GPJA #493 (part 2 of 2): Best on the web – NZ & World (7/3/14)
March 7, 2014 Leave a comment
BEST ON THE WEB
NEW ZEALAND
Time to show your opposition to the TPPA – nationwide protest March 29th – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/02/22/time-to-show-your-opposition-to-the-tppa-nationwide-protest-march-29th/#sthash.7zQ1qWvS.xNfZeSTq.dpuf
Glen Innes ‘war zone’ http://thestandard.org.nz/glen-innes-war-zone/
Bryce Edwards: Is Matt McCarten a ‘game changer’ for Labour? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11211561
Brian Rudman: Good old days point way to Labour future http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11211004
Editorial: Double-edged sword in Labour arsenal http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11211061
Human Error: Is David Cunliffe more sinned against than sinning? By Chris Trotter – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/05/human-error-is-david-cunliffe-more-sinned-against-than-sinning/#sthash.lEyj9VV7.dpuf
Tricky Patrick Gower By Martyn Bradbury http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/06/tricky-patrick-gower/
Fran O’Sullivan: Good keen Matt to get Labour moving http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11211782
Tongan overstayer faces lack of medical care http://www.3news.co.nz/Tongan-overstayer-faces-lack-of-medical-care/tabid/423/articleID/334424/Default.aspx
NZ’s dairying expansion ‘has to be stopped’ http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/9786977/NZs-dairying-expansion-has-to-be-stopped
Gordon Campbell on the latest NSA spy scandal, and the Pike River pay-off http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2014/02/28/gordon-campbell-on-the-latest-nsa-spy-scandal-and-the-pike-river-pay-off/
Urewera raids compo bid launched http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9782385/Urewera-raids-compo-bid-launched
Is the GCSB breaking the cyberbullying law? By Keith Locke – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/03/is-the-gcsb-breaking-the-cyberbullying-law/#sthash.2eBDqrUl.dpuf
Playcentres call for more funding http://www.3news.co.nz/Playcentres-call-for-more-funding/tabid/423/articleID/334297/Default.aspx
ACT Proposal to imprison 3rd time burglars ‘lazy thinking’ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1403/S00002/act-proposal-to-imprison-3rd-time-burglars-lazy-thinking.htm
Don’t copy our flawed system, former TVNZ head warns BBC http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11211861
John Key – ‘There There’ Prime Minister http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/2014/03/john-key-there-there-prime-minister/
The Labour Party and popular participation http://fightback.org.nz/2014/02/27/the-labour-party-and-popular-participation/
Poor Government Science Is Letting Down NZ’s Dolphins http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1402/S00279/poor-government-science-is-letting-down-nzs-dolphins.htm
GE free NZ: Lack of Responsible Oversight Leaves Everyone at Risk http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1402/S00280/lack-of-responsible-oversight-leaves-everyone-at-risk.htm
NZ – POVERTY AN INEQUALITY
Who will win capitalism’s great race? By John Minto – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/05/who-will-win-capitalisms-great-race/#sthash.iIkBOrL7.dpuf
WINZ: Poverty and Pep Talks http://iso.org.nz/2014/02/26/winz-poverty-and-pep-talks/#more-1904
Superannuitants living in poverty underestimated http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11212238
Plenty struggling in wealthy city http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/9786528/Plenty-struggling-in-wealthy-city
National misleads on child poverty http://thestandard.org.nz/national-misleads-on-child-poverty/
Does Rich-Poor Divide Matter? http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/20140209
Minimum pay rise only part of the picture for struggling families http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1402/S00316/minimum-pay-rise-only-part-of-the-picture-for-families.htm
Happy Women’s Day from the National Government http://blog.greens.org.nz/2014/03/07/happy-womens-day-from-the-national-government/
NZ – ECONOMY
Song: "Democracy" vs TPP https://soundcloud.com/suepugmire/democracy-vs-tpp
Keeping supermarkets in line http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9776511/Keeping-supermarkets-in-line
Jane Kelsey: So near and yet so far for trade deal http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11211006
NZ – WORKRIGHTS
Minimum pay rise sparks job fears http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/9792617/Minimum-pay-rise-sparks-job-fears
Govt needs to stop asbestos coming into NZ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1403/S00028/govt-needs-to-stop-asbestos-coming-into-nz.htm
Ports of Auckland still intend to crush the Union By Martyn Bradbury – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/05/ports-of-auckland-still-intend-to-crush-the-union/#sthash.RBp1SYnN.dpuf
Sex worker gets $25,000 over harassment http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9777879/Sex-worker-gets-25-000-over-harassment
Worker’s $27k holy day payout – Ruling finds Affco breached Human Rights Act http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/9785957/Workers-27k-holy-day-payout
The “satanic mill” at Pike River By John Minto http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/02/the-satanic-mill-at-pike-river/
Union claims NZ ‘ripped off’ by film tax ploys http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9785703/Union-claims-NZ-ripped-off-by-film-tax-ploys
Banks urged to reward workers http://www.3news.co.nz/Banks-urged-to-reward-workers/tabid/421/articleID/334513/Default.aspx
Wealthy banks can better support staff http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1403/S00018/wealthy-banks-can-better-support-staff.htm
PM: English will use veto on parental leave Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/PM-English-will-use-veto-on-parental-leave/tabid/1607/articleID/334077/Default.aspx#ixzz2uy2tyzSy
Charges should have proceeded http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1402/S00325/charges-should-have-proceeded.htm
Subcontractors want law change on losses http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9790270/Subcontractors-want-law-change-on-losses
STATS OF THE WEEK
NZ Graph of the changing share of national income
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week." – Charles Darwin
"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong’. Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night." – Charles M. Schulz
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." – George Bernard Shaw
"Nothing should seem natural. Nothing should seem impossible to change."
— Bertolt Brecht.
"All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume". – Noam Chomsky
FEATURES
How Economic Inequality Kills http://www.thenation.com/blog/178708/how-economic-inequality-kills
Prisons: This Is What A Moral Crisis Looks Like http://convincingreasons.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/this-is-what-a-moral-crisis-looks-like/
Nuclear Survival Day storytelling brings world youth to Marshall Islands http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2014/02/nuclear-survival-day-storytelling-brings-world-youth-to-marshall-islands/
Half a century of U.S. interventions in Latin America, in one map http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/half-a-century-of-u-s-interventions-in-latin-america-in-one-map/
Europe: ‘United we can win’ — interview with Alexis Tsipras http://links.org.au/node/3737
Michael Lebowitz: A path to socialism — building upon the foundations began by Hugo Chavez http://links.org.au/node/3741
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
IMF study finds inequality is damaging to economic growth http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/26/imf-inequality-economic-growth
Tax Tricks And Globalization http://blogs.lclark.edu/hart-landsberg/2014/03/01/tax-tricks-and-globalization/
Trade deals a closely held secret, shared by more than 500 advisers
By Howard Schneider http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trade-deals-a-closely-held-secret-shared-by-more-than-500-advisers/2014/02/28/7daa65ec-9d99-11e3-a050-dc3322a94fa7_story.html
Development by the elite for the elite: The working class does the job – Pay the world’s workers what they’re worth and countries can develop themselves without the condescending plans of the international development community. http://www.rogerannis.com/fossil-fuel-politics-spurs-radicalization-in-canada/
The Stone that Brings Down Goliath? Richmond and Eminent Domain – In a nearly $13 billion settlement with the US Justice Department in November 2013, JPMorganChase admitted that it, along with every other large US bank, had engaged in mortgage fraud as a routine business practice, sowing the seeds of the mortgage meltdown. http://ellenbrown.com/2014/03/03/the-stone-that-brings-down-goliath-richmond-and-eminent-domain/
LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Fossil fuel politics spurs radicalization in Canada http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/fossil-fuel-drive-spurs-political-radicalization-canada
“Let them eat insects” – Food and the future of capitalism http://www.marxist.com/let-them-eat-insects.htm
Why We Need an Outright Ban on Fracking http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/02/26-7
Study supports claims of Agent Orange exposure after Vietnam War http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/02/26/study-supports-claims-of-agent-orange-exposure-after-vietnam-war/
The meat racket http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/books/review/the-meat-racket-and-in-meat-we-trust.html
CULTURAL DISSENT
Blowing the roof off: a review of Luke Harding’s The Snowden Files By Wayne Hope – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/03/blowing-the-roof-off-a-review-of-luke-hardings-the-snowden-files/#sthash.m0lwKtAW.dpuf
The Unbelievable Story Of Why Marlon Brando Rejected His 1973 Oscar For ‘The Godfather’http://www.businessinsider.my/marlon-brando-rejected-godfather-oscar-2014-2/#.UxLbxvmSySr
‘The Square’: Documenting Egypt’s Revolution http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-square-documenting-egypts-revolution/#.UxWA2fmSySo
In defence of Julian Assange: Julian Assange’s publisher writes about his experience of working with the much-criticised WikiLeaks founder http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/06/julian-assange-publisher-defence-wikileaks
SPORT
After Latest Incident, Israel’s Future in FIFA Is Uncertain http://www.thenation.com/blog/178642/after-latest-incident-israels-future-fifa-uncertain
At Long Last, Jason Collins Is the First http://www.thenation.com/blog/178504/long-last-jason-collins-first
50 Years Since the Fall of Sonny Liston and the Birth of Muhammad Ali http://www.thenation.com/blog/178521/50-years-fall-sonny-liston-and-birth-muhammad-ali
AUSTRALIA
Savage Qantas jobs cuts a devastating blow for workers and the economy http://www.actu.org.au/Media/Mediareleases/SavageQantasjobscutsadevastatingblowforworkersandtheeconomy.aspx
Manus despair: ‘He was guilty of nothing’ http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/manus-despair-he-was-guilty-of-nothing-20140228-33r5v.html
BAHRAIN
Freed Bahraini Activist Zainab Alkhawaja on Her Year in Prison, Continued Detention of Her Father http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/freed_bahraini_activist_zainab_alkhawaja_on
BRAZIL
Time for Changes by Esther Kuperman http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/941.php
CAMBODIA
Overtime boycott under way http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/overtime-boycott-under-way
CANADA
Defenders of the Land: An Indigenous program for self-determination http://ecosocialism.ca/2014/03/defenders-land-action-program-real-change/
Increasing the minimum wage in BC http://globalnews.ca/video/1188047/increasing-the-minimum-wage-in-bc
CHINA
Leaked Records Reveal Offshore Holdings of China’s Elite http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/216-global-taxes/52567-leaked-records-reveal-offshore-holdings-of-chinas-elite.html
COLOMBIA
Bogotá’s progressive mayor fights arbitrary removal from office http://lifeonleft.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/bogotas-progressive-mayor-fights.html
EGYPT
Transportation strikes force Egypt’s military to get behind the wheel http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2014/0228/Transportation-strikes-force-Egypt-s-military-to-get-behind-the-wheel
Ceramic workers strike in Suez http://www.industriall-union.org/ceramic-workers-strike-in-suez
GEORGIA
Georgian miners continue to struggle http://www.industriall-union.org/labour-rights-struggle-goes-on-in-georgia
HAITI
Ten years after the coup in Haiti, democracy is still under siege http://www.rogerannis.com/ten-years-after-the-coup-in-haiti-democracy-is-still-under-siege/
INDONESIA
Indonesian paper workers striking for fair wages and rights http://www.industriall-union.org/industriall-paper-worker-affiliate-in-indonesia-striking-for-fair-wages-and-rights
LIBYA
The Libyan Bedlam: General Hifter, the CIA and the Unfinished Coup http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-libyan-bedlam-general-hifter-the-cia-and-the-unfinished-coup/
PACIFIC
PNG: Oil workers reaping benefits from joining unions, says campaigner http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/png-oil-workers-reaping-benefits-joining-unions-says-campaigner-8493
Tonga: A reformist old warrior’s political agenda http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2014/03/tonga-a-reformist-old-warriors-political-agenda/
Trouble in Paradise – Hawaiians Push Back Against Big Ag http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/trouble_in_paradise1/ n
PALESTINE
Dr. Ashrawi Strongly Condemns Israel’s Racist Laws and Policies http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37767.htm
AI Calls for Int’l Sanctions on Israel over Systematic Violence against Civilians http://www.juancole.com/2014/03/sanctions-systematic-civilians.html
‘Trigger-happy’ Israeli army and police use reckless force in the West Bank http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/trigger-happy-israeli-army-and-police-use-reckless-force-west-bank-2014-02-27
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk http://blog.unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/A-HRC-25-67_en-Falkfinalreport_Feb2014.pdf
Gaza is ‘virtually under complete lock-down’ http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/gaza-is-virtually-under-complete-lock-down/
PERU
General strike shuts down Cusco http://lifeonleft.blogspot.co.nz/2014/02/general-strike-shuts-down-cusco.html
SOUTH AFRICA
Building a United Front Against Neoliberalism: South African Metalworkers Change Course by Judith Marshall http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/944.php
Talks collapse, South Africa’s 6-week platinum strike rumbles on http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2014/03/06/numsa-makes-powerful-enemies-in-its-rebellion
NUMSA: The State of Class Struggle in South Africa http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/946.php
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka: Suppressing calls for justice by AI file:///C:/Users/mike/Downloads/asa370032014en(1).pdf
SYRIA
Assad Regime’s Drought Response Triggered Syrian War http://ens-newswire.com/2014/02/28/assad-regimes-drought-response-triggered-syrian-war/
Despite Local Truces, the Ingredients for Prolonged Conflict Persist – The Long War in Syria by Patrick Cockburn http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/24/the-long-war-in-syria/
UK
Vulnerable man starved to death after benefits were cut http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/28/man-starved-to-death-after-benefits-cut
Britain’s new ‘governor of the Falkland islands’ is a provocation – Colin Roberts, who once referred to Chagos islanders as ‘Man Fridays’, is not the person to encourage dialogue between nations http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/03/britain-malvinas-appointment-19th-century-attitudes
The Scottish Lenin: the life and legacy of John Maclean – See more at: http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/77-revolutionaries/17009-the-scottish-lenin-the-life-and-legacy-of-john-maclean-#sthash.xJoKrzdU.dpuf
UK’s GCHQ caught storing Yahoo webcam images
Britain: boom for the rich; declining living standards for the rest http://www.marxist.com/boom-for-the-rich-declining-living-standards-for-the-rest.htm
10 things to remember about the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea http://stopwar.org.uk/news/ten-things-to-remember-about-the-crisis-in-ukraine-and-the-crimea#.UxWZsvmSySq
UKRAINE
Ukraine, Coup or Revolution? By Richard Greeman http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/943.php
Ukraine: Hobson’s choice http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/ukraine-hobsons-choice/
Ukraine has not experienced a genuine revolution, merely a change of elites
The new rulers in Kiev, with links to the right, will never tackle the root cause of corruption in Ukraine: poverty and inequality http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/28/ukraine-genuine-revolution-tackle-corruption
Political left in Ukraine faces huge challenges as rightist government assumes office http://www.rogerannis.com/political-left-in-ukraine-faces-huge-challenges-as-rightist-government-assumes-office/
The left and the movement to overthrow Yanukovich: two interviews http://links.org.au/node/3735
An Imperialist Invasion Without an Imperialist Army: Whither Ukraine? by MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEY http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/27/wither-ukraine/
The Haze of Propaganda http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/mar/01/ukraine-haze-propaganda/
Boris Kagarlitsky on Ukraine: ‘A quadrille of monsters’ and ‘Smashing the feed trough’ http://links.org.au/node/3734
Why Russia No Longer Fears the West http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/russia-vladimir-putin-the-west-104134.html#ixzz2upMf1NFP
Distorting Russia: How the American media misrepresent Putin, Sochi and Ukraine. http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia
Trotsky on Ukraine http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2014/03/03/the-editors/trotsky-on-ukraine/
Ukraine: between Russia and the West http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/analysis/17064-ukraine-between-russia-and-the-west
Seumas Milne: In Ukraine, fascists, oligarchs and western expansion are at the heart of the crisis http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/29/ukraine-fascists-oligarchs-eu-nato-expansion
Anarchy in the Ukraine – What Would Reagan Do? http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-25-2014/anarchy-in-the-ukraine—what-would-reagan-do-
Volodymyr Ishchenko: If the Left Movements Don’t Unite, Only the Far-Right Will Benefit From the Social Anger http://www.criticatac.ro/lefteast/volodymyr-ishchenko-for-transform/
USA
60th Anniversary of Castle BRAVO Nuclear Test, the Worst Nuclear Test in U.S. History http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb459/
Obama Worse Than Reagan – Nukes Now http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/06/nukes-now/
Chomsky: How America’s Great University System Is Getting Destroyed http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/chomsky-how-americas-great-university-system-getting
XL Dissent: 398 Youth Arrested at Anti-Keystone XL Pipeline Protest at White House http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/3/xl_dissent_398_youth_arrested_at
Palestine activists, labor and environment groups in US unite against Veolia http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestine-activists-labor-and-environment-groups-us-unite-against-veolia/13221
Angela Davis on Prison Abolition, the War on Drugs and Why Social Movements Shouldn’t Wait on Obama http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/6/angela_davis_on_prison_abolition_the
USA – WORKERS REVOLT
For Once, Workers Win Over Walmart – Walmart has signed onto a contract that guarantees Floridian tomato pickers fair treatment. http://inthesetimes.com/article/16298/for_once_workers_win_over_walmart
McDonald’s to SEC: Strikes hurt, and we might have to hike pay http://www.salon.com/2014/03/04/mcdonalds_to_sec_strikes_hurt_and_we_might_have_hike_pay/
USA – SPYING SCANDAL
Millions of secret documents, thousands of dark acts: Shadows of a thug state – The revelations of Edward Snowden, and the other leakers of US intelligence, have given Americans the illusion that they really know what their government is up to. They don’t. It’s far bigger, and far worse. http://mondediplo.com/2014/03/12state
Obama knew CIA secretly monitored intelligence committee, senator claims http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/05/obama-cia-senate-intelligence-committee-torture
VENEZUELA
The right-wing on the streets http://fightback.org.nz/2014/02/27/venezuela-the-right-wing-on-the-streets/
A year after Chávez http://links.org.au/node/3732
February Traumas: The Third Insurrectionary Moment of the Venezuelan Right http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/942.php
Owen Jones: Socialism’s critics look at Venezuela and say, ‘We told you so’. But they are wrong http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/owen-jones-socialisms-critics-look-at-venezuela-and-say-we-told-you-so-but-they-are-wrong-9155295.html
Socialism Is Still a Real and Inspiring Possibility by Chris Gilbert http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2014/gilbert270214.html
Venezuela is not Ukraine: Venezuela’s struggle is widely misrepresented in western media. This is a classic conflict between right and left, rich and poor http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/04/venezuela-protests-not-ukraine-class-sturggle
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