A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No.562 1st September ­ 7th September 2003

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

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WHOA!! How many times have you put your trust in one of the countries political
parties to do the right thing by you?  The political landscape is littered
with examples of the deals political parties will enter into with the
government of the day.  The introduction of the G.S.T., the partial sale of
Telstra and the passage of the A.S.I.O. bill are just a few examples of what happens
when political parties sacrifice their principles for the sake of political expediency.
Every time I'm forced to spend a weekend doing the necessary paperwork to
fill out a G.S.T. form, I'm reminded of the duplicity of the Democrats under
their old leader Meg Lees.  Every time I think of the time, effort and
energy that went into trying to convince the A.L.P. to block the Howard
government's security bills in parliament, I remember the duplicity of a
Labor Party that long ago forgot about its origins and principles.  The next
big issue facing Australians is the dismantling of Medicare, one of this
countryıs most important social innovations.

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

Once again we find ourselves at the mercy of the Greens, Democrats and the
Australian Labor Party.  This time the shoe is on the other foot; the
opposition parties are keen to build traction on any issue they can.
Medicare seems to be the only trump card in their political ladder.  Even in
this case the chances that the Democrats or the A.L.P. will strike a deal
with the Howard government on the future of Medicare is real, very real.
Whether they strike a deal or not will depend on the level of opposition
they face.  Any political party that decides to strike a deal and allow the
passage of the governmentıs Medicare through the Senate needs to understand
it faces political oblivion at the next Federal election.

They need to understand there is no going back. Any political party that
passes the Howard governmentıs Medicare package in the Senate has signed
away its future.  Medicare is not up for negotiation; Medicare is here to
stay and expand.  Any political party that refuses to acknowledge this fact
faces public odium and political extinction.

FREEDOM WITHOUT POWER
Lindsay Tannerıs (1/9) thoughts on post modern life highlights the political
bankruptcy of the leading lights of the Alternative Liberal Party (A.L.P.),
a political party that long ago abandoned any pretence of following a
political program that has anything to do with the delivery of political and
social justice.  His diatribe against the left for not involving themselves
in the major issues of our times is both disingenuous and wrong.

While the Lindsay Tanners of the world undertook the long march through the
institutions, capturing positions of power and quenching the fire in their
bellies by exercising political power, thousands of others on the Left have
pursued a less glamorous role tackling the social problems that alienation
and powerlessness, not freedom, have created.  The current political and
social wilderness is not a consequence of the struggle for personal freedom;
itıs a consequence of a political system that rewards those that wield
power, manipulate the truth and exploit those around them.

The alienation, powerlessness and personal despair that has become a
metaphor for Australian life is a consequence of a daily dose of half truths
fed to Australians ­ the growing rhetoric reality gap reinforces peopleıs
feelings of powerlessness and despair.  The political process long ago
ceased to be a vehicle by which people improved their lives. Major
participants in the political process have become the problem; they do not
seem to be able to offer any solutions to the current malaise.

The John Howards and the Lindsay Tanners of the world have succeeded in
creating a political process that reduces political participation to the
impotent act of casting a ballot every three years.  Tannerıs diatribe
against the left for the failings of a Labor Party, that long ago ceased to
represent the interests of anybody but itself, is in reality a diatribe
against the party itself.  Although the A.L.P. long ago lost its way, the
left is still there tackling the social issues of the day, organising,
protesting, linking the question of alienation with the growing sense of
powerlessness in the Australian community.  The difference between Lindsay
Tanner and the extra-parliamentary left, lies in the prominence a fourth
estate bereft of ideas gives to the thoughts of those who work up the right
channels in comparison to those who fight the growing sense of alienation
and powerlessness outside these channels.

"AUSTRALIANS FOR HONEST GOVERNMENT"
Itıs comforting to know that Tony Abbott was so concerned about honest
government, that he was willing to organise a slush fund to fight One Nation
through the courts.  It seems that John Howard and his man in Queensland not
only wanted to steal Paulineıs clothes for their electoral campaign, they
also wanted to lock her away so that they could continue to wear them
without her making embarrassing noises about how the Liberal Party stole her
policies ­ not that the Liberal Party is adverse to a little bit of legal
action if they believe people are challenging their divine right to
represent the conservative side of politics.

The West Australian branch of the Australian Democrats were targeted by some
of the same chaps who seem to be involved in Australians for Honest
Government.  Anybody who believed that Tony Abbott was a grey arsed
bureaucrat with no sense of humour has to reassess their thoughts on the
man.  Setting up an organisation called Australians for Honest Government
was a stroke of genius.  Who would have believed it?  The political party
that has made lying a fine Australian art form, interested in honest
government? Tony Abbott is a mast of irony.

The frightening part about this whole sorry business is that they have got
away with it.  Irrespective of what happens, Hanson and Ettridge will be
cooling their heels in jail for a long time for having the audacity to
question the idea that politics in this country is the preserve of the two
major political parties.  They are now paying the price for their challenge.
The electoral laws in this country are designed to channel votes to one of
the major political parties.  Compulsory preferential voting at the Federal
level reduces the political process to a two horse race.  Irrespective of
what we think about One Nation's policies, the reality is that the Howard
government stole their colours to dress their political horse.

They have successfully melded one Nation policies to their own, winning
election after election by manipulating the truth to suit their short term
political aims.  The jailing of Hanson and Ettridge may be just the catalyst
all those One Nation voters who voted for the Howard government need to cast
both Howard and Abbott into the political wilderness.

TWO ABCs
The case of suspended ABC broadcaster Stephen Crittenden highlights the
extraordinary control ABC management has over the political lives of ABC
salaried staff.  While ABC contract workers are able to wax lyrical about
the issues of the day, full-time staff have to pander to the idiosyncrasies
of a bureaucracy that keeps its staff on a short intellectual leash.

Crittendenıs case highlights that censorship continues to be a significant
issue in the ABC.  Senator Alstonıs lack of comment about Crittendenıs
predicament reinforces the perception that Alston is very happy to keep ABC
staff muzzled.  His concerns centre around the fact that ABC staff have
produced and continue to produce independent news and analysis, not that
they face internal censorship.  Those staff on short-term contracts are not
as free as they think they are to pursue careers outside the ABC.  Those
that open their mouth too often, soon find that their contracts somehow
donıt seem to be renewed.

Contrary to Alstonıs lament about radical commentary in the ABC, the reality
is that the ABC is a hotbed of conservative views.  Those that stray outside
the well-worn path soon find that their services are no longer required.
Staff that have presented programs for years are moved to dead end office
jobs once they begin to rattle their chains a little too loudly.  Censorship
is an integral facet of life at the ABC.  Crittendenıs suspension is not
that unusual.  Once presenters rattle a few too many chains, they find their
services are no longer required by ABC management.  Itıs very difficult to
present opinions that stray outside the boundaries of a predetermined set of
ideas.

Straying outside that box is a recipe for death by a thousand cuts.
Irrespective of whether Crittenden has returned to radio land, the reality
is the same.  Those who buck the system know what the consequences are, and
thatıs why self-censorship plays such an important role in the culture of
the ABC.

DESPAIR?
We live in the greatest country on earth!!  With effort and hard work you
can be whatever you want to be!!  We live in a democratic society!!  We live
in an egalitarian community!!  Sounds good doesnıt it.  Sounds almost as
good as living in Stalinist North Korea.  For a society where so many live
so well, why does almost every social indicator tell another story?

One of the major paradoxes about living in Australia is the ever widening
rhetoric reality gap that exists between those who wield power and control
wealth, and those who have become disenfranchised by a system that promises
so much but delivers so little.  Life for an increasing number of people has
no meaning beyond the everyday struggle for economic and personal survival.
The Nationıs soul has been reduced to an economic formula.  Family and
personal life has become a metaphor for hastily engineered encounters
between individuals whose major concerns are economic, not personal.

Uncertainty has become the mantra of the day: uncertainty about our work,
our family life, our personal relationships, the countryıs institutions and
the political process.  Cynicism has become a byword for post-modern
post-industrial Australia.  While national wealth soars, national well-being
and that sense of satisfaction with life that we all crave for eludes us at
both the individual and the community level.

Individual fulfilment has been sacrificed on the alter of mammon.  Our sense
of self worth has become a byword for economic success.  Fear, uncertainty,
insecurity and hopelessness are emotions that dominate everyday life.  Life
itself has been reduced to an economic blueprint thatıs rubber stamped by a
political process in which our representatives represent the interests of
those who wield power, not the people they supposedly represent.

The good thing about this growing rhetoric reality gap is that more
Australians are beginning to realise the dominant paradigms in Australian
society are an illusion.  They are rejecting the lives that have been
planned for them by a society that values economic wealth above all else.
More and more Australians are downsizing their economic aspirations and are
marching to a tune that fulfils their needs, not the needs of those
political, cultural and economic gurus who have promised them the world, but
have only succeeded in generating individual despair and community angst.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.  WHAT ROLE DOES INHERITANCE PLAY IN AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY?
A.  It would be logical to think that in a society where property is held in
common, that the death of an individual would result in the return to the
community of any property they held.  Unfortunately reality is a little bit
more difficult than theory and some property has an inherent value that is
obvious to those who are familiar with the importance of that article to the
person who died.
A pair of knitted baby bootees may be the only record a sibling may have of
a brother or sister who died in infancy, to that person the bootees have a
far greater value than the time and energy that was used to make them.
Property in an anarchist society, like any other society, may have an
inherent value that far outstrips its economic value.  Property in an
anarchist society is divided into personal property and property that is
held in common.  Personal property is defined as those everyday things that
we accumulate over a lifetime that have specific value to us, photographs,
jewellery, clothes, furniture etc.  Other assets that we use in an anarchist
society are only ours while we use them house, car, boat etc.  Itıs possible
the use of these articles is already the subject of a roster system.
Individuals can through a will bequeath their personal property to whoever
they believe will get most value out of it, all other property used by the
person who died will revert back to the common community pool.  Although the
person may be able to indicate how they would like that property to be
reassigned, what eventually happens to the property will be determined by
need not by the individualıs wishes.
Inheritance is one important mechanism by which power and wealth is kept in
the hands of those who already wield power.  Limiting inheritance rights in
an anarchist community to immediate personal effects satisfies an
individualıs longing to retain material that reminds someone of somebody who
has died.  Ensuring the rest of the property used by that person returns
back to the common pool allows that property to be utilised to satisfy
community and individual need not increase individual wealth.

ACTION BOX
  "FOCUS"
Anybody whoıs been involved in a campaign will know the competing forces at
work within that campaign.  You have to deal with the police and the
organisations and government departments that youıre struggling against as
well as factions within the organisation youıre involved in.  Itıs very easy
in such a situation to lose focus about what you want to achieve.
What you may want to achieve isnıt necessarily the same point your fellow
travellers want to achieve.  The greatest danger faced by an emerging mass
movement is its hijacking by outside forces who treat issues as recruitment
opportunities.  Itıs important that anarchists and autonomists involved in
mass movements try to keep the organisation as wide open as possible.  The
greater the level of participation, the easier it is to become involved at
the organisational level, the less likelihood that an emerging mass movement
will be taken over by the midwives of State or corporate capitalism.
You need to remember that you may have to walk down a dead end or round in
circles to achieve what you want to achieve.  What may be glaringly obvious
to you, may not be obvious to anyone else.  In these situations, itıs better
to take two steps backwards than lose the plot, spit the dummy, walk out and
lose what influence you may have in the movement.  Always keep the structure
the group is working with, uppermost in your mind.  If youıre working via a
delegate structure, then make sure the delegate has the mandate of the group
they represent.  Also be very specific about the decision making process
used at the groupıs delegate meeting.  Never lose sight of what you hope to
achieve both in long and short term.  As soon as youıve become overwhelmed
by the process youıve lost the game.  The process by which you hope to
achieve your aims always takes secondary place to the aims themselves.  When
the process becomes more important than the vision, itıs time to move over
to another project.

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
"TALKIES IN MELBOURNE TOWN"
On the 22nd of February 1929, movie goers jammed 167 Collins Street,
Melbourne to hear the first Œtalkı film publicly screened in Australia.
Interestingly, one of the first films to be screened was a film of the
Italian dictator Mussolini addressing the American public.  Only around
8,000 Italians had migrated to Australia before Mussolini seized power in
1922.  Seven years later, around 20,000 Italian refugees had made their way
to Australia.
The Italian community was bitterly divided into those that supported
Mussolini, the first branch of the Italian Fascist Party was formed in
Melbourne in 1924 and the Italian refugees who had fled Mussoliniıs Italy,
who tended to live in boarding houses in the inner city.  The Matteotti Club
named after an Italian parliamentarian murdered by Mussolini, became a
centre for a vigorous Italian anti-fascism movement that disrupted any
activities organised by the Italian ambassador or the fascists in Australia.
In 1929 Mussolini and the fascists were looked upon favourably by elements
of the Australian government and the ruling class, while the members of the
Matteotti Club were considered to be dangerous radicals.  The backbone of
the anti-fascist movement in Australia involved a number of Italian
anarchists in exile.  One of them had been involved in an unsuccessful
attempt to assassinate Mussolini in Rome.
Members of the Matteotti Club crowded into the theatre to hear the voice of
the very man who had forced them to flee their homes.  When the film was
shown, a murmur went round the crowd, it was impossible to hear Il Duces
dulcet tones.  When he began to speak in Italian, his words were met with a
litany of abuse from the crowd.  A Œtalkieı which showed King George opening
the Tyne Bridge calmed down the crowd and the night did not end in the
inevitable violence that occurred when Matteotti Club members ran into
representatives of the Italian Fascist government in Australia.
SOURCE OF MATERIAL FOR THE ARTICLE:
Chapter 15 ­ Anti-Fascist Protest, ŒRadical Melbourne ­
  A Secret Historyı, by Jeff & Jill Sparrow,
The Vulgar Press 2001, ISBN 0957735243.
The book is available for AUD$45.00 from The New International Bookshop,
Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street, Carlton, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA.

  BOOK REVIEW
  "AS IT WAS"
  Bruce Beaver 1979, 1987 Edition,
  University of Queensland Press, ISBN 0702212792
Bruce Beaver is able to poignantly exercise the ghosts of his childhood and
adolescence in verse, poetry and words.  In a little over 100pages, he lays
bare a life thatıs both pedestrian and amazing.  Happy snaps punctuate the
pages with the bodies of people whose souls are explored in the novel.
Descending into adolescent madness, he tries to kill himself on more than
one occasion.
This is the story of an Australia that has long moved on.  People trying to
battle with economic depression, war and the inadequacies of their own
failed relationships.  Men trapped with their mates in pubs that sell
oblivion, S.P. bookmakers, the previous generation hosting the current.  His
words both a weapon and a balm, stripping, laying bare then applying a salve
on the unconscious, trying to make sense of something that means everything
to the author and nothing to us.
Growing up in Manly wasnıt just crowded houses and overcrowded backyards,
schools that had too many pupils and anger filled bedrooms.  Every child had
a country uncle, a kindly aunt, school holidays were crowded with
expeditions to some relativeıs farm.  The labour of the inner cityıs young,
an integral component of their daily practices.  A simpler time, animals,
girls, fruit and vegetable picking, back breaking work, a few bob in your
pocket, another year gone.  Cousins become friends, playing in the mud,
chasing chooks, making pets of the farm horses.
Bruce Beaver carefully evokes childhood memories, tears off their wings and
crushes them underfoot.  Reality destroys the fantasy.  This is an
extraordinary tale of childhood and adolescence, a tale of a middle
Australia that struggled for its moment in the sun.  This is a book that
deserves the accolades it has received.  If you want to get a hold of a
copy, try the University of Queensland Press or your local library.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
Fifty, maybe a little older, assured black ankle boots, black dress,
ubiquitous black bag placed between her feet, she stood 3 possibly 4 feet
from the counter.  Square glasses, half smile verging on a smirk.  The old
Chinese shopkeeper, white hair framing a lined face was about to meet his
match.  Sheıd been wandering round the shop for 10 minutes, picking up a $10
mass produced cloth bag when she came across the mother load, a large brown
pot, filled with about 60 white scrolls, each individually tied in a ribbon.
She picked one out, untied it, rolled it out half way, peered at it, rolled
it back and placed it back in the pot.  The little man behind the counter
couldnıt contain himself, he gesticulated at her, making signs that she
needs to tie up the scroll she had just looked at.  She stares at him,
realises what he wants, picks it out of the pot, reties it and puts it back.
She picks out another scroll, looks at it, ties it up, puts it back, her
half smirk turning to a half smile.  Sheıs on a mission.  Nothing can stop
her.  She begins her odyssey.  Sheıs decided to look at each and every
scroll.  The old man puts his head in his hands and waits.  He barks at her
every time she forgets to retie a scroll, she reties it holding it up for
him to see before she puts it back.
She moves from the coloured scrolls to calligraphy scrolls, her excitement
is palpable.  She rushes over to our friend to find out what it all means.
In the great Moomba tradition (up your bum), he manufactures some story that
satisfies her curiosity but that has nothing to do with whatıs really on the
scrolls.  Scroll after scroll after scroll, people want to get past, she
stands her ground, tying, untying, looking, touching.  Heıs given up, heıs
decided to ignore her, sheıll go away, he hopes.  She finally finds one she
likes, bowls up to the counter, the half smirk has turned to a smile.  The
customer from hell has come to pay her dues on the altar of Mammon.  Little
did I know, little did he know, she hasnıt any money in her purse.  She
gesticulates widely, making signs sheıs going to the automatic teller.
Leaving the shop with her plastic fantastic in hand, she moves on to the
next unsuspecting specialty shop.

STOP PRESS
WHATıS GOING ON IN IRAQ?
The United Nations one day, Ayatollah Mohammad Baquer al-Hakim and his
fellows the next.  Terror is alive a well in Iraq.  The same slow spiral of
violence that greeted the Russian occupation of Afghanistan is now following
the United States occupation of Iraq.  Sunni - Shiite rivalry is just one of
the many factors thatıs involved in the slow disintegration of civil society
in Iraq.  Something is going on, nobody seems to have a handle on what it
is, let alone have any idea about what can be done about it.
The power vacuum that resulted as a consequence of the collapse of the Baath
Party and Saddam Husseinıs military machine continues to grow.  The US
military administration is seen as an occupying force, its troops are being
targeted by remnants of the Baath Party, religious fundamentalists and an
emerging resistance to the foreign occupation of Iraq.  Terror,
indiscriminate terror aimed at any organisation that is seen to be
collaborating with the occupying forces seems to be the latest tactic that
is being used in Iraq.
Ayatollah al-Hakim led a faction of the Shiite community that was willing to
reach an accommodation with the occupying forces.  The UN was willing to
give legitimacy to the US occupation, both organisations have been violently
targeted.  The lesson is very clear, collaborators irrespective of whether
they are local people or foreign aid agencies are all seen as legitimate
targets in the current climate.  What little goodwill the US enjoyed in Iraq
is rapidly evaporating.  Security is becoming the key issue.  The US led
occupation forces cannot provide security in a hostile environment.
Rumsfeld planned to use Iraqıs oil wealth to pay for reconstruction.  As the
level of sabotage increases and the chances of exporting oil decreases
dramatically, Rumsfeldıs plans are in tatters.
The people of Iraq are an intelligent, well educated population.  They
expect access to gas, electricity, telephones and demand security.  It seems
that the Coalition of the willing invasion of Iraq has done what even the 10
year war between Iraq and Iran and the 15 years of UN security sanctions
couldnıt do, that is bring the country to its knees, destroying its
institutions and reduce its people to a nation of scavengers and beggars.

Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers
for a Self-Managed Society.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
FROM THE ŒATNTFı ARTICLES
" Ordinarily, our boats patrolled Vietnam's rivers in pairs. But on this
night we had several teams operating together as we launched the Pentagon's
latest ingenious scheme for winning the war in the Mekong Delta. The concept
was simple enough: instead of surprising people with conventional gunfire
during raids, the boats would first set the houses & buildings on fire with
bows & arrows. The brass called this early version of 'shock & awe'
Operation Flaming Arrow. Of course, the flimsy huts burned like matchbooks,
leaving the families homeless & destitute. The next day, civil action teams
of GIıs would arrive bearing sheets of corrugated tin for new roofs & bags
of rice to help the villagers get started again. There would also be bars of
Dial soap & clothing from church groups in the States.
I remember a particular time when, with the fires still smoldering in the
stultifying heat of a Delta morning, the teams distributed boxes of heavy
sweaters. I'm sure the church folk back home felt good about their gifts.
But we shared with the villagers a sense of absolute mystification at a
policy that would burn down people's homes in the middle of the night, then
give them tin, soap & sweaters to rebuild their lives. Our govt called it
'pacification'. We called it madness. It all has come back to me while
watching the news from Iraq, where we should be applying more of the lessons
so painfully learned in Vietnam. Instead, we seem to be repeating our
mistakes. What I remember most from those nights are the faces & the eyes.
The children would be terrified, but also oddly fascinated in that way that
kids have. The mothers, beyond ordinary fear, would be wildly angry, often
unleashing a flood of invective that, of course, none of the US could
specifically understand b/c no one spoke the language. The old widows -
there seemed to be one in every hut - would look at you with the cold, dead
eyes of people whoıd been violated forever & seemed to expect always to
suffer.
But mostly I remember the men, who, if they hadn't slipped away when the
mess began, would be taken by the US troops for interrogation. Usually,
several young soldiers would throw the man down while yelling the few
Vietnamese phrases they knew. At least one would hold a rifle to his head.
Another might stand on his neck. His hands would be bound behind his back.
Heıd be wrenched up into a kneeling position. Many times heıd be
blindfolded. Eventually a 'pacification' team member would come along &
question the man in Vietnamese. Heıd be asked to show his papers - documents
that, more often than not, had been lost in the fire. Heıd be yelled at,
cursed at & sometimes spit on. Many times heıd be kicked & punched. Those
lucky enough to have the right kind of documents & otherwise convince the US
of their innocence (of what?), would be released. Then youıd see it, in the
eyes. The clean, white fury of men whoıve been reduced to abject humiliation
& powerlessness in front of their families. The hatred in their eyes would
be as pure, as any you would ever see. Itıd last forever. Youıd never forget
it. I saw those eyes again the other day on the evening news.
A group of young US soldiers, sent by their govt to go house to house in a
sweltering Baghdad suburb, had kicked in a door & rousted a family. The
children were terrified, crying. The mother was furious, screaming. The eyes
of the GIıs were filled with confusion & shame at what they were being made
to do by their govt. And the father, down on the ground in front of his
house with a kid from Arkansas or Detroit or California standing on his
neck, showed in his eyes the kind of white-hot hatred thatıll take a
thousand years to extinguish".
- FORMER US NAVAL OFFICER JAMES L. LAROCCA.

  ŒATNTFı ARTICLE - WORDS
1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call,
prepare yourself by drawing a square. I find that 5"x 5" is a good size.
Divide the square into rows & columns, 5 across & 5 down. That will give you
25 one-inch blocks.
2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:
* synergy     * strategic fit     * core competencies * best practice     *
bottom line     * revisit  * take that off-line     * 24/7     * out of the
loop        * benchmark     * value-added     * pro-active     * win-win
* think outside the box     * fast track     * result-driven     * empower
(or empowerment)     * knowledge base     * at the end of the day     *
touch base     *mindset * client focus(ed)     * paradigm         * game
plan         * leverage
3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.
4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand
up and shout "BULLSHIT!"


ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
… ANARCHY, No.55 Spring/Summer 2003, A Journal of Desire Armed, P.O. BOX
1446, Columbia MO, 65205-1446, UNITED STATES.  www.anarchymay.org
… SEME ANARCHICS Vol.24 No.3 July2002, Periodico di Pensiero Anarchico, C/-
Eisa Di Bernardo, C.P. 150, 56100 PISA ITALY, (Publication in Italian)
… SICILIA LIBERTAIRIA Vol.27 No.220 July/August 2003, Giornale Anarchico per
la Liberazione Sociale Lıinternazionismo, Via Galileo Galilei 45, 97100
Ragusa, SICILY, ITALY, email:si_lib@hotmail.com
OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
… THE VOLUNTARYIST, No.118, 3rd Quarter 2003, P.O. BOX 275, Gramling South
Carolina, 29348, UNITED STATES.

DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL - Our debt stands at $1992.20
HERE WE GO AGAIN, ONLY NINE MONTHS INTO 2003 & we find ourselves struggling
to pay our bills & survive.  Just in case youıre waiting for a renewal
notice ­ we donıt send any out, we leave it up to our subscribers to take on
this responsibility & re-subscribe when their subscription has run out.  We
need to raise $210.00 per week in order to cover typing, printing, postage &
radio program and ongoing campaign costs. How much we are able to do depends
to a large degree on the level of our finances.  You can help by A) -
Subscribing to the AAWR $10.00 = 10 Issues, $50.00 = 50 Issues, B) - joining
our Dollar A Day group or C) - donating money or stamps.  Think about buying
your local library or a friend a subscription to the A.A.W.R. If sending
less than $20.00 save on banking costs & send us 50cent stamps. Otherwise
make out cheques & money orders to LIBERTARIAN WORKERS & send to P.O. BOX
20, PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.
Debt 03-09-2003            $1992.20

ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS ­ (ATNTF)

THIS WEEK'S STORIES:  PM's Office Fabricated Evidence on Iraq...This Fine
Aussie Gets Away With It...Police Corruption Privatised...But I Had To Feed
My Starving BMW...US Environmental Report Doesn't Mention Global Warming,
Pollution From Cars...Howard Makes Unjustified Ratbag Lefty Attack On
Himself...Quote of the Week.
John Howard's office fabricated evidence & deliberately deceived the public
in order to justify sending troops to Iraq, according to an ex senior
intelligence analyst at the Office of National Assessments. Andrew Wilkie,
told a parliamentary enquiry "sometimes the exaggeration was so great it was
clear dishonesty". Mr Howard told Parliament in Feb that Iraq was
re-starting its nuclear weapons program & there was evidence that it had
tried to buy uranium from Africa.  This claim had been discredited by a US
official who visited Africa to investigate almost a year earlier. Mr Wilkie
is an ex member of the Liberal Party. (The Age, August 23).
Wilson Tuckey will remain a Federal Minister despite using his position to
try & get his 45y.o son out of paying a traffic fine. Mr Tuckey wrote
several letters on Ministerial letterhead to the South Australian Police
Minister. Tony Abbott told Parliament that Mr Tuckey "is a man who quite
rightly fights for the things he believes in & if from time to time, this
minister goes over the top in a cause in which he believes, thatıs his
nature, thatıs the nature of the man, thatıs the way this fine Australian
operates". Mr Tuckey's nickname is 'Iron Bar', from an incident where he was
said to have beaten an Aboriginal man with an iron bar while another man
held him down. (The Age, August 23).
A US company accused of human rights violations, who fired an employee for
exposing a prostitution ring, is handling the policing of Iraq. DynCorp,
whoıs made substantial donations to the Republican Party, was given the
contract by the US State Department. DynCorp personnel contracted to the UN
police service in Bosnia were implicated in buying & selling prostitutes,
including a girl as young as 12. Several DynCorp employees were also accused
of videotaping the rape of one of the women.  When Dyncorp employee Kathy
Bolkovac exposed the ring, she was dismissed by the company for drawing
attention to their misbehaviour, according to the ruling of a British
employment tribunal in November 2002. DynCorp has also been heavily
criticised over its involvement in Plan Colombia, instigated by Bill Clinton
that involves spraying vast quantities of herbicides over Colombia to kill
the cocaine crop. A group of Ecuadorean peasants have filed a class action
against the company alleging that herbicides spread by DynCorp in Colombia
were drifting across the border, killing legitimate crops, causing illness,
& killing children. (originally reported in the Observer (UK), April 13).
Welfare fraud costs a maximum of $15 million a year.  Tax avoidance through
trusts costs an estimated $700 million a year. (The Age, August 23).
The White House has removed negative references to global warming from a US
govt report on the environment. References to health threats posed by
exhaust emissions that were part of the draft report by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) have also been removed, according to leaked versions
of the report. The EPA head, Christie Whitman, said on Thursday that sheıd
decided to omit a section on climate change b/c the only language the admin
could agree on amounted to "Pablum" - a popular bland cereal for infants.
The New York Times, to whom the draft documents were leaked, said White
House officials had cut details about the sudden increase in global warming
over the past decade compared with the past 1000 years & inserted info from
a report that questions this conclusion & which was partly financed by the
American Petroleum Institute. A memo circulated among EPA staff said the
report "no longer accurately represents scientific consensus on climate
change". One of the most striking changes comes in the report's "global
issues" section. In the draft the intro reads: "Climate change has global
consequences for human health & the environment." This has been replaced
with: "The complexity of the Earth system & the interconnections among its
components make it a scientific challenge to document change, diagnose its
causes & develop useful projections of how natural variability & human
actions may affect the global environment in the future." (The Guardian, Los
Angeles Times)
John Howard has described Pauline Hanson as a champion of those who felt
left out of the political process. Mr Howard added "I lead a mainstream
political party which I think has identified many concerns of people who
felt a bit shut out of the political process". (The Age, August 23).
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "(the) bombing of the UN headquarters in Iraq was the
latest evidence that America has taken a country that wasnıt a terrorist
threat & turned it into one". Harvard terrorism expert Jessica Stern.

anarchist news service write to James, PO Box 503, Newtown NSW 2042 or email
anarchists@hellokitty.com contact us to get ATNTF emailed directly to you.
If you like ATNTF, forward it on to people or lists who might be interested
in it, or post it on your local Indymedia http://www.indymedia.org. Some
other Aust anarchist contacts: Love & Rage is an anarchist, non-profit
record label.  Our CD is available by mail order.  20 songs for $10 within
Aust, $15 in NZ, $10 in USA, $10 in Canada, 5 pounds in UK, or 10 euros in
the rest of Europe.  Other countries, or enquiries from shops and distroes,
email us & ask.  Address for orders is PO Box 1191, Richmond North VIC 3121
(Australia).  Please make cheques or money orders out to J. Hutchings.
www.loveandrage.rocks.it www.angry.at/thegovernment - anarchist website with
fliers for download, contacts etc. 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 -
info for unemployed people, www.activate.8m.com - anarchist magazine aimed
at teenagers. ATNTF appears in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review
(http://www.vicnet.net.au/~anarch  - PO Box 20 Parkville VIC 3052) & The Ham
(http://www.theham.cat.org.au).
Media outlets mentioned in ATNTF are sources - items arenıt direct quotes
from news media.  Background info may have been gathered from sources in
addition to media outlets cited.  Where no source is cited, the info has
been gathered from direct sources.

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK
Has been awarded to the Alternative Liberal Party (A.L.P.) Premiers for
signing the Howard governmentıs 5year hospital funding agreement.  When push
comes to shove, you can rely on the A.L.P. to fold.

GRASSLANDS NEEDS YOU!!
Volunteers are urgently needed at Grasslands Groceries.  Grasslands is an
alternative cooperative that uses all profits made, to fund innovative
projects such as the Resource Centre for asylum seekers.  Come to an
information session at Grasslands, 205 Nicholson Street, Footscray.
Ring 93620830 to organise a suitable time.

HEALTH CARE A RIGHT NOT A CHARITY OR A LUXURY
DEFEND & EXTEND MEDICARE - RALLY
5.30PM FRIDAY  -  5TH SEPTEMBER 2003
STATE LIBRARY TO FEDERATION SQUARE ­ MELBOURNE
ALL WELCOME, BRING ALONG BANNERS
If you want a universal health care system that every body irrespective of
income, has access to join your local Defend and Extend Medicare group.
Email:Defendmedicare@yahoo.com.au www.defendmedicare.cjb.net
Tel: 03 5982 1170, Postal: P.O. Box 5035 Alphington 3078, Victoria
Australia.
Download any material you want and distribute it to your local community.

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
ŒA 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

STAMP APPEAL  - We spend over $500.00 on postage stamps per month.  If
youıre 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.

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
  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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