It is curious that a book written by a former Special Branch officer should be published by University of Queensland Press (UQP).… Go to Article
Category: Features & Analysis
Meanjin: portrait of a city on fire
“Optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect” – Antonio Gramsci
This is my 70th year of living in Brisbane.… Go to Article
ISIS in Gaza
Publishers Note: WBT reposts this article by Sarah Helms from New York Review of Books | January 14, 2016. It analyses from a western perspective the effect of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and how post-Oslo* children in Gaza are recruited to Daesh and the response by Hamas, the political authority in Gaza.… Go to Article
Angela Davis on Feminism and Prison Abolition
Download program audio (mp3, 48.21 Mbytes)
Angela Davis, a radical feminist and a leading advocate for prison abolition, works at the intersection of many issues.
Who will bring the good news after the sale of Australia Post?
I SPRANG to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
‘Good speed!’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
‘Speed!’… Go to Article
Saving old growth forests in Tasmania
Excerpts from ‘Explorers of Western Tasmania‘ by C.J. Binks
In April 1825, Edward Curr (a former settlor) had by this time accepted temporary appointment as secretary of the new company (VDL Pty Ltd).… Go to Article
Question of Law YES, Politics NO
[Many years ago, under the Bjeleke-Petersen street march ban, Frank Brennan wrote a book, Too much Order, Too little Law; Andrew Boe takes up the theme again, liberal ideas don’t change much].… Go to Article
Refugees shot trying to leave
WILL THIS BE AUSTRALIA NEXT WEEK?
Two Palestinian refugees killed in emigration attempt from Egypt
Two Syrian-Palestinian refugees killed attempting illegal passage from Alexandria to Europe
Zeinab El Gundy, Wednesday 18 Sep 2013
Two Palestinian refugees, formerly detained at El-Gomrok police station in Alexandria (Photo: refugeesmovement Facebook page)
Egyptian security forces on Tuesday foiled an attempt by Syrian and Palestinian refugees to emigrate from Alexandria to Italy by sea, killing two of the refugees.… Go to Article
Rain of fire: US attempt to destablise Middle East
"I dream of snakes ...
I kill one and a yet bigger one appears ..."
- Cuban troubadour, Silvio Rodriguez
I refer to the NYT article With the World Watching, Syria Amassed Nerve Gas which does not give any detail of the material released by wikileaks however it does make the following statement:
… Go to ArticleSarin gas has been identified by the United States as the agent loaded atop small rockets on Aug.
Striking it Richer
The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States
(Updated with 2012 preliminary estimates)
Emmanuel Saez, UC Berkeley September 3, 2013
The recent dramatic rise in income inequality in the United States is well documented.
Productivity of what and for whom?
by Humphrey McQueen
Musical chairs among the parliamentary cretins brought no change to the gabble around ‘productivity’. As Rudd’s Education Minister, Gillard had spelt out that her policy even for pre-schoolers was to drive up productivity.… Go to Article
‘Qld Commission of Audit — not the full report’
[Editor’s Note: The Campbell Newman government appointed Peter Costello, former federal treasurer, to prepare the Qld Commission of Audit QCA report.… Go to Article
Back to the Future – The Shape of Things to Come – The Queensland Labour Movement Under Conservative Governments – Then and Now!
BLHA Symposium: Call for Papers and Participants
BLHA is planning an October symposium which will deal with the Queensland labour movement’s activism, challenges and selected disputes under conservative governments.… Go to Article
Driven by competition with China, US escalates military presence in Australia
by Alison Thorne
U.S. President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Gillard shake hands and cement an alliance to boost the U.S.… Go to Article
Battles for the Coral Sea
Reprinted from Chapter 17 from ‘Japan to the Rescue, Australian Security around the Indonesian Archipelago during the American Century’ Heinemann, 1991, pp.… Go to Article
Is it better to run or to stay?
“Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need of
some strangers hand
In a desperate land”
‘This is the End’
(Jim Morrison/The Doors)
Amara Lakhous has written an interesting novella about those who flee strife and arrive in the west to face racism [mea culpa, I have seen the film but have not read the book].… Go to Article
Campbell Newman and Bligh – a ‘quinella’ of losers
“In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all’s equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain’t pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled”
In horse racing, when you pick two winners in any order it is called a ‘quinella’.… Go to Article
Qaddafi in Defeat
"We came. We saw. He died"
- Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State,
when Muamma Qaddafi was murdered.**
The indigenous people of North Africa are the Berbers.… Go to Article
Immigration Minister Ignores Suicide Attempt and Geneva Appeal to Halt Deportation of Chinese Family
Despite a communication from the Geneva-based Special Rapporteur on Torture with the UN High Commission on Human Rights to the Department of Foreign Affairs, requesting a halt to any removal of the L family, the Minister for Immigration has refused to intervene to stop the deportation of the family to China.… Go to Article
The Nightmare – The Iraq Invasion’s Atrocities, Unearthing the Unthinkable
Felicity Arbuthnot’s article, ‘The Nightmare: The Iraq Invasion’s Atrocities, Unearthing the Unthinkable’, refers to ‘this first documentable U.S., U.K., genocide of the 21st century’.… Go to Article
A Renewable Energy Target for Queensland — Towards a Sustainable Energy Future
Submission to Queensland Government’s Environment and Resources Committee
Growing Queensland’s Renewable Energy Electricity Sector
Prepared by Trevor Berrill on behalf of Sustainable Energy Policy Queensland (SEPQ)
1 July, 2010
SEPQ welcomes and commends Queensland Government on current initiatives as outlined in the 2009 Renewable Energy Plan.… Go to Article
From where does change come?
“Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground” — from ‘Fire and Rain’ by James Taylor.
We were reminded yesterday that the Australian people do not choose the Australian Prime Minister.… Go to Article
Democracy — who writes the script?
“It is not enough that some succeed, others must fail” — Gore Vidal
While hunting down the facts behind loss of lives of refugees near the Cocos (Keeling) islands I was confronted by the question “Who is writing the script in the lead up to the 2010 federal election.… Go to Article
Escaping Blame
It is apparent that the authorities* knew that Snr Sgt Hurley killed Mulrunji.
For if they did not know why did they withhold so much information that showed that Hurley is guilty.… Go to Article
Protected: Queensland 1977 — how we got here from there
Forced Removal – how it was done
by Pamela Curr
FORCED REMOVAL– how it was done
-Lest we forget
“…it is not their violence, it is ours, which turns back on itself and rends them; and the first action of these oppressed creatures is to bury deep down that hidden anger which their and our moralities condemn and which is however only the last refuge of their humanity.”… Go to Article
US, Israel and Australian Governments try to bury Goldstone Report on War Crimes in Gaza
by Ian Curr
Despite the best efforts of Western democracies the UN human rights council has supported the Goldstone Report on Gaza.… Go to Article