Analysis

'Speciesism' While I can agree with Richard Blumer (GLW 713) about the horrors of intensive capitalist animal farming and the need for reform to prohibit cruel and unnecessary suffering of animals, I cannot agree with his argument that "speciesism

On June 25, Russell Miles, a proud member of the International Socialist Tendency and widely-loved community activist, ended his life.

We mourn our friend and comrade Gail, who lost her valiant battle with cancer on July 2.

The following is abridged from a letter sent by Dean Mighell, Victorian secretary of the Electrical Trades Union, to ALP leader Kevin Rudd following Mighell’s forced resignation from the party on May 30.

Jasmine Ali was found not guilty on June 26 on charges relating to her involvement in a February 22 protest against US Vice-President Dick Cheney. The same day that she appeared before the court, the NSW government’s APEC Meeting (Policing Powers) Bill passed unamended through the NSW upper house. Ali was the second of two Cheney protesters to win court cases. There are six more trials to take place.

Heard the story about the last capitalist on Earth who sold the rope used to hang the second last capitalist? Well, they will try and make a buck from anything.

One of the major issues on which the next federal election will be fought is Work Choices, the “revolutionary” new workplace relations system the Howard government is taking credit for. Yet it was invented by the taxi industry mafia decades ago. It is called the bailee-bailor agreement and we cabbies — mugs that we are — have put up with it with barely a whimper.

Two of the world’s worst climate vandals — US President George Bush and PM John Howard — are preparing their lofty green rhetoric in the lead-up to the so-called “climate change” Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney in September.

In a June 25 joint statement issued with his Australians All co-patron and former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) chairperson Lowitja O’Donoghue, former Coalition PM Malcolm Fraser attacked the Howard government’s June 21 announcement that it was taking control of 60 Aboriginal communities in remote areas of the Northern Territory as a “throwback to past paternalism”.

Condolence and commendation For many years I worked in the Hunter Valley and Central Coast, and secured a modest livelihood from the splendid people who ran small businesses there. I was extremely upset at the loss of life that came about from the

The good news is that Australian politicians and corporations are finally recognising that there is an environmental crisis. The bad news is that the “solutions” being promoted by the establishment define what is realistic for capitalism, so the “need” for big business to remain profitable sets the parameters of what is “possible”.

Dr Gary MacLennan, a long-time socialist activist and lecturer in creative industries at the Queensland University of Technology, was suspended for six months without pay on June 6. He, along with a colleague, Dr John Hookham, was charged with misconduct following the publication of an article in the Australian that criticised a PhD film project that mocked the disabled. Students and staff launched a support campaign for the two suspended lecturers which has linked up with a struggle against QUT’s decision to close down the school of humanities and human services.