Archive for the ‘Earth’ Category
Medical Cannibis first in Nimbin, Australia
Medical Cannabis dispensary opens in Nimbin on World AIDS Day. If you have a letter from your doctor confirming your condition as one that is known to benefit from cannabis you may be able to visit Australia’s first Medical Cannabis Dispensary in Nimbin.
Director of Mullaway’s Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd, Anthony Bower says he has waited long enough.
“We are sick of being ignored,” said Mr Bower who has been breeding, growing and researching cannabis strains for their medicinal properties for over thirty years.
“The Premiers Department is taking too long, and I have friends who are dying or suffering terrible pain and I know I can help them. It is against my culture to with-hold help from someone who asks, if I have the knowledge and the means to assist and reduce their pain and suffering.”
“I have been in communication with the Premier and the Health Department for a year now and they are just stalling. Premier Nathan Rees sent his best wishes in his letter last week and I appreciate his support.”
A Medical Cannabis Dispensary, which provides therapeutic doses of cannabis, of a known potency and character, to patients who present a recommendation from their doctor, is an entirely unremarkable sight in many western world communities.
In 14 of the US States, the dispensing of medical cannabis is legal, with another 13 indicating an intention to follow very soon. In Los Angeles there are currently more than 1100 dispensaries operating, or three times as many cannabis dispensaries as there are McDonald’s restaurants.
In several Canadian provinces medical cannabis dispensaries have been operating for more than a decade.
Nimbin’s Medical Cannabis Dispensary began operating on World AIDS Day, 1st December, with free medicine dispensed to genuine cardholders from other countries and Australians with a letter from their doctor.
Throughout the world, medical cannabis is used to treat: nausea, vomiting, premenstrual syndrome, unintentional weight loss and lack of appetite, spasticity, neurogenic pain and movement disorders, asthma, glaucoma, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease / ulcerative colitis), migraine, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive–compulsive disorders, alcohol abuse, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, collagen-induced arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, autism, bipolar disorder, childhood mental disorders, colorectal cancer, depression, diabetic retinopathy, dystonia, epilepsy, digestive diseases, gliomas, hepatitis C, Huntington’s disease, hypertension, urinary incontinence, leukaemia, skin tumours, morning sickness, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Parkinson’s disease, pruritus, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sickle-cell disease, and sleep apnoea.
Discuss this with your doctor.
Photo: Anthony Bower (centre) dispenses cannabis extract to Mulgum House tenant Smolder, watched by supporters of medical cannabis.
Source:
http://www.nimbingoodtimes.com/archive/pages09/0912/NGT-1209-1.pdf
Further Information:
Legal and medical status of cannabis – Australia:
After politicians in the Australian Capital Territory voted to allow doctors to determine when cannabis was appropriate for their patients, intense lobbying by the federal government resulted in the legislation being overturned.
In May 2003 the then Premier of New South Wales (Australia’s most populous state), Mr Bob Carr, promised patients a four-year trial into the medical uses of cannabis – but little to no action was taken.
Northern Territory use of Cannabis is decriminalized, and in Western Australia, ACT, and Northern Territory you can grow your own plant (For personal use ONLY) subject to height restrictions.
In January 2009 the Premier of New South Wales approved a four-year trial of medicinal cannabis to treat chronically ill or terminally ill patients. The trial is currently underway.
Further Information:
Water on the Moon or Water on the Brain?
It now appears certain that the United States and its moon offence allies are confirming their own insanity, as they prepare to bomb the moon, despite all indications that this in breach of existing space treaties and… plain stupidity. Rosettamoon spoke briefly with mission command in an attempt to make some sense of this latest US folly.
Rosettamoon hooked up with Bob Kratsky (mission control) on a patchy NASA skype connection…ironically, despite the mega budget of this mission NASA was not authorised to accept a reverse charges call from Australia.
RM – Well Bob, that sure sounds like a gee…sophisticated mission…but just a couple of quick questions if that’s ok?
Bob – Shoot away there but keep em brief – still a few snags with this goddam mission!
RM – For a start, what happened to all the research data from all those past Apollo missions and what’s with this bombastic approach to moon research when with the same mula NASA could land there and gather the same information?
Bob – Yeah right…well…you know…its a bit embarrassing, but that research module we used on the moon…that was rigged up by a few high school students with some bright ideas but to be honest it was all glitter and tinsle…and besides we never trained the astronauts in the basic science. (see image/evidence below)
RM – I thought as much…the NASA images of that ’science lab’ were none too convincing…did any one actually land on the moon Bob?
Bob – Hey I thought this interview was about the moon bombing…sorry I mean moon ‘probe’, whats with this conspiracy angle?
RM – Hmmm…ok…interesting slip of the tongue their Bob, maybe you can respond to the issue of NASA contravening the Moon Bob. Clearly this mission is in breach of Article 7 of that agreement to which the US is a signatory?
Bob- Listen here. How many emails and faxes do you think I get a day!? If we (the US) had to keep track of every goddam treaty we signed would we ever have gone to war with Iraq… or had all that fun in the jungle flushing out those commy- bastards in Vietnam? Send me a copy of that treaty and sure will have a look, but if you think the fireworks is going to be delayed forget it!
RM – Thanks for being so well…frank! Other people are saying that the moon is poised in perfect equilibrium out there in space and the respected founder of biodynamics – Rudolph Steiner – demonstrated that the moon is integral to the balance of life of earth. Its a billion to one chance that the moon is positioned where it is, ancient cultures have revered it and pointed to its significance in relation to the human psyche, I guess the question is….is bombing something that balances life in this way a smart thing to do and does it indicate a degree of pathological insanity within NASA and the United States?
Bob – Geez, there you go again, using big words to try and confuse me! You sound like my goddammed hippy green good for nothing daughter that says the same garbage…you know if we don’t bomb it someone else will…and if we ever do land men on the moon don’t you think it would be nice for them to be able to have a glass of water when they git there?
RM – So NASA hasn’t landed anyone on the moon?
Bob – Now you’re putting words in my mouth…( skype connection either disconnected or NASA pulled the plug)
Recommence Interview UTC 1600 – after alleged impact – mission complete…….
RM – Bob, that NASA TV link was a joke, hardly call that a ‘live feed’….unless feeding bullshit to the public is the main objective. I just watched the Youtube footage of the mission…hmmm….shame you didn’t hire a professional photographer for the mission….a lot of people are saying that whole report was about as exciting as a visit to google moon…how do you respond?
Bob - Let me guess? Next you are going to say we cooked up the whole mission as a PR stunt right?
RM – I just would have expected to see maybe a live camera view – something resembling evidence, all those millions and you cant manage to film the mission…was the mission a failure and that footage a pre-mission ‘just in case’ effort to cover your embarrassment?
Bob – You saw the mission room and the little sign on the computer ‘flight director’, you heard NASA ’science’ talking real technical about adjustments to the observation craft, you saw the obvious relief and excitement on the faces of the mission team..
RM – interupts…Yeah yeah, we saw the same when NASA landed a man on the moon Bob and it wasn’t too convincing then either….( Skype connection terminated again..)
Shock Revelation: NASA Moon Laboratory – ALSA was a failed high school experiment constructed from the canteens recycled pie warmer!
****a fantastic interview******of a strange account*****envisioned***is***a***healthier respect**for planetary harmony**and sane(er) responses to insane actions****in this galaxy
Further Information:
NASA ‘LCROSS’ MOON IMPACT FOOTAGE of 09 Oct 2009
Instructions for watching the insanity unfold: First, turn on NASA TV. The space agency will broadcast the action live from the Moon, with coverage beginning Friday morning at 3:15 am PDT (10:15 UT). The first hour or so, pre-impact, will offer expert commentary, status reports from mission control, camera views from the spacecraft, and telemetry-based animations.
Spaceweather report:
The actual impacts commence at 4:30 am PDT (11:30 UT). The Centaur rocket will strike first, transforming 2200 kg of mass and 10 billion joules of kinetic energy into a blinding flash of heat and light. Researchers expect the impact to throw up a plume of debris as high as 10 km.
Close behind, the LCROSS mothership will photograph the collision for NASA TV and then fly right through the debris plume. Onboard spectrometers will analyze the sunlit plume for signs of water (H2O), water fragments (OH), salts, clays, hydrated minerals and assorted organic molecules.
“If there’s water there, or anything else interesting, we’ll find it,” says Tony Colaprete of NASA Ames, the mission’s principal investigator.
Some interesting discussion on the site Do Not Bomb the Moon
Nasa Moon Bombing is Cause for Worry – By Ted Twietmeyer 6-22-9
So what’s the problem? Here are just a few of the facts that come to light:
1. Exploding a bomb on the moon will displace several miles of Lunar material according to what NASA claims will happen.
2. The displacement of lunar material will follow Newton’s law about equal and opposite reaction. This means that an equal force will be exerted on the Moon to match the force it takes to eject miles of material. No one can actually predict what will happen, just as NASA failed miserably predicting the results of another experiment. In a previous mission, a NASA spacecraft fired a high velocity copper warhead penetrator into a comet’s core. The results were not what they expected. This is because popular science theory really believes comets are dirty snowballs. Instead, the actual results were already predicted by the electric universe theory. Comets are not dirty snowballs which is something many of us already knew. Yet again, NASA refused to use common sense and look at theories based on real evidence and science, such as the electric universe theory.
Some cool stuff:
NASA Animation of the fake mission
The real footage! LCROSS Moon Impact (the last 30 seconds of this footage shows impact clearly)
Hidden Motives behind the International Scramble to reach the moon.
THE MOON BOMBING – RICHARD HOAGLANDS C2C RADIO 6 10 2009 1 / 5
Predictable Media:
Lunar images fail to show – The Australian – October 10
Until the glitch with live images, NASA was riding high, reporting no trouble at the Ames Research Centre in California.
“Everything is working so very well,” NASA’s Bob Kransky, a manager in the exploration office, said minutes before the one-two lunar crash. ( Yeah right, so well that you cant even record the event and have to resort to static google moon imagery and some bogus commentary thrown in….another monumental moon hoax but of absurdly poor quality compared to the 1969 stage show!)
Not so predictable :
The case for the civilization on the Moon
The Clementine Mission ( with a few bits missing)
Why is Aunty selling us short…yet again?
As I pulled weeds from the garden a few weeks go while listening to ABC’s radio national, I heard mid-news a report on the latest ERA sharemarket prices, and pondered whether my medication was wearing off, or whether Aunty had forgot the distinction between ‘news’ and sharemarket public relations propaganda bullshit! I drafted in my mind a complaint to the ABC before deciding that the weeds in the garden were far worthier of my immediate attention – after all Howard screwed the ABC and Rudd was obviously coming in for close seconds!
But then, a few days ago as I contemplated the futility of washing my car as a wall of red dust approached the horizon, another ABC current affairs program caught my attention removing my thoughts from what looked like the next armagedon…as my geiger counter bleeped more erratically in the background, I downed tools and headed inside to feast on the rest of the program.
Film-maker David Bradbury was raising some salient points. This dust was borne of the radioactive western deserts of South Australia and heading….in the direction of the wind..east…to some rather populated Australian cities, namely Sydney and Brisbane…and rather large stockpiles of radioactive materials are stored hapharzardly in these same deserts. I considered this a fairly good ABC news event, one worth pausing the chores, but then my jaws dropped again when the report dribbled off into the rhealms of fairyland after said salient facts were reported to other Australians, no doubt also busy in their daily chores across this arid nation.
Aunty should be shot dead and NOT given a state funeral. She has slowly distorted and twisted and become a disgrace and insult to the Australian nation. A list of eminent scientists a mile long have testified globally to the risks of both open cut and ISL uranium mining, and so the best Aunty can do is dish up a two bob pansy PR man who has no actual facts but has apparently (and obviously) been wheeled out to appease the nation…a nation which according to the bald headed sellout and ziggy radioactive star dust Telstra is ready for..more uranium mining despite the fact that all processes of approval so far under Native Title…have been totally corrupted. So the national broadcaster drops the ball big time and plays the formularic game we are so familiar with…a tuppence of air time to reason and then bring out some paid stooge of the mining companies (ABC Board approved of course) who will some how pull the wool over our eyes and pardon the pun..settle the radioactive dust being sprawled over the nation.
Media students over the globe who are considering the impacts of this rather huge and earth moving event should read the transcript of this pathetic excuse for national broadcasting and every other half caring half thinking half dressed Australian should be marching to their local MP’s office and baying for blood…Aunty’s blood…put the knife in her now she is already finished and may as well be sold off completely to the corporate sycophants who have leeched her dry and de-spirited any self respecting staffer or journalist that once upon a time thought news was about information in relation of concern to the public interest.
Anyway at least, congratulations to David Bradbury for pointing out the bloody obvious despite the deep sleep most Australian’s are in, and shame on Aunty for prostituting her once clean soul to these dirty global militia stinky bastards who are so intent on sucking the water and life out of the land and spreading their waste not only over Australia but any other nation which just happens to be down wind.
Here is the latest shoddy construction from the ABC basket weaving department:
Transcript from ABC’s Radio National PM Programme September 23, 2009:
MARK COLVIN: For many the clean-up from this week’s massive dust storm is far from over.
But now another big dust storm has begun sweeping across New South Wales.
The size and ferocity of Wednesday’s storm had roused some to question the health and environmental risks from radioactive dust at BHP Billiton’s planned uranium mine expansion in South Australia.
But an environmental toxicologist has told PM that there’s little chance of radioactive dust poisoning large population centres in eastern Australia.
Kirsten Aiken has more.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: Not long after the documentary maker David Bradbury explained his fears about BHP Billiton’s proposal for the disposal of radioactive tailings at the planned uranium mine expansion in South Australia to PM’s sister program The World Today, strong winds started to swirl and pick up large amounts of dust from inland Australia.
Massive clouds of dust are now blowing eastward through New South Wales where some regions are reporting visibility has dropped below 300 metres.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Rob Webb.
ROBB WEBB: It seems to have been picked up over the north eastern parts of South Australia and the western parts of New South Wales. It is very difficult to see on satellite imagery but that seems to have been where strongest winds have been blowing and that’s where it started to thicken up at least on our satellite imagery we’ve been monitoring.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: It is exactly this type of weather event that David Bradbury claims could pose enormous health and environmental risks to a large proportion of Australia’s population if BHP Billiton cannot contain radioactive dust from the planned expansion of its Olympic Dam mine.
DAVID BRADBURY: Given the dust storms of this week which ABC TV news said originated from Woomera, which is just right next door to Olympic Dam Roxby, they could blow those tailings across the face of Australia, the prevailing winds traditionally go east and as we saw dramatically this week dumping itself on our dense population centres.
It will have much more major impacts than the James Hardie asbestos fallout that we’ve had over the last 40 or 50 years.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: But a leading environmental toxicologist believes David Bradbury’s concerns are misplaced. Associate Professor Barry Noller is from the University of Queensland’s Centre of Mineland Rehabilitation. ( Ya – right – ‘leading’ be the operative word!) He explains that dust from metal and uranium mine sites is too large to be carried by the wind over long distances. ( Ya – right – this dude is so like ’scientific’, I feel derhh! much better already – thanks derh Aunty!)
BARRY NOLLER: In a big dust storm like we saw during the week, the dust is not going to come from one isolated site it’s going to be mixed in with dust from a whole huge area and diluted considerably. ( Ya right, ‘mixed in’ this dude has the clues, I get it – stuff once ‘mixed in’ is OK, just like mixing a corrupt QLD politician with a worn out egotistical and rather dull rock star – mixed together they are not so bad…wow! – it just needed me to be explained..derh!
So at a location like Olympic Dam it would need a concentrated wind event in the same wind direction to more populated centres to, for that to happen. Now that’s highly unlikely that that would happen.
And it is most unlikely that there would be some contribution, but it would be mixed in, and I don’t believe that it’s likely that the alpha-radiation or the beta-radiation would ultimately be significant.( Ya – right – geeh – thanks ABC – you sure pick em…if it woddent for this like smart science dude you found, that other dude Mr Bradbury woulder freeked me right out…derhh! Mr Squiggle should we ask the ABC where they found this really smart dude and why he is so reassuring – that stuff the other man is talking about is way too scary for me !)
KIRSTEN AIKEN: A spokesman for BHP Billiton says while the company is not prepared to debate the issue of dust, BHP Billiton does manage dust at its other Australian mine sites through extensive monitoring programs.
BHP Billiton will formally respond to the concerns about its project when it presents a revised environment impact statement next year.
But Associate Professor Barry Noller says even the size of the Olympic Dam expansion should not justify heightened concerns, at least when it comes to dust.
BARRY NOLLER: Even though the expansion to the Olympic Dam seems to be massive, it’s still not large in comparison to the size of the area where the dust has come from in the last week.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: As for the dust storm now sweeping across New South Wales, the Bureau of Meteorology is advising people to stay indoors where possible.
MARK COLVIN: Kirsten Aiken.
….And back to Mr Squiggles question about who is this ‘expert’ Barry Noller? Well, a five minute google reveals that he is a professional mining industry funded ‘no worries mate’ advocate and indeed a very poor choice by the ABC and the radio national program:
CMLR Advisory Board ( resembles Clive Hamilton’s famous ‘Dirty Dozen‘)
Peter ROE (Chair) – Manager Environment, BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA)
Pam RUPPIN – Principal Advisor– HSE, Operational and Technical Excellence, Rio Tinto
Ian TREDINNICK – Environment Manager, Xstrata Copper
Peter SMITH – Director, Environment Action Pty Limited
Terry WALL – Director General, Queensland Environmental Protection Agency
Dr Peter EAGLEN – Corporate Manager – Environment, RioTinto Aluminium
Mike SLIGHT – Senior Regional Manager – Closure, Reclamation and Exploration, Newmont Asia Pacific
Ron ESPELL – General Manager-Environment, Australia Pacific & Africa Region, Barrick Gold of Australia
Professor Don McKEE – Director, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland
Professor Michael KENIGER – Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), The University of Queensland
Professor Stephen WALKER – Executive Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Physical Sciences and Architecture, QUA
….has also been a ‘no risk’ patsy for XSTRATA:
Xstrata update on Mount Isa, Friday, 10 Jul 2009, Xstrata Mount Isa Mines released the Lead Pathways Study Phase-1 report at its community information session in Mount Isa.
The report has been prepared by the University of Queensland’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation in collaboration with the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology following a comprehensive (you stroke my dick) peer review process.
Associate Professor Mr Barry Noller who heads the Lead Pathways Study said that the Phase-1 investigations had focused on areas known to have been previously impacted by historical mine sediments including the Leichhardt River and surrounding area.
Mr Noller said that “Our investigations have confirmed that the risk to human health from historical mine sediments within the Leichhardt River area is…(wait for it)…(you guessed)… low.”
Even though the CMLR identified the potential risk to human health to be minimal in its preliminary findings released publicly in late 2007, Xstrata Mount Isa Mines undertook further remediation works of the Leichhardt River in mid-2008
Comment From a Regular Punter – Coober Pedy Times ( some light relief ) :
Good on ya Noel for that comment and I’ll be buyin this bloke Bradbury a beer or two next time he passes through Cronulla!
Jeez, I may be a simple tradey, but that ABC piece a crap interview was a piece n a half hey. That other bloke Barry Noller must a had a few bucks shoved up his arse to say what…nothin!
The missus reckons he’s a mining company stooge and she just added…he’s connected with that ANSTO mob as well…
Grants completed:
* Australian Synchrotron Research Program : Visit to Photon Factory Japan
* ANSTO $4380 B Noller 2005
* Australian Synchrotron Research Program 2004 : Visit to Photon Factory Japan Visit to Photon Factory Japan $4380, 2004
How on earth she can move stuff from one page of the internet to another bloody well escapes me but reckon she’s the smartest chick on our block!
She reckons thats what this blokes paid for, to speak shit so us hardworking aussies stay in the dark…hang on…she’s taken over the pewter again…reckons she has this fluff bag sussed! ….
‘Cyanide on seabed not a risk’ (Copyright 2000 The National (PNG) December 14, 2000 By B Kuble)
“An estimated 260,000kg of cyanide in metal drums that had sunk with a barge near the mouth of the Fly River is… (wait for it)…(you guessed)… of no significant risk to the marine life, said Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) managing director Dr Roger Higgins”
This bloke should be a cocktail bar tender. He reckons any toxic gear “mixed in” is safe…jeez…he better not get a job at my local!! …
“Higgins said for many years since 1984 Ok Tedi ‘environmental experts’ have been monitoring the delta and the mouth of the Fly and have observed no signs of any cyanide spill.
He agreed with what Australia National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology deputy director Barry Noller had said earlier this week, that a slow leak would result in dilution of the cyanide to…(wait for it)…(you guessed) ….almost undetectable levels.”
Bloody Hell!!! If that guy gets paid to be a scientist I may as well rock up to ANSTO and start work as a Nuclear Physicist hey!!!
Maralinga: 18 kg plutonium missing: ( If found – please post to Peter Garrett MP)
Up to 18 kilograms of potentially deadly radioactive plutonium has gone missing from the former British nuclear weapons test sites in South Australia.
(442.4371) WISE Amsterdam – Scientists preparing for the clean-up of the sites say their best guess is that the plutonium, which has a half-life of about 24,000 years and can pose a grave cancer risk, was blasted into tiny particles and scattered across the continent during non-nuclear “safety trials”. Australian officials did not know that the plutonium was unaccounted for until the recent completion of a huge mapping program to identify how much rehabilitation was needed at the Maralinga test area.
In 1968 the authorities thought there would be about 2 kg of plutonium out there in the soil and the area surrounding the test sites, and about 20 kg of radioactive material in burial pits and otherwise under control. Now it is clear that those proportions are in effect reversed.
Britain told Australia that all but about two kilograms plutonium had been either removed or buried but British records of what went into the buriel pits are vague. Britain left “souvenir-sized” lumps of plutonium on the ground at Maralinga, with millions of more hazardous pinhead-sized particles scattered around three explosion sites. Plutonium-contaminated dust is the major health risk: if inhaled, it poses a serious lung cancer risk, and if it enters the bloodstream it greatly increases the risk of bone or liver cancer.
550,000 tonnes of contaminated soil will have to be dug up from areas at the Taranaki site, Wewak and a third site called ‘TM100/101′. The dust further afield is considered to be too widely dispersed and each grain too small to be of concern. After teh clean-up, the land will be handed back to its traditional owners, the Maralinga-Tjarutja community.
The Maralinga site, 1,000 km north-west of Adelaide, was the site of the English tests between 1953 and 1963.
(Ed note – re the above – what precautions did government Australia take to protect people of Australia (esp local) during this toxic dust storm?
Sources: Pacific News Bulletin, July 1993 and Sept. 1995
Contact: Friends of the Earth (FoE) Sydney, PO Box A474, Sydney NSW 2001, Australia
Tel +61-2-281 4070, Fax +61-2-281 5216
Email: foesydney@peg.apc.org
Further Media:
Filmmaker David Bradbury: Red Dust Dump Originating at Woomera is Grave Concern for Public Health
“70 million tonnes of radioactive tailings to be dumped at the Roxby mine site each year without evidence of dust control is cause for concern”, says David Bradbury
Are the dust storms radioactive? Australian scientists study Aussie dust from New Zealand
The dust storm is believed to have originated around Woomera in outback South Australia near the massive Olympic Dam uranium mine, prompting fears it was radioactive and dangerous.
Australia, dust storms and the fallout Britain left behind
Issues at Operating Uranium Mines and Mills – Olympic Dam, Australia
The Plutonium Plume That Fell on Utah – By Andrew Kishner
A generation crippled by uranium -re possible issues with Port Augusta coal?
And finally:
A Letter to the ABC (2nd Oct) concerning the above apparent breach of journalistic ethics and standards sent to the ‘journalists’ involved and the editorial team. No response to this ( 2nd letter) or the first has been received.
Dear Mark,
As one of your ABC fans I do hope you receive this complaint in the right spirit.
I have immense respect for the efforts of David Bradbury, in highlighting the mining risks of uranium in Australia.
I believe the ABC owes this professional and acclaimed film maker an apology and I also believe it will be healthy for the ABC to do this is in a most public manner.
For any Australian to dedicate their life and passion in this manner is an amazing thing. The output of this journalist in terms of issues pertaining to the national interest is extraordinary to say the least.
I have had a bit of fun researching the story ( I hope no one takes offence), and have since done more research, not updated, but where will it ( should it) end? The bottom line is that this top social issues researcher was screwed unfairly by the ABC, on an issue of very significant national importance.
We respect your work and reputation, perhaps now its time for the ABC to make amends and firstly apologise, and then re-address the issues appropriately and professionally, so that the integrity of the ABC can be restored. I don’t see any loss of integrity for David, rather I see him as having been treated ordinarily by an over-corporatised ABC that has moved away from a once healthy Charter and lost connection to the real national interest. I hope you agree. If you don’t, I would welcome an open debate so that a better understanding of what the ‘national interest’ is can be reached.
The chap your editorial team chose to counter the risks posed by David in my opinion was of a very poor choice and mis-leading of the Australian public in terms of his background and intent. Queensland academic indeed, but lets examine the mining connections and funding and return to the issue of whether such a candidate was the perfect choice on this most serious issue? My research suggests that the books were more than ’slightly cooked’ in favor of dirty profit driven corporate Australia. On the record ( CSIRO – Future Dilemmas Report 2000 – Barney Foran et al ) gives a clear science answer to the poor corporate treatment of the Australian land masse – we are screwed regardless, and in terms of the remedial costs we may ourselves need to go the World Bank, before we indeed ourselves become a third world dust bowl, courtesy of the previous and current governments and media becoming systematically infiltrated and controlled by corporations which have been conveniently excused from accountability to the truth, or for the actual real costs of their past and proposed future actions…re-read that report, its a humdinger!
And now, sadly, my favourite old Aunty has apparently become an accomplice to said crime, and on so many counts that I don’t have the time to recount, but I am sure you know…the quality has gone… down down as the digital image has become near perfect and complete.. give me an old black and white fuzzy box beaming out the truth than the drole corporatised plasma screen beaming out multi channel garbage and what lately one can only describe as bullshit – image quality and the recently arrived commercial razzamattaz in my opinion is a rather poor substitute for solid investigation to reveal the truth ( or at least facts) …don’t you think?
The issues of the mine(s) are huge. The ABC has paid lip service since the Howard regime and corresponds without surprise to the sudden departure of the ALP from its once staunch 3 Mines Policy ( wheres the analysis on that – the evidence is pretty clear?) Sorry if all this sounds harsh but I have analysed the coverage of Beverley, 4 Mile Creek, Roxby, and the all the mines proposed and I know the ABC governing board is pro uranium – so lets not mince words now but ask what negative impact this bias will have on the national interest, the local environment, and especially the abused people who have been subject to the treachery and trickery of one of the most evil pieces of Australian legislation, the Native Title Act – a gross abuse of human rights, abusive, illegal and designed specifically to divide and conquer already damaged communities simply to…. fast trek the actual ‘raison d’etre’ of the act, free for all concerned extraction of minerals, a few crumbs of royalties for the displaced communities – some extra extra benefits for the crown and its incorporated global allies, especially SA INC?
And I have not even touched upon the issues of water theft and contamination of the real jewel in the crown – the Great Artesian Basin – under another questionable act, SA Indenture, companies protected from scrutiny and handed free to the mining companies while the many natural springs have dried up or been tapped, and we now experience the biggest loss of top soil and dust storms ( 70 years) containing all sorts of ex-mine contaminants..and this is the best the ABC can dish up in terms of the national interest? Clearly the course of recent history has seen the corporate interest displacing the national interest and yet so recently the ABC covered such issues sincerely ( Four Corners – Green House Mafia) but in recent years it has become obvious that the ABC’s brief has become quite political and economic , again at the same time that differences between the two major political parties have become near impossible to decipher – and yet the ABC now plays the same game as the corporate media in perpetuating this myth of democracy via media when such media is owned by the very same that are arranging the predictable political agenda. Combined with the dubious and secretive pre election alliances of the Manchurian candidates ( Rudd and Garnaut) , what does this obvious manipulation of the national broadcaster mean, in terms of the future of democracy in this country?
My analysis is not complete nor would I say perfect but it fills partially the gap left by what was once a respected national broadcaster, and may I say thankfully the issues have been picked up by one of the remnant old fashioned independent newspapers , the Coober Pedy Times, which ranks far more highly ( in my humble opinion) than the regional ABC in terms of local and community issues/content and what a shame that our tax payer dollars are not being spent to fulfill a similar high quality and ethical brief.
I am drafting a complaint to the ABC mainly in respect of the work of honest independent journalists such as these mentioned above, but at the same time I am hoping the ABC and the editorial team responsible, will genuflect on the issues arising from this mis-representation of the public interest and as a team ( no doubt under extraneous editorial pressure) redress this anomaly and at the same time restore respect to themselves as individual news and information gatherers , the ABC as their employer ,and the journalist, who in this instance was apparently used as a cheap news pawn and as a consequence shown little respect.
I genuinely do trust and hope this issue will be managed respectfully and promptly in the interests of restoring some public faith in the ABC.
Best Regards,
Nigel Carney
http://news.rosettamoon.com/?p=257 ( A quick summary of the ABC mis-representation as I see it, but I am open to criticism and further analysis on the opinion put forward here)
( apologies for extending to a distribution list but I did email the responsible journalists…but ABC journalist don’t seem to respond to me or rosettamoon ….hopefully history will change – feel free to distribute/publish whatever, I think erosion of the public media is a national issue and needs to be shared openly and discussed…at the end of the day, I guess its inevitable under such circumstances that people would need to consider avenues available to officiate a formal and properly drafted complaint…I would love media watch to cover this of course because it would be a classic case study for the ABC to examine itself…and in a much more thorough manner than the quick analysis covered in the link )
nigel@rosettamoon.com
rosettamoon media:
http://news.rosettamoon.com
http://www.rosettamoon.com
Full Moon through Clouds
Rudd’s Ugly Indigenous Land Grab
The Rudd cabinet is rushing through a national land grab in a proposed compulsory forty year scheme holding Aboriginal communities ransom. In the very week that Australia must answer to the UN in response to human rights complaints of an ongoing nature, latest developments put the plan into perspective and expose the earlier machinations of a comprehensive assault on Indiginous Australia. Howard’s NT intervention looks more like an entre as Rudd delivers the main course, an all out offensive against the indigenous nations by means of government coercion and withheld supply to assume control of lands for commercial and other ‘in confidence’ purposes. As the government sells its doom and gloom messages to an arrested nation, Australian history enters another dark alleyway of secret deals, racism and more layers of questionable legislation in an attempt to control remote communities.
While state Aboriginal Lands legislation is being urgently reviewed across the country, there has been no media commentary on either the sudden motivation of these reviews or the apparent synchronisation with NT intervention and several pending Native Title deals in nuclear industry hot-spots. While these issues are being brushed aside, the process of endorsing commercial interests in the equation is being lubricated by a distorted ‘YES’ campaign. The proposed serial legislation is of highly dubious intent and we need to take a good look at where this road is taking us and start asking serious questions as to why any government would knowingly inflict harm upon ‘its’ people. Are we witnessing a mineral war via commercialised legislation feigning legitimacy in what would otherwise be described as acts of acquisition by deception? Despite the Australian media currently sticking its head in the sand, the issue is fast gathering international media attention as the UN puts the spotlight on human rights abuses in remote Australia. Time will tell if Jenny Macklin’s ill-conceived land grab plan will hold up against international scutiny on both legal and moral grounds.
The National Indigenous Times reports ‘Native Title Under Attack from ALP’, but is that the full extent of the story and where lies the cause? One need not be a scholar of Australian history to see the effects of Native Title in creating strife and division in affected communities. Native Title was, from its inception, a commercial venture to enable mining. The inevitable negative social outcomes needed to be distanced from the enterprise and repackaged as a divisive blame game, paving the way for suspension of the Anti-Discrimation Act and military interventions. In this attempt at a commercial clean up of the northern and central zones, the government has crossed a serious line in tampering with both human and common law rights.
In the National Indigenous Times article, Chris Graham describes the urgency of the situation and details of the leaked plan:
In a move that will outrage Aboriginal groups around the nation, aspirant landholders in remote regions are also being targeted, with the government planning to refuse to release Commonwealth housing funds for construction of homes on land that is the subject of an unresolved native title claim or claims.
The plan is currently being restricted to remote regions, and will affect about one quarter of the Australian Indigenous population.
The details of the plan are contained in a startling letter from federal Indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin to all state and territory housing ministers last month, a copy of which has been obtained by the National Indigenous Times.
In broad terms, it represents a national roll-out of one of the most controversial parts of the Northern Territory intervention — the compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal land for the reconstruction of townships.
It’s also an extension of the Northern Territory Aboriginal land rights act amendments, which were introduced by the Howard government in 2007, and strongly opposed by Labor while in opposition.
And it becomes quickly evident that Native Title processing is part of the agenda,
If the plan is enforced, the practice is almost certain to be challenged legally.
But the greatest outrage about the scheme is likely to be directed at the native title provisions, which will fuel growing suspicions Labor is planning to introduce a sunset clause, or deadline, on the native title claims process.
Labor indicated in opposition it would move to speed up the native title process, but preventing the construction of public housing on “undetermined” land is a major policy shift.
The government will also be accused of holding access to an essential service — namely public housing — over the heads of the nation’s poorest citizens to try to leverage quicker native title outcomes through rushed negotiated settlements.
Currently, almost half the Australian land mass is subject to some sort of native title claim process, although not all of that land is situated in remote regions.
Source
Article quoted sourced from Green Left which abridged from National Indigenous Times
Nations Map for illustrative purposes only, maps may vary from time to time, check carefully before assuming anything about the tribal nations of country.
Further Media:
Aboriginals of Australia: Government Attempts Land Grab
Billions to go to remote Aboriginal areas, The Australian March 23, 2009. Unfortunately the article fails to address that the ‘targeted’ communities are being held to ransom on account of the need to fast-trek Native Title business. Jenny Macklin:
“We really want to focus on these areas partly because of the enormous need and the population growth, but also because these are places that because of their size have the opportunity for economic development,” she said.
“If we can get leases for economic development we can see the shops that exist in a normal town of 2000 or 3000 people in other parts of Australia here too.”
In his closing-the-gap report card, the Prime Minister said the director-general would have the authority to cut through red tape and co-ordinate the efforts of community, industry and government organisations to roll out reforms in remote housing, infrastructure and employment.
In his Guardian contribution ‘NT intervention a new land grab‘, John Pilger paints a grim picture of the awful intended purpose of the NT Intervention and the government and media’s role in vilifying Indigenous Australians as some freak of nature, needing to be controlled and tamed, not so original approach from the same same of Colonial Australian history.
They deployed arguments not dissimilar to those used by David Irving to promote Holocaust denial.
Smear by media as a precursor to the latest round of repression is long familiar to black Australians. In 2006, the flagship current affairs program of the ABC, Lateline, broadcast lurid allegations of “sex slavery” among the Mutitjulu people in the Northern Territory.
The program’s source, described as an “anonymous youth worker”, was later exposed as a federal government official whose “evidence” was discredited by the Northern Territory chief minister and the police. The ABC has never retracted its allegations, claiming it has been “exonerated by an internal enquiry”.
The inexplicable continuity and Australian Government silence on nuclear industry risks can be explained perhaps by agreements made which these governments prefer not to share with the Australian people or the indigenous communities feeling the impact of these pacts in their neighborhoods:
Rudd silent on nuclear pact role (The Age, March 19, 2009) : How quickly the worms do turn
The revelation of the Government’s decision to keep Australia in GNEP has triggered a backlash from conservation groups and accusations of hypocrisy from the Opposition. Before the 2007 federal election, Labor attacked former prime minister John Howard’s decision to join GNEP, with frontbenchers Peter Garrett and Chris Evans warning that Australia could become an international nuclear waste dump.
The management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste has proved a controversial aspect of GNEP, which has 25 member countries.
GNEP requires developed nations to export enriched uranium and nuclear technology to poorer countries. Under the plan, spent fuel and nuclear waste would be sent back to developed nations for re-processing and storage in order to minimise proliferation risks.
Aspects of the sudden pre-christmas review in South Australia well covered in advance by the Coober Pedy Times:
WEATHERILL – REVIEW OF THE ABORIGINAL LANDS TRUST ACT 1966
In recent years, Native Title in it’s role as signature hunter for the mining companies, have invented more convenient boundaries. These negotiations are of a secretive nature, the upshot being that the real traditional owners are usually unaware a deal has been struck until they see a company mining on their land. It’s quite intriguing hearing reports on how N/T justify these signature friendly new boundaries and extremely odd signature friendly, new “traditional owners”.
At present, Native Title “deals” are being rushed through rapidly as South Australia faces an economic deficit. The acquisition of aboriginal lands is seeing a new urgency. NO, does not seem to be an option for traditional land owners wishing to retain their tradition of handing land down through their family blood line. If traditional ‘blood’ land owners won’t sign, then Native Title simply invent a new one who will sign by altering the geneology of the land area to include a wider range of “family options”. (see 2.2)
Further Information:
Agreements, treaties and negotiated settlements project (ATNS)
MEDIA RELEASE: John Howard admits Aboriginal land grab intent- Stephen Muecke Stephen.Muecke at uts.edu.au
"Prime Minister John Howard has this morning admitted, in response to > questions by Neil Mitchell on Southern Cross radio, that "if" it > comes to > taking lands away from Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal > people, he will > adequately compensate them", WA Rights group Project SafeCom said this > morning. > > "The Prime Minister's comments, given in his usual, passive, non- > denialstyle in which he makes an initial admission, using his > frequently used > 'policy by stealth' methodology, have outed Mr Howard's true political > intent of the dramatic 'invasion' of the army against the backdrop > of health > and community workers into Aboriginal communities in the Northern > Territory,with the otherwise valid agenda of creating safety for > especially the > children in those communities," spokesman Jack H Smit said. > > "It is now abundantly clear, what many pundits have suspected > during the > last week," Mr Smit said. "The taking away of lands from Aboriginal > people,and given those lands over to commercial interests and > mining companies, was > always Mr Howard's intent."