Kurds fight 'Islamic State' over vast front

[August 11, 2014; Links online magazine]

The Kurdish people are facing an unprecedented challenge. Across a vast swathe of northern Syria and Iraq, the region's Kurds are locked in a desperate and heroic struggle with the genocidal forces of the so-called Islamic State (IS). Fighting is raging from Aleppo and Kobanê in Syria to Mosul and Kirkuk in Iraq — and all points in between. (The 'front' is enormous: for example, the direct distance from Aleppo to Kirkuk is over 650km.)

Are you patriotic? Some reflections on a topical question

[Green Left Weekly, #1006, April 29, 2014]

'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.' Samuel Johnson's aphorism (1775) is well known. But if a lot of scoundrels are patriotic, where does that leave patriotism itself? Are you patriotic? Should we be?

Climate action must include people-protection measures

[Green Left Weekly, #995, February 3, 2014]

Victoria's scorching January heatwave has focused a lot of attention on the problem of coping with the immediate fallout from climate change. According to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, in the period January 13-23 there were 139 deaths in excess of the expected average. There were reports of homeless people being forced away from airconditioned areas as they sought relief from the relentless heat.

In defence of Socialist Alliance's strategy of mass action: A reponse to Socialist Alternative

[Text of a talk given to the Geelong branch of Socialist Alliance on December 3, 2013]

The unity discussions between Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative have come to an end. In a November 3 letter on behalf of the Socialist Alternative National Executive Mick Armstrong wrote: 'The overall political projects of both organisations are not sufficiently similar to carry through a sustained and productive unity that could advance the cause of the revolutionary left in Australia and the broader class struggle.'[1]

Fighting for socialism today

[Talk given at Socialist Ideas Conference, Melbourne, November 2, 2013]

In Australia, as in all the imperialist countries, the capitalist class is carrying out a massive assault on all the gains won by working people in over 150 years. Every TV news bulletin these days features reports of cutbacks, selloffs and outsourcing, attacks on workers rights and attacks on civil liberties — as well as wars and massive misery abroad.

In memory of Doug Lorimer

[These brief remarks were delivered at a memorial meeting for Doug Lorimer in Melbourne on October 25, 2013, organised by Socialist Alternative. The photo above was taken outside an Annandale polling booth in the 1975 federal election. It shows (from right): Joy Ecclestone, Dave Holmes, Doug Lorimer, (unidentified), Geoff Payne.]

The July 27 Green Left Weekly carried an obituary for Doug written by Pat Brewer. For comrades interested in the basic details of Doug's political CV I would recommend it.

Abolish Australia's secret police

[Green Left Weekly, #977, August 12, 2013]

According to its Wikipedia entry, 'The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and terrorism.'