893

Communities and local conservation groups from across NSW will celebrate the beauty and diversity of our native plants and wildlife and the environment at the , a calendar of more than 90 nature-based events across NSW. During biodiversity month in September, the and its member groups will inspire a better connection with nature with bushwalks, birdwatching, photo competitions, wildflower walks, talks, and guided sculpture or art installation.
released the statement below on August 29. * * * Brisbane supporters of the boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign (BDS) have pledged to intensify their campaign following a successful . Despite the rain, fifty protesters took to the streets to highlight the links between the Max Brenner chocolate store and the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.
Malcolm X

鈥淚f you鈥檙e not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing,鈥 African American revolutionary Malcolm X, assassinated in 1965 at the age of 39, once said in a comment on the capitalist media that applies to contemporary reporting on English riots or refugees.

With less than a month until the 2nd Climate Change/Social Change conference, around the theme 鈥淲orld at a Crossroads鈥, in Melbourne, the list of confirmed speakers and sponsors is growing. The conference is being organised by 麻豆传媒 Weekly, Socialist Alliance and Resistance at the University of Melbourne over September 30-October 3. It aims to promote recognition that in order to solve the global climate crisis, radical social change is required.
On August 23, military chief Henry Rangel Silva revealed that over 40,000 hectares of land had been recovered and 15,000 people freed from conditions of 鈥渟lavery鈥 as part of Plan Caura, the Venezuelan government鈥檚 anti-illegal mining project. Silva, chief of Venezuela鈥檚 Operational Strategic Command, is head of the anti-illegal mining initiative, formed in 2010 when the Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) were given the task of stemming Venezuela鈥檚 growing problem with illegal mining activities in the south eastern part of Bolivar state.
Britain: Living standards deteriorating 鈥淎lmost 40% of households saw their finances deteriorate between July and August, according to a survey by the financial information company, Markit. 鈥淭he study, of 1,500 adults, showed finances worsened at their fastest pace since February 2009, in the middle of the last recession. 鈥淢any reported a rise in debt levels and a fall in savings and income. 鈥淛ust under 6% of households reported an improvement in their financial situation.
Dick Smith鈥檚 Population Crisis: The Dangers of Unsustainable Growth for Australia Allen & Unwin, Sydney 2011, 228 pages 聽 Those who say today鈥檚 big social and ecological problems stem from there being too many people on the planet face a special difficulty. As the Australian ecologist Alan Roberts once said, populationist authors need 鈥渢o persuade their readers that the main thing wrong with the world was the existence of those readers themselves鈥. 聽
Another Arab dictator is gone. But the nature of the fall of Muammar Gaddafi raises questions about the nature of the new regime that will emerge, and to what extent it will truly reflect the interests of Libya's people. On August 21, forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) entered Tripoli and claimed victory against the forces that remained loyal to Gaddafi. A week later, loyalist forces continued to hold out in the dictator's home town, Sirte, and in pockets around Tripoli. But Gaddafi's 42-year reign is over.
The new government of Papua New Guinea, led by prime minister Peter O'Neill, has announced plans to revert ownership of minerals and resources to traditional landowners. Mining minister Byron Chan said in a speech on August 11 the government would seek to give traditional owners legal ownership of resources under the land and sea. Currently, the PNG government owns anything more than six feet under the surface. Chan also promised an urgent review of mining and environmental laws, especially those involving deep sea mining.
With some exceptions, the powerful international media has ignored a recent Cuban parliamentary bill that would deepen democracy on the island. The reason is obvious: the news is not convenient. The initiative is made within socialist institutions, not in terms of the 鈥渢ransition鈥 that is highly anticipated and promoted by certain hegemonic interests in this world. The idea is to give the green light to an experiment in the new provinces of Mayabeque and Artemisa. If it bears fruit, it would be extended to the whole country through constitutional reform.
There were amazing scenes in Chile on August 21 when 1 million people marched in Santiago chanting: 鈥淭he people united will never be defeated!鈥 These were awe-inspiring scenes of mass mobilisation. The acute trigger is the privatisation of the education system. The underlying trigger is relentless and ever widening social and financial inequality. If the people know about neoliberal policies, it is the Chileans.
Furious emerging farmers in the Kareeberg municipality in South Africa鈥檚 Northern Cape Province have decided to stop paying rent for the municipal-owned land they are farming. These farmers have been robbed, prevented access to and ownership of land by colonial conquest, segregation and apartheid. Now, South Africa鈥檚 protection of capitalist property and its neoliberal state policies are keeping them landless.