More than 1.8 million people are currently behind bars in the US — the highest per capita incarceration rate in the history of the world. In 1995 alone, 150 new US prisons were built and filled. This monumental
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Despite the miles of newsprint and the hours of discussion on radio and television about the need for tax "reform" and the "need" for a goods and services tax (GST), there is deafening silence about the only genuinely equitable method
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Not an advertisement Fair go! Your government wants to spend $10 million of taxpayers' money to tell you why we need a GST. What could be more appropriate than using tax money to raise new taxes? But some selfish spoilsports are trying to stop
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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. Ph 9565 5522. Access News —
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Flushed with embarrassment By Brandon Astor Jones In prison, during shakedowns (cell searches), things like letters and such get misplaced and/or lost. The following bit of humour got separated from the envelope that it came in. I have no
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BYRON BAY — Clearing and construction at the proposed Timbarra gold mine have begun. More than 60 protesters picketed NSW Premier Bob Carr here on July 29, calling on him to stop the work at the Timbarra site and investigate
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CPSU funding cuts In July, members of the Community and Public Sector Union ACT branch rejected a proposal by the union's national officers that the national union take over the organising of major agencies currently covered by the ACT branch. In a
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Population policy: no answer to environmental problemsOpposition leader Kim Beazley on August 3 responded to the focus on immigration occasioned by Pauline Hanson and One Nation by renewing the ALP's call for a population
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A time of reckoning Over four years and 184 issues ago, I took up residence in these pages. The time has come for a reckoning. You can imagine what it's been like — trying to come up week in week out with something to say and a nifty way of
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SYDNEY — The Sydney Water Corporation announced on August 3 that the city's tap water was again safe to drink. Since July 30, nine days after the parasites giardia and cryptosporidium had been detected in Sydney's water
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That word In July I attended my first Network of Women Students Australia conference. Having been an active feminist (but not a student) for years, I was amazed to hear the words chick and girl — demeaning words for women — in common usage
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Resistance's successful anti-racist campaigning among secondary students has been furiously attacked by several conservative newspaper columnists and by the editor of Sydney's Daily Telegraph, Piers Akerman, for "manipulating" and
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Resistance, the socialist youth organisation, has continued to receive widespread television, radio and newspaper coverage for its audacious campaigning against racism. Since Resistance called the initial round of high school
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Nuclear ship in Hobart HOBART — The nuclear armed and powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis visited here on August 5-8. While local business and media went into overdrive to welcome the visitors, activists from Ecofleet used kayaks and
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Behind the federal government's plan to build a new nuclear research reactor lie a set of national interest/security arguments. Essentially, the government wants to maintain a pool of nuclear expertise in order to monitor nuclear
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An invitation Each month, distributors of Green Left Weekly organise fundraising events — dinners, film showings, band nights, jumble sales — to help keep the paper in production. Being a non-profit paper which campaigns against sexism, racism,
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Nationalism The national high school rallies against One Nation were an inspiration to see and show the real potential to mobilise support against Hanson and the mainstream parties' racism. Not only that, but it shows a real potential
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The ALP has been badly embarrassed by Gareth Evans, who has stuck his foot in his mouth yet again. Evans wrote to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) acknowledging that the ALP "opposition's" "opposition"
News
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Electricity privatisation battle in SAADELAIDE — For most Adelaide residents "Privatisation stinks" is not a slogan but a literal description. The city suffered the "big pong" for weeks in 1996 following breakdowns at the
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On July 24 and July 28, in the largest secondary student action of its kind in Australia's history, more than 14,000 students walked out of class and publicly demonstrated their opposition to racism and the policies of the One Nation party. It was
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Victorian nurses take actionMELBOURNE — Nurses at the Royal Melbourne Hospital voted on August 5 to begin an industrial campaign to force the Kennett government to fund adequate staffing levels and patient care. On August 6, the
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Northcote rally against racismMELBOURNE — Two hundred people rallied against racism and One Nation in Northcote on August 8. The rally was part of the Democratic Socialists' by-election campaign. With no Liberal candidate in the
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Burmese rally for democracy CANBERRA — More than 400 Burmese and their supporters protested outside the Burmese embassy in Canberra on August 8. The action was part of actions worldwide to commemorate the August 8, 1988 uprising in Burma in which
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Allow two days for arm-twisting "I don't take the party room for granted. If it is not approved, well, it might take a day or two longer." — The Prime Menzies, John Howard, on getting backbench endorsement of his tax package. At last: job
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Solidarity from Indonesia The following message was sent to the Resistance national office from the People's Democratic Party (PRD) of Indonesia. We congratulate you on your success in mobilising young people and high school students all over
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Regional area students If you are interested in organising a walkout against racism in your region on August 28, get in touch with Resistance: phone (02) 9690 1230 or e-mail <resistance@peg.apc.org>.
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Doing time for Jabiluka mineDARWIN — Protests against Jabiluka uranium mine are intensifying with more than 390 arrests to date at the Jabiluka blockade. Ten activists have been remanded in Berrimah Prison. Many others have
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Labor to 'trade off' native title rightsBRISBANE — Within a few days of taking their seats in parliament, the new Queensland Labor government introduced legislation to extinguish native title on 2900 pastoral leases. Premier
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ALP/One Nation attack anti-racistsBRISBANE — Queensland One Nation leader Bill Feldman has continued his tirade against Resistance, telling state parliament it is peddling "hate and division" in Queensland schools. Then on
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SYDNEY — On the night of August 6, two truck drivers attempting to break the picket line at Davids' Blacktown warehouse jumped out of their truck and assaulted picketers. One discharged a fire extinguisher at the workers
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Resistance growing rapidlyThe enormous success of the July 24 and 28 secondary school walkouts against racism, and the attendant media spotlight, have led to rapid growth for Resistance. In the two weeks since the walkouts, more
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SA workers to support anti-racism rallyADELAIDE — The South Australian United Trades and Labour Council has voted to call a two-hour stop-work on August 28, from 2 to 4pm, in solidarity with high school students walking out of
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Hanson heavy gets rousing receptionNEWCASTLE — David Oldfield, Pauline Hanson's "trusted adviser", was greeted by a vocal crowd as he arrived at a Newcastle Business Club luncheon on August 4. The 30 or so protesters
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Funding for Migrant Resource Centre haltedBRISBANE — An emergency meeting of Brisbane Migrant Resource Centre members and supporters was held on August 6 to plan a response to the federal government's decision to terminate the
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Resistance calls second national walkoutThe socialist youth organisation Resistance has called a second national secondary school walkout for Friday, August 28, to protest against the rise of racism and Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
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Democrats no alternativeMELBOURNE — Labor Party members and some media commentators are reporting that the Northcote by-election on August 15 will result in a high vote for One Nation. The by-election is taking place to allow high
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From Hiroshima to Jabiluka Peace and anti-nuclear activists commemorated the 53rd anniversary of the US nuclear attack on Hiroshima, Japan, with marches and rallies which focused on Energy Resources of Australia's planned uranium mine at Jabiluka
Analysis
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Watch out: here comes another 'reform' We've had years of economic "reform" — deregulation and privatisation to benefit big business at the expense of the rest of us. We've had workplace "reform" — restrictions on workers' rights to organise
World
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Korean workers offer wage cuts to save jobsOn August 6, the occupation by about 3000 workers of Hyundai Motors' key plant in Ulsan entered its 18th day. Hyundai Motors is South Korea's biggest car maker. The workers are trying to
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Although military suppression of national liberation struggles in East Timor and West Papua are well known, equally violent incidents have occurred in the Indonesian province of Aceh, North Sumatra. With the military coming under
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As the 190,000 idled General Motors workers were returning to work following the end of the strikes at two plants in Flint, Michigan, management announced that GM would sell off its parts subsidiary, Delphi. This move ups the ante
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New left unity in the Philippines By Reihana Mohideen MANILA — The "State of the Nation" address is an important day in the Philippine left's calendar, demonstrations being held outside the opening of Congress in the new financial
Culture
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Nestled in a picturesque valley, the historic town of Wollombi is usually serene, perhaps a little too slow for many city dwellers. But every year the town is invaded by crowds of people, from Newcastle and Sydney and just about
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I spent my first days in Havana walking down the broad, leafy streets of el Vedado, going past stores with long queues but little on the shelves.
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Not as useful as a cat 50 things to do with John HowardBy Shaughan DavisCarlton, Victoria: New Holland Publishers, 1998$9.95 Shaughan Davis' collection of cartoons is in the tradition of 101 Things to Do with A Dead Cat. The smaller number of
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Freeing China's Farmers: Rural Restructuring in the Reform EraBy David ZweigME Sharpe, 1997. 365 pp., $45 Review by Eva Cheng The title of David Zweig's book, Freeing China's Farmers, is consistent with one of its main underlying assertions — the
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New Jabiluka video Keith Armstrong of Queensland Jabiluka Action Group has announced the release of his film, Interstate Ferals for the Planet: 3 Weeks at the Jabiluka Blockade (½ hr VHS). Armstrong said the video was made "straight after
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TogetherWhiteville Apparel ChoirSend US$13 (cassette) to UNITE Choir Project, 1010 Tucker St, Greensboro, NC 27405, USAFortunes of the HighwayPhil CohenSend US$15 (CD) to PO Box 5208, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA Review by Norm Dixon "We are the
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Scam! Everything has a priceMusic and lyrics by Sean PeterBook by Barry LoweJunction Theatre CompanyQueen's Theatre, Playhouse Lane, AdelaideWednesday to Saturday, August 5 to 22$18/12 concession Review by Melanie Sjoberg Corporate greed and
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Jabiluka Blockade In peace we coloured the camping groundin harmony we moved boldly on the tar.In dust and warm dry air we cared for our selves,in horror we looked on those faces of scornSun shaded blind eyed, stick figures of the long arm. Why
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Mordechai Vanunu's story on stage ADELAIDE — In August 1986, Mordechai Vanunu revealed Israel's secret nuclear bomb-making facilities and paid a high price for his courage. He was kidnapped by Israel's secret police and shipped in a crate from
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Never a White Flag: The Memoirs of Jock Barnes, Waterfront Leader Edited by Tom BrambleVictoria University PressAvailable from One World BooksBox 68-419, NewtonAuckland NZe-mail <books@oneworld.org.nz>NZ$36 (includes postage) Review by
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Great show, but where was the audience? The Government InspectorBy Nikolai Gogol (adapted by Adrian Norman)New Theatre, SydneyFridays and Sundays until August 22 Review by Brendan Doyle Polish theatre guru Grotowski did his plays with a select