Free Mzwakhe Mbuli!Mzwakhe Mbuli, South Africa's beloved poet, musician and movement hero, has been incarcerated for 14 months. He is being held at the Pretoria Local Prison awaiting trial on January 22 for bank robbery. He has
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To another year of resistance For the regular readers, contributors and distributors of Green Left Weekly, the last month or so may have been a little more relaxing than usual, but it has also been frustrating. While many workers tried to enjoy a
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Following is the text of the editorial in the last 1998 issue of Queensland's Brother Sister magazine commenting on an action reported in Green Left Weekly #341. It is accompanied by a response from Resistance. Brother Sister editorial The recent
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and ain't I a woman?: A victory on all fronts? With the recent announcement from Australian Defence Forces chief Admiral Chris Barry that he believes the exclusion of women from combat positions in the military cannot be justified, women may
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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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Radioactive racismThe nuclear industry profits from and reinforces racism. Backed by its political partners, the industry forces uranium mines, nuclear reactors, radioactive waste dumps and weapons tests on to the land of
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Sentenced to history It is a feature of existence, often noted in the circles within which I move, that history repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. This may not be an immutable law, but it sure resembles the
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Write on: Letters to the editor Beauty Trisha Reimers' article "The ugly side of beauty" [GLW #343] links problems affecting women such as Anorexia and Bulimia to the beauty industry. I've heard and recited this argument many times but I now
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Greek secondary students in revoltSchool occupations, mass demonstrations, mass school assemblies and roadblocks are tactics Greek secondary students have used in their militant campaign against the social democratic PASOK
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President Bill Clinton on December 16 launched the United States' latest bombardment of the Iraqi people. Disregarding overwhelming worldwide opposition, Washington and London launched a massive four-night air attack that killed at
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Not very smart"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) I have just watched a film
News
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Due to the increase in the number of people wanting to join Resistance and keep in contact with our campaigns, Resistance has changed its membership structure. It still costs $5 to join Resistance ($3 for high school students), but
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Low on cholesterol "The Olympic games in Sydney has to be one of the easiest products in the world to sell. It's a lot easier than margarine." — Advertising executive Ian Elliot on a $30 million campaign to revive flagging interest in the 2000
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ADELAIDE — Premier John Olsen and the state Liberal government are squirming with embarrassment over their handling of state public sector workers' wages and conditions in recent weeks. Prior to the end of the 1998 school year,
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Between December 16 and December 19, while much of the world was distracted by Christmas hype, a massive 70-hour air bombardment was launched by the US and Britain against Iraq. The offensive was appropriately dubbed Operation
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Resistance magazine spoke to Maurice Sibelle, coordinator of the Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network (VTSAN), about how TAFE students plan to campaign against voluntary student unionism legislation (VSU). Question: What has been the
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IWD Collective meetings beginBRISBANE — The International Women's Day Collective has resumed meetings to organise this year's IWD activities on March 6. With continuing cuts to child-care and women's health services, recent
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Gas commission highlights safety problemsMELBOURNE — Witnesses at the royal commission to investigate the Longford gas disaster, in which two workers were killed and eight injured, have reported maintenance delays, poor
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ERA denies Jabiluka postponement rumoursRumours that the Jabiluka mine has been postponed have been denied by Energy Resources of Australia. The rumours originated from a press conference for resource journalists in which ERA
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Casino workers continue campaignADELAIDE — Workers at the Adelaide Casino are continuing their campaign for a collective workplace agreement, despite harassment and intimidation from management. The workers, members of the
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From December 7 to 11, the national conference of the National Union of Students met at the University of Ballarat. Labor students were in a particularly strong position. They won more than 47% of all delegates
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Brisbane River 'a sewer pipe'BRISBANE — The Brisbane River, and the Bremer River flowing into it from Ipswich, have become "sewer pipes", funnelling pollution, effluent and sediment into Moreton Bay, a report has revealed. The
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Mass picket supports locked-out workersMELBOURNE — More than 600 people heeded a call to attend the picket line at the Australian Dyeing Company (ADC) on January 13. The ranks of the picket again swelled by more than 50 people
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Historic houses threatenedMELBOURNE — The planners for Melbourne University Private — an annexe of Melbourne University reserved the rich — have announced the demolition of 18 National Trust-listed terrace houses in Carlton.
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Hotel approved despite protestsWOLLONGONG — The controversial $25 million Cliff Road hotel is one step closer to reality after Wollongong Council voted to approve the development application on November 30. The application
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Emergency call centre cutsBRISBANE — Telstra has been widely criticised over moves to close its 000 emergency call centre at Ipswich and divert all crisis calls to Sydney and Melbourne. The closure, planned for April, will cost
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On December 19, federal education minister Dr David Kemp announced that the government would introduce "voluntary student unionism" (VSU) legislation in this sitting of parliament. Kemp also said that the government intended to
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Opposition grows in MUAA mood of anger and revolt is sweeping the ranks of the Maritime Union of Australia. The impact of the MUA-Patrick deal (set to be extended to P&O Ports) and the loss of the industry roster for
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Abstudy cuts are racistAborigines suffer an infant mortality rate two to three times that of other Australians. Life expectancy is 18 to 20 years lower. Unemployment among Aboriginal men is over four times that among
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Optimistic plans set by DSP congressSYDNEY — Indonesian political prisoners Budiman Sujatmiko and Dita Sari from the People's Democratic Party (PRD) were honorary members of the presidium of the 18th congress of the
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Resistance condemns racist jailingsBRISBANE — Resistance, the socialist youth group, has spoken out against the jailing of a 14-year-old Aboriginal woman in the Mackay watch-house. The woman is the sister of an 11-year-old
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Activists create 'JAILS'In 1998, about 500 people were arrested at the Jabiluka uranium mine blockade in the Northern Territory. Many are to face court in coming months. JAILS (Jabiluka Arrestees Information and Legal Support) has
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Australia asked to 'please explain'Australia will be the first western country asked to "please explain" its policies on race to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Australia, a
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Public servants strike for job securityCANBERRA — On December 17, 2000 members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) employed in the ACT public service went on strike for 24 hours in protest against the Liberal
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Living famously1998 will go down as Resistance's year of living famously. Thanks to the near saturation media coverage our actions and politics have received, Resistance has become recognised across Australia. Year 12 politics
Analysis
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For 'reconciliation', read 'surrender' Visiting Uluru on January 13, Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer performed what amounts to an allegory for the government's plan to achieve "reconciliation" with Aboriginal people by the centenary of
World
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WELLINGTON — New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley has indicated that the law will be changed to allow the Security Intelligence Service to break and enter people's houses. The moves came in early December after the NZ Court of Appeal ruled
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As schools decay, Russian teachers protestMOSCOW — When Russian authorities learned on December 15 that striking teachers had blocked an important rail line, it may finally have dawned on them that the situation in the
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The murdered bodies of two active members of the Iranian Writers Association(IWA) were found on the outskirts of Tehran in December. Later, it was disclosed that the two, who were kidnapped a week apart, were immediately strangled
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More than 100 screenings of a controversial documentary on the British "McLibel" case occurred around the world on January 12, to coincide with the beginning of the McLibel court appeal in Britain. The film was screened in
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Hamba kahle (farewell) Simon NkoliOn November 30, Simon Tseko Nkoli, one of Africa's most prominent gay and AIDS activists, died in hospital in Johannesburg. His death was front-page news, among the feature stories on World AIDS
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Calls for trial as Khmer Rouge surrenderIn late December, two of the three remaining top leaders of the Khmer Rouge announced their defection to the Cambodian government and were welcomed in the capital, Phnom Penh. The surrender
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A report released last month by the Canadian firm Hatfield Consultants calls for urgent international attention to problems created by United States spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The study found that the spraying has resulted in
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Foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer announced on January 12 that the federal government now recognises that East Timor has the right to self-determination. In a media release titled "Australian government historic policy shift on
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Two leaders of the New Left Front in Sri Lanka were brutally assaulted on January 13 while campaigning in provincial council elections. Dr Vicramabahu Karunaratne, the general secretary of the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), Patrick Fernando, the NLF
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'I will always strive to engineer a better society'The Indian revolutionary movement has suffered a double blow with the deaths of Vinod Mishra, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) on December 18,
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Vietnam launches action plan for womenThe women of Vietnam have been described as showing a greater sense of independence than women in other south-east Asian countries. During the war of national liberation, first against
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Hunger strikes for democracy in ChinaBeijing has shifted its repressive machine into higher gear since late November, arresting and interrogating some 30 pro-democracy activists, and sentencing three to jail terms of 11 to 13 years.
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The myth of the pink dollar in the US Is there an economic dividing line in the United States based on sexual orientation? In a report released late last year, Dr Lee Badgett establishes that gay, lesbian and bisexual people are not richer than
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CANADA — Canada has topped the United Nations' Human Development Index for the past five years. However, a new report, released by the UN on December 4, condemns Canada's federal and provincial governments for exacerbating poverty and homelessness
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Organising workers in Indonesia By Wahyu JAKARTA — After consolidating itself theoretically and organisationally in the beginning of the 1990s, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) began organising with workers. The fruit of this was the birth
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Following is a letter to the Chinese government from XU JIN, daughter of arrested pro-democracy activist XU WENLI. JANUARY 5 — On Monday, November 30th, you jailed my father, Xu Wenli, yet again. This time you accuse him of "subverting the
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Shell head office occupied LONDON — On January 4, environmental and human rights protesters began occupying Shell-Mex House in the Strand. The activists barricaded themselves into the offices in solidarity with indigenous resistance to oil giant
Culture
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WOMAD returns to its rootsDo you need an excuse to visit Adelaide? The WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) '99 festival. February 19-21, provides them — in abundance. A variety of international musical experiences, in the midst
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The world produces enough grain to provide every human being on the planet with 3500 calories a day, according to a new book by the Institute for Food and Development Policy (also known as Food First). This estimate does not take into account many
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Workers as history makers Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember: 1900-1998By Wendy Lowenstein and Tom HillsEnlarged and updated, 1998To order, send $30 to Wendy Lowenstein, PO Box 1033, Hawksburn Vic 3142. Review by Mark Gregory
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When paranoia makes sense Enemy of the StateDirected by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry BruckheimerWith Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet and Regina King Review by Norm Dixon The big business newspaper smartypants all shouted in
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'History happened to people' Review by Phil Shannon Eleanor Dark: a writer's lifeBy Barbara BrooksMacmillan, 1998 — 504 pp., $39.95 (pb) In 1947, Eleanor Dark was denounced in Australia's parliament as an "underground worker for the
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FredBy Beatrix ChristianSydney Theatre CompanyAt the Wharf Theatre, Sydney Review by Mark Stoyich Beatrix Christian's Fred is a long play. Actually it's two plays — or possibly three. What begins as a brittle, fairly funny murder mystery turns