We’ve all heard the phrase, “Money can’t buy happiness,” and, in spite of ourselves, we can’t help but wonder: Why not? Sometimes it seems like the answers to our problems really could be money—after all, money would provide more travel opportunities and relaxation, and less stress. Surely that would lead to happiness, right? Of course,…
Egypt: pardon evokes frustration rather than celebration
Mohamed Mostafa/Demotix. All rights reserved. The news of Sisi pardoning a hundred activists leaves me more angry than joyful. It's not that I'm not happy the injustice of false imprisonment has been suspended, but that for some reason the pardon highlights the injustices that persist. The news comes ahead of Sisi's visit to New York…
7 National Monuments The President Wants To Strip Of Protections
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump ordered the Interior Department to review national monument designations dating back more than two decades. The national monuments called into question by Trump account for millions of acres of land, USA Today reported. Trump’s order argues that former presidents “abused” the system by designating the land as a monument, thus protecting it from oil…
Nonviolent strategies to defeat totalitarians such as ISIS
IS fighters in Raqqa with captured weapons, Jan 2014. AP Photo/Militant Website. All rights reserved. The anti-ISIS coalition is preparing a major ground offensive against ISIS to recapture Mosul and, eventually, ISIS-declared capital Raqqa. However, any armed victories will come with enormous costs for the locals and are unlikely to bring mid- or long-term stability…
Refugees and realistic European options
Click:tin box manufacturer Protest poster at PEGIA demonstration( Patriotic Euopeans againt Islamisization of the West). Jens Meyer /Press Association. All rights reserved.Like the Eurozone crisis before it, Europe’s refugee crisis has forced the EU into a state of permanent emergency. Refugee flows into Europe continue to dominate the headlines, punctuated by regular emergency summits and…
"A Gramscian party in a non-Gramscian world." An interview with Paul Mason
Alex Sakalis (AS): At what moment did you and Theopi Skarlatos decide to make this documentary? Paul Mason (PM): Well on January 25, when Tsipras was speaking in Propylaea, we had just finished making a 15-minute short documentary about the election and we just looked at each other and said ‘this is going to be amazing’…
Mobilising for peace and freedom: from aspiration to lasting change
In 2014, Cynthia Cockburn wrote the first article in the 12-month lead up to the 100th anniversary of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She reprised the formation of the organisation reminding us of our history in April 1915: “More than a thousand women assembled to talk peace. They travelled there from…
Why It Matters That “Hidden Figures” Outearned “La La Land”
Click:bronze valve Over Super Bowl weekend, Hidden Figures edged ahead of La La Land in the cumulative revenue race. (As of publication, the film has earned $119.4 million in North America, while La La Land’s tally stands at $118.3 million.) La La Land is widely considered to be the front-runner for best picture at this year’s awards…
Here’s How Much Coffee You Should Drink If You Want To Be Healthy
So you’re a coffee addict. Welcome to the club. According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 64 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee a day, with 11 percent of those polled admitting to drinking four or more cups a day. Despite the contradictory flood of information concerning coffee—it’s the devil’s drink one moment…
"Economic peace" for Palestine?
David Silverman / Getty Images. All rights reserved. One of the most persistent and constant themes in both the Israeli and the international approach to the Palestinian issue has been the notion that the road to peace has a strong economic dimension. According to this thinking, if the Palestinian economy and institutions of governance are…