A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review Number 574 24th November ­ 30th November 2003

[Worker <a-infos-en@ainfos.ca>]

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THE CULTURE FOR PROFIT MOVEMENT
The commercial and cultural success of Australian Idol epitomises the
ephemeral nature of 21st century western culture.  Culture is no longer
an expression of people's lifestyle, interests, religion, political beliefs
and geography.  The universal penetration of a monopoly driven mass
media into almost every home in the west, has created the conditions
that allow culture to be manufactured for profit.
The customs and achievements of a people are reduced to a one
dimensional artificially created spectacle that is designed to extract
the maximum amount of profit from a passive population.  The
incestuous commercial relationships between the print, spoken and
visual mass media is used to create the illusion that what is happening
on the television screen is of vital importance to both the individual
and the community.

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

Culture for profit is not a new phenomenon.  Religious pilgrims have
through the ages had their pockets emptied by their religious leaders.
What is new is the replacement of a culture consciousness based on
human interaction and personal experience by an artificially
manufactured cultural consciousness that is designed to extract the
maximum amount of profit in the shortest timeframe.  The vacuous
nature of the Jerry Springer, Australian Idol experience replaces a
common cultural experience based on a shared history in the same
geographical location with a disposable one fits all McDonald cultural
experience.

The phenomenal success of the culture for profit movement is
dangerous, not only because it strips individuals of their humanity and
communities of common shared experiences based on reality.  It's
dangerous because it creates the conditions that allows people who
are living in the here and now, who have no shared cultural or
historical experiences to be manipulated and exploited by
governments and globally based trans-national corporations through a
fourth estate that no longer has the desire or ability to carry out its
historical investigative role.

KEEP UP THE POLITICAL PRESSURE

Senator Kerry Nettle, the Green's Health spokesperson, has been able
to put a spoke in Abbott's and Howard's Medicare minus package.
The Greens supported by the Labor Party, the Democrats and the
Independents in the Senate have agreed to hold a Senate Inquiry into
the Medicare minus package. Abbott, full of bravado, confident he had
the numbers in the Senate to push the bill through parliament before
Christmas, has hit the canvas for a nine count.

It seems that Howard's plans to take Medicare off the political
agenda, have come to nothing.  Kerry Nettle has given Australians
who are concerned about the dismantling of Medicare a few months to
lobby independent Senators and Democrats.  Although the final
decision seems a foregone conclusion, Senator Meg Lees and One
Nation Senator Len Harris, have both indicated they support the
Government's package and the Democrats seem keen to jump on the
Government's bandwagon.  The decision to hold a Senate Inquiry,
gives people time to place maximal political pressure on Meg Lees
and Len Harris to change their minds, it also buys them time to apply
political pressure on the two Tasmanian Independent Senator's Brian
Harradine and Shayne Murphy and the Australian Democrats.

Over the next three months Senator's Meg Lees, Brian Harradine,
Shayne Murphy, Len Harris and the seven Democrat Senators need to
be reminded that if they pass this legislation in the Senate they will be
committing political suicide.  This is one time it's important that people
write to, fax, email, telephone and arrange face to face meetings with
these Senators so they can voice their serious reservations about the
Howard government's Medicare minus package.

Without your participation in the political process, it's quite likely that
Howard and Abbott's Medicare bill will be passed in the Senate in
February. The bill has been temporarily derailed because of the
political pressure that you have been able to exert on the Australian
Democrats.  It can be defeated in February in the Senate if you
continue to apply political pressure on the Australian Democrats and
the Independents.

MANUFACTURING THE NEWS

The Herald Sun, Murdoch's flagship in Victoria, boasts it sells more
newspapers then any other paper in Australia and that over a million
people read the newspaper every day.  The Australian, the countries
only national newspaper, Murdoch's neo-conservative rag claims it
provides a comprehensive analysis about what's happening in
Australia.  On Monday a joint parliamentary committee that examined
the relationship between the three arms of government, Federal, State
and local, tabled a unanimous report that stated the country wasted
$20 billion (yes billion) a year cost shifting and duplicating services
between the three arms of government.

Staggering news in anybody's words.  Putting the figures in terms
people will find easier to digest, one in ten of every dollar that is
raised by taxation is wasted through cost shifting and duplication of
services.  Not one word in the Herald Sun and The Australian.  The
Herald Sun led with one of its fire and brimstone stories about the
Federal government wasting $40 million (yes million) paying private
law firms to argue its cases against asylum seekers in the courts.
What happened to this important news is a classical example of how
news is manufacturer in this country.

News is a commodity, it's bought and sold in a monopoly dominated
market. The corporate owned media and the government gelded ABC
act as gatekeepers where news is concerned.  Material is collected
through a variety of sources, it's filtered through the editorial process
and presented as issues of the day.  How the news is packaged and
presented and what news is brought to the public's attention is an
intensely political process.  The media's power doesn't lie in its ability
to tell people what to think, its power lies in its ability to set the
boundaries and limits on discussion by selecting what is and isn't
news.

What is an incredibly important story has slipped from view within 24
hours of a parliamentary report being released.  Other stories that fit
specific media outlets editorial policies will run for days.  The media is
not value free, even handed or even provides access to important
information.  The mass media manufactures consensus by distorting
reality to fit the editorial guidelines that those who own the specific
media outlets set.

TWENTY BILLION? YES TWENTY BILLION

Forget about the casino, Tattslotto and the pokies, the greatest game
on earth is happening between local State and Federal governments.
A Federal Parliamentary Committee report handed down on Monday
(which will be forgotten by Tuesday), stated that cost shifting
between the three tiers of government, costs the community near
$20billion a year.  Translated into language that everybody is familiar
with, $1 in $10 collected through the direct and indirect taxation
system is lost through cost shifting.

The health and welfare sector win the cost shifting contest hands
down, the argy-bargy that goes on between the three tiers of
government result in the loss of nearly $2 in every $1 that's spent on
the health care delivery sector.  The report highlights the inefficiency
of a system of government where all arms of government hold the
responsibility for the provision of the same services and the power to
level taxation.

The waste and inefficiency created by this system can be tackled in a
number of ways.  Local and State governments could be replaced by
regional governments.  These governments would have the power to
deal with the problems faced by people in a particular region.  The
central government would have the power to levy taxes, but would not
deliver services that could be provided by regional governments.

The manner in which funds, would be distributed to the regional
assemblies to provide the services required, would be determined by a
pre-arranged formula that has been determined by assembles and the
central government that takes into account the needs of the regions.
Restricting the power to levy tax on the central government and the
provision of services to regional governments, overcomes the
duplication of services and cost shifting that a three tier system of
government where all tiers levy taxes and provide services causes.

DISASTER!!

Poor Johnny Howard Australia's beloved Prime Minister, denied for
the first time since he has been elected Prime Minister.  John
Howard's political career has been built on treachery and his ability to
seise photo opportunities.  While stabbing his political colleagues in
the back, he has worked hard at cultivating the image that he is one of
the boys.  Unlike the silver bodgie, the former Prime Minister, Bob
Hawke, he has not been able to look the part leaning on the bar
downing an ale.  Our Prime Minister is more comfortable using
taxpayer's money to pay a wine expert to choose the right wines for
both Kirribilli House and the Lodge.  As far as honest John Howard is
concerned, if the taxpayer is going to pay for two houses and staff for
the Prime Minister and his family, they may as well pay for two wine
cellars.

John Howard has tried hard to create the image that his is 'a sporting
tragic'.  Flying the nationalist's, 'we're the best in the world' flag,
donning on the green and gold, he has developed the happy knack of
appearing in pictures at Australia's sporting triumphs.  To date the
Prime Minister's spin-doctors have been able to engineer their man in
the centre of the action.  Unfortunately this time, the Prime Minister's
gamble has not paid off.  The old dart (England to all those historical
tragics out in reader land) won the Rugby Union World Cup.  Imagine
the Prime Minister's disappointment when the Aussie, Aussie,
Aussies didn't make the grade and wiped England off the face of the
map.  Horror of horrors, John Howard has been denied the opportunity
of having his mug shot on every television show and newspaper in the
land.  The lad was devastated, the script had not gone according to
plan.  Faced with the prospect of handing out the medals, he did his
duty in an off-handed perfunctory manner.  Loses, winner's who cares,
what's important is John Howard's, moment in the sun, how dare these
Aussie wimps ruin his day.

Didn't they know that their sole function in life was to provide the
orgasmic backdrop for John Howard to strut his stuff so he could hob
nob with the common man.  Shame on those Aussie Rugby Union
players, they should apologise to the main man for causing him so
much grief, personal distress and embarrassment on the world stage.
Lucky for them they don't live in Saddam Hussein's Iraq if they did
they could have expected a little bit of physical rough stuff for failing
the leader.  Mind you I don't expect many, if any of them will receive
an Australian Honour or be invited to Kirribilli House or the Lodge for
their troubles.  In John Howard's world only those people who can help
him directly can expect to be rewarded.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.   ANARCHIST CULTURE, FACT OR FICTION?

A. Culture, unlike a chemical reaction doesn't just happen when you
add the right combination of chemicals together.  It evolves as a
consequence of the type of human interactions, institutions and
structures that develop in a community.  Culture is a work in progress,
it changes and evolves as a community changes and evolves.

Anarchists are not cultural relativists, they don't believe all cultures
are equally valid.  When an anarchist looks at a society's cultural
practices, they are looking for libertarian ­ (freedom loving)
elements within that culture.  Unlike religious and political
fundamentalists, anarchists don't believe they have to eradicate a
culture and replace it with a whole new set of parameters in order to
create an anarchist society.  Cultures have libertarian elements as
well as authoritarian elements within them.

Anarchists encourage people to strengthen the libertarian and weaken
the authoritarian elements within their cultural milieu.

The development of libertarian culture goes hand in hand with the
development of libertarian structures within a community.  As the
political and institutional structures change, cultural practices
change.  What was acceptable, even expected, will be replaced by
other cultural parameters as the political and social climate changes.
Cultural development is a dynamic process that reflects what is
happening within and to a community.  Imposing a whole new set of
cultural norms on people by violence, drives cultural practices
underground.  What at first may seem to be a cultural revolution, is in
fact little more than window dressing.

The collapse of the Soviet Empire after nearly 75 years of
authoritarian Leninist rule, resulted in an overnight cultural revolution.
People replaced the cultural trappings of 75 years of authoritarian rule
with the cultural practices that had been driven underground.  Whether
an anarchist society survives is intimately tied up with the ability of
that society to develop a libertarian culture that reflects the hopes,
aspirations and institutional forms of the new world they have created.

ACTION BOX
'REACTIVE ACTIVISM'

Emerging political and social movements are essentially reactive.
Look around you, look at the movements that are taking up your time,
the Iraqi war, free trade agreement, Medicare and a host of other
issues and you'll soon see that most participants in the movement are
reacting to government and corporate initiatives.  21st century
political activists are caught in a reactive treadmill opposing change,
not fighting for change.

As activists, we need to break out of the straight jacket we find
ourselves in and begin to initiate campaigns that go beyond merely
resisting change. The Medicare struggle is a classical example of the
limitations of reactive politics.  The Australian Labor Party is running
hard on the 'Save Medicare' issue.  To them, it's a matter of saving
what we have.  When 'Defend and Extend Medicare' was set up, it
was set up with the idea of extending the debate beyond one of
protection, what we had already achieved.  We wanted to extend the
principles that underpin Medicare to other areas of the health care
delivery system.

The 'Defend and Extend Medicare' struggle is both a reactive and
pro-active struggle.  It's much more difficult for the Government to
accommodate the demands of the 'Defend and Extend Medicare'
groups than it is for it to back off its plans to dismantle Medicare.  It's
important that the health care struggle is not solely fought on their
battleground.  We need to extend the struggle by extending the
demands of the groups we're working with, so that the Government is
forced to confront us on the battleground we have created. The
'Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion' struggle goes one
step further.  In this struggle, the 'Anarchist Media Institute' has set
the agenda, we are forcing other groups who are involved in the
celebrations to define themselves in terms of our campaign.  The
campaign has been designed in such a manner, it allows us to fully
participate in the debate and influence the type of celebrations that
are held and the way these celebrations are organised.  When you
become involved in an existing campaign or want to launch a new one,
it's important you're as pro-active as possible.  Reactive campaigns
force us to fight using their rules, pro-active campaigns force them to
fight using our rules.

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
'THE EUREKA SERIES' 'FOUR SLEEPS TO GO'

By the time you read this section of the 'Anarchist Age Weekly
Review' it will only be as few days before the 149th anniversary of the
Eureka rebellion.  Over the past few months, I've attempted to wet
your appetite for the celebrations by examining what I believe are the
most important elements of the Eureka rebellion ­ direct action,
direct democracy, solidarity, multiculturalism and racial and religious
tolerance. Hopefully you'll be able to join us at Ballarat from 4am to
4pm on Wednesday the 3rd December to participate in a series of
events that are designed to allow us to reclaim the radical spirit of the
Eureka rebellion and use that spirit to understand the present and
change the future.  In an era when public holidays are devoted to horse
races, aging monarchs, religious festivals and war hysteria, it's
important that we take the time to celebrate and reclaim our past from
those who refuse to acknowledge the importance of that past.

If you can't join us at Ballarat, take the day off and celebrate the day
with your family and friends.  Organise a public meeting, get into the
ear of a radio shock jock, tell people why you are celebrating.  The
anniversary of the Eureka Stockade isn't some dry historical event
that's being hijacked by politicians and business interests, it's much
more.  It's our day, it's a day that should be recognised, remembered
and celebrated with gusto by all of us.

As radicals, activists and anarchists, it's important that we celebrate
our 'feast days'.  There are far too few days that we can call our own.
To let these days slip away is to deny the importance of our past.  The
3rd December is a day to celebrate, when we come together to pay
homage to the past and use that past to re-fashion the future.

If you're thinking about going to the Eureka Stockade site in Ballarat
on Wednesday, stop thinking about it and start organising your trip to
Ballarat.  You have only 4 sleeps to go, maybe less before the 3rd
December comes around.  Join us and take part in one of the most
important days of the year.  Join us on Wednesday 3rd December at
the Eureka Stockade site and reclaim your history.

BOOK REVIEW
'FLY A REBEL FLAG ­ The Life and Times of Bill Morrow
1888-1980' by Audrey Johnson,
Penguin Books 1986, ISBN 0 1400 7708 1

Audrey Johnson has brought to life the times and thoughts of one of
those Australian men and women whose actions helped to fashion
that strong working class movement that won many of the rights that
Australian workers take for granted today.  Bill Morrow was a father,
husband, politician, union man, peace activist and rebel.

Audrey Johnson has pieced together Bill Morrow's life in this 300page
book. The events outlined in her biography of him were obtained by
direct face to face interviews with Bill.  The author also had almost to
60 years of his papers that were stored in the Fryer Library at the
University of Queensland to help her write her biography of Morrow.

Born at Rockhampton in Queensland in 1888, 3 years before the
shearer's strike at Barcaldine, Bill's life follows the pattern of many
other radical Australians.  The Trade Union movement and politics
take up much of his time.  Elected into Federal parliament as an ALP
Senator for Tasmania in 1947, he serves as a Senator until he resigns
from the ALP in1953.  Expelled from the Party, he enters a new more
vibrant phase of his life.

Joining the peace movement, he embarks on a 30year career as a
peace activist.  His new life allows him to enter Communist China in
1953, just 4 years after the Chinese Communists swept to power.
Dismissed as a dupe and apologist by conservative Australia, his
Australian passport is stripped away from him to stop his international
work as a peace activist. The major problem I have with Johnson's
biography of Morrow is that although I learn what the man did, I never
quite get a glimpse of the man himself ­ his personal strengths, his
weaknesses, his victories and his defeats. 'Fly A Rebel Flag' is an
interesting overview of a radical's life but not a gripping yarn.
Considering Bill Morrow had 92 years to make his mark, I expected a
little bit more colour and action in his biography.

Thanks to Charles from Korumburra, Victoria for providing me with a
review copy of 'Fly A Rebel Flag' by Audrey Johnson.  If you're
interested in reading Bill Morrow's biography try your local library or a
2nd hand bookshop.  If all else  fails, give Penguin Books Australia a
tingle, if you're computer literate email them for information about
where you can purchase the book.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION

Green blades of grass punctuate white concrete vista.  The sun, the
wind and the rain conspire to destroy humanity's monument to itself.
Acres of white glistening concrete, criss-crossed by turfs of green
grass, stand testimony to humanity's inability to keep nature at bay.
Wherever you turn your gaze, nature mocks our attempts to control
and subdue it.

Bilbies survive in remote junkyards saved from extinction by the
protection that human waste has created.  Feral cats and dogs,
European introduced species, have been denied their kill by rusted car
bodies and steel sheets that have created the environment bilbies
need to survive the European conquest of the world's oldest
continent.  Blades of grass seemingly grow out of concrete, birds give
life to the concrete by dropping their seeded laden guano in
microscopic crevices that are bathed in sunlight and watered by the
rain.

Deep in South American jungles, stone cities are hidden under layers
of vegetation.  Pathways created by men and women have been
replaced by overgrown matted jungle.  Lost cities are rediscovered,
fragments studied and then lost again.  Civilisations are buried under
the Middle Eastern sands, mocking the efforts of those who built
them, to live forever. Cemeteries, avenues of honour, war memorials,
weather, collapse and disappear from sight.  The war dead of one age,
share the same millisecond of consciousness with today's war dead.
Nothing escapes the wrath of the time Gods, everything returns to the
dust it comes from.  Post modern dreams share the same fate as the
Eolithic Age, flint shards metamorphose into computer chips,
disintegrate and blow away.

The Voyager drifts past Pluto into the Milky Way, postponing its
dance with its own mortality.  Metaphors for time, space and eternal
life, battle with the realities of a single solitary seed resting in the
guano of a feathered flying machine.  Messiahs come and go
meritorious, genetically engineered mermaids gently place
mesembryanthemums behind their ears.  Metaphysical truths try and
fail to replace the certainties of death with the nature of existence,
truth and knowledge.  Oblivion our one and only common experience.

STOP PRESS
ONE NATION, NOW THE GREENS!

The Murdoch Press has recently turned its attention to the Greens.
Concerned that they may be able to secure at least one Senate seat
from each Australian State, the Murdoch Press assisted by corporate
owned radio and television interests, have put the Greens in their gun
sights.  A disinformation campaign that belittles their parliamentary
representatives and dismisses their policies as dangerous pie in the
sky gobble-gook has just got off the ground.

The only problem for the corporate owned media, is that most people
who vote Green don't believe one word that's printed or spoken in the
corporate owned media.  The campaign is not directed at traditional
Green voters, it's directed at disillusioned voters who are toying with
the idea of voting Green.  The Greens are beginning to attract votes
from both the Muslim community as well as disaffected traditional
Labor Party and Democrat voters.  Faced with the prospect of a
sizeable Green presence in the Senate and a temporary halt to
business as usual, the corporate owned media is about to do what it
does best.  It will attempt to destabilise and destroy political forces
that don't accept the two-party dictatorship that controls politics in
this country.

The Murdoch Press and the rest of their corporate mates have a very
long history of trying to destroy and marginalise popular movements.
The Trade Union movement and the extra parliamentary Left,
especially those that advocate direct action, know what happens
when they try to organise outside what is considered to be traditional
political activity in this country.  As long as people are willing to
accept the premise that parliamentary democracy is a contest
between the Coalition and the Labor Party and as long as these
Parties are willing to modify their policies to suit corporate interests,
they're allowed to play the political game.

Once their policies challenge corporate interests or people use extra
parliamentary means or form new political parties that attract a
popular following, the corporate owned media and the government
gelded ABC are always happy to marshal the considerable forces at
their disposal to denigrate these groups, policies, objectives and
representatives.

Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers For A Self-Managed
Society.

FILM AND VIDEO REVIEW
STEAL THIS MOVIE
USA 2000. 107 Min Directed by Robert Greenwald.

(Screened at Radio 3CR benefit & launch of Revenge of the
Troublemaker booklet at Victorian Trades Hall Council on November
1st 2003 which raised $100 + for the 3CR SUWA show's bills thanks
to all who attended !)

  Abbie Hoffman biography. Abbie is played by Vincent D'Onofrio
(from TV cop show). He is the author of Steal This Book, Woodstock
nation & a founder of The Youth Int'l Party. Mixed footage of the
levitation of the Pentagon in 1967, Chicago Democratic Convention
police riot in 1968; the Pigasus for President stunt & other
re-enactments & speeches. The political show trial of the "Chicago 8"
where Black Panther Bobby Seale was gagged & chained to a chair
for 3 days is glimpsed. (The DVD version has additional interviews
with Bobby Seale & Anita Hoffman & other activists). The film also
looks at COINTELPRO the FBI managed counter-intelligence program
to harass activists in the anti-war & progressive movements. Abbie
was so effectively targeted that he was forced "underground" on the
run from a police entrapment drug bust. Other Yippies carried on
agitating but some became career "motivators" like Jerry Rubin (who's
hit by a car & killed). Abbie suffered from manic depression which
escalated when he couldn't attend his fathers funeral & had very
limited contact with his partner Anita & son "america". He reinvented
himself as Barry Freed & became active in the Save the River
campaign (St Lawrence) which stopped pollution. Abbie gave himself
up to the Courts & was kept out of jail by his friend & lawyer. His last
activity was to be involved in speaking out to defend a new generation
of young anti-apartheid & Latin American solidarity activists. Abbie
died of a drug overdose but his son & others claim he was murdered.
The film was made with the assistance of Anita Hoffman who died of
breast cancer in 1998. Some areas which the film misses are other
Yippies like Phil Ochs the singer & Aaron Kay who re launched the
"pie a politician in the face" movement of today's Biotic Baking
Brigade. Controversial incidents like Pete Townsend of the English
rock band The Who assaulting Abbie on stage at Woodstock are also
missing. Still with the time allowed they do a good job. Excellent too is
the sound track with original songs & covers by diverse artists from
today like Ani Di Franco.

Entertainment **** Politics **** Music ****

  Squatters & Unwaged Workers Airwaves show (as denounced in
the Herald Sun on Melbourne Cup Day !) every Friday 5.30pm 6.30pm
on Radio 3CR 855 am dial. see www.geocities.com/squattersairwaves
<http://www.geocities.com/squattersairwaves> contact:
squattersairwaves@hotmail.com

TRIVIA: Chicago 8 Conspiracy Trial a TV documentary drama play
detailing the repressive event. Weather Underground a recently made
documentary about the Maoist (Marxist-Leninist) ie."no-humour"
bombers.

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK

BULLETIN OF THE KATE SHARPLEY LIBRARY, No.36 October
2003, BM Hurricane, London WCIN 3XX, ENGLAND,
www.katesharpleylibrary.net

DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL Our debt stands at $999.75

Our debt stands at $999.75.  It seems I spoke too soon, the flow of
funds that we have received in the past 2 weeks seems to have dried
up.  Whether the Anarchist Age Weekly Review is suspended for 3 or
4 months to mop up the debt or whether it continues to publish,
depends on the flow of funds in the next 3 weeks.  Subscriptions and
donations made out to LIBERTARIAN WORKERS should be sent to
P.O. BOX 20 PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA.

Subscriptions 10 issues = $10, 50issues = $50.  If you're sending $20
or less, send 50cent stamps.

Debt 26-11-2003            $999.75


ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS

Australia is facing a crisis in child health, according to doctors. Frank
Oberkaid, from the Centre for Community Health at Royal Childrens
Hospital, said many problems are increasing including depression,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, child abuse, extreme anxiety,
behavioural problems, learning difficulties & drug & alcohol abuse.
Professor Fiona Stanley from the Aust Research Alliance for Children
& Youth said the reasons incl the breakdown of family & community
structures, as well as parents facing longer hours & greater stress at
work. (Source: The Age)

Child abuse costs Aust about $5 billion per year, according to a new
study. The study by the Kids First Foundation & the Abused Child
Trust found about 387,000 children were abused & neglected in the
2001-2 financial year. This resulted in 62 child deaths, 15 child
suicides, 68 children permanently injured & 12,900 children injured &
needing medical attention. Dr David Wood from the Kids First
Foundation said abuse rates were estimated to have increased about
10% per year since 2001-2. Dr Wood also said child abuse couldn't be
fought effectively until it "become[s] a priority for people who are in a
position to make a difference". The figure of $5 billion takes into
account medical & psychological treatment & costs associated with
suicide & crime by abused children, among others. (Source: The Age)

Snr managers of the Vic public service spent over $125,000 of public
money on conferences at luxury resorts in only 3 months. From March
& May, managers in 5 govt depts arranged 10 'overnight planning
meetings' at resorts such as Lindenwarrah, directly opposite Brown
Bros Winery. A spokesperson for the Premiers Dept claimed the dept
unlike others, had staff pay back the costs of their alcohol, however
an email from the dept specifically asked Lindenderry to "to please
ensure that all meals & drinks aren't itemised on the bill & are all
called meals". The Vic Labor govt was very critical of public service
credit bills under the ex Liberal govt of Jeff Kennett. The expenses
were all within existing spending guidelines. The State govt says that
it's now tightened up these guidelines. (The Age) The real
unemployment rate is about double the rate shown on the official
figures, according to a new report. The report by the Australian
Council of Social Services said people weren't counted as unemployed
if they worked as little as 1 hour a week. This means there are many
people who aren't working enough to earn a basic income, but are still
not counted on the official unemployment figures. People who've given
up looking for work are also not counted in the official figures.
(Source: Aust Council of Social Services) QUOTE OF THE
MOMENT: "low-paying & dead-end work". (The latest edition of the
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines 'McJobs').

HELP US ­ AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS!!

Michael Smith, a long term supporter, has offered to make Anarchist
World This Week T-Shirts and fridge magnets ­ yes fridge magnets
­ which you can put up next to your 'Be alert ­ Don't be alarmed'
government fridge magnet (only kidding).

Every cent earned will go towards clearing the debt. FRIDGE
MAGNET $5.00 ­ (Send a book of 50cent stamps) T-SHIRT ­
$25.00 Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large LONG SLEEVE SHIRT
$30.00 ­ Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large  (both $25 & $30
includes postage in Australia) money order, cheque made out to
LIBERTARIAN WORKERS, P.O. BOX 20, PARKVILLE 3052,
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. Don't forget to include size ­ cost
includes postage within Australia. T-Shirts are made by an Australian
company that has signed the FAIR WEAR agreement. (Workers are
paid award wages) NOTE:  IT WILL TAKE 2 TO 3 WEEKS TO
PROCESS YOUR ORDER.

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 MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK

Has been awarded to all those commercial and government interests
that want to hijack the 149th anniversary celebrations surrounding the
Eureka Stockade rebellion that will be held in Ballarat on Wednesday.
the 3rd December


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)

RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLION

JOIN US AT BALLARAT AT THE EUREKA STOCKADE SITE
CNR STAWELL & EUREKA STREET, BALLARAT From 4AM TO
4PM ON WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003 CELEBRATE THE
149TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EUREKA REBELLION RECLAIM
YOUR HISTORY Celebrate the important elements of the Eureka
rebellion DIRECT DEMOCRACY DIRECT ACTION SOLIDARITY

'We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and
fight to defend our rights and liberties'

PROGRAM

    * 4.00AM ­ 6.00AM ­ Gathering at Eureka Park to mark the
149th anniversary of the battle on the site and at the time it occurred
    * 6.00am ­ 10.00am ­ Breakfast Eureka Hall (Bring own food &
drinks)
    * 10.00am ­ 11.00am ­ Radio broadcast across Australia
involving the participants at the site on the National Community Radio
Satellite
    * 11.30am ­ 1.00pm ­ March from Eureka Park to Bakery Hill to
re-affirm the Eureka Oath.  March back to Eureka Park
    * 1.00pm ­ 4.00pm ­ Lunch & conversation (bring own food &
drinks)

Reclaim your history, use that history to change the future. JOIN US
AT EUREKA PARK / EUREKA HALL. (CNR STAWELL &
EUREKA STREET, BALLARAT) From 4AM TO 4PM ON
WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003

EMAIL MADNESS Have access to cyberspace?  Want to help us
save on printing & postage costs?  Then why don't you receive the
AAWR by email? INTERESTED??  Then email us at
anarchistage@yahoo.com & arrange to have the weekly emailed to
you.

A DOLLAR A DAY

Increasing financial problems have forced us to review how The
Anarchist Media Institute's finances are raised.  Currently
subscriptions and donations only account for about 40% of the income
necessary to cover our costs.  To overcome this problem we've
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 Day' 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.
We've 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.

SEVEN READERS HAVE JOINED THE 'DOLLAR A DAY' CLUB
­ 23 TO GO. JOIN TODAY!! EMPTY YOUR POCKETS OF
LOOSE CHANGE & SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE

188 MEMBERS ­ 362 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 188.  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 Australian's that Parliamentary Democracy is nothing
more than two minutes of illusory power.

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 CENTUR


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