This is usually one of my favorite times of the year – the holidays are approaching, the aromas of cinnamon, orange and cranberry are in the air and it’s time to rest and watch old movies on TV. One of those old movies invariably on at this time of year still resonates today — It’s a Wonderful Life. In this 1946 Jimmy Stewart film, a small town in crisis comes together to prevent George Bailey, the benevolent loan man, from being imprisoned at the behest of the millionaire slum landlord Mr. Potter.

In the last few days, the U.S. government census figures have revealed that 1 in 2 Americans have fallen into poverty or are struggling to live on low incomes. And we know that the financial hardships faced by our neighbors, colleagues, and others in our communities will be all the more acutely felt over the holiday season.

Along with poverty and low incomes, the foreclosure rate has created its own crisis situation as the number of families removed from their homes has skyrocketed.

Since 2007, banks have foreclosed around eight million homes. It is estimated that another eight to ten million homes will be foreclosed before the financial crisis is over. This approach to resolving one part of the financial crisis means many, many families are living without adequate and secure housing. In addition, approximately 3.5 million people in the U.S. are homeless, many of them veterans. It is worth noting that, at the same time, there are 18.5 million vacant homes in the country.

The stark realities that persist mean that millions of families will be facing the holidays in temporary homes, or homes under threat, and far too many children will be wishing for an end to the uncertainty and distress their family is facing rather than an Xbox or Barbie doll.

Housing is a basic human need and a fundamental human right. Yet every day in the United States, banks are foreclosing on more than 10,000 mortgages and ordering evictions of individuals and families residing in foreclosed homes. The U.S. government’s steps to address the foreclosure crisis to date have been partial at best.

The depth and severity of the foreclosure crisis is a clear illustration of the urgent need for the U.S. government to put in place a system that respects, protects and fulfills human rights, including the right to housing. This includes implementing real protections to ensure that other actors, such as financial institutions, do not undermine or abuse human rights.

Please join the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative and Amnesty International in asking the U.S. to step up its efforts to address the foreclosure crisis, including by giving serious consideration to the growing call for a foreclosure moratorium and other forms of relief for those at risk, and establishing a housing finance system that fulfills human rights obligations.

As we think back on all that Amnesty has achieved over the last year in advancing and protecting human rights, let’s do one more thing. This holiday, let’s join together like George Bailey’s friends to advance the right to housing because, apart from all the other good reasons to do so: “Housing: It’s a Wonderful Right.”

 

99% Choir Forecloses On Bank Of America [VIDEO]

Friends,

On this day, December 30th, in 1936 -- 75 years ago today -- hundreds of workers at the General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan, took over the facilities and occupied them for 44 days. My uncle was one of them.

The workers couldn't take the abuse from the corporation any longer. Their working conditions, the slave wages, no vacation, no health care, no overtime -- it was do as you're told or get tossed onto the curb.
So on the day before New Year's Eve, emboldened by the recent re-election of Franklin Roosevelt, they sat down on the job and refused to leave.

They began their Occupation in the dead of winter. GM cut off the heat and water to the buildings. The police tried to raid the factories several times, to no avail. Even the National Guard was called in.
But the workers held their ground, and after 44 days, the corporation gave in and recognized the UAW as the representative of the workers. It was a monumental historical moment as no other major company had ever been brought to its knees by their employees. Workers were given a raise to a dollar an hour -- and successful strikes and occupations spread like wildfire across the country. Finally, the working class would be able to do things like own their own homes, send their children to college, have time off and see a doctor without having to worry about paying. In Flint, Michigan, on this day in 1936, the middle class was born.

But 75 years later, the owners and elites have regained all power and control. I can think of no better way for us to honor the original Occupiers than by all of us participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement in whatever form that takes in each of our towns. We need direct action all winter long if we are to prevail. You can start your own Occupy group in your neighborhood or school or with just your friends. Speak out against economic injustice at every chance you get. Stop the bank from evicting the family down the block. Move your checking and credit card to a community bank or credit union. Place a sign in your yard -- and get your neighbors to do it also -- that says, "WE ARE THE 99%."

Do something, anything, but don't remain silent. Not now. This is the moment. It won't come again.
75 years ago today, in Flint, Michigan, the people said they'd had enough and occupied the factories until they won. What is stopping us now? The rich have one plan: bleed everyone dry. Can anyone, in good conscience, be a bystander to this?

My uncle wasn't, and because of what he and others did, I got to grow up without having to worry about a roof over my heads or medical bills or a decent life. And all that was provided by my dad who built spark plugs on a GM assembly line.

Let's each of us double our efforts to raise a ruckus, Occupy Everywhere, and get creative as we throw a major nonviolent wrench into this system of Greed. Let's make the politicians running for office in 2012 quake in their boots if they refuse to tax the rich, regulate Wall Street and do whatever we the people tell them to do.

Happy 75th!

Yours, Michael Moore

Police are investigating a serious traffic crash in Cairns this afternoon in which two female pedestrians were seriously injured.

Preliminary information indicates around 4pm the pair, believed to be in their 20s, were crossing Lake Street when they were struck by a bus.

Both women were transported to Cairns Base Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The driver remained at the scene.

No one else was injured.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

This year has given us simply too many worthy contenders for FAIR's annual P.U.-litzers--recognizing the stinkiest journalism of the year. A big part of the problem was that so many outlets were striving to distinguish themselves with especially awful coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. So to note those lowlights, we bring you a special installment of P.U.-litzers: The OWS edition.

--Early Warning System Award: CNN's Wolf Blitzer

On September 19: "Protests here in New York on Wall Street entering a third day. Should New Yorkers be worried at all about what's going on?"

--We Could Do It Better Award: New York Times' Ginia Bellafante

Under the headline "Gunning for Wall Street, With Faulty Aim" (9/23/11), Bellafante turned in the quintessential corporate media dismissal of progressive protests. The reporter discovered "a default ambassador in a half-naked woman...with a marked likeness to Joni Mitchell and a seemingly even stronger wish to burrow through the space-time continuum and hunker down in 1968."

The movement's cause "was virtually impossible to decipher," Bellafante complained, slamming [it] for "lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgeably." And who has more knowledge about grassroots progressive activism than the New York Times.

--What's News Award: NPR's Dick Meyer; Washington Post

Asked to explain NPR's non-coverage of OWS, executive editor Meyer said (NPR.org, 9/26/11): "The recent protests on Wall Street did not involve large numbers of people, prominent people, a great disruption or an especially clear objective."

And the massive demonstrations around the world October 15th made it onto the front page of the next day's Washington Post--in the form of a lower right-hand corner blurb approximately one column inch long, directing people to page A20 to find news about protests in "more than 900 cities in Europe, Africa and Asia."

--Channeling Glenn Beck Award: Reuters

Under the headline (10/13/11) "Who's Behind the Wall Street Protests," the news agency provided an answer straight from one of Glenn Beck's conspiratorial chalk boards:

One name that keeps coming up is investor George Soros, who in September debuted in the top 10 list of wealthiest Americans. Conservative critics contend the movement is a Trojan horse for a secret Soros agenda.

Who exactly is bringing up Soros' name? Reuters names one slightly less than credible source: right-wing talker Rush Limbaugh. But Reuters did its own digging, going on to suggest "indirect financial links" between Soros and the group Adbusters, which issued the original call for the Occupy protest. The links were mostly figments of the right-wing imagination, as even some Reuters reporters pointed out. Reuters eventually changed the headline to "Soros: Not a Funder of Wall Street Protests."

--The Suites to the Streets Award: New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin

The Times star business writer (10/4/11) did little to dispel critics who say he's too close to his Wall Street sources by admitting that he checked out the protests--after a banker told him to:

I had gone down to Zuccotti Park to see the activist movement firsthand after getting a call from the chief executive of a major bank last week, before nearly 700 people were arrested over the weekend during a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge.

"Is this Occupy Wall Street thing a big deal?" the CEO asked me. I didn't have an answer. "We're trying to figure out how much we should be worried about all of this," he continued, clearly concerned. "Is this going to turn into a personal safety problem?"

As I wandered around the park, it was clear to me that most bankers probably don't have to worry about being in imminent personal danger. This didn’t seem like a brutal group--at least not yet.

--Those Facts Are Biased Award: WNYC's Takeaway

Web producer Caitlin Curran was photographed at an OWS protest holding a sign that said this:

It's wrong to create a mortgage-backed security filled with loans you know are going to fail so that you can sell it to a client who isn't aware that you sabotaged it by intentionally picking the misleadingly rated loans most likely to be defaulted upon.

Curran was promptly fired by the New York public radio station for her flagrant violation of journalistic objectivity. Who could trust a journalist who took a far-out radical position like that?

--Timeless Cliches Award: Washington Post's Charles Krauthammer

"Starbucks-sipping, Levi's-clad, iPhone-clutching protesters denounce corporate America even as they weep for Steve Jobs," wrote Post columnist Krauthammer (10/14/11), maligning the protesters as "indigant indolents saddled with their $50,000 student loans and English degrees" whose policy proposal boils down to "eat the rich."

--We Smell a Rat Award: Washington Post November 16:

"Is this an occupation or an infestation?"

--Fact Check Failure Award: CNN's Erin Burnett

New CNN host Burnett decided on her debut program (10/3/11) to fact check the Occupy Wall Street protests. Declaring that that the protesters "did not know" why they were there, adding that "it seems like people want a messiah leader, just like they did when they anointed Barack Obama." Burnett quizzed one protester: "So do you know that taxpayers actually made money on the Wall Street bailout?" Burnett assured viewers this was true--"right now to the tune of $10 billion.... This was the big issue, so we solved it."

A few problems: The TARP bailout is not "the big issue" for OWS, and it's odd to think that people should feel good that big banks were about to turn low-interest government loans into profits. And the total cost of the various bank rescue policies run into the trillions of dollars (Bloomberg News, 8/22/11). But, yes, those protesters sure don't know what they're talking about.

--Tabloid-Style Dignity Award: New York Post

The front page of Rupert Murdoch's New York Post (11/4/11), urging a crackdown on Occupy Wall Street, proclaimed: "Enough! Mr. Mayor, It Is Time to Reclaim Zuccotti Park--and New York's Dignity." This on the same front page that recently declared (8/10/11), "Crazy Stox Like a Hooker’s Drawers--Up, Down, Up." Another cover (10/27/09) photoshopped a skirt onto a Phillies baseball player with a line about the "Frillies" coming to town. And who could forget the Iraq War classic (2/14/03), "UN Meets: Weasels to Hear New Iraq Evidence," with animal heads superimposed onto the representatives from France and Germany? That's the New York Post for you: Always dignified.

--Clueless and Repugnant Award: Washington Post's Richard Cohen

After the Post columnist visited the New York protests, he wrote a column (10/24/11) defending the group against bogus charges of anti-Semitism. But he had plenty of other things to say about OWS. To Cohen, "their slogans suggest a tired socialism that is as repugnant to me as the felonious capitalism that produced the mortgage bubble and the impoverishment of millions of Americans." Cohen was just getting warmed up. The protests are "a destination for the aimless...a tourist attraction with the usual vendors, the usual zaftig young women doing the usual arrhythmic dance, somehow missing the beat of many drums."

Occupy Wall Street is "an incoherent articulation of anger...above all, a conspiracy to have left-leaning writers make jackasses of themselves by imparting grave and grand meaning to what is little more than a vast sleepover." But no anti-Semitism.

30,000 Chinese Occupy Highway to Stop Coal Power Plant [VIDEO]

The Chinese are getting more and more into the “Occupy Earth” movement. The latest news is that about 30,000 have “occupied” a highway to stop a coal power plant.

“Tens of thousands of residents in China’s southern Guandong Province gathered in the streets yesterday, occupying a highway to demonstrate against the development of a new coal plant near Shantou city,” Stephen Lacey of Climate Progress notes.

“The residents say existing coal plants in the area are fouling local air and water, and are making people sick.”

Neither Stephen nor I are aware of any larger physical action opposing a coal power plant. This is something….

“Officials now say they will abandon plans to build a new coal plant in the area. Two people were reportedly killed in clashes with police, but the government is denying those reports.”

Three were also imprisoned but it’s said they will be released.

According to the video above, the government now seems to be working with the protest leaders to meet their demands.

Transport and Multicultural Affairs Media Release [30/12/11]

Fares for qconnect services in regional Queensland will increase in line with CPI in the New Year, to help operators meet operating costs.

Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Department of Transport and Main Roads had recommended a 2.9 per cent fare increase from 1 January 2012.

“We understand that public transport is the lifeblood of many small communities and that’s why the department has kept this increase as low as possible,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“It’s a small increase – in line with CPI – that will help ensure operators can meet their costs and remain viable.”

Transport and Main Roads review fares and sets maximum fares operators can charge, based on a number of factors including operating costs.

“The small increase in fare prices next year will help regional services cover their operation costs and continue providing what is a vital service to all regional public transport passengers,” she said.

Operators retain any increases in fare revenue to invest directly back into providing better services.

“We remain committed to ensuring that people in regional Queensland have access to affordable public transport and will continue to ensure that fares are kept as low as possible.

“More than 12.4 million qconnect trips were taken across Queensland last financial year so it’s clear this is an important service.”

Minister Palaszczuk also reminded regional commuters to make use of the online qconnect journey planner to plan their bus trips.

“The journey planner is a handy, free tool that provides online timetable information for qconnect
bus trips,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Qconnect services operate in: Airlie Beach and Proserpine, Bowen,Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone, Gympie, Hervey Bay, Innisfail, Kilcoy to Caboolture, Mackay, Magnetic Island, Maleny to Beerwah, Maryborough, North Stradbroke Island, Rockhampton, Toowoomba,Townsville and Warwick

Further qconnect information is available at www.tmr.qld.gov.au

Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for State Development and Trade Media Release [30/12/11]

The Queensland Government will trial a new ‘prepaid card’ this wet season in the hope of more efficiently assisting disaster affected Queenslanders.

Acting Premier Andrew Fraser today announced a trial of the cards, which will allow the Queensland Government to pay Emergent Assistance Grants to eligible residents more quickly and securely.

Under the current system, used during the floods and natural disasters last January, Queenslanders eligible for relief payments were issued with a cheque which they would then need to cash in. ...

There's not a trace of bitterness in Jayne Butler's voice when she recalls her chaotic year since the Brisbane floods.

Despite her home still being uninhabitable, she counts herself one of the lucky ones.

When the Brisbane River peaked at 4.46 metres at 3am on January 13 - its highest since 1974 - it rose over the roof of Ms Butler's family home in riverside Sherwood.

Hers was one of about 1200 houses inundated, and more than 14,000 properties affected by water.

The force of the flood was evident in the huge amounts of debris that flowed down the river, including a large chunk of Brisbane's riverwalk.

But the 51-year-old mother of two wasn't prepared for the scene that confronted her when she returned home.

"I lived in Guam during one of the worst typhoon seasons that they'd ever had and I'd seen lots of different things, but I've never seen such a mess," she said.

"There was just bits of stuff left.

"The fridge had fallen over. Everything had moved around in the house.

"When you'd go to open the doors, the doors just collapsed."

With the help of the "mud army" - the thousands of volunteers who descended on Brisbane's flooded streets in the wake of the deluge - the house was stripped bare and cleaned, but was still uninhabitable.

The first months of 2011 were the toughest as Ms Butler, her two teenagers and their four pets squeezed into her brother's home.

It wasn't long before tensions rose in the household and the flood refugees were looking for new accommodation in an extremely tight post-disaster rental market.

Then came the first stroke of luck. A friend of a friend had a pet-friendly house to rent close by.

The family moved in June, but Ms Butler says her relationship with her brother is still strained.

"It was a very stressful situation for him to be put in," she said.

"But that was the only place I knew I could go where we would be able to keep the four animals with us."

It was during that time that Ms Butler found a local refuge for flood victims which offered much-needed social and emotional support.

She now volunteers at the Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre and has become firm friends with its co-manager, Fiona McLeod.

"Fiona's supported me in so many ways and she's done this with so many people," Ms Butler said.

"There's no judgment, there's just support. For me that's been phenomenal."

In another lucky turn, six months after the flood insurer Suncorp informed Ms Butler that she was eligible for a $285,000 payout.

Unhappy with the bank's choice of builder, she struck a deal with a building company that began restumping her house earlier this month.

The family hopes to be home in March.

It can't come soon enough for Ms Butler, who says living in the rental property with no personal possessions has been difficult for her 15-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son.

"The children stopped asking questions for a long time," she said.

"It was sort of like, 'Any news (on the house) mum, any news mum?' And I had to say, 'No."'

Across town at City Hall, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is aware of the frustrations of flood victims forced to wait for insurance payouts and building contracts.

City-wide, however, he says Brisbane's flood recovery has progressed well.

One year on, the city's stormwater drains have been cleared, almost 100 kilometres of roads have been repaired, flood-damaged ferry terminals have been fixed and tens of thousands of trees have been replaced.

Full recovery will not be achieved until 2014 when the CBD's new riverside walkway is finished and flood-resilient ferry terminals are complete.

"The fundamental thing we learned from this process is this is a marathon not a sprint," Mr Quirk said.

At the Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre, Ms Butler admits she never imagined her own post-flood journey would take so long.

However she refuses to feel sorry for herself.

She points to the Lockyer Valley flash flood that claimed at least 19 lives on January 10.

"We're all OK here. How those people must be coping, I don't know," she said.

"In the big scheme of things, the way I look at it, how lucky are we?"

Minister for Government Services, Building Industry and ICT Media Release [29/12/11]

Minister for Government Services and Building Industry Simon Finn today announced the successful contractors for the construction of cyclone shelters in Bowen, Ingham, Port Douglas, Proserpine, Townsville, Tully and Yeppoon.

Mr Finn said 10 new cyclone shelters would be delivered in time for the 2012-13 cyclone season via a $60 million fund jointly established by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Bligh Government.

“I’m delighted to announce the successful tenders for seven of the 10 cyclone shelters being constructed as part of our $60 million cyclone shelter building program,” Mr Finn said.

The successful contractors are:

Bowen – Paynter Dixon Queensland Pty Ltd will construct a $5.6 million cyclone shelter at Bowen State High School.
Ingham – Baulderstone Queensland Pty Ltd will construct a $5.6 million cyclone shelter at Ingham State High School.
Port Douglas – Northbuild Construction Pty Ltd will construct a $5.5 million cyclone shelter at Port Douglas State School. It will service the evacuation areas of Port Douglas, Oak Beach, Cooya Beach, Newell, Wonga, Lower Daintree and Cape Tribulation.
Proserpine – Paynter Dixon Queensland Pty Ltd will construct a $5.8 million cyclone shelter at Proserpine State School.
Townsville – Baulderstone Queensland Pty Ltd will construct a $5.4 million cyclone shelter at Heatley Secondary College.
Tully – Vis Constructions Pty Ltd will construct a $5.7 million cyclone shelter at Tully State School.
Yeppoon – Hutchinson Builders will construct a $5.3 million cyclone shelter at Yeppoon State High School. The new centre will service an evacuation area of Yeppoon, south to Emu Park and immediately to the north. ...

Image: soupsfornoobs

There Is No Reason Why This Couldn't Be Possible For All South East Queensland

Free Holiday Buses are Back

From Monday 26 December 2011 to Sunday 8 January 2012, council in partnership with TransLink, will be providing free public transport for everyone on the Sunshine Coast. The Free Holiday Bus program is proudly funded by council’s Public Transport Levy.

The Free Holiday Bus program is an initiative of council’s Sustainable Transport Strategy. The aim of the program is to increase patronage on public transport services and reduce traffic congestion across the coast.

History of Free Holiday Bus Program

Free Holiday Buses came about in 1999/2000 in an effort to reduce traffic congestion in the busy Noosa Hastings Street precinct. It was initially a Park and Ride service to shuttle passengers from the Noosa Australian Football Club in Weyba Road to Hastings Street. Due to increasing demands on the shuttle service and the transport infrastructure over the years, this congestion busting initiative has been increased to include all Sunshine Coast bus services for all passengers over the festive period in December/January. ...

Surveys

Council conducted 1000 face-to-face surveys from 26 December 2010 to 9 January 2011 to determine user satisfaction with the Free Holiday Bus service. Council appointed a field team to conduct the surveys in eight key bus interchanges on the Sunshine Coast:

Survey results

• 95.7% of respondents supported the Free Holiday Bus program • 86% were either extremely satisfied or satisfied with their journey • 52% of respondents were existing public transport users (either daily or weekly) • 38% said they would not have made their trip if there were no Free Holiday Buses • 60% of respondents said the Free Holiday Bus program has improved their awareness of public transport on the Sunshine Coast • 68% of respondents were residents of the Sunshine Coast.

Passenger numbers

Passenger data provided by TransLink showed that approximately 200,000 passengers travelled on TransLink Sunbus services over the thirteen day free service period, from 26 December 2010 to 9 January 2011, excluding 31 December 2010 and 1 January 2011, when buses did not run due to industrial action. This data indicates an increase of over thirty percent to TransLink Sunbus passenger numbers compared to the previous Free Holiday Bus period in 2009/10. ...

Limits of survey

During the 2010/11 Free Holiday Bus period, a number of disruptions to services occurred including:

• on seven occasions leading up to, during and following the Free Holiday Bus period, TransLink Sunbus services ceased and no replacement services were provided • two out of the seven, no service days, occurred during the Free Holiday Bus period (31 December 2010 and 1 January 2011). In addition, moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded for most days, which can discourage people from travelling on public transport.

Police investigating the death of a 24-year-old man at a correctional facility at Wacol this morning are treating the death as suspicious.

Preliminary information suggests the man may have been involved in an alleged altercation with another man at the Ipswich Road facility around 8.10am.

Investigations by detectives from the Corrective Service Investigation Unit are continuing.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National President Garry Parsloe says a major stumbling block in the current industrial dispute at Ports of Auckland is the contracting out of work covered in a signed collective employment agreement between the parties.

He says the Union is prepared to lift its strike notice in the new year, but needed an indication of good faith from management.

“We can work with the company to sort out a timeline on outstanding issues, but we need to see that the company is not just pursuing an exercise to casualize the entire workforce, which they have been threatening.”

Mr Parsloe says if Ports of Auckland management want to make a genuine show of good faith, they could make progress by ensuring the existing shuttles that move containers within the port are manned 24/7 by skilled workers trained to operate them.

In the event of undercapacity, Mr Parsloe says the Union is prepared to negotiate in good faith to resolve any issues within an agreed time frame.

Industrial action could be lifted as long as management negotiated outstanding issues in good faith.

“During the term of the previous agreement, Ports of Auckland management contracted out the shuttle work to a company called Conlinxx, which they are the main owners of.”

He says the ownership structure of the Conlinxx service showed the contracting out exercise was clearly aimed at undermining terms and conditions within the signed collective agreement between the parties.

The Maritime Union tried to resolve this issue with past and present management during the term of the agreement, but the contracting out had led to a dispute over the protection of workers livelihoods and their families futures

Mr Parsloe says many New Zealand workers had experienced the bad results of contracting out and casualization, which had decimated wages and conditions and made working life harder for many people in this country.

“Casualization and contracting out isn’t about productivity in our view, it is about taking advantage of workers by driving down their wages and conditions.”

Tough restrictions on wind farms announced by the New South Wales government should also apply to coal seam gas and coal.

The restrictions announced by NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard give a veto to anyone living within a 2 kilometre radius of a proposed wind farm.

Lock the Gate Alliance president Drew Hutton said it was illogical to apply these restrictions to wind farms when the environmental and health impacts of coal mining and coal seam gas extraction were, potentially, so much greater.

"A noise from a wind turbine might be a problem to some but it sits on a concrete base a few metres square and has no impact whatever on ground water," Mr Hutton said.

"A coal mine, on the other hand, can be only a few hundred metres from a dwelling, will massively impact on the health and amenity of anyone living within a ten kilometre radius. It can destroy both ground and surface water and will never be rehabilitated to its former state.

"A coal seam gas field will also have extremely noisy machinery like compressor stations and reverse osmosis plants, fugitive emissions and can cause contamination and draw-downs of the water table.

"It is simply illogical to apply one set of extremely harsh set of rules to one kind of energy source without also applying it to the other."

Mr Hutton said the Queensland government, for all its unambiguous support for the mining industry, had still introduced two-kilometre buffers around rural towns for coal and coal seam gas.

Fatal Traffic Crash, Labrador: Queensland Police Media [25/12/11]

An 82-year-old man has died following a serious traffic crash at Labrador yesterday.

Initial information indicates around 2pm the man was travelling on Beitz Avenue on a mobility scooter, and collided with a vehicle travelling through the intersection of Government Road.

The man fell from the scooter and sustained serious head injuries.

The driver of the vehicle was not physically injured.

Forensic Crash Unit investigations into the crash continue.

GREETINGS CITIZENS OF AUSTRALIA
WE ARE ANONYMOUS.

In Australia we are saturated with US media, and we’ve heard a lot of American ideas like the Freedom of Speech.

We sometimes hear our fellow Australians speak about THEIR right to free speech. But like the Hollywood dreams we’ve watched since childhood, this is a fallacy.

Australians DO NOT have the right to freedom of speech and we never have.
The Australian Constitution does not have any express provision relating to freedom of speech.

There is no list of personal rights or freedoms which may be enforced in the courts.

Moves have been made towards the adoption of a Bill of Rights for Australia, predictably however our Government that is stalling.

On 10 December 2008 the Rudd government announced a nationwide Consultation to examine the protection and promotion of human rights and responsibilities in Australia, so the National Human Rights Consultation Committee was appointed.

On 8 October 2009 the Commonwealth Attorney-General released the Committee’s highly anticipated report.

After widespread public engagement, the Committee found overwhelming community support for a Human Rights Act.

The Australian government said it would respond to the report by the end of 2009.
That was 2 years ago.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SAYS IN REGARD TO AUSTRALIA: “In recent times we have seen how human rights are vulnerable to being undermined by government policies, such as mandatory detention of asylum seekers and the sedition laws passed as part of our anti-terror legislation. There is also the potential for free speech on the internet – or in any other forum – to be censored without legal protection of our right to free speech. We are left relying on the Government to protect our basic human rights, and we have no legal avenue to challenge them if they are abused. While it is marginalised communities whose human rights are most at risk of being violated, human rights of all people are in truth always at risk of being violated if not protected.”

AUSTRALIA IS NOW THE ONLY LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IN THE WORLD WITHOUT OVERARCHING HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION.

Even though Australia has signed all five international treaties that make up the International Bill of Human Rights, none of these treaties are legally binding in Australia.

Despite it being 110 years since Federation each Australian generation has plodded on, seemingly neither knowing nor caring that we do not have a bill of rights in this country.

We the Australian people have let successive governments dictate to us for generations and impose onto us their vile and discriminatory polices like the White Australia Policy, the policies that caused the Stolen Generations, Conscription, and imprisoning asylum seeker in detention centres.

If we are to learn anything from our political history let us not forget the GST and how the now defunct Democrats sold us out and instead of “Keeping the Bastards Honest” they sided with the Howard Government and now we are stuck the GST and inflated grocery prices.

Australia we must stand up as one against our government that has proven to us decade after decade that it is untrustworthy. Our politicians earn more than those in the UK or USA.

AUSTRALIANS ALL, LET US UNITE!
LET US UNITE AND DEMAND OUR HUMAN RIGHTS — NOW!

WE, THE PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA, DEMAND THE GOVERNMENT TO ADOPT AN AUSTRALIAN BILL OF RIGHTS, IMMEDIATELY, AND WITHOUT DELAY.

We invite you join us in this fight for our basic rights.

TO THIS AUSTRALIAN GOVENMENT, ANONYMOUS HAS THIS MESSAGE: “We have not forgotten the last federal election when we, the Australian voters decided that we didn’t much like either party and so we voted for neither, resulting in a hung parliament. THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LOUD WARNING TO YOU. Give us, THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE the rights that are so long overdue to us. WE DO NOT ASK, WE DEMAND.”

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
For every one of us that falls, 10 more will take their place.

We do not forgive.
We do not forget.

TO THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT:
YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US.

Residents at the small town of Eumundi on Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland have stepped up their campaign to save their local service station.

Five small service stations selling fuel from footpath bowsers in the Sunshine Coast hinterland were shut down three weeks ago due to safety concerns.

Two have since reopened but about 100 protesters, including local school bus operators and rural firefighters, yesterday rallied against the closure of the Eumundi service station.

Resident Geoff Shepherd says it is a blow to the small community.

"This is the heart of the town and if this petrol station goes, then maybe the shop will go as well," he said.

"It's the only shop we've got in town and that will hurt the town immensely."

Resident Janie Ferguson agrees and says it could cripple Eumundi.

"This is like the central part, so if you lose this, people are going to go elsewhere," she said.

The Eumundi service station has operated for 83 years without incident.

Eumundi service station owner Bob Loudon says its closure will hurt the town.

Mr Loudon wants to reduce risks and hopes a raft of mitigation measures will allow him to reopen.

"We've got to convince them that we can safely run a servo, which has been operating since 1928," he said.

"One can consider that you might go from an asset to the community to a damned liability and I don't want to do that, so fight we will."

The Beerwah Hotel

Buderim State School proudly celebrates its sesquicentenary in 2012

A lack of media diversity in any one town means no-one is speaking truth to power.

Bad things become normal.

Like chopping down trees for no good reason:

Kelvin Grove Road

And demolishing libraries:

The year we've all been waiting for - 2012AD (or 13.0.0.0.0, if you ask a Mayan) - is finally here. What will happen? Will we see the poles shift or a paradigm shift? Will a rogue Sumerian planet smash into our solar system, plunging us into serfdom under the iron fist of a race of gold-hungry aliens? Or are the aliens already here? Or are all these merely humanity's collective projections of itself as it careens towards an ever-accelerating super-connected cyber-reality - whatever that means... One thing's sure, if 2011 was a prelude of things to come, 2012 is going to be one hell of a year. Now that it has arrived, are we ready? Join your host Robert Foster and his guests, Terrence Moonseed and General Baxter, as they conduct an in-depth rap analysis into the future, and humanity's place in it. Happy New YERA!

HOME