Inspiration

The Judgement

Humanity, on the brink of extinction, is on trial for the consequences of its actions, represented by one man, David Carniste, the defendant facing a jury of non-human animals. Charges also include racism, sexism, homophobia, and the speciesism propelling humanity’s decline. Consumerism is also on trial, and the arms trade. This must watch short film, written and directed by Maxime Ginolin, […]
The post The Judgement appeared first on BSNEWS.

An Interview with Media Lens

We live in disconcerting times. Here at home, a Tory government with the weakest of mandates is waging, on behalf of corporate-financial elites, class war against the poor and vulnerable. Across the world, and particularly in the Middle East, the engines of western imperialism continue to chug remorselessly along, their slaughter and immiseration of millions an irrelevance to western war […]
The post An Interview with Media Lens appeared first on BSNEWS.

That’s One Small Step for a Judge, One Giant Leap for the Nonhuman Rights Project

She said that “persons” are not restricted to human beings...The parameters of legal personhood have long been and will continue to be discussed and debated by legal theorists, commentators, and courts,” she wrote, ”and will not be focused on semantics or biology, or even philosophy, but on the proper allocation of rights under the law.”

Re-imagining our collective powers against austerity

The “public” interest has been made synonymous with economic growth and international competitiveness. Police, surveillance and military budgets are, as Nina Power notes, being increased in order to defend the “public” from vague racist threats like ISIS and “terrorism,” but in fact these weapons will be wielded against those of us committed to causing “economic disruptions” to challenge the order of extractive austerity.

Inspirational: Striking Workers Occupy Telefónica HQ in Barcelona

When they went on strike on March 28 this year, they rejected not only the company’s meager offer but also that of the two largest Spanish trade unions — the CC.OO and the UGT — which, as one striker put, “sold us” for a small rise on the previous drastic reductions and to put an end to the strike
The post Inspirational: Striking Workers Occupy Telefónica HQ in Barcelona appeared first on BSNEWS.

US Court Hears Arguments for Chimpanzee Personhood

It is the very essence of the common law, the judge said, that it “evolves according to new discoveries and social mores.” They are enough like humans that they should have a right to “bodily liberty,” even if other rights, like voting or freedom of religion, are beyond them.
The post US Court Hears Arguments for Chimpanzee Personhood appeared first on BSNEWS.

Kindness, Activism, Ego, and Social Skills

If you also need a reminder of how all this dysfunction kills any chance of social change, take a good, honest look around. While we bask in the glow of our “fans” regularly tuning in to our livestreams or sharing our photos or quoting our statuses, every form of life on earth is under assault with no hint of imminent reversal.
The post Kindness, Activism, Ego, and Social Skills appeared first on BSNEWS.