Global Peace And Justice Newsletter

Global Peace And Justice Newsletter
May 6, 2009

WHAT'S ON IN AUCKLAND

Sunday, May 10, 6.30pm, Latin America Centre, 37 Selwyn St, Onehunga
MADRES, FUTURAS Y PASADAS - Mothers, Past and Present (and Men are welcome TOO). The Auckland Latin American Community Inc. warmly invites you to celebrate MOTHERS DAY. (Traigan algo para picar y compartir si pueden) (La sorpresa durara solo una hora, no se la pierdan, maridos bienvenidos) (will include a Special Guest as a surprise .Please bring a plate for a potluck)

Wednesday, May 13, 7.30pm, Cityside, 8 Mt eden Rd, Auckland
Come one come all to the very first SHOW 'N TELL; Auckland's own participatory free school. Join us for an evening of whimsical enlightenment, be prepared to learn something you had never even thought of before.....
• Ecology and Dr Seuss • Free Burma Rangers • Memoirs of a Child TV Star -
None of the presenters are experts in their topics (except maybe the ex-TV celebrity), but that's just the point. We are hoping to get more confident in self educating, and in public speaking. Who knows, you might end up presenting at the next show 'n tell! Lets take back our education! Proudly brought to you by the Auckland Free Space Collective

Thursday, May 14, 7pm, US Consulate, Customs St, Downtown
Rally: "Al Nakba- 'The Catastrophe' -Vigil - Remembering the origins of the Palestinian plight." Host: Justice for Palestine. A vigil to remember Al Nakba, 'The catastrophe', the day the State of Israel was created and the sequence of events that resulted in the displacement of hundreds and thousands of Palestinians. Al Nakba continues with everyday a Palestinian is deemed irrelevant. With everyday a Palestinian is deprived of basic human rights, a right to live a dignified existence and the continual dispossession of the indigenous people of Palestine.

Monday, May 18, 7pm, Lynfield Room at the Fickling Centre, Mt Albert
"Green New Deal public meeting": Event: Green New Deal public meeting. "Let's sort out the economy and the climate crisis at the same time". Host: Russel Norman

Thursday, May 21, 5-6pm, WE240, Art and Design Building, Gate 3, AUT
PACER - the latest tool for recolonising the Pacific. In her 2001 reports for the Pacific Network on Globalisation, Big Brothers Behaving Badly and A People's Guide to PACER, Jane Kelsey outlined what the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Countries might mean for Pacific peoples. Australia and NZ are now pushing for Pacific leaders at the Forum Leaders' meeting in Cairns in August to agree to negotiations for a free trade agreement known as PACER-plus. Jane Kelsey's talk will examine the geopolitical, social and economic implications of a 'trade' treaty that is the latest tool for recolonising the Pacific. Prof. Jane Kelsey is one of New Zealand's best-known critical commentators on issues of globalisation, structural adjustment and decolonisation. She is an active member of a number of international coalitions of academics, trade unionists, NGOs and social movements working for social justice. She has written numerous books and articles on the neoliberal restructuring of New Zealand since 1984, including the best-selling 'The New Zealand Experiment. A World Model for Structural Adjustment?'. Her latest book on globalisation, 'Serving Whose Interests? The Political Economy of Trade in Services Agreements', was published in 2008. WE240, Art and Design Building, Gate 3, Thursday, May 21, 5-6pm, co-hosted by School of Art and Design, Pacific Media Centre, and School of Communication.

Sunday, May 24, 9am, Grassy area on the City side by the bridge
"Walk/Cycle over the Auckland Harbour bridge - 1959 and 2009 chance to get across". Host: getacross.org.nz.

Tuesday, May 26, 5pm, Pacific Media Centre, WE240, Art and Design Building, Gate 3, AUT
Burma's citizen journalists and the exiled media. Violet Cho, PMC's Asian Journalism Fellow. Film: BurmaVJ, a combined documentary and seminar about independent news media in Burma under the military junta presented by the Pacific Media Centre's Asian Journalism Fellow, Violet Cho. This 84min film won top prize at the 2008 Amsterdam Documentary Festival last December. It is the story of how a group of citizen journalists filmed and got their images out of the repression by the military junta to the world's media during the so-called "Safron Revolution" in September 2007. Exiled independent journalist Violet Cho, who writes for Irrawaddy magazine, will present her seminar on Burma and also introduce the film.

Tuesday, May 26, 6.30pm, Room 039, ClockTower Building No. 105, 22 Princes Street
Photojournalism: Telling Stories of Trauma with Jim MacMillan. 1 session, Tuesday 26 May, 6.30 - 9pm. Fee: $35 $10 (student/ unwaged). Award winning Photojournalist Jim MacMillan will discuss the special challenges and responsibilities of covering traumatic events in the news, from urban violence to terrorist attacks and foreign wars. Primary concerns will include the ethical treatment of victims and survivors, the impact of trauma coverage on news consumers and communities. Issues of accurate and complete reporting under stress, and the psychological hazards of covering traumatic events for the news professionals involved will be addressed. Jim MacMillan is an independent multimedia journalist, university educator and news media consultant based in Philadelphia. He will present his own work from the crime beat in Philadelphia, terrorist attacks in the United States and the war in Iraq. To enrol: Continuing Education, phone 09 373 7599 ext 87831/87832, or email conted@auckland.ac.nz Website: www.cce.auckland.ac.nz

Wednesday, May 27, 8.30am - 5pm, AUT Conference Centre (WA224), Auckland University of Technology, City Campus,55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland
Working Women’s Charter Seminar - For a celebration, a history and action plan - It is now 30 years since the Working Women’s Charter was adopted by the Federation of Labour Conference as policy. It had an immediate effect on conditions of work for women and on women’s participation in unions. Join the Auckland Labour History Group on Wednesday 27 May at a seminar which will establish an historical record of the Working Women’s Charter 1980s campaign Celebrate that achievement. Take unfinished business from the Charter forward into the economic challenges we are facing. Globally, women are likely to be hard hit by the changes. Anyone is welcome to attend. We are hoping that it will also be a union occasion so that any action plan can be taken forward into the whole union movement.

Friday, May 29, 7.30am, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus
Budget 09: Child Poverty – For Better or Worse? Child Poverty Action Group is organising the 9th annual Post – Budget Breakfast. SPEAKERS: Prof Manukau Henare, Dr Steve Poletti, John Minto. MC Prof Innes Asher, Comments A/Prof Susan St John

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.": Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - (1749-1832)

"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favour freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground... Power concedes nothing without a demand". -Frederick Douglas

ANNOUNCEMENTS

STRIKE/LOCKOUT AT AIR NZ
Background: Flight attendants working on Air NZ flights to Australia (except Perth) and the Pacific are on strike/locked out for four days from Thursday 7 May. Although they work on Air NZ flights, wear Air NZ uniforms and deal with Air NZ passengers their legal employer is a wholly owned Air NZ subsidiary, Zeal 320 Ltd. This outfit was set up when Air NZ started Freedom Air as a budget airline flying the Tasman. Flight crew working in the budget airline were all employed on massively inferior terms and conditions compared to other Air NZ staff doing the same work. At the beginning of last year, Air NZ canned Freedom Air as a brand and returned solely to full service flights across the Tasman and around the Pacific. Some Freedom Air staff were put on terms and conditions consistent with standard Air NZ terms. But the flight attendants were left on their inferior terms, around 30% below what other flight attendants doing the same work get paid. The difference now between a Zeal flight attendant and an Air NZ flight attendant doing the same work is literally thousands of dollars a year. The Zeal base salaries are lower. Zeal crew do not get overtime. They don't get loadings based on sectors they fly. They get a reimbursing allowance to cover out-of pocket expenses and they have a unilaterally-imposed performance pay scheme under which the maximum reward is either $8000 or $10 000, depending on the grade they're on. Last year, the crew were paid less than half the possible maximum performance pay. The Zeal flight attendants would like pay parity with other Air NZ flight attendants. This would make for a huge jump in incomes and in cost for the business. In the course of negotiations the crew have moderated their demands. While they are no longer seeking parity, they are seeking a fairer deal than they've got at the moment. But Air NZ isn't budging.

Justice and fairness

This is a very basic argument about justice and fairness in wages. Even if Air NZ could justify lower wages and conditions for these crew when they were flying a budget brand airline, they can't justify it now. These crew do exactly the same work, receive exactly the same training, use the same skills, discharge the same responsibilities and are required to meet the same quality of service standards as all other Air NZ flight attendants. Air NZ just thinks they should be paid thousands of dollars a year less. Air NZ has said publicly that these crew are on incomes of between $41 000 and $60 000. This wrong. Base salaries start at $28 000 rising to $37 000 for a senior supervising flight attendant. They get a tax free allowance to cover the cost of meals, grooming, uniform drycleaning and other work incidentals - Air NZ regards this as part of their income. Air NZ has also included the full value of its bonus scheme (either $8000 or $10 000) whereas only about 45% of it was paid last year. Air NZ can afford to pay more. Although aviation, like all industries, is struggling, the fact is that Air NZ is still profitable and this year is forecasting a profit of $78 million.

Your support

These crew need your support. The EPMU is providing some financial hardship support, but of course more is welcome. Contact EPMU Union Support Centre 0800 186 466.

Crew will be picketing and rallying as follows:

Auckland (contact: Strachan Crang 027 590 0049)

•Thursday: 7-10am Fanshawe St opposite Air NZ head office, 12-3pm Auckland Airport International terminal

•Friday: 7-10am Auckland Airport International terminal

•Sunday: 12-4pm Auckland Airport International terminal

Wellington (contact: Glen Mitchell 04 387 4685)

•Thursday: 11am-1pm, Lambton Quay Holiday Shoppe

Christchurch (contact: John Kerr 027 584 6208)

•Thursday: 11am outside Air NZ Holiday Shoppe, Colombo St

•Friday: 8-10am: rally at the "totem" pole, last roundabout before entering Christchurch airport

•Sunday: 2-4pm rally at the totem pole (bring your mother)

MAY 14-22 - HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL, RIALTO, NEWMARKET
From May 14-22 this year, the Human Rights Network (www.humanrights.net.nz) is hosting the fifth Human Rights Film Festival (www.humanrightsfilmfest.net.nz). Over the last four years, the Festival has been a great success locally, as well as attracting interest from overseas film-makers and others involved in human rights film festivals. As a result, this year there is an impressive selection of high quality human rights related films. One of the distinctive and popular features of the festival is a 20 minute discussion after each session, with two panellists who have thematic or regional expertise relating to the film. This is a chance for audience members to question experts on their take and also give their opinion on the context of the film. Film synopsis and tickets are now available at: http://www.rialto.co.nz/callcentre/village/Default.aspx?Control=sites/Rialto/HumanRights We look forward to seeing you at the Festival!! - Nirupa George, Auckland Co-coordinator, Human Rights Film Festival, (021) 0512656, vyjp.info@gmail.com www.humanrightsfilmfest.net.nz

PROTEST MUSIC VIDEO FROM WAIHEKE
Keep Your Wheelie Bins in Auckland Central http://www.waihekedoesitbetter.org.nz/

MAORI REPRESENTATION IN THE SUPER CITY: WHAT’S THE ISSUE?
Should Maori have guaranteed representation? Yes. Those with mana whenua (mana of the land) in this area have been guardians of the lands, seas and harbours of this region for centuries. They welcomed and gave a place to the new European settlers, expecting they would live alongside them in a respectful relationship. We all need to recognise that relationship today if we are going to move into a future based on a right and peaceful relationships between people and the land.

What did the Royal Commission recommend?

The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance recognised this and recommended that of the 23 councillors in the new structure there should be three seats for Māori. Two Māori members should be elected to the Auckland Council by voters who are on the parliamentary Māori Electoral Roll and one Maori member should be appointed by a Mana Whenua Forum. The members of Mana Whenua Forum were to be appointed by mana whenua from the district of the Auckland Council.

What has the Government decided?

The Government announced that The Auckland Council will be made up of 12 councillors elected to represent wards and an additional eight councillors who will be elected at large. There are no seats for Maori. Recognition of the role of mana whenua, and of individual hapū and iwi will be a responsibility of the new Council.

The Government decision means that in spite of being Tangata Whenua, there is no recognition of Maori right to have guaranteed representation in decision making in the region.

What can we do?

Here’s what you can do to encourage more careful consideration of the issues.

Join the hikoi on May 25

The HIKOI will converge at the bottom of Queen Street by 12noon on May 25 before peacefully walking together to the Town Hall and Aotea Square. There will be Pakeha Treaty Workers and Tangata Tiriti banners which you may wish to gather around. The hikoi will be starting at four points:

South Auckland

8.30am at Manukau City Council; 10am leave by car convoy. CBD parking details to be announced.

East/Central Auckland

8.30am at Bastion Point-Orakei Marae; 9.30am leave by walking along Tamaki Drive to the bottom of Queen Street.

North Auckland

10am at Awataha Marae, 58 Akoranga Drive,leave by car convoy; 11am re-group at Victoria Park then walk to bottom of Queen Street. CBD parking details to be announced.

West Auckland

9am at Te Piringatahi o Te Maungarongo Marae, 19 Luckens Road, West Harbour; 11am re-group at Victoria Park then walk to bottom of Queen Street. CBD parking details to be announced.

Visit http://ihiaotearoa.wordpress.com/ for your Area Coordinator contact details and further info.

Email MPs

Ask them to review the Government decision and to respect the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

Hon. Dr Jonathan Coleman, MP for Northcote j.coleman@ministers.govt.nz
Hon. Judith Collins, MP for Papakura j.collins@ministers.govt.nz
Hon. Rodney Hide, MP for Epsom r.hide@ministers.govt.nz
Dr Paul Hutchison, MP for Hunua paul.hutchison@parliament.govt.nz
Nikki Kaye, MP for Auckland Central nikki.kaye@parliament.govt.nz
Hon. John Key, MP for Helensville j.key@ministers.govt.nz
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, MP for Maungakiekie peseta.sam.lotu-iiga@parliament.govt.nz
Hon. Dr Wayne Mapp, MP for North Shore w.mapp@ministers.govt.nz
Hon. Murray McCully, MP for East Coast Bays m.mccully@ministers.govt.nz
Allan Peachey, MP for Tamaki allan.peachey@parliament.govt.nz
Hon. Dr Lockwood Smith, MP for Rodney mp.rodney.warkworth@xtra.co.nz
Hon. Maurice Williamson, MP for Pakuranga m.williamson@ministers.govt.nz
Hon. Pansy Wong, MP for Botany p.wong@ministers.govt.nz
Hon. Paula Bennett, MP for Waitakere paula.bennett@xtra.co.nz

Make a submission

The Government has not yet released details of the submission making process. Check the websites below for updates.

For more information

IHI: Iwi Have Influence http://ihiaotearoa.wordpress.com/

Royal Commission: Download the Royal Commission's report here.

Government website: Download The Government's Version here.

There are a number of other issues relating to general representation with regard to the Government plans for the Super City. For more information go to: http://www.cc4a.net.nz/

TREATY CONFERENCE3 - 4 July 2009 Manukau City
A Tangata Tiriti initiative open to all. We invite you and members of your community to Treaty in the 21st Century. This conference is for people with an interest in applying the Treaty of Waitangi in the not for profit, public and private sectors, in local communities and in their own lives. The focus is on past, present and future work: looking at what's been going on, what's happening now and what the future possibilities might be for the Treaty. The conference will include keynote presentations, over 30 workshops, and informal networking time. It will provide an opportunity to reflect, share learning, and support action on strengthening the role of the Treaty in our society. Go to http://www.trc.org.nz/conference09 for more information. Go to http://www.trc.org.nz/onlineregistration for a registration form. Go to o http://www.trc.org.nz/workshopproposal for a workshop proposal form. A pre-conference event is planned for 2 July, 7 - 9pm: details to be confirmed. If you cannot access the website please contact the conference administrator Traci Mangu, Email: admin@awea.org.nz Phone: 09 274 4270 If you would like to talk about an idea for a workshop contact the conference organiser Jen Margaret Email: jen@awea.org.nz Organised by the Treaty Resource Centre and Tamaki Treaty Workers. Please pass this invitation on to your networks.

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF LIBERATION OF ALBERT PARK
Plans are under way to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Albert Park in September 1969. An event is being planned for the afternoon of Sunday September 20, 2009, at Albert Park. The liberation of Albert Park, which forced the Auckland City Council to allow Albert Park to be a free speech area, involved thousands of people from a wide variety of groups and the public at large in a mass civil disobedience action. Initially the Council threatened legal action, but retreated as numbers attending continue to grow. At roughly the same time the ACC move to ban Friday night marches down Queen Street was also defeated by mass action. Similarly, the ACC bylaw requiring a permit to be gained before leaflets were publicly distributed was defeated a year later by a mass civil disobedience action. Please circulate this information as widely as possible, so all those thousands of people who supported the liberation of Albert Park can take part in a celebration of the anniversary of that victory. Watch this space. More details will follow later. Thanks, Barry Lee, lee.abms@ihug.co.nz

CALL OUT FOR ART WORKS - OCTOBER 15 SOLIDARITY
The October 15th Solidarity group is seeking art works for an upcoming auction and exhibition. The five day event, to be held in Wellington, will be timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the raids (October 15th 2009). Funds raised will go towards legal fees and travel costs for those still facing charges as as a result of the state terror raids in 2007. The group believes in the power of art as a voice of dissent, and calls for submissions that draw from any of the following: -the October 15th raids; -commentary on the 'war on terrorism'; -surveillance/police/prisons; -colonisation; -kaupapa Maori; -resistance. All artists will be asked to set a reserve price for their work. Please indicate your interest via email or post asap. Contact: Rachel Fabish info@october15thsolidarity.info October15th Solidarity, P O Box 9263, Te Aro, Wellington. More info: october15thsolidarity.info

COMMISSION URGES PM TO SUPPORT DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
The Human Rights Commission has asked the Prime Minister to reconsider the Government’s opposition to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In a joint letter to the Prime Minister, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan and Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres, said it was time to view the Declaration in the spirit in which it was intended, not as apotential source of discord, but as a guide to strengthening the relationship between the Government and Tangata Whenua. The Commission urged the Government to discuss New Zealand’s position on the declaration with Maori. Action by Australia last week suggested it was time for New Zealand to reconsider. On Friday the Australian Government, also initially opposed to the Declaration, said itwould now support it as an historic and aspirational statement that would help to heal past human rights breaches against the Aboriginal peoples. New Zealand was one of four countries that voted against the adoption of the Declaration at the United Nations General Assembly on 17 September, 2007. At the time New Zealand was concerned that the Declaration potentially granted Indigenous people morerights than other citizens. However these concerns are addressed by Article 46 of the Declaration, which states that nothing in the Declaration takes precedence over existing human rights. A non-binding text, the UN Declaration sets out the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and otherissues. The Declaration emphasises the rights of Indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations. It also prohibits discrimination against Indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to remaindistinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development. ENDS Go to www.hrc.co.nz to see HRC letter to PM, written on 6 April 2009.

CLOSE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE!
April 30: It is one year today since the Ploughshares peace activists deflated one of the two domes at the top secret Waihopai spybase (and, in the process, severely deflated the supposed top security of that base). No date has yet been set for the trial of Adrian Leason, Sam Land and Peter Murnane. Anti-Bases Campaign declared our support for their symbolic action at the time andnothing has happened since to change our view. Indeed, the need to close the Waihopai spybase ASAP is more urgent than ever. There is a sham debate going on within the Government at present about whether to agree or not to the formal US request to re-commit NZ combat troops, namely the SAS, to help the US wage its worsening war in Afghanistan. New Zealand’s biggest commitment to that, andany other US-led war (Pakistan is next on the list) is not troops or frigates, etc, but Waihopai which, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, is functioning as a vital outpost of US Intelligence on NZ soil. The Bush Administration declared intelligence to be a vital component of its warfighting capacity. The Obama Administration has not changed that emphasis, indeed it relies on it even more inits re-prioritising the war in Afghanistan (and, increasingly, Pakistan) over that in Iraq. Waihopai is part of a global network of US-controlled spybases gathering electronic intelligence and that is what the US military depends on in wars such as in Afghanistan. April 30 is also the anniversary of the liberation of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), the biggest defeat thus far in the history of theAmerican Empire. That war also spread into the countries neighbouring Vietnam, with disastrous consequences, just as the Afghan war has spread into its neighbour. The coincidence of these two anniversaries on April 30 is a good time for New Zealand to reflect upon what it is still doing, a generation later and despite being nuclear free and out of ANZUS, loyally serving the US and helping itfight its wars and bully the world by hosting a small but vital cog in the global American network of spybases. We pride ourselves on being independent. That won’t be a fact until we have broken the covert ties that still closely bind us to the US war machine. Close Waihopai spybase now! Full details on Waihopai can be found at http://www.converge.org.nz/abc/waihopai09.html

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND

Swine-flu story a media beat-up By JOHN MINTO - The Press http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/2385466/Swine-flu-story-a-media-beat-up

John Minto Sth Africa On Its Way To A Failed State http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0905/S00032.htm

Super-size my pay: Gyro interviews Unite's Omar Hamed http://www.gyro.org.nz/story.php?id=481

Here is an article that links to Joe Harawira, of SWAP (Saw Mill Workers Against Poison) in Whakatane, who spoke at the last union educators hui in Orongomai and has a long association with the NDU. http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/view/211/223

Misgivings About Charitable Model - In the wake of John Key's suggestion that the better-off give their tax cuts to charity, Susan St John has some concerns about its implications. http://www.cpag.org.nz/news/cpag-news/nr1239156601.pdf

Ex-con back behind bars to fight jail privatisation http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10570442

Joris de Bres speaks at anti-racism conference - Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres told the world anti-racism conference in Geneva today (24 April, 2009) that he hoped all states, including New Zealand, would re-engage with the United Nations Durban anti-racism process. http://www.hrc.co.nz/home/hrc/newsandissues/jorisdebresspeaksatdurbanreviewconferenceingeneva.php

Matt McCarten: Nats' Supercity decision shows true view of Maori

FEATURES

Mike Davis: Capitalism and the flu http://links.org.au/node/1016

Swine flu and a sick social system: Why the poor die and the rich sniffle http://links.org.au/node/1020

Climate Myths? By Andrew Glikson - Responses by Andrew Glikson to Andrew Bolt’s article “10 climate myths” http://www.countercurrents.org/glikson300409.htm

Ecosocialism - For a Society of Good Ancestors! Ian Angus was a featured guest at the World at a Crossroads: Fighting for Socialism in the 21st Century 1conference , in Sydney Australia, April 10-12, 2009. The event, which drew 440 participants from more than 15 countries. The following is Ian’s talk to the plenary session on “Confronting the climate change crisis: an ecosocialistperspective.” He has lightly edited the text for publication. http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=385

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Chomsky On Adam Smith: "What we would call capitalism he despised" By Noam Chomsky. People read snippets of Adam Smith, the few phrases they teach in school. Everybody reads the first paragraph of The Wealth of Nations where he talks about how wonderful the division of labor is. But not many people get to the point hundreds of pages later, where he says that division of labor will destroyhuman beings and turn people into creatures as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human being to be. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22546.htm

US still deep in recession: American gross domestic product (GDP) - which tracks goods and services output within the country - dropped 6.1% over the first three months of the year, compared with 6.3% in the last three months of 2008. It is the largest first-quarter decline since the late 1950s. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/29/us-recession-worse-than-feared

Jump You Fuckers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TYezSrzUUs

REVIEWS

Why Unions Matter - by Michael D. Yates http://www.labourstart.org/bookshop/?p=34

AFGHANISTAN

US Afghan Strikes Kill 100, 'Mostly Civilians' By AFP: Deputy provincial governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli said he had seen the bodies of 20 children brought by villagers to the provincial capital, also called Farah. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22558.htm

Democracy at Gunpoint Guarantees U.S. Defeat By William Pfaff: An account from the Taliban side of the Afghanistan war, which was published in the New York Times on May 5, provides devastating evidence of the failure that almost certainly will eventually overtake the United States and NATO. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22560.htm

AUSTRALIA
The Torturer's Apprentice: Australia's role in the American Inquisition. By Richard Neville. In the panicky aftermath of 9/11, the West forged a pact with the Devil. It was not only Dick Cheney who felt the call of the dark side - it was virtually the entire governing class of America, Britain and Australia. Yes, even Australia, a former penal colony that started life as Britain's Guantanamo. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22552.htm

BOLIVIA

Rich countries must pay their `ecological debt': Submission by Republic of Bolivia to the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the (AWG-LCA) http://links.org.au/node/1022

Chvez and Morales Force Sweeping Land Reform Measures http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11296&pageid=13&pagename=Analysis

CUBA

Fidel Castro: Mr. Obama, the Blockade of Cuba Takes Lives and Brings Suffering http://www.alternet.org/audits/136665/fidel_castro%3A_mr._obama%2C_the_blockade_of_cuba_takes_lives_and_brings_suffering/

ECUADOR

Ecuador's Election Shows Why Left Continues Winning in Hard Times http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/apr/30/ecuador-election-economy

FIJI
Fiji Instability - Dealing with the dictator http://www.eturbonews.com/8873/dealing-dictator

FRANCE
French nuclear weapons tests - victims call France to account http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/ntest.htm

IRAQ
Right to the very end in Iraq, our masters denied us the truth By Robert Fisk: The sentence 'millions of Iraqis now live free of oppression' is pure public relations. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22543.htm

PAKISTAN
USA Seeks Extraordinary Military Powers In Pakistan By Bill Van Auken http://www.countercurrents.org/auken020509.htm

PALESTINE / ISRAEL

Hamas leader: Militant group is part of solution http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDglsnNm39fr4In3pRlZ_njigAWQD97VTOG80

SOMALIA

Somalis Say Illegal Fishing By Foreign Trawlers Drove Them To Piracy - The international community is shouting about piracy. But long before this, we were shouting to the world about our problems," said Eid, a bony-cheeked former lobsterman with a bushy goatee. "No one listened." http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22522.htm

SRI LANKA
New Evidence of Sri Lankan Army Atrocities By K. Ratnayake http://www.countercurrents.org/ratnayake040509.htm

UK

The British Withdrawal Is Only Our Latest Shameful Exit Following an Unjust Invasion Of Iraq By Robert Fisk: 179,000 dead Iraqis? Or closer to a million? The British never cared about the Iraqis. That's why we don't know the figure. That's why we left Basra. http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/139373/the_british_withdrawal_is_only_our_latest_shameful_exit_following_an_unjust_invasion_of_iraq/

The Iraq war has been a monstrous crime - Politicians crave a whitewash – but Britain must hold a fully open public inquiry into the bloodbath it helped to create by Seumas Milne http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/01/iraq-britain-inquiry/print

USA

It's a Mugging: Our National Wealth Is Getting Handed Over to the Bloated Rich http://www.alternet.org/workplace/137057/it%27s_a_mugging%3A_our_national_wealth_is_getting_handed_over_to_the_bloated_rich/

Revealed: U.S. Interrogators May Have Killed Dozens of Detainees http://www.alternet.org/rights/139867/revealed%3A_u.s._interrogators_may_have_killed_dozens_of_detainees/

Torture Memos Expose Dark, Imperial Presidency By Robert S. Becker - This was not a happy week for the torture lobby, nor its defenders, derailing months of charm offensive by Bush-Cheney legacy boosters. A wary President Obama backed off attempts to defuse the torture parade - fretting over divisive investigations and hard-to-win court convictions. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22520.htm

VANUATU
Foreign investors exploit cheap Vanuatu land - Foreign investors, mostly Australian are snapping up dirt-cheap land leases in Vanuatu. In one village tensions are rising after a development company run by expat Australians cleared land right beside a world heritage listed area. Villagers say the developer is silencing them with threats of legal action, while their future goes for a song. http://www.humanrights.net.nz/newsitems/ForeigninvestorsexploitcheapVanuatuland

VIETNAM

April 30: Vietnam celebrates Liberation Day http://links.org.au/node/1023

ends

© Scoop Media