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News Report Issue
75
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes
a
revolutionary act." George Orwell Index
1. Thought for the day - Neil
Baird
2. Request:
3. Opinion: A Johnno in the making -
Antonia Feitz
4. Opinion: Environmental madness -
Antonia Feitz
5. Opinion: Booming economy: income gaps
and soaring profits - Antonia Feitz
6. Opinion: Art!! - Antonia
Feitz
7. Opinion: Dairy Suicides - Antonia
Feitz
8. Opportunity: Helping ourselves - Ray
McLaren
9. Article: Gun Runner (Part 3) - Terry
Shulze
10. Life Sciences: Various articles,
Forwarded by Veronica Griffin
11. Feedback: Labour restrictions gone crazy -
Martin Essenberg
12. Feedback: Labor's communication policy -
Richard Woods
13. Feedback: Meet the press with Paul Keating
- Shondra Briton
14. Feedback: Governments National Indigenous
English.... - Onyx
15. Feedback Contacts:
16. Editorial Policy:
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1. Thought for the
day:
"To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the
malady of the ignorant" ( AB Alcott, Table talk)
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2. Request:
For this online news report to be ultimately
effective it must grow to such a size that it and the ideas it espouses can't be
ignored. So do your bit and help circulate it far and wide. If we are to
challenge the elites (the Packers and the Murdochs) view of history, politics,
economics, the environment, the structure of society etc., then we are going to
have to do more than wait. We are going to have to be very active and vigilant.
We have given you one of the tools (information & a medium for comment) you
will need. Help us to help you. Lets fan the flames of knowledge. Spread the
word. Editor.
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3.
Opinion: A Johnno in the
making
On the 4th of February this year in Armidale NSW, a 9 year old boy smashed a stolen car into a late model Falcon XR6 (Armidale Independent, 10/2/00). He was believed to be the accomplice of a 12 year old arrested and charged with having goods believed to have been stolen from a number of cars in the CBD. Another 12 cars were vandalised during their spree. Both boys are well known to police. Other members of the family have been admitted to hospital for inhaling paint and petrol fumes. Under NSW law, because the boy is under 10, the police can do nothing. At this news, the owner of the Ford was incredulous saying, "If this kid is known and he keeps getting into trouble, why can't they put him away somewhere in some sort of controlled environment? The police's hands are tied, but something's got to be done about it or he'll just go on doing it". That's plain commonsense. If the boy is uncontrollable and becoming a criminal, he should be taken away from his family and properly socialised. But our stupid and immoral society allows him to steal and vandalise to his heart's content. He enjoys it, he's untouchable, and he knows it. Antonia ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4. Opinion:
Environmental madness On the 27th of August last year, regulations came into force in NSW which demand that farmers must buy a licence if they want to keep more than 10 per cent of the rain which falls on their land (Sun-Herald, 8/8/99). The government used satellite images and aerial photography to identify all dams, soil types, and water flow patterns, and have now calculated how much of the rain will be "harvestable" for each farmer. Satellite and aerial photography will be used to spy on the farmers so they don't use more than their allocation without paying for it. A government spokesman said, "If every farmer took all the rain that fell on their farms there would be nothing left to flow into the rivers and streams to supply drinking water." But they don't take it all. How much they take depends on the seasons. Even if they did keep it all, a better response would be to introduce keyline farming which allows the surplus to flow. This is what happens when ignorant politicians, academics and bureaucrats run the country. To his credit, National Party boss George Souris said, "This is bureaucracy gone mad. A bean counter in a suit is using his slide rule trying to figure out how much of the rain is the farmer's 10 pc and the 90 pc that goes to the Government." Antonia +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5. Opinion: Booming economy: income gaps and soaring profits They're still at it, talking about Australia's booming economy. I've worked out what it is: booming profits and booming income gaps. The latest obscene remuneration is that of former Trust Bank of Tasmania chief executive, David Airey, who received a $2.7 million termination payment after putting in just seven months of a three year contract. The well-named Mr Airey airily dismissed criticism of the payout as "no more or no less" than what he was owed. In 1997-98, the bottom 20 per cent of households received just 8.3 per cent of the nation's income. The top 20 per cent received 41.2 per cent and it's rising. The top 40 per cent of households together received 63.6 per cent of the nation's income leaving what's left to the majority 60 per cent. And in the three months to September last year, profits boomed to almost $15 million, 17.3 per cent higher than a year ago. And while average wages and salaries fell during the same period, wages generally rose by 1.8 per cent. (Australian, 19/11/99) Ian Dunlop, Institute of Company Directors chief admitted the figures would cause concern in the community. But Business Council of Australia chief David Buckingham said, "Companies that have embraced reform are reaping the benefits." Yes, companies are, Ian, but people aren't. The complete fracturing of our society is now inexorable. It will continue unless we can educate enough people to ditch the major parties. As I've said before, individual Labor or Coalition MPs might be good people, but they have no influence over policies, nor will they buck party discipline. Consequently they're useless in parliament, so kick them out. Only independents and minor parties will save Australia. Antonia +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
6. Opinion:
Art? They say art mirrors its society, and it seems to be true: how else to account for the sheer ugliness and even viciousness of much modern art. One artist's entry into the Turner Prize consisted of locking himself in a train toilet and photographing the - um - result with a camera in the toilet bowl. But a German artist has gone one better. He's into painting with his own faeces. (Australian, 15/6/99) Now most mothers would not accept such behaviour from their babies, but this clown's work actually hangs in Frankfurt's Museum of Modern Art. The paintings don't smell because they're coated in resin. And in NSW, patrons were confronted with an "exhibition" of used tampons. The acceptance of such grossly offensive behaviour in the name of art clearly shows the degradation of our civilisation. These 'artists' and their defenders are exactly the same people who ridicule and sneer at any public defender of traditional morality or even common sense. Antonia +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
7. Opinion:
Dairy suicides On the ABC news of the 30th of March, it was reported that at least two dairy farmers in New South Wales and others in Tasmania and Victoria have taken their lives in recent months because of the deregulation of the industry. Coronial inquests have noted that the farmers were depressed about how they would repay loans with the reduced incomes offered by the restructure package. A Concerned Dairy Farmers of Australia spokesman of Cobargo NSW said that unless a better compensation offer was made for the loss of whole milk quota rights, more farmers could also be driven to such desperation. Do government leaders and bureaucrats sleep well with all the deaths, financial ruin, marriage break-down, hopelessness in the young and despair their policies have brought about? People can cope with being poor: the Depression proved that. What they can't cope with is treachery and abandonment. And Australia is rich in them. Antonia ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Opportunity:
Helping ourselves!
Neil pls. respond ? what do
you think
This is just a suggestion. I
am an Importer.....www.inktec.com.au
All you out there in small
business, home office, what ever.
I have been supplying One Nation with
InkJet Cartridges, Tone Cartridges, InkJet paper, Laminating Machines,
and supplies at a discount rate since its conception,
This is just an idea, but if enough
of you support this idea, then we can build a News Report Data base
throughout Australia, and also maybe increase your business turnover,
(god knows we will need it, after GST)
OK. this is the plan I will put a
link to the News Report at the bottom of my site..
Free
Political News Report *Click here*
This will be an Hyperlink to
Neil's web page, and offer the update letters.
This will give Neil
a chance to build up a data base and get the thoughts of YOU "small business"
and others, out to as many people as possible, we can trade within this
environment, and give discounts, as I now offer discounts to all readers, of the
News Report.
Your opinions in letter form
"as now" may also have a one line offer at the bottom,
(if you are in small business) with your email, or web
address.
Obviously if you sell, lets say TVs
and can sell to all news letter readers, at a 10% discount then the sheer number
of news letter readers sales will make up for the discount.
As with my InkJet cartridges, and
Laminating Machines that I import. I will sell to News Report
readers Club at prices not available anywhere else in Australia.
My web address. www.inktec.com.au. you
can also fax me on 02 966 11 500
Best Regards
Ray
McLaren
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Ladies and gentlemen.
What Ray has outlined above is the way to
go. One Nation voters and supporters and those who support the other
nationalist organisations have by and large ( a few exceptions) helped
through our spending habits in pubs, clubs, hotels, motels,
banks, building societies, supermarkets, petrol stations etc, the businesses
owned and operated by people whose interests no longer coincide with our own and
who by virtue of their control of both the Labor and Liberal parties are
doing their damndest to impoverish and enslave the people.
The only way now for us to go, given the establishments
determination to ruin financially the party, is to start to organise
ourselves to take our spending dollars out of general circulation and
have it solely circulate amongst ourselves. Remember 1.3 million voted One
Nation at the Federal Election. That is 1 in 10 adult
Australians. Thats a lot of spending power properly
co-ordinated.
If more dollars come into such a closed system, than goes
out, then overtime it will grow richer and more united. At present
moment it is One Nation and other patriotic types who are probably paying the
largest share proportionately of the tax take, and getting in return
the lowest share proportionately of government spending on programs etc.
Its time to change all than.
All those who agree with Rays imaginative
idea, please contact me or Ray by email and lets see how long it will
take to get this ball up and running.
Regards
Neil.
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9. Article:
Gun Runner (Part 3)
The International Movement: The international push for the disarmament of the people is gathering momentum. It is aided and abetted by people in our own community, by our own politicians, by useful fool bureaucrats and by the journalists who turn a blind eye. Virtually every month there is another meeting somewhere in the world moving Australia and the other countries ever closer to international laws on personal disarmament. Forget bio-chemical or nuclear weapons, those important issues no longer seem to have quite the backing and press coverage they used to have. Now the emphasis is to make sure the common people can no longer give big government any problems. Stop and think you don’t believe Soros, Rothschilds, Rockefellers, et al. really gives a damn about violence in your neighbourhood do you? No, just like the MAI, IMF, World Bank, NAFTA and all the other "New World Order" arrangements, the movement for the disarmament of the people will not be for the benefit of the common people. However, it could be a real benefit to a world elite who may worry about the masses drawing a line in the sand at some future incidence of oppression. There has never really been a legitimate debate about "gun control" in Australia; perhaps this article may start one. Terry Shulze
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10. Life Sciences:
Magazine insert leaves a bad
taste: Ottawa pushes safety of bio-engineered food
The federal government is paying two of the largest consumer magazines in the country, Canadian Living and Coup de Pouce, to publish supplements asserting the safety of genetically engineered food. The supplements are due to hit the news-stands in early June, packaged into the July 2000 edition. The supplements are sponsored by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which falls under the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. The agency's stated mission is "to provide safe food, consumer protection and market access." ... Yet critics charge that the CFIA has other agendas in mind apart from providing adequate information to the public. "The CFIA keeps saying they don't have a dual mandate," said Bradford Duplisea of the Canadian Health Coalition. "But they're blatantly promoting biotechnology. It's a conflict of interest and an inherent contradiction." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAY NO TO GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS - Tell Loblaw's / Superstores to Get
it Off the Shelf ! !
Right now, as much as 60% of the food on our grocery store shelves may contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. These ingredients are unlabelled, unnecessary, unwanted and improperly tested. Loblaws is Canada's largest grocery chain and makers of President's Choice and no name products. They have outlets in every province in the country. (Loblaws companies include: Zehrs, Superstore, SuperValu, Supercentre, SaveEasy, Dominion, Cash and Carry, no frills, Fortinos, valu-mart, Real Canadian Wholesale, Club, Extra Foods, Shop Easy, independent, Provigo, Maxi, Loeb, and IGA's in the Atlantic region). Loblaws is selling us genetically engineered foods, despite a growing consumer revolt against it. The Council has made a number of requests to meet with company representatives, but so far they have refused. In December, the Council delivered over 15,000 petitions calling on Loblaws to go GE-free. They continue to be silent on the issue. You can do something about this. Give Loblaws a call. 1-800 296-2332. Ask them if they can tell you which items in their store contain genetically engineered ingredients. Ask why they won't meet with groups who want Loblaws to go GE-free. Ask why they aren't responding to consumer concerns. Note their responses. Tell Loblaws you want them to eliminate GE ingredients in their produce section, to commit to making their house brands (President's Choice and no name) GE-free, and to phase it out of the store entirely. In the meantime you want it labelled. Ask for a response IN WRITING, on company letterhead. Make a quick note on your conversation, and send it in to [EMAIL PROTECTED]. When you get a written reply, please fax it into (613) 233-6776. We will be tracking their responses. For more information on genetically engineered foods, and what you can do about it, check out our website at www.canadians.org Jennifer Story Health Protection Campaigner Council of Canadians Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Edmonton Journal Fri
31 Mar 2000
SECTION Opinion, P. A14 Modified-food policy hypocritical The federal government has repeatedly denied it has a conflict of interest on the issue of genetically modified foods, even though its agencies are responsible for both promoting and ensuring the safety of such products. Its own scientists have said the government doesn't have sufficient resources to adequately test such foods and therefore can't confidently endorse them. Just last month, the government appointed an independent panel of experts to research the issues around biotechnology and genetically modified foods and make policy recommendations. Now we find out the government is buying advertising supplements in two large consumer magazines, Canadian Living and the French-language Coup de Pouce, to promote the use of genetically altered products. The optics are poor, to say the least. While the government may legitimately believe such foods are safe for both consumers and the environment, it is hypocritical to pretend to be researching the issue in good faith, then turn around and pay to promote genetically modified foods to Canadians. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEXICO-GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD
March 30, 2000 The Associated Press/Dow Jones MEXICO CITY- Mexico's Senate was cited as voting unanimously Thursday to require the labelling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. The stories say that the measure appears to generally agree with the U.N. biosafety protocol adopted at a meeting of 140 national representatives in Montreal, Canada. Several countries, notably in Europe, already require such labels. Under the Mexican measure, genetically modified foods would have to bear a label reading "transgenic food." Those containing some genetically modified ingredients would need a label reading: "Food made with transgenic products." The measure approved by the Senate now must be approved by the lower house of congress, the Chamber of Deputies, before going to the president for his signature. The Mexican branch of the environmentalist group Greenpeace was cited as issuing a news release late Thursday welcoming the decision, saying it "recognises the concerns expressed by diverse social sectors." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GM CANOLA ALLEGEDLY DUMPED March 28, 2000, ABC radio http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/stories/s113606.htm Federal and State agencies have signalled they will begin investigating Australia's first claim of an improper disposal of experimentally genetically modified crops. It's alleged bags of material from genetically modified canola plants were dumped at an open rubbish tip in Mount Gambier in South Australia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is an excerpt from an article by Jaan Suurkula M.D. Chairman of Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology (PSRAST) DYSFUNCTIONAL SCIENCE: Towards a "pseudoscientific world order"? by Jaan Suurkula M.D. Excerpt: "The successful launch of genetically engineered foods with the aid of a useless safety assessment principle endorsed by leading scientists in national and international expert committees is a very serious warning for us all. It may indicate that we are already on the way towards a "new pseudo-scientific world order" where the short term interests of powerful industrial interests override global long term ecological and health safety considerations. - Scientists in this scenario are degraded to voluntary or involuntary hostages exploited to provide pseudo-scientific legitimacy for the industry's release of products regardless of long term safety." The full article is found at <http://www.psrast.org/crisisofsci.htm> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press Release - Council of Canadians NATIONAL POLL AND CROSS-COUNTRY PROTEST DEMONSTRATE CONSUMERS WON'T BE FOOLED BY GE FOODS March 31, 2000 OTTAWA-As activists across the country prepare for a day of protest against genetically engineered (GE) foods, a national poll released today reveals that a consumer revolt on GE foods may be brewing, says The Council of Canadians. According to the poll conducted for The Council of Canadians by Environics Research Group, three-quarters (75%) of Canadians familiar with GE foods are worried about their safety and almost all (95%) want GE foods labelled as such. A similarly high number (95%) want consumers to be able to buy non-GE foods, and over two-thirds (71%) would even be willing to pay more to get them. Moreover, most respondents (56%) are not confident in the federal government's ability to protect their health and safety when it comes to GE foods. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday March 31, 5:26 pm Eastern Time Farmers Shy Away From Biotech Crops By PHILIP BRASHER, AP Farm Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Farmers are turning away from genetically engineered crops, especially a biotech corn that's toxic to insects, amid consumer resistance that started overseas and is now being felt in the United States. Plantings of the gene-altered corn are projected to drop 24 percent this year, according to findings of an Agriculture Department survey released Friday. The report also suggested declines in biotech varieties of cotton and soybeans. ... Europeans were the first to balk at buying biotech grain, which wary Britons have dubbed "Frankenfoods," but there is also resistance in Asia, and a handful of U.S. companies now are turning them down, including baby food makers and snack-food giant Frito-Lay Inc. Articles Forwarded by
Veronica Griffin
Ph.D..
Kerawa Qld.
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11. Feedback:
Labour restrictions gone
crazy
There was an add for a job in the mining
industry the other day on the radio. I contacted the local employment agency and
was told that the job was at the power station some 50 km away, was
for a janitor and was for one week. OK so far. I had worked in a
mine doing everything from using cyanide, sulphuric acid, explosives (Anfo),
geological surveys, fork lifts, front end loaders, global positioning systems
and site revegetation. Still a job is a job.
They then ask "Had I done a mine
induction course?" "What the bleep is that" says I. Well it
seems to work at this mine for a week I need to have done a 2 day mine
induction course - which in 4 years at a mine I had never done.
Would cost me $450 to do it.
Seems the employment agency has a
problem - all the experienced miners who applied for the job
were in the same boat - no induction course. Last I heard the
employment agency was going to contact the mine about their inability
to find miners with induction course certificates to clean their
toilets.
Martin
Essenberg
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12. Feedback:
Labors Communication Policy
The Editor, Toowoomba Chronicle
PO Box 40, Toowomba Qld 4350 Dear Sir
The Labor Party cannot escape
responsibility for the closure of the analogue mobile phone network,
despite its communications spokesman's feeble attempt to shift the
blame.
The decision to close the analogue network
was made in 1992 by the Keating Labor Government and its communications
minister Bob Collins. The Keating Government signed legal
agreements with the phone companies which ensured that subsequent
governments could not overturn the decision.
Labor's current spokesman, Stephen
Smith, was a senior adviser to the Keating Government. But he now pretends that the closure decision wasn't Labor's
fault! Mr Smith even has the gall to blame
the Government for the "transitional" issues faced by analogue
users forced to switch to the new CDMA network.
The Labor Party obviously needs to be
reminded that it decided to close the analogue network without ensuring
that it was replaced by anything! The
decision to force Telstra to replace the analogue network is proof of the
determination to provide world class telecommunications to all
Australians.
Yours sincerely.
Richard J. Wood
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Feedback:
Meet the Press interview with Paul
Keating
http://www.ten.com.au/webCh10/admin/tvhead/microsite/ShowPage.asp?ModuleInf oID=1841 Extract... (Paul) KELLY: What's your view about how long it will take Australia to re-establish its relationship with Indonesia and do you believe that a future Labor government should try to re-establish your own security agreement with Jakarta? KEATING: Well, I think the broader point is, Paul, that because of the Hanson remarks, John Howard's ambivalent response to them, his remarks about the regional deputy, his support for the monarchy and the defeat of the republic referendum, all of those issues and the triumphalism over Timor, that we are today more marginalised in Asia than at any time in my political life. Without a doubt. We've been plastered in every regional newspaper for the last three years. Battered Shondra Briton
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Feedback:
Government's National Indigenous
English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy
29 March 2000 ATSIC backs Federal Government's National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. I am pleased the government has
recognised the special needs and requirements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students and is now committed to a national strategy to improve levels
of literacy, numeracy and school attendance for Indigenous school
students.
Statistics show very low levels of
literacy and numeracy skills among Indigenous school students, adding to the
disadvantages already suffered by the our young people and this is
unacceptable.
More and more Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people are looking at education as a life-long learning
process, starting with the very young and continuing through to mature
age. This concept will be enhanced by the current national strategy,
allowing for the achievement of better outcomes.
ATSIC supports the government in
this strategy as a first step. It is, I believe, a strategy that addresses
some of the main causes for the current low levels of
achievement. I am encouraged to see the
strategy recognises the links between education and some other aspects
of life affecting education, such as poor health, lack of adequate and
safe housing, and community or parental support.
I am also pleased Dr Kemp has
pledged additional resources to ensure the goals set by the strategy
will be achieved and its performance will be effectively monitored. ATSIC will
be taking a keen interest in the outcomes of the strategy.
While I believe the strategy is
highly commendable, more can be done by state and territory governments
to improve outcomes and ensure adequate resources and classroom
facilities are provided, especially in rural and remote Australia. Other factors, such as domestic violence, imprisonment, low
self-esteem and community expectations, also contribute to poor educational
outcomes.
In other areas, racial bigotry in
the school yards, and in classrooms, are major deterrents to attendance
by Indigenous children. These issues also need to be addressed if the strategy
is to be successful.
However, I accept that the national
Indigenous English literacy and numeracy strategy is a major step towards
achieving equality of education for Indigenous and non-Indigenous
students. I therefore pledge ATSIC's full
support for the strategy, and hope ATSIC and the government can work more
closely together to achieve the common agenda of a better-educated Indigenous
community.
Commissioner Des
Williams
ATSIC Commissioner for Education and Training Onyx
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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]
Editorial
Policy
If you wish to raise an issue without
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News Report are considered publishable (subject to a common sense
test).
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