------------#232------------
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=104983... [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466=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=10498348 [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1=10498348=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=104982... [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466=10498271] BNZ looks ahead and says the 'R' word [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=34=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=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 [http://www.times-age.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3766864=localnews==] http://www.greystar.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content=view=1569... [http://www.greystar.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content=view=1569=1] [http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1=99=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=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 [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/business/21econ.html?_r=3=th=slogin=slogin=slogin] Partying Like It’s 1929 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/opinion/21krugman.html?ex=1206849600 [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/opinion/21krugman.html?ex=1206849600=0dec82de0dc5d45a=5070=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]
ends