19 search results for "anders breivik"
If you have a narrative about the Sydney siege, here are some facts you need to account for: The siege was carried out by a Muslim man who was a self-styled cleric and who had recently proclaimed his conversion from Shia to Sunni (an especially big deal in the current context in the Middle East) […]
12 Jul
On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik, a Right-wing writer and activist, killed more than sixty young members of the Norwegian Labour Party on Utøya island. Captured alive, Breivik was more than willing to explain his actions as a ‘necessary atrocity’ designed to ‘wake up’ Europe to its betrayal by the Left, and its impending destruction through […]
22 Jul
One of the most striking things about the mainstream media coverage of Kevin Rudd’s “PNG solution” is how the discussion is mostly framed by ideas, policies and language that are increasingly relics of a past phase of the interminable “border security” debate. By outmanoeuvring opponents to both his Right and Left on this issue, Rudd […]
19 Jan
Comments Off on Solidarity with the Greek anti-fascist resistance
Today is the international day of action against fascism, an initiative called from Athens where the thugs of Golden Dawn have been trying to capitalise on their electoral breakthrough in the country feeling the sharpest edge of Eurozone austerity. Left Flank extends its best wishes to the ordinary Greek people fighting the twin horrors of […]
09 Nov
Comments Off on The capitalist crisis, Obama’s re-election and the US Left
Perhaps more than for a long time, the US presidential vote earlier this week was dominated by a clear message to the Left, the working class and minority voters: the absolute necessity to vote for the “lesser evil” in Obama. Compared with the sense of hope that pervaded Obama’s election in 2008 (for one of […]
29 Jun
Remember when Tad Tietze, Guy Rundle and I edited that book ‘On Utoya’? Well, amongst other things, it inspired the critically acclaimed play ‘The Economist’ written by Tobias Manderson-Galvin and directed by Van Badham. The people who produced the play, Australian based MKA Theatre of New Writing, in particular their less-than-flush-with-cash actors, need to get to […]
19 Nov
Comments Off on End times for democracy? How the 1% staged a coup & why worse is yet to come
‘Don’t forget who runs your economy now.’ For the 1 percent who rule society, democracy seems more than ever a hindrance to ensuring that the most calamitous economic crisis since the 1930s is paid for by the 99 percent below them. The most obvious expression of this is the installation of unelected technocrats as prime […]
11 Sep
Comments Off on Ten years since 9/11: What have progressives really learned about war & Islamophobia?
The tenth anniversary of 9/11 has seen TV outlets promo tribute after tribute, where the message is clear: the tragedy of the twin towers requires of us an uncritical outpouring of grief. The now ten years old footage, which has been replayed so very many times, is still raw and powerful: people jumping from burning […]
25 Jul
Comments Off on Terror in the eye of the beholder? Norway, the far Right & the state-media complex
This weekend was a salutary lesson in how terrorism is treated by the media and political establishment. The lesson may surprise you, because there are two narratives constructed: Firstly, with outrage, linking of associations on the basis of zero evidence, calls for continued military action and tightening of domestic security (read: curtailing civil liberties) to […]
18 Dec
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