One of the infamous 鈥渄ouble-speak鈥 slogans of the nightmare totalitarian regime in George Orwell鈥檚 1984 was 鈥渨ar is peace鈥. The Nobel jury appears to have based itself on this principle of inverting reality with its decision to grant this year鈥檚 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama.
813
The following letter is in response to a Sydney Morning Herald editorial. It was sent to that paper but not published.
* * *
People in the Philippines are struggling to rebuild after Typhoon Ketsana caused widespread flooding and landslides.
The Sri Lankan government has continued to use 鈥渆mergency鈥 measures justified by Sri Lanka鈥檚 25-year civil war against the pro-independence Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to severely limit democratic rights, despite declaring a final victory in the war in May.
Rain and a smaller than expected crowd failed to dampen the spirits of committed peace activists who gathered at Bondi Beach on October 4. On the day Sydney was host to a leg of the 160,000 kilometre global march for peace, organised by World Without Wars.
In May, the New South Wales Labor government introduced a new law lowering the threshold for public intoxication before which a person could be 鈥渕oved on鈥 or potentially arrested by police. The threshold was changed from 鈥渟eriously drunk鈥 to 鈥渘oticeably drunk鈥.
The flooding in the Philippines after Typhoon Ketsana has displaced hundreds of thousands. The left-wing Power of the Masses Party (PML) is calling for donations to help in relief work (see below for details).
The government formed in the aftermath of an elite-backed de facto coup against the Maoist-led government in May continues in power 鈥 although without moral or popular support.
The Norwegian government pension fund has been accused of unethical investment in fertiliser companies that buy phosphate rock exported from Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.
On October 6, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted the official interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25%. Explaining the bank鈥檚 decision, RBA governor Glenn Stevens said 鈥渢he risk of serious economic contraction in Australia鈥 had now 鈥減assed鈥.
In 2001, the London Observer published a series of reports claiming an 鈥淚raqi connection鈥 to al-Qaeda, even describing the base in Iraq where the training of terrorists took place and a facility where anthrax was being made as a weapon of mass destruction.
On October 9, 100 people gathered at the Manning Clark Centre at the Australian National University, to hear about the Northern Territory intervention and the inspiring Alyawarra people鈥檚 walk-off at Ampilatwatja in the NT.
- Previous page
- Page 3
- Next page