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Blood ban controversy

Farida Iqbal Under Australian Red Cross regulations, men who have had sex with men in the past 12 months are prohibited from donating blood. A debate around the ban erupted in April 2005 when Tasmanian Michael Cain was prevented from giving blood

Tasmania gears up for election

Susan Austin, Hobart A poll published in the Mercury newspaper on February 25 indicated that the Labor Party is likely to win 11 seats in the March 18 state election, the Liberals nine and the Greens five. The Greens, however, are confident of

UNITED STATES: Troops want out of Iraq

According to a Zogby poll released on March 28, 72% of US troops in Iraq support US withdrawal within a year. Of the 944 troops surveyed, 29% wanted an immediate withdrawal and just 23% thought that US forces should remain in Iraq "as long as they

Capitalism: the monster that eats children

Coining for CapitalBy Jyotsna KapurRutgers University Press, 2005197 pagesOrder at <http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu> REVIEW BY BARRY HEALY This book's title derives from a statement by Karl Marx in Capital Volume I. He commented that

PHILIPPINES: 'Arroyo's crimes against the people persist'

Max Lane On March 3, Philippines President Gloria Arroyo lifted the state of emergency that she had declared a week earlier. Arroyo claimed she had successfully prevented a coup, yet no details of this coup attempt have been made public. The week

IRAN: No evidence for US charges

Doug Lorimer In an 11-page report on Iran's nuclear program circulated on February 27 to the governing board of the UN's Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency in advance of its March 6 meeting, IAEA director-general Mohammed ElBaradei

ZIMBABWE: MDC versus MDC

Bernie Stephens, Harare With the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) divided down the middle, President Robert Mugabe would have celebrated his 82nd birthday in February with temporary respite. The MDC split in the lead-up to last

The case for socialism: Fighting for women's rights

Women are oppressed, not because it's "natural", but because the system requires it. In most previous societies, except the earliest forms of hunter-gatherer communities, a woman's role was determined by the family to which she belonged and the man

Abbott and Costello press the race button

Peter Boyle "The thing I love most about politics is the game playing", wrote Sydney Morning Herald economics editor Ross Gittins recently. "It's such fun working out the true motives for the things pollies do." Gittins was writing about the

Domestic violence on the rise

Kerry Vernon, Sydney Domestic violence victim Adele Lynch and her son, Mason, may be alive today if domestic violence resources had been available. The Campbelltown area in NSW has the highest incidence of metropolitan domestic violence in

ACT teachers to strike

CANBERRA — Thousands of ACT teachers are to strike this month as part of a campaign of industrial action for better pay. The ACT government offered 4000 teachers, in ACT public schools and the Canberra Institute of Technology, a pay increase of 9%

Queer students plan protests

SYDNEY — Forty-five university students from Canberra, rural NSW, Newcastle, Wollongong and inner Sydney campuses attended the March 3 NSW Queer Students Network conference. The conference decided to continue to fight against the Howard