About 30 people gathered in the Latin American Plaza, near Sydney鈥檚 Central Station on March 5 for a vigil to mark the second anniversary of the death of Venezuelan revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez.
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Every activist has at some point been told that activism is pointless today, that it achieves nothing and hasn鈥檛 since the 鈥70s. Others say that there鈥檚 no point to feminist activism in particular because we already have gender equality. A quick look at the issues feminists are struggling for, and the wins we鈥檝e had recently, show that neither claim is true, nor are they likely to be for some time.
1. Zoe鈥檚 Law
In August last year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott thought it would be a good idea to send 1000 Australian soldiers to Ukraine. Their intended purpose was to guard the crash site of the Malaysian Airlines plane that was shot down there killing 38 Australian citizens.
The proposal was quietly dropped after military planners advised that, as none of the troops could speak either Ukrainian or Russian, and would not be able to tell the difference between the militias of either country, it was not such a great idea after all.
In February the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reduced the cash rate to 2.25%, a rate it then maintained at its March meeting. While there has been a great deal of commentary on this in the mainstream press, especially in the Australian Financial Review, the left press (for lack of a better term) has been stunningly silent.
Former Governor-General Quentin Bryce, who chaired the Special Task force on Domestic and Family Violence, handed the report to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on February 28.
The task force was established on September 10 last year by the previous LNP government and charged to deliver its findings by February 28. It included several now-former MPs.
released this statement on March 6.
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Stop CSG Sydney has welcomed the news that the NSW government has decided to cancel the coal seam gas licence covering most of metropolitan Sydney, known as Petroleum Exploration Licence 463. Now the water catchments need to be protected from CSG mining.
The internet will stay free and open thanks to a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission in the US on February 26. Internet activists waged a grassroots campaign to protect 鈥渘et neutrality鈥 and galvanised nearly 4 million submissions in support of the campaign to prevent internet service providers (ISPs) discriminating against particular websites.
The various agencies of Australian governments have a capacity to access data generated by individuals that is unprecedented 鈥 one of the 鈥渂enefits鈥 of the communications revolution that we are living through.
The son of poor villagers in Niger, Bombino was set to come a long way to perform at WOMADelaide, the annual world music and dance festival held in Adelaide from March 6 to 9. His unique blend of desert blues and hardcore rock 'n' roll was sure to fire up this year鈥檚 main stage. Vanessa Powell spoke to the performer.
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Bombino, can you tell me about the traditional music of Niger? Does your music incorporate traditional styles?
Citizenfour
Directed by Laura Poitras
Staring Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald & William Binney
In cinemas now
Directed, filmed, and produced by Laura Poirtas, Citizenfour is a documentary about exposing truths those in power would like hidden, and the danger of mass surveillance in our present society.
Focusing on the case of National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed the US government body's wholesale spying around the world, it takes the viewer on a thrilling journey to reveal how the story unfolded away from the spotlight.
The , also known as the 鈥渄ata retention鈥 bill, if passed, will be the third installment of sweeping powers granted to Australian intelligence agencies.
It will mean that every move you make, every call you take, the government will be watching you.
How does data retention impede the role of investigative journalists, political reporters and whistleblowers?
1: METADATA THEFT
The 50th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, one of the greatest leaders of the Black liberation movement of the 1960s, was marked on February 21.
Russian revolutionary VI Lenin once wrote: 鈥淒uring the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes constantly hounded them, received their theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander.
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