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Loose cannons

National interest "I can tell you one of the reasons why we work so hard ... is not to make things easy for the Labor Party." — Treasurer Peter Costello quoted in the July 28 Australian Financial Review. Vital "For a guaranteed high standard

Government health policy reinforces corporate power

Government health policy reinforces corporate power BY JONATHAN SINGER The Coalition government's Lifetime Health Cover policy has apparently worked where its previous efforts to increase private health insurance coverage have failed, thereby

Protests build as asylum seekers grow desperate

Protests build as asylum seekers grow desperate BY PAUL BENEDEK SYDNEY — On the afternoon of July 29, riot police were used to force more than 50 asylum seekers at the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney's western suburbs onto buses to be

CUBA: A million people march against US blockade

CUBA: A million people march against US blockade HAVANA, July 26 — Cuba's President Fidel Castro headed a march of more than 1 million people past the US Interests Office here to demand the end of the US blockade of Cuba and Washington's economic

Looking out: A human being can change

A human being can change In the desertI saw a creature, naked, bestial,Who, squatting upon the ground,Held his heart in his hands/And ate of it. I said, Is it good, friend?It is bitter — bitter, he answered;But I like itBecause it is

INDONESIA: Protests commemorate 1996 crackdown

INDONESIA: Protests commemorate 1996 crackdown Protest actions took place in several Indonesian cities on July 27 to commemorate the 1996 attacks on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) and the crackdown on the

BHP should 'put money where mouth is'

BHP should 'put money where mouth is' BY SEAN HEALY SYDNEY — The Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) has condemned mining giant BHP's unwillingness to take any responsibility for the destruction wreaked by its Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea, in

Spotlight on Indonesia

Spotlight on Indonesia Students arrested at Golkar congress Hundreds of students demonstrated in front of the national parliament on July 20 on the second day of a Golkar party congress. Golkar, the party of former President Suharto, has many

CUBA: Combating sexism

BY ALISON DELLIT Women in Cuba must continue to organise to defend and extend the gains of the revolution, Nancy Iglesias Mildenstein told a meeting at Newcastle University on July 27. Mildenstein, a leader of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC),

UNITED STATES: Race and class — Big Brother is at it again

Race and class in the US: Big Brother is at it again BY MALIK MIAH Bureaucracies, dictators and the ruling capitalists don't like internet technologies to be in the hands of the common people in the United States, or anywhere around the world. As

Networker: Why are musicians poor?

Networker: Why are musicians poor? Why are musicians poor? In "No Remorse", a 1983 Metallica track, the heavy metal band sang, "We are ready to kill all comers/ Like a loaded gun right at your face." Seventeen years later, the band is still

Cuban women warmly welcomed

Cuban women warmly welcomed BY JACKIE LYNCH MELBOURNE — Seventy people enjoyed a night of political discussion, delicious food and solidarity with the Cuban Revolution at Victorian's Trades Hall on July 22 to welcome Bertha Acosta and Nancy