The Stringer weekly newsletter - March 30

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Sat, 30/03/2013 - 7:37pm

Welcome to The Stringer’s weekly newsletter

The Stringer went live February 20 - http://thestringer.com.au/
Some of our stories from the last week include:

Australia’s pathway to poverty – bridging visas

March 30, 2013
The Australian Government’s hard on refugees policy is creating an underclass of people – many condemned to an itinerant lifestyle and many condemned to living on the streets.

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship since November 25, 2011, 12,765 people have been released from the detention centres and into community on bridging visas.

Awa tribe’s desperate call to evict loggers

March 30, 2013
Earth’s most threatened tribe has sent an urgent appeal to Brazil’s government to evict invaders from their forest, as Brazil soccer fans lend their support for the tribe.

Despite a federal judge’s ruling ordering Brazil’s authorities to remove all invaders on Awá land by the end of March, not a single person has yet been evicted. The Awá are becoming increasingly desperate as illegal loggers close in on them and settlers encroach on their land.

Tanzania: Land grab could spell the end of the Maasai and the Serengeti

March 30, 2013
The Tanzanian government this week announced a new ‘conservation’ area on Maasai lands, which community leader Samwel Nangiria says will spell ‘the end of the Maasai and the Serengeti ecosystem’.

The War on Iraq – 10 years on

March 28, 2013
Interviews with Iraqi Doctors and Academics collected by David Bradbury and Donna Mulhearn. We focus on the horrifying effects of depleted uranium and other weapons, and life on the ground in Iraq, 10 years on.

Former Inspector of Custodial Services slams jail rates

March 28, 2013
This week the Western Australian prison population reached 5,000. This is a 27 per cent increase in four years.

National Convergence to Yongah Hill Detention Centre

March 27, 2013
If we take just Iraq – the Iraq Body Count and Iraqi War Logs have counted hundreds of thousands of deaths since the invasion of Iraq. The Medical Journal Lancet has counted nearly 700,000 violent deaths. On average more than 100 civilians die each month from the civil strife and bombings.

Five arrests at Sydney University protest

March 27, 2013
Five people were arrested yesterday during a protest at the University of Sydney during a 48 hour strike by staff over wages and conditions.

Tension builds as Gas hub decision nears

March 26, 2013
Nearby the intended site is Walmadan Tent Embassy where Goolarabooloo Senior Law Boss Phillip Roe has said he will die before surrendering Country.

Judge slams practice of imprisoning children in adult prisons

March 25, 2013
WA has the nation’s highest median income – per capita it is the richest State in the Commonwealth of Australia yet it has the highest homelessness rate in the nation. Its poorest people – most of them Aboriginal – have not benefited from the mining boom.

Mary Graham calls for Sovereignty national discussion

March 25, 2013
Kombumerri and Waka-Waka Elder Mary Graham slammed the Commonwealth Government for not taking time out from pushing for the nominal inclusion of Aboriginal people in the Constitution to open up a national discussion on Sovereignty.

Some of The Stringer’s most widely read stories include:

Quality of life for Australians 2nd only to Norway but for Aboriginal peoples 122nd

March 16, 2013
Once again the United Nations has ranked Australia second behind Norway in its annual Human Development Index – for public health, social wealth, education, even happiness. But if Aboriginal peoples go stand-alone they would not be part of that 2nd rating – they would be 122nd.

Australia’s Aboriginal children – The world’s highest suicide rate

February 27, 2013
2012’s total spend on Aboriginal communities reached $25 billion yet Australia’s Aboriginal youth suicide rates remain high – cruelly disproportionate to the rest of the Australian population.

This horror is played out the world over for Indigenous peoples but Australia’s Aboriginal peoples are at the top of this tragic list.

Stay tuned to The Stringer in the coming weeks as various multimedia news formats will be added.

There are scores more stories, localised, national and international, you can choose from to read – and share with others - http://thestringer.com.au/

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