books “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” and “What Every Person Should Know About War,” and provoked the rage of the Christian right by likening them to Nazis in last year’s “American Fascists.” Hedges now cements his reputation as an intellectual provocateur with the charmingly titled “I Don’t Believe in Atheists.” While speaking out against the Christian fundamentalist movement and its political agenda, Hedges noticed another group — this one on the left — conspicuously allied with the neocons on the subject of America’s role in world politics. The New Atheists, as they have been called, include Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and bestselling author and journalist Christopher Hitchens — outspoken secularists who depict religious structures and the belief in God as backward and anti-democratic.
Jim Lobe on Neoconservatives
March 13, 2008
Late last year we were honoured to have Jim Lobe, the finest US investigative journalist, visit us here in Glasgow. I had filmed his very informative talk which I have yet to put online (hopefully very soon). Here is an interview with him from Antiwar.com where he presents useful insights into the background of the neocons (Jims’s specialty).
MP3 here. (55:49)
Jim Lobe, Washington correspondent for IPS News, discusses the neoconservative movement, their origins on the Trotskyite Left, their alliances with Scoop Jackson, the Christian Right, Rightwing nationalists and the Military Industrial Complex against the old eastern establishment, their lust for power and militaristic world view, their role in the war against Iraq and the realist resurgence.
‘A Walk Through a Constant Graveyard’
March 13, 2008
Robert Fisk in Glasgow 2005 giving a public talk on his book “The Great War for Civilisation” (thanks to Variant). Download Fisk toured the world giving this talk. In the USA he gave another worth watching, introduced by Chomsky, which can be found here – War, Geopolitics and History.
Gaza Calling
March 3, 2008
Akeel Bilgrami: In Defense of Academic Freedom
January 18, 2008
Akeel Bilgrami,Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, talking at the DePaul “In Defence of Academic Freedom” conference. An examination of academic freedom and the affect of Israel lobby pressure groups on university life. Focusing on Norman Finkelsteins tenure at DePaul, events at Columbia University and finishing on the duty of the intellectual.
