MEDIA PAGE
Random Observations And Frustrations From Rupert Town And Beyond
'Sun' Burns Normie
One of Murdoch's obedient little footsoldiers on the Gold Coast has compiled a list of 1983 "happenings" so readers can reminisce and go "ooh aahh, remember that Mavis?", including this:
"New Year's Eve celebrations held on the Gold Coast included performances on the Surfers Paradise beach by Normie Rowe, Street Cars, Jenny Andrews and Debbie Byrne." [Gold Coast Sun - 31/12/08]
Note that of the thousands of Normie Rowe (or Debbie Byrne for that matter) images, the above image was selected to accompany the snippet.
Some Normie Rowe and Debbie Byrne images
Using the image of a beaming Rowe saluting in his slouch hat isn't a random, innocent selection. But it's not the usual News Ltd. jingoistic, patriotic propaganda either. It's a calculated poke.
Rowe was drafted for compulsory military service in late 1967. In May last year you probably heard that he was wrongly conscripted:
"The 60s pop star, whose hits include Shakin' All Over and It's Not Easy, has told NewsRadio his birth date - February 1, 1947 - was not one of the days that was drawn in the conscription ballots that year.
Rowe says he only discovered the mistake when he was booked for speeding by a policeman with the same birth date.
"He said: 'Oh, I was born on the same day as you I see. Why did you get called up and I didn't?' That was quite some years ago," Rowe recalled.
"I haven't really bothered chasing it too much because there's nothing much I can do about it all these years later.
"I mean the damage is done and you get on with your life.""
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/15/2245299.htm
Hang on. Did he say "damage"? That somehow implies that imperialistic wars are damaging. Of course the hardworking enablers at News Ltd. leapt upon this transgression the very next day:
"Sixties pop singer Normie Rowe was conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War fair and square, the Australian War Memorial says.
Rejecting suggestions Rowe had been wrongly sent to Vietnam, AWM historian Libby Stewart said his birth date -- February 1, 1947 -- had been drawn in a supplementary ballot conducted on September 8, 1967"
As well as being Australia’s biggest pop star of the sixties, Normie Rowe is "a leading advocate and spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans." He's not one to shy away from expressing his views - remember the 'Ray Martin' punch up with Ron Casey back in 1991?
Of course, Rowe may not be offended by the choice of image at all. Indeed, much to the dispeasure of the News Ltd. crowd, he's still performing and his popularity endures - so what does he care? The point is that the pin dicks at News Ltd. bear long grudges for their boss.
Woe betide any admired and respected Australian who is outspoken on issues, and expresses ideas that clash with King Rupert's point of view. His little bum kissers are ready and waiting to spin the talking points for the great filthy unwashed and remind the transgressor who's in charge - they have long memories - and even longer databases.
Never mind. Perhaps News Corp will go bust this year. Now that's what I call optimism!
From 'The Man Who Owns The News: Inside The Secret World Of Rupert Murdoch' by Michael Wolff:
"From the outside looking in, the fear, or horror, of working for Rupert Murdoch is not just of dealing with a man who will, with few exceptions, always have his way, but of being part of an organization that invariably, and necessarily, acts in his interests. In other words, the very act of professional journalism is subverted by working for him. To work for him is to do his bidding, to follow his line, to execute his desires, to support his needs, to grind his axes, to act on behalf of his empire, to carry out his policies, to be a citizen of his nation-state with all its demanding nationalism.
Of course, virtually everyone within News Corp. emphatically denies that this is so.
How can this be? How can they insist upon this unreality--it's precisely this insistence that bedevils other journalists--while so blithely, so unrepentantly, so obviously propping up Rupert's version of reality? The truth is, in many ways coming to work for Murdoch as a newsperson is not entirely a bad situation to find yourself in. First of all, it's the most successful, most thriving, and largest news organization in the world. And while it has never been the most commodious operation--it takes pride in its lack of comforts--it nevertheless allows for a pretty good standard of living. There is certainly no feeling of existential dread--Could all this go away tomorrow?--which is the feeling at so many other news organizations in the markets dominated by Murdoch. It is pretty easy, in the 60 percent of the market he controls in Australia, at his dominant papers and broadcast outlets in the United Kingdom, at the Post and at Fox News in the United States, to feel a sense of relief that you've made it to a safe harbor...
Journalism, when you work for Murdoch, is a good sport. It takes only the combat seriously.
The idea of higher calling, of blah-blah responsibility, of reverential bullshit, is some class thing about trying to make the job more important than it is, and has nothing to do with making the news direct, powerful, and fun.
The effect of this, of the creation of this very clear and insular culture, is that the process itself is not open to question. The idea that someone would not understand that the organization has its interests would define someone who was not going to be part of News Corp. for very long. This is Rupert Murdoch's newsroom--wherever it is (and wherever he is). Being Rupert Murdoch's newsroom pursuing Rupert Murdoch's interests, hitting Rupert Murdoch's enemies over the head, gives the whole place personality. Other journalists might take exception to Murdoch's heavy hand, to Murdoch using journalism to fight his battles, but, elementally, readers don't--in a sense, they like it; it's a clarity that they get.
Part of the sport, for readers and for Murdoch journalists, is understanding, accepting, and getting a kick out of the fact that the news media can still crack the whip, and that making trouble is what gives it snap--readers like to know that their paper can stick it. And that when the a paper uses its power, you're part of that power--you can feel pride in that, and strength. Going after people is part of the fun--having power is fun."
The Real Meaning Of Christmas
It can sometimes be difficult for the family to agree on what to watch on TV on Christmas Eve. Luckily Channel 10 has the perfect solution. All the Judeo-Christian Values come together under Israel Asper's idea of what Australian families should watch on 24th December, 2008.
So get the authoritarian figure in your household to command that you all sit down and enjoy this uplifting display of some of god's sexiest creations! Talk about intelligent design! Nwarrrrr, for a square, god really knows what turns on fundamentalist simpletons, what a genius!:
"Join Heidi Klum and Australia's own Miranda Kerr in a showcase of the most glamorous bras, sexy sleepwear, lingerie and swimwear on the world's leading supermodels."
http://ten.com.au/tvguide_synopsis.html?id=Victoria_s_Secret_Fashion_Show_2008_2445977.xml
Sue Howard To Leave ABC: Media Release [19/12/2008]
ABC Director of Radio and Regional Content, Sue Howard has announced she will be leaving the Corporation this month after an exceptional 22 year career.
“It’s very hard to leave something you are so passionate about, but in many ways this is the very best time of all. I am proud that radio finished 2008 on an historic high with its largest audience share on record. It’s very clear that millions of our listeners are telling us every week that we’re doing a lot right and it’s a terrific feeling to leave the medium I love in such a strong position,” Ms Howard said.
“ABC radio is poised, not just to meet the digital challenge ahead, but is ready to continue to lead Australian media into the new multi platform era.
“I’ve been proud and privileged to lead and work with the dedicated, enthusiastic and creative radio team across Australia and while of course I feel some sadness in leaving, there are other challenges and opportunities beckoning me that I feel I need to take.”
ABC Managing Director Mark Scott paid tribute to Sue Howard’s leadership and achievements.
“Sue has notched up some remarkable firsts for the Corporation. She leaves with our respect, thanks and warm wishes,” Mr Scott said.
“Under Sue’s 11 year directorship radio audiences across the country increased by more than 30% and the ABC became one of the largest creators of podcasting material in the world.
“Sue’s belief that the ABC needed to play a major role in the digital revolution saw the establishment of the Dig internet stations and the training and placement of the first radio online producers working in regional Australia telling local stories for radio, television and online; a move that has extended both the cross media content produced while capturing larger radio audiences the country.”
Sue Howard began her ABC career in 1986 behind the microphone. She was a highly popular presenter fronting Classic FM Drive, pioneering ABC Radio’s mid dawn shift and becoming the first woman to present a breakfast program on ABC metropolitan radio.
http://www.abc.net.au/corp/pubs/media/s2451239.htm
Ramsay's Last Column At A Premium
Alan Ramsey's Saturday column is normally available on-line through Fairfax's various websites.
Today [21/12/08] was his last column and it was not available on-line.
So I went to the Alderley newsagent to buy a dead tree copy, and there were only a couple left between the big unsold piles of 'The Australian' and the 'Courier Mail'. The "free market" charged me $2.80 (with a frown), which is above the cover price.
What would the increase in this weekend's Fairfax sales tell you about Ramsey's popularity?
Here's an excerpt:
"On March 4, 2005, Queensland's State Coroner, Michael Barnes, the son of The Age political journalist, Allan Barnes, who died of cancer in the 1970s, stood down from the coronial inquiry into Doomadgee's death after Hurley's counsel challenged him on the grounds of "perceived bias". In the 1990s, Barnes had headed the complaints division of Queensland's Criminal Justice commission and was involved in the investigation of "20 to 30" complaints against Hurley in north Queensland Aboriginal communities, none of which was sustained."
And he concludes this final column: "Mulrunji Doomadgee's only crime was that he was black."
While Kerry's Away...
Ever since the ABC went into shut-down for Christmas there has been a ridiculous increase in the number of "news" items involving input or even 'interviews' with 'journalists' from other corporate outlets. They have had Fairfax once or twice and News Ltd. with the predictable regularity of a dose of the trots.
Take the news of the District Court decision [18/12/08] to order another finding into the death in custody of Mr Doomadgee on Palm Island. Would you choose the local News Ltd. hack or perhaps Chris Graham from the 'National Indigineous Times' or Jeff Waters, who wrote 'Gone for a Song: A Death in Custody on Palm Island', or even an objective source with a background away from blatantly biased news corporations?
Nope. For some reason, the ABC continues to give credibility to News Ltd. publications by interviewing journalists on their shows.
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2450571.htm
Tool Tales
Dr Ingrid Tall is a well-known Brisbane identity. She's a former Queensland AMA president, television presenter and one-time Liberal candidate for the seat of Brisbane in the 2004 Federal election. Dr Tall currently practices cosmetic medicine at the 'Cosmetic Image Clinic'.
I wonder if she's any relation to the "Tool" mentioned in the only paper in town today [18/12/08]?
"Dr Ingrid Tool of Cosmetic Image, Brisbane, said the Premier's "elevated eyebrows", the result of a little too much botox in the forehead, were a dead giveaway."
Was this error was unintentional, or just sloppy? As usual it's hard to tell.
Spin Doctors Working Overtime
"And all the world is biscuit-shaped,
It's just for me to feed my face,
And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste,
And I've got one, two, three, four, five,
Senses working overtime
Trying to take this all in.
I've got one, two, three, four, five,
Senses working overtime
Trying to taste the difference,
'tween a lemon and a lime,
Pain and the pleasure,
And the church bells softly chime."
'Senses Working Overtime', XTC [1982]
The government's White Paper on Climate Change is a masterpiece of weasely weasel words, and you know it's a disaster when Rupert's main mouthpiece approves:
As Tim Lambert points out:
"The quick way to see if the Australian government's CO2 emission targets are adequate is to check the reaction from The Australian. Since The Australian believes that it's not warming and we're not causing it and it will not be harmful and we can't do anything about it, they're not going to approve of any targets that will do anything. So what's the verdict?
'the Prime Minister's policy response to the Garnaut report is largely balanced, prudent and cautious. While honouring his promise to act on climate change, it is mindful of the need to protect jobs in challenging economic times.'
Ouch. That bad."
http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/
Since Monday's launch, the widespread negative criticism has been swiftly countered by a well-co-ordinated campaign of spin.
Closer inspection of the White Paper reveals the numbers just don't add up.
Thank you to "Charles", commenting on www.johnquiggin.com and explaining that the spin trying to dress up 5% mutton as 24%, 34% or even 41% lamb is based on Australia's population booming 46% in 12 years time.
Economic and population growth at all costs.
It's bad enough that the ABC radio and television have corporate "journalists" on their shows, but you have to wonder when 4ZzZ interviews 'The Age's Energy Reporter' Mathew Murphy on the 'Radio Democracy' show today [17/12/08] about how excellent this plan is.
Coming To Your Neighbourhood Via The "Education Revolution"...
From 'Obama Slam-Duncans Education' by Greg Palast, "Information Clearinghouse" [16/12/08]:
"At the heart of the program is testing. And more testing. Testing instead of teaching. When tests go badly, the solution is to push the low-test-score kids to drop out of school. If triage isn't enough, then attack their teachers.
Here's how Duncan operates this Bush program in Chicago at Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto. Teachers there work with kids from homeless shelters from an economically devastated neighborhood. Believe it or not, the kids don't get high test scores. So Chicago fired the teachers, every one of them. Then they brought in new teachers and fired THEM too when, surprise!, test scores still didn't rise.
The reward for a teacher volunteering for a tough neighborhood is to get harassed, blamed and fired. Now THAT'S a brilliant program, Mr. Duncan. But Duncan's own failures have not gotten HIM fired. As long as his 20-foot jumpshot holds, he's Mr. Secretary."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21481.htm
You Can't Have It Both Ways!
From today's [17/12/08] 'Gold Coast Bulletin':
"The State Government is reaping millions of dollars from Gold Coast property owners by not valuing properties eligible for land tax this year, says a leading property group.
The Government will not carry out Gold Coast land valuations for 2009 which will mean owners' land tax bills will be based on 2007's inflated property values, says the Property Council of Australia."
The fact that the Land Tax is well crook aside, industry groups such as the Property Council of Australia have spent the last few years talking up the value of the property market, so it's very hard to get enthusiastic about this story!
Ask Bob
From 'Women's Forum Australia's' December 2008 Newsletter:
"We’re at a loss to understand why the Federal Government has given $250,000 to the sex worker industry group Scarlet Alliance to combat trafficking. Grants were given also to Project Respect, Australian Coalition of Religious Against Trafficking (ACRATH) and Anti-Slavery Project. We welcome these. But the Scarlet Alliance has made it clear at conferences and on its website that it does not believe Australia has a sex trafficking problem. So why are they getting money to fight a problem they don’t think exists? You might want to ask Bob Debus."
http://www.womensforumaustralia.org/
Should Have Voted Green
"So many people — especially young people — voted for him because of his election promise to take strong action on climate change. He was elected with a mandate to take courageous and bold action to cut Australia's emissions and play an international role of leadership. Today he has rejected that mandate; thrown it back in our faces."
http://newmatilda.com/2008/12/15/rudd-has-betrayed-generation
Pedestrians Are Brisbane's Second Class Citizens
Today's [15/12/08] 'Brisbane Times' pulls out the old faithful "cyclists vs pedestrians" story:
"Growing tension between cyclists, joggers and walkers on Brisbane's burgeoning bikeway network has forced their separation on one busy strip, where a refusal to share the bitumen has been likened to "kindergarten behaviour"."
Everybody knows the aggressive, lycra-clad speed freaks rule Brisbane's walkways and bikepaths - even the University of Queensland's outgoing Secretary and Registrar, has a shot in the Summer 2008 edition of 'Graduate Contact'.
"My one miserable failure, and a disaster waiting to happen, is my continuing inability to regulate the riding of bicycles on the St Lucia campus. The large pelotons of lycra-clad, head-down cyclists that invade the campus most early mornings and at weekends (with the UQ Cycle Club being a notable exception), continue to display a flagrant disrespect of speed limits, road rules and other campus users, whether they are drivers or pedestrians."
Bikepaths and walkways are not freeways, they're paths. Widening the paths is not the solution. Cyclists should give way to pedestrians and joggers.
And as for likening this problem to "war"? This is war:
"There was devastation and desolation and nothing else. Lead grey clouds hung low over the city, vapours drifted up from fissures in the ground, and there was an acrid sulphurous smell. The few people to be seen in this former city of half a million hurried past each other without speaking or pausing, white masks covering mouths and nostrils. Buildings had dissolved into grey and reddish dust, solidified into ridges and banks by the frequent rains and heavy winds, as I learned later."
From Wilfred Burchett's 'The Atomic Plague', less than a month after the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 [In 'Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and Its Triumphs' edited by John Pilger]
How Low Can You Go?
From 'Crikey!' [11/12/08]:
"A meeting of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation board today is expected to consider offloading its book publishing arm to ... wait for it ... Rupert Murdoch.
The licence -- possibly in perpetuity -- to run ABC Books has been on the market for several months. Crikey understands the one unsuccessful bidder was Melbourne University Publishing, but that the News Corp subsidiary HarperCollins is now the front-runner to get the nod and aquire a new imprint: ABC Books
Under an existing arrangement, Allen and Unwin manages sales and distribution for ABC Books titles. This has expired and ABC Commercial Director Lynley Marshall is understood to have made it clear she believes the stock risk for ABC Books should be held by an outside "partner" rather than the corporation itself. Consequently the proposed deal is expected to place control of all contracts, outstanding advances and stock into the hands of HarperCollins."
Doctors Declare Australian Hospital System On The Brink Of Collapse
From World Socialist Website:
"Australia's public hospitals are so understaffed and bed shortages so serious that hospitals routinely operate for long periods at "code red", a level of overcrowding at which patients will die, says a new public hospital ‘report card' released last month. Fewer than two thirds of emergency patients are attended to within the recommended 30 minutes. About a third of emergency patients wait eight hours to be admitted to a ward.
The federal Labor government this week responded to the crisis by increasing health funding by $1 billion annually under its new five-year Australian Health Agreement with the states. But this is only a third of what is required to avoid unsafe bed occupancy levels, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA), the country's leading medical lobby group. The AMA's report card says the $3 billion actually needed would add 3,750 hospital beds nationally. The newly announced increase in federal funding will add only 625...
Will Labor end the billions in annual subsidies to private health insurance companies? The answer should surprise no one. At the introduction of the 30 percent rebate and in the years that followed, Labor, sensing broad popular opposition, promised to rein in the rebate. But in February of this year, three months after Labor won government, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd assured the health insurance industry that the rebate was safe. "The private health insurance rebate remains unchanged and will remain unchanged," he told reporters."
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/amar-d11.shtml
UPDATE [12/12/08]
A 'Spring Hill Voice' reader writes:
"After paying 40 years insurance not once in 8 years did we get a private room immediately, only after a prolonged fight. When you're dying they give you one the pr*cks. We waited in Emergency (private) for 6-8 hours and then were sent home on more than one occasion.
Forgive my residual anger."
Surely This Has To Be A Record Number of Comments On A Blog?
http://blairboltwatch.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/we-are-mumbai-they-are-al-qaeda/#comments
War Is Hell
From 'Information Clearing House':
"December 11, 2008 "WSWS" --- An Australian Defence Department (ADD) report published in October, and highlighted on November 26 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Lateline" program, provides a rare account of the shameful operations being performed by the Australian military as part of the US-led occupation of Afghanistan.
The units most involved are from the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) and the Fourth Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (4RAR), the Army's designated commando battalion. These are highly trained troops and their ostensible role in times of war is to carry out long range reconnaissance, surveillance, harassment or raids on enemy targets. In the so-called "war on terror", they are being used as little more than death squads."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21430.htm
Chicago Boy To Tell Us How To Fix Our Primary Schools
"Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has ordered a review of educational standards in the state's primary schools, saying students are under-performing.
International expert Professor Geoff Masters has been appointed to carry out the review.
Ms Bligh says she is disappointed in the latest national testing showing Queensland's year fours came last in maths and science.
"What's happening in our primary schools in terms of the performance in these test areas is simply not good enough," she said.
"I am as disappointed as parents are out there, that's why I'm appointing Professor Geoff Masters to get in there and have a really good look."
[Prof Masters] will provide us with some advice where those schools that aren't performing and how we can lift their performance.""
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/10/2442601.htm
I know we're just an outpost of the neocon empire, but at least tell us who this "international expert" is!
FYI, Professor Masters is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Research:
"He has a PhD in educational measurement from the University of Chicago and has published several books and numerous journal articles in the field of educational assessment."
http://www.acer.edu.au/staffbio/masters_geoff.html
There are a number of Queensland academics who are already able to tell us how to fix our primary schools but obviously the deal has been done.
In any case, Blind Freddy could tell you that putting a halt to closing down state schools and improving teacher to student ratios in classrooms would be a start.
"You know, of course, that the earth is round like an orange; but let me tell you that men had lived on the earth for a long, long time before they found that out. They thought that it was flat."
Professor Goodfellow was talking, as he often did, to his young friends, Pam and David.
"It's no wonder they thought that - that the earth was flat, I mean," said Pam. "It doesn't seem round, does it?"
"Maps are flat, though," David remarked.
"So they are," agreed the Professor, with a nod. "If they were not, how could we have them in atlases and books, or hanging on the wall? Maps are very useful, and we couldn't do without them. But if you want to get a true idea of the world, you must use a globe. Professors and other clever people often call it a sphere," he added with a chuckle.
Saying that, the Professor began shifting piles of books that somehow always seemed to collect on his table and, from where it had been hidden, produced a globe.
"No flat map could be exactly the same as a curved part of the globe. Look! I'll show you."
The Professor's hands dived into his two large coat pockets which held, the children knew by now, the most unexpected things. When he withdrew them, one hand held an orange, the other a pocket knife. Carefully he cut off a round piece of orange peel, bigger-indeed much igger-than a penny. Then he pressed it down on the table.
"There you are," he said. "That is how you should think of a map in your atlas or on the wall. It's just like a piece of the surface of the globe cut off and pressed flat."
"But that piece of orange peel isn't really flat," David remarked.
"Of course it isn't," their old friend replied. "No matter how hard you try to flatten something which is curved, you will find that it will always have bulges. That's why map-makers have such a difficult task making flat maps. When you are older, perhaps you will learn just how they do it. But it is the globe which shows us the real size and shape of countries."
'Social Studies for Queensland Schools Grade IV' (Issued by the Department of Education 1962)
Ed Does The Company Proud
The 'Gold Coast Sun's' gun reporter - Ed Earl - once wrote for 'Time Off'. Particularly memorable was his eyebrow raising review of the Brisbane band Blowhard from a couple of years ago.
Over the last 3 or 4 weeks he has been peddling some of News Limited's finest religious bigotry with a rabidly anti-Islamic dog whistling story inciting opposition to an Islamic school at Carrara. Following the usual formula, it started with a "story" about a mysterious group trying to drum up "outrage" in the "community". Of course the "story" actually advertised the upcoming meeting. That allowed the Murdoch press to act as the innocent observer when it reported on the turnout at the event and its anti Islam sentiment.
The 'Sun' has been running with it ever since even though it is clearly a beat-up and the vast majority of the local community are unconcerned and even, shockingly, tolerant.
Earl, who is either a naive and simple journalist or is knowingly complicit in purveying this bigotry, wrote [26/11/08] that the proposed school would be next to the "Dream Centre Christian Church." He reported that "Dream Centre" were contacted for a comment but declined. In the same article he wrote "the uphill battle does not worry part-time business owner and community worker Tony Doherty, who helped organise the meeting." The Imam from the school is quoted: "we have tried to contact the church next door but they have refused about three or four times".
The campaign rolls on with Earl and the 'Sun' beating the drum. Tucked away at the end of this week's piece [10/12/08], Earl reports that "Dream Centre Christian Church minister and Concerned Carrara Residents Group spokesman, Tony Doherty, last week denied protests were on religious grounds." That's funny, two weeks ago he was just a business owner and community worker.
Earl makes no comment about the fact that "Dream Centre", Doherty and the bogus "Residents Group" appear to have played him for a mug. In fact it is almost as if he was in on it all the time. Shameless.
Consolidated News
'The Week' began publishing in October. We've received two editions so far and have found it to be a reasonable distillation of the week's news throughout the nation and around the world. This snazzy looking magazine has a colourful cover and is in A4 format - convenient enough to slip in your handbag.
'The Week' is published by Dennis Publishing (Felix Dennis was one of the fellows who produced 'Oz' Magazine) but there's nothing too challenging or subversive about its roundup of Australian and International media. A weekly digest of Politics, people, sport and entertainment, it's a bit like 'The Bulletin' (sans Laurie Oakes) meets the AFR's 'Life and Leisure' supplement and 'mX' (there's something irritating and just plain wrong about calling a column "Boring but important"), rounded off with a crossword by Mungo McCallum, the obligitory Sudoku and even a quirky real estate section.
Although the past two editions contained too many extracts and reviews of Harper Collins books, I'd say, if you live in a one paper town, and you enjoy the more tactile aspects of catching up on the news - here's your chance to give Rupert the finger - subscribe to 'The Week' instead. If you're worried about missing what the only paper in town has to say every morning, just tune into ABC radio or television news.
The highlight of this week's [5/12/08] edition is the comment by Editor-in-chief - David Salter:
"As the world still struggles to find its financial feet we're already being told that recovery is certain because natural free-market competition - the fundamental principle that gives Capitalism its great impetus - will prevail. Well, that's a comforting thought, but wasn't it free-market competition that got us into this mess in the first place? Wasn't it US domestic banks who competed fiercely for all those subprime loans, then international financial houses who competed to package and re-sell those debts to each other until their giddy game of pass-the-parcel came to its inevitable sticky end? Market competition is an undeniably dynamic force, but it cannot, in itself, be an absolute positive. For one business to succeed, others will usually have to fail.
Nor does competition axiomatically promote efficiency. Indeed, there are vast sectors of our economy that survive only because the wealth for First World communities still allows ludicrous levels of choice and duplication. Does Australia really need more than 200 models of automobile? Thousands of different wines? Choice is certainly pleasant for those who can afford it, but excessive market segmentation is also wasteful. Far be it from me to propose Soviet-style regulation but, with hard times ahead, a more moderate approach to the range of goods and services we expect might be in the long-term national interest."
A search of South East Queensland council library catalogues (Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Brisbane) and the State Library of Queensland reveals that 'The Week' is yet to be added to their periodical collections.
With Murdoch 's ever increasing stranglehold on public information and his ever tightening grip on the nuts of our politicians, Australians need access to as many news alternatives as possible.
"Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has hailed the launch of a new public affairs television network as a good move for Australia's democracy.
Sky News, Foxtel and Austar have joined together to launch A-Span, a new public affairs television network and an initiative of the Federal Government's 2020 Summit.
The public affairs network will be available on digital free-to-air television, cable and online, providing coverage of parliament deliberations as well as industry meetings."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/08/2440386.htm
'The Week' doesn't replace the urgent need for more independent community publications, but it's well edited and better than the racist, sexist drivel and propaganda found on the pages of News Ltd. publications.
Why No ENT Specialists Or Audiologists Onboard?
"A new medical program in Queensland is using state-of-the-art technology to treat children living in remote Indigenous communities in hope that it will reduce preventable conditions like ear infections.
The trial of the mobile telemedicine program is the first in Australia. The mobile health clinic will tour the communities capturing patient images and then relay that information to specialists in Brisbane."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/08/2440994.htm
Because there is no incentive, and the State and Federal government's rhetoric about closing the gap is meaningless. As one audiologist, who previously worked in remote communities in the Northern Territory put it, "No one wants to do the work….it’s too hard, you’re not paid enough and you get no-where…"
Oh Kerry, I Get The Feeling We're F*cked
From last night's [8/12/08] '7.30 Report':
"Hundreds of Australian wind industry employees are about to be sacked as the industry grinds to a halt. The nation’s largest wind tower company, Keppel Engineering had been hoping that the Rudd Government’s election pledge of a 20 per cent renewable energy target would boost growth in the clean energy sector, but after a year of delay, the industry is struggling."
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2440907.htm
Shame:
"A Coca-Cola ad starring Kerry Armstrong has been given the all-clear by the advertising watchdog because the actress does not push excessive consumption of the soft drink but does recommend brushing teeth after drinking it.
The Advertising Standards Bureau dismissed a handful of complaints about the print ad, which purports to bust myths such as that Coke makes you fat and contains cocaine. Dentists, doctors and public health officials slammed the ad as inaccurate and irresponsible for promoting a sugar-laden drink at a time when obesity levels nationally are rising.
In the ad, Armstrong is quoted as saying that, because she is able to separate myth from fact, her "family can continue to enjoy one of our favourite drinks"."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/kerry-armstrong-ad-gets-allclear/2008/11/27/1227491680882.html
Unfinished Business On Palm Island
From the 'National Indigenous Times' [13/11//08]:
"If you think Townsville Police don't target black people, or youths, well think again.
This writer interviewed William Blackman on Monday in a park across the street from the Townsville court complex.
As we sat and talked, a Palm Island man, Joel Lenoy walked up to us.
After brief greetings, Mr Lenoy revealed he would also be facing court soon.
"What for?" I asked.
"VB," he replied.
Mr Lenoy had been caught on Palm Island carrying a six-pack of VB, which is a full strength beer. Only mid-strength and light beer are allowed on the island.
Mr Lenoy fully expects he may receive jail time for the offence.
As we spoke, Mr Lenoy suddenly excused himself. He called out over his shoulder, 'Gotta go. There's a copper coming.' Sure enough, a lone police officer who appeared to be heading to the courthouse was ambling up the path running through the centre of the park.
As he approached a rotunda, where three black youths were sitting quietly, talking, he stopped.
And then searched their bags.
Finding nothing, the cop continued on past me without batting an eyelid. I'm white. And I had a tape recorder in my hands.
The officer's pace quickened a little. He seemed focused on Mr Lenoy, who was by this stage disappearing around the corner.
Mr Lenoy had committed no actual offence. At least, not yet."
http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=16613
Roy & HG Leave Triple J: ABC Media Release [2/12/08]
It’s goodbye and good luck to HG Nelson (Greig Pickhaver) and "Rampaging" Roy Slaven (John Doyle). The pair has decided to head off to the world of commercial radio after 22 years of presenting the superb 'This Sporting Life' (Sundays 2pm). Roy and HG have produced some amazing radio during their time on triple j. Who could forget their ‘Festival Of The Boot’, ‘Golden Ring Show’, coverage of the 2007 Federal election ‘Indecision 07’ or their insatiable ability to make the serious trivial and the trivial serious. Linda Bracken [Triple J's Manager] expressed her sadness at Roy and HG’s departure:
“They are more than a radio program, they have become their own radio comedy genre. It’s been a joy and a privilege to work with them. They will be missed but we wish them all the best for the future”.
http://www.abc.net.au/corp/pubs/media/s2435942.htm
Do You Need Any More Proof That News Ltd. Owns Australia?
Code of conduct my *rse. Kick Rupert out so we can get some real political representation in this country!
"A Labor MP has apologised for taking a photograph of a protester who threatened to set himself alight outside federal parliament and giving it to the media.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Harry Jenkins, said the incident was a reminder the lower house may want to consider a code of conduct.The photo is of Marat Aminov, 28, who had doused himself in petrol and threatened to set himself alight.
Earlier this week he jumped onto the floor of parliament and was led away by guards.
Labor MP for Dawson, north Queensland, James Bidgood, who appeared upset, admitted taking the photographs and passing them onto News Limited."
And You Thought Coonan Was Bad
From the 'Friends of the ABC' website:
To the Prime Minister of Australia...
It's Time Mr Rudd
All across the many and varied electorates of this wide, brown land, Australians value and respect their ABC, and as repeated poll results have told us, the ABC is right at the top of the list of our most trusted sources of information and entertainment. Your own party’s platform calls it one of Australia’s ‘most important public institutions.’ You have promised that Labor will ‘ensure adequate funding and support for Australia’s public broadcasters, to enable them to continue to provide Australians with high quality broadcasting services, free from political and commercial influence.’ As Leader of the Opposition, you acknowledged the importance of the ABC within our Asia/Pacific Region, and undertook to rebuild Radio Australia. Many electors voted for you in the belief that you would honour your commitments to:
ADEQUATE funding on a triennial basis
The independence of the ABC
The introduction of a new process for board appointments
Appointments to the board based on merit
Restoration of the staff-elected directorThere is a growing feeling of disappointment and dismay that your government has honoured none of these commitments, even the ones that cost nothing! Why has Quentin Dempster, elected overwhelmingly by ABC staff to the position of staff-elected director, not been appointed to one of the vacant board positions?
Why has there been no action to reform the process of board appointments to ensure that no government can ever ‘stack’ the board in the manner of the Howard government?
We understand that you are governing in difficult financial times, but I suspect that the electorate would gladly forgo part of the $36 billion in tax cuts that you promised prior to the election in order that the ABC, not to mention our public schools and hospitals, are funded to a level befitting the wealth of a nation such as ours. Mr. Rudd, I have a dream that my son, born last week, will grow up as well served by the ABC as I was as a child in rural Australia – it educated me, it informed me, it entertained me, it gave me a lifelong love of music and things natural, indeed it was a welcome extra member of my family. It’s Time, Mr. Rudd, to restore funding to the ABC at least to the level which applied when that slogan was so instrumental in electing a previous Labor government in a bygone era.
Mal Hewitt, on behalf of NSW Friends of the ABC.
http://www.fabcnsw.org.au/fabc/news.html
Have your say on Senator Conroy's 'Towards a digital future' discussion paper:
http://www.abc.net.au/corp/haveyoursay/
Save Our SBS
Save Our SBS (SOSBS) defends the independence and integrity of Australia’s multicultural public broadcaster, the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS).
In particular we seek:
Adequate funding for the SBS by government;
An immediate end to the interruption of programs by non-program-content, followed by the abolition of all advertising on the SBS;
Adherence by the SBS to its original purpose as a specialist and distinctive multicultural broadcaster which has meaningful consultation with ethnic communities in particular;
An SBS Board appointed on merit and consisting of people with a strong commitment to multiculturalism; and,
To work with like minded persons and or organisations in furtherance of this Statement of Purposes.
Alan Ramsey Retires
The only column worth reading on Saturday morning is no more.
Wouldn't you think Phillip Adams could have had anyone other than the horrible Christian Kerr to discuss the retirement of long serving National Press Gallery stalwart Alan Ramsey? Mind you, perhaps Adams and Ramsey hate each other's guts.
"As the political year winds down, Christian Kerr discusses the essential similarities between the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition. He also pays respect to the Sydney Morning Herald's Alan Ramsay, who retires from the paper, taking with him that all-important corporate memory of Australian politics."
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2008/2434524.htm
Here's an excerpt from Monica Attard's interview with Ramsay from a couple of years back. It will give you more of an insight into what makes the veteran journalist tick. Ramsay says:
"Look I see the press’s role particularly in politics as being not part of the cheer squad. You’ve got to question everything, you’ve got to be sceptical about it, everything that’s done and everything that’s said and that treads on a lot of toes over time and politicians don’t like it, they like ciphers."
http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1523151.htm
Something Kerr could never understand, and, while we're on the topic of "Hilary Bray", here's 'Crikey!'s' take on Ramsay's farewell dinner:
"A craven cur. An atrocity was certain to occur at last night's farewell dinner for the Sydney Morning Herald's veteran political commentator Alan Ramsey held at Canberra's Old Parliament House. The surprise was that Ramsey himself didn't commit the atrocity. That honor went to former Herald columnist Mike Carlton who was summarily dropped three months ago when he supported striking journos rather than submit his weekly column. During proceedings Carlton climbed onto his chair in the packed dining room where around 150 guests were enjoying Fairfax-provided food and wine and shouted in stentorian tones: "The editor of The Sydney Morning Herald is a craven cur."
Later Carlton was observed heading towards a cluster of Fairfax executives which included editor Alan Oakley and there appeared to be a restrained exchange of views. Apart from the vivacious Annabel Crabb, the Fairfax table appeared to comprise graceless, shamefaced nonentities who nobody knew (or wanted to know). Their grim presence supported one of the memorable moments of Ramsey's farewell speech when he said the Herald seemed to have "a death wish".
One former Prime Minister -- Paul Keating -- attended the dinner which gave Ramsey a standing ovation -- with the sole exception of Tony O'Leary, the appalling press secretary from the Howard era, who stayed riveted to his chair as the room showed its respect for the retiring wordsmith who, along with Carlton, made Saturday's Herald a must-read edition. Now Oakley is offering Miranda Devine -- a key element of his "death wish" strategy". -- Alex Mitchell
Anyway. Happy retirement Alan Ramsay. We eagerly await a book of your best columns, or better still secret memoirs!
"Activist" Is Beginning To Sound Like "Terrorist"
"Private eyes
They're watching you
They see your every move
Private eyes
They're watching you
Private eyes
They're watching you, watching you, watching you, watching you"
'Private Eyes', Hall & Oates (1981)
As heard on 4ZzZ's 'Eco Radio' show today [30/11/08], last week [26/11/08] 'The Age's' "Investigative Unit" reported:
"The internet communications and websites of anti-war campaigners, environmentalists, animal rights activists and other protest groups are being secretly monitored by state and federal agencies.
A Melbourne private intelligence firm specialising in "open-source intelligence" has been engaged by Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's Department to monitor and report on the protest movements' use of the internet.
The monitoring, which has been secretly conducted for at least five years, includes exploring websites , online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards to gather information on planned demonstrations and other activities.
Many of those monitored have not broken any laws, but it is believed information about their participation in online activities is conveyed to government agencies that also deal with terrorism.
Private email and telephone communications are not monitored by the company, which has requested not to be identified due to fears its staff could be targeted by more extreme activists."
http://www.theage.com.au/national/investigations/private-spies-hired-by-police-20081125-6hh7.html
Notwithstanding the p*ssweak "they didn't want to be identified" - why is the Australian Government paying a private organisation to spy on us? Isn't that what A.S.I.O. is supposed to be doing?
Freedom Isn't Free
(It Costs A Buck 'O Five)
"We would like to imagine that it is our agency that drives us, and that our lives are under our control. The truth, however, is that we are the ones under control. The reason we do not notice it is that this control is masked as security, which we have been told is synonymous with freedom."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21348.htm
"Huge Body Of Evidence": My *rse
Fluoride will be released progressively into South East Queensland's water supply from Monday [1/12/08]:
From 1 December fluoride will be phased in to the following water supples:
Sunshine Coast Regional Council: areas south of the Maroochy River, Maroochydore, Caloundra and the Railway towns
Brisbane City Council: all suburbs
Ipswich City Council: all suburbs
Logan City Council: all suburbs
Scenic Rim Regional Council: only Warrill View
Redlands Council: all suburbs
Moreton Bay Regional Council: all suburbs
Gold Coast Council: all suburbs.
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/fluoride/
Dr John Wills, from the A.D.A.Q. was interviewed on 4ZzZ's 'Brisbane Line' today [29/11/08] to provide "balance" to the fluoride debate, as Dr Andrew Harms from the anti-fluoridation side had been interviewed previously.
Dr Wills alluded to a "mountain of scientific evidence" in favour of fluoridation. The interviewer asked Dr Harms to specify scientific evidence against fluoridation, but he didn't asked Dr Wills to specify one piece of this "mountain of scientific evidence".
We phoned 4ZzZ after the interview, to find out if Dr Wills had referred them to any particular scientific reports, and were told that apparently an entity called "QUT Public Access" have done some articles on fluoridation.
And so, we are still waiting for the pro-fluoride shills in the Queensland Government and other organisations and corporations to present this mountain of "credible, fully refereed, scientific evidence."
You Can Learn The Most Amazing Things Watching Midday Television!
Who knew Dame Nellie Melba died of complications resulting from a facelift?
""REBE TAYLOR: In 1929, some German friends are surprised to meet her on a street in Munich. Melba tells them she's been ill and is on a rest cure. She returns to Australia within days and her friends never see her again. Melba died at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney in February 1931. Why had the apparently healthy singer died so suddenly? Historians have long puzzled over her death certificate. It says she died from septicaemia, but how did she contract this fatal infection? For 70 years, the nuns at St Vincent's kept the cause of Melba's death secret.
NURSING SISTER'S MEDICAL REPORT: "While in Europe, Dame Nellie Melba had a facelift, possibly in Switzerland. But an infection developed, so that by the time her homeward voyage had progressed as far as the Red Sea, she had erysipelas and was indeed seriously ill. Not only was Dame Nellie in great pain from the incision on each side of her face, but she had a heart condition. She was specialised by a Sister of Charity and so strict were the rules of confidentiality that scarcely any other member of the nursing staff knew the nature of the complaint, even to this day."
'Rewind' ABC 12.30 pm [28/11/08]
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rewind/txt/s1199883.htm
Did you know Dame Nellie Melba once lived in Spring Hill? In the 'Enoggera Districts Heritage Trail' of 2001, Barbara Gunn outlines that Melba lived in a house located in the vicinity of Boundary and Water Streets. The house was moved to Enoggera in 1925 and has since been demolished.
In their 1967 book 'Singers of Australia: From Melba to Sutherland', Barbara Mackenzie and Findlay Mackenzie reveal that in the early 1880s, Melba (then Helen Porter Mitchell) moved from Mackay to Brisbane to marry Charles Armstrong. Their marriage took place in the manse of the Ann Street Presbyterian Church, on December 22, 1882.
What A Charmer!
From a 'Nine MSN' article [28/11/08]:
"The 40-year-old X-Men star then divulged some details about his teenage years attending gay dance parties in attempts to pick up women.
"I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I remember when I was about 19, me and my mate used to go to these dance parties which were 80 percent gay guys, 18 percent girls who were sick of heterosexual guys hitting on them, and then vultures like me and my mate," he said.
"We would go there until 2 in the morning, when the girls were really drunk and wishing they weren't with 80 percent gay guys."
Jackman described himself as the "worst kind" of straight guy, calling his younger self a "leech"."
Shock! Books In Library
New details emerge?
"The State Library in Brisbane have been studying the original nine-page "manifesto" of the Party signed in 1892.
Library spokesman Brian Randal says he discovered the first Labor Government in Queensland in 1899 was actually the first in the world.
"In December 1899, the Labor Party, through a series of rather complex events on the floor of the Queensland Parliament, were asked to form a government and that government was the first Labor Government in the world," he said."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/26/2429777.htm
This is not a new discovery. It might be somebody's idea of clever marketing, but it reflects badly on the State Library and is an insult to anyone with any intelligence. The ABC appears to be sliding into the lazy press release journalism we expect from Bowen Hills.
From Ross Fitzgerald's 'From the Dreaming to 1915: A History of Queensland' [UQP, 1982]:
"Despite south-east Queensland's conservatism, Labour polled well in the 1899 elections. Owing to a combination of factors, on 28 November 1899 Anderson Dawson was able to form government with a wholly Labour cabinet. The Dawson ministry was sworn in on 1 December. Lacking time to formulate an immediate plan for action, but with sights firmly set on electoral reform, Dawson requested adjournment. His request being defeated by thirty-six votes to twenty-six, on 5 December he announced the resignation of the first labour government in the world. The conservative Philp ministry took office two days later.
Despite the fact that Labour had formed a ministry, enjoying "the chance of having a quick look at the government files", the incidents of early December 1899 influenced the party's ultimate ascendency very little. Even the Worker remained calm: "All things considered it is just as well under the circumstances that the matter ended as it did. A labour ministry that would have to depend on the factions that deserted it for existence would have no show to give to the country a taste of its quality. Let Labour stand alone. Time and tide are with it.""
Where's Tim Dunlop? II
In 'Where's Tim Dunlop?' [below] we covered his sudden departure from the employ of the evil overlord Murdoch in September.
Now he has shut down the site that started it all, 'The Road To Surfdom'. Having taken his previously admirable site down the dunny of shill partisan for the Neo Con Rudd effort, it seems his work is done and he is off. This time he doesn't mention any book in the wings.
Of course he will have a long and illustrious future without a thought for his personal responsibility in helping Rupert own debate and discussion in this country.
Good riddance.
PS - His long-promised piece about getting spiked by Murdoch never eventuated and never will. That was the day Tim jumped the shark pool.
Troubled Waters
"If I had a thing of bottled water I would hold it up and say this is why we're not going to have a revolution, because if people will pay for water bottled in plastic they will suffer any indignity". (Writer, teacher, activist and small-holdings farmer, Derrick Jensen)
From 'World Water Scam' (Kenneth Davidson's editorial in 'Dissent', Number 27, Spring 2008) which looks at an E book - 'Troubled Waters: Crisis in the Urban Water Supply' - edited by Patrick Troy:
"In Troubled Waters, Peter Spearritt says 'Resorting to desalination plants constitutes one of the great policy failures of our times. State Labor governments, increasingly keen to prove how pro-business they are by placating their property industry lobbies, have gone down the track of desal plants with remarkably little analysis about the longer-term implications for both demand management and environmental costs.
'In embracing its desalination plant, the Gold Coast Council can now proudly claim to be the least sustainable major city. With less than 2 per cent of its travel by public transport, its heavy reliance on air-conditioning and its desalination plant, residents of the Gold Coast will shortly produce more carbon emissions per head than any other major Australian city. What a great claim for Australia's surfing holiday capital.
'All this is the more extraordinary because both the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast have regular and quite healthy rainwater...it would have been more sensible [if] households installed water tanks of 10,000 to 20,000 litres to get a rebate. It is not too late for this policy change to happen'.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the debate about water across Australia has already been corrupted in favour of foreign water multinationals. The Queensland Water Commission has given up on rainwater tanks, according to Spearritt, and in its latest draft report suggests 'another six desalinaton plants up and down the coast, all located in the region's diminishing open space, including two of its sand islands. Yet most of SEQ has, and is predicted to have, a reasonable rainfall'.
Spearrit explains that all this is happening in a secretive environment with risk-averse public servants, where speaking your mind is not encouraged and where 'a number of university water-research centres get funding from firms who stand to make millions of dollars out of desalination infrastructure'.
The chapter by Janice Grey and Alex Gardner dealing with pressure for third-party access to sewage and public sector sewerage infrastructure as a route to privatisation echoes the problems associated with structural separation of telecommunications, electricity and rail transport. According to this chapter 'it is legally possible to "unbundle" various aspects of the wastewater sector (for example by separating out extraction, treatment distribution, household connection, billing, maintenance and construction of infrastructure) in order to create spaces for third-party competitive involvement. [But] if obligation is broken up and shared along the supply chain, it may be easier to avoid responsbility for system failures. If there is a problem, it is always potentially the fault of somebody else'."
Medical Evidence: Queenslanders Are Slow
In the science and reality based world, the human gestation period is 280 days or 40 weeks from conception. In order for conception to take place, intercourse must take place, unless of course you're using I.V.F. or the immaculate conception! So, most people think that a human pregnancy is about nine months.
However, if you can detach yourself from science and reality, you can write for the Murdoch press. And if you can count, you will note that nine months from the "Christmas-New Year period" is mid September at the latest. You would also note that babies conceived in late November at "Schoolies" would be born in late August.
Apparently the young Queenslanders in Murdoch World gestate for 10 months in order to get them used to being slow-witted and unquestioningly accepting of whatever they read, see or hear from the Government and media:
Front page of the 'Gold Coast Sun' [19/11/08] under the headline: 'Babies follow festive frolics':
"A SPIKE in births at Pindara Hospital last month has put a whole new spin on festive season frolics.
The hospital has recorded its most births in a month, with 167 bundles of joy arriving in October, including two sets of twins.
Obstetrician Dr Michael Flynn noted the babies were conceived during the Christmas-New Year period."
And from the Courier Mail' [21/11/08] under the headline 'Schoolies Week sex 'will lead to baby boom'':
"As school leavers head for the coast for their traditional rite of passage, health workers are warning of a rush of "Schoolies babies" in nine months' time......
One Queensland Health midwife, who refused to be named because of a government ban preventing staff from speaking out, said it was an unfortunate outcome of the celebrations.
'Every September we see teenage mums giving birth to babies conceived during schoolies,' she said.
'They go out and they have their week of fun away from home, and then nine months later their lives change forever."
That article goes on to show links to creepy sites where youngsters apparently talk 'frankly' about sex at schoolies. We assume that this provides great pleasure and personal gratification to Murdoch's older male constituency, that's what he gets paid for after all. Why would they care whether a pregnancy is nine or ten months?
2 + 2 = 5
"Options" For Your Cancer Journey
From the 'Australian Financial Review' 'Doctors must give all options on cancer' [20/11/08]:
"While some cancer specialists believe they are protecting patients by not talking about treatment options that are too expensive for them, research suggests most patients would prefer a more honest and direct approach. The annual scientific meeting of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia was told this week patients want their oncologists to be upfront about available treatments, and want to be included in decision making, even if they can't afford the treatments. Some patients had become "distressed" after subsequently finding out about an expensive drug that had not been mentioned even though it might have been relevant to their treatment."
Indeed. But who will explain to the patients and their families why such inequity exists in the treatment of cancer?
Spare A Thought For The Residents Of The Gap
This is an extract from ''War stories': a stunning storm that won't be forgotten' by the ABC's Radio News regional editor:
"No power for 48 hours takes a toll. We've taken the obligatory inventory for the insurance company and thrown out a fridge full of food. I did a $300 grocery shop hours before the storm. I've worked out how to cook toast on the BBQ and spend most of my days boiling water because the local water supply has been contaminated. The kids have cabin fever and a trip down the road is traumatic with no traffic lights working and soldiers on the streets. It's all very surreal."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/19/2423652.htm
This is an extract from 'The Orange Trees Of Baghdad: In Search of a Vanishing Life' by Leilah Nadir:
"Lina was the fifth of six of my relatives to die during the occupation. Later Haifa, Clement's wife and Maha's mother, would follow her. She died in the summer of 2005, of dehydration and a heart attack. She survived two years of war and most of the summer without air conditioning or fans because the occupiers still hadn't got the electricity running. When Karim called, he said that two days before she died there was a bomb attack near their house, and the family believes that the incident hastened her death. The blast was so near, the sound so loud, that the windows shattered and the air conditioner flew out of the wall. (Ironic, seeing that it hardly worked anyway.) The explosion was like an earthquake, and Karim went out to see the dead. At least twenty of his neighbours were killed, and one of the destroyed houses backed onto theirs. His friend's wife, a neighbour, was out in the street, and her husband went to look for her and became hysterical when he couldn't find her. They were all distraught and thought she had died. Eventually, she returned, not knowing what had happened in her absence; her decision to go out was why she had survived.
Uncle Clement, and his brother, Uncle Antoine, and his wife, Harriet, and their daughter, Noor, all died before Haifa. Within two years, they all died one after another. Not from a direct assault because of the war, but because of terror, stress, a lack of adequate nutrition, sanitation, medicine, and access to decent health care and good doctors and nurses. Many doctors who had chosen to stay during sanctions had fled the country after having family members kidnapped for ransom, or seeng their colleagues murdered."
It should make you think - shouldn't it?
It's Hard To Know What To Believe On The Gold Coast!
Rupert Murdoch's 'Gold Coast Bulletin' 14/11/08:
"Not one Gold Coast property has sold at auction this month. It is the first time the city has recorded such a dismal figure.
It follows a poor performance last month when there was just a 25 per cent auction clearance rate, according to Australian Property Monitors.
Only Perth had a worse figure, with a 15 per cent clearance rate last month. Of the 30 houses and units from Coolangatta to Paradise Point put to auction in the first two weeks of this month, not one sold.
They included prestige properties in the millionaires' row of Albatross Avenue at Mermaid Beach and the exclusive Ephraim Island, as well as other less expensive properties in the mortgage-belt suburbs of Bonogin, Pacific Pines, Helensvale and Southport.
The Gold Coast is not traditionally an auction city, but APM senior economist Liam O'Hara said a zero clearance rate was 'a pretty poor result'.
"The Gold Coast is getting battered, but then it wasn't a very healthy market to start with," he said.
"The auction market on the Gold Coast is traditionally fairly low but it has been exceptionally low this year.
"Real estate sources have reported very poor attendances at both auctions and open houses across the Gold Coast."
And 15/10/08:
"The Gold Coast's major real estate player yesterday recorded his best auction sales of the year and now believes the turning of the property market is close.
Ray White Surfers Paradise chief executive Andrew Bell said 21 houses sold at auction yesterday and it made him optimistic that the market was finally hitting 'the zone'.
This 'zone' was the period in which real estate prices were felt to have softened enough before starting to climb.
"You'd be a fine judge if you can pick the exact bottom of the market in real estate but I think we're in the zone," said Mr Bell.
"All I know is now is the zone."
Really? "Now is the zone"? Before you race out and find the zone, here is a little unbiased, unfunded, free advice for you. Just over a year ago Rupert's mob was telling you to race out and offer $6,000 above the asking price to ensure that you didn't miss out, a few month's ago they famously announced that house prices were 'set to soar', and they have been hopelessly wrong about every issue they have recently lectured you on. Food for thought.
How Hard Would It Be To Introduce Compulsory Desexing Of Cats And Dogs?
More revenue raising and corporatist control of society which only benefits the government and the corporations, and does nothing for animal and human welfare:
"The Queensland Government has introduced a bill that would make it compulsory for cats and dogs across Queensland to be registered and microchipped.
It also includes a new "menacing dog" classification. Local Government Minister Warren Pitt has told Parliament the proposed laws will help reduce the number of pets being euthanased.
"Available records from local government pounds and animal welfare shelters show that at the very least, more than 13,000 cats and more than 10,000 dogs are euthanased in Queensland each year," he said.
"This is a major problem.
"Our plan to address this problem is based on the principle of responsible ownership, and it will ensure that all owners take responsibility for cats and dogs in their care.""
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/11/2416989.htm
Irritant Of The Week
For some reason he has taken a pot shot at a couple of Brisbane Radio Identities (Not the ones married to 'Courier-Mail' editors of course!).
We understand that some of these very powerful News Ltd. types have actually told their readers they find it frustrating that they are often made to write things they don't necessarily believe.
Pathetic.
Brmm Brmmm Brmmmm!!!!
What is it with Brisbane bands, automobile marketing and Triple J requests?
"So if you're feeling that way now,
Or if you ever feel so inclined -
Skip past the doors of boring forty somethings and rise
Oh but if you want to lose your frown,
Or your name or even your face -
Lick up a dream that seemingly sings with a rushing neon death."
'Polka', Yves Klein Blue [2008]
Thanks for bearing with us as we consolidate our media archives. In
the meantime, here's a picture of someone doing a cartwheel!
