Rally in Perth to defend wikielaks, support Julian Assange and free Bradley Manning.
865
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Egypt on January 25 to demonstrate their opposition to the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Inspired by the revolution in nearby Tunisia that has overthrown the Ben Ali dictatorship, activists called demonstrations labled a "Day of Wrath" across Egypt.
iNTervention Intervention
Curated by Teena McCarthy & Brendan Penzer
The Vanishing Point gallery
565 King Street, Newtown, Sydney
January 13-30
鈥淭he time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia鈥檚 history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future....
鈥淲e apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country....
Reports that the WA state government is planning to give police "stop and search" powers during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) later this year should concern all Western Australians.
Even more worrying 鈥 albeit unsurprising 鈥 is that the ALP has dropped its lukewarm opposition to the laws, at least for the duration of CHOGM.
Stop and search laws were rejected by the state upper house November and the CHOGM summit is no excuse to bring them in by the back door.
Renowned investigative journalist and film maker John Pilger interviewed Wikileaks' editor-in-chief about the 鈥渨ar on WikiLeaks鈥 in response to the website 鈥渟peaking truth to power鈥.
Georgia prisoner strike demands
Over December 9-15, prisoners in a number of prisons in the US state of Georgia organised a strike via contraband mobile phones. The prisoners refused to perform prison labour in protest at a range of unjust conditions they face. BlackAgendaReport.com said on December 15 that one in 12 Georgians were in prison.
The December 20 Huffington Post published the prisoners' demands, which are listed below.
* * *
If it is Your Life
By James Kelman, Penguin Books 2010
280 pages, hardback
拢18.99
This is Scottish author James Kelman鈥檚 first collection of short stories since The Good Times in 1998.
Right from the very first sentence you know you are back in the distinctive world of Kelman鈥檚 fiction: 鈥淲hen I presented myself at the Emergency section of the Social Security Office I knew things could go wrong but I was not expecting a leg amputated.鈥
At last someone has dared to defend the oppressed people of the British banking community. Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays bank, who himself has to suffer the trauma of an 拢8 million bonus, said yesterday that the bankers鈥 鈥減eriod of remorse and apology should be over鈥.
And you feel his pain, because the first words to cross your mind when you see a banker are 鈥渞emorseful and apologetic鈥.
Ecology & Socialism
By Chris Williams
Haymarket, 2009
www.ecologyandsocialism.org
United States activist Chris William鈥檚 new book, published by Haymarket Press, is an excellent introduction to ecology and socialism. It is well written and, despite being a long-time ecosocialist activist, I learnt a lot from it.
Williams is a professor of physics and chemistry at Pace University, and chair of the science department at Packer Collegiate Institute. He is a green activist and a member of the International Socialist Organization.
On December 31, the Bolivian government of President Evo Morales repealed a decree, passed five days earlier, to remove subsidies for fuel.
The repeal came after protests and discontent at the resulting price increases from many of the government鈥檚 poor supporters.
鈥淲hy is the government making us suffer during these days 鈥 I don鈥檛 understand, I don鈥檛 understand鈥, Carla, a housewife in El Alto told Radio Atipiri on New Years Eve.
On December 10, surrounded by union leaders and foreign dignitaries, President Evo Morales announced Bolivia鈥檚 new pension law at the headquarters of the Bolivian Workers Central (COB), the country鈥檚 militant national trade union federation.
The unprecedented and highly symbolic event was the result of a four-year negotiating process, during which the COB agreed to suspend its mobilisation for higher wages in exchange for comprehensive pension reform.
Britain: Goldman Sachs gives huge bonuses
鈥淏ankers were accused of 鈥榮ticking two fingers up to austerity Britain鈥,鈥 the British Guardian reported on January 19, 鈥渁fter it was revealed that [Wall Street bank] Goldman Sachs had handed its staff a 拢10bn payday as new figures showed unemployment among Britain's young people had hit its highest level since modern records began鈥.
The article said data from the Office for National Statistics showed that one in five people under 25 were out of work by the end of November last year 鈥 a total of 951,000 people.
- Page 1
- Next page