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The bubble world of the super rich

Richistan, A Journey through the 21st Century Wealth Boom & the Lives of the New Rich
By Robert Frank
Piatkus, 2007
263 pp.

Venezuela: A party in transition for the transition to socialism

Venezuela will not be the same after the formation of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) 鈥 whose founding congress concluded in March. Nor will Latin America.

Melbourne print workers occupy factory

Printing company SEP Print sacked its work force without notice after the business was put into receivership on March 20. Sixty-five workers occupied the company鈥檚 factory in south-eastern Melbourne over Easter in an attempt to secure entitlements the company owes them that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Burmese protesters imprisoned

According to an April 2 AFP article, Amnesty International have reported that at least 40 protesters in Burma, including seven Buddhist monks, have been jailed after secret trials over last year's pro-democracy marches. Officially, more than 3000

Bastards, the lot of them

Fridge Magnets are Bastards: An A-Z Rant About Annoying People & Useless Things in the Modern World
By Mark Dapin
HarperCollins, 2007, 262 pp, $24.99 (pb)

Peru: Arrests for participating in Bolivarian conference

Human rights group Rights Action, in a March 22 statement, said it was 聯extremely concerned about the current violations of fundamental human rights in Peru, particularly the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right of peaceful assembly and association聰.

Remembering the 1917 general strike

In 2007, the 90th anniversary of the New South Wales general strike was ignored by mainstream politicians and media sources 鈥 a silence that contrasted markedly with the extensive coverage allotted to the 90th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 2005.

Unions rally to save WorkCover

After a spirited march through the Adelaide CBD, 1500 unionists rallied on the steps of the South Australian parliament on April 1 to protest the state Labor government鈥檚 plans to dismantle the workers鈥 compensation laws.

Carbon offset schemes mostly hot air

A new British government 聯kitemark聰 suggests that most carbon offset schemes are flawed, but fails to address the more fundamental problem of paying others to clean up after us.

CFMEU continues wage campaign

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) campaign to secure wage rises for construction workers across the country has attracted fierce criticism from the federal government, which is demanding the union apply 鈥渞estraint鈥 in order to keep a lid on inflation.

How can sustainable energy solve greenhouse?

Overwhelmed by the greenhouse debate? Bamboozled by all the competing claims that renewable energy sources cannot supply 24-hours-a-day power (鈥渂ase load鈥)? Depressed by the unending vastness of 鈥渢he literature鈥 on global warming and renewables?

ACTU: Greenwashing the mining industry?

After decades of 鈥済reenies versus jobs鈥 propaganda, it is high time unionists and environmentalists started working together on the looming threat of catastrophic climate change. Sadly, the Australian Council of Trade Unions鈥 (ACTU) policy on global warming released in March barely strays from what is acceptable to the government and big business.