I just want to comment on this: 1) I remember that, they came to our school and we handing out stuff, and so our teachers called the police, but we were enjoying the arguments so we took heaps and put them everywhere, and they banned the flyers and took them off you so everyone ended up reading them of course. But they bloody put our senior maths exam on the same day so I doubt many people from my year went Also, pathetic attempt by adelaide. Students led the anti-APEC way
Brianna Pike 14 September 2007
US President George Bush will add Sydney to the long list of cities that have greeted him with mass demonstrations demanding an end to the war on Iraq. PM John Howard will remember APEC as the summit that failed to bolster his domestic support.
The socialist youth organisation Resistance was involved in organising and building the protest over the past year. At our national conference in July, we decided to initiate a national student walkout against the war on September 5 in the lead-up to APEC, to mobilise young people and to help broaden and reinspire the anti-war movement.
More than 1500 young people walked out of class to challenge Bush and Howard’s agenda.
Many people concerned about the threats of repression at the anti-Bush protests were inspired by and gained confidence from the hundreds of high school students who took to the streets in the face of a massive police scare campaign — which included cops and truant officers at bus stops and train stations, principals threatening students that they would be arrested for attending the rally, teachers locking the gates, and parents threatening their children with eviction if they walked out — not to mention the corporate media’s campaign against the walkout.
In Sydney, Simon Cunich reports that around 400 people, including students from a wide range of schools across the city, protested despite a concerted campaign of intimidation by police.
Atsuko Nagami reports from Melbourne that by 1pm, there were already well over 100 people gathered at Flinders Street Station for the 1.30pm rally, which swelled to 600 people. Protesters signed banners and wrote messages to Bush in chalk on the steps of the station.
Students from more than 30 different high schools — some as far as Upwey, Ivanhoe, Geelong and Ballarat — participated in the rally. A group of teachers also joined the protest.
Many students spoke on the open mic about the threats of suspension they faced for attending the strike, while others got permission and were encouraged by their parents to attend.
Many students brought their own placards and musical instruments for the energetic march, and despite a sizeable police presence the action was completely peaceful.
Tim Dobson reports that despite driving rain and unprecedented intimidation from police and principals in Wollongong, more than 300 brave students rallied in the mall.
Before the rally, Sydney riot police prowled around the outskirts and WIN News reported that evening that police were brought in from as far as Batemans Bay to “oversee the demonstration”.
Local officers systematically worked the crowd, taking down students’ identification details “for their own safety”. When we asked them to “try not to intimidate students please”, the officers became quite irate.
During raucous chanting, Resistance activist Paola Harvey convinced the dispersed crowd to come out from under cover and stand together in the light rain. She also invited the rally to welcome ASIO personnel, who were sitting comfortably on a cafe balcony above the action taking photos. The “secret agents” looked rather embarrassed when hundreds of camera phones snapped pictures of them.
The Socialist Alliance election candidate for Cunningham, Jess Moore, addressed the rally, exposing the crimes of Bush and Howard and outlining the desperate need for a political alternative for young people. Her call for the voting age to be lowered was met with spontaneous chanting in support.
Resistance activist and University of Wollongong global solidarity officer Jay Fletcher gave a rousing speech about students defending their right to take political action, before students took over the streets of Wollongong, chanting loudly and passionately. Many students voiced their opposition to war and environmental destruction on the open mic; one brave young man spoke on the difficulties of being young and openly gay.
In Perth, the walkout drew up to 200 people, mostly high school students, according to Trent Hawkins. In addition to students addressing the rally, a “People vs. George Bush trial” was staged. Several TV and radio stations covered the protest.
In Brisbane, Ewan Saunders reports that 300 students marched through the city and were met with applause from passing pedestrians. More than 16 schools were represented at the protest, with the biggest contingents from Brisbane State High School, Cavendish Road State High School and Kelvin Grove State College.
One student read out an anti-Bush poem that she had written to the up-beat crowd. The open mic included students beat boxing, the Cavendish High contingent leading a “no racism, no war” chant, local Brisbane hip-hop band Guerrilla Movement and the Gold Coast act the Molotov.
Alice Jenkins, a year-ten Resistance member from Ferny Grove State High, encouraged the rally participants to continue organising against the war on their high schools.
In Canberra, Farida Iqbal reports that 30 protesters lay down “dead” with headstones behind them, to mourn the many deaths in Iraq and all over the world that the Bush regime is responsible for.
Resistance activist Ana Hanson told the crowd: “More than 650,000 people have been killed as a result of the profit-driven occupation of Iraq. George Bush and the policies of the US government are the forces driving war, poverty and climate change all over the world.”
In Adelaide, 80 students protested and in Hobart, 40 students also held a “die-in”.
It was young people who were among the first to protest the racist policies of former MP Pauline Hanson with high school walkouts against racism in 1998. In 2003, tens of thousands of students walked out of class to oppose the invasion of Iraq in the “Books Not Bombs” student strikes. Last year, high school students marched again in a national day of student action in response to Howard’s attacks on workers’ rights.
We have proven in practice that when we stand up and take action together — at our universities, high schools, TAFEs, workplaces and in the streets — we can make a difference.
In the face of an enormous “security” campaign aimed at intimidating and deterring people from protesting at APEC, up to 15,000 people joined the “Stop Bush — make Howard history” protest on September 8. The rally was a huge victory for the movement. It was a mass act of defiance and a demonstration of our collective strength on the streets that Howard and Bush can only pretend to ignore.
The spirit of the rally reflected a determination to stop the war, for real action on climate change, and to defend workers’ rights regardless of who wins the federal election. Resistance will be continuing to organise around these issues and to fight for a better world. To contact us, visit <http://www.resistance.org.au>.
Take control of parties, parents urged By Jessica Marszalek February 24, 2008 05:59pm
QUEENSLAND police outraged by a weekend birthday party invasion by up to 300 youths have pleaded with parents to be more accountable for their children's behaviour.
Nine teenagers were charged overnight when a 16th birthday party spiralled out of control at Townsville, in the state's north.
Officers arrived at the party in the suburb of Heatley at 12.05am (AEST) to find hundreds of youths milling around in front of the Crocker Street house.
Initially the police were overwhelmed, Inspector Ron Walmsley said.
"We received some triple-0 calls to say they were spilling out onto the street and there were fights going on and that sort of thing," he said.
"We initially responded with three cars but quickly needed back up and we ended up sending 15 crews there to try and bring it under control."
A senior constable was assaulted during the arrests - being treated for a split lip and swelling on the back of the head - and a police car window was smashed.
Nine teenagers were charged with numerous offences, including assaulting police, public nuisance and obstructing police.
Insp Walmsley said such parties were becoming too common everywhere and parents must take more responsibility.
"As I understand, it was organised as a 16th birthday party so the level of supervision that was there I'm not personally aware of but certainly ... if there was supervision, I think it was fairly limited," he said.
He said the home's owners would be interviewed.
"At the end of the day, obviously there's a fair degree of responsibility for the people organising the party and working out who they're going to invite, how many, how they're going to control it, the level of alcohol that's going to be involved or not and then keep an eye on things," he said.
"And I think also with some of the young ones that were around there, it comes back to the parents of these kids knowing where there kids are at night, particularly after midnight."
Premier Anna Bligh said new laws targeting underage drinking - with fines for parents of up to $3000 for providing alcohol to under 18s - should help.
"But there's no substitute for people just taking responsibility for events they organise in their homes and making them as safe as possible," she said.
About the foam, I was watching Sunrise when they showed that dog running into the foam, then when it came to weather with that new meteoroligist guy, Kochie asked him if it was harmful to health and he said not really. He then went on to change his tune and say it might have picked ups some oils from boats etc and stay away from it to be on the safe side. He clearly had no idea
Take control of parties, parents urged By Jessica Marszalek February 24, 2008 05:59pm
QUEENSLAND police outraged by a weekend birthday party invasion by up to 300 youths have pleaded with parents to be more accountable for their children's behaviour.
Nine teenagers were charged overnight when a 16th birthday party spiralled out of control at Townsville, in the state's north.
Officers arrived at the party in the suburb of Heatley at 12.05am (AEST) to find hundreds of youths milling around in front of the Crocker Street house.
Initially the police were overwhelmed, Inspector Ron Walmsley said.
"We received some triple-0 calls to say they were spilling out onto the street and there were fights going on and that sort of thing," he said.
"We initially responded with three cars but quickly needed back up and we ended up sending 15 crews there to try and bring it under control."
A senior constable was assaulted during the arrests - being treated for a split lip and swelling on the back of the head - and a police car window was smashed.
Nine teenagers were charged with numerous offences, including assaulting police, public nuisance and obstructing police.
Insp Walmsley said such parties were becoming too common everywhere and parents must take more responsibility.
"As I understand, it was organised as a 16th birthday party so the level of supervision that was there I'm not personally aware of but certainly ... if there was supervision, I think it was fairly limited," he said.
He said the home's owners would be interviewed.
"At the end of the day, obviously there's a fair degree of responsibility for the people organising the party and working out who they're going to invite, how many, how they're going to control it, the level of alcohol that's going to be involved or not and then keep an eye on things," he said.
"And I think also with some of the young ones that were around there, it comes back to the parents of these kids knowing where there kids are at night, particularly after midnight."
Premier Anna Bligh said new laws targeting underage drinking - with fines for parents of up to $3000 for providing alcohol to under 18s - should help.
"But there's no substitute for people just taking responsibility for events they organise in their homes and making them as safe as possible," she said.
Finally, someone with the guts to speak the truth!
Ergh, teenagers are so stupid. But also so ... well we always think we know best don't we. But, if you want something publisised, get teenagers into it.
Great News everyone.... remember the little Chinese Girl, Pumpkin, abandoned at Melbourne's Southern Cross Train Station? Her rotten murdering Father has been captured after being on the run in the USA since September last year. The original story can be found http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/eblah/m-1160742839/s-687/highlight-Pumpkin/#num687 Pumpkin's father caught Edmund Tadros February 29, 2008 - 9:16AM A man wanted for the murder of his wife in New Zealand and for abandoning his three-year-old daughter 'Pumpkin' at a Melbourne railway station has been arrested in the United States. Xue Nai Yin, 54, was captured and tied up by members of the American-Chinese community who recognised and subdued him at an apartment building in Chamblee a city northeast of Atlanta, Georgia, overnight (AEDT).
Los Angeles detective Federico Sicard confirmed the arrest took place about 7pm AEDT.
He said he expected New Zealand authorities to seek his extradition through a provisional arrest warrant.
Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott, the officer in charge of the investigation, said he was delighted with the news.
The details of Mr Xue's return to New Zealand - to face trial for murder - would be worked out in coming weeks, police said.
Auckland Police said Mr Xue was arrested after Dekalb County police were called to attend a fight.
The website of the TV show America's Most Wanted reported that a group of Chinese-Americans spotted the man and the recognised him as an accused killer after they saw his image on the program.
A fight broke out and despite Xue's claims of being a martial arts master they were able to bring him down and "hog-tie" him.
The arrest ends a five-month international manhunt fo Xue.
Caught after being in hiding
Last week US Marshals said they believed that Xue had been hiding on America's Gulf Coast region since October.
A 200-strong taskforce had been hunting for Xue. Headed by the US Marshals, it also included two sheriff's departments, the Los Angeles Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the California Department of Corrections.
America's Most Wanted told viewers Xue had "left a trail of heartbreak and death Down Under".
Security camera footage showed Xue offering a double thumbs up as he passed through security screening at Melbourne Airport after abandoning his daughter.
The program speculated that he might have been trying to make a living in the United States by teaching martial arts.
Los Angeles Police said Mr Xue spent his first night in the US in a cheap motel in the city's Chinatown, but he checked out the next morning, September 16.
New Zealand police had posted a NZ$10,000 ($8,721) reward for information leading to Xue's capture.
Pumpkin in China
Pumpkin has been living with her grandmother, Xiao Ping Liu, in southern China since she was abandoned.
In December Ms Liu spoke about her granddaughter.
"She has taken quite a while to settle down to the current stage," Ms Liu said at the time.
"Quite often she thinks of something in the past. Anything which might disturb her would probably be negative for her," she said.
"Her recent situation is pretty good. She has just started going to kindergarten and she is generally happy.
"Sometimes she is still a bit depressed and she is still surrounded by a shadow when she remembers the past.
Dumped toddler Pumkin doesn't know mum's dead Article from: Herald Sun By Annalise Walliker March 04, 2008 06:23am
DUMPED toddler Qian Xun Xue has started a new life in southern China but has not been told her mother is dead.
Six months after her mother Liu Anan was killed, allegedly by her father, Nai Yin Xue, the three-year-old is living in the industrial city of Changsham, in the Hunan province, with her maternal grandmother, Liu Xiaoping.
When the distressed toddler asks Mrs Liu where her mother is, she has been told she will come back soon.
A close male family friend told Channel 9 through a translator that the girl was struggling with her new life.
"She misses her mum very much. She often mumbles 'Mum, Mum. Where are you now?'," he said. "She still doesn't know the truth."
The source said Qian Xun was increasingly anxious and withdrawn, telling her grandmother: "You are probably lying to me".
"It's really weird for a child to say that," he said.
"Then the next morning, around six, she got up, staring outside by the window for a long time."
Mrs Liu plans to send Qian Xun to a child psychologist to help her deal with her ordeal, but for now the toddler lives at a kindergarten and comes home only at weekends.
It is believed the teachers and fellow students have not been told of her past.
Qian Xun's 53-year-old father, Xue, who abandoned the little girl at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station last year, was dramatically arrested last week and is awaiting deportation to New Zealand from the United States.
Tell her the truth, she is obviously a smart little girl.
'Pumpkin's' dad deported to face murder charges By correspondents in New Zealand March 04, 2008 12:00am Article from: NEWS.com.au
POLICE have fast-tracked procedures to bring captured murder suspect Nai Yin Xue back to New Zealand by the end of the week to face charges.
Xue allegedly murdered his wife in Auckland, took his daughter to Australia and abandoned her in a Melbourne railway station before flying to Los Angeles in September.
NZ police based in the US were working on emergency papers to get Xue out of Atlanta, Georgia, where he was captured last week and back to face a murder charge.
NZ police liaison officer Superintendent Sandra Manderson told NZPA police hoped to have the papers completed within two days.
"We are working on emergency immigration documents at the moment," Sup Int Manderson said.
"We are hoping to get him back by the end of the week. It just depends on how quickly we can get these documents back over there (to New Zealand) and back here so hopefully it will be quick," she said.
She said Xue was being deported and not extradited to hasten the process.
The body of Xue's wife, Liu Anan, was found in the boot of the family car outside their Mt Roskill home four days after Xue fled Melbourne.
Last week, six Chinese Americans detained Xue in the small Georgia town of Chamblee, north of Atlanta, and made a citizens' arrest.
They tied Xue's arms with his belt, knotted his trousers around his ankles so he could not run off, and sat on him until Chamblee police responded to a 911 emergency call and arrested him.
The arrest ended a five-month search which crossed several international borders.
Archaeologists have uncovered a mass grave which they believe could contain the remains of Australia's most notorious bushranger, Ned Kelly.
The remains were discovered in a burial site at the former Pentridge Prison at Coburg, in Melbourne's north.
Ned Kelly was executed at the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880, and documents show his remains were interred at Pentridge when the city jail closed in 1929.
Heritage Victoria says the mass grave contains the remains of 32 prisoners who were executed at the jail.
But it says it may be impossible to positively identify Kelly's bones, because his skull and other body parts might have stolen immediately after his death.
March 07, 2008 07:48am Article from: Agence France-Presse
SCIENTISTS in the US have created a breakthrough substance that can change in seconds when exposed to liquid, shifting from hard plastic to soft and back again.
The material, inspired by the skin of sea cucumbers, has astounding "mechanical morphing characteristics," according to an article published in Science Magazine.
Researchers said a plethora of possible biomedical applications exist for the malleable new material, including as part of "artificial nervous systems" for patients with Parkinson's disease, stroke or spinal cord injuries.
Sea cucumbers, found on ocean floors around the world, have leathery skin, an elongated, cucumber-like shape, and a consistency that can be either gelatinous, stiff and rigid, or anything in between.
This "switching effect" in the tissue of the sea cucumber is derived from a distinct nanocomposite structure in which highly rigid collagen nanofibres are embedded in a soft connective tissue.
Now the school of engineering at Case Western Reserve University and researchers at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centre have succeeded after years of effort in mimicking the unusual architectural structure of the sea creatures.
"These creatures can reversibly and quickly change the stiffness of their skin. Normally it is very soft but, for example in response to a threat, the animal can activate its 'body armour' by hardening its skin," said Jeffrey Capadona, associate investigator at the VA's Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Centre.
With the sea cucumber as their model, the scientists unveiled a radically new approach for developing polymer nanocomposites which alter their mechanical properties when exposed to certain chemical stimuli.
"We can engineer these new polymers to change their mechanical properties, in particular stiffness and strength, in a programed fashion when exposed to a specific chemical," said Christoph Weder a professor of macromolecular science at Case Western Reserve, and a senior author on the article.
Stuart Rowan, professor of macromolecular science at Case Western Reserve, said: "The materials ... were designed to change from a hard plastic, think of a CD case, to a soft rubber when brought in contact with water."
Omg, an hour and a bit online is average :O I spend way more than that online
Excessive emails and text are a mental illness
March 23, 2008 11:03am Article from: The Sunday Telegraph
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PEOPLE who send excessive texts and emails may have a mental illness, according to an article in a leading psychiatric journal.
As more people leave the office computer, only to log on as soon as they get home, the American Journal of Psychiatry has found addiction to text messaging and emailing could be another form of mental illness.
The article, by Dr Jerald Block, said there were four symptoms: suffering from feelings of withdrawal when a computer cannot be accessed; an increased need for better equipment; need for more time to use it; and experiencing the negative repercussions of their addiction.
Dr Block said that although text messaging was not directly linked to the Internet, it was a form of instant messaging and needed to be included among the criteria.
"The chief reasons I see to consider it are motor vehicle accidents that are caused by cell phone instant messaging, stalking and harassment via instant messaging, and instant messaging at social, educational, (and) work functions where it creates problems," he said.
"It should be a pervasive and problematic pattern, though, not isolated incidents."
Leanne Battaglia, 21, said she would not classify herself as being clinically addicted to online communication, but could see how quickly the problem could develop.
"It's become a way of life now, but I don't think it's at that stage yet," Ms Battaglia said.
Despite sitting at a computer all day, the sales consultant admits she will often log on again when she gets home.
"I use it almost every night and during the day. I'm pretty much always on Facebook, eBay, ninemsn and gossip sites."
Ms Battaglia also sends about 20 text messages a day.
"I swear by my mobile, it's like a security blanket. I just feel really bare without it," she said.
Dr Robert Kaplan, a forensic psychiatrist at the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, said he first saw a case of internet addiction in 1998.
Since that time, he has noticed a steady increase in the disorder among Australians.
According to a report titled Media And Communications In Australian Families 2007, the average child spends about one hour and 17 minutes on the internet each day, with teenagers aged 15 to 17 spending an average of 30 minutes sending text messages and another 25 minutes playing online games.
"I think in general it's escalating," Dr Kaplan said. "We now all live in an internet world, and it brings with it a range of problems."
CONTINUES TONIGHT! 6.30pm eVSC Fan Favourites 7.00pm eVSC Grand Finale : Compilation 7.12pm eVSC Grand Finale : Results #1 & #2 All times in AEDST. Air times and/or dates subject to delays.
FACT: Reality TV isn't REALLY reality! Silver Class eBlaher
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Well I see here gay activists want to society to be politically correct, by not using the words husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mum and dad. See here: http://au.news.yahoo.com/080416/2/16hsh.html
Oh great, what should we call our other half? Babe? Well people may get offended because of Babe the pig. I would have to call my other half, my female friend, instead of girlfriend.
I do feel sorry for the gay and lesbian people, but no offence, just get over it !!
I don't think this warrants en entire thread on its own, so I am going to merge it. - Paula
I organised my own 20th Anniversary School Reunion that was held in 1991 and mindful that there were gay and possibly lesbian's amongst the ex-students the Invitation was worded such: "Suzi Hands and Partner are invited to attend etc blah blah". Partner does not offend most people and when someone mentions their 'life partner' to me I know with 90% accuracy that they mean 'same sex partner'.
Do I dare to ask? why would you post the following remark BM?
Quoted Text
I do feel sorry for the gay and lesbian people, but no offence, just get over it !!
Why do you feel sorry for them? They are most likely as happy as 'Babe, the pig in mud'! It's just the screaming Drama Queens who make a fuss
Personally I don't see the problem with using those words in a school environment. This is going to sound a little "anti-gay", but homosexual parents are in the minority, so it won't have that much effect. Whenever I got a note or something from the school it would either say "Dear Parent/Guardian", or if it was directed it would specifically announce my parents name.
Could Peter File please make his way to the EVSC Thread, check out the entries, and then give 12, 10, and 8 points to my entries!
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