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August 2014
August 2014
... assault on Gaza; Egypt's workers
struggle on; Syria's new artists in exile; IT,
how much for your data? rise of the web documentary; Piketty in
the light of Marx; Latin America's very modern coups;
Balkans, hope after the rains, Algeria's
frustrated youth; Vietnam's Costa del Cam Ranh; Gabriel
Garcia Marquez remembered ...
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Unfair and unbalanced - Serge Halimi
The Israeli army's punitive expedition in Gaza has revived a major aspiration of modern journalism: the right to be lazy. In professional terms, this is known as "balance" (the far-right US television channel Fox News describes itself, not without irony, as "fair and balanced").
In the Middle East conflict, where the wrongs are not equally divided, "balance" gives the occupying power an advantage. It also enables western journalists to escape the anger of those who dislike hearing inconvenient (...)Translated by Barbara Wilson -
A short history of a small, strategic strip of land
Gaza: Palestine first and last - Alain Gresh
More than a thousand Palestinians have been killed in Israel's latest assault on Gaza, against some 40 Israelis, and the numbers are rising. But Gaza, the birthplace of Palestinian nationalism, has a long history of resistance.Translated by George Miller -
Mass protests don't change a worker's lot
Egypt on strike* - Moustafa Bassiouni
After the 2011 uprisings, it seemed that a revived workers' movement might be a force for change in Egypt. It isn't working out quite that way.Translated by George Miller -
'We don't have much time. we may be arrested tomorrow'
Syria's exiled artists - Angela Robson
Syria once had a thriving artistic life, but many who were part of it have had to flee, ending up next door in Lebanon, trying to express what has happened to them and their country.LMD english edition exclusive -
'Those who have little give to those who have nothing'
The Balkan floods* - Philippe Bertinchamps and Jean-Arnault Dérens
The worst flooding in a century drowned towns in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in May. Governments can't cope, or deny responsibility: it's up to the locals to rebuild yet again.Translated by Charles Goulden -
These days the military go back to their barracks
Latin American coups upgraded* - Maurice Lemoine
The classic Latin American coup used to put the military in direct command and control of a country. That doesn't play well on the world stage, and is being replaced by more clever manipulation - although the same people end up in power.Translated by Charles Goulden -
What you whistle in the shower
How much for your data?* - Evgeny Morozov
Rapacious financialisation risks turning everything we are and have into a productive asset. And the foremost asset is our personal data, mined by digitalised technology.Original text in English -
Robots before humans - Pierre Rimbert
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More egalitarian capitalism would still be capitalism
Something better than this* - Russell Jacoby
Thomas Piketty's phenomenon of a tome, Capital in the Twenty-first Century, doesn't question the whole system of capitalism - unlike Marx's original enquiry. It simply wants to make things more just and equal.Original text in English -
Coming to a smallish screen very near you
Rise of the web documentary* - David Commeillas
The web documentary, which goes beyond showing and telling a situation into a mix of real and simulated, sometimes gamed, experiences, is not quite a decade old. It still looks like the future.Translated by Stephanie Irvine -
Sexual frustration and youthful politics in Algeria
Forbidden* - Pierre Daum
Islam's prohibition on pre-marital sex, plus advancing ages of marriage due to lack of work and housing, have created a frustrated generation - especially of young men, who sometimes take out their anger in violence.Translated by Charles Goulden -
250,000 Russian budget tourists hit Vietnam's beaches
Costa del Cam Ranh - Jordan Pouille
Expat Russian entrepreneurs, budget Russian tourists, and a government hoping the post-Vietnam war exiles will come back home rich to retire: Vietnam is a demonstration model for change.Translated by George Miller -
'Don't forget that only imagination is clear-sighted'
Goodbye to Gabriel García Márquez* - Ignacio Ramonet
They'd known each other nearly 40 years. They met one last time, in Cuba, before the rain and the darkness finally fell.Translated by Charles Goulden
