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Loose cannons

Aussie battler "I believe I am entitled to be paid for my labour irrespective of how much of the company I own." — Frank Lowy, who last year was paid $13.39 million as executive chairman of Westfield Holdings and who also heads the company's

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM: 'Constructing another Europe, another world'

BY SUSAN AUSTIN PARIS — The second European Social Forum, held in Paris from November 12-15, attracted around 50,000 people, mainly from the countries of the Europe Union. The ESF is modeled on the World Social Forum (WSF), held for the last

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. Includes the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ news. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone (02) 9564 1277. Visit

Broad-scale land clearing continues in Qld

BY ROBYN MARSHALL BRISBANE — On November 13, Louise Matthiesson of the Wilderness Society addressed a public meeting in New Farm to highlight the lack of action by Premier Peter Beattie's Labor government on stopping land clearing. In May, the

(Some definitions)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The total market value of goods and services produced in the economy within a given period (usually a year) after deducting the costs of goods and services used up in the process of production. Balance on goods and

Ideas to resist the empire

BY MARGARITA WINDISCH MELBOURNE — One hundred and twenty socialists attended the Socialist Alliance's Victorian state conference, held on November 15 around the theme "Resisting the Empire". Renowned Marxist historian Humphrey McQueen opened

SCOTLAND: 'Bush' thrown out of parliament

BY NORM DIXON There was uproar in the Scottish Parliament on November 20 when "George Bush", who was in the public gallery, jumped up and shouted: "God bless my fellow war criminals in the Scottish Parliament. God bless my fellow mass murderers. If

Meeting hears harrowing tales of mistreatment of refugees

BY KERRYN WILLIAMS CANBERRA — "More 'babies overboard' and outright lies" was how refugee advocate Marion Le described immigration minister Amanda Vanstone's response to the recent arrival on Melville Island of a group of Kurdish refugees. Le

The greatest terrorist state of all time

REVIEW BY SIMON BUTLER Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War IIBy William BlumZed Books 2003469 pages, $33.95 (pb) What is the link between an elderly peasant in Vietnam debilitated by exposure to chemical weapons, a

WORLD ECONOMY: WTO ruling open way to US-EU trade war

BY EVA CHENG A trade war is threatening to sweep across the Atlantic as the United States lost an appeal at the World Trade Organisation on November 10 against a July WTO dispute panel ruling that tariffs of up to 30% that US President George Bush

IRAQ: US terrorises civilians

BY ROHAN PEARCE A November 19 press release from the US military's Central Command was headlined, "Operations Make Iraq Safer, Improve Quality of Life". It was referring to the renewed offensive by US occupation forces against Iraqi resistance

DET workers strike against job cuts

BY MARCUS PABIAN MELBOURNE — Following a three-month campaign to resist job cuts, workers employed in the state Department of Education and Training (DET), frustrated by intransigence of Premier Steve Bracks' Labor government, went on strike on