Archive for September, 2014


Why Australia Urgently Needs an Indigenous Bill of Rights

by JOHN PILGER

There are times when farce and living caricature almost consume the cynicism and mendacity in the daily life of Australia’s rulers. Across the front pages is a photograph of a resolute Tony Abbott with Indigenous children in Arnhem Land, in the remote north. “Domestic policy one day,” says the caption, “focus on war the next.”

Reminiscent of a vintage anthropologist, the prime minister grasps the head of an Indigenous child trying to shake his hand. He beams, as if incredulous at the success of his twin stunts: “running the nation” from a bushland tent on the Gove Peninsula while “taking the nation to war”. Like any “reality” show, he is surrounded by cameras and manic attendants, who alert the nation to his principled and decisive acts.

But wait; the leader of all Australians must fly south to farewell the SAS, off on its latest heroic mission since its triumph in the civilian bloodfest of Afghanistan. “Pursuing sheer evil” sounds familiar; of course, an historic mercenary role is unmentionable, this time backing the latest US installed sectarian regime in Baghdad and re-branded ex Kurdish “terrorists”, now guarding Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, Hunt Oil et al.

No parliamentary debate is allowed; no fabricated invitation from foreigners in distress is necessary, as it was in Vietnam. Speed is the essence…

::: click here for piece free + in full @ CounterPunch :::

And here’s to unshackling from

the House of Windsor,

too…

Here @ the interpretOr, we reckon that it’s puffed-up, greedy windbags like Joe Hockey, rather than renewable energy, that are the real blot on the landscape…

ABC News, 17 SEPT, 2014:

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has made more critical comments about the way wind farms look, describing them as “appalling”.

Mr Hockey said renewable energy was “hugely important” but believed wind turbines were ruining beautiful bits of the Australian landscape.

According to Scott Ludlam, an Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia, the Abbott Government has slashed over half a billion dollars from programs designed to address Australia’s housing affordability crisis…

IF YOU RENT
12,000 affordable rentals won’t be built because Abbott scrapped the National Rental Affordability Scheme.

FIRST HOMEBUYERS
The savings scheme designed to help people save a deposit for their first home has been axed.

SENIORS
A pilot program designed to help seniors to downsize into more appropriate housing has been cancelled.

IF YOU FIND YOURSELF HOMELESS
Homelessness services are already stretched thin and their funding beyond 2015 is uncertain. $44 million for new shelters and crisis accomodation facilities has also been cut.

These short sighted cuts will do little to ease the pressure on Australians who are already doing it tough. Nor will it prompt the investment in diverse affordable new housing that Australia needs. This will only increase the number of people experiencing homelessness. Tony Abbott has made it very clear that he doesn’t care about Australia’s who are doing it tough. His cuts to those who are most vulnerable, while letting big business get a free ride, are unconscionable.

THE GREENS WILL FIGHT THESE BUDGET ATTACKS. 

Tell us your story or sign up to find out more about how you can join the campaign against Tony Abbott’s cruel cuts.

You can also check out our comprehensive plan to address Australia’s housing affordability crisis.

HOMELESS14

spwho2014_report_publication

-click cover for report –

key messages from WHO: 

Suicides take a high toll. Over 800 000 people die due to suicide every year and it is

the second leading cause of  death in 15-29-year-olds.

There are indications that for each adult who died of suicide there may have been

more than 20 others attempting suicide.

Suicides are preventable. For national responses to be
effective, a comprehensive multisectoral suicide
prevention strategy is needed.

Restricting access to the means for suicide works. An
effective strategy for preventing suicides and suicide
attempts is to restrict access to the most common means,
including pesticides, firearms and certain medications.

Health-care services need to incorporate suicide
prevention as a core component. Mental disorders and
harmful use of alcohol contribute to many suicides around
the world. Early identification and effective management
are key to ensuring that people receive the care they need.

glac

inthesetimes

STORIES THIS WEEK

The End of History?

The short, strange era of human civilization seems to be drawing to a close.

BY NOAM CHOMSKY

Why have American politicians and editorial boards been silent in the face of extreme violence?
BY MARILYN KATZ

For 30 years, scientist Theo Colborn has fought the chemical industry-and won.

BY MOLLY M. GINTY

In 1824 in Pawtucket, R.I., women weavers led the mother of all strikes.

BY JOEY L. DEFRANCESCO AND DAVID SEGAL

In Ari Folman’s new film, fantasy is a slippery slope.

BY SADY DOYLE

COMMENTARY

Black workers’ struggles in the labor movement have won important gains-including transformation of unions themselves.

BY LEO GERARD

WORKING IN THESE TIMES

Fast-Food Workers Turn Up the Heat

The fast-food workers’ movement embraces civil disobedience.

BY AMIEN ESSIF

 gr

 

03 Sep 2014 | Scott Ludlam
Nuclear

Confirmation that the Australian Government has suspended potential uranium sales to the Russian Federation has been welcomed by the Greens, after questions placed by Adam Bandt MP in the House and Senator Scott Ludlam in the Senate.

“The Australian Greens have argued that uranium sales to the Russian Federation should never have been contemplated in the first place,” Senator Ludlam said.

“President Putin’s implied threat of nuclear escalation last week, saying, “I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers,” underlies the risks that Australia faces in fuelling the nuclear industry in Russia and elsewhere.

“With heightened tensions resulting from Russia’s military actions in eastern Ukraine, it is entirely appropriate for the Australian Government to prevent Australian uranium from being shipped to the Russian Federation,” said Senator Ludlam.

“The Greens believe we should revert to an outright ban and caution Prime Minister Abbott against opening a new line of atomic instability with India, which has refused to sign up to international legal agreements on non-proliferation and disarmament.”

leap28     未标题-1     leap28

As four of the world’s most preeminent biennials/triennials are on the cusp of opening right here in the Far East, LEAP dedicates its August issue to the notion of the biennial. However, rather than a collection of reviews of biennials, this cover feature is composed as a set of allegories for an imaginary biennal. “Allegory for a Biennale” does not attempt to answer any of the questions raised by mega-exhibitions, but to dismantle them. Wang Jiahao designs the ultimate museum machine; Einar Engström employs narrative to magnify the logical flaws of pushing the boundaries of art to its extremes; Lightstalker illuminates the multi-dimensional gazes between traditional Chinese fiction and Western painting; and Jacob Dreyer introduces the conceptual grandeur of the ideal that so often sidles up to art—the image, power, and capital. Meanwhile, the feature also includes two actual art events—one an exhibition on the margins that define Hong Kong history and identity, the other a project on those that define Mainland modernization and urbanization. Finally, recapitulating these explorations of art’s existence in zones of creative and political instability, artist Larissa Sansour presents a renewed imagination of the Palestinian state in her work “Nation Estate.” In the accompanying mini-feature “The Soul of Wit,” Yang Zi investigates the role of comedy in four studies of Chinese contemporary art, and Feng Qing pens a treatise on the philosophy of humor; and artist Lin Ke stretches dry humor to its limits in “Seven Humorous Poems.”

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Current issue: September 2014

France, where is the left? Scotland decides;Islamic State fills deep void;

Sinai, a fury of revenge; Israel and Russia, unexpected friends; Ukraine, life on hold;

Panama Canal, China muddies the water; TTIP, see and read only for profit;

Cairo, back to the wall; a place in the sun… and more…

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