e-News bulletin 21 October 2016

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E-NEWS BULLETIN
 
Your weekly round up of alternative news you ought to know • 21 October 2016     
 
CONTENTS
SOUTH AFRICA:
1. Students in New York rise up in solidarity with #FeesMustFall
2. Winning the peace
3. African teachers triple efforts for quality education
4. Mbeki set up trough for JZ’s cronies to feed

INTERNATIONAL
MIDDLE EAST:
1. Israel and Facebook Team Up to Imprison Palestinian Children
2. Unpacking the Global Conflict in Syria – Whose Side Are We Really On?

USA:
1. “Do Not Resist”: The Police Militarization Documentary Everyone Should See

LABOUR
AFRICA:
South Africa:
1. Sibanye deal bad for jobs – NUM
2. “The mine has finished him and he can die anytime”

Botswana:
1. 6,000 jobs to go at state-owned mines in Botswana

INTERNATIONAL:
EGYPT: Protests erupt in Egyptian city of Port Said
NEW ZEALAND: Multi-trillion dollar deal raises concerns
PERU: More acts of retaliation against Prosegur workers in Peru
USA: I’ve Got Your Gig Economy Right Here
INTERNATIONAL: Landmark UN Report on Freedom of Assembly and Association

MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
1. Into the digital void?
2. Weapons of Math Destruction: Data scientist Cathy O’Neil on how unfair algorithms perpetuate inequality
3. Analyst: Ugly Year for Tech Layoffs, and It’s Going to Get Worse
SOUTH AFRICA: Students in New York rise up in solidarity with #FeesMustFall
 
“Students across various universities in New York, as well as workers in the city, are set to march to the South African consulate on Wednesday to hand over a letter to the South African ambassador. Already, organisers say, a decolonisation movement is beginning to take root in New York universities.” read more…http://mg
 
SOUTH AFRICA: Winning the Peace
 
“As the youth of our country, yours is a legitimate struggle for free education and your broader rights. I honour you for courageously placing on our agenda of the real issues we should be debating in our country. You feel that my generation has betrayed you, has let you down. And frankly on many fronts, and with benefit of a hindsight, I agree with you.” read more…http://mg
AFRICA: African teachers triple efforts for quality education
 
“Teachers from Kenya and Zambia are taking decisive steps to improve the quality of education in their schools through a project to help them assess and defend a better curriculum at primary and secondary level.” read more…https://www.ei
SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki set up trough for JZ’s cronies to feed
 
““State capture” is a euphemism to describe a situation in which the narratives, the direction and the value system of a society, including patterns of accumulation, are under the control of an elite group. A World Bank discussion document defines it as the “efforts of a small number of firms (or such groups as the military, ethnic groups and kleptocratic politicians) to shape the rules of the game to their advantage through illicit, non-transparent provision of private gains to public officials”. “ read more…http://mg
 
MIDDLE EAST: Israel and Facebook Team Up to Imprison Palestinian Children
 
“Israel has been interrogating and imprisoning dozens of Palestinian minors for months without any legal representation or a parent’s presence.

As Facebook gives the Israeli government more access to posts deemed as “incitement,” occupation forces have been raiding the homes of Palestinians children and detaining them for months over posts on the social media site, a report by the Defense for Children International-Palestine said Monday. “ read more…https://mem
 
MIDDLE EAST: Unpacking the Global Conflict in Syria – Whose Side Are We Really On?
 
“If you haven’t noticed, there’s a war going on in Syria which has killed almost half a million people since 2011 and has created the world’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. The war in Syria will be the most significant foreign policy challenge that the next US president will face, yet it has barely been discussed in the 2016 Presidential race outside of who to blame for creating ISIS.” read more…https://inf
 
USA: “Do Not Resist”: The Police Militarization Documentary Everyone Should See
“On a sunny afternoon last summer, Craig Atkinson, a New York City-based filmmaker, stood in a front yard in South Carolina surrounded by several heavily armed police officers.

The officers, members of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department tactical team, were descending on a modest one-story house looking for drugs and guns. The team smashed through the windows of the home with iron pikes, then stormed the front door with rifles raised.” read more…https://the
 
SOUTH AFRICA: Sibanye deal bad for jobs – NUM
 
“The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) rejected yesterday Sibanye Gold’s takeover of Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) Rustenburg operations, saying it would open the floodgates for job cuts.

The union’s anger comes after Sibanye announced that it would take over Amplats’ operations as of November 1, after the Department of Mineral Resources granted consent for the R4.5 billion deal, which was announced last year.”  read more…http://www.iol
 
SOUTH AFRICA: “The mine has finished him and he can die anytime”
 
“Over years, the gold mining industry in South Africa has benefitted from the sweat and blood of rural communities in the Eastern Cape. Hundreds of thousands of gold miners have contracted silicosis underground because the mining houses chose to prioritise profit over people and failed to take simple measures to protect miners from the silica dust that scars lung tissue and gradually reduces their ability to work until they are sent home to die a slow and painful death from silicosis.”  read more…http://www.gro
 
AFRICA: 6,000 jobs to go at state-owned mines in Botswana
 
“More than six thousand mine workers in Botswana will lose their jobs on 31st October following the move to put state-owned mining company BCL Limited into voluntary liquidation, according to reports.” read more…http://www.ind
EGYPT: Protests erupt in Egyptian city of Port Said
 
“Large numbers of people took to the streets of Egypt on Tuesday evening to protest against the rising cost of housing in the country.

The demonstrations took place in the north-eastern city of Port Said, with reports that thousands of people took part.

The rising cost of housing prices was the main issue driving the demonstration, with protestors reportedly chanting “house us or kill us”.” read more…http://www.mid
NEW ZEALAND: Multi-trillion dollar trade deal raises concerns
“The Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) aims to liberalise service sector trade between 23 countries, including New Zealand, the United States and European Union.

While the fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is dominating the headlines, TISA negotiations have continued largely unnoticed and negotiators are aiming to conclude the deal by the end of the year.” read more…http://www.rad
 
PERU: More Acts of Retaliation Against Prosegur Workers in Peru
 
“In Peru last month, Juan Aucca, a union member in Trujillo, a vocal opponent of Prosegur´s acts of favoritism, nepotism, intimidation and discrimination against union members, was physically assaulted. This followed a series of harassing events at work and at home.  At work, anti-union locker room propaganda was placed on the company informational board and Juan was subjected to verbal attacks.  At home, someone came pounding on the door, shouting threats, causing Juan, his wife and children to be fearful for their safety.  The assault took place while Juan was riding his motorcycle.  He was in a wreck but, fortunately, he was not hurt. This is not the first time a union activist has been attacked under similar circumstances:  Luis Cardenas, president of the union, was attacked outside his home following similar anti-union harassment.” read more…http://www.uni
USA: I’ve Got Your Gig Economy Right Here
 
“A study by Intuit predicted that by 2020, 40% of American workers would be independent contractors. Curiously, but maybe not so surprising considering the closeness of recent presidential polls, a recent study by Pew Research found that almost 90% of us don’t even know what a “gig economy,” which refers to such a phenomenon, is. Here is a good-enough definition: “A gig economy is an environment in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.” ” read more…http://mas
 
INTERNATIONAL: Landmark UN Report on Freedom of Assembly and Association
 
“The ITUC has welcomed the publication of a major new UN report on the right to freedom of assembly and association, and called on governments to act on its findings. The report, by UN Special Rapporteur and distinguished Kenyan lawyer Maina Kiai, is to be presented to the UN General Assembly in New York on 20 October.” read more…http://www.ituc
BRITAIN: Into the digital void?
 
“Technical advances in new information and communication technologies (ICT) have led to debates on the left about the impact of digitalisation on the world of work. Alongside digitalisation and advances in interactive web-based communication, we have also witnessed new advances in robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI) and self-tracking technology such as Fitbit or smartphone apps.” read more…http://isj
USA: Weapons of Math Destruction: Data scientist Cathy O’Neil on how unfair algorithms perpetuate inequality
 
“Mathematical models—algorithms—increasingly fuel the decisions and judgments that affect our lives: whether or not we get approved for a home loan, how our job performance is evaluated, where we go to school, and how our communities are policed. We like to think that math is neutral and these models unbiased—certainly fairer than humans, with their opinions and prejudices.” read more…https://www.for
 
USA: Analyst: Ugly Year for Tech Layoffs, and It’s Going to Get Worse
 
“Early this year, analyst Trip Chowdhry from Global Equities Research predicted that the tech world was going to see big layoffs in 2016—some 330,000 in all at major tech companies. At the time, these numbers seemed way over the top. Then IBM started slashing jobs in March—and continued to wield the ax over and over as the year progressed. Yahoo began layoffs of some 15 percent of its employees in February. Intel announced in April that it would lay off 12,000 this year.” read more…http://spe