A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No.532 3rd February ­ 9th February, 2003

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

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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

NEO-LIBERALISM - DEAD!!
In case readers hadn't noticed the great neo-liberal hoax that was
perpetuated on the world in the last quarter of the 20th century is as dead
as a dodo.  South Americans are faced with the daunting task of burying an
economic and social philosophy that has blighted their communities and
robbed them of their future.

>From Argentina to, Chile to Brazil, to Ecuador, to Bolivia, the legacy of
this insane experiment to turn the economic clock back to the 19th century
has had disastrous consequences for tens of millions of people. The poor
continue to get poorer, the middle classes have been pauperised, while the
rich get richer. As South Americans struggle to rid themselves of this
economic cancer, they are beginning to take notice of political ideologies
that challenge US hegemony in the region.  As resistance to US domination
gathers momentum and leftist political parties gain power through the ballot
box, the US is faced with a major crisis in what it considers to be its very
own backyard.

Faced with wholesale revolt, it has reverted back to its old trick, economic
destabilisation, targeted assassinations and attempted military coups.  This
time, it is finding it much more difficult to stamp its authority on the
social movements that are growing out of the ashes of the neo-liberal
disaster.  As people struggle to survive, new forms of organisation are
being created to replace both the corporate and State sector.  In Argentina,
people are forming local assemblies to make decisions about how they live
and how to share the resources that they control.  Abandoned bankrupt
businesses are having new life breathed into them by former workers and by
local neighbourhood assemblies.  From the neo-liberal compost heap, a new
way of life is evolving that rejects both the corporate world and the State.

As Australians wake up from the neo-liberal stupor that has destroyed so
much of what made us a community, it's time we take a leaf from the South
American experience and consign the carcass of neo-liberalism to the compost
bin.  The sooner Australians throw off the intellectual and physical
shackles of neo-liberalism, the sooner they will be able to help create that
new world that is emerging from the ashes of the old.

JOHN HOWARD CARES!!
Over the next few days, you will be the lucky recipient of a glossy
publication and a fridge magnet that will tell you everything you've always
wanted to know about terrorism.  With the preparations for a US led invasion
of Iraq entering their final stages, it's possible Australia will become a
focus for terrorist activity.  Win, draw or lose, it's highly likely that
those weapons of mass destruction that John Howard keeps telling us Iraq
has, (who am I to doubt our great leader?) will find their way into the
hands of religious fundamentalists who will not hesitate to take a few
million people with them on their one way journey to heaven (or is that
hell?).

So why has the Federal government sent us our little fridge magnet?  Are we
going to beat a terrorist over the head with it or does their largesse have
a more sinister basis?  What have they forgotten to tell us?  Do they know
of an impending attack?  Do they know that there is no way they can beat a
committed terrorist who puts no value on their own life, let alone anyone
else's life?  I believe the Federal government has sent out its little
letter and fridge magnet to protect itself from the fallout that a terrorist
attack would cause.

Many Australians are as likely to blame Howard and his government for the
carnage, than the people who carried out the attack.  So why the fridge
magnet?  Well itıs very simple, it's a little bit like those screeds of
information that are tucked into a pill packet.  If you take the time to
read them, they will list almost every known complication that could happen
to a person (as well as a few no-body has heard of).  The pharmaceutical
industry's reasoning is very simple.  If a consumer has been warned of a
potential side effect, it is very difficult for them to sue the manufacturer
if they develop that side effect.

It seems the Howard government is using exactly the same logic.  They know
that their policies have made Australia a focus for terrorist activity.
Their advisers in the secret service have told them that it's a question of
when, not if.  If thereıs a major loss of life and injury, as a result of a
terrorist attack, people would be examining their legal options.  Insurance
companies do not normally cover acts of terror.  As the government has
warned people of the potential threat of a terrorist attack and has told
them what to do in such a situation, their legal liability is non-existent
and you thought John Howard cared - sorry folks.

FREE ENTERPRISE FOUNDATION
The Australian Electoral Commission's annual release of information about
who donated what to whom, has revealed a nice little list of donors. It
seems that many of Australia's leading luminaries are channeling their
largesse to the "Free Enterprise Foundation". A nice little earner for the
Liberal Party, of the $2.1 million that was raised last year, the Liberal
Party received a cool $1.8 million.

It seems that the $1.50 per vote that political parties that receive more
than 4% of votes cast get, is not enough for our political friends.
Although all the registered political parties have their snout in the
trough, the Liberal Party far and away guzzles down the bulk of the slops
that are fed to our friends.  The problem is that there are no free lunches
in a capitalist society.  The likes of Pratt and Ingham Brothers donıt
donate $200,000 each to the Free Enterprise Foundation just for the heck of
it. I'm sure that when cabinet meets, their opinions about legislation far
outweighs what you and I think.

Some of our more astute leading business luminaries hedge their bets and
donate to both political parties. Frank Lowy, the man who's tipped to oust
Kerry Packer as the richest man in the country, donated $250,000 to the
Liberals and $300,000 to the Labor Party, through Croissy Pty Ltd a
subsidiary of his highly successful Westfield holdings. Even Telstra, a
partially publicly owned company, got in on the act and donated $12,000 to
the Liberal Party.

If you are sick and tired of reading about how political friends line their
kennels and are a little jaded with the political process, you do have a
choice.  You can think about joining Vote Informal Today Direct Democracy
Tomorrowı a political party that once registered, will be encouraging people
to vote informal, or not vote of all of the next Federal election, to
highlight our disgust with parliamentary rule and representative democracy.
Currently we have 179 members but need 550 to put in our application to
register as a Federal political party.  Registration will allow us to make
bulk political nominations and will allow the name of the party to be put
next to the candidateıs name.

Membership costs a whooping 50cent stamp for five years. We do not accept
political donations but encourage out members to send us stamps to cover
postage costs.  If by divine intervention we receive more than 4% of the
vote, we will not accept the blood money that we would be entitled to for
each vote cost.  Think about it? Are you going to spend the rest of your
life moaning and groaning about the political process or are you going to do
something about it.  Join us today and gate crash their cosy little party at
the next Federal election.

IT'S IN THE NEWSPAPER,
IT MUST BE TRUE
As calls for the war against Iraq gain momentum, the first casualty is
truth.  It's touching how many people still believe that if something
appears in a newspaper, it must be true.  Newspapers still play a dominant
role in setting the agenda about what is the best course of action in a
particular situation.  Editorial teams are placed under extreme pressure by
governments and owners, to do the right thing by the country and by their
owners.

The smaller the ownership base and the fewer the newspapers available, the
greater the potential for manipulation of events.  A whole industry has
grown up around the media whose prime function it is to ensure news is
presented with a particular spin.  Governments and the private sector in
Western democracies spend billions of dollars each year paying individuals
and companies to make sure that news, even bad news, is presented in a way
that benefits them.

As newspapers downsize to protect decreasing profits, staff are placed under
increasing pressure by editors, owners and spin-doctors.  Faced with
impossible deadlines, they tend to use material at hand.  Instead of
investigating sources, they rely on media releases and contacts to flesh out
stories.  When you combine the self-censorship that occurs in most
newspapers with the decreasing number of sources of information used, it's
no accident that articles and opinion pieces in different newspapers have a
tired stale air about them.  This is brought home to readers who purchase
two or three newspapers, when they see exactly the same pictures
illustrating similar stories in newspapers that are theoretically
competitors. 

When talk of war looms large, a new player enters the field.  The CIA, ASIS,
ASIO and other secret service agencies attempt to manipulate news coverage
by placing manufactured stories directly in the media.  Juicy un-sourced
stories about the "enemy", help to create that climate of fear and hatred
that is required to launch and sustain a war.

Every time you read an article in a newspaper, you need to ask yourself how
much is subtle (in some cases not so subtle) propaganda and how much is
fact.  Newspapers in the postmodern world no longer provide raw information
this is provided by radio, the Internet and television.  Their role is much
more important than it has ever been, they manufacture consensus about what
is desirable and possible by reflecting the hopes, aspirations and dreams of
those who wield power in our society.

IF ONLY
As the One-Day Cricket World Cup draws closer, the Australian media
condemnation against the Mugabe Regime in Zimbabwe is universal.  Newspaper,
radio and television commentators rail against the excesses of a government
that is using all the means at its disposal to stay in power long after it
has lost the support of many of its people.  Some of the older sporting
commentators are even waxing lyrical about the old regime, regaling us with
stories about the racist Ian Smith government.

The Australian media's current position stands in sharp contrast to its
response to the South African and Rhodesian racist regimes in the 1960's and
1970's.  The South African Springbok tour of Australia in 1971 exposed the
moral and ethical bankruptcy of a media that almost universally threw its
weight behind the South African and Rhodesian government.  Tens of thousands
of police were mobilised, a state of emergency was declared in Queensland
and hundreds of anti-apartheid activists were assaulted and arrested so the
Springbok tour could go ahead.

Nelson Mandela and the A.N.C. in South Africa and Robert Mugabe and the Zapu
Zanu in Rhodesia were declared to be leaders of terrorist organisations.  As
the struggle for racial justice intensified, a significant proportion of the
Australian media continued to throw its support behind the racist regimes in
South Africa and Rhodesia.  When the Ian Smith government was overthrown and
the De Clerk government was forced to hand over the power because its
position had become untenable, terrorists became heroes overnight, not
because of what they had achieved, but because of what they refused to do.

Although the trappings of apartheid have been removed in both Zimbabwe and
South Africa, the economic system that maintained them has remained intact.
Mugabe's failure to introduce land reforms and dismantle the economic
stranglehold that a few thousand white farmers had (and continue to have),
in the economy when Zimbabwe achieved independence, has created the
conditions that are driving the current unrest in Zimbabwe.  The Mugabe
government's cynical attempts to manipulate this hunger for land and
economic independence, to maintain its strangle hold on power in Zimbabwe,
is the reason opposition to its rule has grown enormously in the past few
years.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.  Do anarchists adhere to a particular lifestyle?
A.  Anarchists is a mechanism by which people make decisions and share
wealth, it is not a lifestyle.  Some anarchists wear suits, others wear
nothing.  Some anarchists live in single partner relationships, others have
multiple partners.  Some play golf, others play video games.  Some like
music, others hate it.  Some live in squats, some rent, others are paying
off a mortgage.  The diversity of lifestyles that anarchists follow, are as
diverse as the anarchist movement itself.
The freedom to pursue what interests you have, as they donıt impinge on
other peopleıs freedom, is a fundamental principle that determines what
lifestyle anarchists lead.  It is wrong to believe that there is a specific
lifestyle and everybody has to embrace that lifestyle.  The diverse
lifestyles pursued within the anarchist community, gives anarchism a
vibrancy that other social political and cultural movements lack.  The sight
of punks, people wearing casual clothes and people in suits all sitting down
and discussing the same topic as equals, is a sight that you donıt often see
outside the anarchist milieu.
We should be wary of those who want us to act and dress in the same way.
The hallmark of an authoritarian movement is their insistence that people
act and dress in a specific manner.  The more authoritarian the group, the
more hierarchical the structure, the greater the uniformity members within
that group exhibit.  Authoritarian institutions and social movements do not
have the capacity to let individuals within their organisation pursue an
independent position or lifestyle.  Any sign of independence is seen as a
threat to their authority.  Itıs no accident that Durrutiıs column in the
Spanish Civil War were called "the uncontrollables".
Variety and independence is the hallmark of an anarchist lifestyle.  People
in the anarchist movement are free to pursue whatever lifestyle they wish as
long as their actions do not impinge on the freedom of others to live lives
free from coercion and fear.

ACTION BOX
HELPLESS!
A variant on the "you canıt fight City Hall" syndrome is the "donıt bother
protesting, it wonıt change anything" scenario.  The protests that are being
carried out around the world by people who donıt want the United States to
invade Iraq, are glibly dismissed by those in authority as a waste of time.
The Howard government, one of the US principle allies in the war against
Iraq, is a taskmaster at creating a feeling of helplessness among those
Australians who oppose the war.
Governments are always influenced by protests and in a small number of cases
governments can be overthrown by a protest movement.  Whether activists are
able to maintain pressure on a government, has as much to do with the
psychology of protest than being able to mobolise hundreds of thousands of
people on the streets.  Although the Howard government claims it will not be
influenced by protests, its bravado is a sign of their discomfort at seeing
tens of thousands of people protesting against the war.  No government,
especially one that needs to go to the ballot box to continue to rule, can
afford to ignore protests.
The governmentıs current strategy is heavily based on fostering a feeling of
helplessness among protesters.  In an attempt to diffuse opposition to the
war, the Howard government is pushing its we were elected to ruleı manta.
They hope that people will become disillusioned with the protest movement
and not become involved in activities directed against the war.  Creating a
feeling of helplessness and fear among protesters, is an old strategy that
governments use to destroy opposition to their policies.
Protest movements have in governmentsı eyes the unfortunate knack of
politicising the population.  The last thing a government wants is an aware,
active public that questions its decisions.  The more questions people ask,
the greater the pressure governments find themselves under.  Diverting
unrest into sporting activities, cultural events or consumer escapades are a
few of the ways governments divert opposition to their decisions.
As activists, we need to spend as much time creating a positive climate
about the effectiveness of protests, as we do organising protests.
Dispelling the feeling of helplessness that governments attempt to generate
around the value of protest movements, is one of the most important tasks we
can become involved in.

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
INDUSTRIAL SOCIALIST LABOR PARTY
The conscription crisis during World War I led to a significant degree of
discussion within the Labor Party.  At the annual conference of the New
South Wales Labor Party in 1918, a move to strengthen the position of the
New South Wales trade unions in the ALP, was narrowly defeated.  Motions to
clarify the partyıs socialisation objectives were also defeated.  Many
believed that the election result had been rigged by the executive and
formed a break away group the Industrial Socialist Labor Partyı.
Over 200 delegates from local branches, trade unions and one parliamentary
member of the Labor Party, P.S. Brookfield, attended the first conference of
the Party in August 1919.  The Party fielded a team at the 1920 Federal
Senate election but failed to win a much expected Senate seat.  At the State
level, P.S. Brookfield was re-elected as the member for Broken Hill as the
sole parliamentary representative of the Industrial Socialist Labor Party.
Faced with the prospect of spending years in the political wilderness, the
Industrial Socialist Labor Party fragmented soon after the 1920 Federal
election.  Many members drifted back to the Labor Party, others made their
way to the emerging Communist Party of Australia.
The question of what role socialisation should play in the Labor Party was
brought to the forefront by the establishment of the Industrial Socialist
Labor Party.  Faced with the possibility of a major split within the Party,
the Federal executive of the ALP convened on the Australian Trade Union
Congress in Melbourne in June 1921 to find out what trade unionists wanted.
The delegates at this conference, the largest gathering of trade unionists
ever held in Australia, represented 700,000 trade unionists.  The Congress
recommended the ALP adopt a socialist objective.  The Federal Conference of
the ALP that met in Brisbane later that year adopted the motion 22 votes to
10.  
What the fledging Industrial Socialist Labor Party had not been able to
achieve through the ballot box, it achieved by raising the spectre of a
major split in the Labor Party.  Once the Federal ALP had adopted a
socialist objective, there was no real reason for the continued existence of
the Industrial Socialist Labor Party, by the end of 1921 it existed in name
only. 

 BOOK REVIEW
 "PATCH ADAMS M.D. GESUNDHEIT!"
 With Maureen Mylander, Healing Arts Press,
 1998 Edition, ISBN 0-89281-781-X
Iıve always wondered what Patch Adams thought about Universal Studioıs
rendition of his life portrayed by Robin Williams.  I doubt whether the
saccharin interpretation of this book by Universal Studios has done much to
promote his cause.  Western medicine is full of stories of men and women who
have bucked the prevailing orthodoxy in the search for a new way to deliver
healthcare.  Patch Adams M.D. is one such man.
Patch Adams brings a positive approach to healthcare that is lacking in most
healthcare delivery systems.  With the help of a few colleagues, he founded
the Gesundheit Institute in Northern Virginia in the USA in 1971 to offer
people access to a health delivery system that resulted in a "loving,
creative, humorous human interchange not a business transaction".
Healthcare, whether orthodox or non-orthodox is essentially a transaction
that involves the exchange of money or goods.  This salient observation was
brought home to me in Agra in India in 1981, when I took an acquaintance who
believed he had been bitten by a cobra, to a snake charmer who had a
reputation as a healer.  My friend, a local, sat in the dirt for over half
an hour haggling over the price before the consultation proceeded.
Patch Adams M.D. major contribution to medicine, is not as he believes
promoting the use of laughter to create a holistic healing environment, but
his and his colleagues attempts to break down the monetary barriers people
face when they need access to healthcare.
The book is a result of a collaborative effort between Patch Adams and
Maureen Mylander to present his philosophy on healing to a wider audience.
It is divided into 2 parts, the first explores his ideas about healing,
laughter, family, wellness, malpractice and many other issues.  The second
part A Prescription for Health and Healingı examines how the philosophy was
to have been put into practice in a 42 bed free hospital on 310 acres in
West Virginia.  Unfortunately the hospital had not become a reality by 1998.
In what could be described as an appendum in the 1998 edition, Patch Adams
was hoping that donations that would flow from the Patch Adams movie, would
give them the financial backing they needed to start building this hospital.
To be brutally honest, I found Patch Adams optimism a little hard to
swallow.  Healthcare delivery in a capitalist system is first and foremost a
financial relationship.  Although Patch Adams ideas about laughter and
healthcare delivery have found converts, both in orthodox and non-orthodox
health delivery services, few have taken up his revolutionary approach as
far as healthcare and payment is concerned.
Try your local bookstore or your local library if you want to have a gander
at this interesting manıs ideas on healthcare.  SKIP the movie, itıs a lost
cause. 

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
After the talk-back program last Thursday, a listener rang up asking me to
talk about what war is really like.  Weıre told that the war against Iraq
will be a short sharp technological affair, that collateral damage (I love
that word) will be kept to a minimum.  The war in Afghanistan was a
relatively bloodless affair.  The Taliban were an army of foreign
occupation, they fled before the Northern Alliance and their Western allies
reached Kabul.  In town after town, the story was the same.
The US is hoping that the same script will be played out in Iraq.  Itıs
probable that after 13 years of sanctions and a million and half casualties
as a result of these sanctions, the people of Iraq wonıt see the invasion of
Iraq as an act of liberation.  Irrespective of what they think about Saddam
Hussein and his cronies, they may be so angry they will mount a military
defence of their cities.  Baghdad has 5 million inhabitants, many are armed
many have nothing to lose.  If they do resist the death toll will be
catastrophic.
War is no longer a short sharp affair, the depleted uranium that is carried
in the warheads used, will pay back both foe and friend for generations.
Miscarriages and congenital malformation will be a legacy that will be felt
for hundreds possibly thousands of years.  For every civilian death, there
will be at least 10 casualties, many will carry the physical and
psychological scars all their lives.  The children will have to bear the
psychological scars of their parentıs involvement in this war.
Those who fight will have to fight their own battles, justifying the carnage
to themselves, friends and fellow countrymen and women.  Many will carry the
scars for decades because they canıt justify the carnage their governments
sanctioned.  If chemical, biological or nuclear weapons are used, the
civilian population will bear the bulk of casualties.  In every war in the
20th century, 9 out of 10 deaths that occurred in the civilian population,
over 90% of all civilian deaths occur among women and children.
Those least able to defend themselves, those that donıt have the resources
or the will to leave, will be those who bear the pain and suffering that is
a byword for war.  The listener was right, the word warı no longer
encapsulates the horror and carnage that it causes.  War has become a
sanitised computer game thatıs brought into our lounge rooms with the hourly
bulletin.  We begin to think itıs a game.  We believe the dead are cutout
computer images with no feeling or soul.  Post-modern war is mass murder,
let us not mince words and call a spade a spade.  What we will be looking at
on our television screens is State sanctioned mass murder, nothing less
nothing more.

STOP PRESS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
You have to ask yourself, who are the good guys in the upcoming war in Iraq?
Weıre told, weıre the good guys, weıre involved in a life and death struggle
against evil.  Weıre told with monotonous regularity and very little proof
that the Iraqi regime is sitting on a pile of weapons of mass destruction.
That Saddam Husseinıs government has chemical and biological weapons and has
the capacity to manufacture nuclear bombs.  Weıre told we have to take them
out before they destroy us.
Sounds cut and dry doesnıt it?  Weıre good theyıre bad, they may have
weapons of mass destruction, so we need to destroy them.  That is until you
begin to listen to the rhetoric coming from the White House "We will use all
the weapons at our disposal to destroy the Hussein regime".  "All the
weapons?"  "Yes, all the weapons!!"  "Does that mean nuclear weapons?"  "If
we believe our forces will be targeted with chemical or biological weapons,
yes, we will use nuclear weapons"  "Hang on a minute"  "Nuclear weapons!!"
"Yes, thatıs right".  If you cut through the rhetoric, you soon realise
there are not any good guys out there.
If Iıve got the story right and I believe I have, Iraq is evil because they
have the potential to manufacture nuclear weapons.  This fact justifies the
US use of nuclear weapons in any war against Iraq.  Itıs important to
remember nuclear weapons are not known for their pin point accuracy and that
the US government is the only government that has used nuclear weapons
against people.  (They were used against civilian targets in WWII to
pressure Japanese Imperial Forces to surrender unconditionally.)
We need to look at the historical record about who has used nuclear weapons
and who has the potential and the will to use nuclear weapons, before we
make any decisions about good and evil.  Those people who want to choose
sides in this war, need to remember that neither parties hands are free of
blood.  State sanctioned mass murder is not just an Iraqi problem, the US
has more than its share of blood on its hands.
Joseph TOSCANO/LibertarianWorkers
for a Self-Managed Society.
                   
ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
 A BATALHA Vol.28 No.196 Nov/Dec 2002, R. Marques de Ponte de Lima, 37-2-D,
1100-337, Lisboa, PORTUGAL. Jornalabatalha@hotmail.com
 FREEDOM Vol.64 No.2, 25th Jan 2003, Anarchist Fortnightly, 84b Whitechapel
High St, London E17QX, ENGLAND Email:FreedomCopy@aol.com
 UMANITA NOVA Vol 89 No.1, Enrol 12th Jan 03, Settimanale Anarchico, C.50
Palermo 46, 10152, Torino ITALY. tel/fax (011) 857850 Mobile 338-6594361
email:fat@inrete.it
OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
EDITORS NOTE: WE HAVE A POLICY OF LISTING ALL PUBLICATIONS WE RECEIVE.  THE
STRATEGYı AND THE ON TARGET BULLETINı ARE PRODUCED BY WHAT COULD BE
DESCRIBED AS EXTREME RIGHT WING GROUPS BASED IN AUSTRALIA.  WE LEAVE IT UP
TO OUR READERS TO MAKE UP THEIR MINDS ABOUT PUBLICATIONS WE RECEIVE.
 THE STRATEGY Vol.12 No.133 Feb 2002, 334 Commercial Rd, Yarram 3971
Victoria AUSTRALIA Tel:03 51826002, Email:strategy@net.tech.co.com.au
 ON TARGET BULLETIN 17th Jan ı03, Supplement, G.P.O. Box 1052, Melbourne
3001, AUSTRALIA.  www.alor.org/

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ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS
TO THE PERSON WHO MAILED ME A DONATION RECENTLY ­ THANKS COULD YOU EMAIL ME,
BECAUSEI COULDN'T CONTACT THE EMAIL IN YOUR LETTER.
THIS WEEK'S STORIES: Grief, Anxiety & Confusion - We Must Be in
Church...Democracy Not Very High on the US Agenda...Threat To World Peace
>From Rogue State...Iraqi People to Be Liberated From Life Under Saddam - &
>From Life In General...Free Market Triumphs Again...Quotes of the Week.
The support of Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, George Pell, for an American
psychologist who claims homosexuality is a curable disorder will only result
in "untold grief, anxiety & confusion", according to the Aust Psychological
Society. Dr Peter Rudegeair claims that among other categories, those who
fail on the sporting field because of poor co-ordination are at risk of
turning to homosexuality later in life. Dr Rudegeair's visit to Aust has
been promoted by Archbishop Pell, as well as Melbourne Archbishop Denis
Hart. (Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 29, and Melbourne Community Voice, Jan
31).
A US national security adviser has implied that the US intends to set up a
dictatorship in Iraq after invading it. Condoleezza Rice told Egypt's
state-run Al-Ahram newspaper that, once Washington had taken control, it
hoped to install an administration made up of Iraqis currently living in the
US. "We believe that when Iraq has been liberated from this terrible regime,
the Iraqi people will be perfectly capable of running their own affairs,"
she said, "But there will be a certain moment, particularly while military
operations are still under way, during which weıll need to restore order &
US military forces will play a central role in that". (The Age, Feb 3).
An online poll by Time magazine, asking "which country poses the greatest
danger to world peace in 2003?", has so far given the following results:
North Korea 7.3 %, Iraq 8.4 %, The US 84.3 %, A total of 328726 votes were
cast. (Time magazine website poll, as of Feb 3).
British doctor's group Medact estimates that an invasion of Iraq would lead
to a total of 48,000 & 260,000 deaths. Civil war within Iraq could add
another 20,000 deaths.  Later deaths from adverse health effects could add a
further 200,000 deaths. These estimates donıt include the use of nuclear
weapons, which the US has refused to rule out using. US President George W.
Bush chose to outline his economic plan at a trucking company warehouse
while surrounded by cardboard boxes. The boxes were all stamped with "Made
in China", so workers preparing for the event taped over every Made in China
with a white sticker or packing tape. The President spoke in front of a
printed canvas backdrop with pictures of cardboard boxes stamped "Made in
America" in large black letters. (Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 24).
Quotes of the week: "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the
powerful & the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be
neutral." - Paulo Freire, educator (1921-1997) "It was a hard choice...we
think the price is worth it". - Madeleine Albright, then US ambassador to
the UN, when asked how she felt about the fact that sanctions had killed
more than 500,000 Iraqi children.
anarchist news service write to James, PO Box 503, Newtown NSW 2042 or email
james.hutchings@ato.gov.au contact us to get ATNTF emailed directly to you.
If you like All the News That Fits, forward it on. www.angry.at/politicians
- new anarchist website with fliers for download, contacts
www.angry.at/racists - Anarchist/anti-racist music site with free mp3s, Real
Audio, Real Video, internet radio, band interviews etc.   Also includes the
text of 'Escape', an anarchist novel -
www.geocities.com/skipnewborn/novel.doc, www.dolearmy.org - information for
unemployed people, .www.activate.8m.com - anarchist magazine aimed at
teenagers. All the News That Fits appears in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review
(www.vicnet.net.au/~anarchist - PO Box 20 Parkville VIC 3052) & The Ham
(www.theham.cat.org.au), as well as Melbourne Indymedia
(www.melbourne.indymedia.org).
Media outlets mentioned in All the News That Fits are sources - items are
not direct quotes from news media.  Background information may have been
gathered from sources in addition to media outlets cited.  Where no source
is cited, the information has been gathered from direct sources.

BAYSIDE ANARCHIST GROUP
PUBLIC DISCUSSION MEETING
WEDNESDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2003  -  7.30PM
TOPICS LOCAL ORGANISATION
General Agreement on Trade in Services
International Court and United States Refusal to Join
AT THE GREEN HOUSE
19 McCOMBE STREET, ROSEBUD (Mel Ref: 170A1)
(Approximately 80 kms from Melbourne G.P.O.)
Tea & Coffee provided.  Bring along food & drinks.  ALL WELCOME.

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK
Has been awarded to the corporate dominated media and the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for their inclusive, dynamic illuminating
analysis of whatıs happening in the world.  (Irony is lost on some people)

RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLION
Celebrate on the 3rd December 2003
The 3rd December 2003 marks the 149th Anniversary of the Eureka rebellion.
This year a federation of groups will be celebrating the anniversary at
Ballarat and around Australia.  If you wish to keep up with whatıs happening
or belong to a group that wants to affiliate with the organisation write to
us at P.O. Box 20, PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA for details about
affiliation.
Current affiliate groups:
**  ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE
**  LIBERTARIAN WORKERS FOR A SELF MANAGED SOCIETY
Groups that are considering affiliation:
**  BAYSIDE ANARCHIST GROUP
**  ITıS OUR ABC
**  PEOPLE AGAINST REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION
If you want to join the mailing list in 2003 and keep up to date with whatıs
happening, send us 10 ­ 50cent stamps

179 MEMBERS ­ 371 TO GO
BEFORE WE CAN APPLY TO REGISTER AS A FEDERAL POLITICAL PARTY
Politically manipulated and scorned?  Sick of being a peripheral player
every time a Federal election comes around, then join:-  VOTE INFORMAL
TODAY, DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW - a "political party" that is putting the
boot into the Australian Parliamentary Process.  Send a stamp self-addressed
envelope to
VOTE INFORMAL TODAY DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW
PO Box 20, Parkville. 3052. Melbourne. Australia Telephone (03) 9828 2856
(24 hour answering service).  We will send information about how to join
this unique 21st century Australian phenomena.  DON'T PUT IT OFF  JOIN THE
PUSH FOR CHANGE NOW.
Written and authorised by Joseph Toscano
(National Convenor 205 Nicholson St Footscray 3012  Melbourne Aust.)
Current membership 179.  We need 550 members to apply for registration as a
political party, so that members can stand at the Federal election in 2004
and show Australianıs that Parliamentary Democracy is nothing more than two
minutes of illusory power.

A DOLLAR A DAY
Increasing financial problems have forced us to review how The Anarchist
Media Instituteıs finances are raised.  Currently subscriptions and
donations only account for about 40% of the income necessary to cover our
costs.  To overcome this problem weıve launched a:-
SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE ~ "A DOLLAR A DAY" CAMPAIGN
We are looking for THIRTY People, interested in our activities, to pledge to
donate
A Dollar A Dayı for twelve months.
You can donate monthly or yearly.  Make out cheques and money orders to:-
Libertarian Workers and send to PO Box 20, Parkville. 3052. Melbourne.
Australia.
Those who pledge will receive a "I Saved The Anarchist Media Institute" A3
poster which you can frame and put up at work or home - A great talking
point if nothing else.  Weıve got the ideas and energy but we need your
financial assistance to keep going.  Go on, become one of the Magnificent
Thirty that saved the Anarchist Media Institute.
SIX READERS HAVE JOINED THE "DOLLAR A DAY" CLUB ­ 25 TO GO JOIN TODAY!!
EMPTY YOUR POCKETS OF LOOSE CHANGE & SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE

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.
 

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


 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 Self-Managed Society/Anarchist
Media Institute. 
All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists,
anarchist collectives and non-profit 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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