Psychosis, barbarism and politics: the Arizona assassination

The strict mental illness narrative may be relevant to 'explaining' the Arizona assassination  but in my experience of working with psychotic individuals -- including murderers and the like -- it is not very useful to divorce a persons' mental state from the broader social (and political) context.  In this case, the linkage to contemporary politics is self evident as it was  a political event with a history of some bitternes leading up to it.

If you compare this shooting  with the slaughter managed by Martin Bryant in Australia the context is very different   despite how psychotic both guys were at the time of the killing.

While people can brew a quite mad cocktail in their own heads it is difficult to imagine this event at a political rally occurring anywhere else outside the US except in a war zone.

And the US has to be seen as a war zone. 

If a Islamist walks into a Baghdad market place and blows himself and 30 others up -- he is as mad/as pathological  as this guy in Arizonia. If Sarah Palin calls for the assassination of Julian Assange (as she has) she's fuckin mad   too...

At some point you have to look upon madness as an ideology embraced by both individuals and groups -- political currents and otherwise -- regardless of how much it is accepted as 'normal' discourse.And in the US 'normal' does no longer exist. Barbarism and psychosis are really one and the same head space.

It also seems to me that a lot of the response needs to face up to the fact that violent politics is as American as apple pie...and to defer too much to the individual case of mental illness argument merely lets the whole filthy capitalist mix off the hook.

Mental illness, even psychosis, is not a fast track sentence to murder . 

After the Bryant massacre  there was debate here on the left about gun ownership in response a massive recall of weaponry in private hands. Similarly Bryant was later sent to a mental institution ...and not executed as we had mass campaigns here against capital punishment way back in 1965/67. 

The last person hung in Australia was Robert Ryan in 1967

The fortunately rare instance of serious political violence in Australia, -- the attempted assassination of the ALP leader Arthur Calwall in 1966 -- has the epilogue that its perpetrator Peter Kocan has just won  Australia Council's Writer's Emeritus Award for poetry. 

So in that sense the sort of step back we need to adopt has to be genuine and generous.

Like the argument in  this post.

It has to be about adopting the moral high ground the exploiting the opportunity to foster reflection.

AUDIO: The Cuban Five

Steal This Radio #91

Attorney Leonard Weinglass discusses the trials and tribulations of the Cuban Five. The show first aired on Tuesday August 11.

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Original audio source (10.07.09.STR.91.mp3)

Activists condemn massive Taser roll-out

Community activists in the Illawarra have condemned the NSW budget allocation of $10 milllion for more Taser stun-guns. They've renewed calls for a ban on the weapon after the death of a Queensland man last Friday who was shot 28 times with a Taser by police.

Chris Williams, Socialist Alliance convener in Wollongong, said: 'The government has been warned many times about the lethal potential of Tasers. This latest death in Queensland proves yet again the danger involved. The Rees government should reverse this allocation immediately and declare a ban on the use of Tasers.

'In addition to being dangerous, Tasers will be used disproportionately on the already marginalised. Last year's review of Tasers by NSW Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour, found that the weapon has most commonly been used against people with mental health issues. What a disgrace given the inadequate funding for mental health in this country', said Williams.


Jess Moore, Resistance organiser in Wollongong, said: 'Given the proven danger of Tasers, this $10 million roll-out is just outrageous! The Rees government has consistently under-resourced our schools, hospitals and public transport system, and yet it is spending a huge sum of money on this dangerous and controversial weapon.

'Research by Amnesty International shows that Tasers have been used by police officers against children, the mentally ill and the physically disabled. They have been used against people who are restrained. This money should be spent on services to assist the mentally and physically disabled, not on potentially lethal weapon that has been proven to be used on them.


'There is no independent research showing that Tasers are safe but there is a lot of hard evidence that they kill. How many people will have to die before Tasers are banned? They must be stopped from being used!' Moore concluded.


For more information contact Chris Williams on 0425 329 963 or Jess Moore on 0416 232 349

Or visit http://www.socialist-alliance.org/illawarra/

Background Queensland:
Queensland's Police Minister is rejecting claims he covered up details about the use of stun gun, in an incident in which a man later died. He's revealed that he, the Police Service and the police union knew on Monday that the Taser had been used 28 times.

Queensland's Police Minister is rejecting claims he covered up details about the use of stun gun, in an incident in which a man later died. He's revealed that he, the Police Service and the police union knew on Monday that the Taser had been used 28 times.

Popout

Original audio source (20090618-PM3-taser-scandal.mp3)

Pyroterrorism -- "if only" says the nation's far right.

By Dave Riley

On the other hand, the fires must alert us to the extreme danger posed by pyroterrorism, especially as global terrorist organisations continue to modify their strategies in the face of the increasingly effective counter-terror- ism measures that are being employed against them....Pyroterrorism may be defined as the use by non-state organisations of large-scale fires to attack, intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in order to advance political, social or religious objectives. In pursuit of its objectives it exhibits the four central elements of terrorism: the targeting of non-combatants, a political motiva- tion, extreme violence with an intended psychological impact, and organised and totally committed perpetrators. Lead article in National Observer: Australia's nightmare: bushfire jihad and pyroterrorism

The National Observer's obsession with national security issues,

"... Australia's leading current affairs quarterly specialising in domestic and international politics, security-related challenges and issues of national cohesion.
"One of the functions of National Observer is to provide high-quality commentary which is not affected by contemporary political correctness or prejudices. It, therefore, examines issues from the point of view of the long-term interests of Australians."

-- takes me way back to the sort of pitch the National Civic Council used to deploy in order to consolidate a coalition on the right of Australian politics. This time it ain't communists or the Red or Yellow Peril but Islamists. This time too it has been seeded from a strong dose of John Howard style jingoism. "National cohesion" is a wonderful catchphrase is it not that would even sit comfortably within the ALP?

This is the sort of journalese that would do B. A Santamaria (pictured a past contributor) proud.

So the Observer functions to provide resourced cover to this POV it seems while also supplying fuel for online Islamophobic web sites.

The irony nonetheless is that despite all the authoritarian anti-terrorist legislation (including the new spate of anti-biker laws being bought in in SA, NSW and QLD) the article in effect suggests that no matter what you do, no rash of legislation can protect the body politic from arson of a bushfire nature.

And bushfire arson is so cheap! No need for oodles of ammonium nitrate or fuses...you probably don't even need a can of kerosene to get the terror going -- one box of Redheads each Summer should be enough to take your terrorizing a very long way!

If that is the case it seems that Australia is breeding its very own layer of pyro-terrorists without any assistance from Al-Quaeda as one third of bushfires are thought to be deliberately lit but not, ( -- "Drat !" says the National Observer!) by Islamists. The way the National Observer is likely to rule on it -- Moslems should be banned from joining the Country Fire Authority just so they don't get in the know and in the habit -- such as leaving the mosques in Sydney's West after services and going bush for a weekend of practice burns.

I can imagine the sort of call out: "Family group of Middle Eastern appearance seen acting suspiciously , picnicking under a gum tree. Approach with extreme caution. May be armed with bbq, kebabs (on sharpened implements), Tabouleh... and matches."

SA member, Dr Brian Senewiratne, deported from Malaysia

. An international group "Canadians for Genocide Education" which is an umbrella organisation with some 46 Member Associations annually picks ONE country of greatest concern re Genocide. The country picked in 2008 was Sri Lanka, and I was picked as the "Distinguished Speaker" and given an award... The plaque reads "Canadians for Genocide Education EDUCATORS AWARD 2009 Presented on March 25, 2009 to: Dr Brian Senewiratne In recognition of his dedication to inclusivity and equity in genocide education"

I was invited to come to Canada and receive the award My presentation was titled Peace with Justice in Sri Lanka Genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils. It's Causes & Solution .

It was held in the University of Toronto before a distinguished audience of academics, policy makers etc The hall was packed to capacity The flyer describing me was way over the top (as it usually is)...

The SL Govt coote Bandula Jayasekere, or to use his official title, His Excellency The Hon Bandula, etc, tried their best to block this but failed. Then they got their stooges e.g. Asoka Weerasinghe (patriot) to write scurrilous articles, published in the Mirror ?in Sri Lanka, to the Canadian Foreign Minister asking whether he had taken leave of his senses to allow me into the country.

Unable to block my entry, the next was harassment at Toronto airport ( a 4-hour search of everything, including downloading of every document including my letters to patients and going thru every scrap of paper (hundreds of pages of hand written notes, articles etc, and photocopying them all) It took about 4 hours and I was kept standing (that was after a 23-hour flight economy class which at 78 years is no small problem)

What riled the SL govt even more is action by a bunch (of goats) who are exploring putting my name up for a Nobel Prize for Peace. That is of course a nonsense project but with a one in a million chance, if it materializes, that would be a major blow for Sri Lanka. My very close association with Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu (I think I sent the photo with his arm round my shoulder) added to the concerns of the GoSL

What also of concern was that at the end of my Oration, the whole jolly audience of some 350, rose to their feet (I'll send the recording if/when I get it). This was recorded and sent to the Sri Lankan Ambassador and t the Govt in Colombo. Their blood pressures went thru the ceiling

I was scheduled to deliver the same award winning address in Malaysia (KL and Penang) and in Singapore, some 48 hours after it was delivered in Toronto.

Urgent action was needed. Someone ?Foreign Minister Bogollagama contacted the FM of Malaysia, who contacted the Minister of Home Affairs who contacted the CID who contacted Immigration asking them to prevent me entering the country stating I was a "Security risk"!!!!!

I said that if a 78-year old senile man was security risk for Malaysia, they should urgently review their Security set-up I smiled and asked that arrangements be made for me to get to Singapore. They said "tour ticket os from Penang. You cannot get to Penang because you cannot enter Malaysia, so you will have to buy yourself a ticket (which I did). I was then escorted to the plane by 6 police officers and an Immigration fellow.

While waiting for the flight (for 3 hours) I gave the bunch a lengthy talk on Human Rights abuse in Sri Lanka"!!!

At the end, when the flight was called, I went round to shake each one's hand. One of them, a policeman, grabbed my hand and would not let it go. Struggling to suppress tears which were welling up, he said "Doctor, all of us are deeply concerned at what we have been asked to do. Please don't hold it against us or Malaysia."

I gave him a big hug and said "Of course I will not"

Not prepared to run the risk of a repeat performance in Singapore (where I knew Bogollagam was - having got there to persuade Malaysian Tamils to come to Sri Lanka to invest there!!), I decided to cancel the Singapore meeting and returned to Australia, where the harassment continued at Immigration here in my native Brisbane airport.

This will be raised in the Australian Parliament.

Regards and thanks for you effort which is much appreciated
Brian.

Defend Thai organiser and social critic

By Piergiorgio Moro

On the 20th of January, Giles Ji Ungpakorn was charged with Lese Majeste - ie. offending the dignity of the monarchy - for a book he published in 2007.

If found guilty, Giles faces a heavy prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Giles was charged with Lese Majeste because of 8 paragraphs in Chapter 1 of the book 'A Coup for the Rich'.

Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn is a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Giles is a political commentator and has been involved in social movements in Thailand for many years on the side of labour and the poor of Thailand.

In the political unrests of 2008, Giles' social commentary was again very clear in exposing the role of the military and the elites in organising the protests.

The Lese Majeste law is quite clearly aimed at suppressing dissent in Thailand. It is now used by the present government to target its critics.

The Lese Majeste law mainly targets people and organisations that criticise the social order, and organise, in favour of workers and the poor.

It is important to defend activists like Giles Ji Ungpakorn.

You can:

• Write letters of support to Ji, ji.ungpakorn@gmail.com
• Pass motions of support at your union
• Write letters of protests to the Thai government c/o Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Government House, Bangkok, Thailand. Fax number +66(0)29727751
• Write letters of protest to your local embassy/consulate
• Publicise this case among your networks

For further information see:

• http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/
• http://www.pcthai.org/
• See Youtube videos by Giles53
  

Yours in Solidarity

Piergiorgio Moro
Union Convenor
--
Australia Asia Worker Links
PO Box 45 Carlton South Victoria 3053 Australia
Tel: + 61 3 9663 7277 Email: aawl@aawl.org.au Web: aawl.org.au
ABN: 82 920 590 967 Inc Assn No: A1318

Judge accused of attacking freedom of speech

Paul Austin (The Age)

THE chancellor of Victoria University has been accused of undermining free speech after using the State Government solicitor to threaten to sue a senior academic for defamation.

Government solicitor John Cain jnr has sent a letter on behalf of the chancellor, Supreme Court judge Frank Vincent, to James Doughney, a member of the university's governing council, demanding he withdraw and apologise for an attack on Victoria University chiefs over their plan to slash hundreds of jobs.

Justice Vincent last night defended his decision to engage the government solicitor, and dismissed Dr Doughney's assertion that his academic freedom was under attack.

The Age revealed in October that Dr Doughney, an economist and state president of the National Tertiary Education Union, had sent a six-page paper to state and federal MPs accusing the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Elizabeth Harman, of manufacturing a cash crisis to justify cutting about 270 jobs. Mr Cain's three-page letter to Dr Doughney, dated December 12, says his statements were false and defamatory.

He accuses Dr Doughney of breaching the council's code of conduct, which requires members to "desist from intimidation in any form in connection with the role of the council".

"My instructions are to require you to publish an apology and withdrawal of the false and defamatory allegations that you have made, directed particularly against the vice-chancellor," Mr Cain writes.

"Otherwise, I am instructed that the chancellor and the vice-chancellor reserve their rights."

Dr Doughney, the elected academic staff representative on the council, said yesterday it was extraordinary that the chancellor had engaged the government solicitor in a bid to "gag" an academic expressing legitimate views about university governance.

"This action is at odds with any concept of critical inquiry, debate, argument, logic and freedom of speech that you would think is associated with places of learning like universities," he told The Age.

"If you disagree with each other, argue the toss - don't throw attempted legal gags at your critics."

Dr Doughney said it was critical that debates about community institutions such as universities be conducted in public.

"They are not private corporations and they are not personal fiefdoms," he said. "They are public assets."

He said Justice Vincent needed to recognise the university was not a court of law, but a "learning community where you are going to get arguments and different interpretations".

"My view is simple: get used to it," he said.

Asked whether he would withdraw and apologise, as demanded by the university chiefs, Dr Doughney replied: "They have got to be joking. I stand by my criticisms and I'm prepared to fight this all the way."

Justice Vincent said last night the legal letter was sent on advice from senior counsel that Dr Doughney's statements were defamatory.

"The action that was taken reflects the concern occasioned by the nature of the attack made upon the vice-chancellor by Dr Doughney and the responsibility of council members," he said.

"Victoria University unequivocally supports and upholds the fundamentally important principle of academic freedom. However, it is patently clear from Dr Doughney's comments themselves and the context in which they were made that no question of the restriction of its expression arises in the present situation."

Dr Doughney's attack on Professor Harman was prompted by her announcement in October of a six-month program of forced and voluntary redundancies to "rebalance" the budget and "future-proof" the university.

[Pictured: Jamie Doughney addressing the 6th Socialist Alliance national conference.]

--

The Socialist Alliance December 2 ABCC Protest Leaflet

Download this Socialist Alliance anti ABCC leaflet for printing/distribution

Malaysia: Socialist MP's car torched by pro-government thugs

The following email is from Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) Secretary General S.Arutchelvan. Please send messages of solidarity to: psm@gmail.com

MIC = Malaysian Indian Congress, one of the parties in the ruling National Front (Barisan Nasional) government of Malaysia.

Dear Comrades,
PSM view the recent attack by a group of people, believed to be affiliated with MIC in threatening our full time staffs, our Sungai Siput branch leaders and our sole MP very seriously. This is not an isolated incident.

We believe the attack was planned and calculated to distrupt our work in Sg. Siput which has been gaining momentum by the day. We will not be cowed by this incident. We will take all measures to protect our members but no way do we plan to slow down
S.Arutchelvan
Secretary General PSM

Sungai Siput MP’s car torched

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid, Oct 17
Sungai Siput parliamentarian Dr D Jeyakumar’s car was partially damaged in a suspected act of arson early this morning in his constituency.
When contacted, the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader accused his rivals in MIC of being responsible for this.
In the March 8 general election, Jeyakumar had defeated MIC president S Samy Vellu in the parliamentary constituency in Perak, which the latter had controlled for more than three decades.
The PSM leader said he believes that the same group that had set fire to his Volkswagen Beetle was also behind the harassment of his party members in the area.
The harassment, he added, has been happening for more than eight years.
Commenting on the incident which happened around 1am, Jeyakumar said: “(Some) neighbours saw four young males breaking the window of my car, and torching it. The interior of my car is badly burnt.”
Jeyakumar explained that it all started three days ago when a female party member was alone at the party office, when a group of drunken males in their early 20s came in.
“She told me that the group had asked for money and when she refused, they threatened to whack her,” Jeyakumar said.
The PSM leader said he then lodged a police report, which was followed by the arrest of three of the group members.
“I believe it was after I had lodged the police report that others from the group were angered and set fire to my car,” Jeyakumar said, added that another police report has been lodged.
He said he would leave it to the police to investigate the matter and that PSM activists in Sungai Siput will continue to do their job and not be deterred by intended intimidation.
Police finally take action
According to Jeyakumar, PSM has been providing social services and empowerment programmes in the Sungai Siput constituency for more then three decades.
However, PSM activists have claimed that their work has been affected by incidents of physical and psychological harassment by groups they claimed to be affiliated to MIC.
Despite lodging numerous police reports, Jeyakumar said no action has been taken against them until three days ago.
“At least now the police have made arrests. I’m glad about this,” he added.
Source: PSM

The Jobs for Women Campaign -- how women took on BHP and won

Jobs For Women campaign 'a landmark'

by Jim McIlroy

BRISBANE -- "We knew we had to have the support of migrant women, of the union, and of the community or we couldn't win," Robynne Murphy, an active participant in the Jobs For Women Campaign, launched in Wollongong in the early 1980s to win employment for women in the BHP steelworks, told a public forum organised by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance here on September 11. The JFWC broke through the men-only employment policy of the "Big Australian," and set an important precedent for jobs for women in traditional heavy industrial areas of the workforce.

The campaign, which was initiated by women members of the Socialist Workers Party (now Democratic Socialist Perspective), began in April 1980 with a claim before the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board. By July that year there were 50-60 women involved in the claim.

The campaign went through many ups and downs, with a final court settlement only being won in 1995. During that time, especially in the early years, the women organised pickets, a tent embassy outside the Port Kembla steelworks gates, circulated leaflets in six migrant languages and gained the support of the Federated Ironworkers Union and the majority of the male workers in the plant.

"It was an incredible experience, being applauded by so many men workers as they entered or left the site. We received 2000 signatures on our petition in one day during the campaign," Murphy told the forum.

In 1986, 34 women won $1 million in an initial settlement. "We were reported on the front page of many of the newspaper around the country," Murphy said. The JFWC then launched a class action suit for 800 women who had been unfairly denied jobs at BHP.

During the course of the campaign, the JFWC gained broad support from the union and labour movements, locally and internationally and from women's organisations around Australia. "The campaign is now studied in a number of university history and law courses," she added.

"The lesson is that you must organise, whether within a union, or elsewhere, if you are going to win," Murphy said. The JFWC was a landmark case in the history of both the women's liberation and trade union movements, she pointed out. "We need to learn its lessons for many of the struggles faced by women and workers today."

.

Original audio source

This is a recording of another talk on the same topic delivered by Robynne Murphy to the Brisbane branch of Resistance, two days later, on September 13th.

Some related reading available online:

• Feminism and Socialism: putting the pieces together
• What is the DSP?
• Jobs for women: how BHP was made to change its tune

.

No co-operation with the ABCC

Dear Comrades,


These new penal laws that the ABCC rely on have been around for over 2 years and nearly 12 months of the current Government. Now there is a real risk that workers will start going to gaol for being unionist and organising workers. I think it's time to start putting words into action. Now is the time to decide which side you're on.

I am standing beside Noel Washington and pledging no cooperation with the ABCC.

These are bad laws and are only designed to weaken the union movement and conditions for workers. I cannot support a Government that supports these laws and allows workers to be dragged before the courts for being unionist.


Please sign up and let the Government know we are serious. There can be only one outcome to this and that is workers win the right to organise the way we want to. Not the way that makes the bosses and the Government happy. We are not slaves and our organisers are not criminals.


Yours in Solidarity


Tim Gooden

Secretary
Geelong Trades Hall Council Secretary



PS. Please return to this email or fax, 03 52231115.

Labor Omnia Vincit

Download sign on statement for printing.

SIGN ON STATEMENT

The Australian Building and Construction Commission is an ideologically driven organisation and was set up by the Howard Coalition government in October 2005 to destroy the effectiveness of the unions in the building industry. These unions have led the way in setting benchmark wages and standards of health and safety that have benefitted all working Australians. The ABCC operates like a police force with extensive coercive powers and secret investigations. There is no right to silence- refusing to attend hearings or answer questions can lead to a six-month jail sentence.

The ABCC's predecessor, the Building Industry Task Force, was set up after the $60 million Cole Royal Commission into the building industry. Contrary to the claims of some bosses and media, the Commission found that there is no "endemic lawlessness" perpetrated by the unions in the building industry.

We are asking for nothing more than what employers already have; the right to meet with our members and representatives, before, during and after work and the right to defend our working conditions. Penalising unions for representing workers' rights using hefty fines and threats of imprisonment has to STOP NOW. If the powers of the ABCC remain all Australian workers will have their right to organise and seek representation in a union undermined.

We, the undersigned refuse to cooperate with the ABCC and to pay fines imposed. We are inspired by the fine example set by CFMEU member Noel Washington in refusing to bow to the ABCC's intimidation. We pledge support for all union officials and members who are subject to the ABCC's powers.

We call on all unions to join a campaign of industrial action if any unionist is convicted for not cooperating with the ABCC



Dare to struggle - dare to win
If you don’t fight, you lose
Return to : 127 Myers St, Geelong. Tel 52211712, or and fax 52231115.
0438 088 112
No co-operation with the ABCC

Abortion rights: please sign up

Our bodies Our Lives

Full decriminalisation of abortion NOW

The Brumby government in Victoria has tabled an Abortion Law Reform Bill which partially decriminalises abortion, as long as it is carried out within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

However, women who need an abortion after 24 weeks must get the permission of two doctors. Doctors will be reluctant to give approval as late-term abortions will still be listed as a crime within the Health Act.

The overwhelming majority of abortions are carried out within the first trimester. Less than 1% of all abortions are performed after 24 weeks. These are the most vulnerable women – women who are teenagers, victims of incest or sexual assault, suffering from mental illness, drug addiction or intellectual disability, or have experienced a sudden tragic life circumstance or discovered a foetal abnormality.

By not fully decriminalising abortions, the government is leaving the most vulnerable women out in the cold. Women should have the right to make decisions regarding their pregnancy, at every stage of that pregnancy without restriction.

Opinion polls have repeatedly shown that the overwhelming majority of people support women’s right to choose abortion, including late-term abortion.

We support the full decriminalisation of abortion, therefore we call for the Abortion Law Reform Bill to be amended to remove any restrictions on late-term abortions.

If would like to add your name to this statement, email abortionrightsforwomen@gmail.com or ring (03) 9639-8622, 0405-195-145 or 0413-377-978.

Was the WYD attendance disappointing?

by Dave Riley

A bit of sour grapes here :(source)

"AROUND 350,000 people attended the final mass of World Youth Day (WYD) in Sydney today, organisers say.Organisers had expected up to 500,000 people at Royal Randwick Racecourse and overflow areas in Centennial Park to witness the mass presided over by Pope Benedict XVI."

And I'd have to agree that 'disappointment' is a correct assessment.

Five years of planning. Costing millions of dollars with the local state and federal government throwing tens of millions more into the pot(an estimated $150million and NSW taxpayers at least $86million.). The national network of catholic schools organising and conscripting to shepherd and ferry youths from all over to Sydney for the event. Thousands arriving from all points overseas...esp Asia & the Pacific.

Among the practicing Catholics I know -- the only ones who went down from Queensland were young people organised by their Catholic schools.

And this gross piece if medieval theatre doesn't fulfill expectations. In the meantime the local Catholic Church was put further under scrutiny for its duplicity in sexual abuse and pedophilia. The Iemma government gets caught up in another attempt to stifle dissent....and, if weighed up, WYD may have led to a greater aversion to the Catholic Church in the broader community than what had existed before the event kicked in. While there is a tradition of anti-Popery in this country I don't think the response to this visit is in the mode of the Orange Lodge. But there's a cynicism surely --despite SBS's attempt to function as Channel Pope -- rather than a celebration of the church's doctrines.

I had to laugh at this report:Pilgrims boom Sydney sex trade

"Business is up by around 20 per cent in brothels in the city, Surrey Hills, Bondi and the lower North Shore. The owners are saying they have not seen anything like it since the Olympics."

But when you step back and look at it, this circus --which it was, grand scale meta theatre -- is a long way away from Vatican 2nd and Liberation Theology and the supposed caring spirit of the Gospels embraced during the sixties.WYD's frank charter was to win youth -- catholic youth -- to the "faith of their fathers". That's a militant hymn . It's the Catholic Church's English language Internationale . I think it sums up the WYD message.

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto Thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
We all shall then be truly free.

Faith of our fathers, Mary's prayers
Shall win our country back to Thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
England shall then indeed be free.

It was about juicing the youngsters up so that they'd hang onto the faith as the get older and maybe go along with its social doctrines. Nothing more. The Catholic Church is shrinking in this country. Nonetheless, sotto voce -- WYD was all about saving Australia from itself.

And I'm sure the business of coming together and projecting almost a shrill idolation onto the far off figure of the pope sponsored a sort of groupie-ness or cult aspect that impressed many of the pilgrims. In the context of so much religiosity it was sure to impact on many pilgrims.But what was the platform being generated aside from a sort of gung ho church loyalty? What was the message worth listening to?

If it was indeed a pilgrimage where was the suffering in the attainment of it? It was akin to the adage that if the mountain won't come to Mohammed then Mohammed will come to the mountain. And those who suffered were the poor buggers camped out at Randwick with a dose of the squirts and a good attack of the flu while sleeping out a 5C.

This wasn't the haj. It was too easy. Too grandly manipulated.

But the fact that the No to Pope protests were held was taken up by media around the world -- especially in the context of Iemma's "annoy" laws and the Church was represented as hiding behind the wall of an oppressive state (nothing new there). In the meantime, the LGBT movement and the Womens Right to Chose movement has achieved an important pick me up out on the streets where it matters.

It may have been different in Sydney -- although I read a few pieces of protest by some dedicated priests in poor parishes -- but it seems to me that the Church hierarchy has rolled back the gains of the sixties and Vatican 2nd such that the liberation and activist wing of the
Church has been well and truly muted aside from a few marginalised parishes where lay and clergy do their bit and say stuff the rest.

See:Who’s afraid of Liberation Theology?

My personal view is that the re-assertion of the conservative wing of the Church which has been relentless since the downturn in the sixties radicalisation has triumphed primarily through an astute tactical deployment of the Pro-Life agenda as a means to promote the church as still ethically relevant to today. This has been achieved in alliance with many capitalist states and imperialism. The Church was a dedicated Cold War Warrior. Then there was a brief period of radical bent and outreach before the closure of that set in.But what holds it together in my estimation is the doctrine of the pope. That's the clincher as it holds every thread in the church hostage to what the whole institution gets up to.

I always feel that that's the tragedy for individual catholics.

Here in Brisbane there has been a relative strong tradition of Dorothy Day /Catholic Worker activism -- but these activists have even protested in the past against the women movement's support for abortion law reform despite their excellent credentials in matters anti-war and social justice. Their stance-- their left shibboleth if you like-- earnt them pariah status until they ceased to organise these public protests.

So will WYD cure the rot and revive the Cath Church in Australia? No way.The irony is that the event served more to expose its hypocrisy.

See: The Catholic Church and Public Money
See: Catholic Day a 'scandal'

Video:No to Pope Rally -- Sydney

No-to -Pope Rally

Brisbane

Made with Slideshow Embed Tool


Made with Slideshow Embed Tool
Sydney

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Protesters win court case on WYD laws

Two student activists --Rachel Evans and Amber Pike -- in the Federal Court have successfully challenged the police powers brought in by the New South Wales Government for World Youth Day. The regulations were intended to allow people to be detained or fined for annoying or inconveniencing Catholic pilgrims.

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Civil rights victory - court dumps "annoy" laws!

Rachel Evans at the Sydney Activist Centre

"Two Sydney activists have won a Federal Court challenge to special World Youth Day laws that carry $5500 fines for annoying pilgrims.

NoToPope Coalition (and Socialist Alliance ) members Rachel Evans and Amber Pike took the NSW Government to court over the police powers granted for the month of July, seeking a declaration that they were unconstitutional." -- SMH

Creative Anti-Popery

NoToPope Annoying Tshirt Parade

In response to the Iemma government threat to fine people $5500 for "annoying" Catholic pilgrims by wearing T-shirts or handing out condoms, the NoToPope Coalition held an "annoying T-shirt parade" outside state parliament on July 9. See some pictures below.

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Socialists call for defiance of anti-democratic pope visit laws

The Socialist Alliance today called on all people wanting to show their concern about the positions of Pope Benedict XIV on issues like same sex-marriage, condom use and abortion to collectively ignore the New South Wales government’s new powers to arrest and fine people up to $5500 for “causing annoyance” to World Youth Day participants. (The new regulations, which were quietly gazetted by deputy premier John Watkins last Friday, could make it a crime to wear a t-shirt with an anti-papal message and empower police and volunteers with the State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service to stop a person engaging in conduct which “causes annoyance or inconvenience in a World Youth Day event”.)

“The Iemma government has lost it”, Dick Nichols, the Socialist Alliance National Coordinator said. “Faced with a peaceful July 19 protest against Pope Benedict’s mediaeval positions on issues like condom use, the ministerial clique in Macquarie Street has introduced laws that would be laughable if they weren’t such a violation of civil liberties.

Pic: Socialist Alliance member Rachel Evans is one of the main organisers of the NoToPope Coalition protest during the pope visit

“The laws give police the right to ban propaganda and strip-search people at hundreds of sites across the city, including at bus stops and train stations, checking to see if they are wearing an ‘offensive’ t-shirt.

“With their draconian regulations Iemma and Co. have decided to prevent the possibility of a Chaser-style stunt against the Pope by becoming a permanent Chaser skit themselves”, he said.

“These rules were deliberately gazetted while the parliament wasn’t sitting, stifling debate and removing parliament’s right to block them. So let’s all get those t-shirts out that proclaim our support for women’s rights, same-sex marriage and safe sex,” Nichols stated. “And then let Iemma and Co. try to apply their buffoonish laws against us.”

Nichols commented that the Iemma government was showing “weird” similarities to the autocratic and unanswerable papacy.

“Not content with pushing ahead with an electricity privatisation plan opposed by 80% of people in New South Wales Iemma’s comedy team has now introduced regulations opposed by 89% of respondents to an online Sydney Morning Herald poll.

“It is also spending around $86 million to support World Youth Day: whatever happened to the separation of church and state?”

The Socialist Alliance spokesperson predicted that “just like the heavy-handed police powers introduced in the lead up to APEC last year to intimidate people out of protesting, Iemma’s latest effort will have exactly the opposite effect to its intention. “Most rational people, including many Catholics, are opposed to the dangerous and antiquated policies of the Catholic hierarchy on condom use, abortion and homophobia. Now the Iemma government has attacked their freedom of expression they have a powerful additional motive to join the July 19 NoToPope protest”, he concluded.