385

Big money and the media — opinions for hire

By Natalie Zirngast The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) inquiry into the "cash for comments" scandal involving 2UE's shock jocks John Laws and Alan Jones has the rest of the Australian media running scared. Alan Kohler commented in the

UN again demands US end its embargo against Cuba

UN again demands US end its embargo against Cuba The United Nations General Assembly on November 9 overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution, for the eighth successive year, calling for an end to the 40-year-old US economic embargo against Cuba. The

Bad medicine

Bad medicine By Karl Miller I accidentally caught the last segment of Good Medicine, on Channel Nine at 8.30pm Wednesday night. It was one of those times you are so horrified you can't stop watching. Those 10 minutes were a segment on breast

The dictatorship of US$ and Wall Street

The dictatorship of US$ and Wall Street The Global Gamble: Washington's Faustian Bid for World DominanceBy Peter GowanVerso, 1999320 pp., $39.95 Review by Eva Cheng Guns and tanks are usually very visible, but those who control the world also do

Zimbabwe doctors win, nurses strike

Zimbabwe doctors win, nurses strike By Norm Dixon Nurses in several Zimbabwean cities went on strike on November 9 to demand a pay increase, three days after doctors ended their seven-week strike in protest at low salaries, poor working

East Timor benefit

East Timor benefit CANBERRA — On November 6, Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union organised a benefit for East Timor at the University of Canberra bar. The folk-rock

Loose cannons

Royal plural "Our industry is intensely competitive and innovative." — Bill Gates after a US court ruled that his Microsoft has a software monopoly that harms consumers and "quashes innovation". Political talent "We are trying not to

Pro-choice doctors threatened

By Robyn Marshall BRISBANE — United States doctor Warren Hern was detained and questioned by immigration authorities for two hours at Sydney airport on November 10. Hern, a supporter of women's right to choose abortion, was in Australia to attend

Another win for the NTEU

Another win for the NTEU By Jeremy Smith MELBOURNE — A strike scheduled for November 10 at the Victoria University of Technology was called off after management indicated it would settle an agreement with the National Tertiary Education

Government backs away from nuclear reactor rhetoric

Government backs away from nuclear reactor rhetoric By Jim Green When the federal government decided to fund the construction of a new nuclear "research" reactor in 1997, it faced a difficult public relations exercise. The government decided to

Cashing in on misery

By Veronika Habib An Australian businessman has shown his entrepreneurial spirit by opening a new "hotel" in East Timor, the Dili Lodge, where stubbies of VB and Carlton Cold can be purchased, along with plastic thongs. For $110, you can spend the

SA union secretary resigns

SA union secretary resigns By Bronwen Beechey ADELAIDE — Paul Noack resigned as the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) South Australian branch secretary on October 29. Noack's resignation followed a meeting of the AMWU's federal