GPJA #501 – What’s On and a message from the editor

GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER No. 501, May 23, 2014

A change to GPJA newsletter

Dear friends,

You may have noticed that this is issue number #501 for the GPJA Newsletter. I think you will agree it has been a heroic effort to keep it going over the last decade.

We started the newsletter in the wake of the Gulf war because it was hard to find relevant material on the web.

Today that is no longer the case and we have to filter the information overload.

But we also have many means to communicate with blogs, facebook and twitter.

I plan to continue to produce a “What’s On in Aotearoa/NZ” newsletter which will be posted on the GJA blog along with other important events. So the blog will be the place to go to find out what’s happening. I encourage people outside Auckland to send me notices (preferably laid out as I do in the newsletter) to advertise. I would like that aspect to improve.

However I will be transferring important news articles to the GPJA facebook page in a continuous manner. These can be looked at as people want to. Some of you may have been following my personal facebook page for these but I will be dropping the use of that page for such material over time.

I also have some responsibility for the Unite Blog, Unite Union facebook page, or Unite Union twitter account. If your bias is towards labour movement news I suggest you subscribe or like one or all of those.

For those deperate for some selection of international news I suggest the following as among the more useful that can be subscribed to and checked out.

Information Clearing House daily newsletter http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/archivenew.htmhttp://www.informationclearinghouse.info/archivenew.htm

Alternet News http://www.alternet.org/

Democracy Now News daily News Digest http://www.democracynow.org/

I know my decision will dissapoint some of you and for that I apologise. I simply need to manage my time more effectively and efficiently.

Yours fraternally

Mike Treen

Editor

WHAT’S ON IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND

Until June 2 in Auckland and June 15 in Wellington
International documentary film festival. http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/festivals/documentary-edge-festival-2014
Check out “Nuclear Savage: A shocking political exposé, heartbreak and intimate ethnographic portrait of decades of intentional radiation poisoning and human rights abuses in the Pacific at the hands of the American government”. – See more at: http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/nuclear-savage#sthash.shbknZ8m.dpuf

Saturday, May 24, 9:45am – 5:30pm, Cityside Baptist, 8 Mt Eden Road, Newton, Auckland
Amnesty International Annual Meeting & Skillshare 2014. The date is set and the venue booked! Amnesty International is holding its Annual Meeting to celebrate human rights heroes, tell you about our priority campaigns and give you a say on important Amnesty matters. This year’s meeting will take place on 24 May and gives you the chance to participate in the direction and decision making your organisation. oin us the following day for a Skillshare where you’ll get the opportunity to exchange skills and knowledge with activists from around New Zealand. The day also includes training and more in-depth workshops on our current campaigns. Where: Auckland Venue: TBC When: 25 May 2014, 10am – 3pm. http://www.amnesty.org.nz/get-involved/annual-meeting-2014

Saturday, May 24, 9am, Peace Place, 22 Emily Place, Auckland City.
A Discussion Group on the human cost of inequality. Following on from the Sir Douglas Robb lectures at the University of Auckland this week (19, 21 & 23 May) on "The Human Cost of Inequality" by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson – and their 2009 book "The Spirit Level (equality, better for everyone)" – and Pope Francis’s concerns about inequality as expressed in "The Joy of the Gospel Evangelii Gaudium 2013" on: p. 202 "inequality is the root of all social ills"
p. 205 "…to get over the wall of separation between the economy and the common good."
p. 208 "help those who are in thrall to a … self-centred mentality"
You are invited to a conversation exploring this issue.

Sunday, May 25, 5pm, half way down St Stephens Ave, Parnell.
Candlelight Vigil Against NZ’s support of US Drone Assassinations Sunday 5pm. New Zealander Daryl Jones in Yemen last year was violently killed by a United States drone strike armed with hellfire missiles this was endorsed by the National government. We are having a candle light vigil to commemorate this forgotten Kiwi .

Tuesday, May 27, 10am-11.30am, Salvation Army, 99 Church St, Otahuhu

Monday, June 2, 2-5pm, south (Auckland-bound) side of State Highway 2 at the corner of Homestead Road and Bell Road, by the Homestead Road overbridge.
Auckland Coal Action event. The aims are to raise awareness of the threat of Climate Change and to keep the “No New Coal Mines” slogan alive and in the public eye! How do I get there? From Auckland, take the turnoff to Mangatawhiri from State Highway 2. (NB this road is called Mangatawhiri Road, not Mangatangi Road as Google Maps claims). To get there coming from the East, take the Golf Road turnoff. What to do beforehand? Tell your friends. What to bring? We have spare placards, but it’s often best if people make their own. Write a message for Fonterra which shows what you think of a dairy company which is adding to its plentiful climate-destroying methane emissions by continuing its long-lasting reliance on coal to fuel its Northeast Waikato factories. The dairy industry depends on our benign climate. So do we all, for our daily food. It don’t make no sense to destroy the climate!

Friday, June 6, 4.30 pm, outside the Ferry Building (cross the road at the bottom end of Queen Street and look out for us).
Auckland Coal Action to keep the message “No New Coal Mines” issue boiling hot and steaming over. Hope you’ll join us! All are welcome – especially if you’ve never been on a demonstration before. These are fun and friendly occasions, and its vitally important to act now to safeguard our young people’s future. The aims are to raise awareness of the threat of Climate Change and to keep the “No New Coal Mines” slogan alive and in the public eye! We’ll be holding placards to draw attention to the whole issue of Climate Change and coal’s contribution to Climate Change. Make your own placard or come along and hold one of ours. The aim is to catch the attention of the crowds who will be taking a ferry homewards in the next hour and a half.

Saturday, June 7, 9.30am – 3.00pm, 16D Bakerfield Place, Manukau.
You are invited to a Social Justice and Policy event centred on children and parenting practice. On behalf of the Salvation Army Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit we would like to extend a warm invitation to parents, policy makers and educators to our upcoming event: Social Justice for Children: Parenting, Policy and Practice. In what ways can a child’s experience of social justice have an impact on the well being of all of society?
Robin Grille, international speaker and best selling author, will speak on how a connected and peaceful childhood can have a transformative impact on our communities. Sue Bradford will explore how the Private Members Bill that she proposed in 2005 (known as the "anti-smacking law") whilst in office for the Green Party has had an impact on the realisation children’s rights in New Zealand. Major Campbell Roberts of the Salvation Army Social Policy Unit will discuss child poverty in New Zealand; how kiwi kids are experiencing their world and what needs to change. $55 including lunch (please get in touch for information about subsidies, particularly for parents and the unwaged) REGISTER: https://socialjusticeforchildren.eventbrite.co.uk For more information on the Social Justice and Childhood Initiative please visit www.sjci.org.nz Please see and share the attached publicity.

Monday, June 16, 7.30-10.30pm, Thirsty Dog Tavern, Karangahape Rd, Auckland.
BLOOMSDAY! JUNE 16! THIRSTY DOG! UP THE REPUBLIC!
Missed May Day? Make up for it in June.
June 16 is “Bloomsday”, a sort of literary St Patrick’s Day.
It’s a commemoration of the fictional day in 1904 in which James Joyce’s comic masterpiece Ulysses unfolds. All around the world there are Bloomsday celebrations. In Auckland for the past decade a Bloomsday cabaret has unleashed itself in the red-light district of Karangahape Rd.
This year it will again be at the Thirsty Dog Tavern. And it’ll feature, besides Joe Carolan, Xena Warrior Princess Lucy Lawless reading from the notoriously explicit 50-page soliloquy of Molly Bloom.
Michael Hurst will playing pale young poet Stephen Dedalus, while doubling outrageously as star of 1930s Paris cabaret, Josephine Baker.
Competing for attention will be Unite Union organiser Joe Carolan as a Sinn Fein Cyclops (Joe will be playing the Shinner’s mangy dog as well).
Bruce Hopkins will play fierce transvestite dominatrix Bella Cohen, a sort of Judith Collins pre-Oravida.
Mezzo soprano Yuko Takahashi will be singing from Mozart aided by Farrell Cleary.
Dublin actor Brian Keegan will be reading from The Book.
Tenor and political commentator Chris Trotter will be singing Dominic Behan’s Patriot Game and Linn Lorkin and The Jews Brothers Band, backed by Jean McAllister, will be performing a fabulous range of numbers: Motown, Mozart, ABBA, The Doors, klezmer, Edith Piaf, Dominic Behan, Marian hymns, Broadway musicals…
And there’ll be a surprise appearance from Dame Sister May Leo, dropping in from heaven.
Jews Brothers’ Bloomsday.
Thirsty Dog Tavern, Karangahape Rd, Auckland.
Monday night, June 16, 7.30pm-10.30pm.

Thursday, June 19, 8am-4pm, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Campus, Student Memorial Lecture Theatre, (SUMT228)
Inequality: Causes and Consequences:
Speakers:
· Tim Hazeldine, Prof of economics, Auckland University
· Brian Easton, Economist and independent scholar
· Simon Chapple, Senior Research Fellow, Dunedin School of Medicine
· Bill Rosenberg, Economist and Director of Policy, Council of Trade Unions
· Susan St John, Associate Professor of Economics, Auckland
· Geoff Bertram, Senior Research Advocate, Victoria University of Wellington

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MURRAY HORTON SPEAKING TOUR: MAY 4-29, 2014 – WHO’S RUNNING THE SHOW? AND IN WHOSE INTERESTS?

Murray Horton is the long serving Organiser and spokesperson for two Christchurch-based groups, the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) and the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC). He has been a political activist since the late 1960s and has a national profile as a campaigner, writer, speaker, organiser and researcher. During May he is undertaking an election year North Island speaking tour, from Kaitaia to Wellington, and many places inbetween. He has already toured the South Island, in March and April (he has been doing these election year tours for a couple of decades, most recently in 2011). The full itinerary is at http://2014cafcatour.blogspot.co.nz/p/blog-page.html

JOIN THIS YEAR’S AUSTRALIAN SOLIDARITY DELEGATION TO VENEZUELA DECEMBER 2 – 13, 2014
Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. Registrations are now open for the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network’s 2014 solidarity tour to revolutionary Venezuela.
http://links.org.au/node/3700