One of the most original and provocative books of the past decade is Disciplined Minds by Jeff Schmidt.
鈥淎 critical look at salaried professionals,鈥 says the cover, 鈥渁nd the soul-battering system that shapes their lives.鈥
Its theme is postmodern America. But it also applies to Britain, where the corporate state has bred a new class of Americanised manager to run the private and public sectors: the banks, the main parties, corporations, important committees, the BBC.
885
Celebrated US author and poet Alice Walker is among 38 people who will join Audacity of Hope, the ship sponsored by US Boat to Gaza as part of an international effort to break Israel鈥檚 maritime siege of聽 Gaza.
Walker has authored more than thirty books, the best known of which is the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Color Purple.
In a June 22 televised speech from the White House, United States President Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw 10,000 US soldiers from Afghanistan in 2011 and a further 23,000 in 2012.
This would leave US soldier numbers at about 70,000 the same as before the official "surge" by occuyping forces began at the end of 2009.
Britain鈥檚 Channel 4 said on June 24 that the reduction in soldier numbers would be partially compensated for by increased use of armed, pilotless drones.
鈥淒uring the first years of the siege, we could still manage, but nowadays we have no alternatives,鈥 says Dr Hassan Khalaf, deputy health minister in Gaza.
鈥淚t is a major crisis: many health services have stopped, and I鈥檓 afraid this will spiral out of control, because Gaza doesn鈥檛 have the essential medicines and supplies聽 needed.鈥
Cancer, kidney, heart and organ transplant patients, as well as patients needing routine surgeries, including eye and dental surgery, have been suffering for the past five years under the Israeli-led, internationally-backed siege of the Gaza Strip.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and his PASOK party government survived a June 21 confidence vote in parliament. This came ahead of a parliamentary vote scheduled for a week later on the austerity measures demanded of Greece in return for new loans from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Greece is in the grip of a desperate economic crisis. The government bailouts, engineered by the EU and IMF, have come with demands to slash spending, cut the wages and benefits of workers, and privatise public enterprises.
On June 20, 20 workers, members of the Textiles Clothing and Footwear Union Australia (TCFUA), made their way from Melbourne Town Hall to a boutique called Scanlan and Theodore. The workers were employees of a company called Blossom Road, which made products for the high-end fashion label.
For something as simple as stubbing your toe and saying 鈥淥h, fuck鈥 in public, the Victorian police will now be able to fine you $238.90 for swearing or using offensive language. Does this mean that an entertainer or musician can also be fined for swearing or using offensive behaviour in their act or song? The anti-swearing legislation doesn鈥檛 define what a 鈥渟wear word鈥 actually is. This gives the police extraordinary power to use these laws in discriminatory ways.
Australian Taxation Office staff will vote on management's proposed enterprise agreement between June 27 and June 30.
The Community and Public Sector Union and the Australian Services Union have balloted their tax office members. In each case, the vast majority has voted to reject management's offer.
The two unions have agreed on a joint campaign to reject management's draft agreement.
They have produced joint posters and leaflets pointing out that management's pay offer of 9% over three years is likely to be less than the rise in the cost of living over that period.
The June 10 Sydney Morning Herald said that a study released by the National Union of Students (NUS) that day indicated a 鈥渟urprisingly high proportion of female university students have been sexually assaulted, stalked or sexually harassed鈥.
The article mentioned an Australian Defence Force Academy student who, after being raped, had experienced attitudes of 鈥渏ust get over it鈥 from fellow students 鈥 a culture of silence surrounds such attacks.
In a show of anger against the attacks on workers rights by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell, 12,000 public sector workers stopped work and rallied outside NSW parliament on June 15.
The protest was organised in just over a week, and several unions, including the Nurses Federation and the fire fighters took stopwork action on the day.
In spite of constant rain, the rally spread out for more than a block along Macquarie Street and into Martin Place.
I was 12 years old when for the first time in my life I became a citizen of a country 鈥 Australia. Before that, I was a stateless Palestinian refugee.
There were two laments my parents always repeated whenever they spoke of their place of origin Palestine: if only we could have stayed and if only we could return.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in 2009 there were more than 10 million refugees around the world in need of assistance.
The Department of Defence said on June 22 that more than 22,000 Australian and US troops would take part in the annual Talisman Sabre military exercises near Rockhampton, Queensland. In response, activists have called a Peace Convergence.
The following call to action was released on June 22 by Peace Convergence convener and Peacebus.com activist Graeme Dunstan.
* * *
Every two years in July, US-Australia war games take place at Shoalwater Bay, near Rockhampton in Central Queensland.
- Previous page
- Page 2
- Next page