Time magazine chose to crown Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg as its Person of the Year for 2010. But for so many people, it was Julian Assange, who won the popular vote, who was more definitive of the year that was.
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The flood disaster that struck three-quarters of Queensland over the past month and then spread to Victoria and Tasmania is the worst overall flood catastrophe in recorded Australian history. It has also inspired a massive outpouring of public sympathy and solidarity.
The disaster has shown in practice the huge potential for ordinary people to mobilise in support of fellow human beings in need of help.
Tens of thousands of Brisbane residents volunteered to help people whose homes had been flooded by the raging Brisbane River, especially over the weekend of January 15-16.
The message below from ABC broadcaster and journalist Phillip Adams was read out at the January 15 Defend Wikileaks rally in Sydney.
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First right-wing bloggers called for Julian Assange's assasination. Now voices in Washington want βthe death penalty on the tableβ if they can get him into a US court. I'm proposing we put him up for sainthood β but after Wikileaksβ leaks on the Vatican that may be out of the question.
Testimony to the NSW upper house inquiry into the sale of NSWβs electricity assets has alleged that only a fraction of the $5.3 billion price tag will reach the public purse. Billions will be eaten up by βassociated costsβ.
These costs include about $1.5 billion in government funds to buy a new coal mine north-east of Lithgow to ensure a cheap coal supply for the new private owners. A further $1 billion in coal price subsidies is guaranteed to the private energy companies over the life of the mine.
The Queensland flood crisis is a national emergency that requires urgent action.
Socialist Alliance Queensland co-convener Ewan Saunders told ΒιΆΉΣ³» Weekly that the "Gillard government should call Australiaβs soldiers back from the war in Afghanistan to help with tackling the flood crisis and its aftermath".
Saunders said the billions in taxpayer dollars wasted on the Afghanistan war should instead be spent on flood recovery work.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has delayed its decision on the controversial new coalmine proposed for Margaret River in Western Australia.
The EPA decision was expected early January. Yet it has chosen to give the mining company LD Operations more time to provide more information. The EPA chairperson is now expected to make a decision at the end of February.
If a city drowns beneath a once-in-a-hundred-years flood, that's weather. Such things have happened in the past.
But when hundred-year floods start happening every few decades, that's no longer just weather. The dice have become loaded for different outcomes. Climate β that is, the average of weather β is changing.
So let's get down to the question everyone's asking. Were this summer's floods the result of climate change?
The popular revolution that has overthrown US- and French-backed Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (in power since 1987) continues to shake the country despite repression. It has sent shockwaves through the regime, raising prospects of inspiring the democracy movements in other Arab nations. Jordan has been hit by protests against price rises.
Over 7500 signatures on a petition calling for no new coal in WA were presented to the WA government at a climate rally on December 11.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke to reporters outside a London court following his bail release from prison, where he has been held since Dec. 7th.
Video:Β Refugee Rights at the Christmas Pageant.Β .
Organised by Refugee Rights Action Network. 5 December 2010 Perth, Australia.
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