Stuff to read: #3

Big Brother

Forget reality TV. Walk across London and your movements are being recorded. A couple of articles about the total surveillance society.

1. The real Big Brother
Who was the real Big Brother, and what did the TV show of the same name actually achieve?

2. Closed Circuit TV
CCTV cameras are everywhere now. Spend a day walking the streets of London and your image will have been recorded hundreds of times. Is it only the guilty that should worry, or should we all be concerned about the invasion of privacy?

Shooting your classmates

Two boys planned to blow up their school canteen and then shoot the survivors. What actually happened at the Columbine School massacre, and why did they do it?

Screen idle

TV - is the stuff you see on TV really as bad as some people say? An alternative look at the impact of the small screen.

GOD: where is he?

Some people think that God is out there in the far distance, but does this make sense?

Arm the world!

While the popstars were singing, "Feed the world" British businessmen were selling arms to Africa, some of which were handed out to child soldiers so that they could shoot each other.

Love and Sex

Why are there so many thorny issues surrounding that girl-boy thing? Here we give frank answers to some of your most troubling questions.

Chaos

Is the world essentially chaotic? How could a butterfly change an entire weather system across the Pacific Ocean? Is this the end of science as we know it? Find out about the chaos theory.

Crazy Globalization

A series of 4 articles about what's going on in the madhouse we call the global village:

1. The real rulers of the world: Unelected by anyone, the IMF and the World Bank are two of the most powerful organisations in the world. Find out what they are and what they're up to.

2. Foreign debt: Some people want to feed the world but the bankers insist on profit. Find out how foreign debt cripples the poorest nations of the world.

3. Shameless multinational companies: Big business is supposed to be the saviour of the Third World. The story of Nestle (famous for Nescafe) reveals just how bizarre this idea is.

4. Crazy laptops: What on earth was the UN thinking about? Laptops for hungry kids without electricity in the Thirld World?

Chain gangs

Chaining groups of prisoners and taking them out to work. Is this a step forward? See what the prisoners have to say.

The German cannibal

The truly gruesome story of the man who wanted to eat human flesh and the other man who wanted to be loved and eaten. (Not suitable for younger readers.)

Dreaming of politics

A fun look at the two extremes of the political spectrum: John Lennon and Adam Smith.

A reply to our critics

People say we are too miserable. "Where is the joi de vivre (the joy of life)?" they ask. Here we set the record straight.

We are not terrorists!

Fullspate speaks out in defiance of the unacceptable bits of the anti-terrorism legislation imposed in the UK, but we insist we are not terrorists.

The other drug dealers

Is it right for pharmaceutical companies to make so much money out of drugs that people need to stay alive? Should they be the ones to decide which drugs get produced and how much they cost?

What is reality?

We say that a whole bunch of things that people used to believe in are not real. But do we really know what reality is? How about trees - what are they really?

What is freedom?

So many people have died in the name of freedom, but did we ever really know what on earth it was?