A rising tide of homophobic aggression in Uganda has divided religious leaders. At the root of the problem, Western missionaries have been spreading anti-gay sentiment and dividing the community.
Homosexuality has been illegal in Uganda since British colonisation in the late 19th century. However, many Ugandans trace the current crisis to March 5, 2009, when right-wing evangelical missionaries from the US held a three-day conference at the Triangle Hotel in Kampala.
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On October 23, the Age reported that increased alcohol prices are driving many young people to switch to the party drug ecstasy, according to drug researchers, nightclub owners and young people themselves.
鈥淚t is cheaper and convenient to use pills鈥, said Professor Jake Najman, director of the University of Queensland鈥檚 Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre. 鈥淎 lot of young people are making that choice to switch between alcohol and ecstasy. Pills can be cheaper, there is no question.鈥
Workers with disabilities are speaking out against the Supported Wage System (SWS), which encourages employers to legally underpay workers with disabilities.
The federal government鈥檚 Job Access program markets SWS as a progressive innovation by burying it among more egalitarian policies such as funding improvements to workplace accessibility.
The Job Access website says the SWS is 鈥渁 process that allows employers to pay less than the award wage by matching a person's productivity with a fair wage鈥.
The 190th Annual Meeting of Southern Baptists, held on November 16 in Columbia, South Carolina, approved a resolution calling its pastors to preach against homosexuality 鈥 鈥渢o uphold the biblical standard of human sexuality against all onslaughts鈥 鈥 but also to 鈥渓ove and show compassion toward homosexuals and transgendered persons鈥.
Mixed in with this 鈥渉ate is love鈥 doublespeak is a great deal of defensiveness about the loss of social status by the US religious right.
The Rise of the 91自拍论坛: Inside the Worldwide Ecosocialist Movement
By Derek Wall
Pluto Press, 190 pages, paperback
www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745330365&
Review by Mat Ward
As the threat of climate catastrophe looms ever larger, Derek Wall has written what he calls "an explicit call to non-violent arms".
Despite pledges at the recent Millennium Development Goals (MDG) summit to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, there has been a constant battle across the global South for access to vital antiretroviral HIV/AIDS treatments and antibiotics for malaria and tuberculosis (TB).
One of the greatest challenges in accessing high-quality and affordable medicines is the collusion between rich governments and pharmaceutical giants.
Pope Benedict XVI has told a German journalist that condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS.
News of the Pope鈥檚 historic new stance was first posted online on November 20 in L鈥橭sservatore Romano, the Vatican鈥檚 newspaper.
National rallies on November 20 and 27 were held in support of equal marriage rights for lesbian, gay, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) couples.
November 20 was also Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day started in 1999 to remember those who were killed by anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
Across the country, trans activists addressed equal marriage rights. A minute's silence was held to remember those killed by transphobic violence.
Irish socialist republican party eirigi chairperson Brian Leeson has labelled the Dublin government鈥檚 four-year fiscal adjustment plan 鈥渁 criminal charter for the wrecking of working class communities鈥.
Among the measures contained within the plan are:
鈥 A 鈧2.8 billion cut in the social welfare budget.
鈥 The gradual increase of the pension age to 68 by 2028 and the reduction of the pension rate for retired public sector workers.
鈥 The reduction of the minimum wage to 鈧7.65 an hour.
鈥 The raising of university registration fees to 鈧2000.
Portugal's working class brought the country to a standstill on November 24 to press the Socialist Party government to scrap its regressive cuts program.
The general strike against European Union-mandated austerity, the first to be organised jointly by Portugal's two main unions since 1988, is the country's largest ever stoppage.
Trains and buses did not run, planes were grounded and banking services halted.
Representatives of 76 indigenous peoples said they reject market-based mechanisms as a false solution to the climate crisis at a recent international conference.
They said UN-backed carbon trading schemes such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), 鈥渁re offered as solutions but have negative impacts and cause divisions among indigenous peoples, whose access and control of forest resources are eroded鈥.
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