politics for the 99%

Published on ZNet (and also on teleSUR), by John Pilger, May 2, 2015. [Update 1: ... also in the Sydney Morning Herald/Comment, by John Pilger, April 28, 2015 ... and first on John Pilger.com].

Following a week in Australia in which the words “heroes” and “heroism” bobbed on a tsunami of raw propaganda, a tribute is due to two unrecognised heroes. The first is Ray Jackson, who died on 23 April.

Ray spoke and fought for a truth which the powerful and bigoted hate to hear, see or read. He said this was a land not of brave Anzac “legacies”, but of dirty secrets and enduring injustices that only a national cowardice could sustain. “Conformity is widely understood and obeyed in Australia,” he wrote to me, “freedom is not” … //

… Why? Australia, a nation without enemies, is now spending $28billion a year on the military and war and armaments in order to fulfill a tragic, entirely colonial and obsequious role, now as Washington’s “deputy sheriff” in the Asia-Pacific.

This much we know, perhaps have always known. But watching a contemporary version of crude Edwardian jingoism consume the nation’s intellect and self respect has been salutary, especially the cover provided by those paid ostensibly to keep the record straight. Tony Abbott, zealot, oaf and one of our cruellest prime ministers, “shone” at the Gallipoli Anzac service, according to Peter Fitzsimons, whose keyboard tomes on the subject shows no sign of abating. In the Murdoch press — augmented as ever to promote war after war — Paul Kelly echoes Abbott that remembrance is not enough; that the Anzac death cult “is now the essence of being Australian” …. indeed, “a quasi religious force”.

Young Scott McIntyre drove the Twitter equivalent of a five-ton truck through such maudlin, cynical drivel. He tweeted the unsayable about imperial Australia, much of it the truth; and all decent journalists — or dare I say, his freedom-loving compatriots – should be standing up for him. That Malcolm Turnbull, a pretender for prime minister who made his name unctuously shouting about freedom of speech, should connive with McIntyre’s employer, the state-funded TV network, SBS, (which has sacked him), is a measure of the state of public and media life in Australia.

That a journalism professor of long standing, John Henningham, can tweet weasel words that “freedom of speech meant that journalists had the right to speak without breaking the law but did not have the right to keep their job when offending others” is a glimpse of the obstacles faced by aspiring young journalists as they navigate the university mills.

Many young people reject this, of course, and maintain their sense of the bogus, and McIntyre is one of them. He offended in the highest tradition of freedom of thought and speech. Knowing the personal consequences would be serious, he displayed moral courage. When his union, the MEAA, locates its spine and its responsibility, it must demand he is given his job back. I salute him. John Pilger.com, and John Pilger/Videos.

(full text).

[Update 2:

• Indigenous Social Justice Association ISJA: /Homepage; /Newsletters; /Contact: E-mail,  TEL: 02 9318 0947, MOB: 0415 858 264; Address; 1303/200 Pitt Street Waterloo NSW 2017, Australia;
• Farewell to Ray Jackson, President of the Indigenous Social Justice Association, on SCR Students' Representative Council, April 29, 2015;
• CAAMA: Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association /Homepage; /Technical; /Radio; /Music; /Productions; /Contacts (Tel, Fax, E-mails, Shops); Address: 101 Todd St, Alice Springs NT 0870, Australia; Postal: PO Box 2608, Alice Springs NT 0871, Australia;
• Indigenous Social Justice Association — Melbourne: /Homepage; /Campaigns; /News; /Links; /Contact;
• Indigenous Social Justice Association (Sydney); /About us (Eco-shout); /Forum: Stop Death in Custody; /on Facebook; /about the planet: due to the relatively late arrival of industrial society to our shores, diverse and intact ecosystems still exist in Australia to an extent not seen in the rest of the comparably developed world;
• Indigenous Community Volunteers ICV (Australia);
• Caritas.org.au;
• ... and many other Indigenous Associations Australia on Google Web-search;
• Beyond Blue.org.au: /Homepage; /Resources (Stop. Think. Respect - Why should anyone be made to feel like crap, just for being who they are); /About; /Contacts: or Tel (Australia) 1300 22 4636, (or find many items by scrolling down of each web-page);]

From Minimum Wage to a Fair Wage, 34.12 min, uploaded by Alternate Routes, May 1, 2015: This round table brings together some of the leading North American activists and scholars concerned with the situation of minimum/low wage work. It is widely known that current minimum wage legislation is grossly inadequate in raising low wage workers income out of poverty. It is from this context that a cross-national campaign has emerged to demand a living/fair wage standard be enacted and enforced. This grassroots struggle has gained considerable traction with some notable successes. However, the fight for wage fairness is a difficult one and progress has been uneven. The panelists provide an assessment of the struggles outlining its importance and future possibilities … also on on Socialist Projets.ca/leftstreamed, March 27, 2015;

Recht subversiv: Sexuelle Gewalt im Krieg bleibt omnipräsent und ungesühnt, auf ZEIT online, von Wolfgang Kaleck, 1. MAI 2015: Dieser Tage begeht die Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in Den Haag den 100. Jahrestag des ersten Frauenfriedenskongresses …;

Although Charges Have Been Brought Against the Police, the Justice System Still Doesn’t Work, on Dissident Voice, by Eoin Higgins, May 1, 2015: We should all welcome the news of charges being brought against the six police officers in Baltimore for the death of Freddie Gray. At the very least, the Baltimore Police Department’s (BPD) culpability in Gray’s death is uncontroversial …;

What America’s Media Get Very Wrong about Socialism … and about Senator Sanders on Dissident Voice, by Eric Zuesse, May 1, 2015;

Alliances with Non-Governmental Organizations, Community Researchers and Social Movements, 15.32 min, uploaded by Alternate Routes, April 30, 2015: Presentation by Doreen Fumia, Ryerson University …;

on Al-Ahram weekly online:

• Understanding the Yemen war, by Salah Nasrawi, April 30, 2015: Saudi Arabia has said it is scaling down its airstrikes in Yemen, but instead it has been stepping up both its rhetoric and the war;
• Yemen: After Decisive Storm, by Medhat Al-Zahed, April 30, 2015: While various political initiatives could explain the sudden end of the Saudi-led aerial campaign in Yemen, there may be more to it than initially meets the eye;
• Egypt: Evaluating QIZs, by Maye Kabil, April 30, 2015: What have Egypt’s Qualified Industrial Zones achieved in their ten years of existence;

Cameroon – Socfin-Bolloré plantations: Second factory blocked by local communities, on farmlandgrab.org, by International Alliance of Communities around the Socfin-Bolloré Plantations & ReAct, April 29, 2015: The movement launched in Cameroon by peasants deprived of their land by the oil palm plantations is spreading. Bolloré puts the responsibility for the conflict on the Belgian shareholders of Socfin …; about other conflicts see on farmlandgrab.org;
see also: Want to read about local peoples’ struggles to defend their lands and forests? World Rainforest Movement (also in espanol, français, portugues) launches campaign for subscribers to its free electronic monthly bulletin; /about; Address: World Rainforest Movement, Maldonado 1858, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay; Contacts: Phone: +598 2 413 2989 / Fax: +598 2 410 0985 / website / E-mail: scroll down on each website page;

Secretary General cites judicial weaknesses and media freedom as top human rights concerns, on Council of Europe COE.int/en, April 29, 2015;

Flüchtlingsströme: Wie die NATO Nordafrikas Entwicklung zerbombte, in KOPP-Online, von Gerhard Wisnewski, 24. April 2015: Wie bereits im letzten Artikel zu diesem Thema berichtet, geht die gegenwärtige Flüchtlingskrise hauptsächlich auf die NATO und ihre Kriegs- und Umsturzpolitik in Nordafrika zurück. Durch die Zerschlagung ganz Nordafrikas entstanden instabile Staaten, Arbeitslosigkeit, Angst, Hunger und Elend sowie der Wunsch nach Sicherheit, die nun verstärkt in Europa gesucht wird. Die Verbrechen der Vereinigten Staaten und ihrer Verbündeten reichen jedoch noch viel weiter. Denn sie zerstörten nicht nur die Heimat von Millionen Menschen und ein bequemes »Flüchtlingsbollwerk« für Europa, sondern auch die wichtigste entwickelnde Kraft Nord- und Zentralafrikas: Libyen …
siehe auch ZEIT online vom 29. November 2010);

Elizabeth Warren’s Comprehensive Wall Street Reform Agenda, on Huffington Post, by Mike Lux, April 17, 2015;
also on AlterNet’s Newsletter- Petition: Tell Democratic leaders: Endorse the Warren Wall Street reform agenda;
Sign the petition on CREDO action;

Buch: … über das Attentat auf Charlie Hebdo, im KOPP-Verlag, von Gerhard Wisnewski, April 2015, Artikelnummer: 943600;

Tschernobyl Die Natur kehrt zurück – Doku 2014 NEU in HD, 90.18 min, uploaded by Doku Meister 2015, am 12. Feb 2015;

Kurzversion: Ganzer Tag auf der Couch – Harz IV – Doc 2015, 49.26 min, uploaded by Doku Meister 2015, am 8. Feb 2015;
Lange Version: Ganzen Tag auf der Couch Alltag mit Hartz IV Doku 2014 (NEU in HD), 125.19 min, uploaded by Udira Ferrin, 19.März 2015;

Max Keiser and Yanis Varoufakis retrospective, 7.59 min, uploaded by Blake Curran, Feb 6, 2015 … taken fro Keiser Report 247 and 301 …;

What is Political Party for the Left? uploaded by Mark Cunningham, Jan 21/22, 2015: Part One, 52.23 min; Part Two, 51.36 min; Part Three, 46.19 min;

Volker Pispers: Was hat Medien mit Ebola zu tun? NEU, uploaded by Parkhane Shabo, Jan 8, 2015 /vom Dezember 2014 … und weitere Videos in autoplay;

BBC How Plants Communicate & Think, 52.35 min, uploaded by DOCUMENTARY TV, Sept. 1, 2014: Amazing Nature Documentary.