Issue 48

News

2M>Blue Mountains Council55D> Regarding the article on the Blue Mountains Council in our February 26 issue, any imputation that wage increases for council officers were linked with the approval of a development application was not intended and is
By Lisa Macdonald Australia's independent magazine publishers are in danger of being killed off by Australia Post. In August 1990, a standard 300 gram magazine cost 47 cents to mail anywhere in Australia. Under AP's new Print Post system, to
By Debbie Sewell DARWIN — The Lusitania Expresso set sail from Darwin on Monday, March 9 heading for Dili to lay floral wreaths at the Santa Cruz cemetery, site of a massacre by Indonesian forces on November 12 last year. Songs of freedom
Varied IWD in Wollongong By Lisa Schofield WOLLONGONG — During the past two weeks, women here have celebrated International Women's Day with a range of activities, starting with a toast and film night at the Illawarra Women's Health Centre
Aboriginal Embassy seeks support By Kristian Whittaker CANBERRA — Six weeks after the January 26 occupation of the old Parliament House, the Aboriginal Embassy situated on the lawns opposite continues to gather wide support. "We're
Another 'Whitrod case' hits Queensland police By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Queensland Police Commissioner Noel Newnham has been forced to stand down while allegations of misuse of travel expenses are investigated by an independent tribunal, as
By Maurice Sibelle BRISBANE — "Queensland's Transport Workers Union is now back in the hands of its members," says Hughie Williams, the union's Brisbane sub-branch secretary and newly elected organiser. When the votes in the branch elections
By John Layfield MELBOURNE — The Victorian government of Premier Joan Kirner has severely cut its Poverty Action Program and withdrawn funding from some of the most active poverty and unemployment groups. The cuts ignore the recommendations

World

By Peter Annear in Prague A Hungarian law lifting the 20-year statute of limitations on former Communist Party administrators has been overruled. Judges of the constitutional court unanimously rejected the legislation referred to them by, among
By Steve Painter Britain could emerge from its April 9 general election with a minority government. While the ruling Conservatives are very unpopular in the midst of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, Labour appears unable to
Copenhagen — German authorities, sifting through millions of records in Stasi (security police) archives, have uncovered evidence that East Germany in the past dumped massive amounts of poisonous gases in the Baltic Sea. "The German
By Russell Anderson and Sally Low GENEVA — Late in the evening of March 4, while many delegates were out of the room, the chairperson of the 48th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights read out an unsigned statement of
15 Russian nuclear reactors dumped at sea LONDON — Greenpeace on February 27 confirmed that 12 submarine nuclear reactors and three icebreaker reactors have been dumped in the waters off the coast of Novaya Zemlya. This is the first public
US Marine faces 7 year sentence By Jeff Mackler An outspoken antiwar fighter, Marine reservist Corporal Tahan Jones, faces frame-up charges of "desertion with intent to avoid hazardous duty and shirk important service". According to Jones'
By Mary Merkenich BOCHUM, Germany — Large sections of the German media have smelled blood, and now they are going for the kill. Tragically, in the case of one PDS (reformed communist party of the East) parliamentarian, this is literally the
Timor trials a travesty, says TAPOL By Norm Dixon TAPOL, the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign, has condemned the pending trials of seven East Timorese arrested in the aftermath of the Indonesian military's massacre of peaceful mourners at the
By Maxine Durand The world economy is currently experiencing a sluggishness which is giving increasing cause for concern. A recent editorial in the Economist, while attempting to be reassuring, was nevertheless entitled "Free fall?". It is
By Craig Cormick It is no news that increased use of pesticides can lead to health problems, but a recent Philippines study has found this can in turn lead to decreased productivity. The use of dangerous pesticides has increased globally, as
By Peter Annear in Prague For Poland's ruling elite it's the devil or the deep blue sea. If it relaxes the recessionary "stabilisation" program of the two previous governments, hyperinflation threatens. If it doesn't, the public backlash might
Ok Tedi pollution slammed By Norm Dixon The BHP-controlled Ok Tedi gold and copper mine in Papua New Guinea's Western Province has been found guilty of seriously polluting the Ok Tedi and Fly rivers through its disregard for environmental
The leak last week of an Australian government document on corruption involving the family of Indonesian President Suharto tells only a small part of the story. A 300-page report on the human rights situation in Indonesia, released last month by
Voice of America to displace Sri Lankan villagers By Norm Dixon Iranawila and Pambala are two poverty-stricken fishing villages on north-western coast of Sri Lanka. The people living here have relied on the sea for survival since before

Culture

Deterring Democracy By Noam Chomsky Verso, 1991. 421 pp. $49.95 (hb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon The Cold War is over. The Soviet Beast is slain. Now all the happy citizens of the New World Order can live in peace, freedom and democracy. This,
By Karen Fletcher BRISBANE — Local singer/songwriter Ruth Apelt won the National Labour Day Song Award at the Labour Day Concert in Melbourne on March 9. "Mama's Out Walkin'", a song which celebrates the newly found freedom of a formerly
New World Order, or who eats whom For some, the collapse of "socialism" in eastern Europe supports the belief that communism is unworkable, and that people are basically corrupt, or at least corruptible. For supporters of George Bush, it
By Norm Dixon Cuba's annual Jazz Plaza Festival, taking place March 27-29 in Havana, is to feature an array of the some the world's finest contemporary jazz artists. Some of the most notable hail from the United States, and their attendance is
The Stories of Eva Luna By Isabel Allende Penguin, 1991. 227 pp. $12.95 Reviewed by Mario Giorgetti Told in the hyperbolic style of folktales, the stories in this volume are diverse and colourful. In structure, some of them are not unlike