GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER No. 497, April 10, 2014
WHAT’S ON IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND
Friday, April 11, 5.30pm, Connolly Hall, Wellington
Pope Francis and the Catholic Social Justice Tradition: I would like to invite you to hear Fr Gerard Burns provide an exploration of what Pope Francis is bringing to modern Catholic social teaching/practice on Friday April 11 in Connolly Hall in Wellington at 5:30pm. Fr Burns’ presentation will include a reflection on the pope’s own experience in the Argentinian and Latin American context including the debate around liberation theology. It will also cover Pope Francis’s 2013 letter Evangelium Gaudium and its critique of speculative financial capitalism. Fr Gerard Burns is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. He has lived and worked in South America (Peru) and been involved in various activities and organizations working for social justice. He has a Masters degree in International Relations from Victoria University. All welcome. You can register for this event here. Please invite anyone else you think may be interested. Warm regards, Mike Smith, Chair NZ Fabian Society.
Saturday, April 12, 11am-1pm, Westpac Newmarket, 298 Broadway, Newmarket, Auckland
After 4 months of asking Westpac to stop financing climate change and the destruction of the Denniston Plateau – one of New Zealand’s most special places, Auckland Coal Action, Coal Action Network Aotearoa and 350.org are asking Westpac customers to join us and Make The Switch to another bank. Come join us and close your Westpac account on Saturday. www.aucklandcoalaction.org
Monday, 14 April 2014, From 1pm to 2pm, First floor conference room, St Andrew’s on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington
Dollars and sense: Lunchtime forum on government spending priorities:On Monday, 14 April 2014, join us for a discussion about: · Children’s wellbeing, Deborah Morris-Travers, Advocacy Manager, UNICEF NZ
· Social Spending, Paul Barber, Policy Advisor, New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services · Military spending, Edwina Hughes, Coordinator, Peace Movement Aotearoa · A living wage for all workers, Living Wage Campaign, speaker to be confirmed(entry via the stairs at the back of the car park on the south side of the church) ~ BYO lunch, tea / coffee available at 12.50pm ~ RSVP at www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/events
Tuesday, April 15th, 7pm, Mangere Community Learning Centre, 372 Massey Road. Mangere East (Behind the Library)
Mana is hosting Boots Riley of The Coup who will be doing a political discussion and Q&A, followed by an acoustic performance. It is koha entry to help fund raise for Mana’s election campaign.|
Since 1991, Boots Riley has been the dynamic lyricist behind hip hop group THE COUP, whose albums have been lauded by everyone from Rolling Stone to Village Voice, but most importantly, by the fans who have been inspired by the message and launched positive social change through such projects as The Young Comrades, and Guerilla Hip-Hop Concerts”.
His collaborations have included the likes of Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Dead Prez, and E-40 and Spice-1.
Join and share the Facebook event and remember to invite your friends.
Tuesday, April 22, 6.30pm Where: Room 3, Owen Glenn Building, City Campus, University of Auckland
BOOK LAUNCH, State Housing: An Active Hand in Government. Come and be enthralled by the history of state housing. Bill McKay will talk about his book ‘Beyond the State, New Zealand State Houses from Modest to Modern’. New Zealand’s distinctive state houses from the 1930s and ’40s are an enduring symbol of this country’s egalitarian values. Modest houses, they were built from quality materials and with an emphasis on family and community. More than seventy five years since the first state houses appeared, they are enjoying a renaissance as new generations of homeowners find ways to adapt their sturdy form for a more contemporary way of living. Beyond the State pays tribute to the New Zealand state house – and explores what it still offers us today. You may already have heard this talked about on various programmes on Radio New Zealand. Click here for one of the interviews.
Thursday, April 24, 4-6pm, AUT Library Foyer, Level 4, WA Building, City Campus, Auckland
BOOK LAUNCH: Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific Publisher: Little Island Press. Pacific Media Centre supporters are invited to the launch of PMC director Professor David Robie’s new book on the media, politics and the Pacific, with a foreword by Kalafi Moala. Guest speakers: Dr Sitiveni Ratuva and TVNZ Pacific affairs correspondent Barbara Dreaver, who will launch the book. http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/events/book-launch-dont-spoil-my-beautiful-face-media-mayhem-and-human-rights-pacific
April 25-27, Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT city campus, Auckland
Militarisation in the Pacific: Women, Peace and Security. A regional meeting convened by WILPF Aotearoa. The meeting will comprise two days of information sharing through panels, workshops and presentations, and one day of work on WILPF activity in the region. Women from around the Pacific will be coming to the meeting to share information about issues, such as foreign military bases, being under military occupation, the links between globalization and militarization. It will be a great opportunity to meet our sisters from around the region and learn firsthand about issues of peace and security in the Pacific.|
The programme:
Friday 25 April: 12 noon – a welcome followed by lunch. 2.00pm – an informal information sharing session for WILPF women to speak about the situation in their country. In the evening there will be a public screening of the documentary, Noho Hewa by film maker Anne Keala Kelly. The film is about the effects of militarization and historical and ongoing colonization on Kanaka Maoli, the indigenous people of Hawaii.
Saturday 26 April 9.00am – 5.00pm. There will be a mixture of workshops, plenary presentations and panel discussions.
Sunday 27 April will focus on WILPF business, in particular, the 100th birthday in 2015 and the possibility of the Asia-Pacific WILPF sections working together as a regional grouping within International WILPF.
For further detail go to www.wilpf.org.nz (The site is being regularly updated).
Registration now open via wilpfaotearoa
Sunday, April 27, 2-4pm, Thorndon School Hall, Wellington
Memorial Service. Part of the Workers Memorial Day events. We are having three events – the forestry memorial service on 27 April and the collection and procession to Parliament on 28 April to remember all workers killed at work. Plans are shaping up well for the three events to mark workers memorial day but we need some assistance from affiliates to ensure that these Wellington events are great for members from all unions.
Monday, April 28, 2 noon, Midland Park to Parliament
Workers Memorial Day procession
Saturday, May 3, 7.30pm,Regent on Broadway, Palmerston North
May Day Concert.
Saturday, May 3, 6:30 for 7pm start. St. Heliers Community Centre, 100 St Heliers Bay Road
Amnesty International Quiz Night. Hosted by the Remuera Group of Amnesty International. Tickets: $25/single or $150/table of 8. Discounted tkt prices for pre-purchase. Food and beverage available for purchase. Raffle and prizes too. Contact Jeanette or Richard at 09-521-2050 for more information.
Saturday, May 3, 10am-3pm, Corbans Estate, 426 Great North Rd, Auckland
West Fest For A Living Wage
GPJA Special Forum: Monday 5th May 7.30pm at Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road Grey Lynn.
Guest Speaker Murray Horton from the Christchurch-based CAFCA (Campaign against Foreign Control of Aotearoa) and the ABC (Anti Bases Campaign) Murray will be speaking on: “Who’s running the show and in whose interests?” and focusing on: People’s Rights before Corporate Profit; Public service, not private profit; An independent foreign policy; No unjust secret treaties. Murray’s GPJA forum is part of a nationwide tour. We don’t see him often in Auckland so we welcome everyone to what will be an entertaining, amusing and politically important presentation.
Friday, May 9, 4-6pm, Room WG808 (Level 8), Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT University
WHAT THE MEDIA DON’T TELL YOU: WHO’S RUNNING THE SHOW? AND IN WHOSE INTEREST? "We want an independent Aotearoa, based on policies of economic, military and political self-reliance, using Aotearoa’s resources for the benefit of the people of Aotearoa. "This country needs people power to let the world know that Aotearoa is not for sale." – Murray Horton, spokesperson for the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) and the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC)
Saturday, May 10, 7.30pm, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington.
DREAMS LIE DEEPER – A CONCERT COMMEMORATING MINERS EVERYWHERE. The Orpheus Choir of Wellington, the city’s much-acclaimed symphonic choir, has programmed a major concert entitled Dreams Lie Deeper, as a tribute to miners the world over. It brings together three premières of choral music dedicated to miners, inspired by historical events that recall the tragedies, the struggles and also the rejoicing when rescue from a mining disaster was achieved. The theme of the evening will be dedicated to mining communities and a commemoration of events that have irrevocably changed the course of their lives.
The major work in the programme is the New Zealand première of 17 Days, by young UK composer James McCarthy. He was commissioned to compose a piece by Crouch End Festival Chorus, dedicated to the dramatic rescue of the Chilean miners in 2010. The work was premiered in the Barbican Theatre London in 2011 and received a standing ovation; a second performance last year was received with the same acclamation. It is a very moving expression of the tremendous emotion the whole world felt during those 17 days when the miners were underground and no word had yet been heard from them.
At our concert, the award-winning Wellington Brass Band and Wellington Young Voices, a recently established children’s choir in the city, join us in this very powerful presentation.
The second première is If Blood Be the Price, a work by New Zealand composer Ross Harris, inspired by the 1912 Waihi Miners’ Strike, and is set to a poem by NZ Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan. The significance of the tragic consequence of the industrial action by those Waihi workers is indelibly written into mining history in this country, and the performance will be an evocative reminder of the working life of those who work under the ground.
The final focus of "Dreams Lie Deeper" will be on the tragedy that threw a whole community into turmoil and brought their plight into every New Zealand household overnight – the Pike River Mine disaster. The concert will showcase a new work by high profile and well-loved singer/songwriter, Dave Dobbyn, who has been commissioned to write both the lyrics and music for a tribute to the miners who lost their lives in the tragedy of 2011.
May 19, 21, & 23, Fisher Paykell Auditorium of the University of Auckland
Sir Douglas Robb Lectures: The Human Cost of Inequality – Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson. Lecture series to be given by the authors of The Spirit Level. Details: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/news-events-and-notices/events/events-2014/05/sir-douglas-robb-lectures.html
Saturday, May 24, 9:45am – 5:30pm, Cityside Baptist, 8 Mt Eden Road, Newton, Auckland
Amnesty International Annual Meeting & Skillshare 2014. The date is set and the venue booked! Amnesty International is holding its Annual Meeting to celebrate human rights heroes, tell you about our priority campaigns and give you a say on important Amnesty matters. This year’s meeting will take place on 24 May and gives you the chance to participate in the direction and decision making your organisation. oin us the following day for a Skillshare where you’ll get the opportunity to exchange skills and knowledge with activists from around New Zealand. The day also includes training and more in-depth workshops on our current campaigns. Where: Auckland Venue: TBC When: 25 May 2014, 10am – 3pm. http://www.amnesty.org.nz/get-involved/annual-meeting-2014
ANNOUNCEMENTS
POSITION VACANT AT PEACE PALACE
The Peace Place (Aiotanga)* is a work of the Dominican Family and Pax Christi. A space in the heart of Auckland dedicated to a more just and peaceful world, it promotes inter-religious dialogue, the study of ecology, nonviolence and restorative justice. After two years of successful operation, The Peace Place requires a new Manager, creative, adaptable and with good communication skills. This is a paid position, at 20 hours per week.
Expressions of interest to the secretary at: The Peace Place, 2F / 22 Emily Place, Auckland 1010, Aotearoa New Zealand. Ph) 09 377 5541. Or email: paxnz Applications will be received up to 5 pm, Friday 25 April 2014 .
* a place of peace and shelter.
PEACE MOVEMENT AOTEAROA
Dollars and sense: Lunchtime forum on government spending priorities
On Monday, 14 April 2014, join us for a discussion about: · Children’s wellbeing, Deborah Morris-Travers, Advocacy Manager, UNICEF NZ
· Social Spending, Paul Barber, Policy Advisor, New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services · Military spending, Edwina Hughes, Coordinator, Peace Movement Aotearoa · A living wage for all workers, Living Wage Campaign, speaker to be confirmed
Monday, 14 April 2014, From 1pm to 2pm, First floor conference room, St Andrew’s on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington(entry via the stairs at the back of the car park on the south side of the church) ~ BYO lunch, tea / coffee available at 12.50pm ~ RSVP at www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/events
A Global Day of Action on Military Spending 2014 event. For more information, contact Peace Movement Aotearoa email pma web site http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/gdams.htm A4 poster for this forum: http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/dollars-and-sense-forum2014.pdf
There are many ways that you can be involved in the Global Day of Action, and here are some: Add your organisation to the list of supporters: if you would like your organisation listed as a supporter of the Global Day of Action and of the urgent need to change spending priorities away from funding armed forces towards meeting human needs, please send your details to email pma with ‘Global Day of Action’ in the subject line and we will add you to the list of supporting organisations at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/gdams.htm
White poppies, Hawaiian & UN visitors, Global Day of Action on Military Spending, WWI anniversary and the 2014 National Peace Workshops
Greetings, this message has updates and information on: 1) the 2014 White Poppies for Peace Appeal; 2) the 2014 Global Day of Action on Military Spending; 3) the visit of Native Hawaiian filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly; 4) the visit of the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane; and 5) the consultation on alternatives to the government’s WWI anniversary programme and the 2014 National Peace Workshops. This information is available online at https://www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/notes and the formatted version is at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/update0314.pdf
CPAG: SAVE THE DATE: FRIDAY 16 MAY
Please save the date for CPAG’s annual post budget breakfasts on Friday, May 16. What will the 2014 budget hold for children? Join us for breakfast to hear our analysis of how the 2014 budget affects children and young people. We’re holding breakfasts in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with the possibility of extending events to Whangarei, Hamilton and Dunedin! Watch out for more details soon. http://tinyurl.com/mqakeww
A NEW INTRODUCTION TO INEQUALITY IN NEW ZEALAND
Bridget Williams Books has just launched a new short work, ‘The Inequality Debate: An Introduction’, which is drawn from the opening chapters of Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis. http://www.bwb.co.nz/books/the-inequality-debate Available in paperback for $14.99 and as an e-book for just $4.99, it sets out the basic facts about how inequality has grown in New Zealand, and brings the figures in the original work right up to date.
I’m excited about this publication – it’s an ideal ‘way in’ for people not yet familiar with the issue. So if you know anyone who’s curious to know more but who wouldn’t immediately pick up the longer work, this could be the book for them. It’s available to purchase here and in selected bookshops.
Thanks, Max Rashbrooke
MURRAY HORTON SPEAKING TOUR: MARCH 31-MAY 29, 2014 – WHO’S RUNNING THE SHOW? AND IN WHOSE INTERESTS?
Murray Horton is the long serving Organiser and spokesperson for two Christchurch-based groups, the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) and the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC). He has been a political activist since the late 1960s and has a national profile as a campaigner, writer, speaker, organiser and researcher.
Between the end of March and the end of May he is undertaking an election year national speaking tour, from Dunedin to Kaitaia, and many places inbetween (he has been doing these election year tours for a couple of decades, most recently in 2011).
The full itinerary is at http://2014cafcatour.blogspot.co.nz/p/blog-page.html
JOIN THIS YEAR’S AUSTRALIAN SOLIDARITY DELEGATION TO VENEZUELA DECEMBER 2 – 13, 2014
Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. Registrations are now open for the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network’s 2014 solidarity tour to revolutionary Venezuela. http://links.org.au/node/3700
BEST ON THE WEB
NEW ZEALAND
UN Concerns Over Arbitrary Detention in New Zealand http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1404/S00109/un-concerns-over-arbitrary-detention-in-new-zealand.htm
GREAT TPPA ACTION – WHAT’S NEXT? Bulletin #47, 6 April 2014 http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=03929fbf26&e=400b29f860
Tino Rangatiratanga: What’s it got to do with Pākehā? http://fightback.org.nz/2014/04/08/tino-rangatiratanga-whats-it-got-to-do-with-pakeha/
No charges over prisoner’s death http://www.3news.co.nz/No-charges-over-prisoners-death/tabid/423/articleID/339380/Default.aspx
High rate of Māori in prison among concerns as UN experts wrap up New Zealand visit http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp/story.asp?NewsID=47530&Cr=detention&Cr1#.U0SqZPmSy3h
Housing NZ waiting lists swamped http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9920658/Housing-NZ-waiting-lists-swamped
Vietnam vet sues over medical claim delays http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9916684/Vietnam-vet-sues-over-medical-claim-delays
Anne Tolley: see no racism, hear no racism, speak no racism http://mauistreet.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/anne-tolley-see-no-racism-hear-no.html
Minister didn’t know park was in drilling plan Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Minister-didnt-know-park-was-in-drilling-plan/tabid/1607/articleID/339311/Default.aspx#ixzz2yMZD1yLE
Universities fear loss of democracy http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/9899076/Universities-fear-loss-of-democracy
Mana and Dotcom can do business http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/9899098/Mana-and-Dotcom-can-do-business
Pat O’Dea – National’s assault on State Housing http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/04/02/guest-blog-pat-odea-nationals-assault-on-state-housing/
Class conflict: PPTA boycotts charter schools http://www.3news.co.nz/Class-conflict-PPTA-boycotts-charter-schools/tabid/1771/articleID/338470/Default.aspx
POVERTY & INEQUALITY
Simon Buckingham – trying to live with disability under Paula Bennett – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/04/08/guest-blog-simon-buckingham-trying-to-live-with-disability-under-paula-bennett/#sthash.gXQoxVEg.dpuf
Young Nats ball target of protest http://www.3news.co.nz/Young-Nats-ball-target-of-protest/tabid/1607/articleID/338993/Default.aspx
Alan Gamlen: Inequality drives many to quit NZ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11234614
Peter Lyons: Teacher performance not an exact science http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11234616
WOF for Rental Housing – Child Poverty NZ Solutions http://youtu.be/G-37uIiO6jo
Urgent need to alter NZ’s wealth http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/296792/urgent-need-alter-nzs-wealth
A tale of two countries – the real political culture of NZ By Wayne Hope
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/31/a-tale-of-two-countries-the-real-political-culture-of-nz/#sthash.subEmQ1E.dpuf
When keeping warm means less food http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/columnists/9918632/Life-on-the-wings-of-Paulas-dole-is-a-breeze
Poverty denial – NZ Herald editorial http://thestandard.org.nz/poverty-denial-nz-herald-editorial/
Cory Anderson (ISO): Protesting National’s War on Beneficiaries http://iso.org.nz/2014/04/07/protesting-nationals-war-on-beneficiaries/
Housing policy will destabilise life for children http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/9899516/Housing-policy-will-destabilise-life-for-children
Rogernomics, income inequality & gender politics http://thestandard.org.nz/rogernomics-income-inequality-gender-politics/
Bludgers on a Binge http://iso.org.nz/2014/04/02/bludgers-on-a-binge/
Hone Harawira: No prestige in iwi leaders trying to hide poverty http://thestandard.org.nz/hone-harawira-no-prestige-in-iwi-leaders-trying-to-hide-poverty/
NZ – ECONOMY
Jane Kelsey: One more time, Prime Minister, read the Cabinet Manual: Parliament does not get to ratify the TPPA! http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1403/S00429/one-more-time-pm-parliament-does-not-get-to-ratify-tppa.htm
Jane Kelsey speaking to anti-TPPA rally
Minister was warned of pressure on suppliers http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11234692
Foreign currency probe revelation http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9912236/Foreign-currency-probe-revelation
Bryan Gould: Reserve Bank fiddling as exchange rate burns exporters http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11231702
Gordon Campbell on trade unions and Transpower http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2014/04/03/gordon-campbell-on-trade-unions-and-transpower/
NZ – WORKRIGHTS
NZNO: Don’t sign our future away! http://nznoblog.org.nz/2014/04/03/dont-sign-our-future-away/
Bridging the gender pay gap: Pay-up time at public service http://www.nzherald.co.nz/employment/news/article.cfm?c_id=11&objectid=11230452&ref=rss
Unions throw support behind fishing boat workers http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9886920/Unions-throw-support-behind-fishing-boat-workers
Time to deliver on paid parental leave http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1404/S00130/time-to-deliver-on-paid-parental-leave.htm
Personal tragedy drives ACC worker representative http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1404/S00127/personal-tragedy-drives-acc-worker-representative.htm
RMTU: Wider costs of overseas built locomotives needs recognition http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1404/S00126/wider-costs-of-overseas-built-locomotives-needs-recognition.htm
STATS OF THE WEEK
Employment to population ration in the US. Where are the jobs?
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment." – Robert M. Hutchins
"In a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy." – Matt Taibbi
"Only a large-scale popular movement toward decentralization and self-help can arrest the present tendency toward statism… A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned, in present-day totalitarian states, to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and schoolteachers." – Aldous Huxley – (1894-1963) Author – Source: Forward to ‘Brave New World’, 1932
FEATURES
Temp Worker Regulations Around the World http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/temps-around-the-world
Reports from the Economic Front by Martin Hart-Landsberg: Overwork And Its Costs – Americans with jobs tend to work long hours. Of course, averages can be deceiving, masking the fact that some people work too much while others work too little. http://blogs.lclark.edu/hart-landsberg/2014/04/05/overwork-and-its-costs/
The Expanding Arab Spring: Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and human rights activist. Co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/the-expanding-arab-spring/
‘US annexed the whole world through global spying’ – Assange http://rt.com/news/us-global-spying-assange-761/
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
Five signs that the global economic recovery may be an illusion Five signs that the global economic recovery may be an illusion http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/apr/06/global-economic-recovery-warning-signs-imf
The Dark Side of Globalization: Why Seattle’s 1999 Protesters Were Right http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-dark-side-of-globalization-why-seattles-1999-protesters-were-right/282831/
LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT
We Are Now in the Terminal Stage of Our Fossil-Fuel Addiction http://www.thenation.com/article/179113/we-are-now-terminal-stage-our-fossil-fuel-addiction
A Marxist view of ecology and human history: Simon Butler says Martin Empson’s ‘Land and Labour’ is an insightful and very readable history of humanity’s relationship with the rest of nature and an important contribution to the movement for ecosocialism http://climateandcapitalism.com/2014/04/04/a-marxist-view-of-ecology-and-human-history/
Review: Plastic Plague by Ian Angus – Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans http://monthlyreview.org/2014/03/01/plastic-plague
CULTURAL DISSENT
Scandinavian Crime Fiction Kills http://www.departures.com/articles/scandinavian-crime-fiction-kills
How an Iraq War Veteran Sees the Donald Rumsfeld Documentary http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-iraq-war-veteran-sees-donald-rumsfeld-documentary
Artists target drone operators with a giant portrait of one of their victims http://wagingnonviolence.org/2014/04/artists-target-drone-operators-giant-portrait-one-victims/
AUSTRALIA
New Zealanders in Australia: neglected and vulnerable http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/03/new-zealanders-in-australia-neglected-and-vulnerable
CANADA
PQ crushed, Liberal Party returns to power in Quebec election http://vancouverobserver.com/world/canada/pq-crushed-liberal-party-returns-power-quebec-election
Québec Solidaire hungry to eat votes on PQ’s left flank By Alex Ballingall
Can Québec solidaire become the go-to sovereigntist option for 2018? http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/04/07/jonathan-kay-can-quebec-solidaire-become-the-go-to-sovereigntist-option-for-2018/
Toronto City Council pushes back against petro giants http://johnriddell.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/toronto-city-council-pushes-back-against-petro-giants/
CUBA
White House defends ‘Cuban Twitter’ to stir unrest http://tinyurl.com/mlo7hcl
EGYPT
Egyptian revolutionary groups demand release of jailed activists http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/98545.aspx
FRANCE
Austerity, the Hard Right and the French Election: Two Views http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/963.php
INDIA
Arundhati Roy explains how corporations run India and why they want Narendra Modi as prime minister http://www.straight.com/life/616401/arundhati-roy-explains-how-corporations-run-india-and-why-they-want-narendra-modi-prime-minister
Is India on a Totalitarian Path? Arundhati Roy on Corporatism, Nationalism and World’s Largest Vote http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/9/is_india_on_a_totalitarian_path
PACIFIC
Solomon Islands flash flood disaster – the politics of relief http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/articles/solomon-islands-flash-flood-disaster-politics-relief
Fiji under pressure to hold free and fair elections http://www.3news.co.nz/Fiji-under-pressure-to-hold-free-and-fair-elections/tabid/417/articleID/338223/Default.aspx
West Papua: Benny Wenda’s statement on boycotting the Indonesian elections Benny Wenda’s statement on boycotting the Indonesian elections http://freewestpapua.org/2014/03/16/benny-wendas-statement-on-boycotting-the-indoensian-elections/
PALESTINE
Top Ten Ways in which it was Actually the Israeli Gov’t that Derailed the Peace Talks http://www.juancole.com/2014/04/actually-israeli-derailed.html
The scars of Deir Yassin and our determination to survive http://electronicintifada.net/content/scars-deir-yassin-and-our-determination-survive/13298
RWANDA
20 Years Later, Rwanda Commemorates Genocide the World Ignored http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/7/20_years_later_rwanda_commemorates_genocide
SLOVENIA
The Emergence of the New Left Party in Slovenia: Initiative for Democratic Socialism by Gal Kirn http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/964.php
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa’s Resource Curses and Growing Social Resistance by Patrick Bond http://monthlyreview.org/2014/04/01/south-africas-resource-curses-growing-social-resistance
USA
Pelosi: “Cheney Proud of ordering CIA Torture”; Sen A. King: ‘Waterboard Cheney! http://www.juancole.com/2014/04/ordering-torture-waterboard.html
Reproductive Rights Assaulted by Dianne Feeley http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/4102
Robert Redford renews fight to release jailed AIM activist Leonard Peltier http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/robert-redford-renews-fight-to-release-jailed-aim-activist-leonard-peltier-1.2598981
Can Any Court Hold U.S. Accountable for Killing Americans Overseas with Drone Strikes? http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/8/can_any_court_hold_us_accountable
All the Presidents’ Bankers: Nomi Prins on the Secret History of Washington-Wall Street Collusion http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/8/all_the_presidents_bankers_nomi_prins
USA – WORKERS REVOLT
The Plight of the U.S. Working Class Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster http://monthlyreview.org/2014/01/01/the-plight-of-the-u-s-working-class
$2.13 an Hour? Why The Tipped Minimum Wage Has to Go http://www.thenation.com/blog/179087/213-hour-why-tipped-minimum-wage-has-go
Why the Bloodiest Labor Battle in US History Matters Today http://www.thenation.com/article/179144/why-bloodiest-labor-battle-us-history-matters-today
This Is What Employment In America Really Looks Like… http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/this-is-what-employment-in-america-really-looks-like
VENEZUELA
Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/08/venezuela-protests-sign-us-wants-oil-says-nicolas-maduro
Chavistas Debate the Pace of Change https://nacla.org/article/venezuela-chavistas-debate-pace-change
YEMEN
Yemen’s Negotiated Transition between the Elite and the Street http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2014/03/03/yemens-negotiated-transition-between-the-elite-and-the-street/#more-1980
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GPJA 