GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER No. 449, December 21, 2012
APPEAL FOR WITNESSES AND VIDEO CLIPS FROM TPP PROTEST.
Hi everyone, As a result of the protest against the TPP on 8 December outside Skycity one of our protest group is facing a serious charge of assault with intent to injure a police officer. We are helping to co-ordinate the defence and we need witnesses and video footage of the incident where the police officer with motorbike helmet (Robocop?) grabbed a woman around the neck and wrestled with her on the ground. If you were directly or indirectly involved in the incident please get in touch with us urgently. Please send video footage to mike as well as write down NOW what you actually saw of the incident and send that through as well. You can also call or text John Minto at 0220850161.
Robocop attacks protestor
XMAS
We hope all GPJA supporters have a good break with family and friends over Xmas and New Year.
First GPJA Forum for 2013: Monday 4th February – Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, 7pm
Breaking the siege of Gaza: Roger Fowler from Kia ora Gaza was in Gaza at the time of the latest Israeli attacks and he will speak of his experiences. Support for the BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) will be an important part of GPJA’s work in 2013 so we welcome you all to this important meeting to help set the scene for 2013.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
2012 ROGER AWARD PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Cast your vote at http://bit.ly/UIq28W For the first time, the organisers of the Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand are inviting the public to have their say by voting online for the People’s Choice winner. This is an online poll only; the field is restricted to the eight finalists fro the 2102 Roger Award listed at the People’s Choice Website, along with brief information about why each of them was selected; the People’s Choice winner will be announced at the same May Day event in Wellington at which the Roger Award judges announce their winner. The judges’ choice is the actual winner of the Roger Award and, as always, will be accompanied by a detailed Judges’ Report and Financial Analysis. There will be no equivalent reports about the People’s Choice winner. Please help to publicise this. Spread the word. Season’s greetings, Murray Horton, Secretary/Organiser
BALSA MINDANAO SMR UPDATED URGENT APPEAL FOR THE VICTIMS OF TYPHOON PABLO
If you wish to donate, do so via PSNA and our good friends at Christian World Service will transmit the money to BALSA Mindanao for us, in one lump sum (doing it that way means that none of the money raised has to be spent on the extortionate international money transfer fees charged by banks). You can send your donation by cheque to: PSNA, Box 2450, Christchurch. Accompany it with a note saying “Flood appeal”, and include your e-mail address, so that we can acknowledge it. Or you can deposit your donation directly into PSNA’s bank account:
Philippines Solidarity Network, Kiwibank, 155 The Terrace, Wellington. 389000 0792619 00 Include your name and “Flood donation”. And please e-mail us, at this address, to tell us that you’ve made the deposit, so that we can look out for it online.
Best wishes, Murray Horton, Secretary, PSNA, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa. Box 2450 Christchurch, New Zealand
cafca
www.converge.org.nz/psna
Dear friends, Attached is our updated (Dec 14) urgent appeal for relief and rehabilitation of the Davao region provinces affected by Typhoon Pablo . Please distribute this to your networks and get it out to as many people as possible.
Mindanao is still in a state of calamity and crisis as a result of the typhoon. Pablo was the strongest storm to hit Mindanao in more than 40 years and has left nearly one thousand people dead in its wake, hundreds missing and injured. The more than 5 million farmers, agricultural workers, and lumads (indigenous peoples) who were physically and economically displaced have to date limited access to food, drinking water and medical care.
BALSA Mindanao (Bulig alang sa Mindanao/Help for Mindanao) is a broad Mindanao-wide network of church and church-based organizations, schools, disaster response NGOs, local executives, professional groups, youth and students, women, partylists, and concerned individuals. It is a citizen-led response to the immense humanitarian crisis brought about by Typhoon Sendong. It is a people’s mobilization for disaster response and climate justice. It relies on a stream of volunteers from all over Mindanao, who bring with them various expertise and contributions needed to help empower and rebuild affected communities.
Balsa’s Relief and Rehabilitation Operations are composed of the following services: Relief distribution, Medical Mission (with minor surgical operations), and Psychosocial Therapy for Children and other victims suffering from trauma.
Photos of the relief missions can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.275436545912541.62388.138498292939701&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151127380426601.429429.199210461600&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.230418027090687.58646.100003674730558&type=1
We need to raise 3,655,000 pesos (US$90,000) to undertake this next round of relief missions – the full budget is in the attached appeal. This is allot of money for us to to raise, we need your urgent assistance. Please let us know if your able to help out in anyway.
This is a personal account of witnessing the devastation of Pablo. https://www.facebook.com/notes/fr-fausto-pops-tentorio-foundation-inc/3-days-post-pablo/275426772580185
SPECIAL CALL FOR DONATIONS TO HELP BANGLADESHI GARMENT WORKERS
Hi everyone, Some of you may know that I run a small non-profit called Aotearoa Solidarity Network, which donates money to a Bangladeshi organisation helping garment workers. This is a Christmas appeal for donations to help keep their organisation up and running.
– Duncan
You may have read recently about a tragic fire in a Bangladeshi garment factory that killed at least 112 workers on November 24. Sadly this is not a lone incident. Recent fires at garment factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan have killed hundreds of workers.
Big companies supplying clothing to us in the West, put profits before safety and refuse to ensure fire safety standards are enforced in the factories that supply the clothes they sell.
Currently labour activists like Kalpona Akter from the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS) are hard at work uncovering Multinational’s like Walmart, Enyce and Dickies who used the factory as a supplier and who need to held accountable.
Aotearoa Solidarity Network (ASN) is a non-profit organisation set up to help garment workers in Bangladesh. We take donations and send them directly to the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. ALL proceeds go directly to BCWS (minus a Western Union transfer fee).
This message is a special call for donations so that BCWS can continue their important work. PLEASE consider making a donation
BCWS have been instrumental in getting companies like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein to sign up to comprehensive fire safety programmes.
BCWS also maintains programs on labour rights education, leadership training, conflict resolution and runs a night school as well as a day-care centre for children of garment workers. Thanks to the work of BCWS many workers can enjoy their legal benefits, including maternity leave, and exercise their right to form and join unions.
PLEASE DONATE TODAY and help save lives of the most vulnerable and lowest paid workers in the world
BCWS have been under constant attack from the Bangladeshi Government because they are so effective in fighting for garment workers’ rights.
In 2010 their leaders were arrested and tortured, their offices ransacked and their bank accounts closed down.
This year, Aminul Islam, a BCWS organiser, was taken by the Bangladeshi National Security Intelligence and brutally tortured and murdered
BCWS and the garment workers of Bangladesh need our help.
Aotearoa Solidarity Network will be making a Western Union transfer on 20 December.
PLEASE consider making a donation today, or setting up a regular donation to keep this vital organisation running
In Solidarity, Duncan Allan, Sole volunteer for ASN
PEACE RESEARCHER ISSUE # 44 NOVEMBER 2012
A Dotcomedy Of Errors. GCSB Illegally Spies On New Zealanders: We Told You So – by Murray Horton
Back Into Bed With Uncle Sam: A Loyal Satellite Once More – by Murray Horton
Killing Bin Laden: The Legitimatising Of State Terrorism by Dennis Small
The Campaign To Demilitarise Harewood by Maire Leadbeater
Resisting The Roots Of War by Dennis Small
Case Study: The 1965-70 Indonesia Genocide by Dennis Small
CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account: Financial Report 2011/12 by Warren Brewer
Review by Jeremy Agar “Organize: Building From The Local For Global Justice”, edited by Aziz Choudry, Jill Hanley and Eric Shragge
Obituaries by Murray Horton & Evin Wood Larry Ross, Rosa Oliver
APPLICATIONS FOR 2013 PEACE SCHOLARSHIPS OPEN ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
White Poppies for Peace. 10 December 2012. Applications for White Poppy Peace Scholarships for research during the 2013 academic year opened today, Human Rights Day, on the sixty-fourth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The Peace Scholarships comprise at least two grants that are awarded each year to assist students at any tertiary education institution in Aotearoa New Zealand with research into the impacts of militarism, militarisation and warfare; alternatives to militarism, militarisation and warfare; or collective non-violent responses to state violence. Information about how to apply for and support the Peace Scholarships is included below.
The Peace Scholarships open on Human Rights Day each year to draw attention to the link between militarism and human rights. While the link between armed conflict and gross violations of human rights is obvious, the link between militarism and human rights is perhaps less well known. The United Nations was established in 1945 to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, and for member states to live together in peace with one another as good neighbours. [1] As one way to progress these worthy goals, the UDHR was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 in recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. [2]
Yet sixty-seven years after the UN was established, the vision of the UN Charter and the UDHR has not yet been fully realised, in part because of the dominance of the ideology of militarism – “the policy of maintaining a military organisation in aggressive preparedness for war” [3] – which has a negative impact on the enjoyment of economic, civil, cultural, political and social rights around the world.
One way this can be readily illustrated is by looking at the prioritisation of military expenditure over social spending. Last year global military expenditure was more than $1,738 billion (US$), an average of more than $4.7 billion a day. By way of contrast, on average, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from mainly preventable causes – lack of access to adequate food, clean water and basic medicines. That is one of the prices paid, the collateral damage that is seldom talked about, for maintaining armed forces in a state of combat readiness around the world.
Among the other harmful effects of militarism is the acceptance of the belief that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflict, an acceptance that seldom occurs in other aspects of daily life, and the way this actively prevents the exploration of other ways of resolving conflict. Militarism is what keeps the global cycle of violence going round and round in a downwards spiral.
The purpose of the Peace Scholarships is to increase understanding of the role of New Zealand governments (past and present) in the global cycle of violence; of the impacts of militarism, militarisation and warfare here and overseas; and of alternative ways of resolving conflict.
About the Peace Scholarships
The Peace Scholarships comprise at least two grants that are awarded each year to assist with research into: the impacts of militarism, militarisation and warfare; alternatives to militarism, militarisation and warfare; or collective non-violent responses to state violence. The Peace Scholarships are for students at any tertiary education institution in Aotearoa New Zealand. Each grant is a minimum of $1,000 – one is for a Maori or Moriori student, with the other/s open to any student with New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency. The Peace Scholarships are entirely funded by donations, including those collected during the White Poppies for Peace Annual Appeal (17 to 24 April). The number and amount of the grants awarded annually is determined by the amount raised during each year.
How to apply for a Peace Scholarship
Guidelines for applicants are available at peacescholarship The deadline for applications for Peace Scholarships to assist with research in the 2013 academic year is Friday, 1 March 2013.
How you can support the Peace Scholarships
There are two ways you can support the Peace Scholarships – by making a donation, or by helping to collect donations for white poppies, an international symbol of remembrance for all the casualties of war and of peace. Your generosity will help to promote peace by directly supporting research into militarism, militarisation and warfare. To make a donation by cheque, please use the form at peacescholarship and we will provide the details for you. A tax credit receipt is sent for all donations.
To support the Peace Scholarships by collecting donations for white poppies: if you can assist with the White Poppies for Peace Annual Appeal, 17 to 24 April, please fill in and return the form at whitepoppies if you would like to have white poppies available at a peace event at any time during the year, please email whitepoppies with your request.
References: [1] Charter of the United Nations, Preamble; [2] Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble; [3] Collins English Dictionary, William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd, 1986, 2nd edition
DEMAND EQUAL PAY – PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT NOW
Please circulate this to all your networks and ask them to make a call to action to show support for ‘Demanding Equal Pay’ by going to http://demandequalpay.org.nz to pledge support to show the NZ government there is public support for adopting a new legislative framework to create transparency and openness around gender pay issues within the workplace in New Zealand.
The YWCA want to give this a really BIG push this week so really appreciate your help here.
COME TO WAIHOPAI SPY BASE PROTEST: JANUARY 18-20
The Kim Dotcom saga has certainly put the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and its Waihopai spy base smack bang into the glare of the spotlight. Not coincidentally this is happening in the same year that the Government has got New Zealand back into ANZUS in all but name. NZ has hosted its first visit from a US Defense Secretary for 30 years and he offered to base US marines here. For the first time since the 1980s, American troops have trained here; NZ troops have trained in the US; and NZ warships have taken part in US-led naval exercises. How ironic that all this was happening at the same time as the country was celebrating the 25th anniversary of our nuclear free law.
The public face of New Zealand’s role as an American ally is the NZ military presence in Afghanistan. But New Zealand’s most significant contribution to the global American warfighting machine is, and has been for more than 20 years, the Waihopai electronic intelligence gathering base, located in the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim. It is controlled by the US, with New Zealand (including Parliament and the Prime Minister) having little or no idea what goes on there, let alone any control.
First announced in 1987, Waihopai is operated by New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in the interests of the foreign Powers grouped together in the super-secret UKUSA Agreement (which shares global electronic and signals intelligence among the intelligence agencies of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ). Its satellite interception dishes intercept a huge volume of civilian telephone calls, telexes, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications. It spies on our Asia/Pacific neighbours, and forwards the material on to the major partners in the UKUSA Agreement, specifically the US National Security Agency (NSA). Its targets are international civilian communications involving New Zealanders, including the interception of international phone calls.
Post- 9/11 the GCSB and Waihopai now spy further afield, to those regions where the US is waging wars. The codename for this – Echelon – has become notorious worldwide as the vast scope of its spying has become public. New Zealand is an integral, albeit junior, part of a global spying network, a network that is ultimately accountable only to its own constituent agencies, not governments, and certainly not citizens.
Join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spy base. Come prepared for roughing it and camping out. We provide the food (we cater for vegetarians but vegans will have to bring their own). Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating utensils, clothing for all weather, and $40 (or $20 unwaged) to cover costs. No open fires.
How to find our camp at Whites Bay: turn off SH1 at Tuamarina (9km north of Blenheim or 20 km south of Picton) and drive to Rarangi on the coast. Follow the steep Port Underwood Road over the hilltop before descending to the Whites Bay turnoff. There is a DoC public camp at the bay with basic facilities. ABC has to pay a fixed charge per head.
Waihopai does not operate in the interests of New Zealanders or our neighbours. Basically it is a foreign spy base on NZ soil and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be closed.
Email abc for further registration information.
WHAT’S ON IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND
December 27 to January 18, NZ-Cuba
XXX SOUTHERN CROSS BRIGADE TO CUBA: Receive warm greetings from Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), that every year receives, with great satisfaction, all friends that spontaneously decide to join us in the Southern Cross Brigade of voluntary work and solidarity with Cuba. Main objectives of the brigade are to provide a great deal of knowledge about Cuban reality so that the visitors could understand it as well as to work voluntarily in the agricultural fields in order to help in the development and productivity of the country. The program of the brigade includes visits to historical, cultural and social places. Participants will receive lectures on national and international topics and will also interact with representatives of Cuban organizations and people in general. Each brigade member, at the moment of the arrival, is committed to follow the program and schedule, and also to have a proper behaviour, discipline and social interaction not only in CIJAM but also all over the country. For further communication: Phone numbers (53 7) 838-24 30 / 8335372 / 830-1220 / 834-4544 ext. 15 and Emails: asia.norte , director.dao and amiventas We would be pleased to have you in the XXX Southern Cross Brigade, a beautiful project that ICAP and Australia/New Zealand – Cuba Friendship Societies have proudly maintained since 1983, which has allow to show Cuban reality to more than one thousand people who have taken part in previous brigades as well as to receive their support and deep solidarity. This year program and brigade has a special aim and it is to commemorate 55 anniversary of the triumph of Cuban revolution on January 1st, 2013 and also to celebrate with every participant coming the 30 anniversary of the Southern Cross Brigade visit to Cuba. This is a formal invitation to join the brigade in order to strengthen brotherhood between our peoples. Sincerely yours, Asia and Pacific Division, Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples NZ Participants: Email gael.d for the full programme and any other questions.
Thursday and Friday 14 & 15 February 2013, AUT University Business School, 42 Wakefield St, Auckland City
Supported by the Occupational Health and Safety Research Group, AUT University; the NZCTU; the SFWU; the University of Auckland and the NZ Industrial Relations Foundation Trust Inc. PRECARIOUS WORK AND THE LIVING WAGE IN OUR COMMUNITIES. Two Day Symposium and Workshops. Keynote speakers include: Guy Standing, Professor of Economics, University of London; Malcolm Sargeant, Professor of Labour Law, Middlesex University; Iain Campbell, Senior Research Fellow, RMIT University; Deborah Littman, Metro Vancouver Alliance. This symposium will include in-depth discussions on the employment of vulnerable workers and the current developments around a living wage in New Zealand and around the world. We encourage participants from academia, unions, NGOs, faith communities and government agencies to attend. There is a charge of $40 per day. Attendees must register to: work.research More info: www.workresearch.aut.ac.nz/ohs www.livingwagenz.org.nz
Saturday, February 16, 9am – 5.30pm, Blockhouse Bay Boat Club, end of Endeavour St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland
The Workshop for Agents of Change is an interactive, transformational workshop designed to deepen our understanding of what it means to be an Agent of Change, and to empower our capacity to address humanity’s most pressing issues. All participants will receive a resource notebook from the day that includes worksheets, resources and inspiration. Participation by koha: Participants are invited to contribute with great love commensurate with their experience.
Monday, April 15
2013 Global Day of Action on Military Spending: 15 April 2013 – if you would like to be involved in the 2013 Global Day of Action in Aotearoa New Zealand, or would like your organisation listed as a pma
BEST ON THE WEB
NEW ZEALAND
Auckland City Rail Link Study Approved By Brownlee http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00239/auckland-city-rail-link-study-approved-by-brownlee.htm
Keith Locke: Dotcom case shows the cost of spying is spooky http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10854676
Keith Locke
Tim McBride: Privacy rights less secure than you think http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10854893
POVERTY & WELFARE DEBATE
AAAP – Recession Buster Impact https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RBTPJ24wk1U
And here is a link to a Radio NZ piece about the event: http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20121211-0841-advocates_say_thousands_of_beneficiaries_missing_out-048.mp3
Big Ups To Fonterra – But Where’s The Government? http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1212/S00280/big-ups-to-fonterra-but-wheres-the-government.htm
Catriona MacLennan: Loan plan start of something good http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10854672
WORKRIGHTS NZ
Legal action planned against Ministry of Justice http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00240/legal-action-planned-against-ministry-of-justice.htm
The Migrant Workers Association protest at Pizza Hut
Fast food giant pays in vouchers for ad http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10854355
Mass Union Meeting Calls On Port CEO To Share Bonus http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00207/mass-union-meeting-calls-on-port-ceo-to-share-bonus.htm
Hillside closure a tragedy for Dunedin and workers https://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/hillside-closure-tragedy-dunedin-and-workers
NZ ECONOMY
CTU: Struggling economy needs Government focus on jobs http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00310/struggling-economy-needs-government-focus-on-jobs.htm
CTU: We could do much better http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00331/we-could-do-much-better.htm
TPPWatch Bulletin #25 http://www.nznotforsale.org/2012/12/16/tppwatch-bulletin-25/
Booklet on the TPPA http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/TPPA-Booklet-1.pdf
TPPA a multinational corporate tool for undermining environmental protection law http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/blog/tppa-not-a-trade-deal/blog/43257/
HYEFU Dismal on Jobs – The Council of Trade Unions says that the half- yearly economic and fiscal update (HYEFU) is dismal on the jobs front. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00270/hyefu-dismal-on-jobs.htm
Ryan Wood: What we need is a MAXIMUM wage http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10840939
TPP PROTESTS
Citizen A TPP Round-Up Special With Martyn Bomber Bradbury, Prof Jane Kelsey & Selwyn Manning http://livenews.co.nz/2012/12/citizen-a-tpp-round-up-special-with-martyn-bomber-bradbury-prof-jane-kelsey-selwyn-manning/
December 8 protest photos http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/dec-8-photos/
Opinion Polls Show PM Out Of Touch With Public on TPPA http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1212/S00285/opinion-polls-show-pm-out-of-touch-with-public-on-tppa.htm
STATS OF THE WEEK
Only 3 percent of America’s families have net worths over $1 million, but millionaires make up a clear majority of Congress. Since the 1980s, adds new research from Duke University political scientist Nicholas Carnes, the share of state lawmakers with working-class jobs has dipped from 5 to 3 percent.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man Under Socialism
“Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something, everyone must play a part, everyone got to go to work, Work for Peace.”
– Gil Scott-Heron – http://is.gd/fpR7Xm
“Without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes.” – Jawaharlal Nehru
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” – John Lennon
FEATURES
United States and al-Qaeda: Strange Bedfellows? By Hassan N. Gardezi http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/746.php
Obama signals four more years of bad relations with Latin America http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/20121218123136470626.html
Deadly Secrets: Last month, 112 workers died in a garment factory fire in Bangladesh and two months prior 262 workers died in a garment factory fire in Pakistan. Both factories produced clothing for major western retailers. Deadly Secrets, a new report by International Labor Rights Forum, reveals how major apparel companies are putting workers’ lives at risk by covering up fire safety hazards and other dangerous working conditions using confidential audits and ignoring known solutions. Click here to download the report.
Weekly News Update on the Americas – Issue #1156, December 16, 2012: 1. Mexico: HSBC Gets Off Easy in “Drug War” Case http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/wnu-1156-hsbc-gets-off-easy-in-drug-war.html
Proof The Drug War Is A Joke’ By Matt Taibbi http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33371.htm
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
Eurozone Austerity Policies Will Spark New Crisis in 2013 http://www.social-europe.eu/2012/12/eurozone-austerity-policies-will-spark-new-crisis-in-2013/
Matt Taibbi on the Unfolding Libor Scandal and What Sen. DeMint’s Departure Means for Fractured GOP http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/13/matt_taibbi_on_the_unfolding_libor
Plutocracy Rising – Journalists Matt Taibbi and Chrystia Freeland discuss how far America’s super-rich will go to keep the One Percent in charge. http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-plutocracy-rising/
LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Free public transport and beyond http://links.org.au/node/3141
CULTURAL DISSENT
Radical rhymer raps for revolution http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52995
Zero Conscience In “Zero Dark Thirty” http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/12/torture-in-kathryn-bigelows-zero-dark-thirty.html
Zero Dark Thirty: CIA hagiography, pernicious propaganda http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/14/zero-dark-thirty-cia-propaganda
The Heart of Darkness in Zero-Dark-Thirty http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/14/the-heart-of-darkness-in-zero-dark-thirty/
ARGENTINA
Ford Motor Is Linked to Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/27/world/ford-motor-is-linked-to-argentina-s-dirty-war.html
AUSTRALIA
Jews Against the Occupation answers critics on Israel & Palestine
Why the MUA is right to strike (even at Christmas) http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53056
CANADA
Chiefs declare ban on pipelines, tankers http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Chiefs+declare+pipelines+tankers/7698118/story.html
Art Sterritt shows the creative potential of Indigenous social initiatives http://johnriddell.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/art-sterritt-shows-the-creative-potential-of-indigenous-social-initiatives/
Idle No More: First Nations activist movement grows across Canada http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Idle+More+First+Nations+activist+movement+grows+across/7706563/story.html#ixzz2FRZIi79f
Pensions, right to strike, now unemployment insurance under attack by Canadian government http://www.rogerannis.com/pensions-right-to-strike-now-unemployment-insurance-under-attack-by-canadian-government/
CHINA
Workers’ hero hobbled by petty officials http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/110183
EGYPT
Morsi decrees spark protests for, against from right and left http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52968
GREECE
Stathis Kouvelakis on tasks facing SYRIZA following its electoral breakthrough http://links.org.au/node/3145
Syriza rep. on historic responsibility of the left in Greece http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53050
HAITI
Haiti’s New Dictatorship by Justin Podur http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/747.php
Failing Haiti: A people’s cry for democracy http://www.canadahaitiaction.ca/content/failing-haiti-peoples-cry-democracy
IRELAND
Investigation into British securities forces collusion with Loyalist paramilitaries in 1989 murder of republican lawyer Pat Finucane: http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13168/
KOREA
North Korea Still Has Long Way to Go to Produce Viable Weapon, Say Experts http://tinyurl.com/br9rbzs
MALI
Mali’s Lush Wetlands Drained by Foreign Agribusiness http://tinyurl.com/d6cbwaf
MEXICO
The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Bribe Its Way Through Expansion in Mexico http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/20/the_bribery_aisle_how_wal_mart
PACIFIC
Papua New Guinea: Resource colonialism bleeding people and nature http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53020
PALESTINE
Gazan activist: Despite Israel’s crimes, we are not defeated http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52934
52 leading international figures call for a Military Embargo on Israel http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/52-leading-international-figures-call-for-a-military-embargo-on-israel-10092
Impressions of Gaza by Noam Chomsky – Even a single night in jail is enough to give a taste of what it means to be under the total control of some external force. And it hardly takes more than a day in Gaza to begin to appreciate what it must be like to try to survive in the world’s largest open-air prison, where a million and a half people, in the most densely populated area of the world, are constantly subject to random and often savage terror and arbitrary punishment, with no purpose other than to humiliate and degrade, and with the further goal of ensuring that Palestinian hopes for a decent future will be crushed and that the overwhelming global support for a diplomatic settlement that will grant these rights will be nullified. http://chomsky.info/articles/20121104.htm
Starving for Recognition: The Plight of Palestinian Political Prisoners http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13353-starving-for-recognition-the-plight-of-palestinian-political-prisoners
PORTUGAL
Crisis and Resistance in Portugal by Mark Bergfeld http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/745.php
SOUTH AFRICA
Terry Bell: The road from 1996 to Mangaung – The tortuous road to the governing ANC’s centennial conference at Mangaung ends next week. And, not to put too fine a point on it, much of the country is gatvol with the route it has taken and where it has arrived. http://terrybellwrites.com/2012/12/13/the-road-from-1996-to-mangaung/
SPAIN
For Spaniards, Having a Job No Longer Guarantees a Paycheck http://www.cnbc.com/id/100318869
SYRIA
Was there a massacre in the Syrian town of Aqrab http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/happened-syrian-town-aqrab/3426
What is Really Happening in Syria – Descent Into Holy War by Patrick Cockburn http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/17/descent-into-holy-war/
Syria’s VP calls for peaceful resolution to crisis – possibly without Assad http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2012/1217/Syria-s-VP-calls-for-peaceful-resolution-to-crisis-possibly-without-Assad
Vague claim of Scuds near Turkey used to justify Patriot batteries on border http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/11312-commentary-vague-claim-of-scuds-near-turkey-used-to-justify-patriot-batteries-on-border.html
Syrian Minority Fear the End of Fighting More Than War Itself http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/19/syrian-minority-fear-the-end-of-fighting-more-than-war-itself/
TUNISIA
Siliana uprising wins demands http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53015
UK
John Pilger: Corporate media responsible for mass hacking http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53019
USA
The Great Walmart Walkout http://www.thenation.com/article/171868/great-walmart-walkout
On the Front Lines of a New Pacific War http://www.thenation.com/article/171767/front-lines-new-pacific-war
“Americans Kill People”: Michael Moore on Newtown, Mass Shootings, and the U.S. Culture of Violence http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/18/americans_kill_people_michael_moore_on
How Walmart Helped Make Newtown Shooter’s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America http://www.thenation.com/article/171808/how-walmart-helped-make-newtown-shooters-ar-15-most-popular-assault-weapon-america
Walmart Workers Will Rally in Ten Countries Tomorrow http://www.thenation.com/blog/171738/walmart-workers-will-rally-10-countries-tomorrow
Thousands Descend on Michigan Capitol to Protest Anti-Worker Bills http://www.thenation.com/blog/171723/thousands-descend-michigan-capitol-protest-anti-worker-bills
Why Most Walmart and Fast Food Workers Didn’t Strike http://www.thenation.com/article/171716/why-most-walmart-and-fast-food-workers-didnt-strike
Matt Taibbi: After Laundering $800 Million in Drug Money, How Did HSBC Executives Avoid Jail? http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/13/matt_taibbi_after_laundering_800_million
Exclusive: Native American Activist Leonard Peltier’s Jailhouse Plea for Long-Denied Clemency http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/13/exclusive_native_american_activist_leonard_peltiers
The Budget Thugs: What Do They Know About the Economy? http://truth-out.org/news/item/13247-the-budget-thugs-what-do-they-know-about-the-economy
Michigan Unions March, In Pictures http://rustbeltradical.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/michigan-unions-march-in-pictures/
In Fiscal Cliff Deal, Don’t Chain Grandma to Smaller Social Security Checks http://www.thenation.com/blog/171825/fiscal-cliff-deal-dont-chain-grandma-smaller-social-security-checks
Michael Moore’s Poetic Plea to Obama: “Dear Mr. President, Please Let Leonard Peltier Come Home http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/19/michael_moores_poetic_plea_to_obama
Longshoremen shut down S.C. shipping terminal in protest over deadly fire at Bangladesh Walmart supplier http://www.southernstudies.org/2012/12/longshoremen-shut-down-sc-shipping-terminal-in-protest-over-deadly-fire-at-bangladesh-walmar
VENEZUELA
Chavez’s socialist party wins 20 of 23 states in regional elections; PSUV activists debate party’s role http://links.org.au/node/3149
Socialists Sweep Venezuelan State Elections as Chavez Recovers in Cuba http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=74&jumival=9382
Venezuela regional elections: PSUV candidates win 20 out of 23 states http:http://links.org.au/node/3149//www.marxist.com/venezuela-regional-elections-december-2012.htm
Meet The Former Bus Driver Who Could Take Over For Cancer-Stricken Hugo Chavez http://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/meet-the-former-bus-driver-who-could-take-over-for-cancer-stricken-hugo-chavez/maduro-ch-vez-cancer-cabello-psuv-candidate/c1s10367/#.UMvD9IPql8G
Venezuela’s State Elections: When Winning Comes before Revolution http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/7548
Venezuela moves towards fairer food system http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53023
GPJA 