Mark Charan Newton

I received this in response to my complaint about the appalling BBC interview where two young BNP members were allowed to promote racism under spurious terms. The interviewer possessed all the intellectual grit and rigour of the school playground when questioning them. I reiterate – this is not about free speech – there was no [...]

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I would be upset if there were no more giant pandas, I’d be upset if there were no more lions, if there were no more tigers, so equally I’d be upset if white people weren’t here any more.

From a Radio One feature. I’m pretty fucking angry about this. Can I just say this isn’t about [...]

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What is says in the headline:

Comments by China’s ambassador in Islamabad last Thursday highlight the reckless character of the Obama administration’s escalating intervention in Pakistan. By pressuring Islamabad to wage an all-out military offensive against Islamic insurgents in the Swat Valley and neighbouring districts, Washington is not only destabilising Pakistan but raising tensions in a [...]

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The link on this Twitter page got there before me, but this is something that has been circulated around SF/F community inboxes: a press release, backed by China Miéville. For those of you with an interest in politics and are thinking of attending Sci-Fi London this weekend, I think this is something important:
Open letter to [...]

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Old article, but worth a read if you can spare a few minutes.
When tens of thousands of people staged demonstrations in Mexico last year to protest a 60 percent increase in the price of tortillas, many analysts pointed to biofuel as the culprit. Because of US government subsidies, American farmers were devoting more and [...]

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From Monthly Review.

The weekend that the hemisphere’s Presidents met in Trinidad at the Summit of the Americas marked the same weekend that Cuba defeated the US in the Bay of Pigs invasion 48 years ago. At the Summit, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega recalled the invasion in a speech that rightly criticized US imperialism [...]

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Now this “violence against women” poll is fucking depressing reading. The summary on Lenin’s Tomb highlights the mess:
16% of people in England and Wales think it is acceptable for a man to beat his wife or girlfriend if she nags; 13% think it is acceptable for a man to beat his wife or girlfriend if [...]

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I saw this fascinating article over at Socialist Unity concerning the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008.

Under this new Act it is will be an offence to take a photograph of police officers ‘likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’. And if guilty you could be looking at a 10 [...]

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I worry about this sort of thing.
A wave of Seventies-style wildcat strikes broke out across Britain today in protest at foreign workers taking jobs.
More than 1,000 employees downed tools at power plants and oil and gas refineries in
England, Scotland and Wales.
The unofficial walk-outs were triggered by anger over a major construction contract at a [...]

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You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
Thanks to K for bringing this to my attention. This was posted originally on the Al Jazeera English People and Power documentary:

The Ivory Coast supplies 40 per cent of global cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, making it the number one producer in [...]

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As reported in the New York Times, the children of the left are uniting.
Financial behemoths have been nationalized. The government is promising to spend liberally to combat recession. There are even rumors of universal health care. Socialism is on the march! As we leave capitalism behind, the traditionalists among you may be wondering: Will [...]

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Thanks to K for emailing the link. What the US Dept. of State says about human rights practices in the UK from a couple of years ago. It certainly makes interesting reading, and, in places, makes us sound rather a bad country.
The following human rights problems were reported: increased police misconduct; occasional abuse of detainees [...]

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