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Nuclear study unveiled ( Why did The Age remove this story from the Internet?)
The Australian government finally declassifies its most secret study of the potential impact on Australia of a nuclear war between the US and the former Soviet Union.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/nuclear-study-unveiled-20120803-23l9y.html

Nuclear study unveiled  http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/169021/nuclear-study-unveiled/?cs=8  By Philip Dorling Aug. 4, 2012 More than three decades after it was written, the Australian government last week finally declassified its most secret study of the potential impact on Australia of a nuclear war between the US and the former Soviet Union.

Australia’s peak intelligence agency largely dismissed any danger to Australia from global radioactive fall-out or stratospheric distribution of smoke from burning cities.

In the top secret intelligence assessment released by the National Archives of Australia, the Office of National Assessments also questioned whether Australian cities would be targets for Soviet missiles, suggesting the US’ southern hemisphere ally would be a ”low priority” in a global nuclear exchange. But it acknowledged that direct attacks were a possibility.

August 4, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA to put nuclear weapons in Australia, and make the Australians pay for them?

Nuclear drumbeat grows as US eyes Australia, Crikey,  by Harley Dennett , 2 August 2012   Australian policymakers could not be getting a clearer picture of what our US ally expects of us. Nuclear weapons and joint military bases aimed at containing our largest trading partner will, sooner or later, be put in our backyard — and we’ll be expected to pay for the privilege.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies report making headlines over a proposal to establish a US base in Perth to host nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and manned and unmanned ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) drones is but the first report commissioned by this Congress. The second — as revealed by Crikey in May —  will focus on positioning nuclear force in the Pacific.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s denials overnight were revealed as word trickery by the comments of the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans Robert Scher in Congressional hearings early this morning, who pointed out that “no US bases” really means they expect Australia and other allies to share the costs of hosting large numbers of American troops at these so-called “shared facilities”: Continue reading →

August 3, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Smith rejects proposal for US carrier base ABC Radio AM By Naomi Woodley   August 02, 2012 Defence Minister Stephen Smith has flatly rejected a proposal to expand a naval base in Perth to accommodate US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier groups.

The idea for a $7 billion US carrier base on Australia’s Indian Ocean seaboard is one of many canvassed in a report commissioned by the US Defence Department from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies  think tank.

Mr Smith says while increased US access to the HMAS Stirling base is on the cards in the long term, American aircraft carriers will not be based in Australia. ”The report is an independent report to the United States government. It’s not a United States government document,” he said.

“We don’t have United States military bases in Australia and we are  not proposing to. What we have talked about in terms of either increased aerial access or naval access is precisely that – greater access to our facilities.” The West Australian Premier and Opposition Leader have also ruled out the aircraft carrier base idea………….
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-02/smith-rejects-us-base-proposal/4171086

August 2, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international | Leave a comment

How Julian Assange was framed

Australian TV Program Exposes Julian Assange Frame-up http://www.democraticunderground.com/101636930 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/assa-j28.shtml  “Four Corners”, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program, this week broadcast what amounted to an exposé of the frame-up of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange on allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden. Assange remains inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, seeking political asylum from the threat of being removed to Sweden, which would in turn facilitate extradition to the US.

The program provided a valuable service by simply piecing together what happened in the three crucial weeks after Assange arrived in Sweden in mid-August 2010. Assange was there to address a conference and investigate the possibility of hosting WikiLeaks’ operations in a secure computer facility. By tracing the chronology, the program also clarified the connection between the Swedish witchhunt and the Grand Jury operation underway in the United States to charge Assange with espionage for WikiLeaks’ exposures of US war crimes (see: “Sex, Lies and Julian Assange”).

The program provided substantial evidence that the allegations against him were false and politically motivated. The unproven accusations were used to blacken his name in Sweden and around the world, and counter the widespread public support that he and WikiLeaks had won for courageously exposing the crimes and machinations of the US and other powers.

Assange has still not been charged with any crime.

July 31, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 2 Comments

Australia finding that 3 big uranium mining projects are not economically viable

Uranium prices halt Sandy Desert project, BY: BARRY FITZGERALD The Australian July 29,  THE most likely of Australia’s next big uranium mine developments – the Kintyre project in Western Australia’s Great Sandy desert – has fallen victim to sluggish demand and prices for the nuclear fuel, and WA’s “hot” construction market for resource projects.

Project operator and 70 per cent owner, Canada’s Cameco, has revealed that the economics of the project are “challenging” in that a development would not be profitable at current uranium prices. Prices are 34 per cent below where they need to be for a viable project.

The sluggish demand backdrop has implications for BHP Billiton which must find a home for the additional uranium it will produce with the planned $30 billion expansion of its Olympic Dam copper/uranium/gold mine in South Australia’s outback.

The expansion would see uranium output at Olympic Dam grow massively from 9.6 million pounds a year to 40.6 million pounds a year – 17 per cent of forecast global mine output in 2020.

But the Weekend Australian revealed that BHP plans to defer a decision on the project for two years.

Sluggish uranium demand has already reported to have led to BHP becoming disinterested in moving towards developing its Yeelirrie uranium deposit in WA.

Cameco chief executive Tim Gitzel told analysts that Cameco was “not going to develop Kintyre at any cost   Continue reading →

July 30, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

Climate Science Denial – Australia’s Institute of Public Affairs (IPA)

 

 

Science denial tourism, sponsored by the IPA  Want to a free trip around Australia, all expenses paid? It’s easy, just publish a book denying climate change (scientific credentials not required) then
contact the Institute of Public Affairs — they’ll take care
everything. Graham Readfearn from DeSmogBlog.com reports on the IPA —
Australia’s home of anti-science……
http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/environment/science-denial-tourism-sponsored-by-the-ipa/

July 23, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Nuclear and fossil fuel lobbies have conned Australia about wind energy

There are two main anti-wind farm groups in Australia busily fomenting anxiety and opposition. One is the Waubra Foundation, a group of mainly wealthy individuals, none of whom live in or near the town of Waubra, near Ballarat. Several of them, NIMBY style, have opposed turbines near their own properties elsewhere. They are led by an unregistered doctor, Sarah Laurie, and a wealthy mining investor, Peter Mitchell who also has connections to the Landscape Guardians. Despite their name, the Guardians have never attempted to guard our landscape from over-zealous residential developers, open cut coal or coal seam gas mining. They only target wind farm developments. All three – Waubra, the Guardians and Mitchell’s mining investment company share a South Melbourne post office box.

Wind turbine syndrome: a classic ‘communicated’ disease  https://theconversation.edu.au/wind-turbine-syndrome-a-classic-communicated-disease-8318?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+July+2012+CID_be7f8aff1000afd17cabaf558b629431&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Simon+Chapman+investigates   At the beginning of this year I started collecting examples of health problems some people were attributing to wind turbine exposure. I had noticed a growing number of such claims on the internet and was curious about how many I could find. Within an hour or two I had found nearly 50 and today the number has grown to an astonishing 155. Continue reading →

July 21, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, Reference, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Australia’s anti uranium protestors were no bludgers, as BHP would call them

many of the group.. had taken leave without pay to travel to Roxby Downs to spread their message.

“There are other alternatives (to uranium for power) and I think an event like this can bring that more into discussion.”

We’re no bludgers, say mine protesters, Ben Hyde, The Advertiser July 20, 2012 THEY came from interstate and even overseas to protest against uranium mining, and some could be camped on the doorstep of BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine for another two weeks. The group of Lizard’s Revenge protesters, which peaked at about 400 activists last weekend, were an eclectic bunch, united in their anti-nuclear stance. Continue reading →

July 21, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Police arrest cricket players at Australian peaceful anti uranium protest

Lizards Revenge – Arrests are just not cricket , 17 July, A light-hearted game of cricket near Roxby Downs was disrupted today at 1:15pm as police moved in to arrest the players, who are camping near the Olympic Dam uranium mine as part of the Lizards Revenge protest festival.

Police and off-duty miners were invited to join the game, but cricketers were instead bowled over by the severity of the police response. About 50 officers, six on horseback, formed a line to push the group from the road and the oval. Musical equipment and props were confiscated, and five players were arrested in the ensuing scuffle – bringing the total number of arrests so far to eleven.

Both sport and opposition to the nuclear industry are proud Australian traditions. BHP, the once “big Australian”, is now 76% foreign-owned. After the resource has been extracted from Olympic Dam, Australia will be left with 40 square kilometres of toxic tailings whilst most of the profits have gone overseas.

One player explained: “We say uranium mining is just not cricket. BHP Billiton, give the Arabunna people, the Kokatha people and all the Australian people a fair go.”

July 17, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Injustice of USA cases against Julian Assange and Bradley Manning

Public opinion can make a great difference in determining that such a prosecution not take place. Such a situation as not very different from what eventually happened in the case of  David Hicks.
Think of the different amount of attention given by the Australian Government to Assange’s  case,  compared to that given to the case of the Australian  woman solicitor in Libya by Bob Carr, our Foreign Minister.
It can’t be that Assange has a bad reputation. He is the recipient of many awards testifying  as to his courage and  excellence as a journalist and about him generally.

A Support Assange & WikiLeaks Coalition Statement by Mr Kep Enderby QC JULY 15, 2012 BY KELLIE TRANTER  ” ….There is something terribly wrong going on in both the Assange and Manning cases, and we are being told very little about it.
Sweden’s sex laws are unrealistically repressive, the most repressive in the world! That was made clear in the recent ABC interview with Phillip Adams and in the recent book by Oscar Swartz “A History of Sex in Sweden”.

Bradley Manning has been in custody for long periods of solitary confinement on the ground that he might injure himself, despite psychiatric opinion to the contrary and despite public protest that it amounts to pre-trial punishment without being brought to trial. He was arrested more than 2 years ago.

America still uses the ancient archaic old  English medieval grand jury system of  determining whether a criminal trial  should take place to determine whether  a person has committed a serious crime or not,  with all its scope for the manipulated  injustice.  During the hearing the target of grand jury, the person perhaps to be an accused,
cannot put on a defence.
In America, in Virginia, a federal grand jury has already commenced investigating WikiLeaks – which means Julian Assange – to determine whether an indictment should be served on him. Eminent commentators are claiming that the evidence is mounting that the WikiLeaks case is part of a much broader campaign by the Obama Administration to crack down on all leakers. Continue reading →

July 16, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Photographer to document anti-nuclear protest and police reaction at Olympic Dam uranium mine

David Bradbury is traveling to Roxby with a small camera crew to document the actions at Olympic Dam as part of Lizard’s Revenge. He is driving down (ie. heading south) and is aware of the roadblocks the state is putting in place, but is hoping to make it down by today or tomorrow. His trip and the festival can be followed on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Bradbury/349981725057349

 Letter from David Bradbury 10 July 12
Dear Friends ,I sense I am stepping into a maelstrom in going to Roxby. We’re on the road now and overnighting in Coonabarrabran before heading over the border via Broken Hill today. Trevor and I – two filmmakers – are traveling with 36 year old Aboriginal man Jarmanj and his 13 year old son to Roxby to join the Desert Liberation Army of ‘faithful ferals’ (mostly Generation Y)  who have organised this protest called for by ‘Uncle’ Kevin Buzzacott. The Lizard’s Revenge is a Dreamtime story of Kalta, a giant sleeping lizard, who lies with ‘poison’ in his belly under the ground at Roxby; his giant protective tail wrapping all around Australia. Roxby is sited at the Gates of Hell, the entrance to the giant Olympic Dam uranium mine, the largest deposit of uranium on the planet……

BHP Billiton who own the mine and run it ‘like Nazi Germany’; so one of the workers told me three years ago when I was there filming after he told me not so politely to put my camera away and ‘f- off’. The miners and the huge multi national mining giant don’t like their right to earn big money and profits ripping out the Heart of Australia and polluting the precious water supply of future generations.  Continue reading →

July 12, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Huge copper/uranium mine plan might be abandoned, trend towards recycling metals adds to poor market prospects for BHP’s Olympic Dam

Olympic Dam is surely under review,” said UBS mining analyst Glyn Lawcock. “It’s not an issue of finding the cash,” he said, but rather ensuring a good return on the investment……

Further curbing the appetite for refined copper, BHP now sees recycled scrap meeting up to 50 percent of China’s overall demand in the coming year for the metal, up from 35 percent now.

there is a much bigger question mark over it [Olympic Dam new mine] now

BHP Olympic Dam delay would tighten copper supply Reuters, By James Regan SYDNEY | Fri Jul 6, 2012 “….. A 25 percent drop in benchmark international copper prices since early 2011 has eroded potential returns from the project, and the economic slowdown in top base metal consumer China has dampened the demand outlook.

BHP’s scheme to quadruple output from Olympic Dam – the fourth-largest known copper deposit and largest uranium source in the world – is one a growing number analysts believe likely to be shelved until markets stabilize…. London copper prices have fallen to around $7,650 a metric ton (1.1023 tons) from a peak over $10,000 in early 2011 as big copper buyers such as car and computer manufacturers slow consumption… Continue reading →

July 10, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

BHP Billiton likely to shelve grandiose Olympic Dam copper/uranium mine plan?

BHP (NYSE:BHP) Reports It Will Make Tighter Worldwide Copper Supply- USA Election News, 9 July 12  By: Jessica Honsinger   BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) reported on Friday that it will make tighter worldwide copper supply from late 2013 onward if it delays work on its single-biggest project, the $30 billion growth of the Olympic Dam mine in Australia.
A 25% decrease in benchmark international copper prices since early on 2011 has eroded possible returns from the project, and the economic delay in top base metal consumer China has dampened the demand viewpoint. BHP’s system to quadruple output from Olympic Dam the fourth-biggest known copper deposit and biggest uranium source in the world is one a growing number experts consider probable to be shelved until markets stabilize….. http://uselectionnews.org/bhp-nysebhp-reports-it-will-make-tighter-worldwide-copper-supply-bhp-pcx-vale-anr-aci/

July 10, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

Irresponsible dumping of hospitals’ radioactive wastes

Toxic health dumping scandal, SMH, July 8, 2012 Natalie O’Brien The dangerous disposal of hazardous substances including liquid uranium and contaminated objects, the dumping of the confidential records of patients and the mishandling of asbestos have exposed a culture of mismanagement in Sydney hospitals. : http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/toxic-health-dumping-scandal-20120707-21nqp.html#ixzz204LVGURR

July 9, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

BHP’s contempt for Aboriginal rights in Australia

BHP has shown similar contempt for taking responsibility for the impacts of its actions in Australia. The recently amended Indenture Act which will apply to the new mine continues to exempt BHP from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988, which applies elsewhere in the state. 

 It is clearly a conflict of interest to have a corporation with a commercial interest in a piece of land also making decisions as to whether this same piece of land has competing non-commercial values.

Uncle Kevin Buzzacott is an Arabunna elder. Arabunna land lies North of the mine site. The borefields which extract water for the mine from the Great Artesian Basin are located on Arabunna land. The recent recognition of the Arabunna peoples long standing Native Title claim does not give the Arabunna people any rights to contest the location of the borefields. The GAB feeds the mound springs scattered throughout the Lake Eyre region.  The springs are integral to the desert ecosystem and sacred to the Arabunna people. They have already been impacted by the water usage of the current mine. 

by Nectaria Calan, 9 July 12, The Lizards Revenge was first announced on the 10th October 2011, coinciding with the State and Federal approvals of the Olympic Dam expansion. Since then, Rio + 20 in June this year has highlighted the failure of the concept of sustainable development and the failure of individual governments and the international community to genuinely address the ongoing environmental destruction that has become a feature of our age. Continue reading →

July 9, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | Leave a comment

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