All News

White nationalists are flocking to genetic ancestry tests, and they’re not liking what they find

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Undercover Man Hidingsource: Alternet 
published: 17 August 2017 

It was a strange moment of triumph against racism: The gun-slinging white supremacist Craig Cobb, dressed up for daytime TV in a dark suit and red tie, hearing that his DNA testing revealed his ancestry to be only “86 percent European, and … 14 percent Sub-Saharan African.” The studio audience whooped and laughed and cheered.

And Cobb – who was, in 2013, charged with terrorizing people while trying to create an all-white enclave in North Dakota – reacted like a sore loser in the schoolyard.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold on, just wait a minute,” he said, trying to put on an all-knowing smile. “This is called statistical noise.” Continue reading

A mad world: capitalism and the rise of mental illness

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Sectioned - mental healthsource: Red Pepper
published: 9 August 2017 

Mental illness is now recognised as one of the biggest causes of individual distress and misery in our societies and cities, comparable to poverty and unemployment. One in four adults in the UK today has been diagnosed with a mental illness, and four million people take antidepressants every year.

‘What greater indictment of a system could there be,’ George Monbiot has asked, ‘than an epidemic of mental illness?’

The shocking extent of this ‘epidemic’ is made all the more disturbing by the knowledge that so much of it is preventable. This is due to the significant correlation between social and environmental conditions and the prevalence of mental disorders. Continue reading

Edge Fund News Update & 5 year celebration

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Edge Fund applications Apr 2017provided by: The Edge Fund
published: May 2017

The Edge Fund is now in the middle of its seventh funding round, working with members to score applications and continue to support the ever urgent work of radical grassroots groups.

If you’d like to see the timeline for this current funding round, check out the website. wwwedgefund.org.uk

Once groups have been shortlisted, The Edge Fund will be hosting a funding day on July 15th in Birmingham. If you’re already a member please come and join us to help decide how we share out the funds. Continue reading