Last month a South Australian Police (SAPOL) officer asked me to monitor the activities of political activists in Adelaide.
On January 17, a plain-clothed officer approached me in a coffee shop. He explained that he recognised me as an activist, and told me he was with a special area of “security and intelligence” that aimed to create links between the police and the activist community.
He appeared interested in gaining information on the activities of environmental groups, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israeli products and Tamil solidarity actions.
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The NSW Coalition government announced plans on December 13 last year to cut the Newcastle rail line at Wickham station. As part of the urban renewal strategy document, passengers would have to transfer to buses to complete the last two kilometres of their journey to Newcastle.
A long-running community group, Save Our Rail, has twice stopped former Labor and Coalitions governments' attempts to cut the line.
Here are ten reasons why the campaign needs to continue:
There is no solution proposed for rail users affected by the cut
About 100 people rallied in Sydney on February 5 to oppose the Julia Gillard government's slashing of welfare payments to single parents. Single parents, their kids, and their supporters joined in the action. Event organiser Samantha Seymour said: "Moving single parents from Parenting Payment to Newstart Allowance when their youngest child turns 8 years of age will have many well documented negative impacts for single parent families. Such changes will have a ripple effect and the social ramifications are already horrendous."
Vibes, Love, Revolution
Fear Nuttin Band
Released 2012
www.fearnuttinband.com
Fear Nuttin Band blend Jamaican yardie culture with American hardcore punk in the hybrid genre of “yardcore”. The Massachusetts-based group also throw in plenty of pugilistic politics and sharp satire. Front man Prowla and guitarist Christafari Regan spoke to Green Left's Mat Ward.
A selection of this week's celebrity news...
Beyoncé's Sexy 2013 Super Bowl Outfit Slammed by PETA—Too Much Skin! http://eonli.ne/Uw4OxT
N-Dubz rapper Dappy guilty of assault and affray. http://bit.ly/XmSGcY
Russell Brand hits on Katharine McPhee HARD. Funny or creepy? http://eonli.ne/VBWMOF
Kate Middleton's Cousin Strips Down for Men's Magazine—See the Provocative Pics http://eonli.ne/XfIy7M
Pregnant Kate Middleton, Prince William Take Mustique Babymoon: Report http://eonli.ne/Xfu33F
More than 40 people came to hear Miguel Angel Nunez, a co-founder of IPIAT (the Institute for Production and Research in Tropical Agriculture) in Venezuela and a former coordinator of the Latin American Agroecological Movement at a public forum in Sydney on January 30.
The speaker was welcomed by Miriam Navarro, representing the Venezuelan embassy in Australia. The forum was organised by the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network and supported by the embassy and the Latin American Social Forum.
Minister of State for Finance Saleem Mandviwalla confirmed on January 23 that murder charges against the owners of the Baldia Town factory that caught fire on September 11 last year had been withdrawn. The investigation officer was also changed.
On January 24, there was no general strike. The apparent silence of the working class was a result of the systematic targeting of unions by the state apparatus.
With over 259 workers killed in the fire, the final death toll is still unavailable.
Residents of the south Gippsland town of Poowong are preparing to hold a public protest against coal seam gas (CSG) exploration in their area on February 17.
Local group CSG Free Poowong conducted an extensive survey of the area last year. They asked: “Do you want to declare Poowong coal and coal seam gas free?”
The survey results showed over 95% of the community does not want CSG mining in their region.
The event on February 17 is being organised as a celebration of this result.
About 100 people gathered at the Jerrys Plains community hall on January 29 to outline concerns about the encroachment of the coal industry on their township and to begin a united fightback.
Socialist Alliance national conference supporting the campaign for UNESCO world heritage listing for the oldest rock art in the world at the Burrup in northern WA.
Professor Miguel Angel Nuñez is an adviser to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on agro-ecology. He was recently in Australia and spoke to Green Left TV about the impact of Chavez's ill health on the Venezuelan revolution, and how the international media are misrepresenting the situation. He also spoke on the role of oil in the revolution, the environmental consequences and prospects for eco-socialism in Venezuela.
The international media totally misreads the Venezuelan people on President Hugo Chavèz (currently battling serious illness) argues Professor Miguel Angel Nuñez, an adviser to Chavèz on agro-ecology, in an interview with Green Left TV. The interviewers were Jim McIlroy and Coral Wynter, authors of Voices from Venezuela. Filmed and edited by Peter Boyle.
The horrific murders of 20 children aged six and seven, along with six adults, at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December has ignited a debate about gun violence in the US.
This was the latest in a series of such massacres to occur at schools, malls, religious institutions, theatres and similar places over the past few decades. In many of these instances, rapid-fire military-style weapons were used that sprayed big numbers of bullets in seconds, as was the case in Newtown.
The French-led intervention in the west African nation of Mali has captured the northern towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. As the Islamist rebels flee to mountains in the north, the French are contemplating what comes next, amid concerns of a prolonged guerrilla war and war crimes committed by their Mali army allies.
As with other recent examples of Western interventions, the capture of the major urban centres could prove the easiest part of the French-led intervention into the resource-rich region.
Katu Arkonada, a researcher at the University of the Cordillera in La Paz, Bolivia, gives a 2012 balance sheet of Bolivia's achievements and challenges.
It was translated from Spanish with additional notes by Richard Fidler and is reprinted from Bolivia Rising.
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