This year is the 100th anniversary of International Womens Day. Each year, people gather all over the world on March 8 or the closest weekend to celebrate working class women and the struggle that has gone before us, and to continue the struggle into the future.
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Music is an expression of the human condition and human society, so in exceptional moments in history, exceptional music is produced. It is no coincidence that when there is an increased political consciousness in society, new political music and culture accompany it. Whether its the unemployed workers of the 1930s or the anti-globalisation movements of today, there are always particular musicians that capture the mood of the moment.
As prime minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry. With these words, on February 13, PM Kevin Rudd opened the first session of the newly elected government and did what the previous Howard government had failed to do for its eleven years in power.
A packed public meeting at Brisbane’s Activist Centre on February 6 heard Brian Senewiratne, a Sinhalese consultant physician in Brisbane, deliver a passionate and informative presentation on the long struggle of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking minority against persecution by that country’s Sinhalese-dominated government.
Justice secretary Jack Straw has been forced to order an investigation into allegations that a senior Muslim MP was bugged while visiting a constituent in prison. The February 5 Morning Star reported that Labour MP and government whip Sadiq Khan was allegedly bugged while visiting his constituent Babar Ahmad in a prison in Milton Keynes.
East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta was rushed to Darwin to undergo emergency surgery after being shot three times in a February 11 attack on his residence by armed rebels. The apparent leader of the assailants, Major Alfredo Reinado, was killed in the incident.
In December 2005, four activists (Christians Against All Terrorism) were arrested while carrying out a citizen’s inspection of the US Pine Gap war base, near Alice Springs. They carried out a simple “trespass” action and had permission from the traditional Aboriginal owners.
On February 8, the South Australian government voted to extend its moratorium on commercial GM crops, despite Victoria and New South Wales recently legislating to allow commercial GM plantings. Western Australia and Tasmania still have bans in place.
On February 14, at least 10,000 striking government school teachers rallied in the Vodafone Arena in the Melbourne Park complex in the largest stop-work meeting in the history of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union.
Stationery giant Esselte, which last year attempted to force its workforce onto AWAs, is threatening compulsory redundancies against eight workers due to changes to business processes.
Who's the other one?
"You know, women are now very active in the Kuwaiti parliament." — Emperor George Bush II, speaking in US ally Kuwait, January 12. Associated Press reported on January 22: "Kuwait's only female politician survived an attempt
The basic argument in favour of the privatisation of electricity generation and distribution is simple — public ownership allows too much bargaining power to electricity workers and their unions (which they will always use to defend “inefficient practices” and “overstaffing”); it also fosters over-investment in generation capacity by engineers concerned to guarantee service reliability (“gold-plating”).
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