"As, I see it clearly before my eyes, the city of justice and happiness! ...No more idlers of any kind, and hence no more landlords supported by rent, no more men of fortune kept like mistresses by fortune -- in short, no more luxury and no more misery! Ah, is not this the ideal of equity, the supreme wisdom, no privileged classes, and none doomed to wretchedness; everyone creating his welfare by his own effort, the average of human welfare!"
Emile Zola, L'Argent
Isocracy News Update
The Isocracy Network has had its application to become an incorporated association in Victoria on August 13. The application was delayed for some weeks as bureaucrats claimed a problem with our objectives on the grounds that they were 'unobtainable'. It was pointed out in frank terms to said officials that such a subjective political assessment is certainly not part of the Act and certain individuals with extensive experience in incorporated associations would make an issue of this delay. Perhaps not surprising, the application was approved within minutes of this information. One wonders if any other libertarian political organisatins in the past have not succeeded due to such impediments.
In other Isocracy news the marriage equality statement has now been signed by nineteen religious ministers and celebrants and was mentioned at the Equal Love National Day of Action rally in Melbourne on August 14, attended by some 3000 people. Also of a similar number a "Radical Independents" ticket for the Federal election headed by Dr. Joe Toscano, public officer of the Isocracy Network in Victoria, received over 3,000 votes in a bid to win one of the Senate seats allocated to Victoria. Eighty percent of the poll has been counted.
http://victoriansecular.org/node/2
Hung Parliament in Australia
Australia's elections held on August 21st have resulted in a hung parliament, with the incumbent centre-left Labor Party winning 72 seats (37.9% of the vote, -5.7%), the centre-right Liberal-National coalition also winning 72 seats (44.2%, +2.1%), the Greens 1 seat (11.5%, +3.8%), an independent National 1 seat and other independents 4 seats. The election was notable for the failure of major parties to connect to significant issues and a resultant high informal vote. The independents will decide which of the major parties they will support in coming weeks. The big swing against Labor was notable in Queensland and N.S.W. where state Labor governments have performed very poorly and not assisted by a lack-lustre campaign which failed to emphasise the economic success of the incumbent government. Failure to address climate change issues and an Internet censorship proposal assisted a big swing to the Greens. Independents, who hold the balance of power, are arguing for significant parliamentary reform providing an opportunity for progressive change.
http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2010/
Cuba Allows Small Enterprises, Adopts Land-Leases
In a significant change the Cuban government is allowing foreign investors to lease government land for 99 year contracts, an expansion from an existing 50 year system, and has expanded self-employment for the production and sale of farm products on a small-scale. Large agricultural holdings will remain state-controlled. The land-leases are particularly popular for tourist developers. These changes must been seen as positive, as they suggest that the Cuban government is making tentative steps towards using market-values in resources for public income and allowing individual initiative, whilst at the same time strongly orientating sources of public income towards their extensive social welfare programmes.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gG8qLd4ozL5rvaQHbiJPOH...
Battle of Mogadishu Continues
The Islamist al-Shabaab rebel group in Somalia says it has called 11 truckloads of reinforcements in an effort take over the capital Mogadishu in a "final, massive war". Over one hundred have been killed in initial clashes, with the rebel forces taking control of a military base within the capital. Political control of Somalia has been in dispute since 1991. There are currently 6,300 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi present in Mogaidshu from the African Union. Whilst by no means reaching the standards of secularism or democracy by modern standards the internationally recognised Transitional Federal Government is far more progressive than the alternative and has been responsible for promoting regional autonomy and public education.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/08/20108279334991422.html
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140204.html
Past and Present Crimes of the Rwanda's Army
Foreign human rights groups accuse Rwandan and Congolese rebels of gang-raping over 150 women over four days within miles of a U.N. peacekeepers' base in the village of Bunangiri, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A few days after the incident a leaked draft report of the United Nations claims that actions by Rwanda's army and Congolese rebels in Congo during the 1990s could be classified as genocide.
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE67M0G920100823
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE67Q02020100827?sp=true
The curse and the blessing of the blood diamonds
Nairi Porter presents the article for this issue of the Isocracy Network newsletter. Nairi, a resident of Cape Town, South Africa, reviews the destructive effects of the diamond trade and the attempts by dictators and would-be dictators throughout the African continent to gain monopoly control of these precious minerals, and the enormous cost to life this greed generates.