The images on the television screen are now so familiar we become immune. Unimaginable numbers of people suffering and dying in a part of the world we know little about for reasons we know even less. What is it that we feel? Sadness, pity, a sense of anger, a sense of hopelessness? So we make the right noises, perhaps make a donation to the relevant charity and move on to the next news item. Yet the people suffering are just like us; the only difference is that we are lucky enough to have been born here.
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Since BeijingÂ’s push to speed-up privatisation in the mid-1990s, left-leaning intellectuals in China have increasingly made use of Dushu (Readings), a monthly discussion magazine, as a platform to challenge this policy direction and BeijingÂ’s overall pro-capitalist agenda. They highlighted the horrific social consequences of BeijingÂ’s course and have generated waves of debates on the way forward for China.
Independent journalist and film-maker John Pilger has just released a new film, The War on Democracy. Set in Latin America and the US, the film outlines the US-led destruction of democracy in successive Latin American countries since the 1950s and the significant reversal of that tide today. The film includes an exclusive interview with Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez. 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly’s Emma Murphy spoke to Pilger about the issues raised in the film.
Based on a new household survey conducted in Iraq in August, the British Opinion Research Business (ORB) polling agency estimates that the Iraqi death toll from the four-and-half year US war exceeds 1.2 million.
Thanks to the generosity and hard work of 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ WeeklyÂ’s supporters, we have raised $155,467 for our Fighting Fund this year. Over the next three months we need to raise $94,500 to reach our target. Every bit our readers do — whether through making donations or organising and/or attending our fundraising events — will be critical.
Tens of thousands of people marched in Washington, DC, on September 15 demanding an end to the US war in Iraq. Pennsylvania Avenue was filled shoulder to shoulder from the White House, where the action began, to the Capitol building. The turnout was larger than expected, a shot in the arm for anti-war activists.
An inconvenient truth
"America's elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil. In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican
On September 12, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, a US-backed former crime boss in IraqÂ’s Anbar province, was killed by a roadside bomb that struck his convoy in the western provinceÂ’s capital of Ramadi. Sattar died 10 days after he was feted by US President George Bush at a giant US air base in Anbar.
After an inquiry ordered by NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione cleared police of any wrongdoing during the September 8 APEC protest against US President George Bush, Human Rights Monitors have published more than 200 photos of officers who failed to wear visible identification.
In early August, NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced plans to build a new gas-fired baseload power station. He proudly stated that this power station would have lower emissions than the coal-fired alternative.
That opinion poll results, released on September 18, showing the Howard government trailing the ALP opposition by 10% were widely reported as good news for the federal government is an indication of the dire straits that the Liberal-National Coalition is in. While these figures do represent a comeback from those of the previous week, which had the Coalition 18% behind the ALP, the government has consistently been more than 10% behind the opposition all year.
The following statement was originally posted on , in response to the current US-backed campaign of destabilisation against the democratically-elected government of President Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, elected in December 2005 with just under 54% of the vote. Visit the site to add your name.
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