A road to peace?"I know of imperialism giving people napalm, death, destroyed cities, destroyed countries, bloodshed. But they don't give them states." These words were spoken by Said Hammami, the PLO representative in
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PRAGUE — Ask any east European woman what the future holds for her, and the chances are she'll tell you her vision of a glamorous job with good pay, beautiful clothes and designer brand make-up and the luxury of staying home
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Media lies and the new McCarthyism Greenpeace under fire With the hole in the ozone layer larger than ever and growing much faster than predicted, and all the big environmental problems of our planet growing worse by the day, wealthy and powerful
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The best Barbie of them all The struggle to defend the local abortion clinic isn't the only reason for a feminist interest in the goings-on in Wichita, Kansas. During the Gulf War, it was the site of the Miss USA pageant. The show had a lovely
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Less than honest It is appalling to hear ex prime minister Fraser describing the Contras' war as a good cause. What hypocrisy. I have never heard him criticising the fascist Somoza regime. A victory for the Contras would have led to the same
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As great as Gareth All right, the United States is a strange place. But can that be the only reason that member of Congress Stephen Solarz nominated our very own Gareth Evans for the Nobel Peace Prize? Of course not: obviously, Solarz had never
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This is going to be a bargain basement year for the discerning arms buyer. There hasn't been a year this good for picking up cheap weapons since 1946. Just a few years ago, with prices climbing faster than an MX missile, it was
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Opposition to government freight lineBRISBANE — A group has formed in opposition to the state Labor government's plan for a dual standard gauge rail link through densely populated southern Brisbane suburbs. FEARR (Friends
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JOHNNY WALKER, one of the Birmingham Six, is currently on a tour of Australia sponsored by the Australian Irish Congress. The six, all Irish, were released earlier this year after 16 years in prison, having been framed for two pub bombings in
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BRISBANE — Representatives of the Irish, Palestinian and Australian Aboriginal movements spoke on October 31 at Brisbane's political infotainment night "Green It Up". For Gerard McGuigan, leader of the nine-member Sinn
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AUCKLAND — A new alliance is forming that could totally transform the character of New Zealand politics. Delegates to the NewLabour Party's second national conference, held here over the October 25-28 long weekend, voted
News
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New call to demolish breweryPERTH — The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission has called on the state government to abandon any redevelopment of the old Swan Brewery. WA ATSIC delegates have urged federal
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MELBOURNE — Residents and community and environmental groups are demanding that clean-up and relocation costs from the Coode Island fire in August should be borne by the companies and not by the public. At an October 27 public
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SYDNEY — In a new victory for environmentalists, the NSW government lost its appeal on November 1 against the Land and Environment Court's ruling that logging in the north coast Chaelundi state forest would be in breach of
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Residents arrested defending Emerald BeachOne hundred and seventeen people have been arrested at the Look At Me Now Headland at Emerald Beach near Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, for attempting to stop work on an
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MELBOURNE — Victorian Premier Joan Kirner has hailed proposed new rape laws as "trailblazing", but Melbourne barrister Jocelyn Scutt says the changes will do no more than bring Victorian law into line with reforms in WA, NSW
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WA gay pride marchPERTH — Five hundred members of Perth's gay and lesbian community celebrated gay pride through Northbridge on 26 October. The march had a party-like atmosphere with floats, many banners, balloons and the
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WA Greens choose senatorPERTH — The Greens WA have chosen a new senator to replace Jo Vallentine, who steps down on January 31, 1992. Christabel Chamarette, formerly better known as Christabel Bridge, but now using her
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BRISBANE — Farcical scenes broke out in the Queensland parliament on October 31 as attorney-general Deane Wells began to read a statement by special prosecutor Doug Drummond justifying his refusal to proceed with a second trial of
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Chose wrong constituents "For seven months he performed the high-wire trick of remaining faithful to his poor and clamorous constituency while trying to stay in power." — Time magazine on Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, overthrown in a
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AVS welcomes Vietnam aidCANBERRA — The national meeting of the Australia-Vietnam Society on October 26 welcomed the Australian government decision to resume bilateral aid to Vietnam. National chairperson of AVS Tom Uren
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Partial step on driftnets BRUSSELS — Moves against driftnet fishing adopted by the European Community Fisheries Council on October 28 might have been a step in the right direction, if the largest driftnet fleet in the north-east Atlantic had not
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Victorian schools dispute partially settledMELBOURNE — On October 29, the Kirner government finally decided to honour its industrial agreement with the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (VSTA). The decision came just two
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SYDNEY — Two racing industry workers have been sacked because they refused a management order to work in the place of unionists who took part in the October 23 NSW general strike against the Greiner government's Industrial
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Solidarity with CubaMELBOURNE — About 450 people attended a rousing meeting in solidarity with Cuba here on November 2. Visiting Cubans Nieves Alemany and Eva Seone addressed the crowd which included many people from the Latin
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PERTH — Sacked maritime workers from the iron ore port of Port Walcott near Cape Lambert in WA's north-west are in their eighth week of picketing the offices of Robe River Iron Associates and its partner Mitsui Australia. The
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I was expelled from Indonesia on October 29, more than a day after being arrested while photographing a student demonstration in Bogor. The demonstration had been called against companies in the area that refuse to pay their
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Coles sackings prompt strikeMELBOURNE — Members of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association at the Coles New World warehouse in Port Melbourne began their third week on strike on November 2. The strike started
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Abseilers attack government light billBRISBANE — Environmentalists staged a novel protest against Queensland government power wastage here on the evening of October 30 by abseiling down the side of the Executive Building in
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Call to end use of traps SYDNEY — Animal rights activists demonstrated outside Parliament House on October 24 to protest against the use of the steel-jaw leg-hold trap in New South Wales. The traps are theoretically banned under the
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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Australia last week and was welcomed by an unprecedented display of unity in the Khmer community. A packed dinner of more than 500 people at Fairfield on October 27 gave an enthusiastic
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HOBART — The spectacular failure of Tasmania's minority Labor government to pass its resource security legislation may not mean the end of the bill. Although Labor has made an agreement with the five Green Independents that the
Analysis
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Greiner's law and human rights The Greiner government's anti-union Industrial Relations Act was passed by the NSW upper house on October 30, paving the way for a giant step backwards not only in industrial relations, but also in the sphere of
World
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NIEVES ALEMANY (a member of the national secretariat of the Cuban Women's Federation, the National Assembly of Cuba and the central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba) and EVA SEONE (vice-president of the Cuban Institute for the Friendship with
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At least two, and possibly four, Timorese were killed in a church in Dili when Indonesian troops attacked it early in the morning of October 28. TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, identified the known victims as Sebastiao Ranel, 18 years,
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Jablonec nad Nisou — This is a pretty Czech town whose name (apple tree on the Nisa River) is a memorial to all that was left standing by Catholic crusaders during one of their wars against Protestant Bohemia. In the foothills of
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Roy Medvedev was the leading dissident Soviet historian during the Brezhnev years. He was expelled from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1969. In 1971, following the publication in the West of his monumental study on Stalin, Left History Judge,
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South Yorkshire police have paid more than half a million pounds (around A$1.2 million) compensation to mineworkers arrested at the Orgreave coking plant in June 1984. Orgreave was the centre of bitter clashes between police and
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Workers at Fiji's Vatukoula gold mine are into their ninth month on strike and say they expect to spend Christmas on the picket line. The strike has restricted production so severely that the company recorded a $20 million loss
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S tries to block UN debate NEW YORK — The US government is conducting an intensive campaign at the United Nations to block a debate on the US economic embargo against the Caribbean country, Cuba's UN mission stated on October 25. The need to
Culture
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No Pain, No Gain? Sport and Australian Culture By Dr Jim McKay Prentice Hall, 1991. 189 pp. $24.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Sport tells lies. According to Jim McKay, sport is a social prop to the domination of capitalist ideas and values.
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Roots music rules, OK!Enthusiasts of roots music — blues, r&b, gospel soul, jazz, zydeco, cajun, Tex-Mex, Afro-Latin and music from Africa and the Caribbean — are getting organised. The OK Music Association has been formed
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Women's Circus leaps aheadMELBOURNE — The big top, straw, hard seats, clowns, lion tamers? No, the Women's Circus is very different from the traditional circus. Up to 70 women leap, tumble, juggle, fly and more —
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Family Matters Directed by Jiri Svoboda Made in Czechoslovakia, 1990. Subtitled Showing at the 1991 Australian Jewish Film Festival Melbourne November 9-24, Trak Cinema Sydney November 16-December 1 AFI Cinema, Paddington Reviewed by Steve
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Women, Jazz, Today SYDNEY — A two-day festival celebrating women composers, leaders and improvisers in contemporary jazz is to take place on November 14 and 15. It is being organised by the Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA) and
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Medicare Blues (with thanks to Elvis for the tune) em = By Phil Shannon Oh, people let's reform your costly Medicare Put a few co-payments in and watch it shred 'n' tear Oh let's reform your ... Medicare I don't want to be a Hewson 'cause
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Australian audiences have another opportunity to enjoy the vibrant and liberating musical culture of South Africa from the 11 members of Mango Groove, now on tour. Like the other recent South African tourists, Lucky Dube and
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Joe Orton three ways Ménage à Trois: an evening with Joe Orton Missing Link Productions Crossroads Theatre, Darlinghurst, Sydney Tues-Sat until Nov 17 Reviewed by Philip Bilton-Smith If it does nothing else, Ménage à
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Anticlimax: A feminist perspective on the sexual revolution By Sheila Jeffreys The Women's Press Ltd, London. Reviewed by Melanie Sjoberg "Male supremacy is centred around the act of sexual intercourse ... justified by heterosexual practice",