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Wednesday 18th September 1996
Wednesday 18th September 1996
Barry interviewed the unnamed captain (short guy, balding with blond hair) who said "The US has vital interests in the Persian Gulf area and we are committed to protecting these interests, if anything jeopardises them we will take action accordingly."
OK, now that we have stripped off the media facade about Saddam Hussein's "provocative moves" and revealed that, in truth, the US is pulling exactly the same atrocities against a sovereign nation as those allegedly committed by the USSR during the cold war, let's hear it from one of the pilots.
The female pilot interviewed was one Michelle Gedree. We had video footage of her sleeping quarters on the aircraft carrier... we were shown the soldier cuddling the teddy bear that she sleeps with at night and the "angel", hanging from a string over her bed, that "protects her".
In the very same room - within a few seconds, she says, "I patrol the Gulf for illegal shipping and if anyone gets hostile I get permission to blow them up."
Barry: "Ever worry about killing people?"
Michelle Gedree: "You mean as a moral issue?
"I don't think it is apparent to a pilot as troops on the ground. It is part of our duty if we are called upon to do it. I wouldn't be an advocate of murder and in a time of war I don't consider it murder. It is our national policy as to whether we go out and defend our nation."
"Most of the guys here have a cowboy and indians go shoot 'em up attitude."
Final word from the captain of the ship - "As this is an aircraft carrier we can pick up and go anywhere we want to protect our interests...."
Couple of pretty obvious questions for any American viewing this page:
The Federal Government will override Aboriginal heritage laws to push through the controversial Hindmarsh Island bridge project (search on "Hindmarsh" in news archive for full background).
The actions by the Labor government in December last year, in particular by then Aboriginal minister Robert Tickner, sent the project developers broke.
Aboriginal Affairs minister John Herron yesterday rejected a Au$1 million report claiming that the bridge could effect a sacred site.
Special legislation ending all further challenges against the bridge, to be built between Hindmarsh Island and Goolwa on the mainland, was the only way to avoid more costs to taxpayers Herron said.
The report had found that was little evidence to support Aboriginal claims that the bridge would desecrate a sacred site.
Most effected consumers will be elligible for a Au$29 refund which will be shown as a credit on their bill.
The Au$45 million is but a drop in the proverbial bucket for the government owned organisation which has just reported a profit of over Au$2 billion in the last financial year.
League chief executive Ross Oakley said after the vote, "The fact is it is going to be very difficult to see this number of clubs survive in Victoria."
Melbourne members actually voted to merge, a decision which could not go ahead because of the anti-merger result at the Hawthorne club.
The study by Archicentre, an architect body, found that old timber homes were the worse affected.
About 36% of homes built between 40 to 60 years ago had unhealthy living environments. New timber homes were not much better with 34% infested with vermin ranging from mice and rats to cockroaches, dust mites and ants.
Overall 29% of Queensland homes had vermin compared with 17% in other states. The report was compiled from 16,500 home building inspections across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Vermin in Queensland homes:
| Age of Home (years) | Timber | Brick Veneer | Full brick |
| 0-20 | 34% | 20% | 25% |
| 20-40 | 33% | 27% | 26% |
| 40-60 | 36% | 21% | 23% |
The pool is looking good... Bootlebumtrinket is floating and best of all a day to hang out in the global office.
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