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News Report Issue
39
Index
1. Thought for the day - Neil
2. Opinion: The truth about crime - USA
- Colin
3. Opinion: Zimbabwe is going backwards - Antonia
4. Opinion: Spew Corner - Antonia
5. Opinion: The Gunnedah Protest Rally - Antonia
6. Opinion: The Trepca Mines - Antonia
7. Opinion: US Arrogance - Antonia
7. Life Sciences: Pre-schoolers & Psychotropics -
Forwarded by Veronica
8. Feedback: Mumpower - Tony
9. Feedback: A Further thought on Digital TV - Peter D.
10. Feedback: DOCS - Peter C.
11. Feedback: Grim Jim Reaper cuts through our Community -
John
12. Meetings: - Inverell Forum
13. Feedback Contacts:
14. Editorial Policy:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thought for the day:
"Capitalism
operates, almost by definition, on the basis of what is
expedient. So everything in economics is wide open to
question on ethical grounds. Like natural selection, it is self
seeking an so obsessed with selective advantage and
the profit motive that it cannot be trusted to provide moral
guidance. Socialism, on the other hand, wears
a kinder face, but is so out of touch with basic biology that
it doesn't work at all.
The law seems to have scruples and pays lip
service to justice, but operates so often in lock step with the
prevailing social climate and at the behest of politics that its
motives too are necessarily suspect. It is particularly weak
in its approach to strong evil, preferring, it seems, to play to the
genetic gallery by prosecuting and punishing petty crime.
Science is now so morally unconstrained
that it tends to devise and to employ new techniques just because it
can, without considering the consequences or asking
whether it should. And it has become, in all too many areas, a slave to
industry, far too often providing 'experts, willing to
testify to whatever truths vested interests want to hear. It
seems, in this respect, to have fallen into the same trap as organised religion,
becoming an establishment intent more on protecting its own
interests than in looking at the world with curiosity and
honesty.
All we have left, it appear, is
ourselves...... The choice is ours. It is
the capacity to choose that makes us special.... instead of submitting
to the course of natural selection. " (Dark Natures by Lyall Watson pp
264-265, Sceptre Books)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The truth about crime in the US -
Col Easton
On ABC radio 702 (22/2/00), there was an interview with a person who had been observing a conference in Chicago on crime reduction. Violent crime in USA has been decreasing for about 10 years, and they want to know why, and of course, Australia is interested. The conclusion was the high rate of incarceration (approx. 1.6 m people in jail) was significant. What they didn't refer to was a work by Prof. John Lott, also from Chicago University, titled 'More Guns, Less Crime'. The work exhaustively studied the statistics of all 3024 counties in the USA over an 18 year period, and is only 2 years old. The statistics showed that the two most effective and significant ways to reduce crime, and violent crime in particular, was to lock offenders up, AND to allow the passage of 'shall issue' concealed carry laws. That means, if a person applies for a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and there is no obvious reason why the permit shouldn't be issued, then it is issued. Thirty one states now have this law, which started in Florida in 1988. Whether this is good in the Australian situation is a moot point, but there is no doubt that it works in America. Other significant results from Lott's study were that in multiple mass public shootings, the number of fatalities were down by 69%, and after 4 years they were extremely unlikely to occur. Further, there was no increase in the use of firearms in road rage incidents, nor were firearm accidents increased. It also pointed to surveys which showed that defensive use of firearms, where the person believed it saved them from harm, occurred between 750,000 and 3.6 million times a year. Of course, that may mean only producing the firearm, not actually firing it. Gun buy backs had no effect on crime or safety, in fact quite the reverse, as it reduced the risks associated with the crime by reducing the possibility of the victim being able to defend themselves decisively. Further, it was only the law abiding who complied. One can understand why the ABC wouldn't want that let out of the bag. Incidentally, in every area of crime except murder and rape, it is safer to be in America than in UK now. And within 2 years, the UK will catch up if present trends continue. This was according to a Sunday Times article last year. Antonia +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Zimbabwe is going out backwards
Why did voters in Zimbabwe say "No" to Mugabe after 20 years of misrule? Looks like they just got fed up. Inflation is running at 55%. There are shortages of all kinds. Exports are down 70%. Phones don't work. Zimbabwe is the same country that grew at 5% a year from '65 to '79 when Ian Smith was running the place. In the politics of racism and anti-imperialism that dominated the period, Smith's white-led Rhodesia was a leper nation, isolated from the rest of the world. Then Mugabe took over with the world's blessing and billions of dollars from the international community. Since then the standard of living has declined by 80%. And politicians who posed a threat to Mugabe had a
curious tendency to die in auto collisions -- usually with Army
trucks.
Source: The Daily Reckoning - http://www.dailyreckoning.com Antonia +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spew corner.
Guess who said this? (Hint: he's little in every sense of the word, wears specs, and has a boring voice) "We talk a lot now quite properly about some of the challenges facing people in remote rural communities - the bush as we lovingly call it. And the bush properly so called I suppose does encapsulate our idea of people who live in small communities, many of whom are suffering the ravages of low commodity prices, and drought and all the difficulty that afflicts those communities." "Lovingly?" As if! I bet John Howard and his ministers daily curse the bush because it's refusing to go quietly into the night. It squawks. It complains. Loudly and rightly. It won't agree to the sale of Telstra. And it's got all those marginal seats that the Coalition can't afford to lose - though they will. Note Howard made no mention of the withdrawal of government services. No, the gutting of the bush is all due to low commodity prices and drought. As if. Antonia
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Gunnedah protest rally
I was one of over two thousand people who went to Gunnedah last Wednesday to bodily show support for the Namoi River irrigators facing cuts of up to eighty per cent of their water entitlements. The town's shopkeepers closed between 10.30 and 11.30 to give everybody the opportunity to attend. Deputy PM John Anderson was there, along with the NSW Minister for Agriculture Richard Amery, federal Agricultural Minister Warren Truss, shadow state Minister for Agriculture Ian Slack-Smith, and local state Independent MP Tony Windsor. The politicians didn't really say much. Anderson said he didn't want to play politics, and then proceeded to use the microphone to sling off at NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr. Typical. Amery was absolutely hopeless and received the only, but very loud derisory booing of the rally. Truss declined to speak at all, much to people's quiet disgust. Slack-Smith spoke well being an irrigation farmer himself, but then talk's cheap when you're in Opposition. I reckon all the major party hacks probably experienced a frisson of fear when they saw the warmth of the reception given to Independent state MP, Tony Windsor. He was cheered and whistled and clapped with lots of calls of "good on ya, Tony". Why? He actually listens to people, and he's not blinded by free trade ideology like the other fools. The best speaker was a local man who said the water reforms were supposed to take into account the environment, the economy, and the social impact. He pointed out that up to now, only the environment was being considered, and that the other two factors were being ignored. He said farmers were more than happy to go with the reforms, but they didn't see why they alone had to bear the costs, and that in fact it would be impossible for them to do so. It's true. Poor Gunnedah has been through the mill. In recent years it has lost its abattoir, two coal mines have closed, and businesses are going broke through the resultant imploding chain reaction. Making the district's farmers unviable would be the last straw for the town and an act of utter cruelty. City people are calling for sustainable agriculture. Well the farmers are doing their very best, actually. Isn't it time city people started calling for sustainable communities? The most impressive thing about the rally was the people. They've been kicked in the guts again and again and again, but they - though justifiably angry - could still laugh. They yelled good-humoured and funny insults to the pollies which made them, as well as the crowd, laugh. There wasn't any hint of violence in this large gathering of people who are facing financial ruin. After Gunnedah, I fully understand the bush's absolute contempt for flak-jack little Johnny Howard. He is truly little. In wearing a bullet-proof vest at a gathering of understandably pissed-off, gun-owning Australians, he showed just how out-of-touch the Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne axis is with the rest of Australia. Though his minders thought he was in danger, it was never true and he'll never live it down. By agreeing to wear a bullet-proof vest, John Howard demonstrated his distrust of his fellow Australians who are in fact the most decent, tolerant and generous-hearted people in the world. It was a violation of trust that can never be mended. Good one, "honest" little Johnny Howard. Antonia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Trepca mines NATO started bombing Kosovo for 'humanitarian' purposes in March 1999. The year before, the New York Times ran a story on the Trebca mines in Kosovo (8/7/98) . Fighting between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Serbian soldiers and police was continuing at the time. The article quoted Novak Bjelic, the mine manager, as saying, "There is over 30 per cent lead and zinc in the ore. The war in Kosovo is about the mines, nothing else. This is Serbia's Kuwait - the heart of Kosovo.... in addition to this Kosovo has 17 billion tons of coal reserves. Naturally the Albanians want all of this for themselves.." Food for thought, n'est-ce pas? Antonia ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ US arrogance In 1981 the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) was founded to monitor abuses against the press, and to promote press freedom around the world. It recently released its annual total of journalists killed last year - 33. A senior editor of The Times of India noticed that the names of the 16 journalists and staff killed in the NATO attack on the Radio Television Studios in Belgrade were not on the list. He asked why. The communications director of the CPJ replied it was because they did not qualify as journalists because their were producing propaganda. And CNN wasn't? Antonia +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Life Sciences:
This is truly shocking. The nutritional and
biochemical approach is not even mentioned to parents unless they care enough
for their kids and investigate the natural medicine options they have.
We have treated ADD and ADHD kids and adults,
also on our Distance Diagnostics Program, very successfully. Ritalin is
a known precursor to cocaine! Druggies, here we come!
Wow, this is such good business! Want to be a child psycho - oops psychiatrist in your next life. Have a nice day inspite of all this Veronica Subject: Pre-schoolers and psychotropics
More Pre-schoolers Being Prescribed
Psychotropics
WESTPORT, Feb 23 (Reuters Health) - Prescriptions for psychotropic medications for pre-schoolers rose substantially during the first half of the 1990s, according to study findings published in the February 23rd issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. http://ipn.intelihealth.com/ipn/ihtIPN?st=7189&c=270005 Articles Forwarded by
Veronica Griffin Ph.D..
Kerawa Qld.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Feedback:
Mumpower 11, circa
1990
Many people are captivated by the idea of an Abraham Lincoln type of government in which that vague concept "the people" rule. Government of the people, by the people, for the people, is a charming philosophy until one pins it down to who the "people" are. Historically, no matter what the system, the "people" never lead. Instead, they are led by the nose, and most of the time don't even realise it. Thanks to the closing of the mind by corrupt education systems the "people" aren't original or masterful or logical or possessed of any deep perception. Rather, taking them by and large, one can only feel sympathy for the average man and woman who are filled with stupidity and senseless greed and carking envy and unreasoning emotions and prejudices that one must presume our educators have created them in such vast numbers because they despise humanity. They, the "people", are manufactured obviously, merely to be deceived and manipulated by the vested interests who have the necessary force or vaulting ambition or the cunning ability to see into the paucity of the intelligence of the "people". And all ideological political systems rely on the fact that citizens with a low standard of political education and few intellectual skills are easier to govern. For the people (like Anita Cobby, Janine Balding, etc,) who only ask from life a certain measure of "freedom" and a modicum of peace, the prospect in modern Australia is bleak. "Freedom" is another of those vague concepts. In any case and in any age people have as much "freedom" as they deserve, and will fight for, and no more. The over-riding problem for ordinary Australians is they are being denied the wherewithal to analyse society, and have their say, in any meaningful manner. Pornography, drug abuse, poverty, street kids, prostitution and corruption are no longer seriously considered as causes worth fighting against. For many these have become our "freedoms". And it is woe betide to any ordinary citizen who speaks out against the intransigence of politicians in dealing with those matters - as witness Archbishop Hollingworth's ill-treatment at the hands of Bob Hawke. Politicians feel good and safe because they are protected by the systems they create. Their pompous shallow phrases, the methods they have perfected to justify their existence - belittle any opposition that happens along in order to maintain traditional oppression at all costs. One only has to watch them on TV to see our politicians have grown fat and careless. THEY have ravished the provincial towns and cities. THEY have made Australia a society of beggars and millionaires. Graft and corruption; the Legislative Assembly and the Senate futile; full of the best "people" not intelligent enough even to be efficient in governing. The ordinary institutions are filled with Shylocks who refuse to infuse those institutions with a spirit beyond that of their own selfish interests - and with dastards who live only for money, and all politics for them weighed one set of scales - out of which policy can THEY make the most. Bob Hawke has made his promise to bring Australia to its knees good. Our Australian way of life has been taken into a swamp and is stuck there. As I have shown in previous essays, the "freedom" of speech which we value so highly also entails the "freedom" to tell lies. Politicians who tell us the economy is to blame for the lack of housing are plain out and out liars - which means that every party politician in Australia is either a liar or just plain stupid! Party politicians are also liars when they say their party represents the interests of ordinary people. The truth is that all party politicians are closet capitalists - hell bent on maintaining the status quo of inequality that has forever existed. In far too many cases the freedom of speech entitles our skilled professional liars - politicians, ecclesiastics and social controllers - to propagate traditional lies and conceal the truth. When a mother wants to know why she cannot have her own home she is fended off with the standard reply - "Where is the money to come from?". Since the mother has no information concerning the allocation of Budget money she meekly accepts this question-answer. But if the mother knew that out of an annual welfare budget of $65 billion (1990) only $1 billion was spent on Housing, she might ask further questions. And if she knew that only a further $22 billion was being spent on pensions, etc, while some $42 billion went to Social and Welfare groups, she might actually register her protest in the only but adequate way she can - by voting against the sitting member AT ALL TIMES! As we can plainly see, mothers must become aware of the actions of political parties, religious organisations and especially the bureaucrats - these are the people with the real power - THEY sit behind desks in multi-storied, air-conditioned offices thinking up ways to strip the people of their wealth. (While young mothers and their children live in old car bodies, etc.) Politicians take all their advice from these unelected and unopposed faceless men whose merciless and greedy attitude harm mothers and children. However, it should be noted that when a study put out by the university shows that mothers in the home are entitled to some $34,000 per year, politicians conveniently (for themselves) ignore this advice. Another "freedom" is that of religion. It might be better for us all if we had freedom FROM religion instead. All religions propagate the lie of "eternal life", conveniently overlooking the answer Jesus gave to the people who asked him - "When will the Kingdom of God come?" His answer was - "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say - "Look here it is!" or - "There it is!"; because the Kingdom of God is within you." - (Luke, 17.20). So heaven is a state of mind, not pie in the sky. An individual's peace of mind is tied up in her/his code of ethics. If "god" is love and we profess to love "god" then we cannot go on turning a blind eye to injustice; we cannot go on shrugging our shoulders and saying "O.K. you win - its your world". We have to nail our professional liars down. THEY must not be allowed to continue breeding a culture of violence with their traditional lies. Actually, if "god" is anything, I would say it is "compassion". I might also add that anyone seeking justice for children has "god" within them. A few words on justice. The great voice of Australian justice does not come from the universities that produce the people who fill positions of power in our Parliament, our Judiciary, our Press and our schools. The great voice of Australian justice comes from ordinary Australians who, when they hear of adversity, stand up and say - "Fair go". The myth that people in power like to perpetuate - that ordinary Australians are apathetic - that they don't care what goes on in the community - and that they adopt the attitude that any effort they might make on behalf of better government will be ineffective - is quite untrue. As one former premier of Queensland once said, "What has the man in the street got to do with anything? I'm running things here". So it is not the Australian people who are apathetic but the people who are supposed to be looking after our interests. Ordinary people are not apathetic, only divided. The job of the Mumpower Essays is to bring mothers together in one common purpose - to ask for a fair go. Let me just finish this essay by saying, anyone able to convince me that keeping 90% of Australian Families from owning a home of their own, serves a useful purpose, has my undivided attention. Tony Lee +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Feedback:
A Further Thought on Digital
TV
It is worth considering - in the light of Michael Pointer's
letter: ' Digital Television Rip-off' - "News Report Issue 37
Friday February 25 2000" - that AUSTAR and FOXTEL, GALAXY et al, are currently
broadcasting digitally produced pictures on their PAY-TV channels, with no
inconvenience to their many customers.
The reason that television is 'going digital' is because
Commercial TV Channels wish to compete with the PAY TV
broadcasters, but either cannot or will not use the technology open to
PAY TV operators. Some say they also want government to
fight the battle for them. That is unkind and not proven fact.
This is how it works:
The PAY TV providers pay for a satellite to broadcast digital
TV to Australia.
The PAY TV providers offer many individually-selectable
channels on the one broadcast band - the one signal received by the user.
Currently AUSTAR offers thirty-two selectable channels. I imagine GALAXY would
do the same.
The Commercial TV has a likewise bandwidth - but because of
its use of original technology it can only broadcast one signal on its FM-UHF
Channel and cannot subdivide that signal.
With the advent of Commercial digital pictures being
broadcast through the same FM-UHF bandwidth, each station has a potential to
broadcast up to two-hundred separate channels of TV.
Example:
Channel Seven / Nine / Ten / ABC / SBS could have a subset of
selectable channels being simultaneously broadcast within its designated
bandwidth.
A problem occurs for the end-user - you - when one considers
that AUSTAR - PAY TV currently offers up to thirty-two different and selectable
channels of TV broadcast via a selected main channel. One does not change one's
TV to receive these channels. The problem becomes one of: "Why do I have to buy
a new TV to watch digitally broadcast TV?"
Example:
Tune the TV receiver to an unused Channel - say channel
3
Tune the PAY TV Decoder (rented) to decode to channel 3 on
your TV receiver via a simple co-axial cable - just like the cable on a
VCR.
Sit back and select between thirty-two channels of digitally
broadcast TV
Do Not change your TV set!
Question:
Why then does one have to buy a new TV, at an outrageously
exorbitant cost, to receive the proposed digitally broadcast Commercial
TV??
Tactic:
Pocket the money for a new TV! Stuff the Commercial TV - I
shall watch the normal PAY TV, with its selectable thirty-two channels which
includes: two channels of sport (mostly live and commercial advertising free),
three channels of movies (commercial advertising free), something for Mum and
the children (loud & 24 hour-long video/music rock 'n roll - I watch it, it
is cool man!), and Stuff Senator Alston who obviously is not seeking input from
anyone other than those who will profit most.
By the way, This is the same Senator Alston who inherited from
the former federal Labor government a change to the mobile-phone relay
system. Instead of canning the new system he meekly
went along with it.
Prime Minister Keating wanted - for reasons best left unsaid -
(at that time the least qualified and the least electronically-literate
decision-maker we had) to change from the more-than-adequate-best-method,
of analogue relay to the inflexible, prohibitive and short-range, digital relay
system. Ahem ... this caused a change of mobile phones -
more money wasted by the end-user and more money made by the provider of mobile
phones!
Now we have rumblings of the all-dancing, all-singing,
digital TV broadcast system followed hotly by the all-new, all-singing,
all-dancing $6,000 TV receiver!!
Wake Up Australia!
Keep your powder dry
......
Regards,
Peter H
Davies +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Feedback:
Department of Community Services
ANTONIA – “The Department's policy is to place their
abused children with relatives.” – Seems ‘their’ society is more advanced
than ‘ours’, for that is the logical action – it reinforces the family, and as
you and other writers highlight – a sound family with honourable values – much
as preached by established religions – is the datum for sound minds and a stable
society.
It is this which social experimentation (as you relate re DOCS) has been and is under threat, and a root cause of ‘our’ problems. Their experiments continue, until the results are blatantly obvious – then they might change. The result is hurt and damage, for which nobody is responsible, nor apologises – Such would admit liability, and we cannot have that can we? Govt and business priorities however are solely related to the almighty $$$, for all is measured against same, and suffers endless series of $ motivated rationalisations until the ‘service’ becomes un-viable. For just one example, look at health and the deliberate complexities introduced, which seem to justify only the $ monitoring processes. What people must realise is that THE PROCESS is what must survive – the intent of the process is unimportant - The Process is self serving, self healing and non destructive. This IS how the bureaucratic mind works. AUSAID for example – utterly process minded – akin to a fibre optic cable – everybody has their own polarised fibre to follow. Related issues are not considered and regardless if money is being wasted – it MUST be spent where and how allocated. It is unimportant the overall effectiveness or efficiency is unimportant, despite the mouthings to the contrary. You ask: Is there a slippery slope element to this in that it sets a precedent for further government intervention? My opinion – YES, already they have sought to intervene and divide ‘white’ from ‘black’, but somewhere, an independent manager is needed to apply what is effectively a band-aid to the symptom. Difficulty is – any ‘response’ will deal with symptoms, not the causes, which again are $$$ and system related. Can there be clear guidelines drawn to prevent any such development? My opinion – NO. The system is reactionary – It REQUIRES a problem to which $ and resources can be thrown, then of course be subject to ‘rationalisation’ until it eventually fails. Such outlook appears negative, but it is no use being optimistic knowing the future -- the precedent being well established in govt processes and priorities – all of which have been identified often by contributors on this forum. Peter Cunningham
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Issues:
GRIM JIM REAPER CUTS THROUGH OUR
COMMUNITIES
Residents of St Lucia have rallied today, seeking the closure of Dell Road from Carmody Road, St Lucia, where the U/Q and the CSIRO are proceeding with the construction of the massive IMB laboratory complex, the first of the gene tech factories planned by the Beattie Government, slap bang in the inner western suburbs of Brisbane. The Brisbane City Council has now given its stamp of approval for the controversial project, which is reputed to be the largest building project in Queensland ($110 million & 36,000 m2). For solidarity's sake, we support the Herston-Kelvin Grove Residents Action Group below in reminding the Brisbane City Council, and Premier Beattie, that their gloss is destroying our communities. See also http://www.newaustraliatimes.com.au/rally.htm John Massey St Lucia Residents' Association E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Meeting: The Inverell Forum. Now in its 12th
Year.
WHEN: 11 / 12 March 2000 WHERE: Inverell - 8 hrs drive north of Sydney CONTACT: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ph 02 67232351 AN EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED!! Please Note: Antonia Feitz is a guest speaker at the
Forum. Neil is also planning to attend. So if you want to catch up with the two
of us who are putting out the News Report, you can do so
there.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Let us know what you think. Feedback is
important. Comments on articles read would be of value. Do you agree / disagree?
Can you add more or a different perspective. Your contributions are greatly
appreciated.
Send this email on to as many as you
can. The more that read it the merrier. In time email communication
will make government censorship impractical and the newspapers will have to
start reporting it as it really is, rather than the smoke and mirrors tricks
they currently indulge in, or loose readership, and therefore advertising
monies. While we have a long way to go before that happens, each epic
journey must start with a single step.
Antonia Feitz [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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