British-Pakistani author, journalist and activist Tariq Ali chaired a rally outside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London on August 19. The rally came before WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange's widely publicised speech. Ali also gave two speeches. In the second, he spoke about why it was that Assange and WikiLeaks had found support in Ecuador and Latin America more generally 鈥 and highlighted the revolutionary movements that have swept the continent to challenge US corporate domination.
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The deluded and deranged fantasy world of the woman-hating, anti-choice right wing filled front page headlines in August, thanks to the comments of Missouri Republican representative and Senate candidate, Todd Akin.
Asked during an interview on August 19 whether he thinks abortion should be legal in cases of rape, Akin explained: 鈥淭hat's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.鈥
The 34,000 employees who work at the Polar Business food production conglomerate in Venezuela have denounced what they describe as a violation of their labour and social rights.
The workers accused the company of trying to destabilise the country in the run up to the presidential elections on October 7.
Polls show that President Hugo Chavez is far ahead of his right-wing rival, Henrique Capriles Radonski. Chavez is campaigning on a platform of deepening the socialist transformation of Venezuela.
The independent Gonski review, commissioned by the federal government into school funding, was released in February. It concluded that Australia is investing far too little in education and that in our wealthy country there are many schools that are underprivileged.
It also concluded that our education system is not fair 鈥 that our school system is stacked against the disadvantaged, while it gives the most privileged the most advantages.
In response to attacks on jobs and services by the Barry O鈥橣arrell Coalition NSW government, Unions NSW is launching Local Union and Community Councils (LUCCs) across the state. Many of these groups are based upon networks established during the Your Rights At Work campaign in 2007.
LUCCs have been set up in more than a dozen regional and metropolitan locations, and several groups are having their inaugural meetings over the coming weeks (see below
for details).
The campaign against the Liberal National Party Queensland government鈥檚 public sector cuts and suppression of alternative views is gathering momentum in the state鈥檚 Far North region.
Sydney City Greens councillor Irene Doutney is a fighter. She鈥檚 a public housing tenant and knows a thing or two about the dispossessed and disadvantaged. She is part of a rich council that sprawls from Millers鈥 Point in the north and Annandale in the West to Moore Park in the east to St Peters in the south. It also includes the much poorer neighbourhoods of Woolloomooloo, Redfern, Zetland and Rosebery.
The attacks on tertiary education around Australia continue to escalate. The University of Wollongong has announced it would reduce the current 11 faculties into five 鈥渟uper-faculties鈥 aimed at putting the university in the 鈥渢op 1%鈥 of global institutions.
and released the statement below on August 24.
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While it is a vindication of the community鈥檚 concerns about the harmful impacts of coal seam gas mining, today鈥檚 announcement by the Baillieu Government of a moratorium on coal seam gas fracking is inadequate to protect Victoria from the negative impacts of coal seam gas development.
Representatives of the taxi industry have urged the Victorian Taxi Industry Inquiry to adopt its proposal for centrally booked door-to-door share ride minibuses as an alternative to many regular bus routes.
Peter Erwin and Douglas Clark, who describe themselves as having extensive experience in the taxi industry, made a joint submission to the inquiry on August 13.
Erwin and Clark have approached community groups and local media in the Yarra Ranges, Whittlesea and East Gippsland seeking support for a trial of share ride minibuses.
The Tasmanian Greens have proposed the , in its response to an expert panel that reviewed the state鈥檚 electricity industry earlier this year.
About 80% of the Tasmania鈥檚 electricity comes from hydro power, owned by Hydro Tasmania. This is sold to Aurora, the only retail company in the state. Another company, Transend, owns the distribution network. All three are government business enterprises.
1. Set immediate emission cut targets to reduce net emissions to zero as soon as possible, including a target to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2020. Introduce emissions reduction targets of at least 5% a year.
2. Begin new international treaty negotiations aimed to get all countries to agree on a global target of at least 90% emissions cuts on 1990 levels by 2030. Make cutting rich industrial nations鈥 emissions a priority, and increase aid to poorer countries to help them to use clean energy for their development.
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