The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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Internet addiction is becoming more and more pervasive. The first inpatient treatment centre for Internet addiction has opened up in the US. Patients undergo a three-day detox that is followed up by a full psychiatric evaluation.
Internet addiction has been recognised as a full-on crisis in other parts of the world. According to a government study in Japan, half a million 12-18 year olds are pathologically addicted to the Internet. In South Korea, Internet addiction has been declared an...
Author, Chrystia Freeland, looks under the hood of global capitalism to expose the technological, economic and structural inequalities pushing society in unforeseen directions. Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds -- and so is economic inequality, argues Freeland. In an impassioned talk, she charts the rise of a new class of plutocrats (those who are extremely powerful because they are extremely wealthy), and suggests that globalization and new technology are actually fueling, rather...
Fazila Farouk of SACSIS talks to Na’eem Jeenah of the Afro-Middle East Centre about developments in the Middle East, particularly, given the threat of external military intervention looming over Syria and the undoing of the Egyptian revolution, where a military coup has unseated a democratically elected government.
Both the revolution in Egypt and the calls for the removal of Syria’s dictator are rooted in the struggles and mobilization of ordinary people on the ground. The...
The state of the ANC/SACP/COSATU alliance is being hugely debated following an alliance summit last weekend in the aftermath of trade union federation, COSATU, suspending its general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi. His suspension came after months of on-going speculation about strained relations and divergent objectives amongst alliance partners. In the run up to South Africa's 2014 general elections, a weak alliance is not a good sign for the ruling party that depends on the electoral support of...
Although there are almost 125 species of coffee, we only use two species to produce the beverage drink. These are Arabica and Robusta coffee.
Arabica is a very special plant. It's a hybrid formed between two different species that came together maybe a million years ago somewhere in a forest in Ethiopia. It was a unique event that happened just once.
When it was taken out of Ethiopia to plantations in other parts of the world, Arabica's genetic diversity was greatly diminished, leading...
The Obama administration appears to be pressing ahead with military strikes on Syria despite new obstacles at home and abroad. On Wednesday, an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council failed to reach an agreement after Russia and China opposed any authorization of force in response to last week's alleged chemical attack by Assad forces in Ghouta. The Obama administration is expected to make public soon some of its intelligence on who exactly was responsible for the attacks,...
