The sun has finally set on the British imperial myth...

Imprint

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  Contrasting images of Empire

http://huttriverofnz.blog.co.uk/2013/05/10/the-sun-has-finally-set-on-the-british-empire-15931448/comment_ID/19137739/comment_level/1/#c19138149

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Upcoming ITV documentary in Australia will lift the veil on Australia's shocking treatment of aboriginals

2:3 Normal or de jure version of flag, or obverse side The Australian Aboriginal Flag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Pilger

AN UPCOMING documentary produced for ITV by expat John Pilger is set to lift the veil on Australia’s “racist” treatment of its indigenous population, with the journalist calling the conditions faced by Australian aborigines the country’s “dirtiest little secret”.

Mr Pilger, who has lived in the UK since 1962, is a world-renowned journalist that began his career with Sydney’s Daily Telegraph before securing a reputation as one of the industry’s leading war correspondents after taking a position with London’s Daily Mirror. He is a long-time critic of the Australian government’s treatment of the Aboriginal population, producing his first documentary on the issue in 1985.

The journalist’s forthcoming documentary Utopia will focus on the experiences of Indigenous Australians living in Western Australia, with an editorial written by Mr Pilger to accompany the film exploring the “squalor on the doorstep of Western Australia’s multibillion-dollar resources rush.” Mr Pilger makes the observation that the poverty faced by Aboriginal communities is in stark contrast to the wealth cultivated by the mining industry.

Mr Pilger said: “Barely a fraction of mining, oil and gas revenue has benefited Aboriginal communities, whose poverty is an enduring shock. In Roeburne, in the minerals-rich Pilbara, 80 per cent of the children suffer from an ear infection called otitis media that causes partial deafness. Or they go blind from preventable trachoma. Or they contract Dickensian infections. That is their story.”

The two-time winner of Britain’s Journalist of the Year acknowledged that Australian culture had changed since his time living in the country, however he argues that the change is not as profound as the Australian government has portrayed. Mr Pilger referred to his education at the prestigious Sydney Boys High School as an example of the entrenched nature of Australia’s racist perspective on its indigenous population.

Mr Pilger said: “More than any colonial society, Australia consigns its dirtiest secrets, past and present, to a wilful ignorance or indifference. When I was at school in Sydney, standard texts often dismissed the most enduring human entity on earth: the indigenous first Australians. “It was quite useless to treat them fairly,” wrote the historian Stephen Roberts, “since they were completely amoral and incapable of sincere and prolonged gratitude.” His acclaimed colleague Russel Ward was succinct: “We are civilised today and they are not”.”

Utopia’s release comes shortly after Western Australia’s corrective services commissioner resigned after the decision was made to relocate 140 juvenile offenders – largely indigenous – to an adult prison after a riot at their youth detention facility in January. Mr Pilger claims that the custodial treatment of Indigenous Australians has not advanced in any meaningful way since the brutal colonial era.

Read more here:

http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/uk-australian-news/treatment-of-indigenous-australians-our-dirtiest-little-secret-says-pilger.htm

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What is TPP? The biggest global threat to the internet they claim...

What Is TPP? It's the Biggest Glob

The United States and ten governments from around the Pacific are meeting yet again to hash out the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) on May 15-24 in Lima, Peru. The TPP is one of the worst global threats to the Internet since ACTA. Since the negotiations have been secretive from the beginning, we mainly know what's in the current version of this trade agreement because of a leaked draft [PDF] from February 2011. Based upon that text, some other leaked notes, and the undemocratic nature of the entire process, we have every reason to be alarmed about the copyright enforcement provisions contained in this multinational trade deal.

The TPP is likely to export some of the worst features of U.S. copyright law to Pacific Rim countries: a broad ban on breaking digital locks on devices and creative works (even for legal purposes), a minimum copyright term of the lifetime of the creator plus seventy years (the current international norm is the lifetime plus fifty years), privatization of enforcement for copyright infringement, ruinous statutory damages with no proof of actual harm, and government seizures of computers and equipment involved in alleged infringement. Moreover, the TPP is worst than U.S. copyright rules: it does not export the many balances and exceptions that favor the public interest and act as safety valves in limiting rightsholders’ protection. Adding insult to injury, the TPP'stemporary copies provision will likely create chilling effects on how people and companies behave online and their basic ability to use and create on the Web.

The stated goal of the TPP is to unite the Pacific Rim countries by harmonizing tariffs and trade rules between them, but in reality, it's much more than that. The "intellectual property" chapter in this massive trade agreement will likely force changes to copyright and patent rules in each of the signatory countries. Accepting these new rules will not just re-write national laws, but will also restrict the possibility for countries to introduce more balanced copyright laws in the future. This strategy may end up harming other countries' more proportionate laws such as Chile, where a judicial order is required for ISPs to be held liable for copyright infringement and take down content. Such systems better protect users and intermediaries from disproportionate or censorship-driven takedowns. If the final TPP text forces countries to adopt a privatize notice and takedown regime, this could imply the end of the Chilean system. It would also undermine canada's notice-notice regime.

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/04/what-is-tpp-its-biggest-global-threat.html

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Homeless Kiwis who arrived in Australia after 2001 get no help from the Australian state - many are living under a bridge in Sydney...

English: Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard at a Q & A Session in Rooty Hill, New South Wales (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They are not vagrants or bums but homeless New Zealanders who have previously lost their jobs because of the economic situation in Australia. But because they came to Australia after 2001 the Australian Government changed the law and will not give these people any state assistance, no welfare benefits or student loans to retrain and seek other forms of work. They don't have any regular income and can't afford rental accomodation around Sydney. They are not in a position to return to their families in New Zealand, and many are too ashamed to let their families know how low their situations have deterioated to. They left the NZ to join the greener grass on the other side of the ditch - the Tasman Sea. Most were in good employment but during 2007-2009 employers started laying off their employees. Once their money ran out, they found things extremely difficult; couldn't afford to continue living in their apartments and rental housing. Now they are living under a bridge with no future prospects.

On Thursday of this week, April 25, Australians and New Zealanders will celebrate 'Anzac Day' and the sacrifices their old soldiers made in Gallipoli during WW1  and all wars since. Anzacs fought together and supported each other in times of hardship, but Julia Gillard the prime minister of Australia has refused the urgings of the NZ Government to give some support to those Kiwis. So those unforunate New Zealanders who are not vagrants or bums will have to continue living under that Sydney bridge.



http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/8542785/Homeless-Kiwis-live-under-a-Sydney-bridge

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Margaret Thatcher: Divisive in life and death...

English: Margaret Thatcher, former UK PM. Français : Margaret Thatcher 日本語: 「鉄の女」サッチャー英首相 Nederlands: Margaret Thatcher Svenska: Margaret Thatcher som oppositionsledare 1975 Русский: Маргарет Тэтчер, бывшая премьер-министр Великобритании (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So what has changed in the years since her time as prime minister that split the United kingdom in two; a war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, and her death  the last week. I believe she was as much a curse because of her influence in other countries such as New Zealand, where her ideas were implemented and known as Rogernomics, as much as the political and social turmoil that existed in the United Kingdom in the 1980-90's. "The witch is dead", sang some of the protesters in London streets. To others she was a political genius!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/john-prescott-margaret-thatcher-deserves-1829090

 http://huttriverofnz.blog.co.uk/2013/04/14/margaret-thatcher-divisive-in-life-and-death-15753653/

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The NZ Govt is to change the present law to allow the GCSB spy agency to spy on kiwis at home...

English: John Key, leader of the New Zealand National Party Македонски: Џон Ки, лидер на Новозеландската национална партија. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those who keep themselves abreast of current affairs will recall the over the top  FBI - led police raid on the home of internet mogul Kim Dotcom a couple of years ago - armed police and helicopters and all. His mansion, property and bank accounts were frozen.The US Government is at present trying to extradite Mr Dotcom through the NZ courts. The GCSB external spy agency had been spying on Dotcom; but he is a NZ resident and should have been protected from those actions. It has been reported by the media that another 85 Kiwis, citizens and residents may have been illegally spied on as well. In recent days prime minister John Key has announced that his government will simply change the law and allow the GCSB to continue spying on New Zealand residents legally. That sounds very much like Nazi Germany in the early days - change the law, and later - bugger the law.

THe GCSB should be abolished and its functions taken over by the SIS and police.


http://huttriverofnz.blog.co.uk/2013/04/09/nz-govt-to-change-the-law-to-allow-spy-agency-to-spy-on-kiwis-at-home-15738789/

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