Since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, there has been a global outpouring of support. Many people, horrified by the scenes of sheer devastation, the astronomical death toll and the struggle of survivors to gain access to medicines, food and shelter, are left wondering: why so many?
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What do league tables do?
Rank schools according to the performance of their students, much like football teams are ranked after each round.
What's the problem with them?
They ignore the social, economic and cultural differences between
Debt and military intervention are recurring themes in Haiti鈥檚 history. During the epic 1791-1804 war of independence, Haiti鈥檚 rebelling slaves had to fight not only their French former masters, but invading Spanish and British armies. In 1825, to overcome an international blockade, Haiti agreed to pay compensation to France for the colonists鈥 loss of property (the property being the Haitians themselves).
The community campaign Save Solar Systems tried to construct a solar power station from cardboard boxes and tin foil on the steps of state Parliament on January 23 to protest against the lack of government support for the planned Mildura solar power station.
After being confronted by protests in New Zealand, Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer was met by a protest organised by Australians For Palestine at the Australian Open in Melbourne on January 19.
On January 18, the 250 Tamil asylum seekers in Merak, Indonesia, had spent 100 days on their boat in appalling conditions. This is despite almost half of them being already recognised by the United Nations as refugees.
The Socialist Alliance鈥檚 candidate in the February 13 Altona district bi-election, Margarita Windisch, has welcomed state transport minister Lynne Kosky鈥檚 resignation as overdue. But she says Kosky was just a symptom of a larger problem for Victorians 鈥 a negligent Labor government with the wrong priorities.
Eleven men detained in the Christmas Island detention centre have been charged and appeared in court on January 20 over a fight that broke out among 150 asylum seekers on November 21. They were remanded until a later date.
I read Volume One of Karl Marx's Capital while working on a production line in a food factory.
Bashings of Indian students continue, revealing that despite official statements to the contrary, racism in Australia persists.
Since the balance of forces within the Coalition shifted rightwards with the one-vote win by 鈥渕ad monk鈥 Tony Abbott over Malcolm Turnbull for leader, the media have been wondering whether his line of frenzied warfare against the Rudd Labor government can succeed where the millionaire merchant banker failed.
Iraqi Girl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq Edited by Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, developed by John RossHaymarket Books, Chicago, 2009206 pp, $24.95
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