Events

NATION-WIDE PROTESTS: Sat Dec 13

Melbourne 12 Noon @ State Library 

Together we can stop this legislation and preserve freedom of speech online. 

The Australian Federal Government is pushing forward with a plan to
force Internet Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the Internet for all
Australians. This plan will waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars
and slow down Internet access.

Despite being almost universally condemned by the public, ISPs, State
Governments, Media and censorship experts, Communications Minister
Stephen Conroy is determined to force this filter into your home.

For more information visit Australians Against Internet Censorship
(AAIC) http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35119201737&ref=mf

The Australian government is planning to implement internet filtering at the ISP level. This internet filter will work in much the same way as the freely available filters for adult content which can already be downloaded by the public for personal use. The proposed filter will be intended to block content with a MA15+ rating or higher. Websites deemed to host illegal content will also be blocked. A blacklist of websites deemed unsuitable for public viewing has already been produced, this list is at present not available to the public. The dangerous concern is that any website the government disapproves of can easily be added to this list. Regardless of whether or not you trust the current government, there are no safeguards in place to prevent future governments from exploiting this list and adding websites that oppose their own personal ideals.

In order to pass this legislation it is likely that gambling websites will also be blocked. The cost of this technology is believed to be $45 million for the initial setup and then an additional $33 million per annum.

On the 28th of July the Australian government released a report detailing the results of a trial of six potential filters. The report included the following statistics.

Internet speeds dropped between 21% and 86%. The most accurate filter was also the one with the greatest drop in speed.

Content that the filters failed to block ranged from 2% to 13%.

Content blocked by mistake ranged from 1.3% to 7.8%

The type of websites blocked by accident may include websites on issues such as sexual health or breast cancer. Legitimate websites unfortunate enough to be hosted on a web-server with adult content are also likely to be blocked. Websites which are hacked or spammed with porn will again be blocked. Hate websites and websites deemed to be inciting criminal activity will be blocked, this may include websites promoting euthanasia or file sharing.

If your website is blocked the you will have to appeal the decision with an Administrative appeals tribunal. The exact process has yet to be disclosed.

This legislation will not protect children. If anything this legislation is more likely to harm children than protect them. Parents are likely to be lured into a false sense of security. Bypassing internet filters has been proven to be notoriously easy for children.

Of greater concern is the possibility that such a filter would encourage paedophiles to start using programs that make it more difficult for them to be tracked. This would hamper the efforts of the police in tracking paedophiles online.

An internet filter will do nothing to combat the production and uploading of Child Pornography.

The internet filter will not block P2P networks which are where the majority of file sharing occurs.

If the Australian government wants to stop child sexual abuse then the money for this legislation should be spent on Federal police programs designed to target the producers of such material

Let your federal MP know how you feel about this issue. Speaking directly to them will have the greatest effect. Letters will help too especially handwritten ones. Be careful not to insult or offend them, even if they are a sitting member of the labor party, they may not necessarily agree with this policy.

An official petition is available at http://www.wakinggiant.org/au_censorship.htm. The petition is open to all Australian citizens. Make sure that the people who sign it add their address, failing to do so may render a signature void.

Join Australians Against Internet Censorship.(AAIC). We are a non-political non-profit group dedicated to stopping this legislation from being passed. We are working at raising awareness of this issue and organising protests to show the public opposition to this legislation. You can find us at http://www.nocleanfeedforum.com

For further information visit http://stopthecleanfeed.com/

Together we can stop this legislation and preserve freedom of speech online. 

Solidarity with Greece: Rally for Alexandros Grigoropoulos

Outside the Greek Consulate

37-29 Albert Road, South Melbourne (take St Kilda Rd trams)

On Saturday 6th of December at around 10pm, two Greek policemen were in patrol in a central street by Exarchia square, in the center of Athens. They had a verbal argument with some young people who were there. During the argument, one of the cops pulled his gun and shot a 16-year-old minor twice. The victim was moved to Evangelismos Hospital to be pronounced dead. According to eye-witnesses, the cop had been swearing against the young boy, and showing his genitals, before shooting him. In a spontaneous response, thousands of people gathered in the centers of most Greek cities over the past three days in riots. In Athens, people gathered outside Evangelismos Hospital, in order to prevent the cops from entering the building. A little later the riot police attacked in a street in Exarchia resulting in one person being arrested. The evening in Athens evolved with a spontaneous assembly in the Polytechnic University, many rioted in the center of Athens, including attacks against police departments and banks, until the early hours of the next morning. Meanwhile, a spontaneous demonstration took place, but it was confronted by the riot police with tear gas. Rallies, demonstrations, direct actions and riots took place all around the country. Solidarity actions have already been held around Greece, in London, Edinburgh, Berlin, and Vienna. There is a planned rally/vigil for Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Melbourne – the city with the biggest Greek population outside of Greece.

For more information: contact David Vakalis on 0404 722 687

The North-South pipeline: Melbourne – it’s time to take a stand!
====

Please join our community action - Sunday December 14, on the pipeline construction site in Toolangi forest.

This short-sighted project will pump 75 billion litres of water a year from the Goulburn River, the major Victorian tributary of the Murray, to supply Melbourne. The media to date has shown protests and rallies by rural communities whose land and livelihoods are being damaged. But the government says the pipeline is being built to benefit us in Melbourne. We must ask ourselves:

* Do we really need it?
* What are its impacts?
* What else can we do to meet our water needs?


Please join us for a peaceful Walk On to the pipeline construction site to show that Melbourne people care. We do not want scarce resources drawn from dry catchments simply because the state government lacks the courage and foresight to deal with Melbourne’s water needs responsibly and honestly.

When: Sunday, December 14

Where: Meet at 11am SHARP at the corner of the Melba Highway and the Healesville – Kinglake Rd (Melways Key Map, Page 10 P2 or Day Tours Page 910 Q11). We will convoy/car-pool the last few kilometres to the construction site. Allow about 70 minutes drive from inner Melbourne.

What: We will walk on to the pipe construction site to witness the clearing of Toolangi State Forest, and hear from locals who will explain the ecological impacts of the proposed pipeline which will cut through 12 kilometres of the forest between Glenburn and Yarra Glen.

Then join us at 1pm for a picnic by the Yea River at Glenburn (turn left at Glenburn Hotel, follow for 100m), to catch up, ask questions and hear from people involved in the Plug the Pipe. BYO food & drink.

Aim: To send a message to the state government that people in Melbourne as well as country Victoria care about the real cost of this project. We do not need this $750+ million pipeline.

* Government should not be removing water from stressed catchments
north of the Great Divide
* There are many other more sustainable and long term options to
meet our growing water needs, without this pipeline
* Melbourne – it’s time we stood up against this destructive project!

This will mark the launch of a new alliance. We will focus on opposing construction of the southern end of the pipeline, as it crashes through Toolangi State Forest and the Yarra Valley and mobilising Melbourne people on this important issue.

Further information: Cam Walker, 03 9419 8700, 0419 338 047 or email.
Please car pool to reduce emissions. Also there is limited space to park. If you can offer or need a ride, please contact Cam.


IT IS NOT TOO LATE -
STOP THE NORTH - SOUTH PIPELINE;
START THE RIGHT WATER STRATEGY!

Melbourne CBD location(s) to be announced
Contact Name     Stephen Taberner
Contact Email     taberner@tpg.com.au

BUY MORE STUFF! will make its world debut in Big W, Myer and other stores on Thursday Dec 18 during the evening shopping hours.

This is a foolish and ironically intended anthem to consumerism, in the tradition of "vote the bastards out": see youtube clip

17-12-2008  Here is the latest update from flashmob organiser extraordinaire Stephen Taberner:
"I am happy to announce that we had a perfectly grand musical congress at the rehearsal last night, so thanks to everybody who restacked their christmas season to make it. the song is sounding awesome and thus I pronounce us to be in readiness for the big event on thursday.

we will meet at 5pm outside the state library, which is on the corner of swanston and latrobe. apparently the chance of rain is 40%, so I think 40% of us should bring an umbrella. if we move to an indoor location, we will leave a sentry to redirect you. we aim to run through the song till soon after 6, when the whole pesky event will begin in earnest.

current plans for flashmob locations include outside Big W in the QV, bourke st mall, melbourne central and the manchester section at myer. please email any excellent further ideas to me, and also if you are going to be late, get a mobile number of someone who is going so you can find us!

please wear city-ish kind of gear. suits for men would be wonderful. we are supposed to be shoppers on the way home from work in the city. and you have to look pretty for the camera, which will be manned by pete. I was most remiss to not introduce him to you last night, so apologies for that.

new singers and those who couldn't make thursday are most cordially welcome so long as they get there for the 5pm rehearsal and they have done some listening to the mp3s first. if it helps I can email you a jpg of the dots for the song.

ah, um. that's it! it shall be grand, and I am most thermulously thingly about the whole thing. see you down there.

respectfully
stephen"

Here are the links for learning the parts:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/stuff.tenor.mp3

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/stuff.sop.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/stuff.alto.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/stuff.bass.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/mc.tenor.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/mc.sop.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/mc.alto.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1581369/mc.bass.mp3

These files are fully panned with the target part to the left and all others to the right. To listen to your part, turn the balance control (you can do this even on a mac for example under system preferences/sound) fully to the left, or if you have headphones, take one off. Then you can readjust to hear more of the others when you are confident.

and here are the words:

(these are the correct words, rather than those in the mp3)

ooooh etc
CHORUS
buy more stuff!
stuff!
buy more stuff!
stuff!
buy more stuff!
stuff!
any kind of stuff will do (stuff!)
just as long as it's brand new (stuff!)
matte or shiney, pink or blue (stuff!)

Come and celebrate another super year at 3CR on Thursday 18 December at the Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall in Carlton. All welcome!

We shall also be launching both the 2008 Beyond the Bars CD as well as 3CRs' Done By Law program's new website.

Stay tuned to 3CR on 855AM or to this website for more details.

Contact the Special Projects Coordinator for more information.

Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon and Victoria sts, Carlton

December 18th: Is there anything left wing about liberalism?
January 8th: Trotsky: Culture & Revolution (upstairs, Sabbatini's Restaurant, 160 Lygon St in Carlton)
January 15th: The Decline of US Power: The end of a unipolar world?
January 22nd: Educational Meeting: Why the working class is central in Marxist theory

Visit the Socialist Alternative website for more information.

Birrarung Marr (gather at the Angel sculpture)

At 6:30pm, meet at Birrarung Marr (gather at the Angel sculpture).

We will ride the Yarra trail from the City to Lentil as Anything at Abbotsford Convent.

To ensure your place at the table, phone 0412703483 or reply to . Or just turn up and take your chances! It's not too late to join this ride!
bikefunmelbourne@lists.riseup.net

The collective meets twice a month and we welcome new members.  Meetings are on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 6.30pm.

Meeting dates for the rest of 2008 are:

• 18 December

We meet at FoE, 312 Smith st, Collingwood (near Johnson street. We are on the #86 tram line going to Bundoora and  the buses coming from Doncaster and Donvale that runalong Johnson street).

For further information, please contact Ellen Roberts: ellenmroberts@yahoo.com.au

Come this Friday and protest against sweatshop labour in the Australian fashion industry.

The action will start at 12:30pm, this Friday 19th December.

Gather outside the RICH outlet, 375 Brunswick St, (near the corner with Rose St), Fitzroy.

Bring your best singing voices, and join FairWear in delivering a lump of coal to this clothing company, and in singing our unique brand of Christmas carols, in honour of sweatshop workers and outworkers.

See you there!

FairWear Victoria Campaign

Ph:(03) 9251 5270

ACMI pays tribute to acclaimed Melbourne documentary maker Pip Starr, who passed away earlier this year.

A professionally trained nurse, Starr squeezed in another career documenting environmental activism, the plight of independent coffee producers and, most recently, the rising sea levels off the Carteret Islands.

A selection of his films feature in this program, including Fight for Country: The Story of the Jabiluka Blockade (62 mins, Australia, 2001), Through the Wire (10 mins, Australia, 2004) and The Okapa Connection (15 mins, Australia, 2006).

Some of Starr's supporters including Gary Foley and Dave Sweeney (Australian Conservation Foundation) will introduce the screenings.

Sat 20 December 2008 | 4:30pm - 6:00pm
ACMI,
Federation Square,
Melbourne,
VIC
(03) 86632583
All tickets $8.00

 

State Library, Corner of Swanston and LaTrobe streets

Critical Mass is a bicycling event in which a group of riders get together to ride around and explore Melbourne, while drawing attention to the city's cycling community. The event is open to all, and riding is at a slow and steady pace!

The event runs on the last Friday of every month.
http://www.criticalmass.org.au/melbourne/

5pm, Tuesday, 30th December

Victorian State Library

Cnr La Trobe and Swanston St

Melbourne

Over 230 people have been killed and more than 700 wounded (half of them critically) on Saturday, December 27 when Israeli launched a series of violent air strikes against the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli airstrikes, which saw 100 tonnes of bombs dropped across the region took place at 11.30 am (Palestinian time) just as thousands of Palestinian school children were breaking from school to go home, resulting in many of them being killed or seriously injured.

Journalists and human rights activists on the scene at Gaza Hospital are reporting gruesome scenes; shocked families pick through body parts to identify loved ones - amputated bodies are strewn throughout hallways because morgues in the city can no longer accommodate the dead.

The Israeli air strikes against Gaza's 1.5 million civilian population comes on top of the Israeli imposed siege designed to strangle the life of the Palestinians living there, by denying them adequate fuel, food, medical supplies and power.

The people of Gaza are standing steadfast in the face of these atrocities but we in the international community also need to raise our voices and be heard to demand an immediate end to Israel's massacre of hundreds of innocent people and for an end to the illegal siege and collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Join others around the world and raise your voices in opposition to Israel's war crimes and illegal collective punishment of the people of Gaza


Stop the Massacre!   End the Siege Now!

Please bring placards and banners

Organised by Justice for Palestine and Palestinian Community Association

For more information: 0439 454 375 or email.

Amy’s Ride 2009 Enjoy a great day on the Bellarine Peninsula – Sunday 4 January 2009 Now in its fourth year, come and enjoy a great day on the bike and show your support for the Amy Gillett Foundation.

There’s an Amy’s Ride to suit everyone! Choose from 120km, 65km or the new 22km road/trail ride. And kids can join the 'Go for your life' 1km kids loop – a closed circuit in the park. Get a team together and make it a fun day out.

Participate in the Amy’s Ride Fundraising Challenge and you could win a 16 day cycling tour of Vietnam, courtesy of The Adventure Travel Company. Everyone who raises $500 will also receive a free AGF cycling jersey.

Join thousands of riders, of all ages and abilities, in promoting messages of safe and responsible road use and shared respect, celebrate the life of Amy Gillett and raise funds for the Foundation. As you enjoy the scenic beauty of the Bellarine Peninsula, you will be riding alongside some of the world's best cyclists including Cadel Evans and Phil Anderson, plus all the stars of the 25th edition of the 2009 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic. Full details, registration and fundraising information online at www.amysride.com.

It’s not a race, it’s Amy’s Ride!
info@amygillett.org.au

Rally for  GAZA!

Rally Sunday  4 January 2009

2pm

State Library of Victoria

cnr Swanston St and La Trobe St, Melbourne

Over 385 people have been killed and more than 1700 wounded since Saturday 27 December, when Israel launched air strikes against the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip.

The air strikes come on top of the Israeli imposed blockade which has stopped adequate fuel, food, and medical supplies from reaching the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza.

Rally in solidarity with the people of Gaza, who are standing steadfast in the face of these atrocities.

Please bring placards and banners
For more information call 0439 454 375 or 0418 819 548

Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon and Victoria sts, Carlton

December 18th: Is there anything left wing about liberalism?
January 8th: Trotsky: Culture & Revolution (upstairs, Sabbatini's Restaurant, 160 Lygon St in Carlton)
January 15th: The Decline of US Power: The end of a unipolar world?
January 22nd: Educational Meeting: Why the working class is central in Marxist theory

Visit the Socialist Alternative website for more information.

3pm, Queensbury Hotel, Swanston Street Carlton

January 10:  Marxism Vs Anarchism

January 17: Divide and Rule: a history of empire in India and Pakistan

January 24: Educational: Why the working class is central to Marxist theory 

Visit the Socialist Alternative website for more information.