E D I T O R I A L

A Call To Arms
Workers Online returns from our summer break to face a world on the brink, the structures of global cooperation being crushed by the iron will of the earth’s last remaining superpower.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Agenda 2003
ACTU secretary Greg Combet looks at the year ahead and how a union movement can keep the focus on the workplace at a time of global crisis.

Peace: The Colour Purple
Local communities across Australia are taking stands against war by displaying purple banners. Jim Marr visits one.

Industrial: Long, Hot Summer
As Workers Online took its annual break, the world kept turning – at an increasingly alarming velocity.

Solidarity: Workers Against War
Joann Wypijewski reports on how union locals in the USA are fighting the hounds of war at home.

Security: Howard And The Hoodlums
With all the talk of terror, the Howard Government’s Achilles heel is its tolerance of Flags of Convenience shipping , writes Rowan Cahill

International: Industrial Warfare
Scottish freight train drivers have already acted to disrupt the war effort in the UK with crews of four freight trains carrying war supplies to ports walking off the job, writes Andrew Casey

History: Unions and the Vietnam War
The Vietnam experience steered some unions towards social activism for the first time. Unions are today key players in the anti-war movement, writes Tony Duras.

Review: Eight Miles to Mowtown
Mark Hebblewhites looks at two summer movies that tap into different sounds of American culture - white boy rap and motown blues.

Poetry: Return To Sender
Resident bard Divd Peetz discovers that Elvis has become the latest shock recruit to the peace cause.

Satire: CIA Recruits New Intake of Future Enemies
CIA Director George Tenet announced today that the agency has begun recruiting future enemies for the year 2014.

N E W S

The Cuffe Link – Taxpayers Cough Up

Carr: Secret Lib Plan to Slash Public Sector

Abbott Comes Out Swinging

Thanks a Million: Cole’s Lawyers Clean-up

Corrigan Dogs On Jobs Promise

Gnomes Fess Up – Unionism Best For All

Owens Survives 30-Year Ban

Ribs and Rumps Something for Government to Chew On

Badges of Honour

Guards Rail Against Assaults

Workers Online Scoops Global Prize

Currawong Must Pay It’s Way

Let’s Get Real! 2nd Australasian Organising Conference

Guard Knocked Out in Villawood Escape

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Getting On with The Job
Premier Bob Carr chose Trades Hall as the venue to launch Labor's IR policy for the upcoming state election.

Postcard
Justice in Bogota
Sydney lawyer Ian Latham knows how to pick them. He’s gone straight from the Cole Royal Commission to justice Colombian-style.

The Locker Room
Heart Of Darkness
There is a school of thought that there is, in fact, only one World Cup - and it doesn’t involve cricket, writes Phil Doyle.

Politics
Danger Mouse
John Howard's politics have trapped him into supporting an unpopular war. He is in political trouble, Leonie Bronstein argues.

L E T T E R S

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Schieffer Brains

Those crazy Texans are at it again. This time the most incompetent and dangerous US Ambassador in living history has launched what is the most disturbing intervention into Australian domestic politics since, well, the last disturbing intervention in Australian politics.

Democracy is obviously too precious a thing to be trusted with the people, so it falls to US Ambassador Tom Schieffer to make sure that Australians get it right. Uncle Tom emerged from the mansion that passes itself off as the US embassy to have a sook about some of the robust debate around the Oil War that's been taking place of late.

Of course the ALP is way out of line for suggesting that a megalomaniacal moron's obsession with getting his hands on cheap oil so that Americans can continue with their god given right to drive an automobile is in any way a threat to world security or the lives of Australian troops committed to the process. What the ALP is doing defending Australian interests must be a mystery to the good mandarins at Foreign Affairs. The last time the ALP did that was when it was led by the member for Werriwa, E.G. Whitlam. We all know that exercise ended in tears for Australian sovereignty.

Tom believes this is a case of good versus evil. George Bush is a good guy, Saddam is a bad guy. John Howard is a good guy, Simon Crean is a bad guy.

Schieffer claims his no-brainer contribution to the domestic debate was driven by the "personal" nature of the attacks and the "anti-American" flavour from another member for Werriwa, Mark Latham. US State Department officials are no doubt now working furiously to have the Federal Electorate of Werriwa added to the Axis of Evil. Libya, Iraq, North Korea, Leppington. It's all starting to make sense.

According to Schieffer to attack George Bush was to attack Americans. Nonetheless, to attack Saddam Hussein is not an attack on Iraqis.

Even Piers Akkerman would struggle to defend that sort of twisted logic.

Shieffer believes that the sentiment expressed by Simon Crean's embracing of the Axis of Evil was driven by "internal Labor Party politics". Well we can be glad we've sorted that out. People may have been thinking that, a hundred and forty years after we sent troops to keep China British, we were getting ourselves involved in another bloodbath that was not of our own making and has nothing to do with our interests, and had very little public support.

It's a rather unique genius that decides that our best interests are served by joining an invasion of one of our largest trading partners.

No doubt the crazy Texan sitting on the Hill keeping an eye on Australian Democracy to make sure that it remains user friendly for US interests has certainly put both of his diplomatic feet in his mouth this time, but at least this time he's honest.

The last time a Labor Leader upset US interests in this neck of the woods we had a good old fashioned bit of regime change.

It's a pity we can't organise a bit of regime change of our own.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005