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UNITED STATES: Voters reject 'Racial Privacy Initiative'

BY MALIK MIAH SAN FRANCISCO — In a referendum that coincided with the election for California's governor, voters rejected Proposition 54 — the "Racial Privacy Initiative" — by an almost two-to-one margin. Drafted and aggressively promoted by

PHILIPPINES: 60,000 'welcome' Bush

BY NORM DIXON MANILA — At least 50,000 people mobilised across the Philippines on October 18 as US President George Bush, arrived for an eight-hour visit. At least 10,000 people jammed the main thoroughfare leading to the House of

BOLIVIA: President flees

BY NORM DIXON In a humiliating backdown, Bolivia's president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned as president on October 17 and fled to the United States. Lozada resigned as his last remaining supporters in cabinet deserted him in the face of huge

A Woman's Place is in the Struggle: Lesfest restricts attendance, sparks debate

In early September, the organisers of Lesfest, a national lesbian festival and conference, were granted an exemption under Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act to allow the event to be advertised as being for "female-born lesbians". Explaining their

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban reassert control in southeast provinces

BY ROHAN PEARCE A little over two years ago, on October 7, 2001, US President George Bush announced that the Pentagon had begun air strikes against Afghanistan in preparation for a US invasion. The bombing campaign marked the official start of the

Write On: Letters to 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly

Grief in Bali The world today is full of grief. The wars, poverty, disease and cultural disruption wrought by imperial policies of plunder, conquest, humiliation and exploitation are producing an ocean of tears and agony. How many times a day on

Rally to save Freo's South Beach

BY IAN JAMIESON FREMANTLE — The battle to save the popular South Beach is gathering pace, with a public rally being organised on the beach on October 26, at 11am, called by residents and beach users. The rally aims to stop powerful property

Staff, students back first NTEU national strike

BY ARUN PRADHAN Libraries standing empty and university lectures being cancelled would normally alarm people concerned with quality education, but on October 16 — when up to 40,000 university staff went on strike across Australia — the sight

Edward Said remembered

BY JENNY LONG SYDNEY — Around 120 people gathered at the Metcalf Auditorium, in the NSW State Library, on October 17 for a memorial meeting for the highly influential Palestinian intellectual and activist Edward Said. Said died in the US on

PSA needs to challenge managers' 'right' to manage

BY LEON PARISSI SYDNEY — The fight to save 1000 NSW public service education support jobs in the schools and TAFE colleges is entering a critical phase. The state Labor government's deadline for filling the new organisational structures is early

Peace Frontier

It's becoming clear, why you engineeredOur involvement in their war.For our "mutual aid", and for your "free trade"It was worth their dying for.But your quest for oil, and to carve the spoils,Of their reconstructed ruins,Cannot pay the price, for so

What price for a few k's of track?

BY GEOFF PAYNE NEWCASTLE — The Lower Hunter Transport Working Group (LHTWG), set up by the NSW Labor government with wide terms of reference, issued its first report on September 19. There were no surprises. Some options, like replacing the heavy