Showing posts with label people power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label people power. Show all posts
Saturday 25 February 2017
Coal and Climate Change protests in the Northern Rivers
Echo NetDaily, 20 February 2017:
‘Building the biggest coal mine on earth is, at this point in human history, the dumbest idea on earth,’ said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org.
Adani Carmichael Coal mine is still looking for major investors to get off the ground and Westpac Bank is a possible investor. Lismore Environment Centre is rallying the community together this morning at 10am outside the Westpac Bank, Molesworth Street, Lismore to highlight opposition to funding of the mine.
‘Twelve investment banks including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and HSBC have ruled out investing in Adani. The other three major banks in Australia have been backing away from it, but not Westpac. Westpac’s approval could throw open the doors for investors sitting on the sidelines. We want to show Westpac this is not a good decision for them to make,’ said George Pick from the Lismore Environment Centre.
‘This project is one of the single biggest threats in the entire world to our climate. The Queensland and federal governments are pulling out all the stops to facilitate the Adani Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin even though it’s economically unviable. Westpac needs to realise that investing in this mine will hurt their brand. Our community cares about climate change and investing in Adani will be a big mistake.’ he said.
Taking 12 billion litres of water a year the project will dewater two local springs that are Great Artesian Basin recharge springs, and will mine through the Carmichael river.
‘In Queensland, new water laws passed last year which mean that whilst Adani has to apply for a water licence local communities have no right to object to any licences that are granted,’ said Lismore City councillor Elly Bird, who will be speaking at the event.
The Daily Examiner, 21 February 2017, p.8:
Following backlash from his somewhat wooden 'ask the PM' video, a tough week was topped off for MP Luke Hartsuyker when a number of residents rallied outside his office for action on climate change.
With residents bringing a dummy with a print-out face, a makeshift Hartsuyker sat idly on a blow-up beach chair among the protesters.
Dressed for the beach and equipped with water pistols and floatation devices, the Coffs Coast Climate Action Group called for government action on climate change.
"We're here today to join the dots for My Hartsuyker - to beat the heat, we must leave coal in the ground and urgently transition to 100% renewable energy," said Liisa Rusanen, a member of the group.
"This summer we've had record-breaking heatwaves in many parts of the country. Unprecedented hot spells are taking their toll on the elderly and children, droughts in some areas are impacting food production, while others are battling bushfire.
"This is what climate scientists have been warning us about for decades, yet our politicians are playing with coal and putting our future at risk."
The group delivered a petition to the office of over 300 signatures, calling on the federal government to "declare a climate emergency and initiate a society-wide mobilisation to stop climate change".
Mr Hartsuyker, however, was not present at his office during the protest.
Labels:
climate change,
coal,
National Party,
Northern Rivers,
people power,
water wars
Sunday 12 February 2017
The American Resistance has many faces - this is one of them (2)
Labels:
people power,
politics,
protest action,
society,
Trump Regime,
USA
Thursday 5 January 2017
#NotMyDebt: those who feel able begin to fight back
Those not overwhelmed by the less than transparent and sometimes aggressive approach Centrelink is taking to queries about or denial of debts being raised by its obviously flawed automated debt recovery process are beginning to push back.......
Click on page images to enlarge
*Daniel Livesey is a web designer and video editor who is employed by a company with extensive experience working with
ACT Government and the Australian Government on information campaigns, annual
and general reports, promotional products, websites and multimedia projects.
SBS News, 4 January 2016:
Ngarrindjeri elder Elaine Kropinyeri from Mount Gambier in South Australia told SBS News Centrelink had recently cleared her of a $7800 debt, citing an “internal mistake”.
Ms Elaine Kropiyeri said she had not worked for two-and-a-half years after she resigned for “personal reasons” as a cultural consultant at a local foster care service in Mount Gambier, and successfully applied for Centrelink’s NewStart Allowance.
She said she discovered the so-called debt after Centrelink informed her she had been overpaid, in a separate matter, by $600. According to Ms Kropiyeri, Centrelink did not explain how the overpayment had been calculated, but deducted $464 from her regular payments towards the debt.
“It was absolutely terrifying…when you’re on a very meagre income, barely surviving,” she said.
Ms Kropiyeri found the $7800 in an obscure area of her MyGov Centrelink online account while trying to understand her debt notice. This figure, according to Ms Kropiyeri, didn't appear in the usual 'deductions' section.
“They didn’t even send me a letter,” she said.
“If I didn't accidentally come across it the way I did, they would still be deducting from my meagre income.”
Subsequently, Ms Kropiyeri received a statement on November 29 confirming her fears that the larger sum was in fact owing. With the notice showing $7154.52 was still to be repaid, she was able to work out Centrelink had been deducting part of her payment without her knowledge for this larger debt.
…… When Ms Kropiyeri enquired to Centrelink over the phone about the disputed amount owing, she said the staff member could not explain it.
“I am still unsure how this [debt] came to be because, as I said, I hadn't worked and did my reporting every fortnight.”
She was referred to a specialists team where a staff member said the onus was on her to explain the debt to Centrelink.
“But it’s [their] department that determines what overpayments that need to be distributed - I don’t have access to their computers.”
Because she was sure she did not owe any amount, she said she told Centrelink she would take her case to the Ombudsman's Office and ended the phone call.
Within half an hour they called her back to tell her the debt had been waived because of an “internal mistake”.
“I know my rights, so I stood up, tooth and nail, to them.”
* Last time I looked Ngarrindjeri elder Elaine Kropinyeri had been a resident in the Mt. Gambier area for over 30 years and was the inaugural recipient of the NAIDOC award for a lifetime achievement of contribution to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the South East in 2012.
Advice being offered in the media.......
The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 January 2016:
Graham Wells, principal lawyer at Social Security Rights Victoria, which provides legal advice and help for people battling various Centrelink complaints, says the organisation has been run off its feet in the wake of the debt-recovery saga plaguing the agency over the summer break……
So what should you do if you get a letter saying you owe the department money?
Mr Wells says in the first instance, people suspecting their debt assessment is incorrect should go to their nearest Centrelink office, the MyGov website or, "if you're willing to chance it, on the phone", and ask to have their debt reviewed.
Delegated decision makers within Centrelink, called Authorised Review Officers, are authorised to review department decisions on behalf of the minister. They might decide the debt does not exist, is correct, is too low, or is too high.
This can take between two and six months but Mr Wells suggested that, to speed things up, people could regularly call Centrelink to check on the matter, or go to their local MP and make regular representations there.
Mr Wells said if people were still not happy with Centrelink's internal decision-making processes, they could make an application under Freedom of Information laws for the department to release the documents it holds on their supposed debt to them.
"You want to be as specific as possible," he said. "Ask for all documents it holds relating to this debt between this and that date."
Debt collection agencies employed by Centrelink to recover debts have been applying a 10 per cent fee to recover debts related in inaccurate reporting.
"I think it's wrong; I think it's very entrepreneurial on their part," Mr Wells said.
It is, however, legal - although Mr Wells said consumers challenging their debts often had the 10 per cent fee set aside.
Mr Wells suggests that anyone faced with demands from a third-party for repayments go to their local post office and make the smallest repayment they can afford directly to Centrelink, to cut debt recovery agencies out of the loop. He said if it was later found their debt was invalid, Centrelink should return the money.
Finally, people can apply to the social services and child support division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which can review Centrelink decisions that have first been reviewed internally.
Victoria Legal Aid executive director of civil justice Dan Nicholson urged anyone who received a letter from Centrelink they believed to be incorrect to get free legal advice from Legal Aid or other organisations across the country.
"Even if you don't have all the information Centrelink asks of you, we advise you to respond to the letter, so you are able to push your side of the story," he said.
"If Centrelink does make a decision that you disagree with, such as you have a debt, I encourage you to challenge the decision – and you have a very good chance of success."
Internal Centrelink figures show that before the agency introduced its debt recovery system, 37.5 per cent of its decisions were revised after internal reviews.
Wednesday 4 January 2017
Something to stick on the fridge door in 2017
Via @LittleBertie1
Labels:
people power
Tuesday 3 January 2017
Fleeing Trump in 2017
Controversial global activist the Avaaz Foundation (website registered in France but headquartered in United States) has decided that it will not wait around until after the inauguration of U.S. president-elect Donald John Trump to find out what he may do to American freedom of speech and freedom of political association – it will leave the country before 20 January 2017.
THEN
Miami Herald, 1 November 2016:
A global activist group that opposes Donald Trump has filed a complaint with Florida elections officials claiming that his campaign CEO submitted false voter registration information.
The complaint says Stephen Bannon does not actually live at the Sarasota County address where he registered to vote in August.
“Under Florida law, to qualify as a registered voter, one must be a resident of the state,” states the one-page complaint filed Oct. 19 by Heather Reddick, chief operating officer of Avaaz.
“These allegations are a serious matter of public interest given Mr. Bannon's role as the chief executive officer of the Republican candidate's presidential campaign and warrants immediate investigation.”
Avaaz is an international online campaign organization that opposes Trump’s candidacy. The group has launched a campaign urging Americans living overseas, including in Mexico and Canada, to vote in the election.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions about Bannon’s voter registration. A spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Elections said that the office is reviewing the complaint.
Keep reading here.
NOW
Excerpt from Avaaz email seeking to raise money to leave the U.S.A., 21 December 2016:
Dear Avaazers,
I'm worried. Trump has a way to kill Avaaz.
Avaaz is a global organization, but like much of the internet, our servers, data, email list and website, are all housed in the US. 'President Trump' could shut us down in a heartbeat.
Would he do it? We campaigned hard against him -- we even filed a criminal suit against his top advisor for voter fraud. And if we've learned anything about Trump, it's that he holds a grudge.
So we have to move countries. And fast.
This won't be easy. Shifting all our technology will be costly. But if just 0.1% of us donate the price of a drink or a meal by Jan 1st, we can make Avaaz safe before Trump takes office. Let's trump-proof Avaaz…….
I'm worried. Trump has a way to kill Avaaz.
Avaaz is a global organization, but like much of the internet, our servers, data, email list and website, are all housed in the US. 'President Trump' could shut us down in a heartbeat.
Would he do it? We campaigned hard against him -- we even filed a criminal suit against his top advisor for voter fraud. And if we've learned anything about Trump, it's that he holds a grudge.
So we have to move countries. And fast.
This won't be easy. Shifting all our technology will be costly. But if just 0.1% of us donate the price of a drink or a meal by Jan 1st, we can make Avaaz safe before Trump takes office. Let's trump-proof Avaaz…….
When the US government wanted to kill Wikileaks, they simply told companies like Visa, MasterCard and Paypal to stop processing their online donations. It shut them down for over a year. Trump could go even further to target firms that house our servers and email list. We might never recover.
Avaaz is particularly at risk because we're a global organization. Far-right nationalists everywhere rail against Avaaz and "foreign" organizations who challenge their hate and ignorance.
We can't afford to be unprepared for this assault, let's Trump-proof our movement……
The great beauty and legitimacy and strength of Avaaz is that all our power flows and comes from people. That's why we're so hard to intimidate - because you won't be. But our fearlessness has made us many enemies, and we need to be smart. Let's get ahead of what they'll do next.
With hope,
Ricken, Danny, Mia, Spyro and the Avaaz team
BACKGROUND
Avaaz—meaning "voice" in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages—launched in 2007 with a simple democratic mission: organize citizens of all nations to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want.
The Avaaz community campaigns in 15 languages, served by a core team on 6 continents and thousands of volunteers. We take action -- signing petitions, funding media campaigns and direct actions, emailing, calling and lobbying governments, and organizing "offline" protests and events -- to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform the decisions that affect us all.
Avaaz online letter to Donald Trump alleged to have been signed by over 2 million people, April 2016:
Dear Mr. Trump,
This is not what greatness looks like.
The world rejects your fear, hate-mongering, and bigotry. We reject your support for torture, your calls for murdering civilians, and your general encouragement of violence. We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans, and millions of others who don’t look like you, talk like you, or pray to the same god as you.
Facing your fear we choose compassion. Hearing your despair we choose hope. Seeing your ignorance we choose understanding.
As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division.
Sincerely,
[Add your name!]
This is not what greatness looks like.
The world rejects your fear, hate-mongering, and bigotry. We reject your support for torture, your calls for murdering civilians, and your general encouragement of violence. We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans, and millions of others who don’t look like you, talk like you, or pray to the same god as you.
Facing your fear we choose compassion. Hearing your despair we choose hope. Seeing your ignorance we choose understanding.
As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division.
Sincerely,
[Add your name!]
Whois Record ( last updated on 2016-12-21 )
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Registrant ID: MH4220-GANDI
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Registrant Street: Suite #500
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Registrant Fax Ext:
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Admin ID: MH4220-GANDI
Admin Name: Ricken Patel
Admin Organization: Avaaz Foundation
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Name Server: ELSA.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
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DNSSEC: unsigned
For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp
Domain ID: D952419-LROR
WHOIS Server:
Referral URL: http://www.gandi.net
Updated Date: 2016-08-30T06:40:19Z
Creation Date: 1997-10-01T04:00:00Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2017-09-30T04:00:00Z
Sponsoring Registrar: Gandi SAS
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 81
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Registrant ID: MH4220-GANDI
Registrant Name: Ricken Patel
Registrant Organization: Avaaz Foundation
Registrant Street: Obfuscated whois Gandi-63-65 boulevard Massena
Registrant Street: Suite #500
Registrant City: Obfuscated whois Gandi-Paris
Registrant State/Province: Paris
Registrant Postal Code: 75013
Registrant Country: FR
Registrant Phone: +33.170377666
Registrant Phone Ext:
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Admin ID: MH4220-GANDI
Admin Name: Ricken Patel
Admin Organization: Avaaz Foundation
Admin Street: Obfuscated whois Gandi-63-65 boulevard Massena
Admin Street: Suite #500
Admin City: Obfuscated whois Gandi-Paris
Admin State/Province: Paris
Admin Postal Code: 75013
Admin Country: FR
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Admin Phone Ext:
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Tech ID: MH4220-GANDI
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DNSSEC: unsigned
For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp
Monday 2 January 2017
While we were away.....
Some of the issues and comment which caught my attention while the blog was on annual holiday.
* THE NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is investigating several trucks that were not sealed correctly before transporting waste that potentially contained asbestos.
The EPA has been closely
monitoring the remediation of the former South Grafton Sewage Treatment Plant
by Clarence Valley Council, in response to a number of concerns raised by the
community.
Adam Gilligan, Regional
Director North, said a recent inspection observed trucks leaving the site with
incorrectly sealed loads. The same contractors currently under investigation
are also under investigation for similar issues in the Tweed area.
"I want to make it
clear that, to date, Clarence Valley Council have taken appropriate steps in
managing the environmental aspects of the remediation project.”
"However, the improper
transport of waste potentially containing asbestos is a serious issue that
warranted swift action to prevent a recurrence.”
See: http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/news/epa-investigates-super-depot-waste-transport/3126001/
* Scientists in the U.S., aided by colleagues in Canada and
elsewhere, are moving quickly to preserve climate data stored on government
computer servers out of concern that the Trump administration might remove or
dismantle the records. A “guerrilla archiving” event will be held at the University of Toronto this weekend to
catalog U.S. government climate and environmental data. Other researchers from
the University of California to the University of Pennsylvania are responding
to calls on Twitter and the Internet to preserve data on everything from rising
seas to wildfires. The actions come as President-elect Donald Trump has
appointed climate change skeptics to all his top environment and energy posts.
Though there has been no mention yet of removing publicly available data, “it’s
not unreasonable to think that they would want to take down the very data that
they dispute,” said Michael Halpern of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
See: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/fearing_trump_scientists_rush_to_preserve_key_climate_data_sets/4862/
* In a report sent to Planning Minister Rob Stokes, just
before the latest approval, the NSW National Parks Association (NPA) estimated
29-40 million litres a day of water were entering the coal mines in and
around the Illawarra Special Areas, including Dendrobium. (See map below of the
Wongawilli (lower mines) and Dendrobium coal mines (upper set) sprawling
between the Avon and Cordeaux Reservoirs.)
According to the NPA,
the mid-range estimate is equivalent to about 10 per cent of the total
daily supply taken from the Avon, Cataract, Cordeaux, and Woronora
reservoirs.
"It's important to
note that there is currently no reliable means of knowing how much of this
water would have otherwise gone into the storage reservoirs", Peter
Turner, NPA mining projects officer, said.
Those estimates, though,
may be conservative because they don't include inflows that are
adding to water bodies accumulating within the mines, Dr Turner said.
"There doesn't
appear to be any reporting or auditing of water pooling in either
the current or the old mines within and around the Illawarra Special
Areas," he said. "It's not clear whether the Dendrobium and adjacent
Wongawilli mines are staying within their water licence limits."
See: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/outrageous-coal-mine-gets-expansion-nod-despite-secret-incomplete-studies-20161222-gtgz4d.html
See: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/outrageous-coal-mine-gets-expansion-nod-despite-secret-incomplete-studies-20161222-gtgz4d.html
@LennaLeprena @Loud_Lass @NannanBay @deniseshrivell @MGliksmanMDPhD @leftocentre Merry Xmas Boys & Girls. pic.twitter.com/EKmqXP0jaW
— Freda Nurks (@fredanurks) December 24, 2016
* If there is one
unforeseen advantage of Donald Trump's election to the seat of the US
presidency, it is the fevered goodwill that has flowed into the coffers of
progressive, anti-Trump, causes since.
Since the Republican
nominee's election win on November 8, nonprofit organisations in the US
- such as pro-choice charity Planned Parenthood - have
seen a massive upsurge in donations. In the build-up to Christmas, the
wave of generosity only strengthened as disappointed voters did their
best to counter the President elect's dismaying policies around civil rights,
including immigration and women's reproductive rights.
* The
Turnbull government insists most pensioners will be better off under changes in
the New Year, as Newspoll analysis shows older voters are turning against the
Coalition.
The analysis of 8508 voters in surveys taken for The Australian
from October to December reveals a seven-percentage-point plunge in the primary
vote for the Coalition among voters over 50 since the July 2 election.
Support for the government in the largest voting demographic has
fallen from 49.9 per cent to 43 per cent.
Two-thirds of the lost vote has shifted to Labor and one-third to
independents and minor parties.
The dip has come as the government faces criticism over an overhaul
of superannuation taxes, changes to the pension assets test and aged care
reforms.
* Bill
McLennan, the Australian statistician from 1995 to 2000, argues that this
census is “the most significant invasion of privacy ever perpetrated” by the
ABS. But it is far more than that. It is an unparalleled resource — crying out
to be stolen — for our adversaries to use against us in cyber and other
conflicts.
Imagine if China or
Russia had a copy of this information. They would know, or easily could deduce,
the names, ranks and military base of every member of our armed forces, from a
general to a Digger. Indeed this would be a trivial piece of big data
analytics.
Similarly, they could
deduce the details of every intelligence officer, every public servant, every
politician, every chief executive, every union official, every doctor, nurse
and teacher, and on and on.
But it would be worse
than just that because this personal data provides a highly reliable framework
on which to hang other data — information that is stolen from credit card
companies, telcos, retailers and so forth — to build comprehensive pictures of
every individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
Such knowledge gives a
strategic edge to an adversary in any conflict where information warfare plays
a significant role.
It turbocharges an
adversary’s information warfare capacity, particularly in the not-war-not-peace
cyber conflicts that are the 21st century’s version of the Cold War.
Two obvious questions
arise.
Could our adversaries
steal the census? The answer to this must be yes. We know it is possible for
cyber intelligence agencies to infiltrate highly protected computer systems
unobserved, then locate, copy and export data, again unobserved, and then leave
the system, covering their tracks as they go.
We know from US
congressional public hearings that Russia and China have these capabilities.
Essentially we know that
no computer system is invulnerable to determined and sophisticated attackers,
despite what their owners may say. And remember that we are talking about the
ABS here, with its ageing computer system, demonstrably poor cybersecurity and
a clearly slack, lazy, cosy relationship with its IT vendors.
The second question is
this: are our adversaries stealing the census? We have to assume that they have
at least considered it.
When the idea of
electronically linking names and addresses to census data was first announced a
few years ago, it is easy to imagine that both Russia and China would have
counted their blessings — no one else does this, only us mugs in Australia.
They immediately could
have begun to reconnoitre the ABS’s computer systems while preparing to inject
useful pieces of sleeper software to assist in later operations.
Beijing, as it has done
in many cases in other countries, also may have considered trying to suborn or
persuade ethnic Chinese employees or contractors to assist in this process.
In the cat-and-mouse
game of cyber espionage and counterespionage, we have to assume that our
adversaries could do these things undetected.
So it’s highly plausible
that Russia and China, or both, are stealthily stealing your census — and
getting away with it. I’d give it better than even money because each of these
powers has the motivation, capability, opportunity and, most important, intent.
See:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/census-cost-us-dearly-enemies-have-our-number/news-story/6072da324862e743e6b7cd806b82fdb6
* Donald Trump's assault on trade is escalating. First the foes were China and Mexico. Now it is the world.
The Trump transition team has mooted an import tariff of 10 per cent across the board, doubling down on earlier talk of a 5 per cent tax. Such thinking is of a different character to Mr Trump's campaign rhetoric, which mostly hinted at trade sanctions to force concessions.
A catch-all tariff is a change of belief systems. It overthrows the free trade order that has been upheld and policed by Washington since the 1940s.
Congress cannot stop Mr Trump imposing his will by "executive action" under existing US law. The president may impose tariffs of up to 15 per cent for 150 days without having to demonstrate any damage. All he has to do is utter the words "macroeconomic imbalances", or invoke "national security", and he can do what he wants.
The thrust is becoming all too clear. Mr Trump's choice of leader of the White House National Trade Council is a virulent Sinophobe. Without wishing to caricature Peter Navarro, there is a relentless consistency to his work: The Coming China Wars, Death by China: Confronting the Dragon, and Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/trumps-trade-policies-become-more-shocking-by-the-day-20161228-gtj3zd.html
* A 27-year-old Sudanese
refugee held on Manus Island has
died following “a fall and seizure” inside the Australian-run detention centre.
It is understood the
man, who had reportedly been unwell for several months, collapsed and suffered
head injuries inside the detention centre on Friday. He was then evacuated to
Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital, where he died on Saturday.
The Guardian understands
the man’s name was Faysal Ishak Ahmed. He was born in Khartoum in June 1989 and
had been held on Manus since October 2013.
A source on Manus told
Guardian Australia that Ahmed had been sick for more than six months and other
detainees had alerted the organisation responsible for care on the island,
International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), to his sitaution.
“Last night he collapsed
in Oscar prison and injured his head seriously,” the source said. “It was not
the first time that he had fainted. A few days ago the refugees wrote a
complaint against IHMS about his situation.”
According to the Refugee
Action Coalition, the letter was signed by more than 60 refugees on Manus last
week.
They said he had
suffered numerous blackouts and collapses over the past several months.
“Faysal is yet another
casualty of the systematic neglect that characterises Manus Island and offshore
detention,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition.
A media statement from
the Department of Immigration and Border Protection confirmed the death of the
27-year-old man from “a fall and seizure” at the detention centre.
“The department is not
aware of any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and expresses its
sympathies to his family and friends,” it said. “The death will be reported to
the Queensland coroner. No further comment will be made at this time.”
* DECEMBER 10-11: NSW Government planning minister Paul Toole knocks back a request from the Clarence Valley Council to fund work on its $13.5 million super depot in South Grafton with an internal loan. The council planned to use money from its water fund to cover a cash flow shortfall while the council sold off assets to raise money for the depot work.
* In 2016, Bob Brown and Jessica Hoyt were arrested for peacefully protesting against logging at Lapoinya in NW Tasmania.
DECEMBER 12: Brooms Head Caravan Park long-time visitors and residents are up in arms over proposed changes to the park. Clarence Valley Council has released a concept design report for the caravan park with an estimated $7.91m worth of changes, including improved amenities, a revised road layout, more cabins and a phasing out of traditional user camping sites.
DECEMBER 13: With the finishing line in sight for the re-vamped Harwood Slipway, owners Harwood Marine announce they have 18 jobs worth around $10 million on the books waiting to get started. Company managing director Ross Roberts says the slipway should re-open some time in January.
DECEMBER 14: A private motocross track on a property has created division among property owners and neighbours on Tallawudjah Creek Rd, near Glenreagh. It also split opinion on Clarence Valley Council, with Mayor Jim Simmons' casting vote needed to give the clearance for the track to go ahead.
DECEMBER 15: Some Ulmarra residents fear a Clarence Valley Council resolution which will almost certainly mean the village's community pool will close at the end of the swimming season, will mean children will swim in the Clarence River, where bull sharks have been caught.
DECEMBER 16: There is fury among South Grafton residents near the Grafton District Golf Club at a council decision which could allow the sub-division of two former holes on the course into 16 building lots. The residents had agreed to a development of nine one-acre lots and were angry the golf club changed this to 16. The council voted to accept 16 lots, but wants layout changes to alleviate residents' concerns.
DECEMBER 17-18: Chaos around the Clarence Valley as a car crashes into the Joy Noodle store in South Grafton, a man is arrested after allegedly threatening a family with a gun near Buccarumbi and a man is allegedly stabbed in the knee with scissors during the theft of his vehicle in Yamba.
DECEMBER 19: The Daily Examiner launches its Give Don't Grieve campaign urging people to take road safety seriously in response to the rising road toll in the State.
DECEMBER 20: Seventy-two tabs of what is believed to be LSD were seized during a weekend drug dog operation on the Lower River. It was one of three significant busts made by police, as they took the animals through a number of licensed premises, parks and public places around Yamba and Maclean.
DECEMBER 21: A single mother of three, Stevie Martin, thanks lady luck after a single pine tree in the front yard of her house in Ellandgrove between South Grafton and Coutts Crossing, saves her house from major damage.
A savage storm that ripped through the area ripped the roof off a neighbour's house and sent it hurtling toward her house until the tree blocked it.
DECEMBER 22: The international media comments on the seeming reluctance of the Australian judicial system to bring the men charged over the death of Maclean woman Lynette Daley to court.
A report in the New York Post, picked up by media across the USA, says racism in Australian society is behind it.
DECEMBER 23: Police say the body of a teenager girl discovered near Yamba is believed to be missing Grafton girl Emma Powell.
The body of the 16-year-old was found in a reserve with the family car and dog which went missing with her.
The dog, Indie, was taken into safety by rangers.
DECEMBER 24: The Mororo Rd turn off from the Pacific Highway has been turned into a death trap by the works to upgrade the highway say residents. The RMS is about to release the results of a safety audit of the contentious area.
DECEMBER 26: The NSW Environment Protection Authority is investigating several trucks that were not sealed correctly before transporting waste that potentially contained asbestos.
The authority has been closely monitoring the remediation of the former South Grafton sewage Treatment Plant by Clarence Valley Council.
DECEMBER 27: A Grafton man is pulled from the surf on Wooli Beach, but dies of cardiac arrest after trying to rescue to young family members.
DECEMBER 28: Details emerge of the death of 60-year-old Grafton man Geoffrey Blackadder, who died while trying to save two young family members on Wooli Beach on Boxing Day.
DECEMBER 29: Clarence Valley beaches are packed as holiday makers enjoy hot weather. But lifeguards warn there can be challenging conditions which swimmers need to be wary of.
DECEMBER 30: The death of a 12-year-old boy in a car crash on the Pacific Highway at Tyndale prompts a warning that more deaths will happen on the notorious blackspot before the highway upgrade is complete.
DECEMBER 31: News emerges the boy who died in the crash at Tyndale is a relation of Australian media icon Ita Buttrose.
See: The Daily Examiner, 31 December 2016, p.6
* In 2016, Bob Brown and Jessica Hoyt were arrested for peacefully protesting against logging at Lapoinya in NW Tasmania.
They were charged under
Tasmania’s harsh new ‘anti-protest’ laws. With huge fines and prison sentences,
these laws attack the right to peaceful protest, a cornerstone of our
democracy.
Governments across
Australia are now copying these laws, to crush dissent on environmental,
social, cultural and Indigenous issues.
These laws must be
stopped now to protect everyone's right to peaceful protest.
Bob Brown has launched
action in the High Court of Australia to overturn these draconian laws, so that
Australians remain free to take a stand on important issues we all care
about.
Jessica Hoyt, who grew
up in Lapoinya, now a neurosurgery nurse in Hobart, has joined Bob in the High
Court action.
This case is a huge
undertaking, with an enormous financial cost.
But we cannot allow
these laws to take hold, strangling our democratic rights.
Stand with Bob and
Jessica, and make a pledge today to strike down these undemocratic laws, once
and for all.
With potential legal
costs of $250,000 or more, we are aiming to crowd fund at least $100,000
towards the legal costs that Bob Brown and Jessica Hoyt could face.
North East Forest
Alliance (NEFA) co-ordinator and audit-author Dailan Pugh said that the EPA
have identified 66 instances of non-compliance with logging laws, ‘though this
belies the fact that a single ‘non-compliance’ can represent hundreds of actual
breaches.’
‘From the EPA’s figures,
some 325 ancient hollow-bearing trees were illegally logged, though the EPA
only count this as one act of non-compliance,’ Mr Pugh said.
‘While this is the most
comprehensive investigation of our complaints that the EPA have yet undertaken,
they still failed to investigate numerous complaints, For example we identified
that 26 vulnerable Onion Cedars had an illegal road constructed within their
buffers, but the EPA only checked eight of them. Similarly of the 11 poorly
drained and eroding tracks we reported the EPA only checked nine.
‘There were also
numerous offences relating to koalas, yellow-bellied gliders and black-striped
wallabies that the EPA confirmed but claim they couldn’t legally prove.
‘We have been finding
similar breaches in all the audits we have been undertaking, year after year
after year.
‘Yet the EPA’s only
response is to issue 47 more “official cautions” and require yet more ‘action
plans’. These pathetic responses have been proven to be useless. The Forestry
Corporation continue to deny they do anything wrong and continue to go on
illegally logging.
‘The EPA are still yet
to complete their investigations into eight cases of illegal roading and
logging of the Endangered Ecological Community Lowland Rainforest, and hundreds
of cases of the Forestry Corporation recklessly damaging retained
hollow-bearing trees.
‘They say that these
serious offences are subject to an ongoing investigation. We can only hope that
next time the punishment will match the crime’ Mr Pugh said.
See: http://www.echo.net.au/2016/12/epas-official-cautions-confirm-pathetic-status-nefa/
* Debit cards have been returned to dozens of Aboriginal people in outback South Australia, after a local store owner drained almost $1 million from their bank accounts.
It follows a landmark Federal Court ruling last month, which found the trader guilty of unconscionable conduct.
Community groups hope it sends a message to others taking advantage of customers in remote areas.
It follows a landmark Federal Court ruling last month, which found the trader guilty of unconscionable conduct.
Community groups hope it sends a message to others taking advantage of customers in remote areas.
Saturday 10 December 2016
U.S. president-elect Donald J Trump gets a dressing down after he went one tweet too far for one American woman
* Danielle Muscato, formerly Dave Muscato, is an atheist activist, writer, debater, pundit, musician, and transgender woman from the United States.
Labels:
Donald Trump,
LGBT,
people power,
Twitter dummy spit
Sunday 4 December 2016
An Australian Tale In Seven Tweets
From the keyboard of Blue Mountains resident @R_Chirgwin:
Scene: Katoomba Station, crowded with tourists. A skinny busker is singing “When the Droving’s Done” in an Irish lilt.
Enter: Nazi Skinhead.
Nazi Skinhead: [Spits on Asian tourist]
Busker: [Interrupting song] [In Irish accent] “Oi. You! Don’t bring that shit onto our patch!”
Backbacker: [Upbraids Skinhead for some minutes]
Crowd: Applause
Skinhead: [Raises fist}
Backpacker: [Raises guitar]
Backpacker: [Guitar raised] “You got more fookin’ reach than this, matey?”
Skinhead: “I’ll be back tomorrow!”
Backpacker: “Fookin’ go ahead”
Backpacker: “Cause even on a Monday, there’ll be more of us than there is of fookin’ you. And I see you spit again, ya fookin’ DONE.”
And the tourists and the locals gathered around the Asian who got spit on, and everybody crowded the skinhead so he missed the train.
And the backpacker remembered what bit of an awful song he’d quit at, and took up “Till the Droving’s Done” like no damn thing happened.
Labels:
Australian society,
islamophobia,
people power,
racism
Wednesday 30 November 2016
America begins to gird for battle against Trump's ideological excesses - Part 2
STATEMENT, 15 November 2016:
As
scholars of Jewish history, we are acutely attuned to the fragility of
democracies and the consequences for minorities when democracies fail to live
up to their highest principles. The United States has a fraught history
with respect to Native Americans, African Americans and other ethnic and
religious minorities. But this country was founded on ideals of liberty
and justice and has made slow, often painful progress to achieve them by
righting historic wrongs and creating equal rights and opportunities for all.
No group has been more fortunate in benefiting from this progress than
American Jews. Excluded by anti-Semitism from many professions and social
organizations before the Second World War, Jews in the postwar period became
part of the American majority, flourishing economically and politically and
accepted socially. There are now virtually no corners of American life to
which Jews cannot gain entry. But mindful of the long history of their
oppression, Jews have often been at the forefront of the fight for the rights
of others in this country.
In
the wake of Donald Trump’s electoral victory, it is time to re-evaluate where
the country stands. The election campaign was marked by unprecedented
expressions of racial, ethnic, gender-based, and religious hatred, some coming
from the candidate and some from his supporters, against Muslims, Latinos,
women, and others. In the days since the election, there have been
numerous attacks on immigrant groups, some of which likely drew inspiration
from the elevation of Mr. Trump to the presidency of the United States.
Hostility
to immigrants and refugees strikes particularly close to home for us as
historians of the Jews. As an immigrant people, Jews have experienced the
pain of discrimination and exclusion, including by this country in the dire
years of the 1930s. Our reading of the past impels us to resist any attempts to
place a vulnerable group in the crosshairs of nativist racism. It is our
duty to come to their aid and to resist the degradation of rights that Mr.
Trump’s rhetoric has provoked.
However,
it is not only in defense of others that we feel called to speak out. We
witnessed repeated anti-Semitic expressions and insinuations during the Trump
campaign. Much of this anti-Semitism was directed against journalists,
either Jewish or with Jewish-sounding names. The candidate himself
refused to denounce—and even retweeted--language and images that struck us as
manifestly anti-Semitic. By not doing so, his campaign gave license to
haters of Jews, who truck in conspiracy theories about world Jewish domination.
We
condemn unequivocally those agitators who have ridden Trump’s coattails to
propagate their toxic ideas about Jews. More broadly, we call on all
fair-minded Americans to condemn unequivocally the hateful and discriminatory
language and threats that have been directed by him and his supporters against
Muslims, women, Latinos, African-Americans, disabled people, LGBT people and
others. Hatred of one minority leads to hatred of all. Passivity and
demoralization are luxuries we cannot afford. We stand ready to wage a struggle
to defend the constitutional rights and liberties of all Americans. It is not
too soon to begin mobilizing in solidarity.
Mika
Ahuvia, University of Washington
Allan Amanik, Brooklyn College of CUNY
Karen Auerbach, Brandeis University
Leora Auslander, University of Chicago
Eugene M. Avrutin, University of Illinois
And 193 more signatories Allan Amanik, Brooklyn College of CUNY
Karen Auerbach, Brandeis University
Leora Auslander, University of Chicago
Eugene M. Avrutin, University of Illinois
***********
Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
***********
You Do
Not Represent Us: An Open Letter to Donald Trump
Dear
Mr. Trump:
At the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, students are taught to
represent the highest levels of respect and integrity. We are taught to embrace
humility and diversity. We can understand why, in seeking America’s highest
office, you have used your degree from Wharton to promote and lend legitimacy
to your candidacy.
As a
candidate for President, and now as the presumptive GOP nominee, you have been
afforded a transformative opportunity to be a leader on national and
international stages and to make the Wharton community even prouder of our
school and values.
However,
we have been deeply disappointed in your candidacy.
We,
proud students, alumni, and faculty of Wharton, are outraged that an
affiliation with our school is being used to legitimize prejudice and
intolerance. Although we do not aim to make any political endorsements with
this letter, we do express our unequivocal stance against the xenophobia,
sexism, racism, and other forms of bigotry that you have actively and
implicitly endorsed in your campaign.
The
Wharton community is a diverse community. We are immigrants and children of
immigrants, people of color, Muslims, Jews, women, people living with or caring
for those with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community. In other
words, we represent the groups that you have repeatedly denigrated, as well as
their steadfast friends, family, and allies.
We
recognize that we are fortunate to be educated at Wharton, and we are committed
to using our opportunity to make America and the world a better place — for
everyone. We are dedicated to promoting inclusion not only because
diversity and tolerance have been repeatedly proven to be valuable assets to
any organization’s performance, but also because we believe in mutual respect
and human dignity as deeply held values. Your insistence on exclusion and
scapegoating would be bad for business and bad for the American economy. An
intolerant America is a less productive, less innovative, and less competitive
America.
We, the
undersigned Wharton students, alumni, and faculty, unequivocally reject the use
of your education at Wharton as a platform for promoting prejudice and
intolerance. Your discriminatory statements are incompatible with the values
that we are taught and we teach at Wharton, and we express our unwavering
commitment to an open and inclusive American society.
Signed by 4,028
members of the Wharton community as of 6 November 2016.
This
letter reflects the personal views of its signatories only and is not
affiliated with the Wharton School. The Wharton School takes no political
position and does not comment on its students, alumni, or faculty.
Democratic Congresswoman for 5th District of Massachusetts Katherine Clark, media release, 17 November 2016:
Washington, D.C. -- Congresswoman Katherine Clark has introduced legislation to ensure that U.S. Presidents are required to resolve any conflicts of interest with regard to financial interests and official responsibilities. Current law prohibits federal office holders from engaging in government business when they stand to gain profit. The President and Vice President are currently exempt from this statute.
Clark’s Presidential Accountability Act removes this exemption and requires the President and Vice President to place their assets in a certified blind trust or disclose to the Office of Government Ethics and the public when they make a decision that affects their personal finances.
This issue has been elevated to greater importance as concerns of conflicts of interest have surfaced in the first week of the President-elect’s transition period. From the Trump Organization’s federal contract to operate the President-elect’s hotel in the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington, D.C. to the scale of his debt to foreign banks, the President-elect’s business interests present an unprecedented level of conflict. Trump has also appointed his children to serve in leadership positions on both the President-elect’s transition team and his businesses.
Clark’s Presidential Accountability Act prohibits the President from engaging in government responsibilities from which they or their families can benefit financially.
“The President of the United States has the power to affect how our tax dollars are spent, who the federal government does business with, and the integrity of America’s standing in a global economy,” said Clark. “Every recent president in modern history has taken steps to ensure his financial interests do not conflict with the needs of the American people. The American people need to be able to trust that the President’s decisions are based on the best interests of families at home, and not the President’s financial interests.”
Previous American presidents including Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all used some form of blind trust or placed their assets in an investment vehicle over which they had no control.
Full text of H.R. 6340 can be found here.
The Hill, 23 November 2016:
A number of Democratic Electoral College electors are planning to use their votes to undermine the election process in opposition to President-elect Donald Trump,
Politico is reporting.
Some electors are lobbying their Republican counterparts to vote for someone other than Trump in an attempt to deny him the 270 votes required to elect him, according to the news outlet.
They are also contemplating whether to cast their votes for someone other than Hillary Clinton, like Mitt Romney or Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio).
With at least six electors already vowing to become "faithless," the defection could be the most significant since 1808, when six Democratic-Republican electors refused to vote for James Madison, choosing vice presidential candidate George Clinton instead.
The electors acknowledge that it is unlikely that they will be able to block Trump from gaining office, Politico reported, but they are optimistic that their effort will raise enough questions about the Electoral College to reform or abolish it.
"If it gets into the House, the controversy and the uncertainty that would immediately blow up into a political firestorm in the U.S. would cause enough people — my hope is — to look at the whole concept of the Electoral College," one of the electors told Politico.
It’s unclear how many, if any, Republicans have signed on to the effort.
Twenty-nine states legally require their electors to obey the results of the popular vote in their state.
The
Washington Post,
25 November 2016:
An election recount will
take place soon in Wisconsin, after former Green Party presidential candidate
Jill Stein filed a petition Friday with the state’s Election Commission, the
first of three states where she has promised to contest the election result.
The move from Stein, who
raised millions since her Wednesday announcement that she would seek recounts
of Donald Trump’s apparent election victories in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania
and Michigan, came just 90 minutes before Wisconsin’s 5 p.m. Friday deadline to
file a petition…..
Trump secured a total of
1,404,000 votes in Wisconsin, according to the commission; Clinton had
1,381,823.
In the end, Stein, who
secured 31,006 votes in Wisconsin, was not the only presidential candidate to
demand a recount. Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, the Reform Party nominee who got
1,514 Wisconsin votes, also filed a recount petition, according to the state’s
Election Commission.
To be on the safe side,
the group of experts urged a recount — but it was Stein’s campaign that ended
up demanding one, soliciting at first $2.5 million and later
up to $7 million to fund the recounts. As of Friday evening, Stein’s
campaign reported taking in over $5.25 million in recount-related donations —
the most by a third-party candidate in history.
Wisconsin has the first
deadline of the three states in question. If Stein’s campaign wishes to file recount
petitions in the other states as promised, she must do so by Monday to meet
Pennsylvania’s deadline, and Wednesday to meet the Nov. 30 deadline in
Michigan.
In a statement, Wisconsin
Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas guessed that the cost and
complexity of the recount would be in excess of the state’s last recount in
2011, which carried a price tag of more than $520,000. In that recount over a
state Supreme Court seat, the commission had to recount 1.5 million votes —
about half the 2.975 million ballot votes that were cast during the 2016
presidential election.
Jill Stein website as of 30
November 2016:
Congratulations on
meeting the recount and legal costs for Wisconsin and Pennsylvania! Raising
money to pay for the first two recounts so quickly is a miraculous feat and a
tribute to the power of grassroots organizing.
Now that we have
completed funding Wisconsin's recount (we filed on Friday) and fundraising for
Pennsylvania's voter-initiated recount (due Monday), we will focus on raising
the needed funds for Michigan's recount (due Wednesday). The breakdown of these
costs is described below!
Labels:
Donald Trump,
fascism,
people power,
USA
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