GPJA no. 299: Protest education cuts Saturday

GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND

NEWSLETTER No. 299, September 10, 2009

Website: https://gpjanz.wordpress.com/
Contact details:
Forums – John Minto, Work: (09) 845 2132, Home 09 846 3173 jbminto@xtra.co.nz
Newsletter Editor & Website – Mike Treen 0295254744 mike@unite.org.nz
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Night Class Cutbacks
This Saturday People across the country are mobilising against the cutbacks to night classes in our communities. Join the protest in Auckland from Myers Park.

Following the protest there is an educational display around the case of the Cuban 5 outside the US Consulate from 1pm. GPJA helped organise a fascinating forum with Australian academic Tim Anderson on Bubas medical aid to Timor and island nations of the Pacific. A short report on some of waht he had to say is in the announcements part of this newsletter. It was sent as a letter to the NZ Herald.

Saturday, September 12, 12.30pm, Assemble Myers Park (off Upper Queen St) to Britomart.
Protest government cuts to night classes: March from Myers Park to Britomart. The government cut 80% of the funding for night classes in this year’s budget. From next year most of the 212 schools around the country will cease their night class programmes and more than 200,000 New Zealanders will miss the opportunity to learn new skills, take up hobbies, meet and mix as community members etc. Night classes have been a New Zealand tradition going back 100 years. Join the fightback to preserve adult and community education.

Saturday, September 12, 1pm, US Consulate, Citibank Building, Customs Street, City
PROTEST CONTINUING DETENTION OF ‘MIAMI FIVE’: September 12 marks the 11th year of imprisonment for the 5. Their “crime” was to investigate violent terrorist groups in the United States who have carried our numerous acts of murder and sabotage on Cuban soil. Their sentences include 4 life terms and 75 years imprisonment. The event is organised by the NZ Cuba friendship Society.

Hammer the Pokies: More hammers needed!!
Thanks for the positive responses to the appeal for people to join the campaign. We won’t be calling for action in the short term as we need to build numbers much higher. This campaign aims to enlist a minimum of 200 hammers (with people attached!) and take civil disobedience action to drive pokie machines out of our neighbourhood communities. 80% of the cases of gambling addiction relate to pokie machines in the community (aside from casinos) These are parasites on poverty and predominate in low-income areas of the country. They have to go. If you are prepared to join a crowd (min 200) and take civil disobedience action against pokie machines then please email John Minto jbminto@xtra.co.nz or Phone 8463173.

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

Friday, September 11, 7.30pm, Auckland Trades Hall, Supper Room, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn
"Strike Benefit for Telecom workers" . Start your Friday off to with a good cause. A couple of drinks, some tunes and a bit of a chit chat to raise funds and lift spirits for workers battling Telecon. Strike Benefit for Telecom workers. DJs, drinks, rally for strikers. Fundraiser. Host: Socialist Aotearoa. To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below: http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=154597763974&mid=1091842G227fb72bG29ffb9aG7

Saturday, September 12, 12.30pm, Assemble Myers Park (off Upper Queen St) to Britomart.
Protest government cuts to night classes: March from Myers Park to Britomart. The government cut 80% of the funding for night classes in this year’s budget. From next year most of the 212 schools around the country will cease their night class programmes and more than 200,000 New Zealanders will miss the opportunity to learn new skills, take up hobbies, meet and mix as community members etc. Night classes have been a New Zealand tradition going back 100 years. Join the fightback to preserve adult and community education.

Saturday, September 12, 1pm, US Consulate, Citibank Building, Customs Street, City
PROTEST CONTINUING DETENTION OF ‘MIAMI FIVE’: September 12 marks the 11th year of imprisonment for the 5. Their “crime” was to investigate violent terrorist groups in the United States who have carried our numerous acts of murder and sabotage on Cuban soil. Their sentences include 4 life terms and 75 years imprisonment. The event is organised by the NZ Cuba friendship Society.

Saturday, September 12, 7pm, Samoa House, entrance off Beresford Street
Panther Party Celebration: The Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture Emory Douglas is at Auckland University for a year. This evening is to celebrate the achievements of the Black Panther Party and its New Zealand counterpart, the Polynesian Panther Party. An evening of entertaimment from top New Zealand acts (such as Unity Pacific) is planned. GPJA has a table for 10. Tickets $20. Call John Minto at 8469496 or 8463173(H) to reserve a ticket.

Saturday, September 12, 7pm to 2am, Pearce Hall, 3 Pearce St, Onehunga
Chile’s National day Celebration. Adults $10. Children under 16 free. Traditional food, cash bar. Bands performing. For tickets: makehuedancegroup@gmail.com Ph 636 8757

Thursday, September 17, 5.30pm, University of Otago House, Level 4 (Street Level), 385 Queen Street, Auckland.
Professor Kevin P Clements, Director, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Winter Lecture on "Enlarging Boundaries of Compassion:Opportunities and Challenges for Peace Research in the 21st Century". 5.30 for 6.00 pm with Light Refreshments at 7.00 pm to follow the Lecture. RSVP to National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, peaceandconflict@otago.ac.nz Telephone Wendy on 09 373 9700. Please note: Car parking is available under Otago House from 5.30 pm onwards. The barrier arms will be up and an attendant will direct you to which vacant spots are available. There is also a commercial parking building nearby in City Road.

Thursday, September 17, 12.15pm, Glen Eden Intermediate, Kaurilands Road, Glen Eden
Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey invites you to the NZ Nuclear Abolition Flame lighting. The Nuclear Abolition Flame, lit from the Peace Flame in Hiroshima, will be carried around the world to support the elimination of nuclear weapons and to promote peace and nonviolence. Special guest: Sala-Marlene Tyler, winner of the NZ Secondary Schools Songwriting competition Peace Song category – to perform her winning song. RSVP to Kerry.Harrington@waitakere.govt.nz For more information on the World March for Peace and Nonviolence see: http://www.worldmarch.co.nz Alyn Ware, NZ Coordinator, World March for Peace and Non-violence, PO Box 24-429, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand. Phone: +64 4 496-9629. alyn@worldmarch.co.nz

Friday, September 18, 5pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn
The Working Women’s Resource Centre and the Red Flag Social Club invite you to join with us to Celebrate Suffrage Day And the Launch of the WWRC Valuing Experience project. Speaker, Labour MP, Jacinda Ardern

Saturday, September 19, 1pm, 3rd Floor, Auckland Public Library
DISPLAY AT THE AUCK PUBLIC LIBRARY: If you have any archival material from 1969 – photographs, clippings, leaflets etc, please send to ‘Jumping Sunday ‘09’, PO Box 86022 Mangere East 2158, or contact us by return email. The library display, including unique film footage, will continue for 2 weeks during the festival.

Sunday, September 20, 1pm, Albert Park
Come and Celebrate the Liberation of Albert Park – Bring Friends & Family. September this year marks the 40th anniversary of the “liberation” of Auckland’s Albert Park as a free speech area. On Sunday September 21st, 1969, Albert Park was taken as a free speech area, with a jug band in the rotunda and music interspersed with speakers. At first the Auckland City Council vehemently opposed the events, which became known in the media as “Jumping Sundays”. However, as the crowds increased the Council backed down, Albert Park was recognised as a free speech area and for several years served as an Auckland version of Hyde Park in London. The legacy lives on, and the occasion is being celebrated with music and speakers this September: 1pm on SUNDAY 20th SEPTEMBER 2009. (Rain day: Sun. 26th Sept.) Other events are in the pipeline. A fuller history of the event and photos can be found on: If you want to be on the organising group email list contact: jumpingsunday@clear.net.nz

Wednesday, September 23, 6.30pm Theatre 401, School of Engineering 20 Symonds Street, The University of Auckland
"The global financial crisis and the modern theory of the state" – Professor Gregory Claeys, Department of History Royal Holloway University of London visits the University of Auckland this month as a Hood Fellow. He will be giving the 2009 Chapman Lecture on Wednesday 23 September. Gregory Claeys is Professor of History of Political Thought in the History Department at Royal Holloway University of London. He has previously held teaching and research *positions at Cambridge University and in Germany. His research interests include the history of radicalism and socialism in nineteenth-century Britain, utopianism 1700-2001, Social Darwinism and Eugenics and British intellectual history from 1750 to the present. His main publications include Citizens and Saints: Politics and Anti-Politics in Early British Socialism (Cambridge University Press: 1989), Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought (Unwin Hyman: 1989) and Machinery, Money and the Millennium: From Moral Economy to Socialism, 1815-1860 (Princeton University Press: 1987). He has also edited Utopias of the British Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press: 1994) and The Owenite Socialist Movement: Pamphlets and Correspondence (2006), 10 vols.

Friday, September 25, 6pm, Human Science Building Lecture Theatre 1 (HSB1) 10 Symonds Street, Auckland University
A ‘must see’ forum with Dr. Ron Colman from Canada – “HOW CAN WE AVOID FUTURE CRISIS” – With a NZ (GPI) Genuine Progress Index In “What Matters Most to New Zealanders” program. Dr. Colman, Executive Director of GPI Atlantic and international authority on the Genuine Progress Index, will conduct two forums (plus a NZ panel) – speaking on how the GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator) can be used as an early warning system for impending crisis – and provide a more accurate analysis and creative solutions – for New Zealand to become more resilient to approaching crisis. As George Monbiot has observed: “Climate breakdown, peak oil and resource depletion will all dwarf the current financial crisis, in both financial and humanitarian terms”. This forum is for all those who genuinely care for the stability and security of our children. Auckland Panel: Rod Oram; Nigel Haworth; Robbie Lawton; Karen Morrison Hume; Maggie Lawton. Contact: David Breuer, Founding Director, Anew NZ. Tel (09) 431-9146. breuer.d@ihug.co.nz

Friday, September 25, 7am-9am, Newmarket Room at the Ellerslie Event Centre, Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland
Suffrage Breakfast commemorating Women’s Suffrage Day and Women’s Health Action’s 25th Anniversary. Click here to register online. Given that it is Womens Health Actions 25th Anniversary this year, we have invited Sandra Coney co-founder of the organisation to speak. Sandra will reflect on more than 25 years of women’s health activism focusing on what have we achieved for the “Little Health of Ladies” and what there is left to achieve? Celebrate Suffrage Day at this informative and entertaining event. Tickets are $35 each (GST inc.) or $330 for a table of ten (Includes breakfast). Book a table for your work colleagues or friends. For more information contact Womens Health Action on 09 520 5295 or email info@womens-health.org.nz We would love to see you at this event, please feel free to forward this email to your friends and colleagues and please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries or require any further information. Kind Regards, Isis Mckay, Email: isis@womens-health.org.nz Women’s Health Action, P O Box 9947, Newmarket, Auckland. Ph: 09 5205295, fax: 09 520 5731 Website: https://www.womens-health.org.nz

Thursday, October 1, 7.30pm, Socialist Centre, 86 Princes St, OnehungaA Socialist Worker Forum, with Green MP Sue Bradford and UNITY editor Daphne Lawless. The forum is part of the Bad Banks campaign.About the campaign:The operations of the Big Four Aussie-owned banks, ANZ National Bank, BNZ, Westpac and ASB, are harmful to the lives of grassroots Kiwis.The Bad Banks campaign has been initiated by Socialist Worker. We welcome other groups and individuals producing their own publicity that targets the banks.The initial thrust of the campaign will be educational, building towards campaign demands that reflect a dialogue between broad left activists and grassroots people.For more info, visit http://www.badbanks.co.nz/ Phone: 096343984. Email: svpl@xtra.co.nz

Saturday, October 3, 2pm, QEII Square, Customs Street and Queen Street intersection, outside Downtown Shopping Centre.
Rally for Justice and Peace in Palestine, come and support justice and peace based on an end to 40 years of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (including East Jerusalem), the right of return for Palestinian refugees, sharing Jerusalem, vacating all settlement colonies in Israeli occupied Palestine, and stopping Israel’s annexation / apartheid wall in occupied Palestine. Starts 2pm, Organised by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, for more information contact email or go to this web site.

October 7-8, Manurewa Marae, 81 Finlayson Ave, Manurewa, South Auckland
NA TA TATOU ROUROU – With Our Baskets the Children Will Prosper – A hui to build activism to end child poverty in Aotearoa. For registration details see the CPAG website at www.cpag.org.nz
Hui speakers: The following speakers/presenters have confirmed their participation. Di Grennell, Family violence prevention worker from Northland will talk about her experience of community based violence prevention programmes; Teuila Percival, A paediatrician at Kidz First Children’s Hospital in South Auckland will discuss the health needs of poor children & the challenges we face in addressing these; John Minto, Teacher and trade unionist will discuss equity in education; Shirley Maihi, Manurewa Primary school principal will talk about her progress in building community around a Decile 1school; Peter Sykes, Social worker from Mangere will discuss the role of community based social work in meeting the needs of poor communities & alienated youth; Paul Blair, Welfare advocate from the Rotorua Peoples Advocacy Centre will discuss his community activism as a welfare and ACC advocate; Nikki Turner, General practitioner, university senior lecturer & member of CPAG executive will discuss ways in which we can move toward community based health practice; Taz Harrison, Musician & television producer will talk about the role of music in social activism; Susan St John, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Auckland & CPAG Executive member will discuss welfare alternatives

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CUBAN MEDICAL AID TO THE PACIFIC
In all the long article discussing aid to Timor in today’s Herald there was one programme that was not mentioned. Strangely this is probably one of the biggest programmes in the country. It also doesn’t appear in the government accounts or published figures for aid. The aid in question is a programme to completely train enough doctors to serve the entire country in a few years with a world class primary health service. It involves 300 doctors from the donor country working in Timor Leste today and 700 students training full time in Cuba. The first group of 165 students has returned to Timor Leste to do their final year’s training in a Cuban built and equipped medical school.

Australian academic Tim Anderson spoke about this programme to a meeting in Auckland last week. He explained that all costs associated with training and supporting the students in Cuba is met by the Cuban government as are the costs of their doctors serving in Timor. The Cubans do this because they can. They have more doctors serving abroad than the world Health Organisation. The number is in the tens of thousands. In nearly all cases they go to poorer developing countries. Only South Africa and Venezuela (who are much richer than Cuba) pay for this support. They have 25,000 foreign students studying medicine in Cuba.

A special programme that is very similar to that being run by the Fred Hollows Foundation involves treatment for functional blindness for millions of people in Latin America. Run by Cuba and Venezuela it has already treated 1 million people with a target of 6 milion over the next decade. In a strange twist of fate one of those to have his sight restored by Cuban doctors was the Bolivian soldier ordered to execute Che Guevara after he was captured there.

Cuba is now offering its support and training to island nations of the Pacific. There is now a Pacific school in Cuba traing students from Solomons Islands (50), Kiribati (20), Vanuatu (17), Tuvalu (10), Nauru (9). Offers have been made to Papua New Guinea and Fiji. You can listen to these students discuss their experiences on YouTube.

An article on the Cuba-Timor Leste programme by Australian academic Tim Anderson. http://www.cubastudiesjournal.org/issue-2/international-relations/solidarity-aid-the-cuba-timor-leste-health-programme.cfm

Mike Treen, President, Auckland Cuba Friendship Society

FOREIGN CONTROL WATCHDOG 121 – AUGUST 2009
http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/21/index21.htm

● Let’s Dig A Bigger Hole! Which Seems To The Government’s Only Response To The Crisis, by Murray Horton
● The State Is Back: Back In Fashion, Back In Business, Back In Charge, by Bryan Gould
● “Obsolete”! : Christchurch City Council Quietly Scraps Its Progressive Foreign Investment Policy, by Murray Horton
● Move Along, Folks – Nothing To See Here: How National’s Broadcasting Policy Cover-Up Favours Sky, by Peter A Thompson
● Purchase Advisers, by Sue Newberry and Alan Robb
● Profiting From Imprisonment: Maori Party Smoothes The Way For Private Prisons, by John Minto
● Let There Be (A Heavily Censored Version Of) Light! SIS Files Update, by Murray Horton
● Activist Annals, by Maire Leadbeater
● Spooks: What SIS Files Tell Us About The SIS, by Liz Gordon
● Food And Free Trade Theory: Peddling Snake Poison by Dennis Small
● Reviews, by Jeremy Agar: “The Bases Of Empire: The Global Struggle Against US Military Posts”, edited by Catherine Lutz; “Island Of Shame”, by David Vine; “Kiwi Compa�eros: New Zealand And The Spanish Civil
War”, edited by Mark Derby; “The Take”, A DVD by Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein
● Obituaries, by Murray Horton, Jim Consedine, Nick Wilson and Cath Wallace: Ray Scott; Ian Prior
●Asleep At The Wheel: Government’s Foreign Investment “Oversight” Policy, by Murray Horton

The hard copy edition also included an article entitled Forecasting New Zealand’s Net International Investment Position by Brian Easton. This was reproduced, with his kind permission, from his Website http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/ Non-Members:It takes a lot of work to compile and write the material presented on these pages – if you value the information, please send a donation to the below address to help us continue the work. The material on this site may be reproduced provided the source is acknowledged. Published by Foreign Control Watchdog Inc, Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand. email cafca@chch.planet.org.nz Note that the regular analysis of the decisions of the Overseas Investment Office, which are published in every Foreign Control Watchdog are not republished here because they are available on the web site of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA). http://canterbury.cyberplace.org.nz/community/CAFCA/

TRADE JUSTICE NOW – AN UPDATE FROM THE PACIFIC NETWORK ON GLOBALISATION
http://www.pang.org.fj/doc/Trade_Justice_Now_July-August_2009.pdf
PANG is a regional fair trade organisation based in Suva, Fiji. Trade Justice Now is a monthly e-newsletter providing analysis on trade and globalisation issues in the Pacific. See www.pang.org.fj for further information. To subscribe to the Pacific Trade Information Network, simply send a request email to: pactrade-subscribe@yahoogroups.com For back issues see: http://pactrade.wordpress.com/resources/ or www.pang.org.fj

INVITATION TO JOIN MARCH ON GAZA, JA/1/2010. GAZA SHALL NOT DIE
Imagine hundreds of thousands of peaceful international and Palestinian marchers, led by Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Diana Buttu, Norman Finkelstein, Noami Klein, Arun Gandhi, George Galloway, and other prominent opponents of the siege. Imagine them, approaching the Erez crossing under the eyes of the international media, breaking the siege for once and for all. This is the Gaza Freedom March! The Gaza Freedom March Campaign plans to take thousands of international marchers to Gaza on Jan. 1, 2010, and challenge once and for all the Israeli blockade at the Erez crossing. Go with them, or support someone else who’s willing to go. Events to raise money to help enable people to go on the March in Gaza are planned throughout the Fall. This group has many sister groups, to enable each group to have a local focus for organizing, and to avoid exceeding Facebook’s limit of 5000 for messaging group members. Please join the appropriate campaign group which is best targeted to your locale. All FB groups will be updated with the latest information. Please invite all your friends to this or the appropriate other FaceBook group. This Campaign needs the support of hundreds of thousands around the world! http://gazafreedommarch.org/article.php?id=5063 International Movement to Open Rafah Border intmorb@googlemail.com

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE TELECOM WORKERS
How can I help? You can: – Call 0900 STAND TALL to make a $10 donation to the support fund.
– Make a donation at any BNZ branch or by online transfer to this account: 02-0568-0177685-00, Reference: Telco
– Start fundraising on your site for more information call 0800 1 UNION.
– Email Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds (the $5 million dollar man) at paul.reynolds@telecom.co.nz to tell him to get Visionstream to come to the table.
– Show your support by ringing talkback, talking to your friends and workmates and writing letters to the editor about this dispute and what it means for Kiwi workers. For more information you can visit the campaign site here http://www.epmu.org.nz/telecom

LIBERATION OF ALBERT PARK – ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 1PM SEPTEMBER 20
September this year marks the 40th anniversary of the "liberation" of Auckland’s Albert Park as a free speech area, on September 21st 1969. An event with bands and free speech is planned for the afternoon of September 20th to celebrate the anniversary. Everybody is welcome! Remember – September 20, 1.00pm – Albert Park. Albert Park Photos: http://pym-vietnamwaractivismhistory.blogspot.com/ Contact: jumpingsunday@clear.net.nz Speakers include Tim Shadbolt & Sue Bradford. Entertainers: The Frank E. Evans Band, Graham Brazier (‘Hello Sailor’), ‘Starfish Magic’ with Dave Neumegen (Arif Usmani), Tigi Ness (‘Unity Pacific’), & special street theatre performance! We are also hoping to track down Alistair Riddell (‘Space Waltz’ singer) who played in the ‘Mad Dog Jug Band’ in 1969. If you know how to contact him, please let him & us know.ALSO! DISPLAY AT THE AUCK PUBLIC LIBRARY: Come to the launch 1pm on Sat 19 September (Floor 3). If you have any archival material from 1969 – photographs, clippings, leaflets etc, please send to ‘Jumping Sunday ‘09’, PO Box 86022 Mangere East 2158, or contact us by return email. The library display, including unique film footage, will continue for 2 weeks during the festival.

CALLING ALL NEW ZEALANDERS: JOIN THE NEXT SOLIDARITY BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA! DECEMBER 1-9, 2009
Organised by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution led by President Hugo Chavez is shaking up global politics and inspiring millions of ordinary people with the evidence that a better – a peaceful, democratic and socially just – world is possible.
* Whereas in Australia and Aotearoa, public health, education and infrastructure is being run down or privatised, in Venezuela, major industries are being nationalised and put under workers’ control, and universal access to health, education and social welfare is now guaranteed.
* Whereas in Australia and Aotearoa, workers are being sacked, and wages and conditions are being eroded under the guise of “weathering” the economic crisis, in Venezuela, wages are increasing, and union membership and organisation is growing.
The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network-organised brigades to Venezuela are a unique opportunity to see an unfolding revolution first-hand. The AVSN warmly welcomes the participation of New Zealanders on the brigades. Participants in the December 1-9, 2009, brigade will visit worker-controlled factories and cooperatives, free public education and health programs, and community media outlets. They will observe “popular power” at work in communal councils, and speak to a range of grassroots organisations, unions and government representatives about the radical changes being implemented by the Venezuelan people.
The AVSN has organised nine solidarity brigades to Venezuela, involving more than 165 participants. These study/solidarity tours are inspiring experiences, providing an opportunity to observe and understand why Venezuela’s goal of creating “socialism of the 21st century’’ is transforming the world.
Brigade organisation and costs: The deadline for registering for the December 2009 brigade to Venezuela is October 31, 2009. Participants will need to book their own international airfares, but the brigade organisers can help with advice. Accommodation, transport and English translation within Venezuela will be organised for brigade participants. You will need to budget for a total cost of approximately $4000. This includes: international return airfare and taxes; accommodation (twin-share basis); transport and food in Venezuela; and the brigade registration fee ($500 for workers, $300 for full-time students or pensioners). Reports and photos from previous AVSN brigades are posted at http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org. For more information, please email brigades@venezuelasolidarity.org

27TH SOUTHERN CROSS BRIGADE TO CUBA
"A better world is possible": The Cuban people have proven that there is another way. ICAP (the Cuban Institute for Friendship between Peoples) provides, through its Brigades, the opportunity for people from all over the world to experience and participate in the Cuban revolutio.

What does the Brigade entail?
Join the Southern Cross work/study tour and support Cuba in the most direct manner by working (picking fruit or pruning fruit trees, etc) and then visiting schools, hospitals, urban agriculture projects, etc You will experience at first hand the cultural, political and social conditions in revolutionary Cuba. This year we will be having a closer look at Cuba’s innovative approaches to the environment and climate change. Children are welcome on this tour as are older participants. Our Cuban hosts take great care of visitors of all ages. The main features of the Brigade include:
* Talks on various aspects of conditions in Cuba given by prominent Cuban speakers;
* Working with Cubans;
* Visits to places of interest (eg schools, hospitals, factories);
* Opportunities to explore Havana independently;
* Visits to provincial centres;* Homestays and visit to Las Tunas Province

Unbeatable value – $1000. (Includes: All meals, accommodation, excursions and transportation in Cuba during program). Not included:
– Air travel to Cuba – get in early to book your flights! (Check out Aerolineas for cheap flights. There are now also weekly flights with Continental from Los Angeles to Havana.)
– Compulsory travel insurance
– Any additional nights stay in Cuba prior to commencement of the Brigade or following the conclusion of the program (prior to the flight home). Inexpensive accommodation is available – opportunity for independent tourism

Contacts: NZ Paul Maunder (03) 732 4010 email wkcultur@ihug.co.nz; Ina Lawrence (09) 303 1755 email inashina@clear.net.nz Australia Robert Cooper – National Coordinator of the 27th Southern Cross Brigade – 0408 624 629, email robert@conceptis.com.au or write to PO Box 6139 Kingston ACT 2604.

WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST JANUARY 22-24, 2010
The Waihopai spybase was dragged into the public spotlight in April 2008 when three Ploughshares peace activists penetrated its high security and deflated one of the two domes concealing its satellite dishes from the NZ public. The Anti-Bases Campaign was happy to support this non-violent direct action anti-war activity (which is yet to come to trial). 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 that, and other American wars, including the one in Iraq, is 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 two 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, not citizens.
Join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. 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.
This will be the first Waihopai spybase protest since the Domebusters’ courageous 2008 citizens’ deflation action. Waihopai does not operate in the interests of New Zealanders or our neighbours. Basically it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be closed.

Register to take part in the protest ($40 waged / $20 unwaged). Writre to: CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE NOW! Organised by the Anti-Bases Campaign, P.O. Box 2258, Christchurch. E-mail cafca@chch.planet.org.nz www.converge.org.nz/abc Make all cheques to ABC

NOMINATIONS FOR 2009 ROGER AWARD
Nominations are now open for the 2009 Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which is organised the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and GATT Watchdog. You can download the nomination form (in either Word or PDF) from http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/index.html Nominations close on October 31, 2009. Send your nomination to: The Roger Award, Box 2258, Christchurch; e-mail cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

AUCKLAND HERITAGE PEACE WALK
9.00am Sunday 27 September, QEII Square – New Zealand is the starting place for a World March for Peace and Nonviolence which will travel around the globe with stops in 90 countries, beginning with an event in Auckland, to be followed by the official launch in Wellington on 2 October. The World March was initiated by the organisation World Without Wars. The objectives of the World March are: •To give a voice to the majority of world citizens who want peace by having them send out a unified signal •To create global awareness of the urgent need to condemn of all forms of violence and bring about real peace •By highlighting the work of individuals and organizations around the world to end violence and promote peace, citizens who are moved to support this work will be empowered to do so. Aotearoa-New Zealand was chosen in recognition of: •The nonviolence traditions of Moriori and Parihaka •Being the first country to grant women the vote •Being the only country to have a Minister for Disarmament •Our inclusion of peace studies in the school curriculum and the establishment of Peace Cities •Our moves towards peaceful resolution of past injustices to Tangata Whenua and other ethnic communities
•Our nuclear-free status •Our government’s support for the UN. The Auckland Heritage Peace Walk Launch is Auckland’s welcome to the international participants in the World March. The walk will visit various peace landmarks around the central city, ending at St Matthew-in-the-City with performances, exhibits, music and speakers. Sites on the walk include: • Rainbow Warrior mural, Marsden Wharf
• The Peace Place, Emily Place • Memorial – Tiananmen Square Massacre , Maclaurin Chapel, Princes St, • Albert Park – the band rotunda • Gateway sculpture, Victoria St • Suffragette mural, Khartoum Place. Local individuals and groups have endorsed the World March including: Helen Clark, Jim Anderton, Jacinda Ardern, Phil Goff, Phil Twyford, Sir Paul Reeves, Kerry Prendergast, Dr Kate Dewes, Marion Hancock, Kevin Clements, Pauline Tangiora, Moana Manipoto, Yulia, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Disarmament and Security Centre, The Peace Foundation, Oxfam, United Nations Association of NZ. We are seeking further endorsements as well as participation in the Auckland Heritage Peace Wal. Auckland co-ordinators for the volunteer team organising the Auckland events: Audrey van Ryn: 368 1516 audrey@writeaway.co.nz and Wende Jowsey: wende@jowsey.com www.worldmarch.co.nz www.theworldmarch.org

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." : John Kenneth Galbraith

"The enemy aggressor is always pursuing a course of larceny, murder, rapine and barbarism. We are always moving forward with high mission, a destiny imposed by the Deity to regenerate our victims while incidentally capturing their markets, to civilise savage and senile and paranoid peoples while blundering accidentally into their oil wells.": John Flynn, 1944

"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe". Frederick Douglass

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND

Day of Action – Uprising Against Night Class Cuts http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0909/S00091.htm

Reserve Bank should cut OCR, fight unemployment http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0909/S00242.htm

Keith Locke’s speech launching the Urgent Debate on SAS deployment to Afghanistan

Thinking Of The Children: OECD Report "A Shocker" – Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has welcomed the OECD’s latest report on children’s wellbeing, but says the picture it paints of New Zealand children is shocking. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0909/S00033.htm

Sri Lankans highlight plight of locked-up Tamils http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10595663

John Minto: Social deniers dominate debate on kids http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0909/S00071.htm

Matt McCarten: Labour keeping close watch on Wilkinson http://www.nzherald.co.nz/matt-mccarten/news/article.cfm?a_id=284&objectid=10595434

‘Unlock the camps’ call by post-war Tamil protesters http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2009/09/%E2%80%98unlock-the-camps%E2%80%99-call-by-post-war-tamil-protesters/

Tapu Misa: It’s just not fair – why equality matters http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10595635

ECONOMIC CRISIS

How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? By PAUL KRUGMAN http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06Economic-t.html?pagewanted=print

The Reality Behind Economic "Recovery" by Rick Wolff http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/wolff270809.html

Jobless press benefit extension – Debate heats up as many face loss of assistance checks http://www.detnews.com/article/20090907/BIZ/909070354/Jobless-press-benefit-extension

The Wait for Financial Reform http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/economy/06view.html

Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains: Two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928, http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2908

Another Wave of Foreclosures Looms: The housing market faces the prospect of a new round of foreclosures as hundreds of thousands of risky home loans known as option adjustable-rate mortgages reset to significantly higher payments that could force borrowers to fall behind, according to a report released Tuesday by Fitch Ratings. http://snipurl.com/rpq14

FOOD, FARMING AND THE ENVIRONMENT

How on Earth Can We Feed 8 Billion People? http://www.alternet.org/story/142293/how_on_earth_can_we_feed_8_billion_people

Not Even Wrong By George Monbiot – We need a radical new approach to cutting greenhouse gases, and it might have arrived http://www.countercurrents.org/monbiot040909.htm

Call for a ‘Seattle’ approach to Copenhagen climate talks, Africans demand reparations http://links.org.au/node/1233

FEATURES

Speech: Mike Davis: Why we need rebels http://socialistworker.org/print/2009/09/02/why-we-need-rebels

Crisis And Hope: Theirs And Ours By Noam Chomsky – Of all of the crises that afflict us, the growing democratic deficit may be the most severe. Unless it is reversed, Roy’s forecast may prove accurate. The conversion of democracy to a performance with the public as mere spectators—hardly a distant possibility—might have truly dire consequences http://www.countercurrents.org/chomsky040909.htm

The Empire And The Robots By Fidel Castro – By 2008, approximately 1.5 trillion dollars were invested in defense budgets. The US spends 42% of world expenses in this area — 607 billion — not including war expenses, while the number of people who go hungry in the world has reached the figure of 1 billion http://www.countercurrents.org/castro040909.htm

Is America ready to admit defeat in its 40-year war on drugs? A wave of decriminalisation is sweeping through Latin America http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2009/sep/06/war-on-drugs-latin-america

REVIEWS

Lies, lies and yet more lies – Jeremy Keenan’s The Dark Sahara reveals a web of state-inspired disinformation and myths behind “the war on terror” in Africa. Corinna Lotz reviews this pioneering and often shocking book. http://www.aworldtowin.net/reviews/DarkSahara.html

‘American Casino’: How Our Nation’s Financial Sector Became a Massive and Unregulated Gambling Operation http://www.alternet.org/story/142267/%27american_casino%27%3A_how_our_nation%27s_financial_sector_became_a_massive_and_unregulated_gambling_operation

Michael Moore on His Latest: ‘I Made This Movie As If It Was Going to Be the Last I Was Allowed to Make’ http://www.alternet.org/media/142138/michael_moore_on_his_latest%3A_%27i_made_this_movie_as_if_it_was_going_to_be_the_last_i_was_allowed_to_make%27/

Living Sensibly with Drugs – Portugal makes the de-criminalisation of drugs work http://werewolf.co.nz/2009/09/living-sensibly-with-drugs/

Trailer: Oliver Stone’s South Of The Border http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Trailer-Oliver-Stone-s-South-Of-The-Border-14652.html

Suffering and struggle in rural China – Will the Boat Sink the Water? The Life of Chinese Peasants. By Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao. New York: Public Affairs 2006 Review by John Riddell http://links.org.au/node/1231

From boys to Homme – Dylan Strain reviews Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug http://www.aworldtowin.net/reviews/arcticmonkeysHumbug.html

Michael Moore’s ‘Capitalism’ Flick Rips into Crimes of Wall Street By Xan Brooks, The Guardian. Posted September 9, 2009. Moore’s latest documentary drew tumultuous applause at the Venice film festival, suggesting that the veteran tub-thumper has lost none of his power to whip up a response. http://www.alternet.org/story/142496/michael_moore%27s_%27capitalism%27_flick_rips_into_crimes_of_wall_street

AFGHANISTAN

Obama Is Leading the U.S. Into a Hellish Quagmire http://www.alternet.org/world/142388/obama_is_leading_the_u.s._into_a_hellish_quagmire/

Ministry of Defence Blocked Warning that Britain Faces Afghan Defeat By Stephen Grey – The decision to block publication of the critical academic paper in the army’s in-house journal coincides with a scathing attack by a senior US military officer on the "arrogance" of UK tactics in Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23438.htm

Myth v. Fact: Afghanistan By Malou Innocent – The Taliban, the Haqqani network, and other guerilla-jihadi movements indigenous to this region have no shadowy global mission. In fact, what we are witnessing is a local and regional ethnic Pasthun population — divided arbitrarily by a porous 1,500-mile border — fighting against what they perceive to be a hostile occupation of their region. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23441.htm

BOLIVIA

‘It is possible to build a better world’ http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/809/41639

CUBA

FIDEL: A TIME TO UNITE AND MARCH TOGETHER – "The establishment of seven U.S. military bases in Colombia poses a direct threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the other peoples of South and Central America with which our national heroes dreamed of creating the great Latin American homeland." http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=580

CHINA

SUFFERING AND STRUGGLE IN RURAL CHIN – AIs China killing the goose whose golden eggs have financed its economic upsurge? John Riddell reviews "Will the Boat Sink the Water," a gripping first-hand portrayal of the suffering and struggles of Chinese peasants today. http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=584

PHILIPPINES

Filipinos want US soldiers out: FilipinosCalls to renegotiate a treaty that allows U.S. troops to operate in the Philippines – or to expel the forces altogether – are growing as criticism and allegations of U.S. involvement in combat operations continue to mount. http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/asia-mainmenu-33/1804

PALESTINE

Norway to divest from Israeli arms firm involved in West Bank wall http://imeu.net/news/article0017360.shtml

Israel begins sell-off of refugees’ land – Privatisation to subvert Palestinian hopes of restitution http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/65425

On Rationalizing Israel’s Dispossession of the Palestinians http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/09/on-rationalizing-israels-dispossession-of-the-palestinians/comment-page-1/

UK

Lockerbie: Megrahi Was Framed By John Pilger – The American satirist Larry David once addressed a voluble crony as "a babbling brook of bullshit". Such eloquence summarises the circus of Megrahi’s release. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23425.htm

UK: Gordon Brown faces Labour motion to pull out troops from Afghanistan: Conference activists say war in Afghanistan ‘is unwinnable’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/06/gordon-brown-afghanistan-pullout-motion

USA

Deeper Into the Tunnel By ALEXANDER COCKBURN – As General Stan McChrystal plans his march on Washington to demand more troops in Afghanistan the antiwar movement lies on the sidewalk, as inert and forlorn as a homeless person in the rain at a street corner, too dejected even to hold up a sign http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn09042009.html

Four Years After Katrina, Thousands Are Homeless and Struggling In New Orleans http://www.alternet.org/rights/142287/four_years_after_katrina%2C_thousands_are_homeless_and_struggling_in_new_orleans/

Gitmo Prisoner Captured As Teenager and Tortured in U.S. Custody Is Free http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/142168/gitmo_prisoner_captured_as_teenager_and_tortured_in_u.s._custody_is_free/

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