Monday, June 26, 2006
The Victorian State government is more concerned with the money it makes from pokie machines than with helping problem gamblers, according to its own report.
The three-year report, which was funded by the Department of Justice, said that criminals are almost certainly using pokie machines to launder money, and that pokie machine operators target the poorest areas.
It added that the government had "overwhelmingly under-utilised" data collected from pokies that could be used to reduce problem gambling. It said that helping problem gamblers given less importance than "revenue protection".
Dr Charles Livingstone, who led the study, said that "The government appears to be much more concerned about maximising the amount of money they make than minimising the harm to people who play."
(Source: Herald Sun)
The three-year report, which was funded by the Department of Justice, said that criminals are almost certainly using pokie machines to launder money, and that pokie machine operators target the poorest areas.
It added that the government had "overwhelmingly under-utilised" data collected from pokies that could be used to reduce problem gambling. It said that helping problem gamblers given less importance than "revenue protection".
Dr Charles Livingstone, who led the study, said that "The government appears to be much more concerned about maximising the amount of money they make than minimising the harm to people who play."
(Source: Herald Sun)
An unelected businessman who largely inherited his wealth has more influence than any elected official in Australia, according to a news magazine.
The Bulletin magazine's list of the most influential Australians of all time was headed by businessman Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Murdoch is head of News Corporation, having built his media empire after inheriting the Adelaide News from his father Sir Keith Murdoch.
Mr Murdoch has been a citizen of the United States since 1985.
(Source: ninemsn)
The Bulletin magazine's list of the most influential Australians of all time was headed by businessman Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Murdoch is head of News Corporation, having built his media empire after inheriting the Adelaide News from his father Sir Keith Murdoch.
Mr Murdoch has been a citizen of the United States since 1985.
(Source: ninemsn)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Politicians have exempted themselves from new laws which will allow people to bar unwanted calls from telemarketers.
The new laws will allow people to put their phone numbers on a Do Not Call Register that telemarketers must respect or face fines.
However charities, government, religious and education organisations - and politicians - will still be able to call at will.
(Source: The Age)
The new laws will allow people to put their phone numbers on a Do Not Call Register that telemarketers must respect or face fines.
However charities, government, religious and education organisations - and politicians - will still be able to call at will.
(Source: The Age)
The Liberal and Labor Parties have both attacked each other for compiling 'dirt files' on each other's candidates.
Liberal Leader Ted Baillieu accused Labor Premier Steve Bracks of dirty politics, after the notebook of one of the Premier's advisers was obtained by the Liberals.
In the handwritten notebook, Bracks strategist Tom Cargill suggests an "index search" be conducted on any business interests in the name of Mr Baillieu's wife and children and lists "attack lines" to use against the new Opposition Leader.
After the Liberals made the notebook public last week, Mr Baillieu attacked Labor for what he described as a campaign of innuendo against him and said that "I don't accept that people have a crack at your family and your children."
However The Age newspaper obtained a secret 60-page dossier written by Mr Baillieu's then-adviser Edmund Carew, that similarly contains attack lines for the Liberals to use against former Labor state secretary Jenny Beacham.
The dossier gives details about how one of Ms Beacham's sisters died, and the home addresses of one of Ms Beacham's children and other members of her family.
(Source: The Age)
Liberal Leader Ted Baillieu accused Labor Premier Steve Bracks of dirty politics, after the notebook of one of the Premier's advisers was obtained by the Liberals.
In the handwritten notebook, Bracks strategist Tom Cargill suggests an "index search" be conducted on any business interests in the name of Mr Baillieu's wife and children and lists "attack lines" to use against the new Opposition Leader.
After the Liberals made the notebook public last week, Mr Baillieu attacked Labor for what he described as a campaign of innuendo against him and said that "I don't accept that people have a crack at your family and your children."
However The Age newspaper obtained a secret 60-page dossier written by Mr Baillieu's then-adviser Edmund Carew, that similarly contains attack lines for the Liberals to use against former Labor state secretary Jenny Beacham.
The dossier gives details about how one of Ms Beacham's sisters died, and the home addresses of one of Ms Beacham's children and other members of her family.
(Source: The Age)
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
An American government document has classified homosexuality as a mental disorder.
The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities. In a section on defects, the document lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities. In a section on defects, the document lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
Monday, June 19, 2006
Quote of the Moment:
"...an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
An American military spokesman describes the suicide by hanging of three detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
"...an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
An American military spokesman describes the suicide by hanging of three detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Union-negotiated agreements deliver wage increases 72 percent higher than individual AWAs, according to a law firm closely associated with the Federal government.
The Federal government has claimed that Austrlalian Workplace Agreements or AWAs are more effective at delivering wage rises.
However a presentation by the Melbourne law firm Freehills revealed that union agreements contain 4.3 percent average annual wage movements, against 2.5 percent for non-negotiated, individual contracts.
(Source: Workers Online)
The Federal government has claimed that Austrlalian Workplace Agreements or AWAs are more effective at delivering wage rises.
However a presentation by the Melbourne law firm Freehills revealed that union agreements contain 4.3 percent average annual wage movements, against 2.5 percent for non-negotiated, individual contracts.
(Source: Workers Online)
Kerry Packer's funeral cost the taxpayer a total of $73,223.
(Source: news.com.au)
(Source: news.com.au)
The Iraqi Prime Minister has said that violence by US soldiers against civilians has become a "regular occurrence".
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al Maliki added that US soldiers "crush them [Iraqi civilians] with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion."
The remarks came a day after US troops in the city of Samarra shot and killed two Iraqi women, one of whom was in labour and was being driven by the other to hospital, after their car failed to stop.
Maliki is generally held to be a pro-US figure. Indeed the New York Times characterised his administration as "desperately dependent on American forces".
(Source: Green Left Weekly)
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al Maliki added that US soldiers "crush them [Iraqi civilians] with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion."
The remarks came a day after US troops in the city of Samarra shot and killed two Iraqi women, one of whom was in labour and was being driven by the other to hospital, after their car failed to stop.
Maliki is generally held to be a pro-US figure. Indeed the New York Times characterised his administration as "desperately dependent on American forces".
(Source: Green Left Weekly)
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Full-time chaplains would be installed in government schools under a plan backed by the federal Education Minister.
Victorian MP Greg Hunt said state school systems were anti-religious, and that it was time the Commonwealth intervened to give government-educated children a chance.
Under the plan, any government school that raised money for a chaplaincy program would receive an equal amount of public money.
Mr Hunt said a full-time chaplain would cost schools about $70,000 a year to provide.
"So if a school could raise $35,000 then the Commonwealth would match that with another $35,000," he said.
The Federal Opposition's education spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, was 'unavailable for comment'.
(Source: The Age)
Victorian MP Greg Hunt said state school systems were anti-religious, and that it was time the Commonwealth intervened to give government-educated children a chance.
Under the plan, any government school that raised money for a chaplaincy program would receive an equal amount of public money.
Mr Hunt said a full-time chaplain would cost schools about $70,000 a year to provide.
"So if a school could raise $35,000 then the Commonwealth would match that with another $35,000," he said.
The Federal Opposition's education spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, was 'unavailable for comment'.
(Source: The Age)
The man in charge of freedom of information requests in the UK has issued a decision against himself for failing to release information.
The information commissioner, Richard Thomas, refused a request from the environmental group Friends of the Earth to issue information about climate change.
But his office failed to give a reason why the information should not be released, which was a breach of the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Thomas was forced to issue a decision notice against his own department as punishment for not complying with the act.
Despite the decision, the Department has still not released the information.
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
The information commissioner, Richard Thomas, refused a request from the environmental group Friends of the Earth to issue information about climate change.
But his office failed to give a reason why the information should not be released, which was a breach of the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Thomas was forced to issue a decision notice against his own department as punishment for not complying with the act.
Despite the decision, the Department has still not released the information.
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
A Brisbane man has become the sixth Australian to die in Iraq since the beginning of the war.
The 34-year-old former policeman was killed, along with 3 Fijians, by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.
(Source: The Age)
The 34-year-old former policeman was killed, along with 3 Fijians, by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.
(Source: The Age)
Sunday, June 04, 2006
The Iraqi government has rejected the US military's finding that its troops did not massacre civilians.
A report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people - two men, four women, and five children - in a house in Ishaqi, dumping the bodies into one room of the house, and then calling in an airstrike on the building, presumably to cover up their actions. Video footage revealed by the BBC appeared to show the aftermath of US action in Ishaqi, including a number of dead adults and children with what experts claimed were clearly gunshot wounds.
The US investigation said that there were "up to nine collateral deaths" in the incident, but that US forces followed their rules of engagement.
There is a widespread perception among Iraqis that US forces are effectively allowed to do what they like. One local man, 40-year-old Obeid Kamil, said that US soldiers had a "licence to kill" Iraqi civilians. "Their action is always to open fire and kill people" he said. Adnan al-Kazimi, an aide to prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the government would demand an apology from the United States and compensation for the victims in several cases, including another alleged massacre in the town of Haditha last year.
(Source: The Scotsman [UK])
A report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people - two men, four women, and five children - in a house in Ishaqi, dumping the bodies into one room of the house, and then calling in an airstrike on the building, presumably to cover up their actions. Video footage revealed by the BBC appeared to show the aftermath of US action in Ishaqi, including a number of dead adults and children with what experts claimed were clearly gunshot wounds.
The US investigation said that there were "up to nine collateral deaths" in the incident, but that US forces followed their rules of engagement.
There is a widespread perception among Iraqis that US forces are effectively allowed to do what they like. One local man, 40-year-old Obeid Kamil, said that US soldiers had a "licence to kill" Iraqi civilians. "Their action is always to open fire and kill people" he said. Adnan al-Kazimi, an aide to prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the government would demand an apology from the United States and compensation for the victims in several cases, including another alleged massacre in the town of Haditha last year.
(Source: The Scotsman [UK])
