#356: Sat Nov 27: “STAND UP FIGHT BACK! ANOTHER AOTEAROA IS POSSIBLE!” – Unite sponsored day of dialogue with activists against injustice and inequality:

GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND
NEWSLETTER No. 356, NOVEMBER 21, 2010

“STAND UP FIGHT BACK! ANOTHER AOTEAROA IS POSSIBLE!” – Unite sponsored day of dialogue with activists against injustice and inequality:
Saturday, November 27, All Day, Te Wananga o Aotearoa, 15 Canning Crescent, Mangere
Registration $20.
8.30am: Registration, Tea/coffee
9.00am: Welcome/Intros
9.15am: “Confronting the economic crisis – what caused it and how it can be overcome”.
The worldwide economic crisis over the past few years has seen a massive growth of unemployment and cutbacks in basic entitlements for working people. This session will discuss how this crisis came about and how we can fight its effects. Speakers: Jane Kelsey, professor of law at Auckland University and author of many books exposing the effects of neoliberal economic theory on NZ will focus on the international dimension of the crisis; Mike Treen, National Director of Unite Union will focus on the impact of the crisis on NZ and how working people can resist.
11am: Activist Workshops. This will be an opportunity for a number of workshops to be held on topics suggested by activists across the country. These include the following possible subjects (some confirmed, some possible) – Casualisation of labour, workers resistance in Europe (Joe Carolan – Unite Campaigns Organiser); Maori economic elites; Tax justice campaign (Vaughan Gunson, Socialist Worker); Migrant workers; Workers resistance in Australia (Jody Betzian AMWU organizer and Socialist Alliance activist; Climate Justice & Workers Rights (Gary Cranston, Climate Camp); The Right to Strike (Jared Phillips, Unite Waikato Organiser); Campaigns against poverty and beneficiary bashing
12-1 Lunch
1pm: Poverty and inequality – can it be ended? The growth of inequality and poverty in Aotearoa was the one unarguable effect of the neoliberal economic changes imposed over the last few decades. What happened here was mirrored around the globe. This reality barely changed under the last Labour led government and none of the major parties have a programme to seriously combat – let alone eliminate – the terrible social consequences of poverty and inequality. But can it be ended? Speakers: John Minto (Spokesperson for Global Peace and Justice Auckland and Unite Union organizer); second speaker to be announced.
3pm: Activist Workshops: This will be an opportunity for a number of workshops to be held on topics suggested by activists across the country. These include the following subjects (some confirmed, some possible) – Casualisation of labour, workers resistance in Europe (Joe Carolan – Unite Campaigns Organiser); Maori economic elites; Tax justice campaign (Vaughan Gunson, Socialist Worker); Migrant workers; Workers resistance in Australia (Jody Betzian AMWU organizer and Socialist Alliance activist; Climate Justice & Workers Rights (Gary Cranston, Climate Camp); The Right to Strike (Jared Phillips, Unite Waikato Organiser); Campaigns against poverty and beneficiary bashing.
4pm – 6pm: “The left and parliament – some lessons from the Alliance and Green Party experience” Matt McCarten (Unite General secretary, former Alliance Party president), Sue Bradford (community activist and former Green Party MP)
7pm Drinks Dancing and Revolutionary Music!!!! @ Onehunga RSA

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

GAGARIN WAY – THEATRICAL DYNAMITE – ON IN AUCKLAND DECEMBER 1-11
Described as a ton of theatrical dynamite disguised as a mere Molotov cocktail, Gregory Burke’s award-winning play Gagarin Way has its Auckland debut this December.
Frisky Productions presents Gagarin Way at The Gagarin Way Garage, 181 Hobson Street, Auckland from 1-11 December.
Multi-award winning actor Gareth Reeves (I’m Not Harry Jenson, The Cult, Go Girls) makes his directorial debut delivering this explosive tale of two disillusioned factory workers, Gary and Eddie, who, awash with anti-globalist anger, kidnap a Japanese business executive in a plot to demonstrate their anti-corporate sentiments to the world.
However, the duo’s cunning plan goes awry when Frank – the business man they have abducted – turns out not to be a Japanese executive, Eddie forgets the balaclavas, the manifesto they wish to release to the waiting world is hazy and Tom – a young security guard with a degree in political science – accidentally gate-crashes the scene of the crime.
The four men find themselves confined in a claustrophobic factory store room and tension crackles. The audience is confronted by a visceral and fiercely comic explosion of ideologies and hopes as each man’s story emerges throughout the course of the play.
“I didn’t expect it to be a comedy,” Scottish playwright Gregory Burke explains, “ but when you consider the themes…Marxist and Hegelian theories of history, anarchism, psychopathology, existentialism, mental illness, political terrorism, nihilism, globalisation and the crisis in masculinity – then it couldn’t really be anything else.”
“To make a comedy of contradictions is the ultimate prank. To set it in the confines of a factory whereby the most cack-handed of empty gestures is exposed in all its farcical colours as playwright Gregory Burke has done is pretty close to genius” – The Herald (Scotland)
Gagarin Way premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001, where it won a Fringe First, the Best of the Fringe First Awards and The Scotsman Readers’ Favourite Award. Following sell-out runs after its transfer to London’s National Theatre, it was named one of the best plays of 2001 by The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer and Mail on Sunday. Gagarin Way received a nomination for ‘Best New Play’ at the 2002 Olivier Awards and Gregory Burke was awarded the 2001 Critic’s Circle Award for ‘Most Promising Playwright’.
Gagarin Way stars a talented all-male cast featuring Will Wallace (The Cult, Jinx Sisters), Edward Newborn (Krapp’s Last Tape, National Theatre), Kevin Keys (August: Osage County) and Emmet Skilton (Home by Christmas).
Gagarin Way plays at The Gagarin Way Garage, 181 Hobson Street, Auckland from 1-11 December at 8pm (No show Sunday 5 December). Tickets are $25 (adult) or $20 (concession or group of 8+) and can be booked from www.eventfinder.co.nz For more information visit www.friskyproductionsnz.com/
Interviews with the cast and director are available. Please contact SWPR, Safia van der Zwan, safia@swpr.co.nz 021410318

JOIN THE MAY DAY 2011 SOLIDARITY BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA! APRIL 25TH – MAY 4TH, 2011
The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network invites you to observe first-hand the inspiring Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. The sweeping social changes being carried out by Venezuela’s “people’s power” movements are radically transforming life for the majority in that country – workers, women, Indigenous people, young people and all those who have suffered the injustices of poverty, exploitation and exclusion that accompany corporate globalisation. Along the way, this remarkable revolution is showing the rest of the world that a more rational, socially just and sustainable future is possible.
A special feature of the 2011 May Day brigade will be the opportunity it offers to observe the developing workers’ participation and workers’ control that is a vital part of the Venezuelan revolution, with visits to worker-run factories and cooperatives, and meetings with trade union and community management representatives in a variety of sectors and regions. The brigadistas will also observe Venezuela’s grassroots democracy in action, with visits to the social missions, communal councils and communes. They will meet and speak with grassroots activists in the free, high-quality public health and education services; sustainable development projects; community controlled media; and women’s and Indigenous organisations. Joining the huge May Day rally in Caracas on May 1st will be a another highlight.
This brigade is the 12th solidarity and study tour organised by the AVSN. Participants’ reports and photos from previous brigades are available at http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org
Registration and costs: The deadline for registering for the 2011 May Day solidarity brigade is February 28, 2011. Participants will need to book their own international airfares, but the AVSN can help with advice (please do not book without contacting us to confirm the dates). The AVSN will organise all accommodation, transport and English-Spanish translation for the brigade. People joining from Australia will need to budget for a total cost of $3500-4000, which will cover international return airfares (between $2200-2600 from Australia); all food, transport and accommodation (on a shared basis) during the brigade; and the brigade registration fee ($500 for workers or $300 for full-time students, unemployed and pensioners). For more information about this or future brigades, please email brigades@venezuelasolidarity.org or phone Lisa Macdonald +61 413 031 108, Roberto Jorquera +61 425 182 994 or John Cleary +61 407 500 839.

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

Friday, November 26, 6pm, Decima Glenn Room, Level 3, Auck University Business School
Fabian Society Seminar: Bernard Hickey & Selwyn Pellett – Time for a Complete Rethink
You can register for Auckland here.

Saturday, December 4, 2pm, QE2 Square, Downtown
Rally for Justice and Peace in Palestine, come and support justice and peace based on an end to 42 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 dismantling Israel’s annexation / apartheid wall in occupied Palestine. Starts 2pm, QEII Square, Customs Street and Queen Street intersection, outside Downtown Shopping Centre. Organised by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, for more information contact email or go to this web site.

Saturday, December 4, 7pm, Cityside Hall, 8 Mount Eden Road, Auckland
Rebel Press warmly invites you to a: BOOK LAUNCH of The day the raids came: Stories of survival and resistance to the state terror raids. Music, food and readings. On October 15th, 2007 an estimated 300 police raided houses all over Aotearoa New Zealand and arrested people based on warrants issued under the Terrorism Suppression Act. Lives were turned upside down as the police searched for evidence of ‘terrorism.’ This book is a collection of oral history interviews of people affected by those raids and the aftermath: defendants, friends, family, supporters and other people subject to the state’s coercive powers on that day. The case is the first ever attempted use of the Terrorism Suppression Act, a piece of legislation enacted in response to the 9/11 events in New York and Washington DC. The terrorism charges were not brought, but the people arrested continue to face a long journey to freedom as the state seeks to punish political activists and to reinforce the status quo.
For more information, please contact ryankb@gmail.com

Monday, December 6th, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn.
GPJA December forum – “Eyewitness in Gaza” – Kiwi activists from the recent siege-busting ‘Viva Palestina’ international aid convoy to Gaza will report back at a special joint forum with Kia Ora Gaza. Check out the website: kiaoragaza.net (Note: If you would like a Kia Ora Gaza convoy member to speak at a meeting of your organisation, contact Roger at: mangere.east.access@paradise.net.nz or 021-2999491)

Saturday, December 11, 4pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont St, Ponsonby
A seminar with Rusdi Marpaung, Prominent Human Rights Activist and Senior Researcher and co-founder of Imparsial (Indonesia Human Rights Monitor). Chair: John Minto Global Peace and Justice Aotearoa (GPJA). Rusdi has just completed post Graduate studies in International Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Rusdi brings a wealth of experience in challenging the Indonesian Government to uphold human rights over issues such as anti-terrorism law, post conflict management in Aceh, and the ongoing conflict in Maluku and West Papua. Rusdi was a colleague of the late Munir a key figure in the democratic struggle who was tragically murdered in 2004. This seminar will be preceded at 3-30 p m by the AGM of the Indonesia Human Rights Committee: Contact Indonesia Human Rights Committee Box 68-419, Auckland 1125 maire@clear.net.nz (Ample parking or take the Link bus)

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. Media.” – Noam Chomsky
“Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” – Noam Chomsky

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND
Kiwi battler’s last stand http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10689023
FTA Critic Told To “Get A Visa” To Go To Australia http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1011/S00211/fta-critic-told-to-get-a-visa-to-go-to-australia.htm
In defense of public tertiary education http://tinyurl.com/26ockmn
Don’t close the gap with Australia – Students are warning the Government not to repeat the same mistakes from across the Tasman when it comes to student services and representation. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1011/S00216/dont-close-the-gap-with-australia.htm
Welfare Working Group Cries Crocodile Tears for the Poor http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1011/S00277/welfare-working-group-cries-crocodile-tears.htm
Ex-political prisoner welcomes Suu Kyi’s release http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10687770
CREATIONISM RAISES ITS SILLY HEAD AGAIN http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2008/06/creationism-raises-its-silly-head-again.html
Government Needs To Read Between The Lines With National Standards Report http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/government-needs-read-between-lines-national-standards-report/5/72295
NDFP Met With NZ Parliamentarians, Peace Advocates To Support Peace Process, Address Continuing Killings In Philippines http://tinyurl.com/33y5voq
NZH Editorial: Time to tackle social cost of the pokies http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10687623
Tim Parke: Universal health system ‘more efficient’ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10687585
Protesters and whalers both at fault for collision – MNZ http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4359233/Protesters-and-whalers-both-at-fault-for-collision-MNZ
Robust Journalism Conference Set For AUT In December http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1011/S00086/robust-journalism-conference-set-for-aut-in-december.htm
Banker’s $5.5m package ‘unethical’ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10688154
Rights of media secure in bill: Govt http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688128
Brian Rudman: Henry should live by his maxim http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688127

MANA BY-ELECTION
Labour’s Kris Faafoi wins Mana by-election http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688998
Matt McCarten: Pulling out all the stops in Mana http://www.nzherald.co.nz/government/news/article.cfm?c_id=49&objectid=10688980
Matt McCarten and the New-Left http://www.3news.co.nz/Matt-McCarten-and-the-New-Left/tabid/419/articleID/186747/Default.aspx
Mana byelection: McCarten feels the heat http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10688228
TV3 The Nation on The Battle for Mana http://www.3news.co.nz/The-Battle-for-Mana/tabid/1356/articleID/186123/Default.aspx
Bulldoze Cannons Creek say Porirua Police http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2010/11/bulldoze-cannons-creek-say-porirua.html
Harawira backs McCarten for Mana http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/battle-for-mana/4349667/Harawira-backs-McCarten
on Saturday, A New Left Votes http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-saturday-new-left-votes.html
‘Carpet baggers’ face the music in Mana – Video http://www.3news.co.nz/Carpet-baggers-face-the-music-in-Mana/tabid/370/articleID/186715/Default.aspx

Mana by-election heats up: McCarten is calling for the complete abolition of GST, to be …replaced by a financial transaction tax. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/key-and-goff-cross-paths-in-mana-3901378
Matt McCarten, Unite Union, 13.11.10 – Part 1 of 3.mov http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQCEcOV5Bns
John Key mobbed by activists in Mana http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688498
Your views on Mana byelection http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10688498&gallery_id=115236
Tramways Union candidate surveys http://tramwaysgwrc2010survey.blogspot.com/
Kiwi battler’s last stand http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10689023
PM’s support for Mana candidate shouted down http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688587
Willie Jackson: Matt McCarten’s the man for Mana http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/opinion/willie-jackson/4364578/Matt-McCartens-the-man-for-Mana
Mana By Election Heats Up – Could Labour Really Lose? http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/mana-election-heats-could-labour-really-lose/1273/72153

NZ WORK RIGHTS
Lessons and images from the Hobbit dispute http://liberation.typepad.com/liberation/2010/11/lessons-and-images-from-the-hobbit-dispute.html#more
Don’t let unfair dismissals happen to others, says 90 day worker http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1011/S00315/dont-let-unfair-dismissals-happen-to-others.htm
Sickness costs country $5b a year, says Treasury http://www.nzherald.co.nz/economy/news/article.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10687840
Sick employees need support, not harassment http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1011/S00206/sick-employees-need-support-not-harassment.htm
PSA: US market says “No Entry” to meat not approved by independent meat inspectors http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1011/S00418/us-market-says-no-entry-to-meat.htm
Finsec: English should work with Aussies to fix CEO pay http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1011/S00520/english-should-work-with-aussies-to-fix-ceo-pay.htm
PSA: Public sector’s talent and knowledge sent packing http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1011/S00241/public-sectors-talent-and-knowledge-sent-packing.htm

NZ ECONOMY
On John Key’s illusory gains on free trade – Gordon Campbell http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2010/11/15/gordon-campbell-key%E2%80%99s-illusory-free-trade-gains/
CAFCA: PM’s Statement On Trade Significant http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1011/S00226/pms-statement-on-trade-significant.htm
Brian Fallow : Trade deals? Let’s look before we leap http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10688274

CULTURAL DISSENT
Books: Thailand’s Crisis and the Fight for Democracy – Written after A Coup for the Rich, which landed him with lèse majesté charges and forced him to flee Thailand in February 2009, Giles Ungpakorn’s latest book presents an objective and engaging account of Thai politics since the September 2006 military coup. http://tinyurl.com/237yuoq
Books: Obama: The man who couldn’t – Tariq Ali The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad Verso, 2010 • 160 pages • $17 Review by Scott McLemee http://www.isreview.org/issues/74/rev-obama.shtml
Film: Prince of Broadway http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/prince-of-broadway/
Documentary: Restrepo http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/restrepo-2/

LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT
ALBA nations declare: Nature has no price! http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2010/11/alba-nations-declare-nature-has-no.html
Climate Change And Disease Will Spark New Food Crisis, Says UN By Sean O’Grady
http://www.countercurrents.org/ogrady191110.htm
Food prices may rise by up to 20%, warns UN: Poor harvests put global food reserves under pressure, with African and Asian countries likely to be worst hit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/nov/17/un-warns-on-food-prices

FEATURES
Poverty and Third World health http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/46106
Victor Serge: From the defeated past to the expectant future http://links.org.au/node/1996
Statement By Julian Assange’s Counsel Mark Stephens http://www.countercurrents.org/stephens191110.htm
Defend Julian Assange By WikiLeaks Staff Editorial – Because of the nature of the work performed by WikiLeaks both the organization and Julian Assange are constantly under attack.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26870.htm

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
‘Is This an Episode of the Twilight Zone?’: Amid the economic wreckage that surrounds us, sometimes all you can do is laugh. In fact, I was nearly crying with laughter while watching “Quantitative Easing Explained,” a devastating (but very funny) YouTube video cartoon smackdown (by Omid Malekan) of the Federal Reserve and its dangerously misguided efforts to get the economy moving again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k&feature=player_embedded
There is another way for bullied Ireland: The EU authorities and IMF are telling the Irish ‘there’s no alternative’ to their brutal bailout conditions. That’s so wrong http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/19/ireland-bailout-brian-cowen
USA: Unions Yield on Wage Scales to Preserve Jobs http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/business/20wages.html?pagewanted=print
The Economy Is Not Coming Back – Part III: The Reasons it Shouldn’t http://www.swans.com/library/art16/ga290.html
China’s ‘State Capitalism’ Sparks a Global Backlash http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575602731006315198.html#
When They Say “Everyone” Must Sacrifice, They Mean Poor People http://www.theawl.com/2010/11/when-they-say-everyone-must-sacrifice-they-mean-poor-people
It’s Necessary to Return to Trade Union Fundamentals http://www.unionbook.org/profiles/blogs/its-necessary-to-return-to

AFGHANISTAN
Tariq Ali: ‘Mirage of the Good War’ http://tinyurl.com/2a3ljx6
Malalai Joya: ‘No nation can liberate another’ part 1 http://tinyurl.com/2g4kjxw
Malalai Joya: ‘No nation can liberate another’ part 2 http://tinyurl.com/274zkhp
Get Out of Afghanistan? US and NATO Think They’re Just Getting Started http://tinyurl.com/2864sqj
Get Out of Afghanistan? US and NATO Think They’re Just Getting Started http://tinyurl.com/295c5l7
The Evidence Is Overwhelming: We Aren’t Getting Out of Afghanistan or Even Iraq
Embassies the size of pyramids and military bases to stagger the imagination are still being built. Washington is not packing up its tents — not even in Iraq. http://tinyurl.com/23gu7cn

AUSTRALIA
Rate rises spell $1.2b in profits: think tank http://www.smh.com.au/business/rate-rises-spell-12b-in-profits-think-tank-20101115-17tnw.html
Australian anger puts heat on bankers http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10688795

BOLIVIA
Video: On Bolivia with Dr. Hugo Salvatierra: Dr. Hugo Salvatierra is one of Evo Morales’s top advisors and a founder of the MAS in Bolivia. Salvatierra is a founder of the MAS and the Minister of Rural Development, Agriculture and the Environment in the first MAS Cabinet. With the agreement of the MAS government, Hugo resigned from the Cabinet in order to return to Santa Cruz, the heart of the right wing opposition, and organize the social movement of indigenous people, peasants, workers and neighbourhoods in Santa Cruz against the opposition. This campaign has been successful in significantly weakening the opposition forces in Santa Cruz and, as a result, in the country as a whole. Sponsors: Centre for Social Justice, Toronto Bolivia Solidarity, Socialist Project. http://www.socialistproject.ca/leftstreamed/ls75.php
Bolivia’s Army Declares Itself Socialist – LA PAZ – Bolivia’s army, which celebrated its bicentennial over the weekend, declared itself “socialist, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist,” as President Evo Morales had asked it to do several times http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=377624&CategoryId=14919

COLOMBIA
The Gains from Trade: South American Economic Integration and the Resolution of Conflict
by Mark Weisbrot and Jake Johnston http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/wj161110.html

CUBA
Conversations with Fidel Castro: The Dangers of a Nuclear War by Fidel Castro Ruz and Michel Chossudovsky http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21892
Fidel Castro’s Message To The Students: “It’s only fair to struggle for that and that is why we must use all our energy, all our effort and all our time to be able to say with the voice of millions, or hundreds of thousands of millions of people: It is worthwhile to have been born! It is worthwhile to have lived!” http://www.countercurrents.org/castro181110.htm
G – 20, APEC And The Extreme Unction Of Credibility By Fidel Castro http://www.countercurrents.org/castro161110.htm

EGYPT
Mubarak’s Critics See Hypocrisy in U.S. Support: The Egyptian government’s crackdown on political opponents continues unabated in advance of parliamentary elections Nov. 28, even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week hailed the “partnership” between the two countries as “a cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyond”.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53558

GERMANY
German people in unprecedented rebellion against government – 1000 injured in nuclear protests, police at breaking point http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/german-people-in-unprecedented-rebellion-against-government/

HAITI
Aid Spawns Backlash in Haiti http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304023804575566743115456322.html
Why Aristide’s Party Won’t Vote : Interview with Dr. Maryse Narcisse of Fanmi Lavalas
http://www.counterpunch.org/scherr11172010.html
UN Troops in Haiti – Timetable for Withdrawal? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/un-troops-in-haiti—time_b_785981.html

INDONESIA
Washington Backing Indonesian State Terror By Stephen Lendman http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman161110A.htm

IRAN
Exclusive Report: Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent
http://www.truth-out.org/the-iaea-and-fraudulent-iranian-nuclear-documents65241

IRELAND
Was it for this? IT MAY seem strange to some that The Irish Times would ask whether this is what the men of 1916 died for: a bailout from the German chancellor with a few shillings of sympathy from the British chancellor on the side. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/1118/1224283626246.html?via=rel
Political response to economic crisis in Ireland – Sinn Féin offers a better way http://www.socialistaction.net/Political-Response-to-Economic-Crisis-in-Ireland.html
Social Crisis Grips Ireland By Steve James – The accelerating economic crisis in Ireland is taking a terrible toll on broad layers of workers, particularly the more vulnerable children, the elderly, those on low incomes and with insecure housing
http://www.countercurrents.org/james191110.htm

KOREA
Most South Koreans Skeptical of Report Blaming North Korea for Deadly Ship’s Explosion http://tinyurl.com/2fgflyn

PAKISTAN
After the Floods, the IMF http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1950

PALESTINE
Young Jewish and Proud: Young Jews with the Jewish Voice for Peace Leadership Institute use nonviolent direct action to advance the cause of Palestinian human rights and reclaim the mantle of Jewish leadership based on universal justice. Watch them disrupt Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the New Orleans Jewish Federation General Assembly. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5132
Prospects for Peace In The Middle East By Prof Francis A. Boyle
http://www.countercurrents.org/boyle191110.htm
A Privatized Nakba By Charlotte Silver: Palestinians describe the Israel Land Administration Law (ILA) quietly passed by the Israeli Knesset in 2009 as the final stage in the 62-year process of displacement from their homeland. The legislation is expected to have a long-term, disastrous impact on Palestinian lives and precludes the possibility of a negotiated resolution to the conflict http://www.countercurrents.org/silver191110.htm
“Put The Palestinians On A Diet” By Media Lens – Media bury documents revealing Israels deliberate policy of near starvation For Gaza.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26847.htm
The Palestinians of Israel are poised to take centre stage – With the peace process going nowhere, common experience on both sides of the Green Line is creating a new reality http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/palestinians-poised-to-take-centre-stage

PHILIPPINES
NDFP Calls for Immediate Implementation of the JASIG http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/11/15/ndfp-calls-for-immediate-implementation-of-the-jasig-pr/
Luis Jalandoni interviewed on Australian TV-Newsline http://www.australianetwork.com/newsline/

ROMANIA
Class struggle in Romania: Age of austerity and instability http://www.marxist.com/class-struggle-romania-austerity-instability.htm

UK
Paul O’Grady- he’s dead brilliant like – Two clips from Paul O’Grady utterly free from wishy-washy twaddle about the Con Dems. He’s emerging as a bit of a class warrior and the audience response is encouraging too. http://liammacuaid.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/paul-ogrady-hes-dead-brilliant-like/ (The title of this post needs to be read in Scouse accent.)
Forced labour for benefit claimants – The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, plans to force people on benefits to do community work. Not only are the proposals a slap in the face of the unemployed, they also do not make economic sense. http://tinyurl.com/27yafvr
“Today was just the beginning” – Clare Solomon defends student resistance on Newsnight
After taking part in the student protest and occupation of Tory head office ULU President Clare Solomon appeared on BBC Newsnight defending the resistance of students and calling for more occupations across the country. http://tinyurl.com/26knsmo
Guantánamo Bay prisoner payouts a first step to ending legacy of torture: Government agrees compensation for 16 former detainees as it seeks to draw a line under British complicity in abuses http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/16/guantanamo-bay-prisoner-payouts

USA
Three decades of harsh criminal justice policies have created a large population of ex-offenders that struggle in the labor market long after they have paid their debts to society, according to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Because prison records and felony convictions greatly lower ex-offenders’ chances of finding work, the United States loses between $57 billion and $65 billion a year in lost output. “It isn’t just that we have the highest incarceration rate in the world, we have created a situation over the last 30 years where about one in eight men is an ex-offender,” said John Schmitt, a Senior Economist at CEPR and a co-author of the report. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/ex-offenders-and-the-labor-market
Obama’s national security state – Interview with Michael Ratner http://www.isreview.org/issues/74/feat-ratner.shtml
Revelations of Extreme ‘Slave-Like’ Working Conditions and Billions in Wage Theft Drive Nationwide Protests http://tinyurl.com/38hdc6z
Dispatch from Victorville: Levine Starts His Journey Into the Heart of America’s Foreclosure Nightmare http://exiledonline.com/dispatch-from-victorville-levine-starts-his-journey-into-the-heart-of-americas-foreclosure-nightmare/all/1/
When They Say “Everyone” Must Sacrifice, They Mean Poor People http://www.theawl.com/2010/11/when-they-say-everyone-must-sacrifice-they-mean-poor-people
Torture In US Prisons By Stephen Lendman http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman151110A.htm
Action on Social Security: The Urgent Need for Delay by Dean Baker
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/ss-2010-11-1.pdf
US activists face new repression as political prisoners fight for justice http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11626.shtml

VENEZUELA
Interview with María León, newly elected MP for the PSUV in Aragua http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-interview-maria-leon.htm
Thousands demand passing of radical labour law http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/46103

OLDER ANNOUNCEMENTS

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM ‘CONVERSATION’, AUT DECEMBER 4-5
Barbara Dreaver joins keynote speakers for investigative journalism conference. Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver is the latest keynote speaker to join the Media, Investigative Journalism and Technology conference – New Zealand’s first – at AUT University on December 4/5. She has broken many stories around the region and investigated many key issues. She joins Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times and an Asia-Pacific investigative journalist; New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager and Professor Wendy Bacon, director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism and who runs an environmental investigative journalism programme.
As well as the main conference, the Pacific Media Centre is also hosting a masterclass in investigative journalism for student journalists and younger journalists facilitated by a team of international investigative journalists and a specialist peace journalism seminar organised by Dr Heather Devere of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and Rukhsana Aslam, a peace journalism educator from Pakistan.
Exhibitions of photojournalism by a collective facilitated by Kunda Dixit and New Zealand social issues photographer John Miller (featuring Ngatihine) plus workshops about groundbreaking documentaries by Jim Marbrook and Selwyn Manning are also part of the programme.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity. Registration for the conference is now open. AUT webpage for the conference: http://www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/study-areas/communications/news-and-events/media,-investigative-journalism-and-technology-conference-2010
Conference website (and registration details): http://www.ciri.org.nz/conference2/index.html
• Asia-Pacific and NZ keynote speakers
• Investigative updates, challenges and documentary film workshops
• Investigative photojournalism
• Frames of War photo exhibition
• Masterclass in investigative journalism
Plus:
• A special seminar on peace journalism
• General papers on media, society and technology
AUT University Conference Centre, 9am, Saturday, December 4-Sunday, December 5, 2010.
Practitioners, journalists, academics, researchers, activists, students who work in the creative industries and the public are invited to participate in a Fourth Estate “conversation” at the inaugural Media, Investigative Journalism and Technology Conference 2010.
A legacy of the conference will be the establishment of a collaborative and supportive group dedicated to investigative journalism in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Keynote speakers:
• Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times and visiting New Zealand as the PMC’s 2010 Asian Journalism Fellow, sponsored by the Asia New Zealand Foundation;
• Professor Wendy Bacon, director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism,
• New Zealand investigative journalist and author Nicky Hager.
• Jim Simon, assistant managing editor of the Seattle Times, leader of a team of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
Also featured: Frames of War, Dixit and colleagues’ photojournalism exhibition of the 10-year Maoist War in Nepal (opening at 6pm, December 4); Jim Marbrook’s documentary work on the environment and mining conflict in New Caledonia; John Miller’s photojournalism on the Ngatihine forestry issue; Shailendra Singh on investigating corruption in Fiji; and Patrick Matbob on investigative journalism in Papua New Guinea.
Conference chair: PMC director David Robie david.robie@aut.ac.nz
Inquiries – conference organiser: Andrea Steward anj_steward@hotmail.com
Pacific Media Centre www.pmc.aut.ac.nz

NZ Not for Sale Campaign Launched
The New Zealand Not For Sale Campaign was launched in Christchurch on November 11th, in conjunction with the launch of Professor Jane Kelsey’s book on the Transpacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement. The NZ Not For Sale Campaign has been set up to oppose the Transpacific Partnership because it is against New Zealand’s best economic, environmental and social interests. ”The trade agreements we already have are linked with high international debt, job losses, asset stripping, risky speculation, increasing sales of land to overseas owners, running down public assets and services, and loss of tino rangatiratanga and national sovereignty”, says the Campaign Secretary, Dr Christine Dann.
The TPP would make things a lot worse, Dr Dann says. It opens the door for
– steep rises in the price of medicines,
– the total loss of the local content provision in broadcasting,
– even weaker controls on overseas investment in NZ
– foreign investors suing the government for millions in offshore tribunals
– weaker regulation of the financial sector
– more transnational control of essential services
– undermining action on climate change, and
– further delays and restrictions on agricultural market access to the US.
”The people of New Zealand are getting sick and tired of successive governments putting the interests of dodgy, price-gouging foreign owners and investors ahead of what really matters in building a great country – a healthy natural environment,worthwhile, decently-paid work for all, and a fair and caring society”, says Dr Dann.
The Campaign has opened a Statement of Sovereignty petition (text below) for the public to sign. The closing date for signatures is 4 July 2011.
STATEMENT OF SOVEREIGNTY
We the undersigned citizens and permanent residents of New Zealand call upon the Government of New Zealand
The TPP like be, like NAFTA, nothing but a statement of corporate rights and protections
• to cease negotiations on the Transpacific Partnership agreement; and
• to not sign this agreement; and
• to cease work on any other in-progress or proposed international trade and investment treaties containing clauses which limit or abrogate New Zealand’s sovereign and democratic right to make and enforce laws and regulations and provide services which differ from those of other states or transnational organisations.
Sign the Statement of Sovereignty Petition Online
Download the Statement of Sovereignty Petition
Download the Statement of Sovereignty Flyer
Contact us – Christine Dann nznot4sale@gmail.com
www.nznotforsale.org/ Organisations supporting the campaign can be seen at http://www.nznotforsale.org/who’s-involved/