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The insurance rip-off

By Dave Holmes WOLLONGONG — Two days after floods devastated this region, giant insurer NRMA attempted to deflect the second storm it knew would come by donating $250,000 to the disaster relief effort. Its cynical ploy fooled nobody. Ever since

Life of Riley: Deciding

Deciding How are youse? Still making two ends meet? — Doin' my best. There's not much else you can do, is there? — Not much else. 'Cept hold your head above water. — That's right. Makin' do. Yesiree. You can only do your

That sinking feeling

Chasing the DragonBy Nick EnrightWharf Theatre, SydneyNavigatingBy Katherine ThomsonOpera House Playhouse Reviewed by Mark Stoyich David Williamson and Nick Enright are Australia's most successful and prolific playwrights, and represent the

Militant attempts to hijack Melbourne anti-racism rally

By Kerryn Williams Melbourne organisers of the Resistance national high school walkout against racism arrived at the rally venue on August 28 to find members of the socialist group Militant setting up a counter-platform and PA system. Our worst

US militarisation of Puerto Rico increases

By Monica Somocurcio On August 11, the United Nations' Decolonisation Committee voted in support of a resolution affirming the right of the Puerto Rican people to self-determination and independence. It was the 17th UN resolution supporting

Anti-racism movement: young people can change the world

Anti-racism movement: young people can change the world By Allen Myers The reaction of the establishment and its media to the secondary students' movement against racism has been divided.Some, especially supporters of One Nation and reactionaries

'True blue' Australia

By Mary Merkenich MELBOURNE — On August 8, as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival, a panel debated the High Court's May ruling to allow New Zealand television programs to be included in the Australian content standard. The panel

Racist powers to remove children

By Chris Latham PERTH — The Western Australian government is to consider placing children in foster care if senior family members are involved in criminal activity. This would increase the power of the state beyond its current ability to remove

Russia's financial pyramid collapses

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — President Boris Yeltsin on August 23 sacked Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko and the entire government in the midst of a shattering financial crisis. From the second week of August, the country's newly restored

Mandatory sentencing targets indigenous people and the poor

By Lisa Macdonald When federal parliament resumes, the Australian Greens plan to introduce a private member's bill to over-ride section 78 of the Northern Territory's Sentencing Act — the mandatory sentencing legislation. This follows the

Big holes in Washington's excuse for terrorism

By Norm Dixon As US President Bill Clinton's justifications for the unprovoked cruise missile attack on the Al-Shifa medicine factory in Sudan on August 20 unravel, the attack is being exposed for what it was: a blatant act of state terrorism. At

'How many kids have you killed today?'

The Scourging of Iraq: Sanctions, Law and Natural JusticeBy Geoff SimonsMacmillan Press, 1998363 pp., $47.95 (pb) Review by Phil Shannon When asked in 1996 whether the death of a million children in Iraq as a result of six years of US-imposed