In early March, after a three-month media bombardment about the country鈥檚 economic crisis, the Greek government 鈥 backed by conservative opposition parties, the European Union (EU)and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 鈥 announced harsh austerity measures for ordinary people.
These included unprecedented salary, pension, job and public services cuts and large-scale privatisation. The government offensive entails an enormous income transfer from workers and pensioners to big business and the State Revenue Office.
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Dutch prosecutors fired the opening salvo on May 31 in a notorious case involving a Swiss-based oil trader which dumped hazardous waste in Ivory Coast, the British Morning Star said on June 1. The dumping was allegedly to save itself the paltry sum of 鈧400,000 (about A$576,000).
The article said prosecutor Luuk Boogert accused oil trader Trafigura AG and local authorities of putting 鈥渟elf-interest above people鈥檚 health and environment鈥 at the criminal trial in Amsterdam. The ship had docked at Amsterdam en-route to Ivory Coast.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called, on May 31, for the international community to bring to justice those responsible for Israel鈥檚 deadly raid on a ship bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, Countercurrents.com said that day. The raid killed at least nine people.
On May 28, it was reported that the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was considering allowing a certain form of female circumcision, involving 鈥渞itual nicks鈥. RANZCOG later said it was a misrepresentation, and that 鈥渁nyone suspected of performing such genital mutilation should be reported to authorities鈥, the Sydney Morning Herald said the same day.
But if we reject all forms of female circumcision, why is it that male circumcision remains so acceptable?
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has banned its members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle, AAP said on May 31.
The union says uranium is the new asbestos in the workplace. The ban will apply to ETU members in Queensland and the Northern Territory and breaching it could lead to expulsion, said ETU Qld secretary Peter Simpson.
In these days of growing media concentration, 91自拍论坛 Weekly is a vital voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality.
By printing the news and ideas the mainstream media won't, GLW exposes the lies and distortions of the power brokers and helps us understand the world around us. In the words of multi-award-winning investigative journalist John Pilger, "Without GLW, freedom of press and public truth-telling in Australia would be gravely ill."
The movement for Australian union action against Israel is gaining strength after the apartheid state鈥檚 latest murderous attack on the unarmed aid flotilla to Gaza.
The South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) and the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory branches of the Australian Services Union have joined the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union in committing to the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the aggressive Israeli state.
Australian unions and peak bodies have also called on members to attend the many protest actions.
In recent weeks, the big mining companies have spent millions on propaganda against plans to make them pay more tax. But the results of a June 1 Newspoll showed they have hardly made a dent on public opinion.
Both big parties are losing ground, the poll said. Labor鈥檚 primary vote dropped two points, to 35%. The Coalition went down by the same margin, from 43% to 41%. But the bombshell was the record Greens vote 鈥 up four points to 16%.
This is not a new trend. Support for the Greens has risen steadily over the past decade.
On May 31, Israeli defence force commandos boarded an aid ship in international waters. The ship was trying to break the illegal military blockade of the Gaza strip and transport much-needed food and medical supplies. Nine aid activists were killed and several snap actions were held in Australia to condemn Israel鈥檚 actions and call for an end to the blockade.
On June 1, 250 people rallied in Brisbane to condemn Israel鈥檚 attacks on the Gaza aid fleet. ALP vice-president Wendy Turner, and socialist activist and lecturer in creative industries Gary MacLennan, spoke.
Sydney-based journalist and author Antony Loewenstein is an outspoken critic of Israeli policies and author of the best-selling 2006 book My Israel Question. He is the co-founder of advocacy group Independent Australian Jewish Voices and is a board member of Macquarie University鈥檚 Centre for Middle East and North African Studies. Articles and commentary by Loewenstein can be found at .
This must be a momentous occasion. According to the May 22 Sydney Morning Herald, the Dalai Lama 鈥 a major leader of a major religion 鈥 has declared himself 鈥渉alf Marxist half Buddhist鈥.
First we must ask questions about Buddhism itself. Is Buddhism a single religion, or even a religion? Would the two main streams constitute a schism? The Dalai Lama is the largely undisputed global figurehead of Mahayana Buddhism. There is no equivalent figurehead in the other dominant stream, Theravada, which stretches from South Asia to South-East Asia.
The most serious controversy that has emerged in the climate movement this year is probably about the role of natural gas in a transition to a zero-emissions society.
The national climate summit in March did not debate gas, but decisions taken there have influenced the debate. A decision of that summit was to campaign to 鈥渞eplace Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power station, Hazelwood, with clean energy by 2012鈥.
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