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Loose cannons

Love "I invited everyone I love to the launch." — Richard Spehalski, program manager of the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on the launch of the Cassini spacecraft carrying 32.5 kg of plutonium — enough to kill hundreds of thousands of people

NGOs push South Pacific Forum for action

This is an abridged version of the communiqué issued by the third NGO Parallel Forum, held to coincide with the South Pacific Forum meeting in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, September 19-26. The forum brought together Pacific-based non-government

Comedy survival skills

Comedy survival skills MELBOURNE — Often the best humour comes from cultures that have been oppressed and persecuted. Laughter is a means of survival, of striking back at the oppressor, and a way of mocking those who adopt the ways of the

Campaign against Eastern Distributor

Campaign against Eastern Distributor By Adam Nelson SYDNEY — Whilst the anti-progressive pursuit of profits — the Eastern Distributor — bulldozes ahead, public transport activists continue their campaign to expose this environmental

A million miles from socialism

Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a CivilisationBy Stephen KotkinUniversity of California Press, 1997, 639 pp., $38.95 (pb) Review by Phil Shannon Steel by name, steel by nature — perhaps this sums up Stalinism with its iron rule by Stalin (the

Questions about Telstra CEO

Questions about Telstra CEO By Leo Wellin In the midst of all the corporate hype about transparency in decision making, being accountable and "taking ownership of the customer", the personal business interests of Telstra's CEO have raised

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Access News — Melbourne community

Support for Indonesian political prisoners

Support for Indonesian political prisoners Support for political prisoners By Karen Fletcher BRISBANE Indonesian Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) spokesperson Edwin Gozal and East Timorese activist Naldo Rai spoke to 60 activists at the

Kernot is wrong: Labor is no alternative

Kernot is wrong: Labor is no alternative By Peter Boyle To cover her opportunist career move in line for a future Labor cabinet position, former Democrat leader Cheryl Kernot has claimed her decision is motivated by a desire to better fight

Environmentalists slam pollution plan

Environmentalists slam pollution plan By Jon Lamb A coalition of more than 20 environment and community groups from across Australia has condemned the latest draft National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) proposal. Representatives from the

Literacy 'debate': indigenous, poor students lose out

By Alison Dellit Following the release of the National School English Literacy Survey and the new Literacy Standards in Australia on September 16, we were treated to a high profile public "debate" on literacy between the (then) federal schools

Aboriginal struggle honoured in exhibition

Aboriginal struggle honoured in exhibition SYDNEY — A portrait of Aboriginal activist Jenny Munro has been selected to hang in the exhibition currently on display at the S.H. Ervin Gallery. The portrait, by Sydney artist Mandy King, is an entry