How Venezuela's participatory democracy puts western 'democracy' to shame.

I’ve witnessed the self-assured superiority of Paris, the imperial arrogance of Washington, the capitalist decadence of New York’s Manhattan, parliamentary elections in Germany, and my fair share of elections in Britain. In none of them have I encountered a democratic political culture as profound as Venezuela’s.

You can read the whole of Ewan Robertson's report on Venezuela's elections here.

Contrast the genuine choices that the Venezuelan people have with the very limited choice on offer in the US Presidential election.

HAT TIP: Joe Emersberger at Media Lens Message Board:

Abuse of inmates happens in every Georgian jail, says torture whistleblower

President Saakashvili must step down if he is a democrat. But he’s no democrat. He keeps the entire nation in chaos and fear. He relies on criminals. He has people with blood on their hands working in high positions in the government.

Imagine if this scandal took place in Belarus. What a huge fuss there'd be. But it's happening in Georgia, a key US ally, so let's move on....

More on this shocking story here:

 

Forget Andy Murray and Wiggo- it's Camelot's turn to shine

This piece of mine appears over at The Week/The First Post.

Neil Clark: Three-year-old colt will make Triple Crown history if he wins the St Leger on Saturday.


BRITAIN'S glorious summer of sport isn't over – get ready for another historic moment tomorrow, this time at the races, when a three-year old colt named Camelot aims to become the first horse to win the English 'Triple Crown' since 1970.

You can read the whole piece here.

UPDATE: Camelot failed to make history as he could only finish second behind the 25-1 outsider Encke.

Blowback time for US: why death and destruction are the only outcomes of NATO interventions

Above you can watch an interview with me on RT, on the Libya consulate killings and the wave of violence sweeping the Middle East. 

Give us back our diamond

This piece of mine appears in the Daily Express.

Descendants of an exiled maharaja have launched a legal battle to reclaim the priceless Koh-i-Noor jewel given as a gift to Queen Victoria.

IT IS the most famous diamond in the world. The fabulous Koh-i-Noor was given as a "gift" in 1850 to Queen Victoria from 11-year-old Duleep Singh, the last maharaja of the Sikh Empire, and remains to this day at the heart of our crown jewels.

But for Sikhs the affair still rankles as the diamond was acquired by coercion after the British had annexed the Punjab region and yesterday Singh’s descendants launched a legal action for the diamond, other possessions of the maharaja’s family and also Singh’s body to be returned to India.

You can read the whole article here.

The fight for a great Britain begins now

  

This column of mine appears in today's Morning Star.

 Neil Clark: The TUC meets in Brighton this week at a time when public services are under the gravest threat they have faced since the modern welfare state was founded in the 1940s.

You can read the whole of the article here.

Is the U.S. the greatest nation on earth?

You can hear me in a radio debate on this topic on BBC Radio 5 Live here.

The discussion starts at around 13 minutes into the programme.