Michael Collins: Irish patriot or sell-out?There's no doubt about it — Michael Collins portrays one of the most heroic and tragic periods in the very long, heroic and tragic history of Ireland, and does it very engagingly. The
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On the box Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm, and Saturday, 7pm. Access News —
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Life of Riley: Stop the world and get me a newspaper @column intro = I suffer so much from the heats. It gives me pains to wake each morning and see no cloud larger than a fifty cent piece. We get toasted, roasted, grilled, stewed and carbonated on
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National service"I call for the introduction of national service for a period of 12 months compulsory for males and females upon finishing year 12 or reaching 18 years of age". — Pauline Hanson Whilst it may sound appealing to
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An unqualified right Less than 20 years ago, women in the United States won the legal right not to be sexually harassed. That right may now be withdrawn — at least for some women. In 1994, 28 year-old Paula Jones filed a civil suit for sexual
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SYDNEY — On December 3, the final package of the state Labor government's workers' compensation "reforms" passed through the upper house. State attorney general Jeff Shaw's package, including 25% cuts to lump sum compensation
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Why should skating be a crime?ALP government initiatives in NSW include "anti-gang" legislation which brands a group of three or more youths with "baseball caps on backwards" as a potential risk and initiates the idea of curfews
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Government, pastoral and mining industry figures had, it would seem, little to celebrate over Christmas. Indeed, from their chorus of indignation you'd think they were facing Armageddon. Their consternation stems from the December
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By Yaluritja (Clarrie Isaacs) The invasion and occupation of our ancestral lands by the British 209 years ago was an act of terrorism. The confiscation of our lands and their possession by the present neo-colonial white Australian government is not
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Looking out: ... teach us @column intro = "Beginning of the teaching for life, @column intro = The instructions for well-being ... @column intro = Knowing how to answer one who speaks, @column intro = To reply to one who sends a message." —
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More than 300 delegates from around the country met at the University of Ballarat from December 8 to 13 for the annual national conference of the National Union of Students. In the face of massive cuts to education funding and
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A step toward performance-based pay in TelstraTelstra members of the Community and Public Sector Union late last year overwhelmingly endorsed a competency-based pay structure that demands "increased productivity and increased
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Fighting racism, attacks on union rights, sexism, environmental destruction — the Howard government's offensive against working people and the poor — is our "mandate" for 1997. We are committed to building the fight back this year. To help do
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Individuals with a gripe against society and far right-wing groups pose the most serious security threat to the Sydney Olympics, the former deputy-general of ASIO has warned. Such social malcontents could strike almost anywhere
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In a bid to woo green votes and those concerned about youth unemployment, a federal government initiative was launched in Adelaide on January 12. Green Corps, to begin on March 3, will involve young people carrying out
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Lisa Macdonald (GLW, November 27) is correct when she says that any opposition to immigration on any grounds strengthens the hands of those who oppose immigration on other grounds, but to jump from that to the conclusion that
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Leonard Peltier In a recent letter (GLW #254) Native American activist Leonard Peltier sought support for the basic rights of all his fellow prisoners, never mentioning his own case. Leonard became known to many for his role in the 1973 American
News
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Inspired by the 1996 success of Green Left Weekly and its increasing influence within progressive politics, members of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance have promised to continue their financial commitment to the
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Progressive candidates from the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs did well in the recent Community and Public Sector Union national elections. In the national office of DEETYA, however, progressive
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"It is a serious possibility that the [Suharto] regime will hand down a death sentence for Dita, Budiman, Wilson and the other PRD [Peoples Democratic Party] comrades who have been arrested. At this conference we voted to fight this
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Plutonium shipment to pass AustraliaA French Ministry of Foreign Affairs document leaked to Greenpeace last month reveals that a cargo of highly radioactive waste will pass through the Tasman Sea, up the east coast of Australia
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@columhead = No prizes "The Liberal Party may have won the election, but we clearly won the campaign." — WA ALP leader Geoff Gallop on the outcome of the state election. @columhead = Bribe them honest "[Money] is certainly a factor. If you
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PERTH — Richard Court's Liberal-National Coalition won a second term in the Western Australian elections on December 14. Despite their increased majority in the Legislative Assembly, however, the vote against the major parties
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Public comment on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed uranium mine at Jabiluka closed on January 9. Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Dave Sweeney observed, "The Jabiluka EIS is not a
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"Globalisation" of the world capitalist system was the theme of the international report to the DSP conference, delivered by Doug Lorimer. The report argued that there has not been a qualitative change in the internationalisation of
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Doctors' campaign continuesSYDNEY — Stop-work meetings to consider a motion for an indefinite strike have been called for all hospital doctors (including interns, residents, registrars and career medical officers) across NSW
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In December, JILL HICKSON visited Indonesia with a video camera to document the situation there since the government crackdown in July on the People's Democratic Party (PRD). As a guest of the underground, she travelled extensively around the country
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Ballarat NTEU beats sackingsOn January 10, five workers in the University of Ballarat Student Union were handed redundancy notices. On January 11, they awoke to find their jobs advertised in the local paper. The sackings were
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Greens protest funding cutsEnvironmental organisations and the Greens (WA) have condemned the Howard government's decision, announced on January 16, to cut funding to voluntary conservation groups. Greens (WA) Senator Dee Margetts
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Educational disadvantage for blacks confirmedA study by the University of South Australia released on December 28 found that while the number of Aboriginal students enrolling in Australian universities increased by 48% between
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PERTH — "Racism No!" fielded two candidates in the December Western Australian election — Aboriginal activist Clarrie Isaacs (Yaluritja) and Democratic Socialist Party member Arun Pradhan. ANTHONY BENBOW asked Racism No! campaign manager ANA
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Racist police raid on RedfernSYDNEY — More than 40 police stormed the predominantly Aboriginal Eveleigh Street, Redfern, in a military style raid on the night of January 14. The raid was the latest in a series of measures adopted
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ADELAIDE — Walking against the tide of racism and attacks on Aboriginal people, hundreds of people took to the roads and bush tracks between Adelaide and Goolwa between November 25 and 30. The Long Walk, which began as
Analysis
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Editorial: 'Special treatment' and deaths in custody Editorial: 'Special treatment' and deaths in custody Already this year at least two more Aborigines have died in custody. A 19 year old died after being chased by NSW police and another died in
World
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Iranian oil workers strike Oil refinery workers in Tehran, Tabriz, Shiraz and Esfahan struck for two days on December 18 and 19. The strike came after the government failed to meet a two-month deadline to recognise the strikers' right of collective
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Papua New Guinea Defence Force troops occupying Bougainville have gone on the rampage against the island's civilian population. Several horrific massacres took place in November and December. The Australian government — responsible
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A recent article in the Swiss left weekly Die Wochenzeitung stirs up some haunting truths: the Spanish Civil War, which began 60 years ago, has never really come to an end. The antifascist struggle against the Franco regime is not
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MOSCOW — As Russian nuclear safety campaigner Aleksandr Nikitin nears the first anniversary of his arrest for espionage, he is able to walk the streets of St Petersburg, more or less a free man. But although Nikitin was released
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New legal aid institute formedJAKARTA — The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) was formed last November 5 by almost the entire operational division of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and a
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Clinton extends Helms-Burton suspension On January 3, US President Bill Clinton formally suspended implementation of the controversial Title III of the Cuban Liberty Act of 1996 — better known as "Helms-Burton" — for another six months. Title
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Youth seminar in CalcuttaCALCUTTA — On December 6, young people representing organisations from several countries gathered here for a World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) seminar focused on the promotion of civil
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For the third week, hundreds of thousands of South Korean workers have stood firm against the Kim Young-sam government's sweeping attacks on key democratic rights and working conditions. The workers have made it clear they draw
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When communications were renewed on January 10, the Peruvian government refused to provide a concrete response to the demands of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) which occupied the Lima residence of the Japanese
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In 1983 JONGSOAE OH worked as a milling machine operator in the Hyundai Engine Industry Company in Seoul, South Korea. He often worked 430 hours per month and had few, if any, annual holidays. Twenty-four-hour shifts on Sundays, followed by a Monday
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Fiddling figures to cut wagesAfter last November's elections, the ongoing bipartisan drive to cut the social wage will centre on whittling away at Medicare and Social Security. Exactly how to go about doing this is somewhat
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Struggles mount as Indonesian activists go on trialThe trials of Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) president Budiman Sujatmiko, PRD secretary-general Petrus Haryanto, Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggles (PPBI) president Dita Sari,
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Thai workers torch plant On December 17, 2000 angry workers at Sanyo Universal Electric burned down a four-storey warehouse and the office building of the Japanese manufacturer in Thailand after protesting in vain at management's decision to cut
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The demoralised armed forces of Zaire's corrupt and brutal dictator Mobutu Sese Seko have been driven from a large area of the country's east by the fighters of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire
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PARIS — Fortunately, every time the neo-fascist National Front (FN) organises a public gathering, it is a met by an even bigger demonstration organised by France's vibrant anti-racist movement. Even more heartening is the active
Culture
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At Home in the UniverseBy Stuart KauffmanOxford University Press, 1995. 321 pp.Published in Australia in January by Penguin, $16.95Reviewed by Allen Myers This is a challenging and fascinating book, one that may be destined to be as influential as
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Children of the RevolutionWritten and directed by Peter Duncan Reviewed by Nick Fredman Peter Duncan's first feature had a lot of potential — a decent budget, a stellar cast and an ambitious theme in a satirical look at Stalinism and its effects
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Guiltrip,Written and directed by Gerard StenbridgeOpens nationally from January 30 Reviewed by Anne O'Callaghan Guiltrip is Gerard Stenbridge's debut film. It is a chilling portrayal of the brutal psychological abuse endured by Tina (Jasmine
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Rain and Fire (for Stephen) 169>When rain and fire again leave the country in peace, the world will no longer be the world but something better." — S. Marcos We sat, those men and me, in a squalid pub, where Jose told us of his struggle,
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Lulu by GW Pabst at Belvoir Street Theatre; The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior by the Song Company and AustraLYSIS at Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour; and The Beatification of Area Boy by Wole Soyinka at the Seymour Centre Reviewed by Jorge