GPJA #444 (Part 2): International news & Analysis – 25/10/12

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Participation of marginalised groups has precedence over the preservation of a system which excludes them.” Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

STATS OF THE WEEK

French assembly votes 75% tax rate on highest earnings http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n290403

Only 3 percent of America’s families have net worths over $1 million, but millionaires make up a clear majority of Congress. Since the 1980s, adds new research from Duke University political scientist Nicholas Carnes, the share of state lawmakers with working-class jobs has dipped from 5 to 3 percent.

In the grossly unequal United States, our most typical — or median — adult now holds just $38,786 worth of wealth. Half of American adults have more than this $38,786, half have less. Japan’s most typical adults have a net worth of $141,410. In France, a nation with wealth much more equally distributed than in the United States but not as equally distributed as Japan, that typical adult holds $81,274 in wealth.

FEATURES

Women’s struggles can make sexism history http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52564

30 000 people march for Jill Meagher and to stop violence against women.

Seumas Milne: The end of the New World Order – The upheavals of the early 21st century have changed our world. Now, in the aftermath of failed wars and economic disasters, pressure for a social alternative can only grow http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/19/new-world-order

Tariq Ali: European Union Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Despite Ties to NATO, Crippling Austerity Cuts http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/12/european_union_wins_nobel_peace_prize

‘Surprising Europe’ documentary bucks anti-immigrant trend http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/147-television/16069-mark-tyers

Resource: ‘Born Free and Equal’ – New OHCHR booklet on sexual orientation and gender identity http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/BornFreeAndEqualLowRes.pdf

The Self-Destruction of the 1 Percent http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/opinion/sunday/the-self-destruction-of-the-1-percent.html

Cuban missile crisis: how the US played Russian roulette with nuclear war | Noam Chomsky http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/15/cuban-missile-crisis-russian-roulette

Michael Lebowitz on the Human Being Under Socialism – The Contradictions of Real Socialism http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/03/the-contradictions-of-real-socialism/

Joining forces for another Europe http://www.redpepper.org.uk/joining-forces-for-another-europe/

The radicalisations in North Africa – video: Adam Hanieh discusses the political radicalisations in Tunisia and Egypt, looking in particular at the attacks on women and the working class by new governments committed to neo-liberalism. http://socialistresistance.org/4001/the-radicalistations-in-north-africa-video

LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT

UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013 http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/oct/14/un-global-food-crisis-warning

Deepwater Horizon pipe ‘responsible for new oil slick in Gulf of Mexico’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/12/deepwater-horizon-oil-slick-gulf-mexico?newsfeed=true

No swimming: 52% impure NZ rivers http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10841013

Ethiopia: World Bank promotes forcible ‘resettlement’ of indigenous people http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/10/12/anuak-people-resettlement/

Corporate land grabs intensify third world hunger http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/10/11/corporate-land-grabs-linked-to-masshunger/

EFU film Grinding Nemo: what’s the real cost of your prawn curry? http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1596321/grinding_nemo_whats_the_real_cost_of_your_prawn_curry.html

Corporations profiting out of food crisis http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52579

Open Letter from World Scientists to All Governments Concerning Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) http://www.i-sis.org.uk/list.php

Nature’s matrix: Linking agriculture, conservation and food sovereignty http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/10/17/natures-matrix/

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS

‘Trade Pact’ Malarkey vs. Reality: The Data Is In http://www.nznotforsale.org/2012/10/16/trade-pact-malarkey-vs-reality-the-data-is-in/

Let’s Have a Maximum Income http://gawker.com/5932875/lets-have-a-maximum-income?tag=the-rich

TPP = Corporate Power Tool of the 1%

Reports from the Economic Front by Martin Hart-Landsberg – The Growth Of Monopoly Power http://blogs.lclark.edu/hart-landsberg/2012/10/18/1219/

Full Show: Plutocracy Rising http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-plutocracy-rising/

Income Inequality May Take Toll on Growth http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/business/economy/income-inequality-may-take-toll-on-growth.html?_r=2&

CULTURAL DISSENT

John Berger: a critic in the wrong place at the right time http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/39-reviews/16073-a-critic-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-right-time

Liberation – Upper Hutt Posse (Declaration Of Resistance Album) http://soundcloud.com/upper-hutt-posse/liberation-upper-hutt-posse

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan’s Pepsi Bottle Boys: The bottle was a symbol of his poverty; these children possess almost nothing else in the world http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2012/10/15/afghanistan-s-pepsi-bottle-boys.html

AUSTRALIA

Cuban Ambassador Pedro Monzon Addresses MUA National Council On The Topic Of Cuban Solidarity http://www.mua.org.au/news-story/3420/

Julia Gillard is no feminist hero | John Pilger http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/15/julia-gillard-no-feminist-hero

West Papua arrests trigger fresh Australian Detachment 88 link allegations http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2012/10/west-papua-arrests-trigger-fresh-australian-detachment-88-link-allegations/

High Court rules ASIO refugee powers invalid http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-05/high-court-finds-asio-refugee-assessment-invalid/4298044

A Living Wage Shapes Up Against $6.835 Billion In Profit http://overland.org.au/blogs/left-flank/2012/10/a-living-wage-shapes-up-against-6-835-billion-in-profit/

Poverty, always the poor relation http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/poverty-always-the-poor-relation-20121016-27ozv.html

BOLIVIA

Bolivia Gives Legal Rights To The Earth http://worldtruth.tv/bolivia-gives-legal-rights-to-the-earth-2/

Land and land reform in Bolivia: where are we now? http://boliviarising.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/land-and-land-reform-where-are-we-now.html

Agrarian transformation in Bolivia at risk http://boliviarising.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/agrarian-transformation-in-bolivia-at.html

CANADA

Just the Beginning: Beyond the Québec Student Strike http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/711.php

CHINA

Large-scale Strike of iPhone 5 Production Lines at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou Factory http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-433.html

Li Qiang:The High Cost of an iPhone http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-440.html

COLOMBIA

Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez played role in Colombia’s peace talks with Farc http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/13/fidel-castro-hugo-chavez-colombia-farc-talks

Could Ricardo Palmera be Released to Participate in Colombia’s Peace Negotiations? http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/16343404/afgj—alliance-for-global-justice/could-ricardo-palmera-be-released-to-participate-in-colombia

CUBA

Cuba: The New Global Medicine http://monthlyreview.org/2012/09/01/cuba-the-new-global-medicine

Free The Cuban Five. It’s Been 14+ Years Of Injustice By Saul Landau http://www.dailycensored.com/2012/10/04/free-the-cuban-five-its-been-14-years-of-injustice/

“Fidel Castro is dying” by Fidel Castro http://monthlyreview.org/castro/2012/10/22/fidel-castro-is-dying-by-fidel-castro/

GREECE

Greek police accused of using protester as human shield http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/11/greek-police-protester-human-shield?newsfeed=true

Greek anti-fascist protesters ‘tortured by police’ after Golden Dawn clash http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/greek-antifascist-protesters-torture-police

Greek police send crime victims to neo-Nazi ‘protectors’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/28/greek-police-victims-neo-nazi

INDIA
Must India Ravage To Rise? Two new books on our ecological crisis and the way forward http://www.caravanmagazine.in/books/must-india-ravage-rise

INDONESIA

October 3 National Strike: Indonesia’s Political Terrain Changing by Max Lane http://maxlaneonline.com/2012/10/14/1146/

KENYA

Mau Mau veterans win right to sue British government http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/05/maumau-court-colonial-compensation-torture

Colonised and coloniser, empire’s poison infects us all http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/08/empire-torture-kenya-catastrophe-europe

KUWAIT

Kuwait’s emir warned at mass protest about ‘autocracy’ http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/kuwaits-emir-warned-at-mass-protest-about-autocracy/

‘Expect more confrontations’: Kuwait analyst http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/expect-more-confrontations-kuwait-analyst/

LIBYA

A year after Qaddafi, Libya must find replacement for euphoria http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/a-year-after-qaddafi-libya-must-find-replacement-for-euphoria#full

PACIFIC

Security forces open fire, 5 police injured, 11 detained in West Papua protest http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2012/10/5-police-injured-11-detained-security-forces-open-fire-in-west-papua-protest/

Media blind spots overcome by ‘critical’ journalism, says first Pacific j-professor http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2012/10/media-blind-spots-overcome-by-critical-journalism-says-first-journalism-professor/

Indonesian special forces hunt West Papuan environmentalist http://westpapuamedia.info/2012/10/20/indonesian-special-forces-hunt-west-papuan-environmentalist/

Reports of violent crackdown in West Papua on People’s Congress anniversary http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2012/10/reports-of-violent-crackdown-in-papua-on-peoples-congress-anniversary/

PAKISTAN

Malala Yousafzai: Pakistan activist, 14, shot in Swat http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19882799

IMT sympathiser shot in Swat – Barbarism must not prevail! http://www.marxist.com/imt-sympathiser-shot-in-swat.htm

PALESTINE

Danish organisations ditch G4S as company is targeted with creative actions http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/danish-g4s-week-9604

US Quakers Divest from Veolia and Hewlett Packard! http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/quakers-divest-from-veolia-and-hewlett-packard-9599

Video: Israeli forces smash Palestinian child’s head to ground near Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-israeli-forces-smash-palestinian-childs-head-ground-near-jerusalems-al-aqsa

Take Action: Act now for Ayman Sharawna, Samer al-Issawi and Samer al-Barq! http://samidoun.ca/2012/10/take-action-act-now-for-ayman-sharawna-samer-al-issawi-and-samer-al-barq/

The Histadrut — its history and role in occupation, colonisation and apartheid http://links.org.au/node/3066

PHILIPPINES

Labor groups says 24% of workers in oil palm plantations are children; calls on the public to combat child labor http://ctuhr.org/labor-groups-says-24-of-workers-in-oil-palm-plantations-are-children-calls-on-the-public-to-combat-child-labor/

Philippines brokers peace deal with Muslim rebels: Agreement grants minority Muslims broad autonomy in exchange for ending more than 40 years of violence http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/15/philippines-peace-deal-musim-rebels

PORTUGAL

Portugal to unveil its harshest budget amid protests http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9608510/Portugal-to-unveil-its-harshest-budget-amid-protests.html

RUSSIA

Russia’s Rising Red Dawn http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20121023/176851932.html

SOUTH AFRICA

The massacre of our illusions …and the seeds of something new http://tinyurl.com/9pbncne

A Matter of Hope by Harry Fear

Marikana tragedy marches towards platinum rebellion http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-10-15-marikana-tragedy-marches-towards-platinum-rebellion

Upheaval Grips South Africa as Hopes for Its Workers Fade http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/africa/unfulfilled-promises-are-replacing-prospects-of-a-better-life-in-south-africa.html?_r=1

Pallo Jordan on the massacres at Bisho (1992) and Marikana (2012) http://www.actsa.org/newsroom/2012/09/pallo-jordan-on-the-massacres-at-bisho-1992-and-marikana-2012/

The Left and South Africa’s Crisis — an interview with Brian Ashley http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/3675

Workers Massacred But Now Standing Stronger – How the Marikana Movement Stunned Neoliberal South Africa by Patrick Bond http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/19/how-the-marikana-movement-stunned-neoliberal-south-africa/

SPAIN

Police BEAT UP Protesters outside Congress https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vnFVGNSf3po

Deepening crisis makes ‘hot autumn’ a scorcher http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52514

When Will We See Tanks in Barcelona? By Esther Vivas http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/713.php

Basque Country: Left nationalists rising http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52548

SYRIA

Religious harmony a victim of war in Syria – Under secular government of Bashar Assad, Shiites and Sunnis had lived in relative peace http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Religious+harmony+victim+Syria/7414831/story.html#ixzz29yYfAebA

Among the Alawites – Nir Rosen reports from Syria http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n18/nir-rosen/among-the-alawites

UK

Austerity and Counter-Austerity in Britain – Social Protest Movements and Political Organizing On the Rise by Roger Annis http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/714.php

People’s petition against austerity http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/17/peoples-petition-against-austerity

Babar Ahmad Extradition Reaction: ‘RIP British Justice’ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/05/babar-ahmad-justice-syed-talha-ahsan-extradition_n_1943049.html

TUC demonstration featuring Mark Serwotka and Bob Crow

Britain’s Unions Bring London to a Standstill http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?Itemid=74&id=31&jumival=9008&option=com_content

USA

“Long Distance Revolutionary”: New Documentary Tells Untold Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Life Journey http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/22/long_distance_revolutionary_new_documentary_tells

Denver Teen’s Death by Drone Remains Shrouded in Secrecy http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/10/15/denver-teens-death-by-drone-remains-shrouded-in-secrecy/

Guantanamo hearing grows heated at mention of “torture” http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/16/us-usa-guantanamo-idUSBRE89E1C020121016

Real Steel: Striking a Chord for the Lost American Dream http://truth-out.org/news/item/12036-real-steel-striking-a-chord-for-the-lost-american-dream

Greg Palast on “Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps” http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/18/greg_palast_on_billionaires_ballot_bandits

Wal-Mart Workers in 12 States Stage Historic Strikes, Protests Against Workplace Retaliation http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/10/walmart_workers_in_12_states_stage

Walmart Workers Stage a Walkout in California http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/business/walmart-workers-in-california-protest.html

Walmart Warehouse Workers Fight for the Future of Work http://truth-out.org/news/item/11920-walmart-warehouse-workers-fight-for-the-future-of-work

THE SIMPSONS – Homer Votes 2012

This Presidential Race Should Never Have Been This Close http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/this-presidential-race-should-never-have-been-this-close-20120925#ixzz27lUXCHEL

Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth as Rich-Poor Gap Widened http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-02/top-1-got-93-of-income-growth-as-rich-poor-gap-widened.html

America’s Growing Income Gap Shows Two Recoveries in Action http://go.bloomberg.com/multimedia/americas-growing-income-gap-shows-two-recoveries-in-action/

Noam Chomsky: Issues that Obama and Romney Avoid – The presidential candidates aren’t so keen on addressing the survival of humanity. http://inthesetimes.com/article/13954/issues_that_obama_and_romney_avoid/

Corporate Lobbyists Manage Our Presidential Debates http://www.thenation.com/blog/170746/corporate-lobbyists-manage-our-presidential-debates

VENEZUELA

Latest Step in a Long Road: The Venezuelan Elections by Jeffery R. Webber http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/712.php

Grassroots interviews from Venezuela: Developing the power of the community http://links.org.au/node/3064

Venezuela’s Chavez to Ministers: Now is the Time for Self-Criticism http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7383