The 17th Ibero-American summit, held in Santiago, Chile, on November 8-10 brought together Latin American nations as well as Spain and Portugal. It was also the scene of a diplomatic incident that gave fresh fodder to the current campaign in the international corporate media aimed at demonising the government of Venezuela鈥檚 president, Hugo Chavez.
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Charges against Izhar Ul-Haque have been dropped after a judge found on November 12 that ASIO officers had deliberately committed the offences of false imprisonment and kidnapping. This comes after a series of abusive charges against several people, with a senior police officer saying that police were instructed to charge as many people as possible to test the limits of new terrorism legislation.
With the ALP likely to form the next federal government, it聮s important to scutinise its promises and policies. After 11 years of conservative neoliberal rule, Labor wants our vote even though it promises more of the same.
Iraq 鈥 The Logic of Withdrawal
By Anthony Arnove
The New Press, 2007
178 pages, $26.00 (pb)
By Anthony Arnove
The New Press, 2007
178 pages, $26.00 (pb)
Here are a few words to get you thinking: Malcolm Turnbull. Marginal seat. Queer rights. Hot potato. Yes, these words may seem slightly obscure but are guaranteed to be nowhere near as confusing as political stances towards gay rights issues in the fast approaching elections.
Buda聮s Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb
By Mike Davis
Verso, 2007
228 pages, $39.95 (hb)
By Mike Davis
Verso, 2007
228 pages, $39.95 (hb)
The Climate Change Coalition is a new political party. 91自拍论坛 Weekly聮s Zane Alcorn spoke to CCC candidate Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, who is running for the Senate in New South Wales.
While Pakistan聮s dictator General Pervez Musharraf has justified his November 3 imposition of emergency rule with the supposed threat of Islamic terrorism, the brunt of the crackdown has been felt by students, trade unionists, the left, the mainstream opposition parties, civil society and the movement of advocates (lawyers) 聴 who have been in the forefront of resistance to the regime since March.
Following Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez聮s call to not 聯leave the streets for one single day聰 of the campaign to approve the proposed constitutional reforms in a referendum on December 2 that would significantly deepen Venezuela聮s transformation towards socialism, the 聯Yes聰 campaign has kicked into gear.
During the federal election campaign, the corporate media has transmitted an implicit condemnation of trade unionism and an implicit endorsement of the neo-liberal ideas promoted by organisations like the H.R. Nicholls Society. Ignoring the Liberal Party鈥檚 well-established links to these extremist anti-union forces, the media has instead decided to emphasise Labor鈥檚 union connections. This selectivity is yet another example of the corporate propaganda filter through which news passes to reach the public.
This month marks the third anniversary of the massive US military assault on the rebel Iraqi city of Fallujah, 55 kilometres west of Baghdad. A year after the US assault, the New York Times described Fallujah as 聯virtually a police state聰. Little has changed in the two years since. The October 14 Chicago Tribune described Fallujah as a 聯place under 24-hour lockdown, surrounded by berms and barbed wire聰.
Come Saturday night, most political parties in Australia will be winding up their public campaigning until the next elections. The rank-and-file members who did their stint of letterboxing and polling booth duty will mostly retreat into inactivity, leaving 鈥減olitics鈥 once again to the professional politicians. No wonder so many people are cynical about politics 鈥 in their experience, it鈥檚 about politicians doing it by themselves and largely for themselves.
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