On March 23, hundreds of thousands of people from all over India converged in Delhi to express their anger at the killing of peasant protesters on March 14 by police and thugs aligned with the West Bengal Left Front (LF) government. Those killed were resisting eviction from their land in Nandigram. Similar killings also happened on January 7. The mass rally was preceded by two days of cultural protests.
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Greenpeace has revealed that an independent report into safety testing by genetic engineering giant Monsanto was ignored in the lead-up to a vote on whether the company鈥檚 new genetically engineered maize would be approved for consumption in the European Union.
Munya Gwisai, a member of the national coordinating committee of the International Socialist Organisation (Zimbabwe) as well as the deputy chairperson of the Zimbabwe Social Forum considers issues facing the democratic movement. He writes in a personal capacity.
The NSW Minerals Council has backed away from legal action against Rising Tide, a community group campaigning against the expansion of the coal export industry in the Hunter region.
Esperance Port Authority workers and residents angry at the heavy metal contamination scandal affecting the town and Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) workers have banned handling lead through the port. More than 700 residents packed the Esperance Civic Centre on March 26 to hear reports of a pattern of bureaucratic buck-passing on the lead and nickel pollution.
鈥淒emocracy remains a great danger to those who have privilege and control. When you are part of the top 1% of the population that has as much income as the bottom 75% of the people, democracy is a permanent threat to your interests.鈥
The major parties聮 聯green聰 credentials were again put to the test on March 22 when Greens Senator Christine Milne introduced Australia聮s first climate change bill. Despite some high profile backing for the bill 聴 which attempted to set legally binding targets for cuts to greenhouse gases 聴 the major parties refused to support it, giving the lie to their concern about climate change.
HOBART 聴 The Howard government has promised to spend $200 million on an international fund to halve the rate of deforestation in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific as part of Australia聮s contribution to stopping climate change. However the government hasn聮t mentioned putting an end to the 20,000 hectares of native forest that are clear-felled and burned each year in Tasmania. Greens leader Bob Brown highlighted this hypocrisy on March 30.
Parasites' progress
"This is the richest year ever in human history. Never in history has there been such a notable advance." 鈥 Forbes magazine chief executive Steve Forbes, March 9, commenting on the latest Forbes' annual Billionaires List, the
For a number of years Washington has been threatening Iran for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons. Until now, the consensus has been that to undertake military action against Iran was so crazy that even President George Bush would not attempt it. But whenever questioned about whether military action or the use of nuclear weapons is under consideration, Bush鈥檚 officials repeat that 鈥渁ll options鈥 are on the table.
Workers and concerned community members are continuing to hold rolling protests outside Preston Motors sites across Melbourne after the company鈥檚 refusal to negotiate a wage increase for its warehouse employees.
With the 15-year resources-led boom stimulating the economy, inflation at about 3% and official unemployment at just under 5%, Australians should have little to complain about. But, according to Tony Vinson of Sydney University鈥檚 Department of Social Work, the social divide between the rich and poor is deepening and increasing.
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