474

MALAYSIA: Free Tian Chua!

BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS Tian Chua was detained by Malaysian authorities on April 10 under the Internal Security Act which has been in force in that country since 1960. Under the ISA, the Mahathir government is empowered to jail any person without trial

On the Box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Ph 9565 5522. Visit <http://www.channel31.org> for

Write on: Letters to the editor

Elites Lately we've heard a lot of criticism of "the elite". Strangely, much of this criticism has come from members of the right-wing media and political elite. If the complaint against "elite" opinion is that it's wrong, the fact that it's

Networker: Monopolies don't need to innovate

Monopolies don't need to innovate The October launch of Windows XP, Microsoft's new operating system, had been anticipated as the saviour of the personal computer industry. (An operating system is a piece of software that turns a computer from a

Government launches offensive on forests

BY LEIGH HUGHES CANBERRA — For months "Fort Badja" has been a base of operations for environmentalists seeking to stop the logging of New South Wales' south-east forests. But that changed on November 20, when 30 police removed six forest

Suing for fun and profit

BY SEAN HEALY The provisions in a future agreement on investment allowing corporations to sue governments for measures which affect their revenues would likely be based on chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Cases which have

AFGHANISTAN: The US marines' other foe

BY NORM DIXON The first of an expected 1100 US marines began landing in southern Afghanistan on November 25, ferried from US ships in the Arabian Sea and equipped with helicopter gunships, artillery, armoured vehicles and Harrier jump jets. As they

In war, truth is the first casualty

Ever since the US war against Vietnam provoked normally passive civilians into demonstrating against the war, the ruling class has been acutely aware that when it wants to wage war against another country, it needs to control the information which

UN opposes blockade for 10th year

The United Nations General Assembly, for the 10th consecutive year, voted overwhelmingly on November 27 for an end to the US economic blockade against Cuba The vote was 167 to 3, identical to last year's record vote. Only the United States, Israel

Rocking the war

HOBART — The socialist youth group Resistance organised a successful "Rock Against War" on December 1, with the support of local "original bands" opposed to the US-led "war on terrorism". Pictured is Lab A. Photo by Alex Bainbridge.From Green

Labor flounders rightward

BY ALISON DELLIT If the ANZ bank's advertising campaign is right and "nobody cares who came second", then Australian political columnists, politicians and academics have been wasting vast amounts of ink since the November 10 federal election. The

Outback blues

One Night the MoonDirected by Rachel PerkinsWritten by Rachel Perkins and John RomerilFeaturing Paul Kelly, Kelton Pell and Chris HaywoodMusic by Paul Kelly, Mairead Hannan, Kev Carmody and Ruby HunterAt major cinemas REVIEW BY ANGELA LUVERA One