Mood:  a-ok

 "4.2.6 Palestinian civil organizations, as well as international organizations, NGOs and certain religious institutions call on individuals, companies and states to engage in divestment and in an economic and commercial boycott of everything produced by the occupation. We understand this to integrate the logic of peaceful resistance. These advocacy campaigns must be carried out with courage, openly sincerely proclaiming that their object is not revenge but rather to put an end to the existing evil, liberating both the perpetrators and the victims of injustice. The aim is to free both peoples from extremist positions of the different Israeli governments, bringing both to justice and reconciliation. In this spirit and with this dedication we will eventually reach the longed-for resolution to our problems, as indeed happened in South Africa and with many other liberation movements in the world."

 http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/other-ecumenical-bodies/kairos-palestine-document.html

Posted by editor at 7:53 AM NZT

Updated: Sunday, 17 April 2011 8:33 AM NZT

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Mood:  don't ask

Foreign minister Rudd want's to save 1 million people in Benghazi from Gaddafi's military predations, but he and many others are happy to see 1.5M people in Gaza rot away in poverty, in an open air prison, picked off a few at a time by a predatory Israeli government. Not dying in a fire fight, but slowly over years, in arguably a much crueler fashion.

So much for the Bonhoeffer thing from Kevin Rudd.

It's a sobering lesson of local Sydney Jewish politics to recall that when Yigal Amir as an Israeli 'settler' assassinated peacemaker prime minister Yitzak Rabin in 1995, that there was no real condemnation of Yigal Amir of significance from the local worthies. Because half of Israel were glad of the murder apparently and it nearly tore the country in half. At that moment I would say Israeli democracy died.

Indeed the predatory settler cheer squad are stronger than ever now holding crucial numbers in the present fascist Israeli Government, powered up with 100-200 nuclear weapons according to estimates of the Federation of American Scientists. This cheer squad also hold the numbers in their own local institutions in Sydney and seem to have strong ties with the other institutions of Australian society. But it doesn't make it right. It just makes it morally worse. 

Keep in mind what this cheer squad for the 'settler' land thieves are barracking for. The settler movement generally believe the only good Arab is a dead one. That's why they have Yigal Amir as a poster boy - because he killed the PM of Israel who was going to make friends with the Arabs over Palestine.

If one looks closely at the diaspora here in Sydney it becomes clear that these folks are in a paranoid and neurotic loop about their tragic history. If one steps back it becomes apparent they can't accept peace, because they have been fighting seemingly forever. It's become their comfort zone. If the Palestinian conflict didn't exist, for many of these folks it would have to be invented. They are suffering a collective post traumatic stress disorder. So unlike say the Irish who have had a 150 years to come to terms with 1.5M dead in a 'guided' famine courtesy of the British, the Jewish diaspora are acting out their family bereavements in Palestine, nursing it along with all the misery they can get away with hiding behind the narrative of the victim country surviving the Holocaust and existential angst.

Existential angst while harbouring 100-200 nuclear weapons while North Korea with barely a handful has stood against the whole world for years. That's not existential risk, that's self pity over WW2 foisted on the politics of the whole world.

So that's who Big Media and Big Politics are getting in bed with on the Marrickville council controversy. The cheer squad for Yigal Amir who have no interest in peace, embrace cruelty and prejudice as they live out their post Holocaust right wing fantasies. This would be bad enough until you add in the nuclear arms race dimension that could take the whole world down in a nuclear winter in which case this cancer becomes totally intolerable.

So yes I support a boycott, divestment and sanction campaign against Israel until it changes it policy on human rights in Palestine by showing it can squash the predatory settlers. And I will until the Israeli Govt policy changes for the better, whether jelly backs in the Greens stand fast or not , or it damages my career, or Marrickville Council is sacked, or until the settlers set off a nuclear weapon fueled war, in which case my last words will be "I wish I was wrong".

Posted by editor at 1:11 PM NZT

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Mood:  lyrical

I first met Lee Rhiannon in the group house at 24 Beach Rd (I think that was the number) in 1992. A group house of 11 rooms on two levels (take note Victor Dominello MP - not an asian face amongst us).

It was a vegetarian, greenie, hippie house and it ran very well. An elder in the place was a guy called Geoff Ash. Geoff was dating Lee who was a bit older than Geoff and divorced.

Some of us worked for established green groups - myself at The Wilderness Society. Geoff worked for an organic vegetable distribution business based at Tamarama. Geof was committed to building a nascent NSW Greens party. It was an idea without flesh. An aspiration without form. Hopeful but a bit pie in the sky. Geoff was a refugee from the local Australian Labor Party, from memory.

If memory serves his time was mostly taken up with fighting off a rat bag called Joe Thorn, originally from NZ, and from the local ALP who wanted to own the nascent Green brand. Even from those early years the ALP were afraid of the potential of the Green idea. Much like Herrod in the New Testament wanted to kill every new born baby - just in case.

There was nothing about Lee's famous communist history on show during those several years at Beach Rd, or later nearby Curlewis St bedsitter, or the Eastern Suburbs Greens meetings I attended to 2000, 4 as a local councillor. I met her aged frail mother once but again there was no comments about communism or smashing the system and revolution. A milder bunch of people would be hard to find in East Sydney let alone Australia.

So Rhiannon's love story with Geoff Ash is the real basis of her ascension in the Greens. It's nothing to do with her communist parents. 

Henderson, with his deliberately covert corporate funding for his Sydney Institute - undeclared in his letter to the The Australian today - is pushing his ideological aggression against Rhiannon. But it's misconceived. Much the same as the newspaper runs a dirt sheet on Gandhi, same edition. Charming I'm sure.

Sure Rhiannon has political organising skills learned at the teat of her political parents. Sure she was a student lefty. And signifying what? 

This writer used to be an alter boy until 14, and then had sex outside of marriage as an adult. Proving what?  That people grow and change - derr.

Henderson makes no mention Rhiannon also did a botany degree. But what he misses most profoundly is the love story with Geoff Ash,  a genuine founder of the NSW Greens who comes originally from the mainstream ALP tradition. In other words Henderson is a flake, and may well be indulging in some professional misogyny as well given he has never been elected to anything in his life.

 Geoff Ash is the story that Henderson and most of the big media have no clue about when it comes to the political provenance of Lee Rhiannon. And at heart it is a great love story.

Posted by editor at 7:01 AM NZT

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Mood:  sharp

Danby MP lays out his sophistry in today's The Australian with this:

"I have never heard any of them speak out in support of the many thousands of political prisoners in North Korean labour camps, of the 300,000 murdered African Muslims of Darfur, or the Uighur people in western China, whose ancient heritage in areas like Kashgar is being bulldozed by the Chinese Communists as I write. Perhaps the common attribute of these struggles which does not endear them to Rhiannon and her watermelon faction is that they do not support violence and they are not anti-American."

 in MICHAEL DANBY: Knowing the truth will scare off voters

 Certainly Danby and the ALP must be worried being bracketed with the Yigal Amir poster boy movement that assassinated Israeli PM Yitzak Rabin to expand into Palestine.

It's all about alarm for the corrupt in Israeli politics over this;

Friday, 16 January 2009

Naomi Klein in The Guardian, prominent Jewish Canadian media practitioner calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Topic: human rights

at

 http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1873835/naomi-klein-in-the-guardian-prominent-jewish-canadian-media-practitioner-calls-for-boycott-divestment-and-sanctions/ 

So what about this reportage contrary to Danby rhetoric, from back on 24 April 2008 on humble SAM news blog mentioning all of the afflicted people Danby says the critics of Israel (regarding Palestine) never mention:

Olympic torch relay: Chinese military in the frame as per sponsor Ch7 vision
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: big media

"Whatever you do don't deviate from the alloted path according to the Chinese People's Police, thankyou very much. Sebastian Coe, we get the picture! Very careful control and choreography is the name of the game. Those poor Tibetans and Uygurs, North Koreans, Burmese, Darfurians, Zimbabweans etc.

And that's not saying anything good about the terrible record of the USA or Soviet Union either with their famous record of abuse of power and human rights."

at

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1808638/olympic-torch-relay-chinese-military-in-the-frame-as-per-sponsor-ch7-vision/ 

in the context of a local event here in Australia.

Or this

Thursday, 27 September 2007

Singapore, India 'trading' partners can promote justice in Burma
Mood:  sharp
Topic: human rights

at

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1748415/singapore-india-trading-partners-can-promote-justice-in-burma/

Should the world boycott the Beijing Olympics for Chinese human rights abuse?
Mood:  sad
Topic: human rights

at http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1748403/should-the-world-boycott-the-beijing-olympics-for-chinese-human-rights-abuse/

 Or this

Monday, 14 April 2008

China Inc's catspaw: Brainwashed youth diaspora crank Olympic nationalism in Sydney streets here?
Mood:  sharp
Topic: human rights

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1805801/china-incs-catspaw-brainwashed-youth-diaspora-crank-olympic-nationalism-in-sydney-streets-here/

 Or this

Friday, 4 January 2008

Xstrata and Barrick involved in highly contoversial mine conflicts in Phillipines, PNG
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: human rights

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1777432/xstrata-and-barrick-involved-in-highly-contoversial-mine-conflicts-in-phillipines-png/ 

Danby by his stupid comment just proves he is moral bupkis(Yiddish for worthless).

For instance he completely ignores that the ALP councillors at Marrickville also voted for Boycott, Sanction, Divestment campaign against Israel until they change direction on Palestine human rights and the extreme and predatory land theft movement promoting theocratic 'Samaria'.

He also selectively ignores the record of Meredith Burgmann, a prominent campaigner for the ALP in Balmain state election seat, former MP, current Sydney City Councillor, who managed to airbrush the North Koreans atrocities from her cute report of visit to the secret kingdom, exposed here on SAM some years back;

Saturday, 29 March 2008

City Hall Left candidate Burgmann airbrushes 2 million death holocaust in North Korea?
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: nsw govt

at http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1800728/city-hall-left-candidate-burgmann-airbrushes-2-million-death-holocaust-in-north-korea/

Tony Blair ex PM of the UK grasps at Catholic redemption for Iraq slaughter, tragedy
Mood:  not sure
Topic: human rights

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1774724/tony-blair-ex-pm-of-the-uk-grasps-at-catholic-redemption-for-iraq-slaughter-tragedy/

Wednesday, 12 December 2007

MOSOP Protests Against Shell in Nigeria
Mood:  sharp
Topic: human rights

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1771683/mosop-protests-against-shell-in-nigeria/

And of course the good old Greens directly quoted here:

Tuesday, 28 August 2007

Burmese dictatorship attacks political protesters: Greens
Mood:  sad
Topic: human rights
Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma Inc
Media Release
28 August 2007

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1738571/burmese-dictatorship-attacks-political-protesters-greens/

 

Posted by editor at 5:32 PM NZT

Updated: Saturday, 2 April 2011 5:53 PM NZT

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Mood:  chatty

Author’s general introductory note   

This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies in Big Politics and Big Media. Perhaps the greatest utility is the headline synthesis above of the 3 or 4 shows followed in this session.

For actual transcripts and/or video feeds go to the programme web sites quoted including Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Other sources of pollie talkies on Sunday include SkyNews paytv Sunday Agenda, Radio National Monica Attard Sunday Profile show. And of course Sunday night shows SBS Dateline, Sixty Minutes and now Sunday Tonight on 7.  

Media backgrounders.  

- Is it true as Bernard Keane reported, that Glenn Milne is no longer with News Ltd – missing from the Sunday Telegraph today?

- The local freebie Hills to Hawkesbury Living p15, 19 March 2010 states via Ray Williams MP (Lib) and a Sydney Morning Herald article that a long time ALP loyalist Mr Tom Forrest formerly chief of staff of Premier Iemma but also other roles back to 1995, now RailCorp's general manager of executive business, directed deletions from an adverse report on the $5.3B Metro, including:

"questions the basis of the governent's claim that the $5.3 billion seven-kilometre line between Central and Rozelle would relieve congestion in the CBD, especially during the morning peak hour. It is also noted that the CBD Metro project project alone servies no recognised [or planned] areas of high population or employment growth. ... The CBD Metro does not serve these journeys".

- Recent SMH on March 19th last had coverage of air pollution from the mining/coal industry in NSW perhaps relating to the infrequent spruiking for nuclear energy in it's opinion pages. Sure enough a letter was published calling for nuke energy. Only trouble is these also are known to promote lethal pollution as revealed by SAM recently quoting a 2002 US study of 8 reactors closed down in New York State, resulting in a marked reduction in childhood cancers. So it may be a case of choose your poison to keep the lights on.

- SAM's editor is going back to the law, as per family tradition. Not sure yet sure what that means for the SAM blog averaging around 35,000 pageviews per month these days. Well except for the obvious. Certainly we will be bound by total confidentiality so no stories from that source. And oversight of the big media will fall by the wayside especially as we do endless reading to pick up the threads. We can see some big charity donations coming up to salve our democratic conscience. (SAM in another life was known to send $15,000 to Chile to employ a journalistic and visual artist to help save 3 rivers, Ceurvo, Blanco and another one, a lake, 10,000 hectares of mature forest and adjacent fjordlands. The threat came from a proposed US $3 billion hydro smelter called Alumysa. ) And so the wheel turns. 

10 Meet the Press:  8- 8-30 am 

Lead in PM Rudd success in first debate “may be decisive” for election year. Humour footage of Pyne MP and chamber. Press round up re Earth Hour event, more (failed?) asylum seekers to Sydney, Abbott ultra triathalon day ‘putting his health at risk”.Pyne is talent as Education Opp minister and leader of Opp business in Reps.Pyne answers refugee compassion point with itinerant via 3^rd country [Sri Lankans by boat?]. Humour out take Abbott falling worm sledging Rudd.Panel is El Hall abc World Today. M Kenny Adeliade Advertiser (News Ltd). Re BER education school halls. Adbreak.Abbott fitness [fetish] with grab of Swan – where does he get the time? Pyne makes crack about Bonge going for a jog. 2^nd guest – Dr Sally McCarthy 

Meet The Press - Watch Political Video Online - Channel TEN.

Riley Diary 7, from 8.40am 

http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend   

9 Sunday newshour Laurie Oakes interview 8.44 am 

[pre interview large wrap of Abbott triathalon adventure, Barry OFarrell advert for NSW election for Liberal Party]

Opening line by LO to Joyce – you just said off air that after 3.8 km swim Abbott looked like “a gutted rabbit”. [Joyce lacks discipline just like in Finance.]

Barnaby Joyce as now shadow minister water, regional development and some other things. Getting into froth mode again. Frothing about Toorale station [furphies]. “Metaphor” used regularly. Rapid talking style.

Joyce “four and half thousand people have come into the country illegally” this year. [Sums up his understanding of the international treaty obligations for asylum seekers.]

[Joyce looked terrible in our view, in real politik terms, not personal preference.]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/oakes

Insiders 2: 9- 10am

Riley style worm package to Lenny Kravatz hard rock. 71% ch9 for Rudd. Press round up with panel Mal Farr (News Ltd) says it’s a profile build, does have enough time. David Marr (Fairfax) – its flagellation. Grab of Wayne Swan – too little time. Grab of Gillard PM with a plan on health, and ‘fitness instructor with an attidude’ re Abbott. Akerman runs pro Abbott line, raised lots of charity money and Labor has similar picfacs.

Grabs of Joyce and Pyne on other tv shows re Abbott fitness.

Roxon as Health Minister says lack of policy is the problem. Too much time to develop policy.

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders

Inside Business with Alan Kohler  .

Refer http://www.abc.net.au/insidebusiness/ 

Posted by editor at 3:59 PM NZT

Updated: Monday, 29 March 2010 7:43 AM NZT

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Mood:  chatty

Picture: Intrepid Sydney sider Peter Woof at left, lifted from the Paul Watson website.

We wrote recently asking "Why did Tony Abbott assualt Peter Woof?" a few weeks back here:

 It was about Sydney Uni student days in the 1970ies in those heady days of youth. The story referencing Peter as a colleague of Paul Watson of the famous Sea Shepherd got got over 2000 hits:

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1999558/why-did-tony-abbott-assault-peter-woof/

We called Peter's relatives for a follow up and they passed on our mobile number. He sent a text recently with email address to reach him in Guyana.

Correspondence goes as follows:

Hi Peter, Guyana sounds fascinating and a little scary. Trust you are well
and doing good works as always.

When I did that interview with you 3 years ago, in fact in first week of
my community news blog January 2007, I didn't know it would help fashion
prime ministerial politics now. The blog indy news now pulls around 35K
readers per month which is okay. Regular Sydney Indy Media has folded for
a while.

The issue of Tony Abbott as Opposition Leader in prime ministerial debate
on health policy is leading news today Tuesday 23 March 2010. He has had
some limited success in polling lately hence necessity to address him as a
live contender.

About a week ago, I republished the interview here:

  Tuesday, 16 March 2010
  Why did Tony Abbott assault Peter Woof?
  Mood:  loud
  Topic: aust govt

 http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1999558/why-did-tony-abbott-assault-peter-woof/

Like the picture on Watson's webpage too.

With federal parliament sitting it got 2000 plus readers which is high for
me.

Next day (what a coincidence - not) PM Rudd had the confidence to assert
that "It's good to have Mark Latham back in the Parliament" in Question
Time in a comment on Tony Abbott as leader. This was an allusion to
volatile aggressive personality as part of the real electioneering contest
to be called later in 2010. Others in the ALP had used the line but now
the PM was signing up - based on .... evidence on SAM micro news blog (?).
Well done Peter!

So it seems that incident all those years ago has managed to reflect on
the character of a leading politician today, admittedly a long time ago
and he does refer to the youth defence, which has fair degree of traction.

We received direclty a broadcast email from Mr Abbott which we also
published in terms of balance about health policy:

  Thursday, 18 March 2010
  Opposition Leader Abbott email to SAM on '$1B health gouge' claim
  Mood:  quizzical
  Topic: aust govt

http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/2000394/opposition-leader-abbott-email-to-sam-on-1b-health-gouge-claim/

If you want to add anything or comment about this state of affairs then
the voters, but especially the big media, would be likely to read it off
my news blog and weave it into their thinking if not actual specifics.
Hence my call to check in with your father who does sound proud of you
too.

Also I have forgotten name of corroborating NSW govt public servant that
knew about the incident, as referred to in the story. Probably doesn't
matter now.

Yours truly, Tom McLoughlin mobile 0410 558838

PS I tried to call by mobile, return button got the international beeps
but no ring tone. So hung up. Perhaps text message not sent by handset
(?).

Peter Woof:

Hi Tom,

Message sent by me. I received your call and the mobile rang.
Not the first time that I have tried to answer a call with no success.
Telecommunications periodically dodgy in this part of the world.
Sometimes even a text takes a day to send. Texts can also arrive out of
time sequence.

When Mum calls, it takes her two goes. I then call her back on the skype.
So, I text, or if you have an office phone, I can use skype to call. That
costs 3 cents per minute, not 28cents. Emails are free, of course.

In Guyana I am training would be chemistry teachers, as part of
http://www.cuso-vso.org at the Cyril Potter College of Education
http://www.sdnp.org.gy/cpce/index.htm

Also trying to finish my M.Ed. - up to now, it was computing in education,
but this time - globalisation and the curriculum, for the final unit. ....

Anyway, just to confirm - well, this is my email.
My skype name is ....and my phone in Guyana .....and we are UTC-4, so mentally add 9 hours and make it a day earlier, to
get the time here.
You would be 10:36am Tuesday 23/03 and here it is Monday evening, 19:36pm,
at time of writing.

Lots of fresh tropical locally grown fruit here, I can hear the mangoes
ripening 'as we speak'. A whole pineapple for 50cents equivalent. My pay
is equivalent to $270, per month, although it may be 3 months before I see
any of it. So, the "100 mile diet" is easy to implement here.

Peter.

Peter's comment on the now famous Abbott health budget graph found at the story http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/2000394/opposition-leader-abbott-email-to-sam-on-1b-health-gouge-claim/:

Tuesday, 23 March 2010 - 12:20 PM NZT

Name: "Adjusted for inflation"

Tony is playing optical illusions again.
Solidly recommend calculating the percentage increase each year and then
reduce by inflation. Looks to me like there has been no "real" increase,
except in the year before the election 2007 - but I am not about to hunt
for figures.

In brief - 03-04 to 04-05 Increase = 6.1%
4.7%, 6.0%, and, in the year prior to the Rudd win... you guessed it - 10.7%

This is a typical trick of governments thinking that they will lose, it is
called "expectation setting". Others call it 'pork-barrelling'. Still, on
Abbott's figures, one can hoist him on his own petard, and show just how
he spends money in the year before the election.

 [And in response to SAM's comment about skin cancer risk, the following ...]

The loss of melanin in white people is now thought to have been caused by a mutation in just one letter out of 3.1 billion letters of DNA.^[5]

 

Posted by editor at 4:16 PM NZT

Updated: Monday, 29 March 2010 9:35 AM NZT

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Mood:  chatty

Author’s general introductory note   

This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies in Big Politics and Big Media. Perhaps the greatest utility is the headline synthesis above of the 3 or 4 shows followed in this session.

For actual transcripts and/or video feeds go to the programme web sites quoted including Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Other sources of pollie talkies on Sunday include SkyNews paytv Sunday Agenda, Radio National Monica Attard Sunday Profile show. And of course Sunday night shows SBS Dateline, Sixty Minutes and now Sunday Tonight on 7.  

Media backgrounders.  

- Paddy Manning 1st ever reference to glorious, sublime "''first tool'' jump-cut in the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey" in a serious business story about Gunns Ltd and Forest Stewardship Council accreditation. A scene guaranteed to snatch the breath of any science graduate and many others.

- Astute analysis of Rudd Govt spin machine on nuke waste issues for Australia by Stephanie Peatling some weeks ago now here Rudd buries nuclear waste at bottom of bin February 28, 2010 . That story amongst others encouraged us to post last week a formerly confidential legal document with redactions about the famous Jabiluka protest victory in 1997-1998 similarly about indigenous and nuclear issues.

- We perceive the Tony Abbott pandering to conservative frictions over "Welcome to country" ceremonies hosted by the Indigenous as a deeper question of contested sovereignty from the invading British 200 years ago. Or to put it another way Tony's long known monarchism back to Mother England. Indeed when writing our honours legal thesis A Legal Foundation for Aboriginal Land Rights in 1989 we noted that Australia was of all colonies regarded as "sui generis" or one of a kind - neither conquered/treaty by orthodox military declaration of war, nor empty land simply annexed and "settled". Indeed our feeling racism allowed a creeping process of criminal violence effectively condoned but officially repudiated by the UK Colonial Office and British Govt in the first 150 years of Australia. It is too easy to view history with today's glasses, not least Irish convicts starved out of their land (while UKoverlords ran a net food export) with a million dead, and others shipped to Australia for a lethal competition with Aborigines. Which all makes the visit by the black president Barak Obama delayed to mid year so symbolic again.

- Coalition want it both ways on the whaling issue: Lambasting the Govt on lack of legal action so far against the Japanese, while deploring any damage to the trading relationship. As if the Coalition leadership cared about these intelligent mammals and the cruel slaughter.

- ASIO have another staff advert in Sunday Telegraph as questions of quality control in young service are aired. One wonders if ASIO are vindictive about refugees who refuse to collaborate in spying for them as argued by Mamdoub Habib. Another cute story about MP Lee Rhiannon with dodgy errors on her ASIO file as daughter of a prominent communist.

- Is Fairfax 'writing against the federal ALP' as The Australian is oft accused? How esle to explain burying the lead on the Peter Costello sledge of Abbott's parental leave economics to the bottom of an even page number on the SNH broadsheet when normally proud as punch on the main opninon page?

- Imre Salusinsky has written regularly on redgum forests controversy there in the conservative The Australian, Murdoch press. But as far as we can see not once mentioning that the logging of public land by private corporate interests has effectively been illegal for 31 years since passage of the Environmental Planning Act 1979. No EIS, no development approval, eventually exposed last year in the Land & Environment Court. Funny how conservative go soft and gooey on law and order depending on their logger friendly constitutency. Imre refers to this illegal political fix as permitting "firewood collection" like it was camp fire stuff while actually old growth logging of publicly owned natural heritage.

- Interesting to see Paul Gibson MP being embarrassed as member for Blacktown living on the Central Coast, currently not registered to vote in Sunday Telegraph today.

- Noel Pearson in The Australian counter intutively spits the dummy at his political ally Tony Abbott in support of welcome to country ceremonies. As commented here on SAM we feel the subtext is deeper questions of sovereignty never surrendered, never agreed. This calls up Abbott’s loyal monarchism to mother England where he was a student. It also calls up Pearson on the guest list to meet black president POTUS this year (?) as an Indigenous jurist with in the ALP choreography. 

10 Meet the Press:  8- 8-30 am 

2 minor state election results, ALP in SA holds on, Tas hung 10:10:5.  Redmond in SA is not conceding yet based on postals [often do slant conservative]. Footage of Question Time Abbott sledging Rudd on health “fake, phoney” diatribe.  Minister Emerson on Small Business is guest with footage of his weak vaudeville in QT. Press roundup re elections and Sydney property.

Cross to SAust journo in bright yellow. Emerson looks somewhat preened. Discusses “seamless national economy” deregulation. Humour out take St Pats celebration Rudd and Abbott. Panel is Van Onselen and M Grattan of News Ltd and Fairfax.

Q’s on federal implications of state elections, health package, leadership,  out take Keating and Costello as grouchy muppets cartoon. Senator Xenophon on SA result, health sign up. Scientology inquiry matter for the police? Says growing momentum.

Independents in other states for senate? Not trying. What about a Green Senate. Says Bob Brown and Co are measured, expects to hold balance of power.

Meet The Press - Watch Political Video Online - Channel TEN.

Riley Diary 7, from 8.40am 

http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend   

9 Sunday newshour Laurie Oakes interview 8.44 am 

LO with Lindsay Tanner Finance Minister. Moderate competent style on range of issues.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/oakes

Insiders 2: 9- 10am

State election round up. Long interview with Nick McKim for Tas Greens who is a straight younger version of Bob Brown. Breaking through the credibility gap with a 21% vote. Guarantee never block on supply. Yes , ‘all 3 parties in balance of power’.

Discussion of SAust result and Rann lacking reality or grace even anger in speech. Interview with federal Eric Abetz MP with some snide and cheap claims, and a howler on Tas result suggesting Peter Garrett MP (ALP) [on insulation troubles] shows what Greens Government would be like. Abetz indicates his blind bias?

Vox pop comic MPs and ex MPs. Panel on Abbott – did quite well in Parliament. General chat. Tony Burke speech footage about trust of Abbott [re Peter Spencer self harm speech]. Personal attack on Abbott in parliament.

Talking Pics amusing as usual especially David Rowe eyebrows on Rudd now, Gillard comment as a natural. St Pats day footage. Stutchbury does a soliloquy ‘we were right’ on range of news political stories [ignoring the pathetic barracking on the opinion pages]

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders

Inside Business with Alan Kohler  .

Evan Thorley on electric cars agenda – we know how the movie ends petrol is going up, battery prices are going down. Gunns downgrade lack of director disclosure requirements amounting to reverse insider trading. Senate vote on Telstra NBN split (?) extended 7 weeks to May 2010 sitting.

Refer http://www.abc.net.au/insidebusiness/ 

Posted by editor at 12:24 PM NZT

Updated: Sunday, 21 March 2010 12:26 PM NZT

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Mood:  quizzical

Those hip folks at the Australian Liberal Party have emailed humble SAM community news blog about the Labor "lie" in the headline. It's something to do with how to characterise cancellation of funds budgeted in forward estimates, distinct from actual expenditure which rose says Big Tony. 

Should SAM publish Mr Abbott? We published a particularly embarrassing story about Abbott's aggressive student days recently, so it's probably a balancer.  And depending on if it's news and adds to the big media angle on things. Doesn't mean we endorse him. We promise not to parrot the guy, just as we have only reproduced Barry OFarrell's first unsolicited email here.

On the other hand we sort of 'agree' with Big Tony's concern over 'welcome to country' being problematic, as well as the right wing chorus line in Big Media (!) ......because it is about creeping recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty by regular Aussies, deeper than native title, much much longer lived than the relatively brief rein of the British Empire of a few hundred years. Which is all good, bring on Aboriginal sovereignty!

Yes folks that's a rhetorical "agree" in order to disagree - you see like Barak Obama as POTUS we believe the future is coffee coloured and folks, it's okay, don't stress. It's a natural progression in an increasingly hot world as we note the 2 stitches in our chest from a potential skin cancer removed earlier today. If only we did have more of that protective melanin.

Posted by editor at 7:54 PM NZT

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Mood:  loud

Note our early story based on a personal interview in the family home below. We rang and spoke to Peter's father and have located Peter in general terms off on another of his adventures doing aid work actually.

We noticed this picture on the web too:

Monday, 8 January 2007

Why did student activist now minister Tony Abbott punch Peter Woof?
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: election Oz 2007

[...]

The editor had an interesting interview recently with long time qualified high school teacher here in NSW, and Canada, Peter Woof, a long time supporter of environmental causes.

He tells an interesting story from his parents lounge room in Killara  (a pretty exclusive north shore suburb of Sydney):

In 1978 25 year old Woof stood up to student politician, now federal government health minister, Tony Abbott who he says was allegedly caught doing unethical or perhaps illegal things like changing the locks on the student union offices and other things.

Woof says Abbott, a well known boxing enthusiast now if not then, punched Woof in the face. Woof was a 24 year old technician employed at Sydney University.

The date can be corroborrated by reference to civil assault suit documentation against Abbott presumably created for Woof in the Glebe local court at the time. Woof represented himself but was totally out muscled financially, he says, by 'half a dozen' barristers and lawyers who turned up at the preliminary hearing turning the civil suit into a high risk of huge legal costs against the alleged assault victim Woof.

Woof assumes these expensive lawyers taking a student activist dispute to another level were paid for by Abbott's 'rich father'. (It also suggests a serious fear of a  blossoming conservative political career almost destroyed at birth.)

This legal bullying tactic arguably at the expense of justice has the echo of the vexatious legal suit by Gunns Ltd bullying of Tasmanian environmentalists in the last few years.

Woof withdrew the civil suit he says under financial duress.

Peter Woof is a very experienced and qualifed person. He has an engineering degree. He is a qualified radio operator and mechanic who ws driving an LPG 4 cyllinder sedan in the early 1980's years before LPG was so popular. He owns his own house.

Woof is no shrinking violet. He is a friend and colleague of anti pirate whaler Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd fame.  Woof has participated in environmental protests including conviction for entirely peaceful protests against a nuclear warship in Sydney Harbour and the docking of a rainforest timber ship in the 1980ies and 90ies. During this period in 1986 Woof held down a high school teaching job in Bombala, a well known 'Timber Town' in NSW.

The Canadian teaching accreditation authority are aware of this lively history and have endorsed Woof's employment as a talented and committed non prosletising high school teacher. He is flying out today to continue his teaching job in remote Saskatchewan Canada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada

Woof notes that global warming has massively contracted the viability of traditional 'winter roads' (over frozen swamp and bog) in remote Saskatchewan, such that only one month mid January to mid February is now safe for high volume road transport during winter. This is too small a window he says to properly provision remote areas prefacing a depopulation of large swathes of North America in the future.

Peter Woof can be contacted by email on:

[pwoof dot bigpond dot net dot au]

Woof whose eyesight is suffering long sightedness in middle older age is no longer able to do much close work but obviously has some very interesting tales to tell still in his career of environmental advocacy back to the Franklin River blockades and earlier.

The alleged assault by Tony Abbott was openly discussed at a recent reunion of the Sydney Bushwalkers Club in 2006 and there are likely to be several sources to corroborate this version of student activist history of the 1970's here in Sydney.

One such witness in the 1970's approached Woof (attending with his elderly parents) at the dinner and said words to the effect of "It's a pity Peter you didn't knock Tony Abott's block off when you had the chance."

Obviously the student politics back then was very willing. Woof's social companion who made this comment unprompted is now a senior executive with a NSW Govt agency (details held by the editor).

Posted by editor at 9:51 AM NZT

Updated: Friday, 13 July 2012 9:03 AM NZT

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Mood:  chatty

Author’s general introductory note   

This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies in Big Politics and Big Media. Perhaps the greatest utility is the headline synthesis above of the 3 or 4 shows followed in this session.

For actual transcripts and/or video feeds go to the programme web sites quoted including Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Other sources of pollie talkies on Sunday include SkyNews paytv Sunday Agenda, Radio National Monica Attard Sunday Profile show. And of course Sunday night shows SBS Dateline, Sixty Minutes and now Sunday Tonight on 7.  

Media backgrounders.  

- away from Canberra beltway it’s been a boring as batsh*t week with the big media defaulting to Lara and Clarky trivia on the front pages selling vicarious sex as news, as if.

10 Meet the Press:  8- 8-30 am 

Press round up, talent is Greens leader Bob Brown, with Hugh Riminton in the chair. Social welfare policies in focus – dental, parental leave, support from the Greens.

Brown – we need a population policy after 430K increase in one year without an [official] govt policy [what a scandal] Brown is staunch again saying this “is not a green government’ whether it’s forests, climate etc. Humour out take is cartoon of Abbott from The Australian.

Panel is Stanley 2UE, Stephanie Balogh Courier Mail/News Corp.

Second guest is Heather Ridout, lampooned by the Coalition in previous times as Heather Sellout, but she picked the winner of the 2007 election. Waffles on about parental leave. Ridout waffles about nuclear, and energy security in northern hemisphere. [Highly ignorant about safety issues of nukes after child cancer study in New York State of 2002 proven by 8 reactor closures].

Meet The Press - Watch Political Video Online - Channel TEN.

Riley Diary 7, from 8.40am 

http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend   

9 Sunday newshour Laurie Oakes interview 8.44 am 

Julie Bishop on so called people smuggling. Missed a chunk of it. Increasingly looks like the talking skull.

LO takes a mild tone – softly softly catchee monkee on complex tax, parental leave.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/oakes

Insiders 2: 9- 10am

“Fascinating week” says Barry. [Actually away from Canberra beltway it’s been a boring as batsh*t week with the big media defaulting to Lara and Clarky trivia on the front pages selling vicarious sex as news, as if. Lenore Taylor is right it’s “scatty” “even sillier”  in her piece this weekend about “season’s bleatings” this last week.].

Film package has terrible shallow pop music.

More interesting discussion and footage of tense atmospherics with Premier Keneally. Her personal popularity is noted by Fran Kelly, says definite rudeness by PM. [Might be misunderstanding PM on right side of people view of NSW Govt.]

Swan is the guest by remote screen and conceptual discussion of Henry Tax review, sophistry about refusing to release the Henry Report.

Amusing package of Groucho Marx on Abbott oppositionism. Talk about Julia Gillard heir apparent. Ruddock and Howard still in profile pulling strings, Ruddock in particular angling for one of his daughters to go into politics.

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders

Inside Business with Alan Kohler  .

Refer http://www.abc.net.au/insidebusiness/ 

Posted by editor at 10:34 AM NZT

Updated: Tuesday, 16 March 2010 10:01 AM NZT

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