One of the most common cliches western politicians like to use to describe the climate crisis is: 鈥淲e are all in this together鈥. But this seemingly harmless platitude all too often conceals a dangerous lie.
Actually, on a global scale, we鈥檙e not all in this together. Of course, global warming will impact everywhere, but it won鈥檛 affect every place in the same way.
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On May 1, Nepal was entirely shut down by huge demonstrations called by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) to call for the resignation of the unpopular government. In Kathmandu, at least 500,000 marched 鈥 the streets a sea of red flags.
Senior Queensland police officers have been accused of using improper methods to cover up for fellow police officers when investigating the death of 36-year-old Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004.
A coroner has described Doomadgee鈥檚 November 2004 arrest for intoxication as 鈥渘ot an appropriate exercise of police discretion鈥. Within an hour of the arrest by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, Doomadgee had died from blows to his body which almost split his liver in two.
The has endorsed Dr Renfrey Clarke to run for the Senate in South Australia. Clarke was one of the founders of the Climate Emergency Action Network in 2008, and is a well-known activist and writer on environmental topics. He is a member of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union.
A specialist on Russia and Latin America, Clarke worked for many years as a foreign correspondent for 91自拍论坛 Weekly and other progressive media.
Below, Clarke outlines the priority issues around which he campaigns.
The following statement was released by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the organisation of the 鈥淩ed Shirts鈥, on May 6. It is abridged from .
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UDD leaders have again debunked speculation that the Red Shirt rally at Ratchaprasong will soon be packing up and the protesters returning home.
In late April, activists from the Intervention Rollback Action Group (IRAG) toured several communities affected by the NT intervention. In particular, they looked at how employment patterns had changed.
The results were the same everywhere they went: This is as bad as it has ever been.
It has been almost three years since the former federal Coalition government announced the intervention into remote Aboriginal communities (which has continued under Labor). It has been three years of broken promises and declining living conditions for those the intervention was supposed to help.
A huge crowd of 50,000 people marched in Auckland on May 1 against the New Zealand government鈥檚 plans to allow mining in the country鈥檚 national parks. It was New Zealand鈥檚 biggest protest march in living memory.
Greenpeace ambassador Robyn Malcolm said: 鈥淔or nearly 50,000 Kiwis to turn out and be prepared to speak with one voice, must tell the government something ... Our land will always be more important to our identity than some extra dollars in the pockets of mining companies.鈥
Socialist Alliance is planning an ambitious socialist ideas conference in Perth for the last weekend in June. Featured guest speakers include Socialist Party of Malaysia member of parliament Jeyakumar Devaraj. He will speak about the role of socialists in parliament and the link between parliamentary work and community organising.
A key demand adopted by the World People鈥檚 Summit on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth was for the industrialised First World nations to pay their 鈥渃limate debt鈥 to the underdeveloped nations. The summit was held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, over April 19-22 and attended by 35,000 people from around the world.
A key concept promoted at the summit was that of vivir bien 鈥 living well. This is similar to the common idea expressed in the West, 鈥渓ive simply so that others may simply live鈥.
Queensland ALP deputy premier Paul Lucas and other ALP leaders faced hostile chants and heckling from workers at the annual Labour Day march in Brisbane on May 3.
The main message from the union contingents, numbering 10,000, was opposition to the sale of state assets 鈥 including railways, ports, forests and motorways 鈥 by the Bligh Labor government. Premier Anna Bligh herself was overseas to promote the sell-off to North American investors.
Victoria鈥檚 鈥渟pending bonanza鈥, as the mainstream media called it, was announced on May 4. Being an election year, the state budget was heavy with promises of cash injections for health care, housing, education and public transport.
However, much of the spending announced will be to fund a big increase in 鈥渃ops on the beat鈥, a natural step given the recent strengthening of police stop-and-search powers and the accompanying corporate media fear campaign.
It would be a sick joke, if it weren't actually true. On April 30, a 23-year-old Sydney man was acquitted of rape because the jury decided he couldn't have ripped off a young woman's skinny jeans without 鈥渁ny sort of collaboration鈥, the May 1 Sydney Morning Herald said.
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