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Tuesday 10th September 1996
Tuesday 10th September 1996
Let's turn the tables for a moment... there is a plot to assassinate the US President... would the Marines sit around and twiddle their proverbial thumbs while the plot was hatched? I, for one, doubt it.
Now it has been revealed that the American CIA were masterminding a plot to overthrow the Iraqi leader. A handful of American terrorist agents were at their base instructing 100 Iraqi "terrorists" at the Kurdish village of Arbil in the no fly zone in Northern Iraq...
Now Arbil was attacked by the Iraqi army who knew exactly what they were doing, arresting then executing the 100 Iraqi terrorists who had plotted against the Iraqi leader.... and the CIA terrorists? They fled as soon as the Iraqi army attacked... leaving behind the men they had trained to face certain death in true American yellow-bellied style... The response by the US, hurling cruise missiles with gay abandon at Iraq, it would now appear, had nothing to do with the movement of troops into the Kurdish village but everything to do with yet another CIA plot gone horrible wrong.
And in true American style beat up we are sure to have a block-buster film in a few years showing the heroism of all-American youth freeing the Kurds from a fate worse than death.... Reminds me somewhat of all these American actors with strong American accents playing out the parts of the "real British heros" who actually faced the harsh reality and not the glorified fantasy shown across the screens of the world in World War II movies.
Now who the hell is the US Joint Chief of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, to warn Iraq that they will keep knocking over their air defence systems while, having caused the rot in the north, they will now "not get involved" in the fight between two rebel Kurdish factions.... you might just lose some real people in the conflict huh!
Kiwi Airlines has collapsed.
After two years in the air fighting the "big boys" and ensuring cheaper air fares between Australia and New Zealand the fledgling airline was placed into voluntary liquidation yesterday leaving about four thousand passengers stranded.
We reported on the legal action taken by Singaporean based Region Air a few weeks ago. Well now the company has successfully closed down Kiwi.
Nearly 170 staff on both sides of the Tasman have lost their jobs and about 10,000 ticket holders their money to unsecured creditors.
Political:
The business sector has got right behind the Howard government's Industrial Relations bill while the Democrats have continued to play cat and mouse saying that agreement is still a long way off before they will ensure its safe passage through the Senate.
The leader of the Democrats, Senator Kernot, (who should have an Australian Labor Party flag draped behind her at media interviews) vowed not to allow any watering down of the Industrial Relations Commission as the employers intensified pressure for the legislation to be passed quickly and unchanged.
In a rare display of unity across major industry groups,a summit of employer and industrial groups passed a resolution seeking the swift passage of the Bill.
Senator Kernot met with the Minister for Industrial Relations, Peter Reith, last night - but refused to comment to the media after the meeting.
The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Jennie George, had extensive talks with Senator Kernot earlier in the day. "I don't think the Democrats have made up their minds on a range of issues," Ms George was quoted as saying, "I think the door is still open to negotiations and I'm in there to the last amendments in the committee stage of the Bill."
The ACTU is urging the Democrats to amend provisions dealing with the future of the award system and the powers of the Industrial Relations Commission to effectively share responsibility for vetting workplace agreements with the proposed employment advocate, but said that no firm proposals had emerged.
Westpac Banking Corp Ltd has urged the Wallis inquiry to scrap the existing takeover rules for financial institutions, lock insurers and non-banks out of the banking system and to establish a new consumer regulator.
The Westpac recommendations to the Wallis inquiry are, in summary:
The Gold Coast ranks twelfth in a list of 24 locations.
Price jumps of 25% or more in the past two years had hit instant coffee, paper towels and eggs. Tissues, cordial and sugar all dropped in cost over the same period.
Buying the cheapest version rather than keeping with a brand name can save between Au$20 to Au$30 per week on a Au$100 shopping bill. Franklins was the cheapest of the chain stores with Coles the most expensive.
Newcastle remained the cheapest place to shop in Australia.
Spent the morning in the big smoke yesterday... it was warm with temperatures reaching the 30 degrees celcius... the pool is starting to look good.Went for an early morning row in Bootlebumtrinket (the rowing boat) this morning. The Brisbane river was at its very best as the sun rose... took these photos from the island in the middle of the river.
The mist, rising from the still water and buffeted by gentle breezes, looked like fire in the early morning glow of the rising sun.
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