GPJA #493 (part 2 of 2): Best on the web – NZ & World (7/3/14)

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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