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Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #232, March 24, 2008
Kia ora koutou,

Check out What's On below for info on a picket re Tibet and Free Trade outside Helen Clarks office tomorrow, a QPEC forum Saturday.

FORWARD Kindly forward this newsletter to your friends and encourage them to join this mailing list @ [http://www.gpja.org.nz/]

VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY NETWORK FORMED Hundreds of people attended meetings with the Venezuelan diplomat Nelson Davila. Dozens of names were collected to help form a solidarity network across the country. If you want to help or simply want to be kept informed of developments contact [grantmorgan@paradise.net.nz]

QUOTES OF THE WEEK "My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger... My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail." - George W. Bush - March 19, 2003

"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." - Adolf Hitler

"People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to." - Malcolm Muggeridge

ANNOUNCEMENTS TELECOM WINS ROGER AWARD FOR THE WORST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OPERATING IN NZ IN 2007 The full Judges’ Report http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/in... [http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/index.html]

SCOOP TV DOCO: IRAQ – IN SEARCH OF HOPE PRODUCED BY SELWYN MANNING The documentary Iraq – In Search of Hope features Harmeet Sooden who, in late November 2005, was captured along with three other colleagues and held hostage in Baghdad for four months. This documentary identifies with a loss of hope for Iraq's people and connects with the impact that the United States led invasion and subsequent war has caused. It examines the purpose of protest, and how actions outside of Iraq provide a glimmer of hope to those inside Iraq who realise there are people free in the outside world who care for their plight and are intent to bring about change. Scoop TV Warning: Content Will Disturb Some Viewers. Scoop TV broadcasts on Triangle TV (Wellington) at 9pm and on Stratos TV (SkyTV channel 89 and Freeview channel 21) at 9:30pm every Wednesday evening (NZ Time). [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00316.htm]

LOOKING FOR WORK Dylan Tromp [dylantromp@hotmail.com] 021 828 501 With a strong professional and academic background in international development, Dylan is a passionate advocate for social justice and the peaceful advancement of human rights. He has worked with Oxfam Australia, the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and a number of other international development and social justice organisations. He is seeking employment from mid-April 2008 in the Auckland region. Please contact Dylan directly for further details or for a copy of his CV. skype: dylantromp t: +64 9 920 4950; f: +64 9 920 4951; m: +64 21 828 501

ARABIC LANGUAGE COURSE FOR BEGINNERS MEIIC for the second time has opened another class for the community: Daily Arabic Lesson For The Beginner. Open for everybody regardless their background education, ethnicity, religion, race and gender. The teacher is a graduate from Massey Uni and a native speaker. He will teach not only the language but also the culture of the language and the comparison with several other languages. Class starts on Tuesday, 11 March at 7 PM till 8 PM. Bring your own stationery to Middle East Islamic Information Centre: 2 / 25 Horoeka Ave, Mt. Eden (Beside no 57 Bellevue Rd) Cost: $2 Koha. Information: Ghassan – 0212947349. Understanding The People and Their Culture By Understanding the Language! Sony Ambudi, Center Executive Manager, Mt. Eden Islamic Information Center www.islamicinfo.org.nz [http://www.islamicinfo.org.nz] (09) 4424588; 64-21725290

SUPPORT THE DEFENCE OF ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN THE SO-CALLED “ANTI-TERROR RAIDS” A CD of great music…Double CD & Booklet $25 - TU KOTAHI - Freedom Fighting Anthems - 25 excellent tracks of sheer Kiwi music/voice !!!!!!!!! From CD sleeve note: "Tu Kotahi - Freedom Fighting Anthems" is a non-profit, consciousness raising project. All funds will go to organisations in Aotearoa who are working specifically with those affected by the Oct 15th 2007 state raids. The booklet, called Wahanui, was put together by Conscious Collaborations T Shirts "Ke Whawhai Tonu Matu". $25 (orders taken - state size required). To order or to help sell - Contact VANESSA - [spadarkle@hotmail.com] Ph 09 836 9002 [http://www.freedomfighterscd.org.nz/]

CLIMATE CHANGE - SOCIAL CHANGE CONFERENCE, APRIL 11-13, 2008, SYDNEY The world is teetering on the brink of unstoppable climate change. Many now recognise the need for serious change in the way we produce and use energy, our transport systems, food production, urban design and forestry practices. Yet politicians are still mouthing platitudes while allowing corporations to continue to profit from polluting our atmosphere and destroying our ecosystem. The need for social change has become an urgent part of preventing catastrophic climate change. Can the market fix the problem? What is the real record of carbon trading? How can we build a social movement capable of averting this disaster? What models and experiences can offer real solutions? To strengthen the exchange of ideas and contribute towards that urgent action Green Left Weekly is organising the Climate Change - Social Change conference from April 11-13, 2008 in Sydney. We are pleased to have confirmed: - John Bellamy Foster, author of Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature, editor of Monthly Review ([http://sociology.uoregon.edu/faculty/foster.php]) - Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society, University of Natal, South Africa; editor of Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society
www.zcommunications.org/zspace/patrickbond [http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/patrickbond] - Roberto Perez, Cuban permaculturalist (featured in The Power of Community: how Cuba survived peak oil). We invite your participation in making this more than just an exchange of ideas - important as that is - but a part of building up resistance to corporate-led climate change and strengthening the movement for sustainable development. To receive updates about the conference, send an email to [climatechange_socialchangeconf_announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com] Please forward this conference call to your networks. In solidarity, Kamala Emanuel and Pip Hinman, Climate Change - Social Change conference organisers

ANNOUNCING THE MAY DAY 2008 BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA Registration deadline: March 30th, 2008 (including payment). The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network’s (AVSN) next solidarity brigade to Venezuela is schedule for May 2008 and will coincide with May Day (May 1st) in Venezuela. The brigade will be a unique opportunity to see first-hand the unfolding revolution in Venezuela. If you are interested in being part of this inspiring and educational experience, please send the completed registration form to [brigades@venezuelasolidarity.org] Form available online [http://venezuelasolidarity.org/?q=node/40]

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

Tuesday, March 25, 6am - 6pm, 55 Sandringham Rd Autonomous Action* has called a picket on Tuesday 25th March to close down Helen Clarke's electoral office for the entire day. This is to oppose the proposed Free Trade Agreement with China in light of gross human rights abuse. Come down when you can. If you can come down for a shift, let us know so we can organise a schedule and maxamise our presence, otherwise come down whenever you can.

Please pass this on to other interested parties. * Is a grassroots, anti capatalist collective that works in solidarity with oppressed people around the world. Thursday, March 27, 7pm, MIC @ GALATOS, 17 Galatos St Newton MIC TOI REREHIKO presents ALEXANDRA HALKIN and the CHIAPAS MEDIA PROJECT/PROMEDIOS in association with SHORTFUSE. Doors @ 7pm $8 / $6. Shortfuse is a bimonthly series of film screenings of contemporary classic short films on video, 16mm and 35mm, which is designed to bring under-exposed short films out from under the radar and to examine and celebrate alternative filmmaking practices. In the spirit of supporting the exposure of marginalized narratives in film and video, Alexandra Halkin, who is founder and International coordinator of the CHIAPAS MEDIA PROJECT/PROMEDIOS will be presenting a selection of short videos produced by indigenous video makers from the states of Chiapas and Guerrero, Mexico. The presentation will also include discussion on the role of indigenous media and self-representation in the context of the current socio-political situations in Mexico and Latin America. CMP/PROMEDIOS is an award winning, bi-national partnership that provides video equipment, computers and training enabling marginalized indigenous and campesino communities in Southern Mexico to create their own media. CMP/PROMEDIOS is widely acknowledged as a unique and potent point of entry into the world of indigenous resistance, providing a primary source for examining autonomous forms of indigenous representation. CMP/PROMEDIOS is currently distributing 26 indigenous produced videos worldwide. - Paying the price: Migrant Workers in the Toxic Fields of Shinola. - - The Land Belongs to Those Who Work it (15mins. 2005). The video discusses the situation in the town of Bolon Aja'aw, located in the north of the state near the famous Agua Azul river system. The federal government sold the land in Bolon aja'aw to a private company to create an eco-tourism center without the permission of the community members. The video documents a meeting between Zapatista authorities and Mexican Government functionaries, and offers a critical look at the practical implications of so-called eco-tourism. - We are Equal: Zapatista Women Speak (18mins. 2004) Zapatista women speak about what their lives were like before the uprising in 1994 and how their lives have changed since. A very upfront and critical look at gender relations within the Zapatista communities - how far women have come and how far they still need to go. For more infor contract Geraldene Peters, tel: +64 9 921 9999 extn. 6267 cell: +64 21 104 5624 fax: +64 9 921 9987 e: [geraldene.peters@aut.ac.nz]

Saturday March 29th, ELECTION FORUM ON EDUCATION organised by QPEC (Quality Public Education Coalition) 10am, Saturday 29th March 2008, St Columba Centre, Vermont Street, Ponsonby. ALL WELCOME! Education spokespeople from the main political parties have been invited to discuss their party policies on education. The MPs that have confirmed are: Anne Tolley – National Chris Carter – Labour Te Ururoa Flavell – Maori Party Meteria Turei – Greens These spokespeople have been asked to speak about their party’s priorities in education and respond to issues raised by the audience. Issues of importance to QPEC include: 1. The long tail of under-achievement (with Maori and PI students over-represented) 2. Under-funding/creeping privatisation at all levels of education 3. Open entry to university under threat 4. Ever increasing school fees 5. Public funding for private ECE centres 6. Special education resourcing mechanisms. A 12 noon lunch will be provided – a koha will be requested. (The QPEC AGM will follow lunch – observers welcome to stay)

Thursday, April 3, 6pm-7.30pm, Whare Wananga, Auckland Central Library In Our Own Image With Alexandra Halkin, CHIAPAS MEDIA PROJECT, MEXICO. A public forum as part of the Talk About Terror series at the Whare Wananga, Auckland Central Library and Leonie Pihama MAORI AND INDIGENOUS ANALYSIS LTD., AOTEAROA For many indigenous groups, the issue of who controls representations is critical. With a cultural identity that exists outside of mainstream society, the complex histories and unique perspectives of these groups are often lost in our images of the nation. This idea of competing images of identity in one nation was recently highlighted in the news coverage of the ‘terror raids’ on the Tuhoe communities of Ruatoki and Taneatua on the East Coast. While mainstream media overwhelmingly focused on the legality of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, Maori media saw the raids as a continuation of state oppression against the Tuhoe sovereignty movement. In this second session of the Talk About Terror series, we examine what it means to create representations In Our Own Image through the work of two film makers, Alexandra Halkin and Leonie Pihama. Alexandra Halkin, the International Coordinator of the Chiapas Media Project (Promedios), joins us from Mexico. Promedios gives voice to indigenous peoples from the states of Chiapas and Guerrero in Mexico by providing them with cameras to track their lives in a region torn with infamously poor human rights records and one of the highest international incidences of political murders and disturbances. She is joined by Leonie Pihama, a film maker and renowned scholar on Maori education and broadcasting, who played a crucial role in the formation of the Maori Television Service. What will emerge in this dialogue spanning two distinct nations are the commonalities of indigenous experience – the struggle to create space for indigenous representations, the marginalisation of minority cultures, and the importance of film and television in shaping our perceptions of society. In Our Own Image pays tribute to Barry Barclay (Ngati Apa, 1944 – 2008) who dedicated most of his life to bringing indigenous stories to the screen. Director of the landmark 1974 Tangata Whenua documentary series, he was a pioneer of Maori film and television, forever altering the cultural landscape of New Zealand by becoming the first Maori to direct a feature film in 1987, the visually cerebral Ngati. Barclay sought to shed light on the international struggles shared by indigenous peoples to retain autonomy over their own image by offering alternatives to the largely stereotypical representations of these cultures. THIS LECTURE IS A PART OF THE TALK ABOUT TERROR SERIES ORGANISED BY NOVA PAUL, GERALDENE PETERS AND PHOEBE FLETCHER—AUT UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND. Media contacts: NOVA PAUL [nova.paul@aut.co.nz] 09 921 9999 ext 8063; GERALDENE PETERS [geraldene.peters@aut.ac.nz] 021 1045624. SUPPORTED BY: AUT UNIVERSITY, Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies; New Zealand Centre for Latin American Studies, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

Thursday, April 3, from 3:00pm- 5:00pm at the AUT Business School, Level 7, Room 711, 42 Wakefield Street, Auckland Dr Peter Turnbull, Professor of Human Resource Management & Labour Relations at Cardiff University, will be speaking on the topic 'Globalisation, Transportation and Sustainable Development in the EU'.

Monday 7th April: GPJA MONTHLY FORUM – ANTI-TERROR LAWS: Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn. 7.30pm Special Forum to update on the campaign to repeal the anti-terror laws. Details of panellists to follow.

Thursday, 10 April 2008 - Saturday, 19 April 8pm. Maidment Theatre, 8 Alfred St, Auckland CBD THE HOLLOW MEN - HIGHLY-ACCLAIMED NEW ZEALAND PLAY The Hollow Men comes to Auckland in April for a strictly limited season. Based on Nicky Hager’s controversial book and adapted by Dean Parker, The Hollow Men is at Maidment Theatre, Auckland for ten performances only. The Hollow Men examines the months of Don Brash’s leadership of the National Party leading up to the 2005 election and is a riveting piece of new documentary theatre, a genre which is currently proving to be a phenomenon overseas. The play had its world premiere in Wellington in September last year and among many nominations won a Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for set design. Featuring iconic New Zealand actor Stephen Papps as Don Brash, together with Michael Keir Morrissey, Lyndee-Jane Rutherford, Adam Gardiner, Sam Snedden and Arthur Meek, The Hollow Men seeks to both challenge and entertain in this relevant and topical play. “Exciting, funny and totally absorbing” – Dominion Post. In The Hollow Men, the cast plays a variety of political movers and shakers; many of whom still walk the corridors of parliament and have influence behind the scenes today. Director Jonathon Hendry says The Hollow Men follows an international trend for stories about real events to be played out on the stage. “Shakespeare had great popular hits examining political events on stage with plays such as Julius Caesar and Richard the Third and in recent years, a new form of documentary theatre is selling out theatres on Broadway, at Britain’s National Theatre and at smaller fringe venues everywhere. “Renowned British playwright David Hare (whose play Stuff Happens dramatised events leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003) says that ‘theatre using real people has become a fabulously rich and varied strand which, for many years, has been pumping red cells into the dramatic bloodstream’, and the hottest piece of theatre on the international circuit at the moment is the National Theatre of Scotland’s Black Watch, based on real events in Iraq. “We’ve been performing Dean Parker’s highly entertaining adaptation of Nicky Hager’s book to packed houses. It’s fantastic to be able to bring it to Auckland”. Designed by Brian King, Jen Lal, Judith Crozier and Andrew McMillan, The Hollow Men plays at Maidment Theatre, Auckland for a strictly limited season from 10-19 April. Book by phoning 09 308 2383 or online at www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz [http://www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz] “Fast and funny theatre” - NZ Herald. “The most impressive new work” – Best of 2007, Harry Ricketts, NZ Listener

10 am, Friday April 18 to 3 pm, Sunday April 20, Whai Ora Marae, Otara, Manukau City Treaty Educators Professional Development Conference to be held in Tâmaki Makaurau, 18 - 20 April 2008. The purposes of this conference are •To support Treaty educators to improve the quality of their practice •To enhance development of a Treaty educator community of practice •To encourage more involvement in ACE Treaty provision. For more information and to register see the attached document or visit www.treatyeducators.org.nz [http://www.treatyeducators.org.nz]

Monday 12th May: GPJA MONTHLY FORUM – THE PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn. 7.30pm Maher Mughrabi, Palestinian writer and journalist now working in Melbourne at The Age and a member of the Palestinian Diaspora. This meeting comes just two days before the anniversary of al Nakba – the anniversary of the proclaiming of the state of Israel in Tel Aviv.

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND Peaceful March Marks 5 Years Since US Invaded Iraq [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00238.htm] Wallace & Manning – Govt Should Speak Out on Tibet [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00262.htm] Matt McCarten: I like legal abortion - it gives women control of their lives http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=104983... [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10498399] John Minto: Is he really Virgin Green, or is Branson killing the planet to save it? [http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4423225a16155.html] Don't muzzle our athletes at the Beijing Olympics [http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4405179a16155.html] Rest Home pay dispute settled [http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/4437974a6497.html] Woman sues over disability 'bias' [http://www.stuff.co.nz/4441714a11.html] Revealed: Air New Zealand's mile-high pay gap http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10498348&r... [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10498348&ref=rss] The trans-Tasman pay gap [http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4440021a6445.html] Brian Gaynor: Falling house prices start ripple effect http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=104982... [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10498271] BNZ looks ahead and says the 'R' word [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10498294] Mortgage stress on the rise [http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4160014a26503.html] Housing ownership lowest for 50 years [http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4421178a6870.html] House prices need to drop 30% - HOUSEHOLDS ON the average income cannot buy an affordable house, despite a 4% price drop since November and an expected 10% fall before the end of this year, a Sunday Star-Times housing affordability investigation shows. [http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/0a20517.html?source=nav] Telecom singled out in wage dispute [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10498660] Wine growers fear shortage of workers [http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4440125a19754.html] Locke calls for stronger support for Tibetans in hour of need - Watch the speech here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_eJ2CJOdo4]

NZ: THE ROGER AWARDS & PRIVATISATION BY STEALTH On the day of the event announcing the 11th Roger Award in March 2008, a conference was held called "Privatisation by Stealth" http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/PB... [http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/PBSConferenceFlier.pdf] The speakers were: • Murray Horton, CAFCA – Introduction http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/In... [http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/Intro-Horton.pdf] • Bill Rosenberg, CAFCA - International pressures driving privatisation http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/In... [http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/International%20Pressures.pdf] • Laila Harre, former Cabinet Minister - on the internal and external pressures on Government to privatise (copy not available). • Sue Newberry, Associate Professor of Accounting, University of Sydney - on the structures in place which enable some privatisation initiatives to proceed without the public being aware (copy not available). OTHER ROGER AWARD NEWS [http://nz.news.yahoo.com/080316/3/4hdr.html] http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNews/Telecomearningplaceinhallofshame/... [http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNews/Telecomearningplaceinhallofshame/tabid/184/articleID/49512/cat/64/Default.aspx] [http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2008/03/17/telecom-gets-rogered/] [http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4441795a6009.html] http://www.times-age.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3766864&th... [http://www.times-age.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3766864&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=] http://www.greystar.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1569... [http://www.greystar.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1569&Itemid=1] [http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=99&id=16648]

FEATURES Tariq Ali: Where has all the rage gone?In 1968, fury at the Vietnam war sparked protests and uprisings across the world: from Paris and Prague to Mexico [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/22/vietnamwar] Robert Fisk: The only lesson we ever learn is that we never learn http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-the-only-lesson-we-ev... [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-the-only-lesson-we-ever-learn-is-that-we-never-learn-797816.html] Seumas Milne: There Must Be A Reckoning For This Day Of Infamy - Those who insist that the immolation of Iraq was the consequence of errors in the execution of an otherwise defensible policy are simply evading their own responsibility and culpability. [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19579.htm]

ENVIRONMENT Climate Change Deepening World Water Crisis By Thalif Deen [http://www.countercurrents.org/deen210308.htm] Climate Change Requires Herculean Effort By Karen Mccall [http://www.countercurrents.org/mccall210308.htm] Killer Delicacies: The Battle For The Ocean By Joseph Grosso [http://www.countercurrents.org/grosso210308.htm] A Glacial Vanishing Act - Glaciers, the world's freshwater towers, continue their record-breaking meltdown, a new U.N. report shows. The average rate of thinning and melting more than doubled between 2004 and 2006, reports the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), a centre based at the University of Zurich in Switzerland [http://www.countercurrents.org/leahy180308.htm]

REVIEWS Bad Capitalists or a Bad System: Hollywood Comes to Blows With Upton Sinclair By David Bacon - I was disappointed Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for "There Will Be Blood," not because he's not a great actor (he is), but because the movie was such a betrayal of the book on which it was based. Movies don't have to follow books. Many don't. But in this case, what we missed were the things that made Upton Sinclair's "Oil" a politically courageous book for its time. For our time, it unearths a crucial part of the hidden history of our own working class movement. [http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031408E.shtml] The first time I was called a self-hating Jew it was America in the 1960s, and his parents were civil rights activists who encouraged their children to speak their minds. Until, aged 14, Mike Marqusee criticised Israel. In this extract from his new book, he recalls his father's fury http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/04/israelandthepalestinians.boo... [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/04/israelandthepalestinians.bookextracts] An Invention Called "the Jewish People" [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/segev120308.html]

FILM La Commune [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5UjXpynCbI&feature=email]

AUSTRALIA Australia's hidden Empire - In his latest article for the New Statesman, John Pilger reports from his homeland on Australia's hidden empire - a 'sphere of influence' that stretches from the Aboriginal slums of Sydney to East Timor and Afghanistan. The arrival of a new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, offers important continuity. [http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=478] Blinkers off for the other side of story [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/03/14/1205472079215.html] Sydney divided by wealth and class http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/its-a-city-of-great-dividing-ranges/... [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/its-a-city-of-great-dividing-ranges/2008/03/17/1205602293050.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1]

AFGHANISTAN Karzai Controls a Third of Afghanistan [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iw27CpAqWV2_KWcV9qvMvGdY1nOAD8V2PG4O0]

BOLIVIA Bolivia on the Brink [http://www.just-international.org/article.cfm?newsid=20002677]

CANADA Ontario Jails First Nation Leaders; KI Pledges to Continue the Struggle - On March 18, six members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation were sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court, for opposing mining company operations on their traditional lands in Northwestern Ontario. The imprisoned leaders include the majority of members of the KI Band Council. [http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=268]

Afghanistan: Why Canada Should Withdraw Its Troops [http://military-world.net/Afghanistan/207.html]

CHINA The Price of Coal in China - China Labour Bulletin publishes a new report on the coal mining industry in China, which focuses on the industry's appalling safety record, the collusion between mine owners and local government officials, as well as the government's system of post-disaster management, which is systematically eroding the rights of the bereaved. [http://www.clb.org.hk/en/files/File/bone_and_blood.pdf]

CUBA Cuba: Prelude to succession [http://links.org.au/node/299]

ECUADOR Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on the Lawsuit Against Chevron, Eradicating Foreign Debt and Why He Says “Ecuador is No Longer for Sale” http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/11/exclusive_ecuadorean_president_raf... [http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/11/exclusive_ecuadorean_president_rafael_correa_on]

IRELAND Irish banks may need life-support as property prices crash: The Dublin government appears to be almost powerless to prevent a severe downturn http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/11/cniris... [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/11/cnirish111.xml]

ISRAEL/PALESTINE To blame the victims for this killing spree defies both morality and sense - Washington's covert attempts to overturn an election result lie behind the crisis in Gaza, as leaked papers show http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/05/israelandthepalestin... [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/05/israelandthepalestinians.usa] Celebrating an Aborted Birth [http://mwcnews.net/content/view/20790/42/] Amazing grace - The conversation with the historian Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell, on the occasion of his being awarded the Israel Prize, was intended to focus on ideas and take on a political character. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/961668.html] The Gaza Bombshell - After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever. [http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804] Diary by Yonatan Mendel - A year ago I applied for the job of Occupied Territories correspondent at Ma’ariv, an Israeli newspaper [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n05/mend01_.html] Two-State Dreamers: If One State Is Impossible, Why Is Olmert So Afraid of It? [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/cook120308.html]

MALAYSIA The 2008 Malaysian election - and the BN debacle [http://www.just-international.org/article.cfm?newsid=20002680]

SRI LANKA Recurring Nightmare - State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka [http://hrw.org/reports/2008/srilanka0308/index.htm] The present parliament of Sri Lanka is incapable of finding a political solution to the ethnic problem, says a leading constitutional expert who stepped down from the post of senior advisor to the Sri Lankan Government. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2008/03/080303_jayampathi.shtml]

TIBET Tibet student protester speaks out: "We feel so very sad because we are so helpless. They have killed monks and common people - you must know this." [http://tinyurl.com/358b4g]

UK Debt-Gorged British Start to Worry That the Party Is Ending http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/business/worldbusiness/22debt.html?ref... [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/business/worldbusiness/22debt.html?ref=world]

USA Barack Obama's Speech on Race: New Challenges for Him, the Democrats, and Us [http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/labotz200308.html] Slump Moves From Wall St. to Main St http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/business/21econ.html?_r=3&th&emc=th&or... [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/business/21econ.html?_r=3&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin] Partying Like It’s 1929 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/opinion/21krugman.html?ex=1206849600&e... [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/opinion/21krugman.html?ex=1206849600&en=0dec82de0dc5d45a&ei=5070&emc=eta1] California court orders Starbucks to return $100m in tips to baristas [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/22/starbucks.usa] Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, features testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground. [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19536.htm] Greg Palast: Eliot's Mess: The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately linked [http://www.gregpalast.com/elliot-spitzer-gets-nailed/] U.S. faces severe recession: NBER's Feldstein: The United States is in a recession that could be "substantially more severe" than recent ones, National Bureau of Economic Research President Martin Feldstein said on Friday. [http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080314/usa_economy_feldstein.html?.v=1] One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008 [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/prison010308.html] How Americans Have Been Misled about World War II -At present, however, sixty-seven or more years after these events, probably not one American in 1,000 - nay, not one in 10,000 - has an inkling of any of this history. [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19565.htm]

VENEZUELA $300 Mllion from Chavez to FARC a Fake [http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/300-mllion-chavez-farc-fake] The Center for Economic and Policy Research responds to a recent article by Francisco Rodriguez in the March/April 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs that argued that Venezuela's poor have not benefited from the government of President Hugo Chávez. [http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0321-03.htm] Venezuela: Mass revolutionary party ‘to make history’ [http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/744/38505] "Endogenous Right" vs. "False Left" in Venezuela - Counter-Attack of the Bureaucrats [http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3247] Venezuela: Revolution, party and a new international [http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_26331.shtml]

VIETNAM My Lai probe hid policy that led to massacre [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JC18Ae01.html] 10,000 workers strike at Vietnamese plant that makes shoes for Nike [http://money.aol.ca/article/vietnam-nike-strike/132880/]

WORLD ECONOMY IMF tells states to plan for the worst: Governments might have to intervene with taxpayers' money to shore up the financial system and prevent a "downward credit spiral" from taking hold, the International Monetary Fund said [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ee21ddbc-f08b-11dc-ba7c-0000779fd2ac.html] Could we really run out of food? http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/Investing/JonMarkman/Article.aspx?cp-doc... [http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/Investing/JonMarkman/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=6424206] US economist calls financial crisis worst since 1930s http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/International_Business/Financial_cri... [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/International_Business/Financial_crisis_worst_since_1930s/articleshow/2881608.cms] World trade decelerates almost to a standstill: Global trade slowed almost to a standstill over the new year, threatening to shrink for the first time since the US economy went into recession in 2001. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a6d4b338-f61e-11dc-8d3d-000077b07658.html]

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