Utopia
Directed by John Pilger
http://utopiajohnpilger.co.uk
The latest documentary by Emmy and BAFTA award winning film maker and journalist, John Pilger, contrasts two very different worlds: one of white aspiration on Sydney鈥檚 northern beaches, and the other the Aboriginal community in the ironically named town of Utopia, located in central Australia.
The town has been assessed as the most disadvantaged and poorest community in Australia. The distinction could not be more stark.
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Residents in the urban poor settlement of San Dionisio in Barangay Cupang, Muntinlupa in Metro Manila, were woken on January 15 by a heavily armed police SWAT team.
Brandishing a local government order that referred to an address in a different barangay (neighbourhood), authorities overrode objections of residents and started tearing down their homes.
Now the centenary of 1914 has got going, we should do as British education secretary Michael Gove suggests and celebrate the First World War, instead of taking notice of 鈥渓eft-wing academics鈥, who complain it was a regrettable waste of life.
But the other day, on the radio, they played an interview with Harry Patch, the last man alive who fought for the British in the war. Harry said: 鈥淧oliticians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder.鈥
For decade, the People鈥檚 Party (PP) of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has believed it had a reliable political gun in its holster 鈥 unbending opposition to any group or proposal that could be portrayed as linked to Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA).
ETA is the left-nationalist armed group responsible for more than 800 deaths in its 50-year-long fight against the Spanish state.
Hundreds of protesters held a peaceful vigil outside Tottenham police station on January 11 demanding justice for Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police in August 2011. The killing sparked nationwide rioting.
More than 500 demonstrators gathered to protest against the 鈥減erverse鈥 inquest decision last week that found police had lawfully killed Duggan when they shot him dead.
Relatives of Duggan, including his mother Pamela, aunt Carole and brother Marlon, joined the vigil, which observed a minute's silence.
A big attack on Medicare is on the cards after Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to rule out forcing all patients to pay an upfront cost when they visit the doctor.
Former health advisor to Abbott, Terry Barnes, has written a paper to the federal government's Commission of Audit recommending a $6 upfront fee to see a doctor. The commission was appointed by the federal government to propose business-friendly cuts to government spending before the May budget.
Every day at 5.30am, residents and supporters gather in the Collingwood area around Alexandra Parade to protest against test drilling for the government's proposed East-West Link tollway tunnel.
Keith Fitzgerald stands to lose the house he has lived in for 69 years if the tunnel is built. He told 麻豆传媒 Weekly the protests are about more than just his home.
鈥淭hey've got no right to take our heritage, our history, our parks and our clean air away from us. These are the vital things that we're fighting for and will continue to fight for.
On March 12 this year the 1000th issue of 麻豆传媒 Weekly will be published. We will be marking this significant milestone in the pages of the paper and in cities across the country. Come along to help make sure that Australia's most-read progressive media project remains in good shape.
Journalists have confirmed that up to five boats carrying asylum seekers to Australia have been turned back to Indonesia since December 10.
As 麻豆传媒 Weekly approaches its 1000th issue, more than 20 years after it first hit the streets, we will be looking back at some of the campaigns it has covered and its role as an alternative source of news.
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It鈥檚 February 1991. Bob Hawke is Prime Minister (though not for much longer).
Average weekly earnings are just under $600, about half the average in 2013, but petrol is 70c a litre and a middy (285mL) of beer is $1.50. Interest rates are about 14.5%.
Well, January isn't even over and the race for Biggest Hypocrite of 2014 is well under way. And the ever-reliable contenders from Parliament House in Canberra already have some serious competition in the media.
Resistance and the Socialist Alliance held a joint educational conference called 鈥淗ow to Make a Revolution鈥 for young people in Brisbane over December 13 鈥 15.
About 80 people from around the country attended over the weekend, mostly young people wanting to discuss all things political, activism and more importantly what strategies socialists should be using in Australia to take the movement forward.
Throughout the conference there was a running theme of mass action strategy, and the importance of forming alliances with the broadest layer of people to win demands.
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