25 January 2012 - click here for index of articles
Make 2012 the year of struggle
The year 2012 is shaping up to be a big one for the working class in Australia. Employer organisations are preparing an all out offensive to slash wages and rid their workplaces of trade unions. There is the threat of new regional wars and possibly a world war as the Obama administration embarks on a dangerous escalation of military interventions in pursuit of global domination. more ...
Editorial – Words won’t replace need for struggle
Symbols and words can be powerful and useful; they can unite and heal. But nobody is impressed by lip service or tokenism. In the lead-up to Invasion Day (or Survival Day as it also known) and which is officially celebrated as Australia Day, such judgements are being made about a government-sponsored report on proposed changes to the constitution. more ...
CPA campaign for Port Adelaide in full stride
The Communist party’s campaign for the seat of Port Adelaide shifted up a gear with its official launch at the Port Dock Brewery Hotel on Saturday. A good crowd of supporters gathered to hear about the Party’s policies for the working class district. A recurring theme during the afternoon was that of unity of the left and how the CPA’s campaign has cemented united front work in Adelaide. more ...
Film reviews – Albert Nobbs meets the Iron Lady
It says something about the US film industry that two of its most gifted actors are now starring in movies made in other countries. Highly focused on comedies and action epics, the US industry offers few dramatic roles of any depth – especially for older actors. more ...
“We salute the people’s struggles”
Final Statement, 13th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties held in Athens on 9-11 December 2011 with the theme: “Socialism is the future”. more ...
Memories of Martin Luther King
Today (January 17) is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. It has been a national holiday for a generation-even though Ronald Reagan and other right wing Republican politicians delayed that for years after King’s 1968 assassination. more ...
Socialism is the future!
“It becomes increasingly obvious for millions of working people that the crisis is a crisis of the system. It is not faults within the system but the system itself that is faulty, generating regular and periodic crises.” This was one of the conclusions of the 13th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties held in Athens from December 9-11, 2011. Seventy-eight communist and workers parties from 61 countries, including the Communist Party of Australia, took part in the meeting which was hosted by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) under the theme “Socialism is the future!”. more ...
Culture & Life – The rich get richer, and the world gets scarier
Early last year, British pressure group Compass, with backing from the charitable Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (remember Rowntree chocolates?) established the High Pay Commission to investigate persistent claims that boardroom pay had become excessive. more ...
Over 9 years worth of sharp humour from The Guardian's very own cartoonist Pete Andrew can be accessed from the main menu – or just click here.
Chaser – Qantas “Still Call Australia Home” Spoof
Australian Mining – “This is the real story”
Check out this satire of the mining advertisement that ran on Australian television.
My Water’s On Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song)
Corporation representatives have admitted that fracking fluids penetrate aquifers, but they claim that pressure injection occurs at great depths, so water extracted for drinking and agriculture from aquifers at higher levels is unaffected. However, many cases of ruined water supplies in Australia, Canada and the United States have disproved this. In some towns near CSG mining sites piped water can even be set alight because of the presence of methane and fracking chemicals.
The cost of the war for Australia:
This brings to 33 Australians killed (32 with the Australian Defence Force and one with the British Armed Forces), 212 wounded.
900 soldiers have been compensated as a result of their service in Afghanistan for injuries sustained in that country; the listed injuries were injuries relating to psychological and physical harm. A cost that is ongoing.
Australia has spent $10 bill on the war in Afghanistan, the cost goes up by $110 million per month. This money could have been spent on more socially useful needs.
In 2011, 1500 Afghan civilians have lost their life an increase of 15% on 2010.
In October and November 2011 3 Australian soldiers have been killed and 10 wounded by Afghan army personnel in 2 separate incidents.
Commenting on the recent death of 3 Australian soldiers in Afghanistan Mike Carlton expressed a sentiment we would all agree with: “How many more young Diggers must lose their lives, how many Australian homes must know aching sorrow, before we recognize that we have no place in this dirty, unwinnable Afghan War. (SMH 5-6/11/2011)
(Details updated 16/11/2011.)
Bring the troops home now.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
