“A man labours in hell.” So opens an article on the work of artist Darren Almond (Guardian Weekly, 25 January), referring to his video about workers who extract sulphur from the Kawah Ijen volcano in eastern Java. Imagine the scene. We are standing on the inner slope of the volcano’s crater. Below lies a...
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Asia
A man labours in hell.
Letter from Pakistan
A socialist from Pakistan writes: I am writing to inform you that the Swat district where I live and work has seen a wave of terror and militancy over the last few weeks. The militants claiming to be the local Taliban have captured major towns in the scenic Swat valley and hoisted their flags...
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Burma and “democracy”
Burma (or Myanmar as the present rulers want it to be called) is, and has been since 1962, a military dictatorship, one which even has had the cheek to claim to be socialist. Now, once again, sections of the population are demonstrating for there to be more elbow room for people to organise politically...
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One-party rule in Japan at an end?
The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, lost the majority it had held in the upper house (along with its coalition partner the New Komei Party), so that now it is controlled by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Many within the LDP have called for Abe to resign, which is...
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Meat the Press
It’s a familiar sight on the TV news in Japan. Four somber looking men are seated at a flimsy foldout table in the front of a non-descript conference room bathed in fluorescent light. The culprits—for these men look guilty of something—issue a statement and answer questions. And at some point they all stand up....
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Chinese Capitalism exploits Africa
Channel 4′s Unreported World draws our attention to the inroads that Chinese capitalism is making throughout Africa . China’s economic boom is resulting in the biggest scramble for Africa since the end of European colonialism. Trade between Beijing and Africa has more than quadrupled since 2000 and hundreds of new companies, many of...
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Terrorism: A Means to a Dead End
Terrorism is now associated with Islamic extremists, but in the early 1970s there were terrorist groups on the “far-left.” This article looks at the half-baked “socialist” notions from the New Left that these terrorists took and then burned to a crisp. Far-left terrorist groups, such as the Weathermen in the United States and the...
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Japan’s New Prime Minister
Japan has a new Prime Minister who seems eager to foster nationalism. We look at his policies for furthering the interests of the Japanese capitalism. Koizumi’s five and a half year reign as Prime Minister came to a voluntary end in September. He tossed the keys to the official residence to his protege Shinzo...
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New Prime Minister for Japan: Business as Usual
Japan has a new Prime Minister who seems eager to foster nationalism. We look at his policies for furthering the interests of the Japanese capitalism. Koizumi’s five and a half year reign as Prime Minister came to a voluntary end in September. He tossed the keys to the official residence to his protege Shinzo...
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Japan: A Woman for Emperor?
Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi is an unlikely advocate of women’s rights. But earlier this year the well-coiffed leader was keen to promote gender equality. Not for all women, mind you, or even a few, but rather a four-year-old girl known as Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko. He supported an effort to revise the Imperial...
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