SP Newsletter No.197
Johan Rivas, a Venezuelan trade unionist and socialist will speak at a special public meeting in Melbourne on January 23. The details are: 7pm Wednesday January 23 in Meeting Room 1 @ the Victorian Trades Hall. Trades Hall is located on the corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets in Carlton South.

Who carries the responsibility for the catastrophe in the Middle East? In this book, the journalist Robert Fisk attempts to account for what has taken place in the region over the last 30 years.
Reviewed by Per-Ake Westerlund, CWI

2008 has started in a thick cloud of bourgeois pessimism. There are few parallels in the last 30 years. The global financial crisis deepens visibly by the day, knocking hundreds of billions of dollars from the stock markets. Each day brings more disturbing news from the US economy.

At least 600 people, perhaps as many as 1,000, have been killed in political violence in Kenya following the result of a rigged presidential election on 27 December 2007.
By Dave Carr, Socialist Party

Leader of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), Joe de Bruyn, has come out saying he will oppose the Rudd government’s plan to scrap the restrictions preventing Australian aid money being used to fund abortion services overseas.
By SP reporters Melbourne

Many Australians will not know of George Monbiot. He is one of the best left wing journalists writing in the British media today and he was briefly a member of Respect.
By Stephen Jolly, Socialist Party Melbourne

The Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) announced yesterday that it had temporarily suspended its tour of Australia after Harbhajan Singh was banned for three matches for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds.
By Anthony Main, Socialist Party Melbourne

Follow the link below to read a 5 part Marxist education pack. The pack includes the topics: Marxist philosophy, Marxist economics, the state, the Marxist view of history and the role of a revolutionary party. This is a fantastic starter pack for new members or for people wanting to know more about the ideas of [...]

The new year 2008 began in Sri Lanka with atrocity after atrocity. First on New Year’s Day itself, came the killing of opposition parliamentarian, Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, and one of his bodyguards in the capital, Colombo. At least 12 civilians were injured in the attack.
By Comrade Senan, Socialist Party

The Pakistan People’s Party central executive committee and federal council meeting in the house of deceased leader Benazir Bhutto in Sindh province on 30 December brought no surprises for all those who know something about the PPP and Pakistani politics. Benazir Bhutto’s 19 year-old son, Bilawal Bhutto, was made the chairman of the party and [...]