LL:AA: Lani in west papua

2000-12-10 Thread toni bloodworth

Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 07:36:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Sem Karoba <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>


Dear all supporters of West Papua,

Lani Tribe from the highlands is now becoming the TARGET of the Indonesian 
police and army.

We inform that:

1. OPM/TPN is not Lani people, there is no way whatsoever, the Idonesian 
police and TNI point out Lani as OPM/TPN.

2. The struggle in West Papua is the struggle of all Papuans. Why the Lani 
become the target? For a simple reason, we do not have enough access to the 
international community. We are not well educated in modern politics. We 
are the victims of the INdonesian occupation in West Papua. We are honest, 
strong in our principles and beliefs and never surrender and no compromise 
to the Indonesians for the sake of the truth.

3. The massacre and deaths of innocent civilians (recently 3 university 
students  who are Lani in Jayapura) in West Papua are purely the brutal 
acts from the Indonesian army and police, and government who do not want to 
resolve West Papua political issue in democratic way. In recent incident, 
the army attacked two Lani dormitories, Ninmin from Puncak Jaya Regency and 
Nayak from Baliem Regency and took all students sleeping in their 
dormitories and one of them was shot on the spot. Three others died in 
police prison, after heavily beaten. This recent death is the strongest 
example we can ever give you, how Indonesians treat the Lani people since 
they occupied West Papua.

We declare that:

1. Lani people will not step any step back with any reason, until all Lani 
people are completely wiped out from their land, West Papua. We are all 
ready to die for our land.

2. Until January 2001, all Lani people will get out from West Papua to 
Papua New Guinea. This massive exodus is the last effort we can ever do to 
escape from massive genocide over a tribe on this planet.

3. We will not going out to Papua New Guiena to escape from the 
responsiblity, but we are going to fight back, until finally we free West 
Papua from Indonesian colonialism and occupation.

4. All Papuans are now ready and stand-by to close-down multinationals 
operating in West Papua, namely Santa Fe in Sorong, Freeport McMoRan in 
Timika, Conocco in Bintuni, and other timber companies in West Papua AS 
SOON AS POSSIBLE since this letter is sent out to you all. We demand the 
multinationals working in West Papua to take steps towards what is going to 
happen to their operations in West Papua before all things are late. They 
are guests in West Papua, and they need to know what is going to happen.

THEREFORE, WE URGE THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY:

1. Please mobilise human rights organisations such as Amnesty 
International, Peace Brigade International, UNHCR, and others to come and 
monitor human rights violations and humanitarian crises in West Papua.

2. We urge the International Community to plan actions to resolve West 
Papua political issues democratically, peacefully and comprehensively. The 
international community should not repeat its past mistake by allowing 
further killings of innocent civilians until it is late to act then try to 
blame each other.

All supporters of West Papua, could you please wide-spread this call? West 
Papua is now in emergency situation. We always warn before things happen, 
and we do not want to be late as it usually happens.

Yours in solidarity,

SK


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:URL: Israel's Democratic Independent Media Center.

2000-10-26 Thread toni bloodworth


 A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
   http://www.ainfos.ca/


Dear Friends,
The Independent Media Center (imc) affiliated site for the Israel
region.
http://www.indymedia.org.il

The IMC-Israel is a democratic website where anybody can publish 
news/views, pictures, audio and video without being censored.

Since the 8th of October we have got about 6,500 and more hits per day. We 
will be start web-casting radio on the web shortly.

IMC-Israel is based on teamwork. We have set up affinity groups that deal 
with different aspects of the Independent Media Center. You can join our 
printed-paper editorial group ?CAN? or our video, audio or our website 
technical group.

Say good-bye to single-issue social groups. Activism has changed, join the 
new social revolution. Come visit our site. Save us paper and post this 
email to friends.

IMC group

  
  The A-Infos News Service
 News about and of interest to anarchists
  
  COMMANDS: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  REPLIES: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  HELP: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca
  INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org

To receive a-infos in one language only mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] the message
   unsubscribe a-infos
   subscribe a-infos-X
where X = en, ca, de, fr, etc. (i.e. the language code)



--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:ART: defence against trespass charges

2000-10-19 Thread toni bloodworth

HOW TO CHALLENGE A TRESPASS CHARGE AND (MAYBE EVEN) GET OFF

based on the experiences of the Jabiluka Arrestee Information and Legal 
Support service (JAILS).

DISCLAIMER: This was not written by a lawyer! It shouldn't be taken as 
legal advice and will not be applicable to every situation. If you are 
arrested, however you want to plead, you should speak to a real lawyer first.

These tips are for people intending to challenge their charge on the facts 
of the arrest and the details of the charge. They are sneaky but entirely 
legitimate tricks that worked for (some of) the Jabiluka defendants, and 
may work for you. Even if they do not relate exactly to your situation, try 
thinking along these lines and looking for holes in the prosecution's case 
you can use to your advantage (this is how lawyers work). But remember that 
this is not the only way to deal with a criminal charge. Some people may 
regard such a defence as morally bankrupt because it pretty much ignores 
the motivation behind your action. Others may not want to get off but 
simply to present a political argument to the court. (In that case there 
are actual defences within the various Criminal Codes such as 
"authorisation" or "sudden and extraordinary emergency" which can be used 
to advance a political or moral argument. None of the Jabiluka defendants 
who used such arguments got off, but they got a lot out of the experience.) 
Many people just want to plead guilty and get it over with. Others go for 
total non-co-operation with the system and disappear. These are all totally 
legitimate options.

THE GOLDEN RULE:
Don't assume that just because you have been charged, you will be 
convicted! Remember that you are innocent until PROVEN guilty. It IS 
possible to defend yourself AND get off. Many Jabiluka defendants did so. 
Although they were charged under the Northern Territory Trespass Act , 
every state has similar versions of the two most common charges used at 
Jabiluka, "trespass after direction to leave" and "trespass on enclosed 
lands/premises". Although the protesters at Jabiluka were charged for 
trespassing on a mine site, many of these same points have to be proven by 
the prosecution regardless of whether the 'trespass' is in a forest coupe, 
on a road, or in a squatted or corporate building. Some of these are basic 
rules of evidence and are relevant to any criminal charge.

Although it is a criminal offence, trespass seems to be regarded by the 
police (and the courts) as a simple insignificant charge- one which is 
easily laid and supposedly easy to prove. However, all criminal charges 
have to be proven beyond reasonable doubt. It's not up to you to prove that 
you weren't trespassing. It's up to the prosecution to prove that you WERE. 
This is called putting the prosecution to proof (and this goes for all 
criminal charges).

Many Jabiluka defendants were improperly charged. The sheer bulk of people 
arrested in mass actions meant that the police often laid charges sloppily, 
wrongfully, and without sufficient evidence to make them stand up in court. 
They probably expected everyone to plead guilty out of convenience or 
intimidation by the court process. Your case will be heard in the 
Magistrates Court, or the Court of Summary Jurisdictions, which deals with 
quite minor matters. The magistrates are generally not used to people 
presenting lengthy arguments or tricky defences, and we found that the 
prosecutors in the Northern Territory assigned to the Jabiluka trials were 
the least experienced and often under-prepared. All this means that if you 
challenge your charge, you have the element of surprise on your side. 
However, bear in mind that defending yourself WILL take time, a lot of 
preparation and possibly money. It also means that you will have to return 
to the jurisdiction in which you were charged and will have to be prepared 
to potentially pay court costs if you lose.

THE CHARGE:

- Check every single point of your charge for possible loopholes. Try and 
think like an anally-retentive lawyer. Get hold of all the prosecution's 
evidence against you (you are entitled to this as a defendant). Find out 
which witnesses they are planning on calling and get copies of their 
statements. Make sure you have a copy of the police precis (the police 
story of events). You are being challenged on the events described in your 
precis, not what YOU say happened. This is very important. If your precis 
is completely contradictory to the actual events, the prosecution may not 
have a case against you. It may be worth informing them of this before it 
goes to trial just in case they decide it is in their interests not to 
prosecute you.

- The law is incredibly pedantic. This can be good. Check the way your 
charge is written, particularly WHO is charging you. Even the most minor 
police slip-up can be fatal to their case. A group of Jabiluka defendants 
got off because their charges referred to the occupier of the Jabil

LL:URL: A fantastic refugee rights webpage

2000-10-19 Thread toni bloodworth

From: tassy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

   Hi friends,
  I send you this e-mail to tell you of a fun and
informative website on the issue of so-called "illegal immigrants". It's
at: http://web.one.net.au/~refugee/

  Visit and you will not be disappointed, it really is superbly done
as well as aesthetically pleasing (ie.beautiful). It gives you
information on international law and Australia's treaty obligations,
liberal humanitarian alternatives to the policy of detention (bearing in
mind there is no such thing as "illegals" in socialist law), the
psychological impact of being held like a prisoner and given
second-class status, and the brutality of Australasian Correctional
Management (ACM) who control the prisons in which refugees await
determination of their legal status. It also provides details on how to
get more involved through a politically-active organisation, the Refugee
Action Collective.

Cheers,
Matthew Davis


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:DDV: POLITICS FORUM : EVALUATING S11

2000-10-03 Thread Toni Bloodworth

In case there is anyone on this list who would like to go along. The
panel seems to be male dominated, but I'm sure promises to be an
interesting event.

Politics Forum:  'Evaluating s11', Wednesday 4 October 2000, 1pm-
6pm, Lecture Theatre R4 (Rotunda), Monash University Clayton
Campus

All Welcome; No Charge

The Politics Department of the School of Political and Social Inquiry
invites you to an afternoon forum entitled 'Evaluating s11' on
Wednesday 4 October 2000 in lecture theatre R4 (Rotunda),
Clayton Campus.  Its aim is to provide a scholarly discussion and
a political context related to the events of September 11-13 outside
the Crown Casino and their aftermath.

Speakers include s11 organisers David Glanz and Cam Walker;
David Baker (Criminal Justice and Criminology) and Brian Costar
(Head, School of Public Policy and Social Work) Nick Economou,
Paul James, Pete Lentini, Paul Muldoon, Steve Slaughter, Paul
Strangio, Kerry Wardlaw (all Politics) and Dennis Woodward
(Head, Politics). Papers address globalisation issues, police
activities, the Bracks Government's response, comparative
analyses of protest politics, media coverage of s11 and s11-13
from the organisers' point of view.

Forum Timetable

1.00-1.05 Pete Lentini, 'Introductory Remarks and Welcome'

Panel 1.  s11:  An Overview from the Coordinators

1.05-1.20 David Glanz
1.20-1.35 Cam Walker
1.35-2.00 Questions and Answers

2.00-2.15 Break

Panel 2.  The State, Globalisation and Their Critics

2.15-2.30  David Baker, 'Policing the Barricades'
2.30-2.45  Brian Costar, 'The Bracks Government's Response:
"Local
Blairism"?'  2.45-3.00  Dennis Woodward, 'Globalising Financial
Markets' 3.00-3.15  Paul Muldoon, 'Globalisation and Democracy'
3.15-3.30  Steve Slaughter, 'Protesting Economic Globalisation'
3.30-4.00  Questions and Answers

4.00-4.15  Break

Panel 3.  Protest and the Media

4.15-4.30  Paul James, 'Changing Protest in a New Global Context'
4.30-4.45  Nick Economou, 'Comparing s11 and Environmental
Protest'
4.45-5.00  Kerry Wardlaw, 'Civil Disobedience' 5.00-5.15  Paul
Strangio, 'Comparing s11 and the Vietnam Moratorium' 5.15-5.30
Pete
Lentini, 's11, the Media and Moral Panics' 5.30-6.00  Questions and
Answers

For further details contact Dr Pete Lentini, School of Political and
Social Inquiry, Monash University, 3800; (phone) 9905-2402 or
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.

Andrew MARKUS
Vice-President (Academic)
NTEU - Monash

--- End of forwarded message ---


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink

LL.VJ





LL:INFO: Graffiti at S11

2000-09-21 Thread toni bloodworth

Keep up the good work people! Where there are blank walls there is space for
a message!

GRAFFITO --political satire/cultural activism -
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dhell/graffito.htm


 FORWARDED MESSAGE through diyweb 

S11 Graffiti

Graffiti has always been a mode of expression for ideas
outside of the mainstream. In Melbourne September 11 - 13, 2000
outside the World Economic Forum meeting in the Crown
Casino, huge numbers used chalk and paint to tell the world why
they were there, and what was going on. As one piece said,

"I can't afford to buy off the media, so I buy paint"

I changed the capitalisation so as
to make for easier reading, but haven't changed spelling.


Their greed will kill you

Equate anarchy with justice

Graffiti is a wonderful tool: buy your can today (=$3)

Liberty or death

It's becos we don't want to be bored

WEF - crime wave in progress

Wealthy
Elite
Fuckers

your affluence is killing us

There'd be enough for the needs of all, but for the greed of a few

Do a cop a favour, beat yourself up

Proudly unaustralian

No money, anywhere, anytime

In order to move on from Jurassic social policy, some social
dinosaurs have to become extinct

Don't feed the animals
(on the wall around the casino, which large numbers of
police stood behind the whole 3 days)

I think, therefore I'm unaustralian

Another
Liberal
Party

Pigs behind bars, a grand concept

Go well, Go Shell, Go to Hell!

Never mind what's been selling, its what you're buying

First world wealth = third world death

perma-culture not consumer culture

Che lives

Stop gambling with lives

Fight war, not wars

Do they look like thugs or what
(on the wall)

Don't buy papers, take Action

Make Crown a prison, the criminals are already inside

Globalise Resistance

Victorian police protect criminals

Want violence? Try mining!

Such little boys, such big toys...

We live in a society, not an economy

We are all lost in our own forest, but gazing at the same sky

Such big batons - do they have a penis complex?

Welcome to Howard's relaxed and comfortable Australia

Revolution - right here, right now

Blame the USA!

I always do

We make it, they take it

Wealthy
Elite
Few

Big Mac - not so big anymore

Lesbian solidarity

Children of the earth Unite and Take Over!

Money is a social construct

Ronald McDonald felches pigs



Fuck the pink dollar, sexuality is not 4 sale

See you in Sydney

Exist and Resist

The war 4 our streets begins with you

Crown is a maggot colony

Down with a world where the guarantee you won't die of
starvation has
been purchased with the guarantee that you will die of
BOREDOM

This is Kulin land

responsible protester was 'ere 2000

Economise this, you WEF scum

Sabotage will set us free, throw a rock in the machine

No future without revolution



Bread not batons

Clowns against capitalism are go!

Weed not greed

Money is not my God

Money makes the world go square

Demand the impossible!

Break the Bank
Defund the Fund
Dump the Debt
Power to the People
 S11

Bad spellers of the world untie

Kites + balloons stop WEF choppers

Nike we are not your slaves

Human dignity is more important than greed

Cancel the 'debt'

Free trade = slave trade

We're still here

John Howard = lowlife coward
Peter Reith = bloody thief
Peter Costello well he just plain sux

Where's constable care?
There's only constable corrupt

We are winning

Capitalism sux

The faces of capitalist oppression have no names
(after all police removed name badges)

Shoot cops not smack

John Howard is unaustralian

No, he's very Australian
Australia is genocide

Chemical drugs not chemical weapons

Work hard, make your boss rich

The true revolutionary is guided by feelings of great love
   Che

Problem: Capitalism
Solution: Revolution

Work together

By any means necessary

Worried
Egocentric
Fuckwits

The whole world's watching... mainstream media

Kill your television

Share the wealth

Don't hate the media, become the media

Sure you can say whatever we want you to say

Who elected corporate rule?

Patent Greed!

Rupert Murdoch - what a wanker

Clown Cassino

These are not the droids you're looking for

Corporate world = hell on earth

Think for yourself, but only because WE told you to

Gamble your world away

Can you trust a private commercial media?

USA's over

Cops: Rebel against your overpaid bosses!

Don't get rid of graffiti, get rid of the Filth

3rd world poverty c/o WEF

You are under 24 hour surveillance

You better believe it

The more you consume the less you live

Open your eyes
Open your mouth
Close your hand
.. make a fist

You can't eat money

Eat the rich!

No war between nations, No peace between classes

Fuck Earth
It makes $ence

Meat is murder

Meat is shithouse

Go to work! - on Howard's head



Break banks, not people

Spank the banks

Cops with fake smiles make me feel icky

Nike just fuck off



The strong only!



The money machine does not dream

Property of S11

Re

LL:QUERY: Vain request

2000-09-21 Thread toni bloodworth

Hi all,

did any one happen to see 6 people dressed up in funny clothes with
colourful hair and painted faces calling themselves the Clowns Against
Capitalism at S11? I was one of them and we have been wondering where all
the photos are that everyone took of us. There was a brilliant one standing
with linked arms in front of a row of mounted police. If anyone out there
has any photos that they are willing to pass on to us (we'll cover costs of
reprints etc) we would sure appreciate it. This is just a vain attempt at
self-glorification but we reckon we looked damn good and would like a
memento of the occasion. We were also involved in holding up Napthine's car
and got some derogatory comments from a journo at the HUN for our efforts.
Apart from that we managed to avoid most of the police attacks although got
closer than we expected to one barrage involving horses - but we drove the
bastards back! The rest of the day was spent bringing smiles to people's
faces and generally having a good time pointing out that the real clowns
were those inside the casino.

Any help appreciated. Reply to my personal email if you can help us out.

Yours in solidarity,
Clown 3.


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:AA: messages to the government

2000-09-15 Thread Toni Bloodworth

Hi all,
for anyone wanting to send a message to the current government
over the violent and inappropriate actions of the police during the
WEF protests, Steve Bracks' email address is
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

I hope you can all spare a few minutes to condemn the brutal
tactics used by police on peaceful protesters this week. They are
no better than the previous Kennett govt in this regard.

A copy of what I have sent is below.

Thanks,
Toni

Dear Mr Bracks,
I was one of the many thousands of people who protested outside
Parliament House when Jeff Kennett was first elected - we knew
that Victoria was in trouble. I was then one of the hundreds who
peacefully demonstrated at Richmond Secondary College and saw
first hand the intervention of the State and the violent use of the
police for political purposes. Our fears about the Kennett govt. had
been realised. We thought we would never see such inappropriate
use of force again following the public outcry and vindication from
the Ombudsman. We were obviously wrong.

I was again one of the thousands who cheered to see Kennett go
down at the last election, I had to keep pinching myself to believe
that it was real. I thought Victoria had finally 'turned the tide'. I was
wrong.

The Labor government since coming to power has not been the
Party it promised to be. One year on our hospitals are still in crisis,
our children are still cutting school because they are sick of
travelling out of their neighbourhoods to overcrowded classrooms
fronted by demoralised teachers. There are people still dying from
preventable overdoses because there are no safe places for them
to inject and this week we once again saw the inappropriate use of
force by the State.

I condemn you Mr Bracks for congratulating the Victoria Police. I
condemn you for dismissing the protesters outside the Crown
complex as being 'misguided' and 'ill-informed', we are neither. We
are human beings who wish to live in a world where our humanity is
recognised over and above the search for profit, and we certainly do
have a coherent vision for the future despite the media claiming
otherwise. Just speak to anyone who was there and they will tell
you what sort of world they wish to live in.

We did not deserve to be battoned into submission just because
we have a dissenting view to the majority. I have yet to see any
evidence of provocation deserving of such a heavy handed response
by the police. Marbles and other small objects may have been
scattered on the road in an effort to disrupt mounted police efforts,
this hardly calls for the trampling and bludgeoning of unarmed,
seated, peaceful protesters. As for the throwing of urine filled
balloons, this is just unsubstantiated nonsense. The stench would
have been apparent to any who were present and it was decidedly
absent from any of the blockades that I was personally a part of.

I was there for much of the three days. Most of that time was spent
in an almost carnival atmosphere filled with hope and optimism for
our future. Unfortunately the jubilation has been severely marred by
the brutal violence perpetrated by your men and women in blue.
The only reason you could be congratulating them is if they were
following your orders. If this is the case you are no better than
Kennett and his thugs and I am sure once the evidence has been
examined that the Ombudsman will agree. The case of a woman
being run over, reversed over and then run over again!!! by a police
vehicle which then drove off!! was one of the most sickening things I
have seen. I hope that the appropriate charges of culpable driving
will be laid against the driver. I'm sure that any drunk driver would
say that they were too afraid to stop at the scene of an accident
too - this is NO EXCUSE for failing to render aid to an accident
victim.

Again, I condemn you for supporting the brutal and unnecessary
actions of the police over the course of the WEF and assure you
that it will not be the last time that people try to stop such
undemocratic, unaccountable, unelected 'delegations' from meeting
to decide our fate.

Regards,
Toni Bloodworth.






(03) 9903 9528
Monash university, Dept. Pharmaceutics,
Victorian College of Pharmacy
381 Royal Pde, Parkville, Vic 3052, Australia



--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:ART: LARGEST-EVER OZONE HOLE OBSERVED OVER ANTARCTICA

2000-09-08 Thread toni bloodworth

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington, DC   September 7, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1730)

Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/614-5562)

RELEASE:  00-137

LARGEST-EVER OZONE HOLE OBSERVED OVER ANTARCTICA

A NASA spectrometer has detected an Antarctic ozone "hole" (what scientists 
call an "ozone depletion area") that is three times larger than the entire 
land mass of the United States - the largest such area ever observed.

The "hole" expanded to a record size of approximately 11 million square 
miles (28.3 million square kilometers) on Sept. 3, 2000. The previous 
record was approximately 10.5 million square miles (27.2 million square km) 
on Sept. 19, 1998.

The ozone hole's size currently has stabilized, but the low levels in its 
interior continue to fall. The lowest readings in the ozone hole are 
typically observed in late September or early October each year.

"These observations reinforce concerns about the frailty of Earth's ozone 
layer.  Although production of ozone-destroying gases has been curtailed 
under international agreements, concentrations of the gases in the 
stratosphere are only now reaching their peak.  Due to their long 
persistence in the atmosphere, it will be many decades before the ozone 
hole is no longer an annual occurrence," said Dr. Michael J. Kurylo, 
manager of the Upper Atmosphere Research Program, NASA Headquarters, 
Washington, DC.

Ozone molecules, made up of three atoms of oxygen, comprise a thin layer of 
the atmosphere that absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the 
Sun.  Most atmospheric ozone is found between approximately six miles (9.5 
km) and 18 miles (29 km) above the Earth's surface.

Scientists continuing to investigate this enormous hole are somewhat 
surprised by its size. The reasons behind the dimensions involve both 
early-spring conditions, and an extremely intense Antarctic vortex. The 
Antarctic vortex is an upper-altitude stratospheric air current that sweeps 
around the Antarctic continent, confining the Antarctic ozone hole.

"Variations in the size of the ozone hole and of ozone depletion 
accompanying it from one year to the next are not unexpected," said Dr. 
Jack Kaye, Office of Earth Sciences Research Director, NASA 
Headquarters.  "At this point we can only wait to see how the ozone hole 
will evolve in the coming few months and see how the year's hole compares 
in all respects to those of previous years."

"Discoveries like these demonstrate the value of our long-term commitment 
to providing key observations to the scientific community," said Dr. 
Ghassem Asrar, Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Earth Sciences 
at Headquarters.  "We will soon launch QuickTOMS and Aura, two spacecraft 
that will continue to gather these important data."

The measurements released today were obtained using the Total Ozone Mapping 
Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument aboard NASA's Earth Probe (TOMS-EP) 
satellite. NASA instruments have been measuring Antarctic ozone levels 
since the early 1970s.  Since the discovery of the ozone "hole" in 1985, 
TOMS has been a key instrument for monitoring ozone levels over the Earth.

TOMS ozone data and pictures are available on the Internet at:

http://jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov/TOMSmain.html

TOMS-EP and other ozone-measurement programs are important parts of a 
global environmental effort of NASA's Earth Science enterprise, a long-term 
research program designed to study Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice 
and life as a total integrated system.

   -end-

  * * *


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:ART: Community Legal Services Concerned about Media Obession

2000-09-06 Thread toni bloodworth

and Police Overreaction
Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 03:37:00 GMT
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Precedence: bulk


Author: Susan Price
Source: Green Left Weekly
(http://www.greenleft.org.au/globalaction/s11/daily/000905_01_cops.shtml)

Keywords: Environmental, Police Brutality, Melbourne, Australia

Community legal activists and protest organisers are becoming increasingly 
concerned that the media obsession with the potential for violence at the 
S11 protests against the World Economic Forum could become a pretext for 
police over-reaction.

On September 5, 2000, Pauline Spencer, a community lawyer with the Fitzroy 
Legal Centre and a member of the "arrest watch" roster for the S11 
protests, spoke to Green Left Weekly about her concerns. "I can sum it up 
in three words", said Spencer, "Richmond Secondary College".

Her words are not uttered lightly. Spencer was lead plaintiff in the civil 
action resulting from the infamous police baton charge against a peaceful 
picket line at the college site on December 13, 1993. The picket line had 
been established with the support of the Victorian Trades Hall Council to 
prevent construction of an elite girls' school on the site, which had been 
closed by the Kennett government a year earlier.

"Having looked at the Richmond case in detail", said Spencer, "the talking 
up of the potential for violence does tend to hype up police officers on 
the ground". The result, according to Spencer, is that "when little things 
happen, any action by police becomes an over-reaction".

The arrest watch roster, which brings together community lawyers from 
around Melbourne, has been established in conjunction with the S11 
Alliance. According to Spencer, it will be "keeping a watchful eye"  on 
police to ensure that they attempt to negotiate as a first point of 
resolving situations which arise at the protests.

"We want to implore police to learn from their mistakes at  Richmond", 
Spencer emphasised. "Batons are a potentially deadly force if used 
inappropriately, and their use should be a last resort. Force Command 
should counsel their members to remain calm and to exhaust all possible 
avenues."

If unreasonable force is used by police, according to Spencer, "we will be 
taking civil action."

The possibility of mass arrests occurring at the demonstration also has 
Spencer concerned. "The prison system is already overstretched, and police 
shouldn't pursue arrests for offences relating to the democratic right to 
protest."

The S11 Alliance has repeatedly stated that its protest will be 
non-violent. A declaration signed by representatives of the S11 Alliance, 
Friends of the Earth, the National Union of Students and Victorian Trades 
Hall Council, which appeared in the Herald Sun on August 30, invited those 
who were concerned about the WEF to "express their dissent in a peaceful 
and constructive manner".


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:INFO: State repression begins for S11

2000-09-06 Thread toni bloodworth

this was in the government gazette Please forward it to appropriate 
bods.  It has to suck that they should do this. It means they can book 
anyone (say) in a canoe or on a surfboard during this time.  Might be handy 
if anyone has a commercial vessel.


Marine Act 1988
SECTION 15 NOTICE
The Marine Board, on the recommendation of Acting Commander Ewen 
Cunningham, a member of the Victoria Police, hereby gives notice under 
subsection 15(2) of the Marine Act 1988 that for the period from midnight 
on Friday 8 September 2000 to midnight Wednesday 13 September 2000 the 
operation of non-commercial vessels on the waters of the Yarra River 
between Princes Bridge and Charles Grimes Bridge is prohibited.
Dated 29 August 2000
JOHN LORD
Chief Executive
Marine Board of Victoria


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:ART: Police State Crackdown

2000-09-05 Thread toni bloodworth

Please send as far and wide as possible.

Thanks,

Robert Sterling
Editor, The Konformist
http://www.konformist.com

8/21/00

POLICE STATE CRACKDOWN
by Jim Redden
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

It's official - anarchists are the new Public Enemy Number One. Ever since 
the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle, the federal government has 
been cracking down on the Far Left with the same ferocity it went after the 
Far Right in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. Government officials 
are orchestrating a propaganda campaign against the emerging 
anti-globalization movement, seizing on the actions of a handful of 
anarchists to accuse all of the activists of being violent. Protest leaders 
have been arrested on trumped-up charges. Demonstrators are being followed 
and photographed. Law abiding political organizations are being infiltrated 
by undercover operatives. Peaceful activists have been accused of 
stockpiling biological weapons, explosives, guns, Molotov cocktails, and 
even acid-filled balloons.

As a result, anti-globalization protesters are being portrayed as domestic 
terrorists in the media - and law enforcement agencies are reacting as 
though they are conspiring to overthrow the government with force. The WTO 
protests in late 1999 caught the government unprepared. The size and 
intensity of the Seattle protests surprised federal, state and local law 
enforcement agencies. A small number of militants willing to break a few 
windows provoked a massive over-reaction which embarrassed local 
authorities and forced the police chief to resign in disgrace. But this was 
just the first battle in a much longer war, and the government is now in 
for the long haul. The first reactions were laughable. The city of 
Portland, Oregon almost cancelled its downtown New Year's celebration when 
rumors circulated that anarchists from Eugene were coming to town. The bash 
went on only after heavily-armed federal agents were mobilized and riot 
gear-equipped police surrounded the party site. No anarchists showed up. 
The rumors were wrong.

Fear of anarchists forced the United Steelworkers union to cancel a labor 
rally at the Kaiser Aluminum plant in Tacoma, Washington on March 27. 
Tacoma police said an anarchist from Eugene was coming to the rally with a 
bomb. The police also said they stopped an anarchist in a car full of guns. 
The Seattle Weekly newspaper denounced both claims as bogus, pointing out 
that no one was arrested in either incident. Law enforcement officials 
again raised the specter of violence when mass protests were scheduled for 
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington DC in 
mid-April. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies used the 
threat of violence to justify spying on the activists. Their meetings were 
infiltrated, their public gatherings disrupted, their phones tapped, and 
police were posted outside their homes and offices. Even the corporate 
media took note of the harassment. "Some protesters think they are being 
watched. They are correct." the Washington Post reported on April 1O. Three 
days later, USA Today reported government agents were going undercover 
online to thwart the protesters. "[T]hey have been monitoring 73 internet 
sites where the groups have been exchanging messages to learn more about 
their plans. Sometimes, officers have even gone online posing as 
protesters," the paper said, adding that police were physically following 
suspected anarchists throughout the capitol city. "They have been 
monitoring the movements of nearly two dozen self-proclaimed anarchists who 
have arrived in Washington." As the meetings approached, all 3,500 DC 
police officers were put on alert, along with unknown number of law 
enforcement agents from at least 12 federal and state agencies, including 
the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The authorities spent 
over $1 million on new body armor and bullet-proof shields. They set up 
three mass detention centers where arrested protesters would be taken. They 
removed 69 mailboxes where bombs could be hidden. The day before the 
meetings began, police raided a warehouse used by protesters to paint signs 
and plan marches. Law enforcement officials claimed they found materials 
for making Molotov cocktails, a laboratory for mass production of pepper 
spray, and bomb-making materials. These claims help justify arresting 
nearly 1,200 protesters during the meetings, most on petty charges such as 
blocking streets and sidewalks. In a later retraction, the police admitted 
the Molotov cocktail supplies were merely plastic containers and paint 
rags, the pepper spray factory was nothing more than a kitchen, and the 
bomb-making materials were simple plastic water pipes - all consistent with 
making protest signs. The full extent of the government's surveillance 
operation was not revealed until May 4, when the Paris-based Intelligence 
Newsletter carried a story titled "Watching the Anti-WTO

LL:ART: Rogue State - book review

2000-08-22 Thread toni bloodworth

ROGUE STATE by Willian Blum

For over one hundred years, the United States has presented itself to the 
world as a bastion of freedom and democracy, a global defender of the weak 
and helpless against oppression and injustice. For much of this time it 
allegedly protected us from an International Communist Conspiracy, just as 
in recent years the US has fought a war against drugs on our behalf. 
Throughout this period, the US has always pointed out to us the "rogue 
states", those countries that posed the international community and the 
peace they enjoyed the greatest threat, and has selflessly been at the 
forefront in every attempt to curb their evil ambitions, whether in Korea 
or Viet Nam, the Middle East or Central America.

In reality, the greatest 'rogue state' has been and remains the United 
States itself. In his newly-published Rogue State - A Guide to the World's 
only Superpower, William Blum goes to great lengths to prove that rather 
than being "the greatest force for peace", as one William Clinton would 
have us believe, the US is a wild and ferocious beast that has terrorised 
the world for decades. In over 300 well researched and well argued pages, 
Blum helps put to death the myth that the US is the champion of liberty and 
human rights.  While the US fought a Cold War to defend us from the 
Communist threat - "the greatest protection racket since men convinced 
women that they needed men to protect them" - they relentlessly supported 
dictators and tyrannical regimes on every continent, from Pol Pot and 
Suharto to Saddam Hussein and Papa Doc Duvaliere. Between 1945 and 1999, 
this same defender of the global well-being toppled 40 governments and 
helped  crush 30 populist movements, assassinated scores of prominent 
individuals and perverted elections in every corner of the globe. During 
this same period the US has armed terrorists, trained right-wing guerilla 
movements  in the art of torture and financed armies intent on overthrowing 
democratically elected governments. A powerful indictment against the 
world's only superpower? Maybe. However, as Blum reveals the above just 
touches the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Not content with terrorising the world in the interests of its own 
corporate elite - and many times Blum's makes this connection - the US is 
just as ruthless in the treatment of its own citizens as they pursue their 
American dream. Whilst we're all at least suspicious of the crimes of 
governments against their own people, the US, as Blum reveals, is guilty of 
the most barbarous and heinous acts imaginable. Whilst for most of us the 
Kafkaesque nightmare is the stuff of fiction, for many Americans it is the 
harsh reality of everyday life. Just as it could casually use 600,000 of 
its own military personnel in mustard gas and blister gas tests in the 
1940s, so too could the Pentagon calmly announce that 100,000 of its 
servicemen were exposed to sarin gas during the Gulf War. Not content with 
experimenting with its cannon fodder, the US shows the same disrespect for 
its own civilians in peace time, using them as guinea pigs at every 
opportunity. It has released zinc cadmium aroun! d cities, as well as 
whooping cough and smallpox bacteria and all manner of chemical concoctions 
to test the effectiveness of biological warfare. It has released millions 
of infected mosquitoes and infected oat crops with cereal rust spores. All 
of this in spite of the fact that the first tenet of the Nuremberg Code, 
polished up by the US itself in anger at Nazi medical experimentation, 
states: "The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential."

This 'land of the free' is where the CIA and FBI will intercept and open 
domestic and foreign correspondence, where private corporations videotapes, 
bugs the offices of and requests urine samples of its own employers, where 
children are encouraged and enticed with monetary incentives to inform on 
their parents and fellow pupils, where state troopers enlist hotel workers 
to spy on guests, where schools ban hundreds of 'subversive' books 
(Huckleberry Finn and Oliver Twist for example) and the FBI urges 
librarians to report the books taken out by patrons. Indeed, you'll be 
hard-pressed to imagine any activity that US authorities are not 
perpetrating against the US public. Political prisoners? Police army/ 
commando-type raids on housing suburbs? Racial harassment? Torture? 
Homophobia? Prison guards having sex with female prisoners (legal in 14 
states)? Blum reveals this and very much more to be little more than 
everyday occurrences for tens of thousands of US citizens.

Blum asks why does the US get away with all this? How can it connive in a 
global drugs trade, help incarcerate Nelson Mandela, increase its global 
interventions at a time when we're supposed to be enjoying the benefits of 
the peace dividend bequeathed by the demise of the Cold War? How are its 
leaders not brought before international trib

LL:PR: Play - Man Friday

2000-08-07 Thread Toni Bloodworth

I highly recommend you go and see a play called Man Friday. It's a small 
production - only 2 actors (Adam McConvell and Phil Roberts who do a superb 
job) and a very minimal set, but it's excellent. Written by Adrian Mitchell 
in the 60's in Britain, it was in response to the rising tide of racism and 
Nationalism experienced in his country at that time. It is the classic 
Robinson Crusoe story told from the native "Man Friday" perspective. This 
production is directed by Victor Bizzotto.

Proceeds have been going to the Fitzroy Stars Gym  and the Victorian 
Aboriginal Health Service, but attendances have been down, with several 
shows cancelled due to lack of interest. The play is still on every night 
this week, including Saturday, at the Storeroom Theatre upstairs at the 
Park View Hotel, cnr St Georges Rd and Scotchmer St, Nth Fitzroy (enter 
from the rear of the pub at the drive-through bottle shop). All shows are 
at 8.30pm. Tickets are a mere $15 waged/$10 unwaged. Bookings can be made 
by calling 9481 8496.

I urge you all to go and see this wonderful play about racism, religion, 
love and life. It's truly amazing what can be conveyed using a few props, 
music, lighting and 2 people. Not to be missed.



*** NTEU - your union, join today ***


(03) 9903 9528
Monash university, Dept. Pharmaceutics,
Victorian College of Pharmacy
381 Royal Pde, Parkville, Vic 3052, Australia


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:PR: NZ warned of impending visit of WTO chief Mike Moore

2000-08-07 Thread toni bloodworth


Open letter to the Director of the NZ Security Intelligence Service

Re: the NZ visit of WTO Director-General Mike Moore

Mr Richard Woods
Director of Security
New Zealand Security Intelligence Service
PO Box 600
WELLINGTON

3 August 2000


Dear Mr Woods,

We write to draw the attention of the New Zealand Security Intelligence 
Service to the upcoming New Zealand visit of Mr Mike Moore, 
Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and to urge your 
Service to act swiftly to protect New Zealand's international and economic 
wellbeing from the impact of the foreign-influenced capabilities, 
intentions or activities generated by Mr Moore and the WTO.  We believe 
that Mr Moore and the WTO constitute "a range of new and emerging external 
threats to New Zealand's security" (Security In New Zealand Today; 
NZSIS;1998; p13).

We understand that New Zealand's small intelligence and security community 
aims to "protect and promote New Zealand's defence, foreign policy and 
national economic interests".  Being an intelligence organisation, the 
NZSIS must know all about the devastating impacts that trade and investment 
liberalisation is having on communities throughout New Zealand.  Beginning 
with the job losses caused by tariff cuts, the frighteningly high level of 
transnational corporate ownership of vital infrastructure, the land sold to 
infamous criminals like the Suharto family, increasing income disparities 
between rich and poor, and so on.  These kinds of things are often 
justified in the name of New Zealand's commitments to the global free 
market economy which the WTO maintains and promotes.

In Parliament, Mr Moore was a strong supporter of the NZSIS.  But he has 
now gone on to ther things.  He is the figurehead for a powerful 
international organisation which operates in a clandestine, unaccountable 
manner, which makes enforceable decisions that can undermine existing 
national laws and which could well constrain future governments from 
charting their own course of economic, political and social development.

The WTO claims to operate by consensus.  Yet really it is dominated by a 
"quad" of powerful governments (USA, Japan, the EU, and Canada) who then 
try to impose their decisions on other WTO members.  Negotiating positions 
and the contents of agreements at the WTO are closely guarded secrets until 
they have been signed when it is far too late for any of us to do anything 
about them.

Indeed even former Director-General of the GATT Secretariat, Arthur Dunkel, 
at a seminar of prominent WTO supporters last year, raised the question 
regarding the WTO "who is driving the process in trade policy - governments 
or the business community?"

The NZSIS takes an active interest in "the threat to New Zealand's security 
from extremist groups dedicated to overthrowing or undermining 
parliamentary democracy" (p13 Security In New Zealand Today).  The WTO, 
along with other vehicles which promote the global free market economy 
clearly threatens "parliamentary democracy".  It is hardly surprising that 
the Clerk of the House, David McGee, said that "international agreements 
are driving domestic law to a far greater extent than they were before".

The WTO is clearly a subversive organisation.  This has been corroborated 
internationally.  We note that last week in Islamabad, Pakistani 
organisations concerned about the impact of WTO agreements on Pakistan 
described Mr Moore as a "terrorist", and the WTO as a "terrorist organisation".

The WTO acknowledges that it undermines Parliamentary democracy.  For 
example, last year it published "The 10 benefits of the WTO Trading System" 
(available on its Website) which conclude: "Quite often, governments use 
the WTO as a welcome external constraint on their policies: "we can't do 
this because it would violate the WTO agreements.""

Given that the WTO operates in "clandestine ways to achieve their 
objectives" (p17, Security In New Zealand Today) we presume you will seek a 
warrant to intercept Mr Moore's communications now and in the future.  We 
would however suggest some prior training in the art of breaking and 
entering as we are a little concerned at the level of skill level displayed 
by some of your officers in the past.

Besides his involvement in a very shadowy organisation, in his role as 
Director-General of the WTO, Mr Moore's appearance incites trouble.  We are 
sure that the Service will have noted the mass mobilisations of many 
thousands of people in Seattle at last year's WTO Ministerial Meeting and 
perhaps similar events surrounding his various international fixtures since 
becoming WTO Director-General.

We realise we have not always seen eye to eye with your Service.  But as 
your predecessor Don McIver states, the NZSIS relies "on the support and 
assistance of other ordinary New Zealanders to do our work effectively" 
(Security In New Zealand Today, p6), and we are just trying to do our bit.

We attach a copy of GATT W

LL:PR: Peace walk media release

2000-08-07 Thread toni bloodworth

Subject: Peace walk Media Release

Hi all -
the following is a media release for immediate distribution. The Peacewalk 
has received an amazing reception in dubbo and many people are really 
supporting the need for real peace, healing and reconciliation. Please 
distribute among your networks, and please consider coming and joining the 
walk, especially for the walk from Canberra and Sydney as it is going to be 
huge!!!
cheers, Peachy (A walker for Peace!)


MEDIA RELEASE
4th August 2000
Walking the Land for Our Ancient Right - Day 56

With 2000 kilometres now having been walked in less than 8 weeks, the 
"Walking the Land - for our Ancient Rights" peace walk has now arrived in 
Dubbo, and is well on schedule for arriving in Sydney in time for the 
Olympic Games.

Over 100 Dubbo community members, including Wiradjuri Nation Elders and 
families, warmly welcomed the peace walkers as they arrived in Dubbo 
yesterday, and signals yet another testament to the growing commitment that 
the Australian population is showing towards reaching reconciliation. The 
representatives from the Wiradjuri nation led the walkers to the Talbraga 
Mission, where the peace fire, that has come from the shores of Lake Eyre 
was joined with the peace fire that has been burning at the mission for 
over three weeks.  It joins the growing number of sacred fires for peace 
across Australia.

"These old fires are coming together, letting the country know as well as 
the people. It is not only healing the hearts and minds of the people, but 
it is warming the old country up too , because the whole country is 
hurting, just like we hurt for different things, and the old country hurts, 
the old mother hurts and we have to look after her, that is one of the big 
jobs that we have got," said Kevin Buzzacott, Elder from the Arabunna 
nation, who is leading the peace walk.

The walk has taken it's message of peace and healing through the 
communities of Wilcannia, Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett and Morree. Not since 
the Freedom Rides led by Charlie Perkins in 1965, which travelled much the 
same route as the peace walk, has there been such a colourful and vocal 
display of support for the rights of the Indigenous peoples in Western NSW.

"First off I would like to thank you for the privilege of walking with you 
across our land, the Kamillaroi nation, from Walgett to Morree and I am 
going to walk on further with you all, " an Elder from the Kamillaroi 
nation said after the peace walk into Morree last week.

There will be a Peace Walk into Dubbo this Saturday, 5th August, meeting at 
10am at the Gordon Community centre on Brennan St,  West Dubbo.The group 
will walk to Victoria Park, where they will be welcomed by the Lord Mayor, 
Jerry Peacock, followed by music and information sharing. >From there all 
community members are invited to the camp at the Talbraga mission for a 
Family Afternoon and BBQ and evening entertainment, starting at 3pm.

The peace walk will then aim to reach Bathurst by August 11, and will 
arrive in Canberra at the tent embassy on 21st August. There the group will 
be joined by the Native Indian Sacred Runners and many other groups of 
people for the historic walk to Sydney.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Phone 0417838906, or 08 83404401 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:DDV: Surviving Time Out of Prison forum and campaign fundraiser

2000-07-20 Thread toni bloodworth

How many women have to die before something is done?

At least 93 women have died shortly after leaving prison in the past 12
years. Women leave prison with a garbage bag of belongings and little else.
Some are lucky and have families that are willing to support them, but for
many the stigma of having a family member who has been to prison is too much
to bear and the woman is often left unsupported.

60% of women reoffend and end up back in prison. Prison does not work.
International research has shown that increasing the number of people in
prison does not reduce crime nor does it make the community feel safer.

Between 1996 and 1998 there was a 17.2% increase in the size of the
Victorian prison population. 188 women were in prison in Victoria as of
3/2/2000. Approximately half of them are in prison for property related
offences and 11% for drug related offences. 40% are under 29 years of age.
77% were unemployed prior to entering prison and over 70% are mothers.
Nearly 80% of women in prison are survivors of sexual assault, incest and/or
domestic violence.

If women had access to livable incomes, affordable housing and a range of
support and community services, including detox and drug rehabilitation,
they may not be forced to commit so-called "criminal offences" in order to
survive. Prison is a system that brutalises, represses and controls women.

Surviving once released from prison is often as hard as being inside.
The surviving time outside prison campaign has been working towards a week
of action to raise awareness about the issues surrounding women in prison,
and the effects that privatisation of the prison system is having on prison
life. As part of the week of action there is a one day forum organised in
Melbourne.

WHEN: Friday August 4, 2000
WHERE: North Melbourne Town Hall (Errol St, tram no. 57 from Elizabeth St)
TIME: 10am - 1.30pm with an informal gathering afterwards

This is your chance to hear the real stories, the real issues and the real
solutions from women who have experienced the system themselves.
Come along and show your support for these courageous women and become
involved in the campaign to STOP the deaths of women when they emerge from
the penal system. Regular campaign meetings are every second Thursday at the
Darebin Community Legal Centre in High St Northcote, near Westgarth St. Next
meeting is Thurs August 3, 6.30pm.

Also, come along and support the campaign by attending a fundraising session
of Judas Kiss (MA) at the Westgarth cinema, 89 High St, Northcote. Friday
July 28, 7pm. Tickets are $12 full/$10 conc.
Tickets can be purchased at the door.
Phone Cherry 9481 1547 or Catherine 9489 6276 for more information.

Hope to see you at one or both of these events.

LL.VH

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:DDV: Alliance for Supervised Injecting Facilities

2000-07-20 Thread toni bloodworth

SAFE HOUSES SAVE LIVES SAFE HOUSES SAVE LIVES SAFE

Dear Friends

The Community Campaign for Heroin Reform has been actively campaigning
for Supervised Injecting Facilities since April 1999. We have held many
rallies,vigils and public meetings and have thousands of signatures on
petitions.
At a recent meeting we decided to call for a coalition or alliance to be
formed of groups who are for SIF's. This would enable the groups involved to
share experience and ideas. Rallies, press conferences, and meetings could
also be held together for those interested.

Now, more then ever, is the time. We need to act now. Come and help us.

   WHERE?
   POLITICS IN THE PUB.
   The first meeting will be held at:

   The Comrades Bar on Swanston (near Queensbury St)
   in the City at 7.30pm on Wednesday the 26th of July.

 FOR MORE DETAILS EMAIL US AT [EMAIL PROTECTED]

LL.VG

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:ART: Protest Communication and Decision Making

2000-07-18 Thread toni bloodworth

16 POINTS ON EFFECTIVE PROTEST COMMUNICATION

The April 16th demonstrations in Washington DC against the World Bank and
IMF revealed a number of lessons about communication and decision making
during mass demonstrations which will need preparation now if they are to be
applied to the S11 demo.

I am writing as a local organizer from North Carolina, from which over 250
people in a variety of affinity groups participated in direct action. I went
to DC as part of a bicycle communication team, and learned a whole lot. I
hope these thoughts help.  Im arriving in Sydney with an affinity group of 2
(Andrew and Lauren) on August 24.  From then on, Im all yours in terms of
organizing and doing grunt work.

1) Essential communication resources (bicycles, walkie-talkies, cell phones,
megaphones) as well as literature and puppets shouldn't be centralized.
Melbourne police may not release seized items like DC police did after
storming the convergence center.

2) Its important for logistical support organizers to keep tabs and get
ready to involve affinity groups as they arrive.  I would suggest having
"guides" ready to orient affinity groups, help them get integrated into the
decision making process, and assessing people's resources and needs. Guides
can help make sure each affinity group has within it people who have been
trained in medical, commubnications, legal, and other fun skills.  In DC,
alot of affinity groups kind of disintegrated or got lost in the crowds
without some guidance.

Unfortunately in DC, there were far too few communications liasons to
implement quick consensus decisions by spokes, or change strategy when it
was needed - on one occassion myself and 5 other cyclists observed and
reported over and over the main route delegates were being bused in, but
without clear proceedures, walkie-talkies, or easilly-found comm-team
members, flying squads didn't get the word to block those intersections
until an hour later.  By then, with no delegates to block, hundreds of
protesters directed their energy into unrelated streets and got gassed by
angry cops.

3) There are never too few bicyclists!  we are fast, personal, resourceful,
and fun!  Seriously, if other forms of communication break down, bicycles
are excellent in emergencies.

4) Cyclists should work in pairs and meet dailly for strategy (the one in DC
was 5 minutes and inaudible)

5) Every comm team, bike team, and affinity group needs copies of detailed
city maps

6) Cycle teams should work out a route pattern and stick to it.  By this i
mean having overlapping routes which cyclists take every 30 minutes or so,
with responsibility to check in with comm team members on their route.  This
way info can be verified by the second team, and comms receive regular
updates about the situation by radio and eye/ear.  If not, it is impossible
to tell who is legit.

7) Comm teams need to be discreet yet identifiable to bicycle teams and
affinity groups they are working with, the affinity groups or flying squads
they are working with, and so on.  There were a lot of plants in DC with
radios and cameras and video, so it was impossible to find comms people.
Comm teams could have a flag bearer who is easy to spot.

8) Every affinity group should have a flag/identifiable rallying point,
mechanism for selecting spokes and making quick decisions, and a conception
of what their limitations on action/movement are.  In DC, some affinity
groups stood their ground at blocakge through thick and thin, others left as
rumous were spread that "the action's moved" and so on.

9) Ideally, every affinity group should have their own communications liason
with a walkie talkie.

10) Up to the minute updates do wonders for participants and organizers
alike.  Comm teams or comm reps from affinity groups should consistently
help relay information about the status of the protest.

11) Comm teams need to design a system for giving reports, a way to make
confirmation, and a way for people to identify themselves.

12) personally, I think the affinity group model of mass demonstrations is
essential as we challenge transnational corporate military empires.  It will
be a tough struggle so we'd better be organized!  The thing is, as these
protests continue, more people will come because its the thing to do.  We
need to invest affinity groups with a greater sense of importance and
connection and make it obvious to people who come alone that next time they
need to come prepared.  But flip[ side, though, is that big demos also need
mechanisms for helping crowds organize towards productive tactics.  Lets
face it, a thousand people showing up the day of can be manipulated by cops
and each other to do all sorts of unstrategic stuff.  We are naive and
foolish to pretend that radical democracy and consensus can magically evolve
from crowds who have not been practicing it before they arrive.  Consensus
between individuals who know each other takes long gruelling work.  So
personally, i think it is ve

LL:URL: eWatch CyberSleuth

2000-07-17 Thread toni bloodworth

eWatch CyberSleuth
http://www.ewatch.com/pop_sleuth.html

Wednesday, July 12, 2000

It is unfortunate that companies are being targeted by entities whose 
motives are fraudulent, deceptive or criminal.

eWatch CyberSleuth will attempt to identify the entity or entities behind 
the screen name(s) which have targeted your organization.

eWatch CyberSleuth includes a 30-day subscription to the eWatch All 
Coverage Bundle (except WebWatch) with the screen name(s) as the sole criteria.

eWatch CyberSleuth requires 7 to 10 days to complete from the date of 
submission and costs $4,995 per screen name. 48-hour turn around is 
available for an additional $1,995 per screen name. Results will vary and 
cannot be guaranteed. Customers will receive a dossier detailing all 
information gathered about the subject during the inquiry. Click here to order.

COUNTERACTING ONLINE ANTI-CORPORATE ACTIVISM

While the Internet is in fact a new medium, based on our five years of 
experience in helping companies monitor the Internet, most of the old rules 
with respect to how we respond and react still apply. The biggest 
differences are that our actions are more public, the audience is larger 
and we're running in real-time.

There are six major motivations for online activism. The same response 
methodology cannot be used for all of them. It is critical to understand 
the motivation or motivations behind online attacks in order to employ the 
correct response mechanisms. The six motivations include:

Legitimate complaint.
Behavior influencing (Environmental group targeting an oil company, etc.)
Stock manipulation.
Revenge.
Mis- or dis-information.
Fraud and extortion.

Troubleshooting dubious postings need to happen on four fronts (what we
call these the four C's):

Classification
Containment
Communication
Counteraction

CLASSIFICATION

Before troubleshooting, decide if action is warranted. Let's face it,
there is a lot of awful content on the Internet about even the best
companies.
To take action on every occurrence is impractical. What are the
key triggers that your company will use to prioritize and classify online
threats?
In our experience, other companies have used these standards,
among others, for online threat assessment:

Threats against the safety of employees.
Threats against property (physical and intellectual).
Decreasing sales.
Lowering stock price.
Affecting litigation.
Affecting negotiations (labor, acquisitions, etc.).

CONTAINMENT

If the attack is prioritized for action, then containment is the next
step. Containment is a two part endeavor focusing on (1.) Neutralizing the
information appearing online, and; (2.) Identifying the perpetrators
behind the postings, rogue website, hack, etc.

Neutralizing information posted online, if appropriate, is the removal of
the offending messages from where ever they appear in cyberspace. This may
mean something as simple as removing a posting from a web message board on
Yahoo! to the shuttering of a terrorist web site.
The objective is to not only stop the spread of incorrect information,
but ensure that what has already spread is also eliminated. Victims of
verifiable libel and trademark infringement have a much easier time
neutralizing Internet content in our experience.
Non-libelous content but nonetheless incorrect or offensive content is
less likely to be removed by 3rd party search engines, ISPs, etc.

Identifying the perpetrators behind the action requires the kind of
special expertise that we've assembled for out eWatch CyberSleuth product.
Internet attackers attempt to cover their tracks by erasing identifying
personal information from their postings, using anonymous remailers to
strip off network information, posting under assumed names, etc.
Identifying these perpetrators is done using a variety of methods such as
following leads found in postings and web sites, working ISPs, involving
law enforcement, conducting virtual stings, among other tactics.

COMMUNICATION

Depending on the scope of the event, it may become necessary to
communicate to our key audiences about an incident that is occurring
online. Our key audiences may include our employees, vendors, customers,
prospects, regulators, beat journalists, financial analysts and investors
(retail and institutional).
The purpose of communicating with our key audiences is to signal that we
are on top of the situation and have, or are working, to resolve it. When
our key audiences are communicating in real-time, so must we. In certain
situations, the lack of a response will be viewed as incompetence or
worse, that there is in fact something to hide. As in other media,
perception is reality.

On the Internet, there are many communication tools at our disposal. We
can post back to the message boards where the original postings appeared
to give our side of the story, provide clarification or debunk it. We can
email directly those we think were affected by the incident. We can use
our own web site -- or set up a tem

LL:ART: Where to for the movement against global corporatism

2000-06-30 Thread toni bloodworth

   A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
http://www.ainfos.ca/


THE VISION THING

by NAOMI KLEIN

"This conference is not like other conferences."

That's what all the speakers at "Re-Imagining Politics and Society" were 
told before we arrived at New York's Riverside Church. When we addressed 
the delegates (there were about 1,000, over three days in May), we were to 
try to solve a very specific problem: the lack of "unity of vision and 
strategy" guiding the movement against global corporatism.

This was a very serious problem, we were advised. The young activists who 
went to Seattle to shut down the World Trade Organization and to 
Washington, DC, to protest the World Bank and the IMF had been getting 
hammered in the press as tree-wearing, lamb-costumed, drumbeating bubble 
brains. Our mission, according to the conference organizers at the 
Foundation for Ethics and Meaning, was to whip that chaos on the streets 
into some kind of structured, media-friendly shape. This wasn't just 
another talk shop. We were going to "give birth to a unified movement for 
holistic social, economic and political change."

As I slipped in and out of lecture rooms, soaking up vision galore from 
Arianna Huffington, Michael Lerner, David Korten and Cornel West, I was 
struck by the futility of this entire well-meaning exercise. Even if we did 
manage to come up with a ten-point plan--brilliant in its clarity, elegant 
in its coherence, unified in its outlook--to whom, exactly, would we hand 
down these commandments? The anticorporate protest movement that came to 
world attention on the streets of Seattle last November is not united by a 
political party or a national network with a head office, annual elections 
and subordinate cells and locals. It is shaped by the ideas of individual 
organizers and intellectuals, but doesn't defer to any of them as leaders. 
In this amorphous context, the ideas and plans being hatched at the 
Riverside Church weren't irrelevant exactly, they just weren't important in 
the way they clearly hoped to be. Rather than changing the world, they were 
destined to be swept up and tossed around in the tidal wave of 
information--web diaries, NGO manifestoes, academic papers, homemade 
videos, cris de coeur--that the global anticorporate network produces and 
consumes each and every day.

* * *

This is the flip side of the persistent criticism that the kids on the 
street lack clear leadership--they lack clear followers too. To those 
searching for replicas of the sixties, this absence makes the anticorporate 
movement appear infuriatingly impassive: Evidently, these people are so 
disorganized they can't even get it together to respond to perfectly 
well-organized efforts to organize them. These are MTV-weaned activists, 
you can practically hear the old guard saying: scattered, nonlinear, no focus.

It's easy to be persuaded by these critiques. If there is one thing on 
which the left and right agree, it is the value of a clear, well-structured 
ideological argument. But maybe it's not quite so simple. Maybe the 
protests in Seattle and Washington look unfocused because they were not 
demonstrations of one movement at all but rather convergences of many 
smaller ones, each with its sights trained on a specific multinational 
corporation (like Nike), a particular industry (like agribusiness) or a new 
trade initiative (like the Free Trade Area of the Americas). These smaller, 
targeted movements are clearly part of a common cause: They share a belief 
that the disparate problems with which they are wrestling all derive from 
global deregulation, an agenda that is concentrating power and wealth into 
fewer and fewer hands. Of course, there are disagreements--about the role 
of the nation-state, about whether capitalism is redeemable, about the 
speed with which change should occur. But within most of these miniature 
movements, there is an emerging consensus that building community-based 
decision-making power--whether through unions, neighborhoods, farms, 
villages, anarchist collectives or aboriginal self-government--is essential 
to countering the might of multinational corporations.

Despite this common ground, these campaigns have not coalesced into a 
single movement. Rather, they are intricately and tightly linked to one 
another, much as "hotlinks" connect their websites on the Internet. This 
analogy is more than coincidental and is in fact key to understanding the 
changing nature of political organizing. Although many have observed that 
the recent mass protests would have been impossible without the Internet, 
what has been overlooked is how the communication technology that 
facilitates these campaigns is shaping the movement in its own image. 
Thanks to the Net, mobilizations are able to unfold with sparse bureaucracy 
and minimal hierarchy; forced consensus and labored manifestoes are fading 
into the background, r

LL:DDV: Forum: World without money

2000-06-29 Thread toni bloodworth

(FREE) Public Forum
Friday 15th September, 6-9pm, Swanston Hall, Melbourne Town Hall.

After the world economic summit- do we need an economy? "couldn't we live 
perfectly well without money?"

Email Andy Blunden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for further details.
Swanston Hall, Melbourne Town Hall
6pm to 9pm Friday 15th September
Admission is free.
Light refreshments from 5:30pm.
There will be no long speeches - the speakers will propose that we can all 
live perfectly well without money or an economy, and in fact life would 
boom, and you are invited to challenge the speakers to prove it, or if you 
are not so sceptical, to discuss how we could get to such a world.

http://home.mira.net/~andy/seminars/no_money.htm

LL.VI

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:DDV: Fundraiser for the Community Campaign for Heroin Reform

2000-06-07 Thread toni bloodworth

The community campaign for heroin reform is still battling away to ensure
that the implementation of supervised injecting rooms goes ahead in
Melbourne. The aims of the campaign go beyond this however, advocating the
need for more rehabilitation places, education and harm reduction
strategies.

To help in the ongoing fight for heroin users to be recognised as members of
our community instead of criminals the campaign needs funds.

To help raise some desperately needed cash, a film night has been organised.

Angela's Ashes
Tues June 13, Westgarth cinema (High St, Northcote) 6.45pm.
Tickets are $13/$10 and include light refreshments after the movie.

If anyone is interested in coming along and showing support for this
long-running campaign, please contact Denise on 9489 8103 to arrange to pick
up a ticket at the door.

The campaign still meets weekly in the student lounge of RMIT, 6.30pm Wed
nights. All most welcome. Monthly rallies are held in front of the Melbourne
Town Hall on the first Friday of the month. Stop by and say hello, sign the
petitions and send off a letter to the Melb City Council urging them to
support the trial of supervised injecting facilities in the CBD.

  Stop the deaths, support supervised injecting centres.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

LL.VF

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink





LL:DDV: -- NTEU SEMINAR SERIES --

2000-03-12 Thread Toni Bloodworth

-- National Tertiary Education Industry Union SEMINAR SERIES --

NTEU Monash branch is running a series of seminars about issues that affect 
unionists today. Leftlinkers may be interested in some of them. The program 
kicks off on Monday with:

* Prof. Stuart McIntyre, labour historian and Dean of Arts at Melbourne
University.

"There is Power in a Union - an historical Perspective".

Monday 13th March

1 - 2pm in S12 (Science Lecture theatre)


Prof. McIntyre will be introduced by  Professor Graeme Davison, Head of
the School of Historical Studies at Monash

-
Monday April 3 - "State of the Union Address" - unionism in
Victoria and its relationship with the rest of the world.
Mr Leigh Hubbard (Victorian Trades Hall Secretary)

Monday May 1 - Unions, Land Rights and Rights of Australian
Indigenous workers
Ms Monica Morgan (Yorta Yorta), Judy McVey (Trade Unionists for
Land Rights)

Monday May 29 - Women and Unions
Ms Ellen Kleimaker (women's officer, Trades Hall)

Monday Aug 7 - "Social justice and the new millennium" - the
corporate evils - contracts, economic rationalism, enterprise
bargaining - what is to be done?
Mr Kenneth Davidson (economist and columnist with the Age)

Monday Sept 4 - "Is work killing you?" - occupational health and
safety and cost cutting: implications for the workforce and Monash
work environment
Dr Julien Teicher (Bus. Eco, Monash Uni)

Monday Sept 18 - Government funding, the three R's (redundancy,
rorts and rip-offs?) - the Howard Government's failure in education
Senator Natasha Stott-Despoya (to be confirmed)

Monday Oct 9 - Leading the way? Where to now? Challenges for
higher education workers and the NTEU in the new millennium.
Mr Graeme McCulloch (National Secretary, National Tertiary
Education Industry Union)

All lectures will be from 1-2pm in Science Lecture Theatre 12.
Clayton Campus, Monash University.
For further information, call the branch office on 9905 4110 or email
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


LL.VD LL.VE LL.VH LL.VI LL.VJ

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:DDV: Community Campaign for Heroin Reform meeting

2000-01-21 Thread Toni Bloodworth

The Community Campaign for Heroin Reform invites you to the first
meeting of 2000.

This meeting will decide on the direction of the campaign for the
next period, one during which the issue of safe injecting facilities
will be key.

Come along and add your support to the growing number of people
keen to see the Labor Party uphold their pre-election policy of drug
law reform.

The campaign is also calling for heroin trials, more rehabilitation
places and increased education as ways of reducing the harm
caused by drug use in our community.

Tuesday Jan 25, 2000
7pm
Lesley Clucas Lounge
RMIT

Enter from Bowen Lane near the city baths/Franklin St end



*** NTEU - your union, join today ***
Secure jobs and rational workloads mean better universities

(03) 9903 9525
Monash university, Dept. Pharmaceutics,
Victorian College of Pharmacy
381 Royal Pde, Parkville, Vic 3052, Australia


LL.VA

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:INFO: Christchurch dock workers mourn murdered picket

2000-01-04 Thread toni bloodworth

Christchurch dockers mourn murdered picket
Wellington, New Zealand, 4th January 2000

Christchurch dock workers are not reporting for work for 24 hours from
7am tomorrow to show respect for Christine Clarke, 45, wife of a dock
worker who died of injuries received while holding the picket line on
Lyttelton docks, Christchurch. Ms Clarke was one of several picketers
helping distribute literature to individuals working the docks during a
dispute on 28th December. One driver, who had reportedly already crossed the
line twice during the day, was stopped by the pickets. A New Zealand Press
Association report stated that the driver then fixed his eye on the
protesters in front of the car and suddenly accelerated. Ms Clarke had no
time to jump aside and was run over by the vehicle. She was severely injured
and died in hospital of her wounds.

The driver of the vehicle has been apprehended and charged with
dangerous driving and causing an injury. Offences of this nature do not
involve a prison sentence. The police may bring further charges, pending the
coroner's findings.  However, the editorial of a major newspaper has blamed
the unions for the tragic course of events, alleging the strike was
technically illegal under existing statutes. Radio newscasts have suggest Ms
Clarke may have herself been partly to blame, by not getting out of the way
quick enough. She is known to suffered a stroke two years ago, this detail
giving rise to speculation that her reactions may have been slower than those
of her fellow picketers. Meanwhile, the Lyttelton Port Company has described
the dockers intention to attend the funeral tomorrow as a shameful political
stunt and an illegal strike.

Ends


--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:DDV: Rally for safe injecting facilities

1999-10-27 Thread Toni Bloodworth

Steve Bracks has promised safe injecting facilities in 5 locations around 
Melbourne.

People are still dying!

Don't let it continue. Victoria needs safe injecting facilities now!

RALLY:  Saturday 30th October
Victoria Market (crn Elizabeth and Victoria Sts)
11am

Invited speakers include: Premier Steve Bracks, Steve Watson (major of 
Yarra), Dick Gross (mayor of Port Philip) and David Stanley (Aust. drug law 
reform foundation). Hopefully some women too.

Safe Houses are for everyone's safety.

Community Campaign for Heroin Reform  ph. 9380 8749



--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:ART: BBC on-line: Marx--Greatest thinker of the Millenium

1999-10-18 Thread toni bloodworth

BBC
October 1, 1999
Marx the millennium's 'greatest thinker'

Revolutionary writer Karl Marx has topped a BBC News Online poll to find 
the greatest thinker of the millennium.

The nineteenth century writer won September's vote with a clear margin, 
pushing Albert Einstein, who had led for most of the month, into second place.

The top 10 included philosophers Immanuel Kant and Rene Descartes as well 
as twentieth century scientist Stephen Hawking.

The vote was the ninth of BBC News Online's monthly Your Millennium series.

In October you can vote for the greatest explorer of the last thousand years.

Karl Marx is probably the most influential socialist thinker to emerge in 
the nineteenth century and one of the founders of communism.

Although dictatorships throughout the twentieth century have distorted his 
original ideas, his work as a philosopher, social scientist, historian and 
a revolutionary is respected by academics today.

Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) was born into a middle-class family in 
Germany, but he became a revolutionary in Paris, Brussels and London.

He met the like-minded Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) in France. Together 
they wrote The Communist Manifesto, which outlined the theory of the class 
struggle. Marx was exiled from Paris and Brussels for his revolutionary 
activities and settled in London where he lived until his death.

Amongst Marx's other influential works are the Economic and Philosophical 
Manuscripts, which remained unpublished until the 1930s, and the monumental 
work Das Kapital.

BBC News Online readers from across the world took part in the millennium poll.

Dag Thoresen from Norway, said: "Karl Marx has inspired thousands of 
liberation struggles. He was the father of modern political thinking."

And Jyotsna Kapur from the USA said: "Marx analysed best the working of 
capitalism. Given that that is the system that characterises the world at 
the end of the twentieth century his work is as relevant to understanding 
the world we live in as it was for understanding the nineteenth century."



--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:INFO: Activists occupy Burmese embassay in Bangkok

1999-10-05 Thread toni bloodworth

Title: Burmese Ex-Students Turn Militant
Author: Free Burma Coalition
Date: 1-OCT-1999
Source: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reference: F R E E   B U R M A   C O A L I T I O N
www.freeburmacoalition.com

Contact:  Dr. Zarni, Free Burma Coalition, 202-777-6009
  Jack Healey, Human Rights Action Center, 202-547-2582
  Larry Dohrs, Free Burma Coalition, 206-784-5742

Elements of the fundamentally non-violent Burmese student movement have
resorted to arms and taken over the Bangkok (Thailand) embassy of the
military junta that rules Burma (also known as Myanmar).

This act, apparently by a small number of Burmese ex-university students,
reflects the growing frustration of a Burmese populace which has suffered
under 37 years of military rule.

Corporate support for the Burmese military, in the form of joint ventures
by companies such as US-based Unocal, France-based TotalFina, UK-based
Premier Oil, and Japan-based Mitsubishi, Marubeni, Mitsui and Suzuki, has
helped keep the junta in power despite the overwhelming desire of the
Burmese people to rid themselves of the junta.

A lack of support from international bodies, and the United Nations in
particular, has contributed to despair among pro-democracy Burmese, both
within and without the country.  Inside Burma, the economy has collapsed,
universities are permanently closed, forced labor is rampant, narcotics
trafficking is rife, and, according to Amnesty International, more than two
thousand pro-democracy activists languish in the country's notorious
prisons and labor camps.  The junta is also holding two British citizens
who peacefully protested the military's human rights abuses. They received
prison sentences of seven and seventeen years at hard labor.

"Now the UN Security Council must take up the case of Burma's 45 million
people and their struggle for freedom," says Dr. Zarni of the Free Burma
Coalition.  "They overwhelmingly expressed their desire for a democratic
government in 1990 elections. The military is negating the expressed will
of the people, just as the Indonesian military did in East Timor."

The United Nations has made tepid gestures toward resolving the crisis in
Burma, but its envoys are normally blocked from entering the country.

US Secretary of State Albright has declared that Burma under the junta has
become "a threat to stability in the (Southeast Asian) region."

"This embassy incident is another example of how Burma's problems are not
confined within her national boundaries.  It is crucial that the questions
of democracy in Burma, and the crimes of the Burmese junta, receive serious
attention both in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, before
the situation becomes even more desperate," adds Zarni.

The Free Burma Coalition remains committed to non-violent political
struggle, and calls for a peaceful resolution to the standoff at the junta
embassy in Bangkok.



--

Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink






LL:INFO: additional election results

1999-09-27 Thread toni bloodworth

Final results for Northcote:
Susannah Duffy (PLP) 2477   (7.92%)
Richardson (Lib) 8121   (25.98%)
Mary Delahunty (ALP) 20662  (66.10%)
Informal unknown
Total % of voters unknown

Again, well done!



--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:INFO: Final electoral results for Richmond and Melbourne

1999-09-27 Thread toni bloodworth

The results for the seats of Richmond and Melbourne were declared yesterday.

They are:

Richmond:
Stephen Jolly (Militant Socialist Organisation) 4208 (12.03%)
Duc-Dung Tran (Lib) 10695 (30.56%)
Richard Wynne (ALP) 20089 (57.41)
Informal 1345 (3.70%)
87.63% of enrolled electors voted

Melbourne:
Jorge Jorquera (DSP) 1980 (5.72%)
Lana McLean (Lib) 12099 (34.94%)
Bronwyn Pike (ALP) 20549 (59.34%)
Informal 1333 (3.71%)
87.71% of enrolled electors voted

Results for Northcote where Progressive Labour Party member Susannah Duffy 
stood were unavailable but she had received ~8% at last count. The PLP also 
stood in Geelong where their preferences may have helped the ALP across the 
line.

Congratulations to all the left-wing candidates for an outstanding effort.



--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:DDV: NORTH Ltd ACTION

1999-08-29 Thread toni bloodworth

FESTIVAL AND BLOCKADE FOR JUSTICE: TUES 31 AUG - WED 1 SEPT
The Jabiluka Action Group (JAG) once again proposes to shut down the 
company behind the Jabiluka mine, North Limited, by holding a blockade of 
their head office at 476 St Kilda Rd Melbourne this Wednesday.

When: 6am - 9.30am Wednesday 1 September
Where: North Ltd, 476 St Kilda Rd

There is also a FESTIVAL planned for the night before, and we invite all 
performers, artists, drummers, musicians etc to come along and strut their 
stuff and contribute to the vibe. So far we have Carl from Checkerboard 
Lounge and Bom, both of whom premiered anti-Jabiluka songs at the recent 
Hiroshima Day rally. Other special guests are a possibility … come along 
and check it out.

When: 6pm - 10pm Tuesday 31 August
Where: outside North Ltd, 476 St Kilda Rd

Some people will be camping out or staying around North Ltd overnight until 
the blockading begins, so if you feel up for an all night vigil, bring 
blankets, camping gear, warm stuff etc.

Wednesday 1 September marks one year since the senior traditional owner of 
the Mirrar people, Yvonne Margarula, was found guilty by a Northern 
Territory court. The charge was 'trespass' - Yvonne had been arrested for 
walking on the Jabiluka mine lease, land which, according to both white law 
and black law, belongs to the Mirrar people and which is Yvonne's 
responsibility to protect. The blockade will highlight this injustice, and 
point to the real trespassers - North Limited, Energy Resources of 
Australia, and the Federal Government.

We need as many people as possible to come to the blockade for it to be a 
success. The more people that attend - even if only for a short time before 
work - the more likely it is that we can shut down the building and show 
North and the government that the campaign to stop Jabiluka is not going away.

JAG marshals will be organising people to link arms in front of the police 
lines to blockade the North offices. If enough people do this, we can shut 
down North. If you are thinking of coming, but aren't sure whether you want 
to do this - please still come. There are plenty of things to do for people 
who aren't prepared to physically blockade, the bottom line is that we need 
people there.

Another useful thing to do, is write a short letter to the papers or phone 
talkback radio on the day or the day after - remember those of us who 
oppose Jabiluka are at least 67% of the population, so it's important that 
the majority viewpoint gets through to the media, who usually want to talk 
about how terrible the protesters are, rather than how terrible the 
Jabiluka development is.

FINALLY if you have time to help us out, please call the JAG office on 9417 
6660, turn up and offer your help, or come along to a stall we're having 
outside the Museum station entrance in Swanston St from 12pm - 5pm on 
Tuesday (tomorrow!) Please pass this message on to anyone you think might 
be interested in coming along.

LAND RIGHTS NOT MINING RIGHTS! STOP JABILUKA MINE!

LL.VH LL.VI

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:DDV: Heroin Reform rally

1999-08-24 Thread toni bloodworth

On Saturday 28 August 1999 at 1.00PM at St. Paul's Cathedral (corner of
Flinders & Swanston Sts City, the Community Campaign for Heroin Reform
(CCHR) will hold a mass rally and then march on Parliament to hold an
extended vigil there to mourn the preventable and senseless deaths of over
190 Victorians to heroin this year.

At the moment, heroin is one of the main issues on the Australian political
agenda. So come to the rally / vigil on Saturday 28 August and lend your
voice to those already demanding the trial of safe injecting facilities in
Victoria.

LL.VI

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:DDV: HIROSHIMA DAY, other stuff

1999-08-04 Thread toni bloodworth

=
HIROSHIMA DAY
=

Hello all. Some more news about the
JAG Melbourne Hiroshima Day Rally this
Friday the 6th of August at
5.30 pm on the steps of the
Victorian State Library.

This Rally seems like it will be the biggest JAG rally ever. Highlights
will include:

*** High Profile Speakers

- Harry Van Moorst
(influential member of the successful
campaign against the Werribee Toxic Dump)

- Anette Xiberas
(Prominant Indigenous Rights campaigner)

- Kevin Buzzacott
(representative of the Arrabunna people of S.Aust. on
whose land the Roxby Downs uranium mine is operating)

- Mary Delahunty
(former ABC news presenter and current ALP politician)

*** Entertainment

- Imagery projection exhibition
- Theme floats and costumes during the march
- Debut of a new single "Stop Jabiluka Mine" featuring an all star
combo of Melbourne musicians
- Large choir
- 5-7 minute aural simulation of the Hiroshima bomb exploding to be
conducted in Swanston Walk at the time of the original explosion -
8.15am on the day. The piece is to be simulcast on
Triple R (102.7 FM) and PBS (106.7 FM)  radio.

=
other stuff
=

I found this weblink and I think it would be great if we could flood it
with anti-nuke responses. It is a simple one page site surveying attitudes
to uranium as a fuel source and nuke weapons as a 'defense' option.

http://members.tripod.com/~pssa/index.html

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Oh yes and I am still asking for volunteers to help out with the new JAG
Melbourne website. Thanks to those who have offered their services, however
I would appreciate as much help as possible. In case anyone misinterpreted
my earlier notice on this matter, I am looking for anyone with _one or
more_ of the skills listed below, not all of them. The revamp will be
divided into several managable tasks that would be feasible for individuals
to take on.

Skills required

- www graphic design
- JavaScript, Java, Perl, DHTML and XML programming
- Audio / Video streaming
- Photography
- Website promotion
- Acrobat PDF publishing
- Virtual Reality QTVR, VRML

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

JAG Melbourne has started to explore in detail the various effects of
uranium mining on workers at the mines. Despite what you may have heard,
the Jabiluka mine will only provide 110 'permanent' jobs. Even ERA admits
this. These employees can only work a maximum of 3 years before it is
considered they have been exposed to too much radiation. These jobs are
hardly permanent. Radiation causes sterility, brith defects and cancer.

Recent evidence suggests that the 3 year period that ERA endorses may
actually be 50% more time allowed than in identical situations, under
different legislation, overseas.

We need people to help research the health issues of mining uranium.
Immediately following this research we would like to start asking several
unions to get involved on the grounds of worker safety.

If anyone on this email list is involved in the health field, can you
please reply to me and let me know if you are willing to help out.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
 >===

Paul.

Jabiluka Action Group - Melbourne.
Information Technology (IT) Department
http://vic.jag.org.au/
Subscribe to our email list via
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

LL.VH

--

   Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:DDV: Community Campaign for Heroin Reform

1999-05-25 Thread toni bloodworth

Community Campaign for Heroin Reform

Rally this Friday May 28
5pm Smith St, Collingwood
Next to Safeways

Calling for safe injecting facilities to be provided in the inner city area 
of Collingwood/Fitzroy

Other objectives of the campaign are for the adequate funding of rehab, 
treatment and education as well as calling for the introduction of the 
proposed heroin trials around the country.

Safe injecting facilities are the vital first step in saving lives and 
moving towards a more tolerant society in which drug use is seen as a health 
issue rather than a criminal one.

Come along and show your support for the Smith St community who face the 
consequences of unsafe injecting practices on a daily basis by having to 
clean up syringes left in lanes and toilets to calling ambulances or 
providing first aid for overdose victims.

Something needs to be done NOW!


LL.VE

--

  Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
   mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html
   
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink




LL:INFO: Russian workers Take Over Factory in Yasnogorsk

1999-03-08 Thread toni bloodworth



From: DAMN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: DAMN: 03-MAR-1999: Russian workers Take Over Factory in Yasnogorsk
Source: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reference: www.marxist.com

YASNOGORSK, Russia - A Workers' Collective Committee has taken over a
machine-building plant in Yasnogorsk, a town of 20,000 people near Moscow.
The 4,200 workers are battling the Communist Party local authority and the
(Yeltsinite) privatization program for the plant. The Yasnogorsk workers
say, "This is our revolution" and are appealing for international solidarity.

In 1990, the factory was turned into a joint stock company in which the
workers held a majority of shares. Last September the workers and
shareholders of the plant dismissed the Administration at a general
meeting. When the "owners" of the plant refused to recognize the results,
the workers seized control. A workers' committee (the Workers' Collective
Soviet) was set up and now oversees administration, production, selling,
all the finances, distribution of wages and the town as a whole. However,
all the factory bank accounts have been blocked by the authorities and the
company has since 
been declared bankrupt by the courts. The questions now are: who will run
the factory in the future and who will buy it later?

The workers realize that if it is sold, they will lose the last shares they
still possess and the previous administration will buy them. For this
reason the workers are demanding the plant be made state-owned or else have
the shares distributed among the workers. The workers and the town see this
as a temporary solution and understand they are fighting against the trend
towards private property and capitalism.

Last December 10,000 people (led by the workers) from Yasnogorsk marched to
block the railway line into Moscow to support demands for the release from
prison of the worker-elected directors of the factory and to stop the
privatization move. It was only the mobilization of special police forces
by the regional administration which prevented the workers from paralyzing
one of the main railways in Russia. The two directors, L. Roschenia and V.
Dronov, were jailed in October but set free as a result of this general
strike by the workers and the threat of railway blockades.

On February 22, special police forces were sent in to prevent workers from
organizing a standard general meeting. The new court-appointed plant
director has issued an order prohibiting all kinds of activity by the
worker's committee and trade-union, demanding the end of the strike and
threatening to fire all those who disobey. At a joint meeting, the workers
decided that they would not return to work until everyone had been paid.

The workers have been without pay for 10 months. The misery in Yasnogorsk
is tremendous and the population is starving. Last Monday, two workers
fainted during meetings in the plant and were hospitalized. Every day one
or more workers are attended to by doctors. One worker says, "We have
nothing except for the potatoes we grow."

The machine-building plant has always been the centre of life for the
people of Yasnogorsk and the only way to make a living for thousands of
workers. The plant is functioning today and its products are being sold and
bartered despite the crisis - this is how the whole town survives. The
workers' committee has received financial assistance from trade-unions and
other organizations. Money is distributed amongst the poorest and to those
who don't even have potatoes any more. 


--

  Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
   mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html
   
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink



LL: Fwd: DAMN 17 dec 98: Unionists arrested in Tijuana

1998-12-21 Thread toni bloodworth



>http://damn.tao.ca/news/damn00476=
>.html

> Tijuana, Mexico: 
> Enrique Hernandez Felix, General Secretary of the 6th  of October Union of Workers 
>in Industry & Commerce (the union representing  the Han Young workers) and Jose Angel 
>Penaflor, the lawyer for the union,  were arrested this morning. This is part of an 
>ongoing pattern of repression  and violations of human rights and Mexican labor law 
>by officials of the  Mexican government.

> Background Information:  
> Located in Tijuana, Mexico, the Han Young factory welds chassis for nearby Hyundai 
>operations, where the chassis are assembled into tractor  trailers ("semi's"). Since 
>June of 1997, workers at Han Young have been  struggling to win representation for an 
>independent union and to get  management to bargain a new contract. 
> Core issues are substandard wages  (many skilled welders receive the equivalent of 
>only $4 US / $5.70 a day Canadian for a 10-  to 11-hour shift) and life-threatening 
>health and safety issues (totally inadequate safety equipment, lack of ventilation 
>for toxic gases,  having to stand in puddles of water while using high voltage 
>equipment with  frayed cables, decrepit cranes which drop their loads without warning 
>or swing wildly out of control).  
> A clear majority of the workers has voted three times to be represented  by an 
>independent union. The workers have stood firm in the face of  armed thugs, bribes, 
>firings, disinformation campaigns and a host of  illegal actions by management and 
>government officials in Mexico. 
> The  workers won certification of their union in January after a 26-day  hunger 
>strike, but management has refused to negotiate a contract with  the independent 
>October 6 union. 
> Since May 22 of this year, when the  previous contract expired, virtually the entire 
>regular workforce at Han Young has been on strike.  Throughout this struggle, 
>international pressure has remained strong.

> The two essential elements of international solidarity are: 
> political  pressure on the Mexican federal government to enforce its own labor law 
>and  economic pressure on Hyundai to use its considerable leverage with Han  Young, 
>which produces only for Hyundai.

>   This is the DAMN News Email list
>   http://damn.tao.ca
>   To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>   Asking to: unsubscribe damn
>
>***DAMN DISCLAIMER - IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE***
>
> DAMN receives many unsolicited reports and tries but can not verify
>all information contained within.  DAMN therefore disclaims
>responsibility for the information in this message and urges
>you to contact the reporter personally for further verification.


__
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

end
==
 Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
   
http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html
  
   The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue
  http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm  


   Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
 Subscribe:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink



LL:INFO:November 23: First person update on Indonesia

1998-11-27 Thread toni bloodworth


Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

A first-person account of events in Indonesia by roving activist, Reko, 
for
the alter-ee mailing list.

CAPTAIN'S LOG, PART I:

I just arrived in Djakarta a few hours ago after a truly proletarian
travel experience - 40 hrs. on a boat in "ekonomi kelas." I haven't
met any local activists yet, but here's a few first impressions from
this place.

By the look of things, popular support for Habibie & Co.'s government
seems to be at a minimum. Flags are on half-mast on practically all
buildings (apart from the govt. buildings) here in Djakarta to
commemorate the killed demonstrators. Occasionally you can also see
the symbols of Megawati and her PDI-party. The few discussions I've had
so far with the locals have confirmed the impression that the people
are thoroughly fed up with the current government. The official
English-language news broadcasts are a mix of facts and desparate
attempts at excusing what's happened. First, they showed pictures from
a hospital, where the doctors were explaining that the students died
from bullet wounds of such-and-such calibre and from beatings. After
this footage, the newscaster stated that "it is currently being
investigated whether or not human rights had been violated in
the incidents."  On the verge of black humour there...

The people, however, are fully aware of what has happened, as last
Friday's incidents were shown practically live on nation-wide TV and
the press here is nowadays independent enough to tell the facts. The
government is apparently trying to work out a scheme at the moment to
put the blame on "a conspiracy of agents provocateurs" and has taken
opposition leaders into custody so they can be questioned about their
"revolutionary activities."

Yesterday was an islamic holiday, so at least in Djakarta the
demonstrators had a day of rest. But there's more on the way, as the
unrest has spread to other parts of the country. Walking around town
this morning you could see soldiers lounging about, carrying their
rifles, submachine guns and metre-long wooden sticks. I spotted a few
armoured cars as well. My guess is that Habibie's and Wiranto's fall
is just a question of time, or we'll see a re-run of the army coup
of 1965 with a million dead. Fortunately, the latter seems relatively
unlikely at the moment. More on the topic once I meet the local
activists.

--



Now I've spent a day hanging around with the local radical activists,
mainly from the PRD. The PRD (Partia Rakyat Demokratik - the People's
Democratic Party) is the only left-wing (as in anti-capitalist) party
in Indonesia, the Communist Party has been banned for decades. The
PRD is officially a social-democratic party, but clearly they have
spent some time reading Castro, Lenin and Guevara (for getting some
tips on revolutionary strategy, as they say). They said that they're
more radical than your average soc.-dem. party, but were opposed to
Troskyism, for example, as they're against a one-party dictatorship.
Their ideal is some kind of "democratic socialism," more of the
direct, participatory kind than the western parliamentary democracy.
Anarchism was not an unknown concept to them, and they've gotten some
texts from the internet, translated them, and circulated them amongst
their members. I didn't ask which texts they'd taken. Their party-
fixation seemed to be quite strong, perhaps because of the
circumstances. Their ideology seemed to be a general left-wing mixture
of sorts. In their opinion, Indonesia's main problems are capitalism,
militarism (i.e. the military junta) and the remnants of feudalism
which still exist.

I didn't get into any lengthy discussions about their ideological
stances, as those things are a bit of a minor issue in the current
situation. The revolution which is in progress here is a democratic
one, and the PRD doesn't even assume that it could lead to socialism
or communism. The PRD members are about the same age as Finnish
activists, i.e. between 18 and 26 yrs. The oldest one in the party
leadership was 30. The whole leadership has had its share of
imprisonment and torture. I myself feel a bit strange hanging around
with these people. Despite their situation, they're no more serious
about their activities than people back in Finland. "Sure we're trying
to make a revolution, but we'll throw a party at the office tonight."
And then every now and then someone mentions that this one or the
other has been kidnapped by the soldiers, has been tortured, or
someone's boyfriend has "disappeared," etc...

Currently, the Indonesian opposition is divided into radicals and
moderates. The main moderate groups are Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI,
Amin Rais' PAN (moderate islamic) and Gus Pur (also moderate islamic).
The moderate parties have about a million members, but their leadership
prefers to wait for next year's general elections rather than organise
demos. They're ready to make compromises with the military. The
radicals say that there's no point in talk