A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No. 575 1st December ­ 7th December 2003

[Phil McCrory <philmcc@melbpc.org.au>]

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EUREKA - Standing in a circle next to the monument at the Eureka Stockade site in
Ballarat, we waited for the dawn to brush away the night.  Men, women,
young, old, took their turn describing how and what they felt.  Each spoke,
some from the heart, others from a historical perspective, while others
rambled on about current issues.  As one stopped, the other took up the
chant.  Locals as well as people who had travelled for hours unburdened
their souls, each realising they were part of something much bigger than themselves.
Words filled the warm night air, the birds initially one at a time
eventually as a discordant whole welcomed the coming of the dawn.  'Values,
courage, integrity, equality, solidarity, direct democracy direct action,
death, massacre, solidarity, multiculturalism, indigenous presence,
reclamation, southern cross were some of the words that punctuated the air.
149 years were compressed into the few hours before dawn broke.

NO GLOBALISATION WITHOUT DIRECT DEMOCRACY ­ ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE
'WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS TO STAND TRULY BY EACH OTHER AND FIGHT TO
DEFEND OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES' ­ EUREKA REBELLION OATH 1854

Blood, bone, fire, smoke, burning flash, workers at either end of a bayonet,
pain, noise, vomit, banshees, death, rode the dawn, escaping to another
world with the first light.  The light slowly banished the dark,
intellectual and emotional spectres were replaced with a carpet of green
grass.  Eureka Hall beckons, the moments evaporated for another year,
community breakfast, the Anarchist World This Week broadcasts without a
hitch, the rest of Australia shares the experience through sound waves.
March to Bakery Hill, we rest under the Southern Cross hoisted on a flagpole
in the middle of a roundabout.  12,000 people at Bakery Hill in 1854 making
decisions, electing delegates to carry out those decisions.  Surrounded by
the corporate logos of the 21st century, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, Flag Motor
Inn about 30 of us and one dog reaffirm the Eureka oath 'We swear by the
Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights
and liberties'.

Rights and liberties, foreign concepts in an era when the plastic fantastic
is king.  The cars that ate Paris, circles us.  We wait, the moment lost in
a torrent of urban noise.  We march back to Eureka Hall for a communal
lunch, hearts heavy with doubt, our bodies and minds exhilarated that we
have reclaimed the radical spirit of the Eureka rebellion and are using that
spirit to understand the present and change the future.

DIAL M FOR MURDER
The introduction of a differential Medicare rebate between concession card
holders, children under 16 and other Australians, on the 1st of February
2004, by the Howard government, marks the end of Medicare as a universal
health care system.  The idea that access to the health care delivery system
was a right enjoyed by all Australians irrespective of how much they earned,
where they lived and the severity and type of health problems they had, has
been destroyed by the introduction of a differential rebate.

What has been trumpeted by Abbott as an innovative initiative that will
stop, possibly increase bulk billing rates, will have a diametrically
opposite effect.  A $5 increase in the fee paid to a general practitioner
who bulk bills concession card holders and children under 16, will not
increase bulk billing rates for children under 16 and concession card
holders and will lead to the abandonment of bulk billing for all other
patients by doctors who currently bulk bill all their patients.

No doctor in their right mind would accept a rebate of $30 from the
government for seeing concession card holders and children under 16 and a
rebate of $25 for providing the same service to their other patients.  The
main aim of the introduction of differential rebates is to force those
doctors who bulk bill all their patients to stop bulk billing and charge up
front fees for their patients who are not concession card holders, or
children.

Those doctors who have never or no longer bulk bill will not be tempted to
change their billing arrangements as a result of the differential rebate.
They already charge much more than the government scheduled fee (recommended
fee) and would be reluctant to take a wage cut and bulk bill concession card
holders and children under 16.  The introduction of a differential rebate by
the Howard government in their disingenuously named MedicarePlus package has
succeeded in creating a two tier health system where those who have the
resources, have access to the best health care money can buy and the rest
will have to make do with second best.  Access to health care is no longer a
right, it has become a luxury that many will have difficulty accessing.

Ho!! Ho!! Ho!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
After seeing off another 10hour day seeing patients by tackling the rapidly
increasing paper work pile that is strangling medical practices across
Australia, I like many other of my colleagues, finish the day by dreaming
about a sea change.  Maybe I was day dreaming or maybe, aliens had beamed me
up onto their spacecraft, but I have distinct memories of seeing Tony Abbot
dressed in a Santa suit and John Howard strutting his stuff as a good elf.
They were prating on about the MedicarePlus package, they were wrapping spin
pretty paper and a bow as a Christmas present for the Australian people.
Tony Abbott was concerned the Chrissy present didn't have any warranty, John
Howard told him not to worry because most people expect all those whiz bang
presents they are given for Christmas to break down before the holidays are
over.

Excited about what was in the package, I hung onto their every word.  It was
obvious listening to their conversation that the introduction of a
differential rebate for children under 16 and concession card holders and
other Australian, marked the end of universal bulk billing.  What doctor in
their right mind would continue to bulk bill all their patients if they
received $5 less for seeing patients who were not children or concession
card holders.

As I thought, the safety net component of the present that will have
something in it for everyone, I listened intently.  As I listened, my heart
sank, it seems that the safety net had been bought from a $2 shop.  It looks
great when you first open the present, but when you start playing with it,
it tends to fall apart.  The much vaunted safety net, is a safety net in
name only.  Firstly it takes ages to reach the threshold because costs
incurred by the patient only include the difference between the Medicare
rebate (83% of the scheduled fee) and the government recommended fee  the
scheduled fee.  As most doctors who don't bulk bill charge more than the
scheduled fee, it will take patients most of the year to reach the out of
pocket expense levels nominated by the government.

Forget about it I said to myself, it's Christmas, we should be charitable to
wise men who bear us gifts.  Lets pretend we reach the Holy Grail, what does
it all mean Virginia?  Well, it may mean that the government will only pay
80% of the costs incurred by the patient that cover the gap between the
rebate and the scheduled fee.  If that's the case, it's not a safety net.
As the Federal Government does not have the constitutional power to force
doctors to charge a particular fee and as most doctors who don't bulk bill
charge more than the scheduled fee, patients will only be reimbursed for a
small fraction of their out of hospital medical costs.

It's Christmas, there must be something in that glittering MedicarePlus
package for someone.  Eureka!! I have it.  The costs incurred by patients
are not limited to the scheduled (government recommended) fee, it's open
slather.  Father Christmas Abbott and his offsider the good elf Johnny
Howard will pick up 80% of the tab for any fee I care to charge a patient
for my services.  I can double, triple my fees and the patient who has
reached the government threshold receives 80% of the fee back.  I could
offer them a 20% discount if they pay up front and they get it all back from
the Government.  I can feel that sea change coming on.  I've been given a
key to the treasury.

Bugger!! Just as I was about to organise a few overseas trips and buy a few
beachside properties, Consumer Affairs dressed as the Australian Democrats
and the Independents turned up, they wrestled the MedicarePlus package from
Santa Abbott and the good elf John Howard, telling them they're guilty of
false advertising and the MedicarePlus package is not fit for human
consumption.  At this point I woke up slumped across an unfinished medical
report, those bloody aliens they've been playing with my white and grey
matter again.

A NEW COAT OF PAINT
Mark Latham the working classes thinking man has snatched the leadership of
the Labor Party from the old guard.  Listening to the Labor Party faithful
everything is possible.  Latham's elevation to the leadership has been
equated to Blair's appointment as Labor leader in Britain.  The man's
written three books, he must know what he is doing?

Latham's role, as all Labor leaders roles, is to manage capital.  The old
guard had become so integrated into the corporate sector that the true
believers were leaving the Party in droves and transferring their allegiance
to both the Greens and the Democrats or horror of horrors they were no
longer participating in what they believed was a bankrupt political process.
The corporate world dominance of the political process rests on its ability
to set the economic parameters that governments can work in.  It can only do
this if a significant proportion of the population believe in the myth that
power lays in parliament and that their participation in the political
process is worthwhile.

The elevation of Mark Latham as leader of the Labor Party marks one of those
shifts in the political climate as it rejuvenates the political process
without challenging the myths that parliamentary democracy are based on.
Adding a new coat of paint to the parliamentary edifice may make it
superficially attractive to people who have lost faith in the political
process.  Unfortunately it in no way tackles the structural short comings of
a politic              al system that further concentrates power in the
hands of those who own the means of production, distribution and exchange.

Latham's role as parliamentary leader of the Labor Party and as a possible
future Prime Minister does not pose a challenge to the structures that
continue to concentrate power in the hands of the rich and powerful and deny
people the ability to pursue extra parliamentary alternatives.

FOR THE RECORD
I was surprised to read in an article by Katie Maherus in The Courier (3/12)
that the Eureka Centre dawn celebrations were a first for Ballarat.  On page
3 of The Courier, dated Wednesday the 4th of December 2002 an article titled
'Torchlight gathering of the site' describes how 50 people attend a 4:00am
gathering at the Eureka Stockade site on the 3rd of December 2002.  This
event was organised by the Anarchist Media Institute to mark the 148th
anniversary of the Eureka Rebellion.

I was disappointed that although the Courier covered the Eureka Centre
organised dawn celebrations, to mark the 149th anniversary of the Eureka
Rebellion, no mention was made of the very well attended celebrations that
were held next to the Eureka monument at the Stockade site at 4:00am on
December the third this year.  This event was organised by the Anarchist
Media Institute to allow participants the opportunity to reclaim the radical
spirit of the Eureka Rebellion.

Many Australians are concerned that the important values that defined the
Eureka rebellion are being lost in the rush to commercialise the event.
Celebrations that do not acknowledge the values that underpinned the Eureka
movement are similar to Christmas celebrations that do not acknowledge the
birth of Jesus Christ as the basis of Christmas.

The Eureka oath 'we swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other
and fight to defend our rights and liberties' encapsulates the essence of
Eureka.  Direct democracy, direct action, solidarity, multiculturalism,
resistance to a tyrannical State and a sense of place are values that are as
relevant today as they were 149 years ago.  Let's hope that the celebrations
that are planned to mark the 150th anniversary of the rebellion,
celebrations that will draw Australians attention to Ballarat, will focus on
the values that defined the rebellion, not just the commercial possibilities
the celebrations present.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.   If property is held in common, why would people bother to work in an
anarchist society?
A. The popular view is that if people have access to what is produced in
society because they are a member of that community, most people would not
work.  The problem with that analysis is that people are using capitalist
principles to describe what's happening in an anarchist society.  People
create anarchist communities to replace one set of principles with another.
Changing the principles of association of a community does not change the
reason people form communities.  People are social animals, they come
together for security and company.  How they interact, what type of
community they develop and how they work in that community is ultimately
determined by the need to survive.
An anarchist community depends on people pulling their weight within that
society.  A society where everybody has the potential to be involved in the
decision making process makes it more likely that people will want to work
to ensure that those decisions come to fruition.  Personal and community
security is a major issue in all types of communities.  Traditionally
security was linked to familiar tribal links.  If things went wrong for you,
your family or clan would take up the slack.  In 21st century western
society the State has taken over the role of the family and clan.  It
provides security from external oppression as well as personal security of
people who are sick or become unemployed.  In such a scenario, the level of
personal security enjoyed by individuals depends on who controls the State
apparatus and who provides employment.  It's important to remember that the
difference between personal security and utter devastation in a capitalist
society is 6 weeks wage.
An anarchist community provides a greater level of personal security because
wealth is held collectively.  In order for people to enjoy enhanced levels
of personal security and the ensuring opportunity to develop themselves and
participate in the life of the community, they will need to work for that
community to survive.  Faced with the possibility of the destruction of all
they know or the continuation of a lifestyle that is capable of satisfying
their needs, most people in an anarchist community understand that their
personal participation is the price they will have to pay for both personal
and community security.

ACTION BOX
'WRITING'
It's surprising how few people put their thoughts down on paper.  Analysing
what's happening around us, examining specific issues and working out what
to do about them seems to be a lost art.  News is reduced to 5second sound
bites, complex ideas are transformed into catchy campaign slogans, solutions
to problems are packaged into onesyllable options.  Writing down what's
happening and how we feel about it, is the last thing most people think of
doing.
Writing is an important propaganda tool, possibly the most important one we
have.  The ability to analyse what's happening can be very difficult in an
information rich age.  A picture doesn't always take the place of a 1000
words.  Some pictures need a 1000 word attachment to explain what's
happening in them.  Think about what you want to say.  It can take a few
days to get your thoughts in order.  Once you've got to the point where you
believe that you couldn't possibly think of another thing to say, you're
ready to put your thoughts on paper.
Try to find a quiet spot, write down on a piece of paper or log into your
computer the words and phrases that keep running through your mind.  Once
you've done that, play around with them and try to break them into 3
clusters.  The issue at hand, how you're coping with the problems raised and
what are you going to do about them.  You are now ready to write a leaflet
on that issue you're concerned about.
A leaflet should be about passion as well as facts.  You can have all the
facts in the world at your fingertips but if you don't coat them with
passion, your chances of getting across to people are minimal.  A leaflet
gives you something solid to pass on, people can throw it away, read it and
throw it away, read it and file it somewhere or read it and act on what they
have read.  It doesn't matter how 'brilliant' your work is, if you don't
leave a contact telephone, email or postal address on it, all your effort
will come to nothing.

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
'THE EUREKA SERIES'
THE AFTERMARTH
John Pascoe Fawkner moved in the Victorian Legislative Council that a 1000
pounds be spent on a monument to Hotham's memory.  Peter Lalor, the elected
military commander of the Eureka rebels and now an elected member of the
Legislative Assembly, reminded the other members of the Legislative Assembly
that Hotham had a sufficient monument in the graves of those who had been
killed at Ballarat.
In Ballarat, the survivors of the massacre met to consider erecting their
own monument.  A meeting was held at the Eureka site on 22nd November 1855
and the 3rd December on the 1st anniversary of the massacre.  Raffaelo
Carboni sold copies of the book he had written about what happened at Eureka
at the 1st anniversary celebrations.  In January 1856 a further meeting was
held to discuss the erection of a monument, nothing happened.  'The Argus'
one of Melbourne's leading papers, was against erecting a monument because
it would 'reopen old wounds'.
By the time the 2nd anniversary came round, a monument had been erected in
the Ballarat cemetery to the miners who had been killed in the revolt.  300
marched from the Eureka site to the Ballarat cemetery on the 3rd December
1856 to honour their dead.  They spoke about 'liberty, freedom and tyranny'.
In 1879 a monument was erected to honour the memory of the soldiers who had
died in the assault.  It wasn't till 1884 that the citizens of Ballarat
erected a monument at the Stockade site at the corner of Eureka and Stawell
St in South Ballarat to the miners.
Survivors of the Eureka rebellion met in Ballarat to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the uprising in 1904.  Monty Miller, anarchist and member of
the I.W.W., attended the 50th anniversary celebrations.  As a 16year old boy
he jumped the hastily made palisade and helped to evacuate the wounded while
the battle raged around him.  The Southern Cross was flown in the 1st May
Day March in Australia by the shearers at Barcaldine in 1891.  They had not
forgotten the reasons behind the revolt.  We need to reclaim the radical
spirit of the Eureka rebellion and use that spirit to understand the present
and change the future.  See you at the 150th anniversary celebrations in
Ballarat.

BOOK REVIEW
'WOMEN WARLORDS ­ An Illustrated Military History of Female Warriors'
by Tim Nework, Blandford Press 1989,
ISBN 0 7137 1965 6
'Women Warlords' attempts to catalogue the history of women who have held
and experienced real power through the ages.  Tim Nework suggests that a
number of women have played a dominant role in warfare throughout the ages.
He examines the lives of Boudica Queen of Iceni and Joan of Arc as well as
women whose contribution to warfare are not well known in the English
literature.
Artemisia and Zenobia, women warlords whose deeds have been lost in the
annals of time, are brought to life in Nework's account of their lives.  The
Amazon assault on Athens is more than a fable.  The Amazons, carrying axes
and bows, brought Athenian society to its knees.  Sarmation women warriors
living on the shores of the Black Sea may have given rise to the legend of
the Amazons.  Artemisia Queen of Helicarnassus, Ships Commander, member of
Xerxes war cabinet had a bounty of 10,000 drachmas placed on her head by the
Greeks in 480BC.  Zenophobia's (Queen of the Roman East in the 1st century
AD) victories and eventual defeat by Emperor Aurelion Augustus fill many
pages in 'Women Warlords'.
Women of Christ, Celtic Queens and the Amazons of Brazil and Dahomey are
also included in this fascinating account of 'Women Warlords'.  Like Libya's
Colonel Gaddafi, the King of Dahomey liked to surround himself with warrior
women.  For 300 years the Dahomey Royal family used both men and women to do
the fighting for them.  Their personal bodyguards were exclusively women
soldiers.  In 1850, Gezo King of Dahomey issued a decree summonsing every
loyal subject to present his teenage daughters to him.  Every 3 years fresh
batches of teenage girls were inducted into the army.  The French destroyed
the Kingdom of Dahomey in a final assault in 1892 when they defeated a force
of 12,000 troops (2000 Amazons, 5000 male troops and 5000 armed slaves) in
Dahomey.
In an era when more and more are entering the armed forces and becoming
involved directly in armed conflict, 'Women Warlords' gives an interesting
historical perspective into the role women have played in conflict through
the ages.
Thanks to Dominic from Melbourne for providing me with a review copy of
'Women Warlords'.  If you want to get a hold of a copy of this book, I
suggest you try your local library or the Australian distributors of the
book.
Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty Ltd,
P.O. BOX 665, Lanes Cove 2066, NSW, AUSTRALIA.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
Seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, years, decades meld into each other.
Conversations that happened years, decades ago intrude on the present with
unerring regularity.  Words that meant nothing take on a more ominous
significance.  Thoughts that had been resting in limbo burst in on the
concerns of the present.  The mundane, fires the belly with a taste for
immortality.  The older I become, the more I reflect on snippets of
conversation with my father.  Like men of his era, he said little directly
to us about himself. Occasionally he would reflect on his childhood.  His
father travelled the world looking for work.  His dream was to make enough
money to dig a permanent well on his sliver of volcanic rich soil at the
foot of Mount Etna.  A decade of sweeping the streets of New York and
cutting cane in North Queensland in the 1920's finally yielded the necessary
funds to build the well and guarantee his independence.
He came back once to his home village in Sicily during that decade.  His
son, my father, was 5 or 6.  He remembered my grandmother was in a panic
getting her 4 children ready to meet this stranger.  My father had never
seen his father, as he'd left when his wife was pregnant with her last
child.  They dressed in their Sunday best, and harnessed their cart to the
neighbour's horse so they could travel the 40 kilometres to Catania.
Leaving before sunrise, they waited for a ship that never came, arriving
home just before the sun rose the next day.  He finally arrived 'the
Americano' with pockets full of 'greenbacks'.  He built his well.  My
grandmother died a year later, leaving my grandfather 'the Americano' to
raise 4 sons on his own.  He never fully recovered, maybe he understood what
he had lost.  He died a few years later.
The boys eventually made their way to Australia, the well became overgrown,
and one man's dream became another family's nightmare.  The land was given
away.  All those years of work had come to nothing.  Years of sacrifice to
make the land productive ended in mass migration.  Fleeting, thoughts and
disjointed memories that make us who we are come to haunt us and laugh at
our efforts as we grow older.  Our struggles with mortality sharpen the
sense of futility age inevitably brings to life.

STOP PRESS
DEMOCRACY?
Ungrateful bastards, you try to give them democracy and they throw it back
in your face.  Those stupid Shiites in Iraq are jumping up and down because
the interim administration's (the one that was appointed by the United
States military and whose strings are being pulled by the Bush
administration) views about democracy have nothing to do with majority rule.
Do they really think that democracy has something to do with the will of the
people?  Of course it hasn't.  If the US is not careful, the Iraqis may take
their statements about democracy and human rights at face value and attempt
to institute a parliamentary democracy in Iraq.  You know and the US knows
that if elections are held, an Islamic Republic will rise out of the ashes
of the Baath Party dictatorship that ruled Iraq for over 30 years.
Democracy western style has nothing to do with the will of the people.
Forget about the rhetoric.  Before you can have elections, multinational
corporations need to be able to dominate both the economy and the media.
Only when they own the means of production, distribution and exchange and
people are dependent on them, the climate is right for an election.  Don't
those bloody Shiites realise that unless an infrastructure has been put in
place that puts their interests behind the financial interests of
multinational American corporations, there will be chaos.
People in the West like in the old Communist Empire understand that rhetoric
and reality are two different things.  The Shiite religious leaders need to
understand there are not going to be any elections if there is any chance
they will win power.  The scenarios is very simple, it goes something like
this:
The US government, actually not the government but those transnational
corporations that set agendas for governments, need to have everything in
place before an election can be called.  Once the illusion is created that
the interests of transnational corporations run parallel with the interests
of the Iraqi people, then you call elections.  It's very simple when you
understand the ground rules.  The problem with Iraq is that people having
spent so much of their lives under a military dictatorship don't understand
that parliamentary democracy has everything to do with maintaining control
over their aspirations and nothing to do with them making decisions about
their own lives.

Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers
For A SelfManaged Society.

FILM AND VIDEO REVIEW
Steal This Movie
2000 USA Director Robert Greenwald.107 minutes.
The Abbie Hoffman story shows another tendency in the antiwar movement: the
Yippies. The Youth International Party set up Free Stores & did political
theatre at places like the Stock Exchange & Chicago 1968 Democratic
Convention. They were creative & upset the Authorities as much as bombers !
NixonFBI era COINTELPRO harassment of activists escalated for the
"nonviolent" too.
Politics **** Entertainment ****


ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
  ARIVISTA ANARCHIA No294, NOV 2003, Editrice A, C.P.17120, 20170 Milano,
ITALY, Tel:022896627, Fax:0228001271, Email:arivista@tin.it
www.anarcabolo.ch/arivista
  FREEDOM Vol.64 No.21, NOV 2003, Anarchist Fortnightly, 84b Whitechapel
High St, London E17QX, ENGLAND Email:FreedomCopy@aol.com
  LE LIBERTAIRE No.240 NOV '03, Revue de synthese anarchiste, Boite Postale
745, 76060  Leitavre Cedex FRANCE Tel:(0148414594),
www.lelibertaire.org,libertaire@normandnet.fr
  UMANITA NOVA Vol 83 No.36 EL 9TH NOV 2003, Settimanale Anarchico, C.50
Palermo 46, 10152, Torino ITALY. tel/fax (011) 857850 Mobile 3386594361
email:fat@inrete.it

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ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS
The death of a man at Maribyrnong Detention Centre could've been avoided if
management had acted correctly, according to the coroner's report. Coroner
Phil Byrne said Australasian Correctional Management, the private company
that runs refugee detention centres, had failed to call in specialist police
negotiators, as was normal procedure, b/c staff had made their own decision
that the man wasn't at risk of committing suicide. Viliami Tanginoa spent 8
hrs on top of a basketball pole before he dived to his death on the day he
was to be deported  Dec 22, 2000. He died from head injuries. Mr Byrne said
ACM's response had been "haphazard & inadequate" & that he was satisfied
that Mr Tanginoa wouldn't have died if ACM had called in negotiators. Mr
Byrne also said ACM's operations manager David Randich's actions were "at
best unhelpful & amateurish". At one point Mr Randich had bounced a
basketball in the courtyard near Mr Tanginoa. Mr Byrne said Mr Tanginoa may
have intended to kill himself, or may have intended to injure himself to
prevent his deportation. ACM issued a press release that said the coroner's
report "supports the view taken by ACM staff at the time, that [Mr Tanginoa]
wasn't at risk of selfharm". (Source: The Age)
Drug companies will continue to be allowed to sponsor doctors' travel &
accommodation & give them other benefits, without having to make this info
public, after the ACCC dropped the idea of full disclosure from their
proposed code of conduct for the industry. The commission initially
recommended companies should have to disclose planned sponsorship of events
& travel for doctors, "to ensure that benefits aren't provided which might
affect doctors' prescribing habits." Both doctors & the pharmaceutical
industry claimed this would lead to their being criticised by "people with
unfounded prejudices & no real understanding of the complex educational
framework & benefits involved in such educational meetings". The industry
organisation Medicines Australia also complained public disclosure would
encourage interference from "overzealous critics of the pharmaceutical
industry" such as "media or consumer groups". The ACCC abandoned their idea
& instead adopted a proposal written by Medicines Australia, that allows a
committee to gather info about corporate sponsorship of medical events &
publish a summary, once a year. Martyn Goddard, snr policy officer with the
Australian Consumers Association, said "the ACCC have rolled over on their
backs & had their tummies tickled by the drug companies...Medicines
Australia still has total control. They decide what is going to be
publicised & what isn't. They make the judgment about what falls outside the
code & what doesn't." ( British Medical Journal website)
Australia's health ministers have rejected calls by doctors for an end to
junk food advertising aimed at kids being broadcast on TV, saying there's no
evidence that promoting fatty, sugary foods to kid makes them overweight.
Participants at yesterday's health ministers conference in Sydney agreed
obesity was a big cause of preventable health problems & poor eating habits
were creating a huge health & financial burden. However, the push from
doctors wasn't discussed. The Australian Medical Ass has endorsed a report,
'Children's Health or Corporate Wealth', compiled by the Coalition on Food
Advertising to Children, which found the vast majority of ads during peak
children's TV viewing periods were for foods high in fat, sugar or salt, &
of low nutritional value, & which cited studies showing these ads influenced
children's diets. NSW Health Minister Morris Iemma said he doubted the
financial interest of broadcasters would be a consideration when any
decision on the future of food advertising was made. (Source: Sydney Morning
Herald)
The US military press office issued a series of letters, which falsely
appeared to have been written by US soldiers in Iraq. The letters, which
were written without their supposed authors' knowledge or consent, gave
support to the US govt's policy of declaring war & occupying Iraq. The
letters appeared in several newspapers across the US. The White House has
also attempted to stop pictures of the funerals of US military personnel
killed in Iraq from appearing in the US media. (Source: The Big Issue
Australian edition)
A surgeon who wants to start a medical practice in a country town with no
doctor, is more likely to forcibly sent back to Afghanistan. Abdul Nasiry
was an ear and nose surgeon in Kabul. He is staying in Australia on a
Temporary Protection Visa, which will run out soon. He said he wanted to
start a medical practice in the town of Tooleybuc, which has no doctor.
There's a severe shortage of doctors in many rural areas. As of early this
month, of 349 appeals for people on TPV's to be allowed to stay in
Australia, only 7 were in favour of permanent protection. The situation in
Afghanistan has been described as a one of total chaos, with rival warlords
controlling most of the country. (Source: Herald Sun)
The Federal govt paid law firms nearly $1million of public money a week over
the last year, to fight claims by refugees. The govt spent over $40million
trying to prevent refugees from being released from detention centres. The
lawyers were also paid to advise the Howard Govt on excising Australian
islands from the 'migration zone'. Unlike every other taxpayerfunded body,
the Immigration Dept didn't include the cost of its consultancies in its
annual report or website. The govt's expenses included attempts to keep 5
children in detention after the Family Court ruled they be released. The
govt spent $151million for the Christmas Island Reception & Processing
Centre, which wasn't used for part of the year, & another $22million on a
contract to revise the Christmas Island plan. (Source: Herald Sun)
All the News that Fits weekly anarchist news service visit us on the web
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email list.

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK
Has been awarded to the Australian Democrats ­ you know why, they know why.
­ Looks like they'll be following the D.L.P. into political oblivion.

JURA BIRTHDAY DINNER
There have been a few changes to the Jura Birthday Dinner.
It's now on SATURDAY 13TH DECEMBER from 6PM onwards.
The topic is 'Public Transport Under Seige' with two excellent speakers:
Mr. John Kaye and Mr. David Carpenter.
John Kaye is a Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the Uni. of NSW
and a transport activist. John Carpenter is a public bus driver working for
State Transit.
This forum is timely and relevant, especially given the recently announced
fare increases and huge changes proposed in the Parry and Unsworth Reports.
The cost is just $3.00 (concession) / $6.00 and includes a pasta dinner.
  Wine and beer will be available.  Hope to see you there.
For more info call JURA BOOKS 9550 9931 or Nick Harrigan on 0414 564 764

DEFEND & EXTEND MEDICARE RALLY / PICNIC
MIDDAY   SATURDAY 13TH DECEMBER
OUTSIDE THE STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA
Cnr Swanston & Latrobe Streets, Melbourne
(Wheelchair accessible, near tram and train stops)

STAMP APPEAL   We spend over $500.00 on postage stamps per month.  If
you're writing to us or have any spare stamps floating about stuff them into
the envelope & send them to us.  JOIN our $5.00 a month group & send us a
book of 10 50 cent stamps every month.

ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK
Broadcast across Australia on the National Community Radio Satellite.
The Anarchist World This Week is broadcast from 3CR (855khz AM dial) in
Melbourne between 10.00AM TO 11.OOAM every Wednesday.  It is also broadcast
simultaneously across Australia to a number of community radio stations,
some broadcast it live, others later on during the week.  Do you listen to a
community radio station?  Want to listen to the Anarchist World This Week?
Then ask them to download it from the National Community Radio Satellite,
play it live or play it later on in the week.


  If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In
Doctors, Dentists,
Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops, Libraries and
Restaurants Etc.
The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review reflect the personal
opinions of the authors, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
publishers, the Libertarian Workers for a SelfManaged Society/Anarchist
Media Institute.
All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists,
anarchist collectives and nonprofit organisations as long as the source of
the material is mentioned in the article.  The Anarchist Age Weekly Review
reserves all rights as far as commercial publications are concerned.

ANARCHISM ­ ADVANCING IN DIVERSITY STRIKING IN UNISON ­ YAMAGUCHI KENJI
WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY ­ THE ANARCHIST CENTURY




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