Throwing Plastic Bricks At Torturers Because Words Bounce Off

Legofesto is a British artist who describes herself as “a politics-junkie and news-hound, with a obsession for lego” and “very, very pissed off about how this War on Terror is being prosecuted”.
In response to scenes of war and torture she works to recreate some of the most notorious images using Lego, based on photographs and [...]

The Other Opinion – an interview with Jamil Azar, al Jazeera’s Senior Anchor

After 31 years with the BBC’s Arabic Service in London, Jamil Azar accepted a job at the fledgling al Jazeera in 1997.
Since then he has risen to become a senior presenter and has a large input on their editorial policy. Among his achievements was to come up with the channel’s slogan, “The opinion and the other opinion.” In this interview he discusses [...]

Who To Call When You Need A Diplomat Fast

Brussels is a key centre for diplomacy and a recent arrival to the scene is Independent Diplomat, set up in 2004 by Carne Ross, a British diplomat who resigned from Government service after giving evidence to Butler inquiry on intelligence and weapons of mass destruction that contradicted British government claims.

Nicholas Whyte has been running Independent [...]

Lisbon, Mon Amour

UK MEP, Andrew Duff, (ALDE) has just published a new book, ‘Saving the European Union; The logic of the Lisbon Treaty’, a robust defence of the Lisbon Treaty, cheekily illustrated with a photo of Gordon Brown grinning as he signed the Treaty.

Interview: John Evans, TUAC-OECD, responds to G20

At the Global Progressive forum, held at the European Parliament 2-3 April 2009, I managed to interview John Evans, Secretary – General of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD

Bill Clinton Leads the Charge for Change

The day after April Fools Day, President Bill Clinton arrived at the European Parliament, giving the keynote speech at the Global Progressive Forum, the gathering of the worldwide centre-left.
Other major speakers include Pascal Lamy and Howard Dean. This event was timed to coincide with the G20 and NATO summits, hoping to add to the momentum [...]

The Manhattan Transfer

Caroline Lucas MEP held a screening of Canadian Director Eric Bednarski’s latest film, The Strangest Dream. In it he tells the story of nuclear physicist Sir Joseph Rotblat, the only scientist to quit the Manhattan Project, the builders of the first atomic weapons, on moral grounds.
Believing that scientists had a moral and ethical obligation to [...]