LL:INFO: CPSU members - the right to organise by email
Hi LeftLinkers Can you please pass this on to any CPSU activists you know? Thanks Alison Thorne Dear CPSU activists and members A group of CPSU members in Melbourne were recently discussing issues which impact on all CPSU members. One disturbing trend we noticed was increased restrictions on access by unionists to workplace e-mail systems for organising. For example, in Centrelink, there are very strict rules about 'appropriate' e-mail usage. While e-mail may be used by delegates for union purposes what these delegates may circulate is extremely restricted and is closely monitored. Some CPSU delegates in Centrelink were not allowed to circulate a CPSU Bulletin in solidarity with Telstra CPSU member, Anne-Marie, who faced retrenchment on the day she returned from maternity leave. Delegates have been prevented from circulating other material sent to them by the CPSU including Trades Hall solidarity bulletins in support of workers involved in the long-running Geelong Woolcombers dispute and union Bulletins about the campaign to defend Medicare. We want the CPSU to take this up as a priority issue. Our goal is for our union to win the right of all union members to be able to use workplace e-mail systems to communicate and organise without the dead hand of censorship many of us currently experience. This is why we have launched the Right to Organise in Cyberspace Campaign. We want e-mail organising rights entrenched in EVERY workplace agreement covering CPSU members. Our first goal is for the next National Council meeting of the CPSU, which is scheduled for June 2004, to pass a motion making this a priority issue for the CPSU in the upcoming period. We hope to achieve this by having as many CPSU workplace, delegate and council meetings as possible pass a motion and forward it to the National Council. This is what you can do: (1) Raise a version of this model motion for discussion and, if it is carried, please send sent it to the National Council C/- Adrian O'Connell, National Secretary, CPSU - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send a copy to: * Terry Costello, CPSU National Councillor - [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Alison Thorne, Right to Organise in Cyberspace Campaign Coordinator - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Model motion "This meeting views with alarm the trend within some public sector agencies towards severely limiting e-mail usage for union organising. In some workplaces, only delegates may use e-mail for union purposes. Material which they may circulate is limited. For example they may be banned from circulating discussion of industrial action or even the circulation of CPSU Bulletins promoting solidarity with other workers or action around social concerns. This meeting calls on the CPSU's National Council to adopt this as one of its priority issues and to campaign to win improved access to e-mail for union organising in its broadest sense for members in all workplaces covered by the CPSU. We believe that all union members have the right to use workplace e-mail for union organising and social concerns." (2) Send us information about access to/restrictions on e-mail usage for union organising in your workplace. Share your ideas about the issues. (3) Pass information abut this campaign on to others within the CPSU. (4) Contact us if you would like more background information about the reasons for this campaign or our objectives. Let's get mobilising! The June 2004 National Council meeting is not far away. Alison Thorne Right to Organise in Cyberspace Campaign Coordinator [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03-9386-5065 PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic 3055 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Socialists in Seattle City elections - lessons for Aust
Radical Women & Freedom Socialist Party joint meeting Thursday 11 December, 2003, 7 pm Socialists in the Seattle City Elections: Lessons for Australia Linda Averill, Freedom Socialist candidate in the recent Seattle elections, came in fourth in a field of six candidates, scoring more than 10% of the vote! Averill, who is a bus driver and delegate to the King County Labor Council for the Amalgamated Transit Union, is a former organiser for Seattle Radical Women. Averill and her supporters ran a serious socialist feminist campaign which provided a refreshing alternative for voters pissed off with a field of candidates who routinely do the bidding of big business. Hear a report on the lessons from Averill's campaign, and discuss what we in Australia can learn from their success as Socialist Alliance plans its first Federal election challenge since winning registration. The meeting will also discuss a report on the exciting upsurge in Bolivia where peasants and workers said "no" to the exploitation of the country's gas supplies and kicked out the President in the process! Why not end 2003 with a good dose of revolutionary optimism? Everyone is welcome. Dinner at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. Meeting starts at 7 pm. Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:PR: Lyndon LaRouche: Fascism restyled for the new millennium
News Release Contact: Alison Thorne 03-9386-5065, 03-9388-0062 For release: immediately Lyndon LaRouche Exposed In "Lyndon LaRouche: Fascism Restyled for the New Millennium," author Helen Gilbert provides a highly revealing look at the background and politics of the LaRouche movement, which is sure to stand candidates in the upcoming Federal Election under the name Citizens Electoral Council (CEC.) Dennis King, whose definitive book on LaRouche was published in 1989, calls the new publication, "Highly recommended -- packed with vital up-to-date information to refute the egregious deceptions of LaRouche organisers." This small, well-documented booklet from Red Letter Press reviews LaRouche's origins as a one-time socialist who took a turn to the far-right in the 1970s. He instigated his followers to physically attack left organisations and published hysterical diatribes against women, people of color, Jews, and gays. In the U.S., LaRouchites actively sabotaged labour reformers in Teamsters for a Democratic Union and built a multi-million dollar empire through political spying and defrauding senior citizens. In Australia the CEC scapegoats Aborigines and in 1997 published a pamphlet titled "Aboriginal 'Land Rights:' Prince Philip's Racist Plot to Splinter Australia." As a perennial U.S. presidential candidate LaRouche is now taking a milder public tone, but Gilbert finds his essential message the same. She has studied current LaRouche publications and found a far-right agenda that combines racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic scapegoating with extreme hostility toward women and environmentalists. LaRouche also promotes nuclear power and the banned pesticide DDT. He seeks to "save" the free market economy. Gilbert defines fascism as a mass movement that aims to preserve capitalism by smashing working class gains and eliminating democratic rights. On this basis, she concludes that LaRouche is a peculiar variety of 21st century fascist. The author, a longtime feminist, anti-Nazi activist and socialist, first became aware of LaRouche in the 1970s when he was actively threatening radicals and spouting conspiracy theories from the front pages of "New Solidarity." The 46-page booklet is priced at $7 and is available from Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056. To order a copy by mail send a cheque for $8 payable to the Feminist Education Association, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055. For more information or to receive a review copy, contact the Feminist Education Association which distributes Red Letter Press in Australia at PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 or 03-9388-0062. Web: www.RedLetterPress.org. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV - Woman As leader!
-- Socialist Feminist Study Group -- The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today Thursday 13 November -- Woman as leader! Join us for a lively discussion of how to vanquish the feminine mystique once and for all!! Dinner at 6.30 pm ($6.50 donation) Sessions run from 7 - 8.45 pm Solidarity Salon. 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. For more info call 9386-5065. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Wipe the smile off John Howard's Face!
Do you want to wipe the smile off John Howard's face? Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance invites you to Curry to Kick Out Howard! Saturday 8 November, 7 pm Lazzat Kadah 61 - 63 Sydney Road Coburg * Tickets $25/$20 * BYO drinks Enjoy a lively evening with like-minded locals. And, at the same time, help launch the fundraising effort for the Wills Socialist Alliance Federal election campaign. We need several thousand dollars to run a really effective campaign in Wills. Our aim is that every voter in the seat of Wills knows our candidate, David Glanz and that Socialist Alliance stands for taxing the rich, money for health and education, not war, and defeating anti-union laws. Booking essential! Call Alison on 9386-5065 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] by Thursday 6 November. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: The new face of the feminine mystique
-- Socialist Feminist Study Group -- The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today Thursday 30 October -- The new face of the feminine mystique Does the feminine mystique still exist today? Discussion based on chapter 1, "Blame it on feminism" from Susan Faludi's ground breaking book, "Backlash." Dinner at 6.30 pm ($6.50 donation) Sessions run from 7 - 8.45 pm Solidarity Salon. 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. For more info call 9386-5065. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:PR: Statement: Israel's bombing of Syria is state terrorism
Freedom Socialist Party -- International Executive Committee * Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Vic 3056 AUSTRALIA * Phone/fax: 61-3-9388-0062 * Coordinator, Alison Thorne: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 12 October, 2003 Dear friends around the global Below is a statement issued by the U.S. section of the Freedom Socialist Party condemning Israel's bombing of Syria. Please feel free to publish this or pass it on to others your think may be interested. We would welcome your opinions. For world peace through socialism Alison Thorne, coordinator Freedom Socialist Party International Executive Committee Israel's bombing of Syria: U.S.- approved state terrorism Israel's startling air strike into Syria on October 5, 2003, was a dangerous act of terrorism, threatening to inflame and expand the unequal war between Israel and Palestine. It was also in perfect harmony with U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. The bombing raid, Israel's first air assault inside Syria in 30 years, was timed to gain popular support in Israel, or at least coerce frightened civilians into silence. It was carried out on the anniversary of the start of the Arab-Israeli war in 1973, and on the day after a suicide bombing in a Haifa restaurant killed 19 people, both Jews and Arabs. The target was Ain Saheb, an alleged "terrorist training camp" just a ten-minute bus ride outside Damascus. Actually, say people on the spot, the site was an abandoned Palestinian camp consisting of six houses and an orchard. It had no connection to the Haifa suicide bombing. In other words, the Israeli pretext for attacking Syria was as fraudulent as U.S. excuses for invading Afghanistan and Iraq. Creators of terror, directly and indirectly The U.S. didn't even pretend to be critical of Israel's arrogant brinkmanship. In fact, it publicly set the stage for it through the Syria Accountability Act, pending legislation that would impose sanctions on Syria for supposedly supporting terrorism. Throughout the week preceding Israel's attack, Syria was accused in Congress of having weapons of mass destruction and biological warheads. Lebanon, which is under strong Syrian influence, was falsely said to be harboring "thousands" of Iranian militants. And for months, Washington has been charging Syria with allowing Arab volunteers through its borders to help Iraqis resist the U.S. occupation. How very tidy. Syria, Lebanon and Iran all neatly lined up to get hit, whenever the U.S. decides to strike. According to White House propaganda, these nations are on the "wrong side of the war on terrorism" -- just like every other country that disagrees with the U.S. But who are the chief terrorists? Israel's 34-year occupation of Palestine, bought and paid for by the U.S., is grounded in a strategy that has inflicted unrelenting misery in Palestine. Its tactics include helicopter missile assassinations of political leaders; collective punishment; a towering apartheid wall and barbed-wire fences; endless curfews and dehumanizing checkpoints; home destructions, land theft, and deprivation of food, water, education and jobs. This state terror will not stop individual terror through suicide bombings. On the contrary, it ignites them, just as U.S. savagery internationally incites attacks on U.S. civilians at home and abroad. All over the world, the U.S. is inflicting pain and suffering unmatched in human history. Most recently, its occupation of Iraq has left countless Iraqis dead or injured, along with an unrevealed number of U.S. soldiers. As the world superpower swaggering across the globe at the service of corporate America, its "war on terror" is either directly or indirectly responsible for most of the political violence on planet Earth. The U.S. is no stranger to real terrorist training camps. Since the 1940s, its infamous School of the Americas (now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) has educated counter-insurgents in the most advanced methods of torture and killing. Today, it is host to training operations run by Venezuelan military officers preparing to overthrow the left-leaning government of Hugo Chavez. Their aims and ours Israel's ruling rightwing Zionists want to be rid of the Palestinians, one way or another, no matter the cost in human lives. This dovetails, for now, with the interests of the U.S., which has in Israel a convenient base for launching imperialist assaults in the Middle East. What the U.S. wants is nothing less than political control over the whole region, which contains more than 64 percent of the world's known crude oil reserves. It does not matter how many Americans, Palestinians, and Israelis die in the process, although the U.S. is happy to have Israeli soldiers serve as proxy cannon fodder whenever possible. In both Israel and the U.S., workers are growing more and more angry
LL:PR: Stop Bush's War On Women!
Radical Women * Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Vic 3056 * Phone/fax 03-9388-0062 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.radicalwomen.org News release -- 12 October, 2003 From: Radical Women For more information: In Melbourne - Debbie Brennan, 9386-3230 In Geelong - Brigitte Ellery, 5241-3901 For immediate release Stop Bush's War on Women There's a killer, a dangerous fundamentalist and a sinister patriarch on his way to Australia. George W. Bush will arrive on October 22 to promote his never ending war, advance his free trade agenda and peddle his conservative social values. Bush will visit Australia immediately following the APEC summit to be held on 21 October in Bangkok. He will address the Federal Parliament on 23 October. Feminists are among those involved in the "Stop Bush's War Committee" which is planning a protest at the State Library in Melbourne at 5 pm on 22 October. The Melbourne action will farewell protesters travelling overnight to Canberra to make sure the message is heard loud and clear around the world that George W. Bush is a war criminal who is not welcome in Australia. Radical Women organiser, Debbie Brennan, is planning to join the Melbourne protest. Brennan, who was born in the U.S. and identifies with "the other U.S.A -- the queers and feminists, civil rights activists, unionists, anti-war campaigners and radicals of every stripe -- is angered by the Bush administration's cynical attempts to misuse feminism to try to get women behind its so-called "war on terrorism." "Bringing out Laura Bush to stand by her man and justify the destruction of Afghanistan because of the Taliban's horrific sexism was a nice touch, but let=92s be clear that liberating Afghan women was not the Bush administration's goal. Just as its goal in Iraq is not to stamp out honour killings. Bush's war is about oil and profits, not women's liberation," she argues. Brigitte Ellery, a grandmother and former Socialist Alliance candidate for the State seat of Lara, agrees. She is also critical about Bush's domestic agenda. Ellery describes Bush as "a warmonger, union-buster and opponent of civil rights who prescribes marriage as the economic solution for women on welfare and who is systematically dismantling affirmative action and eroding reproductive rights in the U.S. and around the globe." Radical Women, a socialist feminist women's leadership organisation, says that coupled with his other crimes, George W. Bush is conducting a war on women. The group points to the following facts as evidence of the current U.S. administration's anti-woman agenda. The Bush administration: * defunded programs that monitor discrimination * opposes affirmative action and aims to defund the Headstart early education program which assists poor children * continues to appoint people who opposes affirmative action, welfare for single mothers, gay rights and abortion * is eroding Title IX, the 1972 law that mandates equality for women in education * appointed a doctor to the reproductive Health and Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA who refuses to discuss contraception with unmarried women and advocates prayer as a treatment for pre-menstrual tension * is among only three countries which have refused to sign the Un Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women * opposes and defunds family planning and AIDS prevention programs if they even mention condoms * declared war on any sex education program which advocates anything other than abstinence as the way to prevent pregnancy and avoid STDs * imposed a gag rule on international family planning providers, barring them from providing information about abortion -- even using their own funds -- if they receive any U.S. funding * opposes domestic partnership legislation * is determined to outlaw abortion by reversing Roe versus Wade and has attacked reproductive rights so successfully that only 13% of U.S. counties now have access to abortion services Radical Women is mobilising feminists to join the anti-Bush protests. The group is also hosting a discussion about Bush's War on Women and how it can be stopped. The meeting titled "Women say NO to the War on the Homefront" will take place on Tuesday 28 October, 7 pm at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. A mouthwatering dinner, with vegetarian option, will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. Radical Women members are available for interviews . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Brainwashing a generation:Selling the Feminine Mystique
-- Socialist Feminist Study Group -- The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today Thursday 16 October -- Brainwashing a generation: Selling the Feminine Mystique Discuss the techniques used in the 50s and 60s to try to convince women domestic slavery was really bliss! Discuss strategies to resist the contemporary versions of backlash ideology. Dinner at 6.30 pm ($6.50 donation) Sessions run from 7 - 8.45 pm Solidarity Salon. 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. For more info call 9386-5065. All reading materials are available for sale at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Solidarity Salon is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Call to confirm opening hours on 9388-0062 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: - Leon Trotsy: His life and his ideas
Study group Starts Tuesday 25 November, then every Tuesday to 9 December Leon Trotsky: His life and his ideas Curious about Trotsky? Heard about this Marxist thinker but don't really know what he stands for? This introductory study group is for you! Helen Gilbert's lively synopsis, Leon Trotsky: His Life and His Ideas, tells the history of Lenin's co-leader of the Russian Revolution, and his life-long struggle to preserve the authentic ideas and original gains of socialism expressed in his theory of Permanent Revolution. * Dinner at 6.30 pm ($6.50 donation) * Sessions 7 - 8.45 pm * Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick * Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party * For more info call Peter on 9386-5065 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Peter Hannaford Art exhibition at Solidarity Salon
Hi Left Linkers The Sydney Road Shop Stop Art Exhibition, which is part of the Fringe Festival, is about to commence. Solidarity Salon is participating this year and we are exhibiting some of Peter Hannaford's bold work. Featured is his anti-Blackshirt pieces as well as a very striking sculpture and painting opposing the vent which spews pollution from City Link across Richmond. The art is on display now and will be at the Salon through until 12 October when Shop Stop Art comes to a close. So there are two things you can all do: (1) Pop down to Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick, and appreciate Peter's wonderful work. The Salon will definitely be open Saturday 4 October from 10 - 5 pm, Wednesday 8 October from 12 noon - 7 pm, Saturday 11 October from 10 - 5 pm and very likely at a host of other times. There is also meet the artist sessions on Thursday 9 October from 6 - 8 pm. and on Friday 10 October at 2.30pm. Come down and talk to Peter about his work. If you want to confirm we are open at any other time, call on 9388-0062 first. (2) Be ready to respond and mobilise in the event this art work draws a response from the ultra-right patriarchs in the Blackshirts. I hope you can come and enjoy some very fine social comment art. Alison Thorne . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL::INFO: Great reading for rebels
Hello LeftLinkers Red Letter Press has just come out with four new additions to the Red Banner Reader series of topical, informative, and affordable booklets. Below is a thumbnail description of our latest offerings. Click on the links below to get more information or to place an order through our website. Or go directly to www.RedLetterPress.org to check out our full catalog. All 4 titles, which costs $7 each, are available in Melbourne at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Solidarity Salon is open Wednesday from noon - 7 pm, Saturday from 10 am - 5 pm and is often open other days of the week (call 9388-0062 first to check). To order by mail (add $1 postage for the first title and 50 cents for each additional title) send cheques payable to Feminist Education Association [Australian Distributor of RLP titles], PO Box 266 West Brunswick 3055. Enjoy! Alison Thorne LYNDON LAROUCHE: FASCISM RESTYLED FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM An expose of the bizarre, bigoted program of the LaRouche movement and its hidden past. By Helen Gilbert 52 pages, Red Banner Reader #8, http://www.redletterpress.org/bookstore/larouche.html CAPITALISM'S BRUTAL COMEBACK IN CHINA Analyzes how workers' gains from the 1949 revolution are being destroyed by massive privatization led by the bureaucracy. By Dr. Susan Williams 56 pages, Red Banner Reader #7, http://www.redletterpress.org/bookstore/china.html PERMANENT REVOLUTION IN THE U.S. TODAY Argues for the importance of revolt in the U.S. and recognition of the radical leadership of women and queers. By Robert Crisman, Stephen Durham, Monica Hill, and Merle Woo 56 pages, Red Banner Reader #6, http://www.redletterpress.org/bookstore/permrev.html LEON TROTSKY: HIS LIFE AND IDEAS A primer on revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky and his courageous fight against Stalinism. By Helen Gilbert 56 pages, Red Banner Reader #5, http://www.redletterpress.org/bookstore/trotsky.html . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Goodbye to Freud, functionalism and Margaret Mead
-- Socialist Feminist Study Group -- The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today Thursday 2 October -- Goodbye to Freud, functionalism and Margaret Mead. Come and take part in a lively discussion about the collection of "sceintific" ideas used to convince women in the 50s and 60s that domesticity and motherhood was their "natural role." Consider what reactionary ideas which are used to promote "ideal femininity" in 2003. Dinner at 6.30 pm ($6.50 donation) Sessions run from 7 - 8.45 pm Solidarity Salon. 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. For more info call 9386-5065. All reading materials are available for sale at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Solidarity Salon is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Call to confirm opening hours on 9388-0062 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: CPSU Members First Meeting
Calling all CPSU members! Members First is holding a Melbourne meeting on Monday 13 October, 6.30 pm in the Trades Hall Bar. Members First will contest the election for the position of CPSU National President. The ballot will take place in November. This meeting will plan the Victorian end of our campaign. We'll also be discussing plans to defend and extend the right of CPSU members in all work places to organise using workplace e-mail systems. In some work places, such as Centrelink, this is currently severely curtailed. The meeting will also feature a discussion about how to build a democratic and activist culture within the CPSU. The discussion will be introduced by CPSU National Councillor, Terry Costello, who will highlight some of the key ideas in the resolution on building militant democratic unions passed at the second national conference of Socialist Alliance. This resolution is included in a new Trade union pamphlet published by Socialist Alliance which includes articles by CPSU members Judy McVey and Alison Thorne. McVey addresses the importance of the union movement challenging racism and Thorne takes up the importance of resisting sexism and campaigning around working women's demands. Contact any of the names below to get a copy of this invaluable organising tool for just $3. Come along. Have your say and help build an activist union which can tackle the issues of the day. For more information about this meeting or Members First in Victoria contact: Terry Costello: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alison Thorne: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Judy McVey: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For information about Members First in other states contact: Andrew Hall: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Is that all there is?Beyond the Happy Housewife Heroine
Socialist Feminist Study Group "The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today." Thursday 18 September -- Is that all there is? Beyond the "Happy Housewife Heroine." Recommended reading: * Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 2 "The Happy Housewife Heroine" * Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 3 "The Crisis in Woman's Identity" * Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 4 "The Passionate Journey" Dinner at 6.30 pm. Session 7 - 8.45 pm at Solidarity Salon. 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. For more info call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. All reading materials are available for sale at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Solidarity Salon is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Call to confirm hours on 9388-0062 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Oh The Times They Are A Changing
Thursday 4 September =8B Socialist Feminist Study Group "The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today." Tonight's topic: Oh the times, they are a changing. Recommended reading: * Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 1 'The Problem The Has No Name' Supplementary reading: * Sara Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women=B9s Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left, Chapter 9 'Personal Politics' * Daniel Horowitz, Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique: Labor Union Radicalism and Feminism in Cold War America Dinner at 6.30 pm. Session 7 - 8.45 pm at Solidarity Salon. 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. For more info call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. All reading materials are available for sale at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Solidarity Salon is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Call to confirm hours on 9388-0062 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Feminine Mystique study group
Socialist Feminist Study Group - starts Thursday 4 September. The Feminine Mystique and Its Relevance Today! In 1963 "The Feminine Mystique" by U.S. feminist pioneer, Betty Friedan, was published. The book was a major inspiration for the second wave of feminism. Friedan observed how the empty glorification of woman as the domestic sex symbol is in direct proportion to society's reluctance to treat her as a complete human being. This study group will discuss Friedan's ideas and commentary about the period by Sara Evans from her book "Personal Politics." It will also examine research by Daniel Horowitz whose recent book, "Betty Friedan and The Making of the Feminine Mystique: The American Left, the Cold War and Modern Feminism," argues that Friedan's classic owes more to her previously hidden radical and labour activism in the '40s than the experience of suburbia in the '50s. We'll also discuss the position of women today. Susan Faludi coined the term "Backlash" to describe the contemporary pressures on women who are expected to be devoted mother, glamorous wife and full-time worker. And all this at a time when exploitation at work is intensifying and public services are being gutted. And we'll foment resistance by challenging the negative impact that internalisation of the feminine mystique has on women's ability to lead. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick (Plenty of parking or take a North Coburg tram or Upfield train) Study group kicks off Thursday 4 September 03 and then every second Thursday until 13 November 03 (Sessions - 4/9, 18/9, 2/10, 16/10, 30/10 & 13/11) Dinner served at 6.30 ($6.50 donation), sessions 7.00 - 8.45. * Copies of The Feminine Mystique and other materials available. * For more information phone Alison or Peter on 9386-5065 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Jointly sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party (www.socialism.com) and Radical Women (www.radicalwomen.org) . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:AA: Action alert - Support Ann-Marie!!
Hi Left Linkers Please take action today in your workplaces, on campus and by bombarding Telstra to support CPSU member, Ann-Marie who is fighting gross sexist discrimination by her employer, Telstra. Please help by circulate this message and act now. Alison Thorne Melbourne Freedom Socialist Party Organiser & Coordinator CPSU Workplace Organising Committee Moorabbin Call Centre I have attached below an article which appeared in the Herald Sun this morning. It raises serious concerns about Telstra's treatment of women on maternity leave. The woman concerned is a CPSU member and deserves the support of fellow union members. We'd like Telstra to do the right thing and make sure that Anne Marie keeps her job. Telstra employs nearly 40,000 workers throughout Australia. They must be able to keep a job for their women workers who go on maternity leave. The message that Telstra is sending to its staff and the community is unacceptable. Send a message to Anne-Marie's boss to let them know what you think. Philip Jones Executive Director, Customer Care Telstra Business and Government fax: 02 9230 0113 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] c.c. a copy of your message to the CPSU on [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks for your support Stephen Jones Division Secretary CPSU Communications 02 8204 6945 TELSTRA LAID OFF MUM AFTER MATERNITY LEAVE By SUSIE O'BRIEN, industrial reporter Herald Sun Frid 01aug03 A MOTHER so devoted to her Telstra job that she worked until an hour before giving birth was sacked on her first day back from maternity leave. Anne-Marie, 29, lost her job within three hours of returning to work in July despite her repeated rejection of a redundancy package. The Donvale mother-of-two, who does not want her last name used for privacy reasons, claims her manager said she would be burden as a part- time worker. She says her male manager also said she: WOULD be better able to look after her sick kids if she took redundancy. SHOULD discuss the redundancy offer with her husband. HAD experienced a drop in her skills after being on maternity leave for 12 months. Anne-Marie was promoted at Telstra from telemarketer to business analyst over nine years. Backed by the Community and Public Sector Union, she is pushing for reinstatement. "I was at work until one hour before my son was born -- I was in a lot of pain but stayed to fix problems with the intranet system," Anne-Marie said. "When my manager made me redundant he said he didn't think it was fair but there had to be a staff reduction. He said he was told I hadn't been there for 12 months and the business had survived without me." CPSU division secretary Stephen Jones said Telstra's behaviour was unfair and unacceptable. "Their own HR policy talks at length about valuing staff and their families, yet they appear happy to turf out a good worker because she had the temerity to start a family," he said. Anne-Marie was told on July 23 her redundancy was due to Telstra reducing her duties from three days a week to four hours a week. She is pushing Telstra executives for reinstatement. Anne-Marie has recently received several recommendation letters from other managers. A Telstra spokesman said the company stood by its decision to make Anne-Marie redundant. "It has nothing to do with maternity leave. It is unfortunate but her work is not being done any more," he said. "We tried to find her other work but were not able to do so." . -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Wills SA Branch Meeting
Permanent War Wills branch of Socialist Alliance invites you to discuss our society today, a society of permanent war! Speakers David Glanz - David recently attended the Jakarta Peace Conference. He will be talking about the tasks for the anti-war movement in coming months. Vanessa Hearman - Vanessa will be explaining the background to the Indonesian army's brutal crack down in the province of Aceh. Wednesday 23 July, 7 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All welcome. Licensed bar available and snacks served. For more information ring 9386-4815 or 9388-0062 www.socialist-alliance.org .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: On the 34th anniversary of Stonewall
Hello LeftLinkers This Saturday in the 34th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots which sparked the rise of modern Gay Liberation movement. Earlier this week Radical Women celebrated this occassion with a meeting titled "In the Spirit of Stonewall -- Queer Liberation is for Everybody!". On Saturday, Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party join forces to host a special Stonewall Rad Movie Night at Solidarity Salon. Black Is ... Black Ain't In his final film, Black Is ... Black Ain't, Marlon Riggs, renowned Black gay producer/director, explores African American identity and fearlessly challenges homophobia, sexism, patriarchy and racism as it exists in Black America. This innovative documentary pushes people of all colours to examine the stereotypes that Black equals male and heterosexual, while exploring Black feminism. Dinner will be served at 7 pm and screenings kick off at 7.45 pm Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick * Dinner, movie and popcorn $12 * Movie and popcorn only $6 * Wine, beer and soft drinks available We hope to see you there. Read the statement below from Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party in the U.S. for 101 good reasons to mobilise around the slogan "Stonewall Was a Riot -- Now We Need A Revolution." Alison Thorne Melbourne Freedom Socialist Party Branch Organiser Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Gay Pride Statement Act Up for Civil Liberties! Resist Macho Militarism at Home and Abroad Just weeks ago, George W. Bush, sporting a snappy paratrooper jumpsuit ensemble, strutted his stuff down the runway of an aircraft carrier. Camera bulbs flashed as he announced "victory" over Iraq. It is now clear, however, that the war is far from over - and that Bush's war on terror has unleashed an assault on the right to privacy and freedom of association here at home. Just as the public increasingly endorses gay and lesbian equality, Bush and Congress are turning up the volume on "you're-with-us-or-against-us" jingoism and using it to dismantle cherished civil liberties and rights. Thirty-four years after the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, McCarthyism and spying on one's neighbors are making a comeback. The rights of political and sexual minorities, immigrants, women and youth are under attack. It's time to fight back before we lose everything we've won. Rightwing fanaticism in the Capital. As queers we've faced off against scary people in Washington D.C. before. What's different today is how openly and brazenly the government promotes religious fundamentalism, monopoly capitalism and macho militarism. Attorney General John Ashcroft sermonizes against abortion rights and affirmative action, leads daily Bible classes on the job, and tried to ban Justice Department employees from holding their annual Gay Pride event. He also permits pension-stealing crooks from Enron to go free while overseeing drug raids on folks dispensing state-sanctioned medical marijuana. While governor of Pennsylvania, Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge signed a bill banning same-sex marriages and was praised by the conservative Commonwealth Foundation as "the most pro-business reformer in state history." And now, President Bush is poised to sign a bill criminalizing safe abortion procedures and shredding Roe v. Wade. Funding imperialism with stolen tax dollars. The money to pay for the rightwing's colonial wars and corporate bailouts has to come from "somewhere" - and that somewhere is social services. In 2003 alone, the Department of Defense will gobble up $396 billion tax dollars. The price of just one Stealth bomber - $2.1 billion - would cover the annual cost of all essential domestic HIV prevention activities. Gay seniors face the erosion of social security and sky-high prescription drug costs. Massive blows to education, homeless services, and environmental protections are jeopardizing the futures of queer youth. Welfare policies now promote "abstinence until marriage" programs that discriminate against non-traditional families. For those who think electing a Democrat next year will stop these atrocities, don't forget it was Bill Clinton who first gave us Don't Ask, Don't Tell, welfare "reform," and sent bombers over Belgrade and Baghdad. Cultural straightjacket. In promoting their boot camp ethic, Bush and Co. have launched a culture war in which lesbians, gays, bis and transgendered folk are easy and frequent targets. Artists and entertainers who dare to dissent, even the mainstream Dixie Chicks, are subjected to witchhunts orchestrated by CD-smashing hatemongers from Fox News and Clear Channel. Congress recently passed the controversial "Rave Act," targeting youth and circuit parties. And the glorification of warrior violence emboldens bashers like those who murdered transgender Lati
LL:DDV: Stonewall Celebration
Celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots at a Rad Movie Night at Solidarity Salon Saturday 28 June - Black Is ... Black Ain't In his final film, Black Is ... Black Ain't, Marlon Riggs, renowned Black gay producer/director, explores African American identity and fearlessly challenges homophobia, sexism, patriarchy and racism as it exists in Black America. This innovative documentary pushes people of all colours to examine the stereotypes that Black equals male and heterosexual, while exploring Black feminism. Dinner will be served at 7 pm and screenings kick off at 7.45 pm Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Dinner, movie and popcorn $12 - Movie and popcorn only $6 - Wine, beer and soft drinks available Phone or e-mail bookings appreciated to assist with planning and catering. Phone 9386-5065 or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brought to you by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Rad Movie Night shows Oz premier!
Rad Movie Nite @ Solidarity Salon Saturday 31 May -- Deacons for Defense. This fascinating film, reviewed in the current issue of the Freedom Socialist newspaper (see below) is an Australian premier. The movie challenges pacifism with its examination of armed defense by Blacks during the civil rights era in Louisiana. Dinner will be served at 7 pm and screenings kick off at 7.45 pm Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick * Dinner, movie and popcorn $12 * Movie and popcorn only $6 * Wine, beer and soft drinks available Proceeds will benefit the Australian Freedom Socialist Bulletin and Freedom Socialist $7,500 fund drive which runs from 1 March - 30 June 2003. Phone or e-mail bookings appreciated to assist with planning and catering. Phone 9386-5065 or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mark your diary! Saturday 28 June - Celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots which sparked the birth of the modern gay liberation movement at a special screening of Black Is...Black Ain't. In his final film, Marlon Riggs, renowned Black gay producer/director, explores African American identity and fearlessly challenges homophobia, sexism, patriarchy and racism as it exists in Black America. This innovative documentary pushes people of all colours to examine the stereotypes that Black equals male and heterosexual, while exploring Black feminism. Review: Deacons for Defense: True Story of Armed Resistance by Monica Hill Teach! That's what Deacons for Defense does best. It teaches hidden history from the civil rights movement. It shows the stand-tall results of facing paralyzing fear. It lays out the political types who are on stage in every struggle for social change. In these times of antiwar mobilizing and organizing to save civil liberties, Showtime's made-for-cable movie, based on a true profile in courage, is sharply relevant. The Scene It is the mid-1960s in Bogalusa, Louisiana, 60 miles northeast of New Orleans, and the Ku Klux Klan is up in arms. Literally. After years of struggle undeterred by billy clubs, fists, guns and white-supremacist mobs, the civil rights movement had finally wrung the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act out of Congress. But there is no evidence of this victory in Bogalusa. And city politicians, businessmen and their gun-toting KKK cronies mean to keep it that way. Relative to the population, the KKK chapter in Bogalusa is the largest in the country. Bogalusa is a company town, run by the Seattle-based Crown Zellerbach Company. Both paper mill and town are fully (and illegally) segregated. Out-of-state civil rights organizers are showing up, and Black young people are eager to bring some of Freedom Summer to town. Pickets and boycotts begin to pepper Bogalusa. This is the real backdrop for the movie, in which the protagonist, a composite character called Marcus, is movingly portrayed by Forest Whitaker. Terrified of Klan violence, Marcus forbids his daughter to participate in the protests. Action! Angry at weeks of disruptive protests and boycotts, city fathers decide to deal with them the "old-fashioned way." As their rioting cops descend on the demonstrators, Marcus dashes in and puts a chokehold on one of the cops taking a swing at his teenage daughter. He is arrested and severely beaten. "See what they did? They beat me like a dog. They gonna do the same to our kids, and their kids. I got to do something." Marcus and his coworkers hold a meeting. (In life, this meeting occurred not in a church, as the movie places it, but at the Black labor hall.) It does not take long for these disciplined union men and war veterans to form an organization of self-defense that is willing and able to meet force with force - the Deacons for Defense and Justice. Ossie Davis, playing a well-meaning liberal minister to the hilt, urges the men to disavow any kind of violence. He offers to meet with the mayor and get that worthy to "guarantee the safety of the Negro people," in return for which he will see to it that no more rallies take place in front of City Hall. No way, the Deacons say. They elect officers and begin buying citizen band radios for their roving car patrols. With the help of longshoremen in New Orleans, they also lay in guns and ammunition. Pacifism vs. self-defense A common KKK terror tactic was to send carloads of men speeding through the Black community and firing guns into homes. After one of these nightriding attacks, the Deacons return fire. The Klan speeds away, and that is the end of nightriding in Bogalusa. Says the minister to Marcus later, "Fear of the Klan made me less than a man. You freed me, son." Armed Deacons regularly guard the local civil rights office. But two northern white staffers are committed pacifists. "This movement is nonviolent - that is the essence of the movement," pleads one of them, played by Jonathan Silverman. "Don't tell me about the essence of your summer vacation," responds Marcus. "Alive is better. " Protest against segregation
LL:PR: Victory to the Iraqis over U.S. imperialism
Victory to the Iraqis over U.S. imperialism! Working people have the power to end the bloodshed The hope that a U.S.-led war of mass destruction against Iraq could be averted has evaporated like a water droplet in the Saudi desert. Over the protest of millions of people here, in the U.S. and around the world, Bush, Blair, Howard and Co. are at this moment murdering their way to Baghdad with the intention of imposing a military occupation that could last years. So much for the niceties of multilateralism and UN resolutions. Goodbye to the fiction that the Howard Government, pursuing "an independent foreign policy," had not made a decision to commit troops to a U.S. led war. Gone is the misconception that support for human rights and oppressed minorities in the Middle East determine U.S. policy. U.S. backing for Israel's war of extermination against Palestinians shows exactly how little its supposed concern for Iraqi Kurds means. The naked truth is that major corporations and their arrogant servants in government are not bound by laws or decency to do anything that does not please them and serve their interests. And it pleases them now to invade Iraq, enslave its people, steal their oil, and set up another military outpost in the Middle East -- just as it once pleased them to arm Hussein against Islamic revolutionaries in Iran. So how is it that replacing this former ally through the genocidal bombing of Iraq's people has become the most urgent task of the Bush regime? Bush is spurred by economic necessity. The intractable problem of capitalism is the chronic overproduction of goods resulting in recession: global markets evaporating, millions of workers unemployed -- and profits in jeopardy. For Bush, who believes that even modest government support for welfare programs is creeping socialism, war is the only solution. The Iraqi people are being annihilated so that Halliburton, the energy company Dick Cheney headed, and thousands of other corporations can invest profitably in rebuilding Iraq and replacing the immense amount of military hardware that will be blown up in this conflagration. Where this U.S. drive for world economic and political hegemony will end, no one knows. The Syrians, Libyans, North Koreans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, or Venezuelans could be next in line. It violates every notion of sovereignty and self-determination for the U.S. government to consider "regime change" as its privilege to impose. It is the obligation of antiwar activists around the world to uphold Iraq's right to self-defense against the neocolonial army of the U.S. and its allies and the right of Iraqis to take care of Hussein themselves. The actions of working people -- especially in the U.S., Britain and Australia -- through protests and work stoppages -- can and will make a difference in the days ahead. "Bring the troops home now!" is the rallying cry of those who know this is an unjust war. Issued by: Freedom Socialist Party Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Vic 3056 AUSTRALIA * www.socialism.com * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * 03-9388-0062, 03-9386-5065 .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Wills Socialist Alliance Branch meeting
The next meeting of the Wills branch of Socialist Alliance will take place on Wednesday 2 April, 7 pm at Solidarity Salon 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick The meeting will feature a talk and discussion on "Vietnam & Today: Lessons and Debates in the anti-war movement" by Socialist Alliance member and veteran campaigner, Dave Holmes. Guests and potential members are very welcome. For more information contact Jonathan Sherlock, Convener of Wills Socialist Alliance on [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 9383-3147 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Rad Movie Nights At Solidarity Salon
Hi Left Linkers After the demonstration against the Blackshirts and attending the DISC Street Party in Percey Street on 29 March come and enjoy a relaxing dinner and movie night at the first of our monthly "Rad Movie Nights At Solidarity Salon" Cheers Alison Thorne Rad Movie Nights At Solidarity Salon Saturday 29 March: "Australia's Pacific Solution" and "No Way to Forget" Don't miss this special Film Screening. Australia's Pacific Solution is a revealing documentary about the conditions for asylum seekers locked in refugee prisons on Nauru. It was made by Melbourne activist Kate Durham and BBC journalist Sarah MacDonald, when they visited Nauru undercover in June. It has been screened on TV in Britain, but the ABC says it's "not interested." This doco will be screened with Richard Frankland's compelling short film about Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Dinner will be served at 7 pm and screenings kick off 7.45. * Dinner, movie and popcorn $12 * Movie and popcorn only $6 * Wine, beer and soft drinks available Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Phone bookings appreciated to assist with planning and catering. Phone 9386-5065. Mark your diary Saturday 26 April -- "International Sweethearts of Rhythm," "Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin Women" and "The Women's Circus." Celebrate women's creativity. The first two films tell the story of America's hottest, multi-racial, all women jazz bands of the 1940s. At a time when male musicians were the rule and segregation the law of the land, these women defied convention. Plus be dazzled by Melbourne's own women's circus on video, plus a few circus surprises! Saturday 31 May -- "Deacons for Defense" This fascinating documentary challenges pacifism with it examination of armed defense by Blacks during the civil rights era in Louisiana. Saturday 28 June -- Celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots which sparked the birth of the modern gay liberation movement at a special screening of "Black Is...Black Ain't" In his final film, Marlon Riggs, renown Black gay producer/director, explores African American identity and fearlessly challenges homophobia, sexism, patriarchy and racism as it exists in Black America. This innovative documentary pushes people of all colours to examine the stereotypes that Black equals male and heterosexual, while exploring Black feminism. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Coming to the IWD movie night - The Hours this Sunday?
Hi Left Linkers Are you planning to come to this IWD "The Hours" movie night fundraiser next Sunday? Haven't booked tickets yet? Well, not to worry! You can just turn up on the night. Be sure to buy your tickets from us at the ticket counter in the upstairs foyer at the Westgarth Theatre. Tickets will be on sale from 6.45. BUT . we would appreciate a phone call [9386-5065] to let us know you plan on coming so that we can have enough wine and supper for all of us. Kick of the IWD season with a fun evening to get you in the mood for the action ahead! Cheers Alison Thorne Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women IWD action coming up .. * March 5 - Wills Socialist Alliance IWD public meeting @ Solidarity Salon * March 8 - IWD anti-war rallies in Melbourne and Geelong * March 8 - Socialist Alliance IWD fundraiser to benefit the SA western suburbs council election campaign * March 11 - Geelong Radical Women IWD anti-war public meeting @ Geelong Community Radio * March 25 - Melbourne Radical Women IWD anti-war public meeting @ Solidarity Salon (e-mail me on [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you'd like to join us at any of the above) Celebrate International Women's Day with Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party at a Gala Movie Night THE HOURS Sunday, 2 March, 7.15 pm Upstairs, Westgarth Theatre, 89 High Street, Northcote Based on a Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham, the film employs as its foundation and inspiration Virginia Woolf's own classic novel, "Mrs Dalloway," with its central character, Clarissa. Set during a single day, yet spanning three different eras, the film focuses in the parallel lives of three women. Nicole Kidman -- wearing a prosthetic nose -- is virtually unrecognisable as English author Virginia Woolf, whose battle with mental illness eventually led to her tragic suicide in 1941. Opening at the moment of her suicide, the film regresses to 1923, and Woolf's life and work as she crafted her most memorable character -- Clarissa Dalloway. In 1950s Californian suburbia, another woman, Laura Brown (played by Julianne Moore), struggles with alienation and depression. Trapped by a clinging young son and an adoring husband, who she does not love, the desperate woman tries to prepare for her husband's birthday but can't stop reading "Mrs Dalloway." Finally, in modern day Manhattan, Clarissa Vaughan (played by Meryl Streep), a lesbian who lives with her lover and daughter, struggles to prepare a party for her ex-husband, who is dying of AIDS. Beautifully overlapping editing sews the women's interwoven stories seamlessly together. This special evening will kick off a four month long $75,000 international fund drive for our two feisty socialist feminist publications -- the "Freedom Socialist" newspaper and the Australian "Freedom Socialist Bulletin." So get the International Women's Day season off to a great start by enjoying a fun night out and helping two publications which the founder of this day of socialist feminist action, Clara Zetkin, would enthusiastically support! Screening followed by a wine and cheese supper in the ornate upstairs foyer. Tickets are $20 solidarity price, $15 regular or $12 concession. For tickets send a cheque, payable to FSP, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055. For more information call Alison on 9386-5065 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Can't make it? We'd welcome your donation to help us reach our $7,500 local goal! -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: All Power to the Soviets!
Join the Freedom Socialist Party every Thursday evening until the end of March for a Marxist feminist study group on "Ending war and misery: Working class, feminist leadership is key." This reading circle is studying the failure of capitalism to fulfil the basic needs of most of the world's people and examining how only the working class is equipped to solve the planet's problems. Thursday 27 February: "All power to the Soviets!" Lessons from the 1917 Russia Revolution Dinner will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation . Study group 7 - 8.30 pm The study group will be held at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick (take the Sydney Road tram or the Upfield train; by car there is ample parking at the rear. Enter the salon from Staley Street. Sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Party, PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic 3055 For more information about reading material contact Peter on 9386-5065 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Ending war and misery
6 week Marxist feminist study group Ending war and misery: Working class, feminist leadership is key Take part in a reading circle looking at the failure of capitalism to fulfil the basic needs of most of the world=B9s people and how only the working class is equipped to solve the planet's problems. Exploring struggles from the past hundred years, the series will discuss the key role of socialist feminism in the battles of the 21st century. Starts Thursday, 20 February 2003 * Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation * Sessions from 7 - 8.30 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick * 20 February: Permanent Revolution: ending the crisis of capitalist "democracy" * 27 February: "All power to the Soviets!" Lessons from the 1917 Russian Revolution * 6 March: Defeat in Shanghai: Trotsky draws lessons from Stalinist betrayal * 13 March: No need to wait: from China to Cuba, revolts outpace capitalist development * 20 March: Regime change begins at home: revolution needed in imperialist heartlands * 27 March: Socialist feminism and the liberation of the most oppressed Study materials available at cost. Sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Party, PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic 3055 For more information: * phone 9386-5065 * e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.socialism.com -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:REM: Opportunities for Revolt!
See you on Saturday! Public Forum Opportunities for Revolt: Socialist feminists organise to rid the planet of U.S. Imperialism. News from the November 2002 Freedom Socialist Party Convention. This U.S. gathering of socialist feminists from different parts of the globe focused on the dramatic changes in the world from the sharp intensification of the movement against corporate globalisation to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the "war on terrorism." With its open-ended war drive and erasure of civil liberties, the U.S. government today eerily brings to mind scenes from the George Orwell novel, "1984." And the Howard Government is cravenly following in George Bush's footsteps. Conference participants analysed these developments and discussed how the "antiterror" crusade has not stamped out resistance in the U.S. and around the world, but is sparking more. They concluded that this turbulent period is one of enormous openings for working class fighters -- especially women, Indigenous people, immigrants, people of color and queers. A panel of three participants will present their perspectives: * Brenda Hunter -- single mother, environmentalist and activist in the Geelong Branch of Socialist Alliance * Peter Murray -- Freedom Socialist Bulletin editorial board and member of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union * Debbie Brennan -- Melbourne Radical Women Organiser and community campaigner against the patriarchal Blackshirts Saturday 8 February, 5 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick Solidarity Salon is just north of Blyth Street. Take a North Coburg tram for an Upfield Line train. Plenty of parking at the rear. Enter from Staley Street. The meeting space is wheel chair accessible but the toilets are not. * Door open 5 pm * Program 5.30 - 7.30 pm * 7.45 luscious summer buffet dinner served for $8. Sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women For more information call Alison on 9386-5065 FSP -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] RW -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.socialism.com www.radicalwomen.com .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: Decoding Bush's State of the Union Address
Statement to the media from the Freedom Socialist Party in Australia phone: 03-9388-0062, 03-9386-5065 or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Decoding Bush's State of the Union address by Andrea Bauer January 31, 2003 In his January 28 State of the Union address, George W. Bush presented Congress and the U.S. with a Through-the-Looking-Glass world: Tax cuts for the super-wealthy benefit ordinary people! A program to increase logging of national forests is a "Healthy Forests Initiative"! And the most heavily armed and interventionist military power in the history of the planet "fights reluctantly" and "will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men." Out of Bush's hypocritical and demagogic speech, however, one thing at least rang true. For the people of the U.S. and the world, decisive days lie ahead. Notwithstanding Bush's often repeated willingness to go it alone to commit the U.S. to all-out hostilities against Iraq, his Tuesday performance was designed to shore up lagging support for his policies, especially toward Iraq, at home and abroad. Whether the majority of U.S. working people can decipher and resist Bush's con games is crucial to what happens next. So, for antiwar and global-justice activists, a "deconstruction" of Bush's promises and threats is in order. Hitting the notes of "compassionate conservatism" During his hour-long talk, Bush played first Benevolent Patriarch and then Menacing Patriarch. In the first role, he put forward a grab bag of proposals and programs. These were carefully selected for mention with a view to generating some favorable public sentiment for Bush's 2004 budget before he lays out the whole thing on February 3. Notably missing was any talk of the inevitable cuts in the budget that will make life more difficult for working people and the poor, or of the cost of the enormous military buildup and looming war. So what about the measures Bush means to take to "work for a prosperity that is broadly shared"? * First and foremost, Bush promoted a second round of tax cuts, which will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, as the route to strengthening the economy and creating more jobs. We've been down this supply-side, "trickle-down" road before. The theory is that lowering taxes will spur investment. But after the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980s, net investment declined. And the trillion-dollar tax cut George W. pushed through during his first year in office did nothing for the economy but drag it back into the land of soaring deficits. As for stimulating employment? Something like 2.3 million private-sector jobs have disappeared on Bush's watch. * Faced with a massive crisis of access to healthcare, Bush made the decision to focus on two things in his speech: the need of seniors for prescription-drug benefits -- and, ludicrously, the costs of malpractice suits to the system. As for the first, very real problem: Bush represented his new initiative as offering seniors the ability to choose a healthcare plan that provides prescription drugs. However, it seems that the "choice" that Bush would give the elderly is a terrible one. Seniors could stay on Medicare without prescription benefits, or they could opt for the insecurity of healthcare coverage through private HMOs. Bush neglected to mention that this proposal is just one feature of his overall drive to subject all of people's most basic needs to the untender mercies of the "free market" by privatizing healthcare, Social Security, pension funds, and everything in sight. He scornfully dismissed a nationalized healthcare system. * Among the components of Bush's energy plan was the promise of $1.2 billion in research funding so the U.S. can develop non-polluting cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Practically misty-eyed, he offered up the vision of a child born today taking his or her very first car out for a hydrogen-powered spin 16 years from now. Let's ignore for the moment that environmental cleanliness is not the only problem with a transportation system based on private cars (whose numbers in the U.S. in the past few decades have grown six times faster than those of the human population). Until recently, Detroit has refused to investigate and implement alternative energy technologies for vehicles because research and development costs money and there's no guaranteed quick payoff. (So much for the value of capitalism as fostering risk-taking and innovation by forward-thinking entrepreneurs.) In Japan, however, automakers already have fuel-cell cars on the roads, and the U.S. industry cannot afford to once again fall badly behind. Thus George Jr. intends to ease their way by letting the government assume some of the financial pain of "taking these cars from laboratory to showroom" -- while continuing to manfully resist stricter anti-pollution standards in the here and now. * Moving on from his evident compassion for the auto industry, Bush singled out three
LL:DDV: IWD movie night - The Hours
Celebrate International Women's Day with Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party at a Gala Movie Night THE HOURS Sunday, 2 March, 7.15 pm Upstairs, Westgarth Theatre, 89 High Street, Northcote Based on a Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham, the film employs as its foundation and inspiration Virginia Woolf's own classic novel, "Mrs Dalloway," with its central character, Clarissa. Set during a single day, yet spanning three different eras, the film focuses in the parallel lives of three women. Nicole Kidman -- wearing a prosthetic nose -- is virtually unrecognisable as English author Virginia Woolf, whose battle with mental illness eventually led to her tragic suicide in 1941. Opening at the moment of her suicide, the film regresses to 1923, and Woolf's life and work as she crafted her most memorable character -- Clarissa Dalloway. In 1950s Californian suburbia, another woman, Laura Brown (played by Julianne Moore), struggles with alienation and depression. Trapped by a clinging young son and an adoring husband, who she does not love, the desperate woman tries to prepare for her husband's birthday but can=B9t stop reading "Mrs Dalloway." Finally, in modern day Manhattan, Clarissa Vaughan (played by Meryl Streep), a lesbian who lives with her lover and daughter, struggles to prepare a party for her ex-husband, who is dying of AIDS. Beautifully overlapping editing sews the women's interwoven stories seamlessly together. This special evening will kick off a four month long $75,000 international fund drive for our two feisty socialist feminist publications -- the "Freedom Socialist" newspaper and the Australian "Freedom Socialist Bulletin." So get the International Women's Day season off to a great start by enjoying a fun night out and helping two publications which the founder of this day of socialist feminist action, Clara Zetkin, would enthusiastically support! Screening followed by a wine and cheese supper in the ornate upstairs foyer. Tickets are $20 solidarity price, $15 regular or $12 concession. For tickets send a cheque, payable to FSP, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055. For more information call Alison on 9386-5065 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Can't make it? We'd welcome your donation to help us reach our $7,500 local goal! .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Opportunities for Revolt
Dear comrades Happy New Year to all Left Linkers. We have big challenges ahead! All Left Linkers are cordially invited to a a public forum to report back on the recent convention of the Freedom Socialist Party in the United States. [many thanks to all of you who bought our raffle tickets on M1 and May Day to help get the biggest possible contingent from Australia to this event] Join us for a lively exchange of ideas. Cheers Alison Thorne Public Forum Opportunities for Revolt: Socialist feminists organise to rid the planet of U.S. Imperialism. News from the November 2002 Freedom Socialist Party Convention. This U.S. gathering of socialist feminists from different parts of the globe focused on the dramatic changes in the world from the sharp intensification of the movement against corporate globalisation to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the "war on terrorism." With its open-ended war drive and erasure of civil liberties, the U.S. government today eerily brings to mind scenes from the George Orwell novel, "1984." And the Howard Government is cravenly following in George Bush's footsteps. Conference participants analysed these developments and discussed how the "antiterror" crusade has not stamped out resistance in the U.S. and around the world, but is sparking more. They concluded that this turbulent period is one of enormous openings for working class fighters -- especially women, Indigenous people, immigrants, people of color and queers. A panel of three participants will present their perspectives: * Brenda Hunter -- single mother, environmentalist and activist in the Geelong Branch of Socialist Alliance * Peter Murray -- Freedom Socialist Bulletin editorial board and member of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union * Debbie Brennan -- Melbourne Radical Women Organiser and community campaigner against the patriarchal Blackshirts Saturday 8 February, 5 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick Solidarity Salon is just north of Blyth Street. Take a North Coburg tram for an Upfield Line train. Plenty of parking at the rear. Enter from Staley Street. The meeting space is wheel chair accessible but the toilets are not. * Door open 5 pm * Program 5.30 - 7.30 pm * 7.45 luscious summer buffet dinner served for $8. Sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women For more information call Alison on 9386-5065 FSP -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] RW -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.socialism.com www.radicalwomen.com .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
DDV: Wills Socialist Alliance end of year BBQ
Dear comrades and friends You are invited to the Wills Socialist Alliance end of year BBQ on Thursday 19 December at 6 pm. Why? Well...read on. 2002 is drawing to a close and the Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance has had quite a year. We started the year with our enormously successful run in two wards in the Moreland City Council elections. We end the year with our campaign as a loud, proud voice for socialism standing Judy McVey as the Socialist Alliance candidate for Brunswick. And in the intervening period, we achieved things too numerous to list in full but including: * support for Moreland Council workers in struggle * campaigning against the anti-Terror laws * mobilising again and again against war * backing efforts to rid our community of the ultra-right patriarchs in the Black Shirts * leading the working class charge against the 22% rate hike * helping achieve the historic tasks of State electoral registration for SA Plus MUCH more. And now it is time to relax, reflect on our achievements and yarn informally about what's next. In lieu of a December Branch meeting Wills SA is holding an end of year BBQ and every member and supporter is cordially invited. We want to THANK YOU for your work on the recent state election campaign and other projects through out the year. WILLS SOCIALIST ALLIANCE END OF YEAR BBQ Thursday 19 December, 6 pm Public BBQ at War Park (the BBQ is behind the War Park Community Centre in DeCarle Street, near the corner of Albion Street. It is 1 minutes walk from the Sydney Road tram). What you need to bring: * BBQ able bits of your choice (meat, fish, vegie burgers etc) * Drinks of your choice * A folding chair * Some cash [yes, we'll be having a collection to boost the coffers in readiness to take on the bourgeoisie in 2003] What will be provided: * BBQ tools, cork screw, some card tables etc * Disposable plates, cutlery, glasses, serviettes, tomato sauce * A selection of salads * Some damn fine company with other SA comrades and supporters If you'd like to offer to bring a salad or other food items to share call Alison on 9386-5065 or drop me an e-mail. Alison Thorne Convener Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance PS: Please note that I have given notice that I will be stepping down from the branch convenership in 2003 so we'll elect a new convener in January. If you think you might be interested in taking on the role and would like to discuss what involves, give me a call. .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Public memorial for Socialist Feminist - Delia Maxwell
Public memorial for Delia Maxwell Socialist Feminist, author & educator, grassroots union organiser 1932 - 2002 A feisty feminist and lifelong rebel, Delia began campaigning for civil liberties on campus in the '50s. After raising three children, she returned to teaching in the '70s and, influenced by women's liberation, became a union activist and champion of the rights of contract and sessional teachers. A leader in the local branch of the Australian Education Union, she tenaciously fought a vicious union busting campaign by mangement. After retiring, Delia went on to organise amongst the English exam markers. As a member of Radical Women, she wrote extensively, ran classes, campaigned and cooked up a storm. She also confronted Nazis, marched for queer liberation, organised for Indigenous rights, and joyfully helped shut down the World Economic Forum on S11, 2000. She eagerly joined the Socialist Alliance, believing passionately that socialists must intervene in elections. Delia displayed unflinching optimism, inviting everyone, from old friends to new acquaintances, to join her in the battle for human emancipation. Join Delia's family, friends and comrades on the 70th anniversary of her birth to honour her humanity and bold, creative life. There will be a program of reminiscences and a Nothing's Too Good for the Working Class Dinner featuring Delia's favourite dishes. Saturday 21 December, 5 pm Delia's home, 20 Lowther Street, Alphington BYO drinks. RSVP would be appreciated by 14 December for catering purposes. Phone Nicola 9497-1496 or Debbie 9386-3230 Contributions may be sent to the Delia Maxwell Memorial Fund to assist with Radical Women projects dear to Delia's heart. Cheques, payable to Radical Women, may be sent to PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic 3055. Hosted by Delia's family, Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party For more information or to offer assistance, contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or phone Debbie on 9386-3230 Some of Delia's journalism can be found at www.socialism.com .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Video Screening - Paying the Price
Special Screening of John Pilger's documentary Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq Before the 1991 Gulf War Iraq had one of the highest standards of living in the Middle East. As a result of the war, Iraq's infrastructure has been decimated and UNICEF reports that at least 200 children are dying every day because of the subsequent UN imposed sanctions. Pilger's chilling documentary exposes how the sanctions have not affected Saddam's brutal reign of terror but only brought misery, starvation and death to the population. Tuesday October 29, 6.30 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Drinks available. All welcome! Presented by Socialist Alliance - Wills Branch For more information: 0403-802-944, 9386-4815, 9388-0062 www.socialist-alliance.org .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:leftlink@;vicnet.net.au Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:majordomo@;vicnet.net.au?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:majordomo@;vicnet.net.au?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Origins of the conflict in the Middle East
No War Study Group - Saturday 14 September, 2002 Topic: Origins of the conflict in the Middle East - Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jewish women fight back! Lunch will be served at 1.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. The sessions will run from 2 - 3.30 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. For more information, call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party. Everyone is welcome to participate. Contact Alison on [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Israeli Refusnik to speak at Wills SA branch meeting
Hi Left Linkers The Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance has an exciting guest speaker at our branch meeting on Wednesday 4 September, 7 pm, Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Rotem, is a young Israeli Army refusenik. He was jailed after he refused to serve in the West Bank. Rotem is visiting Melbourne and will speak about the refusenik movement. Guests are welcome at Socialist Alliance branch meetings. Alison Thorne Convener, Wills Socialist Alliance . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Origins of the Repressive Taliban
No War Study Group - Saturday 7 September, 2002 Topic: Origins of the Repressive Taliban - Afghani & Pakistani women fight back! Lunch will be served at 1.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. The sessions will run from 2 - 3.30 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. For more information, call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party. Everyone is welcome to participate. Contact Alison on [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Road to fascism - the attack on our civil liberties
No War Study Group - Saturday 31 August Topic: Road to fascism - the attack on our civil liberties Lunch will be served at 1.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. The sessions will run from 2 - 3.30 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. For more information, call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party. Everyone is welcome to participate. Contact Alison on [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: The ABCs of War and the Working Class
No War Study Group - Saturday 24 August Topic: The ABCs of War and the Working Class Lunch will be served at 1.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. The sessions will run from 2 - 3.30 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. For more information, call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party. Everyone is welcome to participate. Contact Alison on [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: No War Study groups starts 17 August
Reminder! No War Study Group starts next Saturday Saturday 17 August Topic: What is behind George Bush's Dirty War? Lunch will be served at 1.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. The sessions will run from 2 - 3.30 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. For more information, call 9386-5065. Sponsored by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party. Everyone is welcome to participate. Contact Alison on [EMAIL PROTECTED] for information about pre- reading a copy of the syllabus for the 6 week program. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe% 20leftlink UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects.
LL:DDV: Bougainville: A struggle undefeated
Thursday, 22 August, 6.30 pm Freedom Socialist Party meeting Bougainville: A struggle undefeated Take part in a special tribute to the strong, resourceful and defiant women and men of Bougainville whose ongoing struggle for independence has not been defeated despite fierce resistance by both Australian companies and governments. Learn why socialists unconditionally support the struggle of oppressed nations to self determination. Be inspired by the egalitarian, matriarchal nature of this unique culture where women still play a leadership role, just as they always did before the emergence of private property and patriarchy. And let=B9s talk about how we can help build a movement to permanently defeat Australian imperialism! The video "Evergreen Island," a fascinating and optimistic look at Bougainville today and the story of their national liberation struggle, will be shown. Pacific style dinner will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. Vegetarians catered for. The presentation will commence at 7 pm. Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Phone: 9388-0062 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe% 20leftlink UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects.
LL:DDV: Socialist Alliance Wills Branch coming events
Socialist Alliance Wills Branch coming events Thursday 8 August, 7 pm Wills Socialist Alliance Branch meeting ASU Organiser, Janine Kepert, will talk about the struggle by unionists at the Brunswick Pool against outsourcing and for pay justice. Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Guests welcome. For more information: 9388-0062, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Saturday 10 August, 10.30 am Speak out against anti-terror laws! Join Wills Socialist Alliance and local feminist and immigrant community organisations to protest the Howard Government's latest attack on our democratic rights. Coburg Mall. To endorse the protest, to organise to speak or for more information call 9388-0062, [EMAIL PROTECTED] This event is part of a Socialist Alliance National weekend of protest against these dangerous measures. Thanks Alison Thorne Wills Branch Convener -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: No War study group
6 week Marxist feminist No War study group commences 17 August Take part in a reading circle about the growing opposition to the global "war on terror" and the crack down on civil liberties of workers and immigrants. Explore lessons from past movements against U.S. imperialist wars for profit and global power and apply history's lessons to today. * 17 August: What is behind George Bush's dirty war? * 24 August: The ABCs of war and the working class * 31 August: Road to fascism - the attack on our civil liberties * 7 September: Origins of the repressive Taliban - Afghani & Pakistani women fight back! * 14 September: Origins of the conflict in the Middle East - Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jewish women fight back! * 21 September: Putting an end to war once and for all! Lunch will be served at 1.30 pm for a $6.50 donation (vegetarian option available). The sessions will run from 2 - 3.30 pm. The event will be held at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. (take the Sydney Road tram or the Upfield train; by car there is ample parking at the rear). Enter the salon from Staley Street. For more information, call 9386-5065 or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sponsored by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Education and the state budget
Socialist Alliance Wills Branch meeting Wednesday 10 July, 7 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Socialist Alliance member Carlene Wilson is an activist with the Australian Education Union. She will lead a discussion on how education fared in the recent state budget. Guests are welcome! For more information: 9388-0062 Alison Thorne Convener, Socialist Alliance Wills Branch -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: The New War Order
Just out from Red Letter Press The New War Order: Notes from the Front Lines of Resistance Are you starved for some "truth-based" commentary to share with coworkers and friends? "The New War Order," the fourth title in the Red Banner Reader series, provides a powerful counterpunch to the propaganda flooding the airwaves and newspapers. Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party activists explain the current war madness and propose strategies for stopping it. Their essays, letters and speeches report on successful organizing efforts against the war, globalism, and attacks on immigrants, people of color and civil liberties. $6.00. 48 pages. Saddlestitched ISBN 0-932323-16-2 Available from Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick (open every Saturday from 10 am - 5 pm or call 9388-0062) or my mail (add $1 for postage and make cheques payable to FSP) PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Dinner to Defend Democratic Rights At Home and Abroad
The Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance presents Dinner to Defend Democratic Rights At Home and Abroad Saturday 8 June, 7 pm Lazzat Kadah, Indian and Pakistani cuisine, 63 Sydney Road, Coburg Since the World Trade Centre attack on September 11, Governments around the world have launched a broadside on democratic rights under the guise of "fighting terrorism." But in some parts of the world, democratic rights were curtailed long before September 11. In Pakistan, General Musharraf seized power in a military coup. In Malaysia, activists such as workers' rights advocate, Tian Chua, are jailed under the Internal Security Act. Here in Australia, the Howard's anti-terror laws can't be "improved" to make them unproblematic. They must be defeated. Join the Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance for a dinner of authentic Pakistani and Indian Cuisine, hear after dinner speeches from anti-terror law campaigner, Damien Lawson, and a representative from Australia Asia Workers Links. You'll also be helping Socialist Alliance kick off fundraising for our state election campaign. Costs $30 (solidarity price), $25 (employed), $20 concession Booking is essential. To book call Alison on 9386-5065 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Menu for meat eaters (vegetarians will also be catered for with a full vegetarian banquet) * vegetable pakoras * seekh kebabs * chicken pakora * chicken korma * lamb madras * palak paneer * saffron rice * salad & yoghurt Soft drinks provided. BYO alcoholic drinks. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Stonewall in Melbourne
Hello Left Linkers Make a committment to celebrate Stonewall this year. Mark this date in your diary now! The doco is fascinating Cheers Alison Thorne Stonewall at Solidarity Salon - Thursday 27 June, 7 pm Special premier screening of The Gay Pioneers This 2001 documentary produced by WHYY in Philadelphia is an inspirational look at the achievements of the women and men who were the pre-Stonewall pioneers. They held an annual reminder picket from 1965 to 1969 on the 4th of July outside Philadelphia's Independence Hall. Their demands? Nothing less than full equality! Their tactics? A highly disciplined team effort. One participant recollects: "the conservatives damned us to hell ... they didn't want any part of our uppity tactics". Celebrate Stonewall by honouring these pioneering achievements and examining what sort of uppity tactics are needed today in order to achieve the goal of nothing less than full equality! The venue is Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Dinner will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. There is no charge for the program which starts at 7 pm. Presented by the Freedom Socialist Party. For more information call Alison on 9386-5065 or 9388-0062. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.socialism.com -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Why a vanguard party?
Freedom Socialist Party meeting - Thursday 30 May Organising for the Final Conflict: Why the Vanguard Party is an essential tool for struggle in the 21st century Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation, program at 7 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick A hundred years ago the revolutionary socialist movement split over how to organise for working class victory in the struggles of the day. Was it enough for a party to recruit a broad base of activists loosely connected to the organisation? Or was it necessary to build a tightly disciplined group of committed revolutionists? The question was answered decisively when just such a party, Lenin's Bolsheviks, led the first successful working class revolution in 1917. Find out why the Freedom Socialist Party sees itself as a vanguard party, and why we regard this type of organisation as the key to working class victory in struggles from Palestine to South Korea and resistance to the so-called "War on Terrorism." For more information contact Peter on 9386-5065, 9388-0062, [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.socialism.com -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Wills SA branch meeting
The Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance will hold its next branch meeting Wednesday 15 May, 7 pm at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick The agenda will include: * a special report and discussion on the proposed "anti-terror" laws and how to defeat them * discussion and decision about how many and which seats Wills Branch will contest at the State Election * proposal for a branch fundraising dinner on 8 June * report on membership renewals/recruitment campaign Be there! Guests and potential members are welcome. For more information call Alison on 9388-0062. Alison Thorne, Convener Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: A salute to the irrepressible working women of Asia
Please note: start time revised to 6.30 pm to be followed by a dinner and reception for Irene Xavier and Mabel Au Freedom Socialist Party May Day Celebration, dinner & reception Monday 29 April, 6.30 pm, Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick A salute to the irrepressible working women of Asia Join us from 6.30 - 8.30 pm for a lively panel discussion about how to strengthen local solidarity with the fighting women workers of Asia. Panelists: Karen Moran: internationalist and unionist - Australia Asia Worker Links Esperanza Acosta: feminist and refugee from El Salvador - Radical Women Peter Murray: activist Rail, Tram and Bus Union - Freedom Socialist Party The program will also feature excerpts from Dolls and Dust, a powerful film about women workers in Sri Lanka, Thailand and South Korea who face the brunt of capitalist globalisation. The personal testimonies and struggles of women who labour in toy and doll factories highlight the life and death battles to survive in the age of industrial restructuring, privatisation, sexual harassment and discrimination. Followed at 8.30 pm by a dinner and reception for visiting Asian organisers, Irene Xavier and Mabel Au. Irene Xavier is a labour activist who has been working with women workers since 1978. She was involved in various struggles to organise women workers in theelectronics sector and develop health & safety campaigns. In 1987 she was detained under the Internal Security Act for 355 days. She is currently involved in the women workers movement as well as in the stuggle for civil and political rights in Malaysia. Mabel Au is an activist who has fought for the rights of migrant workers and sex workers in Hong Kong. She was Vice Chairperson of the Industrial Relations Institute in Hong Kong. Mabel is currently Program Coordinator of the Committee for Asian Women. An Asian buffet will be served at 8.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. No charge for the program which will commence at 6.30 pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056 Phone: 9388-0062. FSP: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - www.socialism.com . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: A Salute to the Irrepressible Women Workers of Asia
Freedom Socialist Party Calendar May Day 2002 Freedom Socialist Party May Day Celebration A salute to the irrepressible working women of Asia Monday 29 April, 6.30 pm, Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick (just north of Blyth Street) Join us for a lively panel discussion about how to strengthen local solidarity with the fighting women workers of Asia. Panelists * Karen Moran: internationalist and unionist representing Australia Asia Worker Links * Esperanza Acosta: feminist and refugee from El Salvador representing Radical Women * Peter Murray: unionist in the Rail, Tram and Bus Union representing the Freedom Socialist Party The program will also feature excerpts from "Dolls and Dust," a powerful film about women workers in Sri Lanka, Thailand and South Korea who face the brunt of capitalist globalisation. The personal testimonies and struggles of women who labour in toy and doll factories highlight the life and death battles to survive in the age of industrial restructuring, privatisation, sexual harassment and discrimination. An Asian buffet will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation. No charge for the program which will commence at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome! * * * * * May Day 2002 - Another world is possible! Blockade! Picket! Joint the trade union and community UNITY rally! Wednesday May 1, 7am blockade Casseldon Place, 2 Lonsdale Street. The Freedom Socialist Party is pleased to join with many organisations including the M1 Collective, CFMEU, Refugee Action Collective, AMWU, Friends of the Earth and Socialist Alliance to support mass action on May Day. Official demands are Stop the war on refugees, Stop the war on the third world, Stop the war on workers and unions, Stop the war on Indigenous people, Stop the war on the environment. And, we would also add, Stop the war on women! To participate with the Freedom Socialist Party call Alison on 9386-5065. Postal address: Freedom Socialist Party, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 * Phone: 03-9388-0062 (Solidarity Salon) * E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.socialism.com . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Young radicals speak out!
Wills Socialist Alliance Branch meeting Young radicals speak out! Panel discussing solutions to the key issues facing young people today Thursday 18 April, 7 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056 Phone: 9388-0062 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: IWD update - Solidarity with the Palestinians
Dear Left Linkers Plans for the Freedom Socialist Party's International Women's Day Celebration on March 4 to discuss how we can achieve a just peace in the Middle East are developing well. This meeting is part of an international campaign being organised by feminist peace groups - Bat Shalom and Jerusalem Centre for Women. On March 8 in Israel - Over 30 foreign consulates and embassies have responded to requests by campaign organisers to receive delegations of women bearing Bat Shalom and the Jerusalem Women's Centre's demands for a just peace in the Middle East. Meetings with Ambassadors and/or Consul Generals from Argentina, Australia, Bosnia , Canada, Chile, the Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Egypt, El Salvador, the European Union, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Ukraine, the United States, and the Vatican have been scheduled for the morning of March 8th. On March 8 Internationally - The Freedom Socialist Party in Australia is pleased to be amongst the international friends and allies of Bat Shalom and Jerusalem Centre for Women to have enthusiastically responded to this solidarity campaign. The campaign has activists supporting it in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Belgrade; Berkeley, California; Berne, Switzerland; Boston; Brandeis University; Brazil; Brunswick, Australia; Brussels; Dallas, Texas; Dortmund, Germany; Dundee, Scotland; Italy; Geneva; Los Angeles, CA; Madison, Wisconsin; Madrid; New York; San Francisco; Seattle; Stockholm; Tokyo; Tucson, AZ; Vermont; Vienna; and Washington, DC. These activists are coordinating demonstrations, convening political discussion evenings and cultural events, and/or arranging meetings with Israeli representatives and their own government officials to ensure that demands for a just peace in the Middle East are heard in every corner of the globe. At the Freedom Socialist Party meeting in Melbourne on 4 March all participants will be invited to sign an IWD Open Letter to Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer which we will fax to him on Friday 8 March. The feminist peace activists in Israel will also deliver International Women's Day statements on our behalf to embassies and consulates on behalf of their allies which focus on domestic concerns. On International Women's Day, they will deliver the following message (see below) on our behalf to Australia's diplomatic representatives in Israel. If you would like to know about this campaign please contact: In Israel: Jessica by e-mailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] In Australia: Alison by e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you live in Melbourne, support this campaign by attending on 4 March (see below) Yours in international solidarity Alison Thorne for the Freedom Socialist Party * * * * * International Women's Day 2002 Message to The Australian Embassy in Israel The Australian section of the Freedom Socialist is pleased to be able to strengthen our international ties by working with Bat Shalom and The Jerusalem Centre for Women on International Women's Day. We are actively backing their campaign to achieve a just peace in the Middle East. Israel is occupied Palestine and there can never be peace until the Palestinian people achieve justice. Likewise, Australia is also a settler state built on occupation, dispossession and theft. For International Women's Day 2002, feminists are marching around Australia to demand an end to the war on women - Indigenous women, refugee women, women workers, lesbians, mothers, students, young women, immigrant women, older women, women with disabilities, poor women. Through the Australian Embassy in Israel we call on the Australian Government to: * Apologise to the Stolen Generations and negotiate a treaty with Indigenous Australians; * Close the detention centres, free the refugees, open the borders to people fleeing war, persecution and poverty; * Repeal all anti-union laws; * Provide a guaranteed independent income, including for all women and young people; * Guarantee reproductive freedom for all women - free, safe, legal abortion on demand; access for lesbians and single women to IVF technology and donor sperm; free, quality 24 hour child care; * Scrap the proposed "anti-terrorism" laws [Criminal Code Amendment (Terrorist Bombing Offences) Bill, Criminal Code Amendment (Anti-hoax and Other Measures) Bill, Security Legislation (Terrorism) Bill, Customs Legislation Amendment (Border Security) Bill, Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Bill and other amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979] which, if passed would severely undermine civil liberties and democratic rights; * Withdraw all support for the U.S. war; * Cancel the third world debt. The origins of International Women's Day go back to 18
LL:DDV: IWD 2002 event
Celebrate International Women=B9s Day 2002 Towards a lasting peace in the Middle East A salute to the bold women of Palestine and their Israeli feminist allies In January, a 20 year old Palestinian detonated a bomb in Jerusalem - she was the first woman suicide bomber. What creates such desperate acts? Join us to find out more about the conditions experienced daily by Palestinian women. This event is part of an IWD campaign initiated by Bat Shalom, a Jerusalem-based feminist peace organisation working to achieve a just peace in the Middle East. Discuss what's required to achieve lasting peace. The meeting will feature of special video screening of "Jerusalem: An Occupation Set In Stone?" Produced by the Palestine Housing Rights movement, this documentary is an excellent and moving portrayal of the issues at the heart of the Israeli/Palestine conflict. Using interviews and gripping footage, this film chronicles the reality of Israeli 'urban planning', including the division of Palestinian families and forced relocation of households. The video will be introduced by Freedom Socialist Party International Executive Committee Coordinator, Alison Thorne. Monday 4 March, 6.30 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Just north of Blyth Street. Sydney road tram or Upfield railway line. Ample free parking at the rear (enter from Staley Street) * A middle Eastern banquet will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6.50 donation * Program starts 7 pm, no charge All welcome Sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Party PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 =80 Phone: 9388-0062 =80 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =80 www.socialism.com . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Moreland Free the Refugees Protest
Free the Refugees Protest Saturday 16 February, 11 am corner of Sydney Road and Dawson Street, Brunswick Judy McVey and Jonathan Sherlock, Socialist Alliance Candidates for the Moreland City Council will be locked in a "mobilie detention centre" in solidarity with the refugees in Australia's detention camps. If enough people sign the petition, Judy and Jonathan will be released. Come along and help free Jonathan and Judy! Sponsored by the Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance. For more information: 9388-0062 or 9386-4815 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alison Thorne Convenor, Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Pride 2002 - March with Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alliance invites you to join us and march in the 2002 Pride March. The march is an opportunity for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, intersex people, queers of every stripe AND all supporters of gay liberation who want to combat homophobia, to take to the streets. Socialist Alliance has registered a contingent and will be marching to highlight one of our priority pledges -- ACTIVE opposition to sexism, racism and homophobia. When: Pride 2002 takes place on Sunday January 20. Time: The march will start at 5 pm precisely. Assembly starts from 3.30 pm. The Socialist Alliance contingent will assemble at 4.30 pm. Assembly point: The march assembles at the park on the corner of Fitzroy Street and Lakeside Gardens in St Kilda. Assembly points will be assigned around the perimeter of the park. The Socialist Alliance assembly point will be clearly marked. What to bring/wear: The Pride March places emphasis on contingents having a "visual look" [last year the march attracted 45,000 spectators]. So that our contingent has a bit of a colour theme, please dress in your preferred combination of black, red and pink. Bring placards. Help make the banner: David Glanz will be coordinating the production of a new SA banner for Pride. To help contact David on: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Help build the contingent: Please forward this e-mail on to anyone you think might like to join the Socialist Alliance contingent. If you can include leaflets promoting the contingent in mail outs or distribute them at community events, please contact Alison Thorne on: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pride March policy: FYI, Pride March has a policy of not allowing the sale of merchandise in the assembly area without prior permission (they actively enforce this policy). They will not grant permission on the day. Pride March does offer community groups the opportunity to have a trestle space at the final concert at the end of the march. The cost is $16.50 and stalls can be booked by contacting Pride on 9513-3054. Help raise the profile of Socialist Alliance in the LGBT community and promote the understanding that the struggle queer liberation and the struggle for socialism are inseparable. See you at Pride. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: A tribute to Colombia's Defiant Unionists, Peasants
Special Freedom Socialist Party meeting A tribute to Colombia='s defiant unionists, peasants & Indigenous people Featuring - La Madician del Dorado a film about the Colombian Mining Union - Introduced by special guest Rosemary Jimenez from the Australian Solidarity Network with Colombia - Chaired by Debbie Brennan veteran feminist and Latin America solidarity activist Tuesday 5 February - Latin American dinner at 6.30 pm for $6 - Program at 7 pm Solidarity Salon 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick (Just north of Blyth Street) For more information call 9388-0062 or 9386-5065 - www.socialism.com - E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Moreland Council - Socialist Alliance preselects candidates
News Release 15 December, 2001 Socialist Alliance preselects community activists for Moreland Council race The Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance has preselected local activists Jonathan Sherlock and Judy McVey as candidates in the 2002 Moreland Council elections. Sherlock, who scored 4.7% of the vote at the recent by-election, will contest the Hoffman ward again at the March poll. Sherlock's running mate is Judy McVey, a leader in the Refugee Action Collection. McVey has been preselected to contest Merri ward. Sherlock and McVey are both long time local residents in their respective wards and active members of the Community and Public Sector Union. McVey helped found the local Stop the Chop campaign resisting privatization of the CES and other public services. Sherlock was a leader in Campaign Against the Nazis building broad community protests which drove a fascist bookshop and organising centre out of Moreland. Socialist Alliance has announced four key areas it will campaign around in the upcoming council elections: - making the City of Moreland a refuge for refugees - protecting the Merri Creek valley from environmental destruction - improving public transport through campaigning for its renationalisation - building a fighting council which takes on State and Federal Governments to win the funds needed to provide quality services for Moreland residents and good working conditions for council workers For more information contact: Judy McVey, Socialist Alliance Candidate for Merri Ward on 0418-347-374 Jonathan Sherlock, Socialist Alliance Candidate for Hoffman Ward on 9383-3147 Alison Thorne, Convener Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance on 9388-0062 . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Statement on the U.S. war on Afghanistan from FSP
Statement on the U.S. WAR ON AFGHANISTAN from the FREEDOM SOCIALIST PARTY International Committee www.socialism.com 21 October 2001 High-tech murder, as real as the World Trade Center attack and much more deadly, is underway in Afghanistan as U.S. bombs continue to fall in the third week of President Bush's obscene war on terrorism. However, CNN carries no interviews with the victims' families or with the workingclass heroes on the ground. Instead the airwaves are filled with U.S. officials issuing orders: Osama bin Laden must be destroyed, domestic opposition is unpatriotic, unconditional surrender or else. Welcome to the New World Order! With the fall of the Soviet Union, U.S. imperialism became the unchallenged power in world politics and our planet became a much more dangerous place to live. Now another capitalist war for markets, influence and natural resources is being unleashed in one of the poorest places on earth. George Bush wants a change of government in Afghanistan, not because he hates terrorism, but because those who put him in office seek to secure a gateway to the oil rich regions of the former Soviet Union. He is not the first U.S. president to attempt this feat. In 1985, Ronald Reagan wanted exactly the same thing. Only he praised Osama bin Laden and the forces that would become the Taliban as "freedom fighters." He directed the CIA to promote the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia to destabilise the Soviet Union. Between 1978 and 1982 the U.S. government funneled at least six billion U.S. dollars in training and arms into the region to promote rightwing fundamentalism. Others, including Saudi Arabia, provided similar levels of financial support. The women and girls of Afghanistan paid a terrible price for Reagan's anti-communism and the greed of U.S. oil giants. Once in power, the Taliban outlawed female education, prohibited women from employment, and denied them basic human and civil rights. Now Bush callously heaps even greater misery on the region, by bombing their country and sending U.S. troops to kill their sons many of them draftees in the Taliban's army. It is incumbent upon all those who oppose this war to cooperate in building an international antiwar movement to radicalize a new generation of fighters against capitalism --an economic system that is bringing the world to the edge of chaos and barbarism. RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM-- A PRODUCT OF IMPERIALIST FOREIGN POLICY U.S. interest in Afghanistan has always been driven by two factors: oil and anti-communism. When a pro-Soviet regime came to power in Afghanistan through a popular uprising, the U.S. immediately tried to destabilize it and allied itself with right-wingers in the Taliban--men violently opposed to the new government's plan to educate all women and girls and to outlaw child marriages. Today the Taliban exists both because the U.S. directly helped create it and because capitalism gives rise to the economic and political conditions which fuel religious fundamentalism all over the world. U.S. policy in the Middle East involves murdering leftists and stamping out their organizations, strangling democratic rights and deliberately under-developing a region rich in natural resources in order to maintain political hegemony and control of oil reserves. This Machiavellian U.S. policy leaves the vast majority of people destitute and without the means to influence their governments. Thus imperialism prepares the soil in which religious fundamentalism flourishes as a contradictory expression of anti-imperialist sentiment. The Taliban, bin Laden, Hamas and all the other religious zealots offer an outlet for anger and protest against the "decadent" ways of the Western world. At the same time, they promise a return to "traditional" values, like the imprisonment of women in the home and a legal system based on religion. Because of their essentially conservative and anti-communist character, imperialism found these reactionaries vastly preferable to leftist and democratic causes before September 11, 2001. Rank-and-file fighters for Arab liberation have never given up, as shown today by the second inspiring Palestinian intifada and by strikes and student rebellions in Iran. The first prerequisite for peace in the Middle East is for the U.S. to withdraw from the region and allow the people themselves to decide their future. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TALKS OF FREEDOM BUT EVERYWHERE SPREADS MISERY Mass murder is nothing new for the rulers of the U.S. They dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima that killed over 100,000 people. They installed Pinochet in Chile in 1974 and orchestrated Suharto's massacre of more than a million Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in 1965. They trained the murderous military henchman of Central and South America and now they are delivering $1.6 billion in military aid to the blood-soaked Colombian army
LL:AA: Support Socialist Alliance Senate Campaigning stalls
Hello to all Left Linkers The Socialist Alliance Senate campaign is now in full swing. We have 15,000 leaflets as well as posters available to distribute. It is vital we get this material out, especially to all left networks so that people know HOW they can vote Socialist Alliance in the Senate - Socialist Alliance is group Q, ticket Alison Thorne, Sarah Peart and Tony Dewberry. So, if you can help distribute leaflets and posters in your networks, please contact Peter Murray, Socialist Alliance Senate Campaign Coordinator on 03-9386-5065. The Senate campaign has three stalls planned this week end ... so get along and help with the outreach/campaigning if you can. * Friday 26 October: 4 - 6 pm there will be a stall at the Swanston Street entrance of Melbourne Central * Saturday 27 October: 10 - noon there will be a stall at Prahran Market * Sunday 28 October: 10 - noon there will be a stall at the Fitzroy Street end of the St Kilda Esplande Want to participate? Just rock on up. Or you can call Senate campaign coordinator, Peter Murray on 9386-5065 Thanks Left Linkers ... We're counting down ... just 15 days to go. Let's make the most of every one of them! Alison Thorne TO VOTE SOCIALIST ALLIANCE IN THE SENATE - VOTE GROUP Q! -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Vote No to War and Racism
Hello Left Linkers Can you help the Socialist Alliance by Networking? An election is getting very close! The Socialist Alliance Senate team is available to speak to groups anywhere around the state. Contact Peter Murray at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call him on 03-9386-5065 It would be super if you could forward on info about the Alliance to your networks. The major parties have plenty of money to get their message out. We don't have money, but Socialist Alliance has energy, committment and a damn good ideas. Please assist voters to be aware of their range of choices this polling day, by forwarding this message. Thanks Alison Thorne Socialist Alliance Senate Candidate Vote NO to war and racism VOTE SOCIALIST ALLIANCE Get the Liberals out! Welfare not warfare! John Howard hopes to ride a wave of anti-refugee racism and pro-war hysteria to get the Liberals re-elected in a few weeks time. His government is determined for Australia to play a "high level role" in any U.S. military action aimed at Osama bin Laden or the Taliban government of Afghanistan. The government has used the horror of the attack on the World Trade Centre to whip up more opposition to refugees. Government ministers have suggested that there is a direct connection between the threat of terrorism in Australia and asylum seekers arriving by boat. But like the other myths the government spreads about refugees, there is no evidence at all for such a suggestion. Divide and rule The Howard government is cynically playing the refugee race card to try and divert attention away from the GST and the Liberals' appalling record on nursing homes, health spending and child care. The government has been more than willing to spend over $110 million dollars for the navy to intercept asylum seekers, but it is not prepared to spend even $20 million to save 16,000 Ansett jobs. Workers are still waiting for a national scheme that will protect all their entitlements when companies go bust. While company directors walk away with millions of dollars in bonuses and payouts, Ansett workers stand to lose millions of dollars in entitlements. Labor is boosting Howard's chances Howard is riding high in the opinion polls, because the Liberals' anti-refugee policy and its pro-war hysteria have been totally backed by Labor's parliamentary leaders. Rather than take a principled stand, Labor has shamefully taken the path of crass electoral opportunism, deserting those who still looked to it as the party that would to take up the fight to the Coalition. Labor's electoral strategy has opened the door to the Liberals. Over recent months, they supported the Liberals' handing billions to private health companies and rich private schools. Nonetheless only a few weeks ago, Howard looked dead in the water. Now, with Labor totally supporting Howard on refugees and Bush's "war on terrorism", there are real fears that the Liberals could get elected for a third term. That prospect is frightening. The racism that Howard has unleashed over refugees will get a renewed lease of life. The war-mongering will escalate. Our democratic rights will be cut back on the grounds of "national security." Howard has also flagged compulsory work for anyone unemployed longer than six months. On top of all this loom the full privatisation of Telstra and the airports, and more attacks on the union and working conditions. Wanted: a fighting alternative We need a fighting alternative like never before. The basis for a fight back is there. Thirty-nine per cent of people oppose any involvement in the war. Over 60 per cent say that any retaliation should not be against civilian targets. What's needed is organisation to turn this opposition into action. Rallies and demonstrations can turn the tables on the Liberals and the war-mongers in the Labor Party. Socialist Alliance members are throwing themselves into the campaign to stop Howard and Bush's war. We've consistently fought to free the refugees. Socialist Alliance organised national protests on the anniversary of the introduction of the GST. A vote for Socialist Alliance is a vote for welfare NOT warfare. It's a vote against racism. It's a vote to tax the rich to fund services. It's a vote to put people before profits. VOTE SOCIALIST ALLIANCE! - David Glanz, for Wills - Jackie Lynch, for Batman - Jorge Joquera, for Gellibrand - Tim Gooden, for Corio - Josephine Cox, for Aston - Alison Thorne & Sarah Peart, Victorian Senate team Socialist Alliance, Wills Branch - 03-9388-0062 - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - www.socialist-alliance.org Authorised by Peter Murray, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056 Printed by Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.o
LL:DDV: Rescheduled: Anti-semitism: where does it come from?
Freedom Socialist Party special meeting Anti-semitism: where does it come from and how to eradicate it Now rescheduled to Monday 24 September 7 pm @ Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Dinner is served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. For more info: 9388-0062. Our September meeting will explore why Jewish people are oppressed, how Jew can be liberated and why Zionism is not the solution. Everyone is welcome. * The meeting has been rescheduled to allow participation in a special Socialist Alliance Public meeting Who is to blame - Middle Eastern People or U.S. foreign policy? on Wednesday 19 September. Speakers include: Ali Kazak, Head of the General Palestinian delegation to Australia and Palestinian Ambassador to Vanuatu, Surma Hamid, Political refugee and Representative of Worker Communist Party of Iraq and Alison Thorne, Socialist Alliance Senate Candidate. New Council Chambers, Trades Hall at 7 pm. Please note: SA public meeting is NOW Wednesday 19 September, NOT Thursday 20 September as previously advertised. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
DDV: Study seminar - Against Individual Terrorism
Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women present a study seminar on Leon Trotsky's "Against Individual Terrorism." In New York and Washington DC thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of working people have lost their lives. This event is tragic. But despite the total lack of political context presented in mainstream media commentary, these events are not incomprehensible. The policies of the U.S. imperialism cause terrorism - a reaction fuelled by despair - to flourish. The introduction to Russian Revolutionary leader, Leon Trotsky's pamphlet titled Against Individual Terrorism describes terrorism as "an attempt to substitute the technical feats of a small group with a necessary social movement of the masses themselves." Socialist feminist are implacably opposed to terrorism as a strategy. We oppose terrorism as a strategy because it provides a rationale for repression at home and abroad. It is used as an excuse to fuel racism and curtail civil liberties. What the U.S. Government and its mates Howard and Beazley in Canberra will attempt to do is use the tragedy in the U.S as an excuse to clamp down on the working class and particularly the growing anti-corporate mass movement. They will crack down, but we won't back down! Debate about terrorism raged in the movement in Russia in the decades leading up to the Russian Revolution. Come to a study seminar which looks at the theoretical lessons of last century and applies them to the searing reality of the world in 2001. Sunday 30 September 11.30 am - 3.00 pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Study guide and pamphlet: $2 Delicious lunch served for a $6 donation Everyone is welcome to participate in this seminar Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055. For more information call Peter on 9388-0062 or 9386-3230 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.socialism.com -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Socialist Alliance preselects Victorian Senate ticket
Socialist Alliance News Release Sunday 9 September 2001 Socialist Alliance Preselects Victorian Senate Ticket The 8 September Victorian state conference of the Socialist Alliance has preselected a Senate team of two to contest the upcoming Federal Election. Alison Thorne, Melbourne Organiser for the Freedom Socialist Party, a Socialist Alliance affiliate, was preselected for the top position. Thorne is a veteran feminist and gay liberationist with lots of experience fighting the right wing and standing up for oppressed people. She campaigned to rid Fawkner of a Nazi bookshop and has often protested against Right To Life moralists who aim to curtail women=B9s right to choose. Alison, who lives in Brunswick, works in a telephone call centre and is a member of the Community and Public Sector Union. Thorne's running mate is Sarah Peart. A resident of St Kilda, Sarah is a young woman leader in the global anti-corporate movement who helped organise the M1 protests earlier this year. She is currently building support for a blockade of the Commonwealth Business Forum on October 3. Peart is a member of another Socialist Alliance affiliate, the Democratic Socialist Party. The choice of Thorne and Peart to run for the Senate completes Socialist Alliance preselection in Victoria. The Alliance, formed by nine socialist organisations earlier this year, will stand in five lower house seat as well as the Senate. The other preselected candidates are Josephine Cox for Aston, David Glanz for Wills, Tim Gooden for Corio, Jorge Joquera for Gellibrand and Jackie Lynch for Batman. Thorne says Socialist Alliance is particularly proud to have preselected four strong socialist women amongst its seven Victorian candidates. "The ALP still has not reached its modest target of 35% of women candidates in winnable seats after several years of claiming to work towards this goal. Socialist Alliance has achieved greater than 50% the first time round", Thorne said. "The political voice of the growing anti-corporate movement in Australia" is how Peart see Socialist Alliance. "More and more people, especially young people, can see that capitalism is simply not working. Socialist Alliance will put forward innovative solutions based on human need not corporate greed." Thorne agrees: "The Federal Government has spent billions on corporate welfare and tax cuts for big business. Facing almost certain defeat later this year, Howard has turned to scapegoating groups such as refugees, single women and lesbians in a desperate attempt to divert working people's attention away from issues such as the GST, cuts to the public sector and privatisation. Socialist Alliance will challenge this cynical incitement of racism, homophobia and sexism." The Socialist Alliance will stand candidates in every state and territory. Aboriginal leader, Sam Watson, has been preselected to head the Senate ticket in Queensland and refugee rights campaigner, Ian Rintoul, heads the ticket in New South Wales. For more information Alison Thorne: 03-9386-5065, 0411-080-031 Sarah Peart: 0402-555-591 Peter Murray: 03-9386-5065, 0404-814-197 Linda Waldron: 03-9639-8622 www.socialist-alliance.org -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Correction to Anti-semitism meeting
Comrades Correct date is WEDNESDAY 19 September. Thanks -- From: Alison Thorne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Left Link <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: DDV: Anti-semitism: where does it come from and how to eradicate it Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 15:12:00 +1000 Freedom Socialist Party * Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056 =80 Phone: 9388-0062 Calendar announcement Freedom Socialist Party special meeting Anti-semitism: where does it come from and how to eradicate it Thursday 19 September, 7 pm @ Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056. Phone: 9388-0062 Our September meeting will explore why Jewish people are oppressed, how Jews can be liberated and why Zionism is not the solution. Jewish feminist, Adrienne Weller, presented a paper "The Jewish Question and Its Relationship to The Race Question" at the Fourth Plenum of the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Comrades of Colour Caucus. Peter Murray will review this paper which charts the origins of anti-semitism, shows how racism and anti-semitism are different but closely related and concludes freedom for Jews will come from working with people of colour and other oppressed people to change the world! Dinner is served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. Everyone is welcome. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Anti-semitism: where does it come from and how to eradicate it
Freedom Socialist Party Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056 =80 Phone: 9388-0062 Calendar announcement Freedom Socialist Party special meeting Anti-semitism: where does it come from and how to eradicate it Thursday 19 September, 7 pm @ Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056. Phone: 9388-0062 Our September meeting will explore why Jewish people are oppressed, how Jew can be liberated and why Zionism is not the solution. Jewish feminist, Adrienne Weller, presented a paper "The Jewish Question and Its Relationship to The Race Question" at the Fourth Plenum of the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Comrades of Colour Caucus. Peter Murray will review this paper which charts the origins of anti-semitism, shows how racism and anti-semitism are different but closely related and concludes freedom for Jews will come from working with people of colour and other oppressed people to change the world! Dinner is served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. Everyone is welcome. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Wills SA What sort of rail link do we need to Tullamarine
What sort of rail link do we need to Tullamarine airport? The Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance will hold a special meeting to discuss the proposed rail link to Tullamarine airport. Public transport to Tullamarine is woeful. But community concern is running high about a proposal to build a rail link to the airport along the Broadmeadows line corridor. Come and join in this discussion as Socialist Alliance formulates it position. Special guest speakers: * Victor Moore: organiser with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union; * Doug Jordan: former tramways worker and community activist opposed to the Broadmeadows option Plus, meet David Glanz the Socialist Alliance candidate for Wills in the upcoming Federal election. When: Thursday 20 September @ 7 pm Where: Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick For more information: call Alison Thorne on 9388-0062 or 9386-5065 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
DDV: how the Queer Bloc can build the anticapitalist movement
Freedom Socialist Party special meeting Count down to CHOGM: How the Queer Bloc can advance and strengthen the anticapitalist movement Thursday 23 August, 7 pm @ Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) takes place in Brisbane this October. From October 3 - 5, anticapitalist protesters in Melbourne will be mobilising against the pre-CHOGM Commonwealth Business Forum. Anti-corporate activists are organising to globalise resistance and popularise support for the demands: "No new WTO trade round!" "No implementation of GATS!" "Cancel the Third World Debt!" The Freedom Socialist Party will be there. In particular, we are working to build the Queer Bloc, which will mobilise the queer community to participate in anti-corporate struggle by emphasising the homophobia of visiting Commonwealth leaders. Queer Bloc targets will include Britain's Tony Blair, who refuses to repeal the anti-gay Section 28 of the Local Government Act; Malaysia's Mahathir Mohammed, who uses homophobia as a weapon against his political opponents, and, of course, Mr 'family values' Howard, who aims to prevent lesbians and single women gaining access to IVF services. Queer Bloc participants will also mobilise in solidarity with the brave queer organisation, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, which refuses to be forced into the closet by arch homophobe, Robert Mugabe. The meeting will feature discussion on what is needed to advance the anticapitalist movement as well as examining the role the Queer Bloc can play. Dinner is served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. Everyone is welcome. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:REM: Stonewall 32
Radical Women & the Freedom Socialist Party invite you to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots which sparked the modern movement for gay liberation. Come to a speak out for Queer liberation! Wednesday 27 June @ 7pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick Entry by gold coin donation - Curry dinner @ 6.15 pm for a $6 donation Bar service This event is endorsed by Q.U.E.E.R and UNITE The gay liberation movement sparked by the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 was radical and confronting. Activists mobilised around a thrilling vision of freedom, debating strategies for permanently eradicating sexism, racism, heterosexism and poverty, and so winning true emancipation for all. But, as Michael Warner argues in his biting critique of queer conformity, The Trouble with Normal, the movement has been in 'retreat from its history of radicalism into a new form of post-liberationist privatisation'. While passage of the Relationships Bill is important, it must be built on. We don't simply want a world which loves respectable 'picket fence' lesbians and upwardly mobile gays with pockets full of pink dollars to spend. We want a world which celebrates the queer majority - young and older, Indigenous, queers of colour, workers, queers with disabilities - most of us poor and none of us attracted to the disappearing practice of life long monogamy. Come hear a diverse panel of speakers talk about the new militancy in the queer movement and then have your say! Featuring: * Sally Goldner - transgender advocate from BENT TV and TransMission Time on JOY FM who last year fought for EO law reform for transgenders. * Liz Humphrys - an organiser for the queer block at anti-corporate protests against CHOGM planned for October and an activist with Q.U.E.E.R. * Sue Jackel - trade union organiser and a co-convenor of UNITE, the trade union movement LGBT caucus. * Richard Lane - aka Riki Revolutskya, an activist in the Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance and supporter of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty. * Vanessa Nguyen - feminist activist from Monash University and former Queer Officer. * Alison Thorne - founder of Melbourne Radical Women, member of the CPSU and gay movement veteran who won a precedent setting 1986 EO case. * Melissa Venville - young feminist and current National Union of Students Queer Officer. * Graham Willett - author of Living Our Loud, President of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives and a member of the NTEU. * Chaired by Peter Murray - Freedom Socialist Party leader and socialist feminist critic of biological determinism. The evening will also feature historic displays and a fundraiser for the Wills Socialist Alliance election campaign For more information call 9388-0062 or 9386-5065 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Solidarity Salon is just north of Blyth Street. There is ample free parking at the rear (enter from Staley Street). Take the North Coburg tram from Elizabeth Street or catch an Upfield train to Brunswick or Anstey Station. Venue is wheelchair accessible (but the toilets are not). Everyone is welcome. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Meeting to organise Queer block at CHOGM
Q.U.E.E.R. is having an Open Organising meeting to discuss a National Queer Block at protests against the Commonwelth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in October. Interested lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered people and queers are invited to discuss what CHOGM is, why queer activists should be there and form form protest should take. Speakers: Liz Humphrys and Adrian Makohon Tuesday 26 June, 6 pm Evatt Room, 1st floor Trades Hall, Carlton For more info call Adrian on 0407-420-523 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Wills SA Branch meeting
The next Wills Socialist Alliance branch meeting will discuss "Why we support teachers striking for increased education funding," 7pm Thursday 14 June at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. All potential members welcome. Details: 9388-0062. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Stonewall Celebrations
Radical Women & the Freedom Socialist Party invite you to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots which sparked the modern movement for gay liberation. Come to a speak out for Queer liberation! Wednesday 27 June @ 7pm Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick Entry by gold coin donation Curry dinner @ 6.15 pm for a $6 donation Bar service This event is endorsed by Q.U.E.E.R and UNITE The gay liberation movement sparked by the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 was radical and confronting. Activists mobilised around a thrilling vision of freedom, debating strategies for permanently eradicating sexism, racism, heterosexism and poverty, and so winning true emancipation for all. But, as Michael Warner argues in his biting critique of queer conformity, The Trouble with Normal, the movement has been in "retreat from its history of radicalism into a new form of post-liberationist privatisation". While passage of the Relationships Bill is important, it must be built on. We don't simply want a world which loves respectable "picket fence" lesbians and upwardly mobile gays with pockets full of pink dollars to spend. We want a world which celebrates the queer majority - young and older, Indigenous, queers of colour, workers, queers with disabilities - most of us poor and none of us attracted to the disappearing practice of life long monogamy. Come hear a diverse panel of speakers talk about the new militancy in the queer movement and then have your say! Featuring: * Sally Goldner - transgender advocate from BENT TV and TransMission Time on JOY FM who last year fought for EO law reform for transgenders. * Liz Humphrys - an organiser for the queer block at anti-corporate protests against CHOGM planned for October and an activist with Q.U.E.E.R. * Sue Jackel - trade union organiser and a co-convenor of UNITE, the trade union movement LGBT caucus. * Richard Lane - aka Riki Revolutskya, an activist in the Wills Branch of Socialist Alliance and supporter of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty. * Vanessa Nguyen - feminist activist from Monash University and former Queer Officer. * Alison Thorne - founder of Melbourne Radical Women, member of the CPSU and gay movement veteran who won a precedent setting 1986 EO case. * Melissa Venville - young feminist and current National Union of Students Queer Officer. * Graham Willett - author of Living Our Loud, President of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives and a member of the NTEU. * Chaired by Peter Murray - Freedom Socialist Party leader and socialist feminist critic of biological determinism. The evening will also feature historic displays and a fundraiser for the Wills Socialist Alliance election campaign For more information call 9388-0062 or 9386-5065 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Solidarity Salon is just north of Blyth Street. There is ample free parking at the rear (enter from Staley Street). Take the North Coburg tram from Elizabeth Street or catch an Upfield train to Brunswick or Anstey Station. Venue is wheelchair accessible (but the toilets are not). Everyone is welcome. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Wills Socialist Alliance meeting
Wills/Melbourne North West Branch of Socialist Alliance meeting, Thursday 31 May at 7 pm, Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, West Brunswick. The meeting will discuss Why thousands of families in Wills face the threat of a Family Tax Benefit Debt. Prospective members welcome. For more information call 9388-0062. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Wills Socialist Alliance
Come to the next meeting of the Wills/Melbourne North West Branch of the Socialist Alliance. The meeting will feature a report and discussion around taxation policy - we say "Axe the GST and tax big business to fund health, housing, aged care, education and child care!" When: Thursday 17 May @ 7 pm Where: Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Keep Saturday 2 June free for a Wills Socialist Alliance fundraiser on the eve of the National Free the Refugees Day of action. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Wills Socialist Alliance meeting
The Wills/Melbourne North West Branch of Socialist Alliance will hold its next meeting Thursday 3 May, 7 pm @ Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick. Come along and get involved in the growing campaign to finish off Howard AND build a much needed left alternative to the ALP. Check out Socialist Alliance at www.socialist-alliance.org -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Unite Meeting to discuss transgendered worker issues
Calling all unionists, all queers and all queer unionists! You are invited to the April meeting of UNITE. UNITE is the lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered committee of the Victorian Trades Hall Council. Date: Thursday, April 19, 2001 Time: 6:00PM - 8:00PM This month's special guest is Sharon Menzies, an activist from Trangender Victoria who recently won an employment related discrimination case in the EOCV (you may have heard about it in the news). Please note that due to the Comedy Festival having taken over most of Trades Hall, the usual venue (the ante room of the Bar) will be unavailable. The meeting will be held in meeting room #2 at Trades Hall. This room is located on the ground floor at the front of the building - near the main Lygon Street entrance. However, you cannot enter from Lygon Street at that time of night. Please use the Victoria Street entrance and follow the signs (dodging the Comedy Festival crowds). You will have to walk through to the courtyard/carpark (straight ahead of you after you enter off Victoria Street), then turn left and go through the sliding glass door into the main (front) building. See you all there! Alison Thorne, CPSU member, for UNITE -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Relationships Bill Rally
recognition of same-sex couples. . . too progressive for victoria? Demonstrate on the opening day of State Parliament, 4.30 - 7 pm, Parliament House. Called by Q.U.E.E.R. (queers united to eradicate economic rationalism) "We'll fight for you" (remember the Liberal Party advertisement in the Midsumma Guide?) In recognition that 34 laws still discriminate against queers in Victoria, the Statute Law Amendment (Relationships) Bill has been introduced into parliament. We are still waiting for the Liberal Party to fight for" us. The Queer community is uniting to demonstrate our anger at the Liberal Party on Tuesday April 3rd from 4:30 til 7pm, on parliament house steps. In November last year, the Statute Law Amendment (Relationships) Bill was introduced into Parliament. This Bill seeks to amend 44 Victorian Acts which currently discriminate against same sex couples. A new legal category of "domestic partner" will be created which will encompass both heterosexual and same sex long-term relationships. The new term domestic partner will replace de facto spouse in each law. The areas of the law covered include: * property rights - same sex couples need to pay up to $15,000 in stamp duty when buying a joint property which heterosexual couples are exempt from * guardianship and administration - same sex couples must prove to a court that they are in a relationship before one has the right to care for the other in times of sickness or injury * superannuation payments * health related legislation - same sex couples may not have hospital visitation rights, even if the partner is dying * employment rights - those in same sex couples may not be entitled to bereavement leave if their partner dies * crime assistance acts - people in same sex partnerships may have difficulty filing an intervention order against an abusive partner because they are not considered by the law to be in a "relationship" This bill will not address many issues that queer people deal with on a daily basis, yet it has been written off as too "controversial." These include: * IVF / artificial insemination - Lesbians and single women's rights to these are still obstructed in Victoria, and now Howard's "family values" are making access even harder. * Adoption - Everyone knows queers make the best parents, yet no government in Australia has recognised our right to establish our own families, even though such laws already exist in other jurisdictions. * Youth Allowance / social security - young queers are forced to stay at home + economically dependent in homophobic environments, unless they can prove to Centrelink they have been abused by their parents. Reform is not enough. The limited amount of equality and tolerance that these laws establish is an inadequate response to the homophobia and heterosexism in our society. Society and the family structure are fundamentally based on the institution of heterosexuality, which excludes all those who won't conform to the ideal of the nuclear family. Same sex couples, queer families, single mothers, and women who choose to live autonomously. Heterosexual values dominate everything from the law to the church, science, medicine, education, the social security system, the mass media and our culture as a whole. This is heterosexism. On Tuesday the 3rd April, when parliament resumes, the queer community will be demanding an end to the Liberal Party's capitalist agenda of >homophobia >sexism >racism >exploitation of workers The Liberal Party is currently blocking the passage of the Fair Employment Bill, giving minimum protection to =EDsVictoria 144 000 outworkers, and workers in other industries. The queer community needs to be united in linking with the struggles of other oppressed groups. This is why Q.U.E.E.R. is encouraging our community to join in the anti-capitalist blockade of the Stock Exchange @ M1 For info about Q.U.E.E.R. contact the Queer Department at Melb Uni 8344 8159 or RMIT 9925 3707 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: QUEER changes meeting venue
Announcement to LGBT media and relevent e-lists QUEER (Queers United to Erradicate Economic Rationalism) has changed its meeting venue. We will now meet at the Queer Space at RMIT. The easiest way to find the Queers Space is to enter Bowen Street (which runs through the centre of the RMIT City Campus) from Franklin Street at the north/Carlton end. Immediately to your right you will see Building 20 which is also sign posted Lesley Clucas Lounge. Use this enterance. The Queer Space is on the right next to the Women's Room. QUEER meets every second Tuesday at 6 pm. Next meetings 20 March then 3 April. QUEER is currently organising an action on 15 April, Easter Sunday, to protest the homophobia of Archbishop Pell. On 24 April QUEER plans to hold a debate with some queer capitalists on the topic Can the Pink Dollar Buy Us Liberation? For more info about QUEER call Darren or Nina, Melbourne Uni Queer Officers on 8344-8159. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: UAW IWD in the city
Hi everyone More IWD happenings. Alison -- From: Sheila Byard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Alison Thorne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: UAW IWD in the city Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2001 21:37:18 -0500 Alison, For some reason the UAW is having difficulty posting to LL at present - could you please cut & post the following on behalf of the UAW. Otherwise see you at all those other events coming up Sheila Union of Australian Women invite city workers and students to join them for their special International Womens Day Lunch at Ross House, Flinders Lane, 12 to 2 on Thursday March 8th. $10 and $ 8. Special theme: WOMEN WISE UP report back from the recent NSW conference. Or be there at 1.15 for the cutting of the cake! ___ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Women's fair day and other IWD activities
Hi to all on Left Link This Women's Fair Day (see below) on Sunday 4 March is kicking off IWD this year. So get along! Radical Women will be one of the stall holders, so pop by and say hello and pick up a copy of the fantastic new Red Banner Reader, Socialism for Skeptics, by Clara Fraser for just $5. And don't forget, Saturday March 10 is the annual International Women's Day rally, march, and festival - 'Women Fighting for Global Justice' 12pm State Library, Swanston Street. And that evening come to the IWD launch of Solidarity Salon, the new home of Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party. It starts at 5 pm, 580 Sydney Road Brunswick. Cheers Alison, Radical Women -- From: leighsue <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: women's fair day Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 21:39:46 +1000 Celebrate the start of International Women's Day activities at the Women's Fair Day. Sunday 4 March 12.30pm-500pm at Footscray Community Arts Centre, 45 Moreland Rd Footscray. Entertainment including - Vardos, Lou Bennett, Denise Scott and many more. Over 50 stalls Readings by women writers Practical workshops - self defence, tai-chi and massage Children's activities ALL WELCOME -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VC
LL:PR: Socialist feminists launch new organising centre in Brunswick
Feminist Education Association Radical Women Freedom Socialist Party Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick VIC 3056 03-9388-0062 News release Monday 19 February 2001 Contact: Alison Thorne, 03-9386-5065, 03-9388-0062 Do not use after 10 March 2001 Socialist feminists launch new organising centre in Brunswick Three socialist feminist organisations - Radical Women, the Freedom Socialist Party and the Feminist Education Association - have teamed up to open a new multicultural socialist feminist organising centre in Moreland. Solidarity Salon, located at 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick, will be officially launched at an International Women's Day Celebration on Saturday 10 March. Alison Thorne, the organiser for the Melbourne Branch of the Freedom Socialist Party, said "International Women's Day is the perfect occasion to open Solidarity Salon because IWD, which has been celebrated around the world since 1910, was initiated by socialist feminists. The Russian Revolution was started by women textile workers who struck on International Women's Day and this is the defiant spirit we'll emulate." Debbie Brennan, who organises the Melbourne chapter of Radical Women said the three organisations have moved to the visible Sydney Road shop front, because they'd outgrown their previous office and meeting space at the rear of a West Brunswick house. "It's a sign of the times," Brennan explained. "More and more people are fed up with the human consequences of capitalist globalisation. Politicians try to convince us there is no alternative but they are dead wrong! Solidarity Salon will be a beacon for everyone who wants a world based on human need not corporate greed." Solidarity Salon will be the venue for regular campaign meetings, political talks, skills development sessions and study groups. It features a well stocked boo shop with contemporary and classic feminist and Marxist theory as well as writings by working class people of colour, women, gays and lesbians. From March 10, the centre will welcome visitors every Tuesday and Saturday, and at other times by appointment. Everyone is invited to attend the official opening party. The festive evening will feature greetings from across the globe, well wishes from local activists, multicultural entertainment, finger food from five continents and dancing. Doors open at 5 pm. and the official launch takes place at 6 pm. To arrange an interview call Alison on 9386-5065 or 9388-0062 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Pride, Police - a statement from Q.U.E.E.R
Q.U.E.E.R. members stand by their actions at Pride March QUEER (Queers United to Eradicate Economic Rationalism) is proud of the contingent we built at Melbourne's Pride March. Over 100 activists from QUEER, UNITE, Feminist Avengers, Radical Women and campus queer groups made a united, lively and political contingent, one of the largest in the parade. We think this is an important development in alerting the queer community to the perils of "Pink Dollar" politics. We have copped some flak because some of our contingent verbally heckled the Liberal and GALPEN contingents. The Liberals are on the warpath against working people and we pointed that out - what more needs to be said? Since then, State Liberal leader Napthine has attacked the Bracks government for a miserly $25,000 grant for research into lesbian cancer risks, showing their true colours. Many of our contingent were at the s11 demonstration and saw, or were on the bloody end of, the police savagery. It is hard for people who were not there to understand the deep scars on the psyche (let alone the body) that this has created. People were demonstrating non-violently, arms linked. The police removed their number tags, opened ranks, and poured out hundred of armoured, pumped up, riot squaddies who mowed down everyone in their path. They left a swathe of bleeding heads, bruised bodies and cracked bones. The psychological pain is probably greater. You see, none of those beaten can strike back. The police have a monopoly on the right to legally use violence. So the anger becomes internalized unless an outlet can be found. The GALPEN contingent provided one such outlet for this completely justified anger to be verbally expressed. The police actions at s11 were only an extreme example of the main role they play in society generally - the defence of private property. The police are not workers like any others. Although they are employees who have only their ability to work to sell, they have a direct role in attacking organised workers. They are routinely used to break workers' picket lines. When we need police - when violence against women, queers, koories is happening - they are almost always "too busy" to respond in time. Domestic violence, rape, queer bashings, racist bashings - these are all put in the too hard basket. Queers are often treated with contempt. Worse than that, police have often acted with violence against queers and other oppressed people - bashings of queers, koories, young people and women continue. Attempts to have functioning queer community - police liaison committees have foundered over the years as the police hierarchy have not taken the issues seriously. QUEER recognizes that GALPEN members have challenged the homophobic and sexist institution for which they work. We know that their members have been victimized for standing up for the rights of queer police and for being open about their sexuality. We support the rights of queer police to organise. We recognize that marching at Pride is an important public statement for GALPEN members. We ask for recognition that QUEER supporters who were at s11 also had an important statement to make about the role of the police. QUEER is a group of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender activists from various backgrounds who have united in their fight for progressive causes. We encourage all queers to come to our next fortnightly meeting at 6PM on Tuesday 20th February at Trades Hall. Contacts/Queries: Alison (03) 9386 5065 Josh (03) 9925 3707 Riki (03) 9387 7819 / 0400 877 819 Adrian 0415 420 523 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: IWD launch of socialist feminist organising centre
International Women's Day 2001 Celebrate a new multi-cultural socialist feminist organising centre! Radical Women, Freedom Socialist Party and the Feminist Education Association invite you to the official opening of Solidarity Salon 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick Saturday 10 March Doors open 5 pm Roasts, toasts & official launch 6 pm Dancing from 8pm Finger food from across the globe served throughout the evening NO BYO Please bring cheque book or cash to make your donation towards our wheel chair accessibility project, our equipment fund and consider making a monthly pledge towards our on going costs Solidarity Salon is located is the heart of multi-cultural working class Moreland. The welcoming shop front and organising centre will be the venue for regular socialist feminist study groups and organising meetings. Just north of Blythe Street, there is plentiful free parking in the well lit rear car park - enter from Staley Street. Solidarity Salon is 5 minutes walk from Anstey Station and located on the Sydney Road tram route. Once "officially opened" the bookstore at Solidarity Salon will be open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm and other times by appointment. As well as a wide range of literature, we also sell our famous range of Proleterian Preserves, T-shirts, posters, cards and political CDs. Phone: 03-9388-0062. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056. Phone/fax: 03-9388-0062 Mailing address for Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women and the Feminist Education Association is PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 By email: Radical Women: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Freedom Socialist Party - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - www.socialism.com -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VC
LL:INFO: Socialism for Skeptics
Hey, red readers Get your copy of "Socialism for Skeptics" by Clara Fraser, the second booklet in the Red Banner Reader series. "S for S" is a delightful 44-page collection of witty, imaginative and pithy essays that skewer misconceptions about socialism. It's a zestful introduction to radical politics from the perspective that communism is a great idea that CAN work! To order, send $6.00 (for booklet and postage) to Red Letter Press, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Study group IWD - A Day to spark revolution!
Study group: International Women's Day - A day to spark revolution! Wednesday evenings, 21 February and 28 February 2001 March 8 is celebrated around the world as International Women's Day. Find out about the socialist origins of IWD. Be inspired by the women workers whose strike on IWD sparked the Russian Revolution! Hear about the ideas of feminist trail blazer, Clara Zetkin, whose proposal to a socialist women's conference in 1910 put IWD firmly on the calendar. Explore the revolutionary nature of demands raised by women's liberationists in the 1970s. Discuss contemporary debates about socialist feminism and International Women's Day. Solidarity Salon 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick, phone: 9388-0062 A meal will be served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. Sessions run from 7 - 8.45 pm. Reading materials and study guide available for $4. Call Alison on 9386-5065 to arrange an advance copy. Everyone is welcome to participate! Sponsored by Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women and the Feminist Education Association -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VB
LL:DDV: QUEER party
QUEER (Queers United to Eradicate Economic Rationalism) is holding an end of year party. It is on Saturday 16 December from 8 pm. It's at the home of QUEER activists Nase and Robert, 24 Kipling Street, North Melbourne. Phone 9348-9187. All queer and queer friendly lefties are invited to come along and find out more about QUEER. Its BYO drinks. Finger food will be provided. We'll also be launching the first copy of our Queer Zine. No charge, but a donation to the ongoing work of QUEER would be welcome. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VL
LL:DDV: Speak Out on World AIDS Day 2000
Speak Out on World AIDS Day 2000 - Activism Matters Today is WORLD AIDS Day. We demand that global corporations be taxed to fund quality education and prevention strategies, health care and provide HIV/AIDS drugs to all who need them in every corner of the globe! In Australia, we demand: * fund public hospitals not private health insurance! * access to safe donor sperm for lesbians and single women! * tighten legislation outlawing discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS! * increase the Disability Support Pension to a living wage - no imposition of "mutual obligation"! * equality for same sex couples in superannuation law. Attend the speak out - Friday 1 December, 5.30 pm @ the GPO, corner of Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street. Organised by QUEER (Queers United to Eradicate Economic Rationalism). Next QUEER meeting, Tuesday 28 November 5.30 pm at NUS office, 1st floor Victorian Trades Hall Council. Call Xanthe or Adrian on 8344-8159 or Jonathan on 9925-3707. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or join the Queers United e-group; [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VL
LL:PR: Protest Israeli Attacks on Palestinians!
Freedom Socialist Party International Executive Committee - PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 AUSTRALIA - Phone/fax 61-3-9386-5065 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The following statement was originally issued jointly by the U.S section of the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Protest Israeli Attacks on Palestinians! For 50 years, Israeli military forces have had their boots on the necks of Palestinians. Palestinians have resisted. Any "peace agreement" that prolongs military occupation and avoids fundamental issues of territory and autonomy is just a forced march to nowhere powered by Israeli helicopter rockets against Palestinian rocks and rage. There will be no end to fighting in Palestine as long as the U.S., which underwrites Israel's oppressive might, oversees various "summits." Washington is hardly impartial as it focuses on ensuring American profits from Middle East oil. The U.N., itself a instrument of imperialism, as shown by the bombing of Iraq, has been powerlessness to resolve Palestinian grievances for over 5 decades. Nor will peace result if political power in Israel or Palestine defaults to rightwing religious fundamentalists. The solution must be found in deliberations of those who have the most to gain from a just cessation of hostilities: Israeli and Palestinian workers, feminists, intellectuals and the parties that represent them. Arabs and Jews--including many survivors of the Holocaust--can and must find a way to reside together in the region; they lived harmoniously for centuries and can do so again. The Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women are appalled at the hypocritical condemnations of Arab violence by spokespeople for Israel and the U.S., two countries which are steeped in violence. There is a difference between the violence of the slave and that of the master. One fights for freedom. The other to subjugate. Israeli officials and U.S. media exhibit unmitigated racism in describing the deaths of eight Israelis (most of them soldiers) as a barbaric tragedy, while minimizing the murders of over one hundred Israeli-Arab and Palestinian civilians. In a war of independence, it often doesn't matter who fires the first bullet in a particular battle. But this current rebellion was clearly sparked by rightwing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to Jerusalem accompanied by 1,000 troops. Sharon chose this incendiary action to bury the ill-fated peace process in a bid for leadership of the rightwing Likud Party. The Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women support Palestinian statehood as a step toward a bilateral socialist, secular state in Palestine, run by Arabs and Jews as equals. For history has taught us that the liberation of one oppressed group cannot be won at the expense of another oppressed group. U.S. out of the Middle East! Israel out of Gaza and the West Bank! Issued by: Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women 5018 Rainier Ave S., Seattle, WA 98118 =80 Fax: 1-206-723-7691 FSP Phone: 206-722-2453, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.socialism.com RW Phone: 1-206-722-6057, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] 10/00 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Teacher unionists wine fundraiser
Dear Left Linkers You are invited to support the NMIT Unionists final fling! Help us soak up our legal debts by lapping up some fine wines. No More Intimidation of Teacher Unionists Campaign Committee was organised in April 1997 to assist sacked teacher unionists from Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE in their fight for reinstatement. These activists were dismissed because they were effective advocates for workers rights at the Institute. Over the past three years we=B9ve held rallies, protests and petition drives to protest the discriminitory treatment of union activists in the TAFE sector. In 1999 we fought a case in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to win the reinstatment of one of those teackers, Alison Thorne. Although we did not get Alison re-instated to her teaching position at NMIT, because the legal system is stacked against complainants, we did chalk up a few victories for other unionists. Firstly, NMIT management, was found by a court to have been discriminatory towards union members at NMIT. Secondly, protection against victimisation was extended. An employer cannot discriminate against a union member who insists on working to her award or industrial agreement - which is now considered to be lawful industrial action. And the industrial action does not have to be occurring at the very moment of victimisation. Employers cannot act against a union member because they took industrial action in the past, or might take it in the future. Very useful precedents for future victimised unionists! Now we=B9re winding up the campaign with a final appeal to help pay off legal debts. Your solidarity over the past three years has helped us send a message to all employers: discrimination is wrong, and will be opposed. Together, we will defeat union busting and casualisation. By purchasing from us you=B9ll get to enjoy wine from many of Australia's finest wine-growing areas, just in time for summer. Every bottle purchased will help us recoup our legal costs. Your wine will be labelled with our own distinctive labels, themselves a talking point! Buy up big for the summer. Minimum order 3 bottles, but you can mix and match. Team up with a comrade or two and share a dozen! Once again, thanks to all who have dedicated their time, money and labour to this important campaign since 1997. Phone or e-mail for a snail mail copy of the wine order form. To get your order form call 03-9386-5065. The last day for orders is 29 November, but the earlier you reply, the better. Please help publicises this important solidarity effort by forwaring this message to friends, including details in newsletters or requesting bulk order forms for inclusion in your organisations' mailouts. Cheers - and Solidarity Forever! Peter Murray Wine fundraising co-ordinator. NMIT Unionists Campaign Committee. PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 Phone/FAX 03-9386-5065. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VK
LL:DDV: The 80s and 90s greed and reaction sparks new revolt!
Study Group: A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century: The '80s and 90s - greed and reaction sparks new revolt! Thursday 26 October @ 7pm Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation For more information call (03) 9386-5065 Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party & the Feminist Education Association -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VJ
LL:INFO: A request to LeftLink posters
Dear LeftLink posters The Freedom Socialist Party values LeftLink greatly as a method of communication between very diverse left activists and organisations. We all have a role in ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the information posted. So, if details of an action any of us post change, we have a responsibility to post the revised details as soon as the changes happen. On 7 September Arun P posted a notice of a protest to take place in Melbourne at 5 pm at the GPO on 13 October. The protest, to coincide with Refugee Week, was called by Resistance and the Federation of Iraqi Refugees and Immigrants Council. The organisers subsequently called the protest off, but did not advise the list. As a result, some people turned up for the canceled rally. We all have a responsibility to ensure appropriate follow up messages are posted. E-mail is a great communication boon, lets all work to make sure it is reliable. Thank you. Alison Thorne Freedom Socialist Party -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: The 60s and 70s - Freedom Now!
Study Group: A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century: The '60s and '70s =8B Freedom Now! Thursday 19 October @ 7pm Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation For more information call (03) 9386-5065 Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party & the Feminist Education Association -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VJ
LL:DDV: Hot war, cold war and irrepressible revolution
Study Group: A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century: Hot war, cold war and irrepressible revolution Thursday 12 October @ 7pm Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation For more information call (03) 9386-5065 Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party & the Feminist Education Association -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VJ
LL:DDV: Stalinism and fascism - how the dream went wrong
Study Group: A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century: Stalinism and fascism - how the dream went wrong Thursday 5 October @ 7pm - 8.45 pm Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation Required reading: * Tamara Turner, A Worker's Guide the 20th Century Part 1 - The harvest of World War 1: revolt, counterrevolution and the seeds of war, Freedom Socialist, Volume 20 # 2, July - September 1999, pages 4 - 5. Supplementary reading: * The Program of the International Revolution or a Program of Socialism in One Country?, Leon Trotsky, The Third International After Lenin, pages 3 - 73 (Pathfinder Press, New York 1970). * Thermidor in the Family, Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and Where is It Going?, pages 144 - 159 (Pathfinder Press, New York, 5th edition 1972). * The United Front for Defense: A Letter to a Social Democratic Worker, Leon Trotsky, The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany, pages 349 - 369 (Pathfinder Press, New York 1971). For more information call (03) 9386-5065 Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party & the Feminist Education Association -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VJ
LL:DDV: The Dream of Socialism Comes Alive
Study Group: A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century The dream of socialism comes alive in Russia Thursday 28 September @ 7 pm Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation Required reading: * Peter Murray, "A Worker's Guide the 20th Century Part 1: Amid the carnage of World War 1, dream of socialism comes alive in Russia," Freedom Socialist, Volume 20 # 1, April - June 1999, pages 4 - 5. Supplementary reading: * "The 'Plan' for an All-Russian Political Newspaper", V.I. Lenin, What Is To Be Done?, pages 173 - 195 (Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1947). * "Conclusion", Leon Trotsky, The History of the Russian Revolution, pages 344 - 349 (Pathfinder Press/Anchor Foundation, New York 1980). For further information or to obtain a study guide call (03) 9386-5065 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party & the Feminist Education Association PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic 3055 www.socialism.com -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VI
LL:DDV: A Better World's In Birth!
Study Group A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century Session # 1, Thursday 21 September, from 7 - 8.45 pm From the ashes of the old century, a better world=B9s in birth Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation For information call 9386-5065 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sponsored jointly by Freedom Socialist Party & the Feminist Education Association www.socialism.com -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.VI
LL:DDV: Crisis and Leadership
Freedom Socialist Party meeting Crisis and leadership lessons for today from the explosive '60s Wednesday 6 September, 7 pm Come to the kick-off of the Australian campaign to promote the new Red Letter Press book, Crisis and Leadership. Written in 1965 by veteran socialists, Clara Fraser and Richard Fraser, the work is an amazingly fresh discussion of problems that still bedevil freedom fighters today: racism, sexism, and lack of democracy, in society broadly and in the movements; how each liberation struggle fits in with the others; and what can be done to make a lasting difference. Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick 3055. Dinner is served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. For more information phone: 03-9386-5065 To order Crisis and Leadership send a cheque payable to FSP for $22.45 ($19.95 + $2.50 postage) to PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055. Check us out www.socialism.com LL.VI -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century
Freedom Socialist Party Weekly Study Group A Worker's Guide to the 20th Century 21 September - 26 October 2000, Thursday nights 7 - 8.45 pm The 20th century ended as it started with crisis in the Balkans threatening to develop into world war. Although some may be tempted to wonder if humanity has really made progress over the last hundred years, we have! The advances have been the work of people whom official history ignores: the "trouble makers" who think that society can and should operate in the interests of the majority. This 6 week study group will take an optimistic Marxist feminist approach to what contemporary rebels can learn from the last hundred years. 22 SeptemberFrom the ashes of the old century a better world=B9s in birth 28 SeptemberThe dream of socialism comes alive in Russia 5 October Stalinism and fascism - how the dream went wrong 12 October Hot war, Cold War and irrepressible revolution 19 October The '60s and '70s - Freedom Now! 26 October The '80s and '90s - greed and reaction sparks new revolt! Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick Between Albion Street and Moreland Road Take a 55 Tram from William Street, City; Stop 38 is a 5 minute walk Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation Required reading packet available for $5 Supplementary reading packet available for $10 For information or to obtain a study guide and reading packet, call (03) 9386-5065 Freedom Socialist Party, PO Box 266 West Brunswick Vic 3055 www.socialism.com LL.VI -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Marxism and Direct Action
Freedom Socialist Party meeting - Wednesday 9 August, 7 pm Marxism and direct action - ideas and tactics to fight capitalist globalisation The current wave of protest against the ravages of globalisation has shattered the myth that everyone is happy or that capitalism is accepted as the only possible form of society. Within this exciting movement, those influenced by the theory of anarchism try to counterpose organisation, discussion and debate with =B3direct action. The whole movement is in favour of action. But action must be clearly thought out, have definite aims and objectives and be coordinated by leaders who are democratic and accountable. The ideas of Marxism are a precise guide to action.This meeting will discuss the fundamental differences between Marxism and anarchism and the history of relations between adherents of the two competing ideologies. We will also explore the importance of Marxists defending anarchists from State persecution and working together in united fronts. Venue: Solidarity Salon, 1 Appleby Cres, West Brunswick. Dinner served at 6.30 pm for a $6 donation. For more information phone 03-9386-5065 Check us out at www.socialism.com LL.VH -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
