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Students at the University of Sheffield have donated four tonnes of goods to city charities. As...

Why Recent Graduates Should Join Code for America

Sympathy for the dodgy salesmen of Australian politics

Babel Rising

T.C. Boyle: Incorporating Environmentalism in Art

The Stone Roses confirm all planned shows to go ahead after Ian Brown calls Reni a 'c**t' onstage

Winter Patriot Blog

Winter Patriot - tyranny is not easily conquered

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph ~ Thomas Paine, 1776

An American with his eye on the world, Winter Patriot is a comprehensive look at the world's big issues - primarily America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Great pieces from osbcure newspapers are often reprinted in chunks and there's a great list of links.

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Bill - From Beyond the Grave

5 feb | A short homage to the prescient social commentary of the late Bill Hicks who died in 1994. This is when he started getting political during the first Iraq war. . . read more

Rootless Cosmopolitan Tony Karon

27 jan | Rootless Cosmopolitan . . read more

TV News Hiding Truth About Iraq Civil War

20 aug | Eric Margolis, contributor to American Conservative magazine and The Real News, says television news is misleading people about the responsibility of the U.S. in fueling the Iraq civil war. . . read more

An Iraq Veteran's Second War

19 jun | A veteran of the war in Iraq, Herold returned to the USA to find himself homeless and fighting against the same people he had just fought for. . . read more

Free Iraq, Free Tibet

17 apr | A video blog from YouTube user bewise78 who tries to mix the situation in Iraq and Tibet. Why did the USA 'free' Iraq? For democracy? For liberation? For politics? Will the international community also try and 'free' Tibet? . . read more

Clueless Americans - From Juan Cole

12 jan | I am often struck by how clueless the American public is to the vast destruction we have wrought on Iraq and its people, directly or indirectly. It strikes me as a bitter joke that 4 million are displaced, often facing hunger and disease, and the right-wing periodicals and presidential candidates are talking about how the "surge" has "turned things around."

For whom? How many orphans have we created? How many widows? How many people who weep and cry every night while trying to fall asleep on straw mats? I estimate on the basis of a UN study of refugees in Syria that as many as 600,000 or 700,000 Baghdadis were ethnically cleansed from the capital under the nose of the American troops implementing the surge. There is an old Chinese proverb, "Children throw stones at frogs in jest, but the frogs die in earnest."

Bush has gutted American civil liberties, and turned us into a hateful nation of spies, torturers, bigots, and colonialists occupying someone else's country... Surveying civilian deaths in Iraq is like walking through Lincoln, Nebraska, after it was hit by a neutron bomb, with everyone dead. Everyone. [More] . . read more

Cindy Sheehan Calls It Quits

3 jun | Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who became the face of the US anti-war movement, has given up her protest against the war. In an interview with Riz Khan on Al-Jazeera she talks about why she is leaving the peace movement and what lies ahead. . . read more

Another Million Iraqi demonstrators: Get out of our country

22 oct | Another Million Iraqi demonstrators: Get out of our country . . read more

Iraq War Surge: Video of Humvee and Roadside Bomb

1 dec | Iraq War Surge: Video of Humvee and Roadside Bomb . . read more

A Neo-Con View of the World

9 jan | Gary Rosen, editor of Commentary magazine and a leading American neo-conservative, talks with satirist Stephen Colbert about the great results of the Iraq war. Colbert suggests Rosen surf the net for enriched uranium. . . read more

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -- Ronald Reagan (1986)

Mavi Marmara: Israeli officers face Turkish trial

A Turkish court has charged four senior Israeli military commanders over the killing of nine Turkish activists trying to reach Gaza in 2010.

Ex-military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi and former heads of military intelligence, the navy and air force are expected to be tried in absentia.

The nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed after Israeli troops boarded their ship, the Mavi Marmara.

They had been hoping to breach Israel's naval blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.

Ron Paul on Why Bankster Power Must be Eradicated

It is imperative that the American people be educated on the dangers of the Fed and the importance of restoring sound money. Now that nearly 50 years have elapsed since silver was removed from circulation, fewer and fewer Americans have firsthand familiarity with real money.

The laying of the groundwork must begin today, so that the American people will be prepared for the day when the mirage the Fed has created evaporates completely.

Chinese army general calls for 'decisive action' vs PH

China should launch "decisive action" against the Philippines to reinforce Beijing's claim on the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a hardline Chinese army general said Friday.

People's Liberation Army (PLA) Major General Luo Yuan, in a commentary published by state-owned website china.org.cn, said China has not abandoned the idea of "war at all costs" to protect its interests.

"'Peaceful rise and 'period of strategic opportunity' preclude war," said Luo, who has been described by Western media as "hawkish" for his ultranationalist views.

"It is incorrect to assume that China will completely rule out military action in any event during this 'period of strategic opportunity,'" he said, referring to Beijing's dispute with Manila.

Think Again From The Outsider

The great challenge facing everyone who wants to change the world we live in is how do you get traction for your ideas? Gunter Pauli the inventor of the ‘blue economy’ has a novel approach. His missionis to develop globally 100 manufacturing innovations with viable business models that could generate 100 million jobs in 10 years. All with zero emissions and no waste.

The novelty? To drive this revolution in an economic framework that will attract investors and governments in entrepreneurial partnerships that feed self-interest while revolutionising outcomes – particularly in relation to carbon.

The blue economy was initially a report to the Club of Rome recommending innovations inspired by science and biometrics. This is a truly cool equation. Science + Economics = A Better Future.

The Really Big Apple

Recently it was announced that Steve Jobs had an FBI file that detailed his personality, how he ran his company and the possibility that he would be appointed to George Bush Sr.' s government.

What is more interesting about Apple at the moment is the $100bn in cash reserves it's accrued and what it might use them for.

End world hunger?

Take over other companies?

Pay its suicidal employees more?

Whatever it chooses, we should really stop focussing on Jobs' genius and start thinking about how the wealth his genius created can be spent for good.

The Future of Trust - From The Outsider

The images of senior Australian politicians being bundled into cars to escape the threat of indigenous demonstrators confirms how weak the post-apology environment is in Australia. The whole point of the apology was not to say 'sorry' but to build a new platform for the positive evolution of indigenous Australians. The apology created a climate of trust but the ignoble inaction that has followed, apart from proposed tinkering with the Australian constitution, has destroyed the platform and the belief in the trustworthiness of political process. Can't we (non-indigenous Australians) actually do something? Something communal not bureaucratic, spiritual not gestural – something that shows that we care.