Category: Archive

Yemen frees Sydney men

admin /12 December, 2006

http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2006/12/03/1165080815481.html

Tom Allard

TWO Australian brothers detained as suspected members of a terrorist group were freed at the weekend after Yemeni authorities decreed they had no case to answer.

Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub, aged 19 and 21, were arrested on October 17 in the capital, Sanaa, with another Australian, Marek Samulski, who remains in custody.

They were accused of links to al-Qaeda and arms smuggling to the latest jihadist hot spot, Somalia. But their mother – a Mudgee-born convert to Islam, Rabiah Hutchison, who lives in Sydney’s south-west – insists they are innocent. The brothers’ Sydney lawyer, Adam Houda, said their release had left "eggs on the faces" of those who had made "poisonous allegations" about them. These included false reports in News Ltd papers that the Ayubs studied in Yemen with a cleric linked to al-Qaeda, Sheik Adbul Majid al Zindani, and that they were involved in a supposed plot to bomb Kings Cross station in Sydney.

"They should have a good look at themselves," Mr Houda said. "And it’s a shame they [the Ayubs] didn’t get more support from the Government."

Five other men, including a Dane, a Briton and a German, were also arrested in what lawyers for the Australian men insisted was a general round-up of foreigners.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman confirmed last night that the Ayubs had been released unconditionally.

Mr Houda said the brothers would stay in Yemen, where they have been for more than two years, to continue their religious and language studies.
   

Govt and Labor expanding nuclear industry, claims Greens Senator Milne

admin /12 December, 2006

During a speech to the Senate on December 7, 2006, Greens Senator Milne claimed that there was a government push, with Labor support, for expanded uranium mining, expanded nuclear facilities around the country and for minimising and getting rid of any legislative restrictions or impediments

Current Act prevents Minister from approving certain nuclear installations: In explanation, she said that the EPBC Act 1999 currently prevents the minister from approving certain nuclear installations—in particular, fuel fabrication plants, enrichment plants, nuclear power plants and reprocessing plants. However, other nuclear activities fall under the assessment and approval processes of the act as it currently stands. Nuclear activities, such as new uranium mines, nuclear waste dumps and transporting spent nuclear fuel, are examples of nuclear actions that come under the assessment and approval process.

Evidence for Govt push towards nuclear:

# There was the ANSTO bill before the house, which allows ANSTO to handle nuclear waste that is from overseas and not generated in Australia.

# There was the Radioactive waste dump bill, which took away procedural fairness and judicial review from traditional owners and anybody else who might have wanted to go through a proper process of consultation and to object.

# There was the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties recommending Australia go straight ahead with exporting hugely increased amounts of uranium to China in spite of the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency is completely underfunded, as is the safeguards process.

# Then there was the report of the Prime Minister’s task force advocating a massive expansion in nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants, but of course particularly highlighting new uranium mines and waste dumps.

# There was the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry and Resources which was supported by three Labor members: Mr Martin Ferguson, Mr Dick Adams, who represents Lyons in the state of Tasmania, and Mr Michael Hatton, who is the Labor Deputy Chair of that committee. They signed off on a recommendation that the Australian government minister, through the Council of Australian Governments and other means, encourage state governments to reconsider their opposition to uranium mining and to abolish legislative restrictions on uranium and thorium mining and exploration where these exist.

# The Labor people also signed off on a recommendation that the Australian government, again through the Council of Australian Governments, seek to remedy the impediments to the development of the uranium industry. They listed that the government should specifically develop uniform and minimum effective regulation for uranium exploration and mining across all states and territories. They also disgracefully moved to ensure that processes associated with issues such as land access and native title assessments, approvals and reporting are streamlined. They have called for minimisation of duplication of regulation across levels of government, addressing of labour shortages and, finally, addressing of transportation impediments, particularly issues associated with denial of shipping services.

Govt push: "Everything points to a government push, with Labor support, for expanded uranium mining, expanded nuclear facilities around the country and for minimising and getting rid of any legislative restrictions or impediments," Senator Milne said.

Tax Evaders: Multinationals Rob Taxpayers Blind

admin /11 December, 2006

By Peter Rost, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/45019/

The biggest tax scam on earth has a very innocent sounding name. It is called "transfer prices." That almost sounds boring. It is, however, anything but boring. Abuse of transfer prices is a key tool multinational corporations use to fool the U.S. and other jurisdictions to think that they have virtually no profit; hence, they shouldn’t pay any taxes.

Corporations involved in this scam are "model corporate citizens," or so they would like us to believe. The truth is that they rob us all blind. The money we lose can be estimated in the tens of billions, or possibly hundreds of billions of dollars every year. We all end up paying higher taxes because rich corporations make sure they don’t.

But don’t take my word for this.

Letter from Congress

admin /11 December, 2006

Letter from James Abourezk, former US Senator from South Dakota to Jeff Blankfort on the Israel Lobby

Regular readers of Ebono Institute may find it instructive to compare this article to the analysis of Israel and Turkey’s involvement in the Asian oil pipelines.

Jeff Blankfort

December 4, 2006

The following letter was sent to me today by James Abourezk, former US Senator from South Dakota, and he readily complied when I asked that I be allowed to forward it to my list because what he had to say is of the utmost importance, given last month’s election and all the new faces in Congress, and the immediate previous posting to you and James Petras’s article earlier in the day..

Sydney’s air pollution deteriorates as other states improve

admin /10 December, 2006

Sydney is choking under a dangerous cloud of pollution, according to a report released on 6 December, reported The Daily Telegraph (7/12/2006, p.9).

No improvement in Sydney air quality: The State of the Environment 2006 report has found that while air quality has improved over the past decade in every other Australian capital city, in Sydney it has got worse.

Ageing cars to blame: The increasing cloud of photochemical smog was just one of the challenges facing the nation, with the head of an independent report committee, Associate Professor Bob Beeton, warning of an increasing hole in the ozone layer, a rise in water, electricity and energy usage, and increased pressure on coastal and rural areas. Beeton said an ageing fleet of unleaded fuel cars was behind the recent spike in ozone levels in Sydney.

NSW groundwater usage up 200pc: Since 1996, water and electricity use have increased across the country, while groundwater usage in NSW has increased by more than 200 per cent since 1984.

Coastal cities under pressure: The report, issued every five years, also found the increasing number of Australians opting for a sea change was placing pressure on the environment. "Australia’s coasts are under increasing pressure as existing towns and cities spread to accommodate Australia’s growing population," the report said.

42.3pc urbanised by 2050: "If these trends continue, 42.3 percent of the Nowra to Noosa coastline will be urbanised by the year 2050, with the resulting loss of much of Australia’s temperate and tropical coastal systems and stress on existing infrastructure," the report added.

Emissions to rise 22pc by 2020: Federal Opposition environment spokesperson Anthony Albanese said the report was a damning indictment on the government, showing greenhouse gas emissions were set to rise 22 per cent over 1990 levels by 2020.

Melbourne is running out of water

admin /10 December, 2006

A Melbourne water expert warns Lake Hume and Lake Eildon may be empty by April, and the Murray-Darling’s latest drought update predicts the basin’s "big three" – Dartmouth, Hume and Lake Victoria – face very low stores by the end of May, accordng to The Age (7/12/2006, p.12).

Key dams in peril: Melbourne University water expert John Langford said Hume (7 per cent full) and Eildon (15 per cent) faced zero storages if the forecast for a dry, hot summer was realised. Eildon’s previous record low was 8.5 per cent during the 2002-03 drought.

Recovery in doubt: Lake Hume, on the Murray River east of Albury-Wodonga, and Lake Eildon in the Central Highlands, primarily serve irrigators. Although the irrigation season will largely be over by April, the dire projection casts doubt on the capacity of the dams to replenish for next year.