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WA Rank-and-File maritime workers speak out

By Dick Nichols The latest Western Australian Maritime Union of Australia Rank-and-File Bulletin (number 3) is a special issue mainly devoted to letters from seafarers and retired MUA members. The issue provides a sharp insight into the issues that

Write on: Letters to the editor

Write on: Letters to the editor Racism GLW (January 20) quotes Acting Queensland Premier Jim Elder, commenting on a 14-year-old Aboriginal girl being locked up in a police watch-house for a week, saying "The simple solution is don't break the

Crisis-hit Russians look to the stars

Crisis-hit Russians look to the stars By Irina Glushchenko MOSCOW — Suddenly, the Russian capital has been overrun by rabbits. You can find them in the markets, on the newsstands and in the toyshops. The reason? In Chinese astrology, 1999 is

Land and Freedom

Land and Freedom Socialist director Ken Loach's marvellous film about the Spanish Civil War is at last coming to television. Land and Freedom tells the story of David, young and unemployed, who leaves Liverpool to join an international brigade of

East Timor: now!

East Timor: independence now! By Jon Land The announcement by the Habibie regime on January 27 that it is prepared to "relinquish" East Timor as part of Indonesia marks a new turn in the struggle for independence. For the first time in the

Thousands mark Invasion Day

Thousands mark Invasion Day The capitalist establishment and mass media organised spectaculars throughout the country on January 26 to celebrate the uninvited arrival of a bunch of scruffy British naval officers, prison guards and convicts at

Blazing with revolutionary fire and energy

Blazing with revolutionary fire and energy Dreaming with his Eyes Open: A Life of Diego RiveraBy Patrick MarnhamBloomsbury, 1998370 pp., $59.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon Drama and controversy followed Diego Rivera everywhere. The Mexican

Loose cannons

Challenges "These are challenges facing magistrates — and the whole of the justice system — to deal with matters expeditiously." — Jeff Shaw, NSW attorney-general, commenting on disclosures that the state's overworked magistrates sometimes

Hobart rally backs republic

Hobart rally backs republic By Nikki Ulasowskiand Tony Iltis HOBART — Later this year a referendum will be held on whether Australia should become a republic. On January 26, a pro-republic rally held at the state Parliament House Lawns

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. Ph 9565 5522. Access News —

Love on the barricades

The Love GermBy Jill NevilleVerso, 1998 (first published 1969)149 pp., $19.95 (pb) Review by Phil Shannon "A fantastic, earth-shattering, dynamic, brilliant, beautiful, touching, unbelievably sensitive, outasight book written by my sister." So

Chiquita's banana monopoly

By Ken Cotterill In 1996, Chiquita Brands' CEO Carl Lindner donated $US500,000 to US President Bill Clinton's re-election campaign. Now he wants some return. Lindner's gripe is that several Caribbean states in the Windward Island group — Grenada,