International:

The affirmative action lobby is firmly on the back foot in America. Following Proposition 209 - a consensus vote by the people of California to scrap the racial discrimination of the politically correct, the City of Houston, the fourth largest city in the US will now put the issue to the vote. Background can be seen in this article from the Washington Post.

The Reason Magazine gives some interesting insights into California's Proposition 209. Here is an extract from their latest report:

"On November 3, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Ninth Circuit's decision upholding Proposition 209.

"In rejecting the (American Civil Liberties Union) ACLU's challenge to Prop. 209, without a dissenting vote, the justices let stand the Ninth Circuit's ruling recognising that the U.S. Constitution is not violated by a law requiring the government to treat all people equally, regardless of race or gender.

"The ruling marks a major victory for those who support a race-neutral, colorblind standard for government. Prop. 209 prohibits governmental racial and gender preferences, and insists on equality of rights for all, regardless of color or sex.

"Because the case involved appeals from Judge Thelton Henderson's preliminary injunction restraining enforcement of Prop. 209, the focus now returns to the District Court until a final judgment, which complies with the Ninth Circuit ruling, is rendered by Judge Henderson.

"Now that the major legal challenge to Prop. 209 has been resolved, it is likely that further litigation will be brought to clarify its scope, and challenging whether Prop. 209 bans outreach efforts which target minorities or women by governmental employers or schools.

"In commenting on the Supreme Court action, Governor Pete Wilson said, "It is time for those who have resisted Prop. 209 to acknowledge that equal rights under law, not special preferences, is the law of the land." He further noted that "A measure that eliminates any form of discrimination based on race and gender violates no one's constitutional rights."

"ACLU chief lawyer, Mark Rosenbaum, called the Supreme Court's one-line order rejecting their appeal "a severe and painful disappointment." Again displaying that he is no master of understatement, Rosenbaum asserted thatÝProposition 209 is "mean-spirited and unjust," and "its enforcement ushers in the resegregation of California."

"On behalf of Prop. 209 proponents, I have asked that the ACLU join with Prop. 209 supporters in supporting equal treatment of people by government, regardless of color. The ACLU once was on record in favor of this concept, and we ask that they rediscover that ideal and again work to achieve equality of rights. In particular, we ask that Prop. 209 opponents reassess -- and de-escalate -- the shrill tone of their opposition, and work for racial healing and conciliation, rather than hostility and divisiveness."

The Asian crime problem has once again raised its head in top police circles with the following report in the latest Australian National review:

Page 41, November 1997:

"Asian criminals are bringing 'ready reserves of criminal labour' into Australia to conduct extortion, prostitution and drug smuggling according to Dr Richard Basham, a member of the NSW Police Commissioners advisory group.

"Australia was already seen as a 'soft target' for illegal immigrants because of the success of English-language programs that allowed illegal immigrants to pose as students, he said.

"Dr Basham warned that some Asian cultures did not consider bigamy, tax evasion, immigration violations and money-laundering as crimes.

"He added that some Asian cultures also did not consider heroin importation and dealing, loan sharking, extortion and prostitution as serious crimes as they were in western societies.

"Some Asian women were forced into prostitution in 'near slavery conditions' to repay debts to criminal gangs which had facilitated their illegal entry to Australia.

"Dr Basham said immigrants, particularly from china, were forced to repay more than $15,000 to criminals who charged usurious interest rates.

'Failure to repay such debts will invoke serious sanctions, including murder,' he said.

"Dr Basham told the meeting of the Australian Academy of Forensic Science that police should treat all official documents from Asia with caution and 'take care' when exchanging sensitive information with their Asian counterparts.

"He warned of corrupt consulate officials in Asian countries who provided phoney documents for illegal entry to Australia, or legitimate documents to undesirable immigrants. he said more sophisticated schemes involved Chinese government enterprises bringing fake or real employees on temporary visas to Australia. These employees were sometimes forced to pose as employees in legitimate businesses, siphoning money into criminal accounts. Chinese triads would increasingly smuggle illegal immigrants unless the laws were tightened."

Further reading on Dr Basham's views can be seen in the Sydney Morning Herald article:

Asian crime thrives due to "pathetic" police resources while there is a full National Crime Authority report on Asian crime in Australia.

Here is a short extract from the Sydney Morning Herald article: "The Premier, Mr Carr, said yesterday that the Police Service was recruiting "experts in Korean crime" in response to revelations of Korean criminals' involvement in loan sharking operations at the Sydney Harbour Casino.

The growth in the Aboriginal population in the 1990s is staggering according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (up by 100% in just a few years in some Australian cities). This interesting report by the Australian National Reviews looks at the reasons behind the growth.

Alleged paedophile "Dolly" Dunn is fighting extradition to Australia to face 91 charges after being evicted from the Honduras.

The Dolly Dunn incident has blown up in federal parliament with the Coalition being accused of failing to follow up leads on the wanted alleged paedophile.

You Say:

Subject: Launch of One Nation at Adelaide

Interesting to find this when I was trying to look up today's TV programming. Everything reported here is consistent with my own experiences of attending the Adelaide One Nation launch. I did get inside - a cop hauled me over the barrier, with jeers from the rear. Someone filmed or photographed the incident. Don't know who. But thanks for getting a more realistic account of events into some public space. Is there a better way of reaching a wider public audience. The media coverage of the "Hanson debate" has shocked me with its absolutely blatant distortions, inaccuracies and general plain lying.

Glynne Sutcliffe

Subject: Comments on Australian News of the Day

Hi

On the topic of claimed aboriginality, I would like to point out that a friend of mine at TAFE is a perfect example of someone who uses aboriginality to gain better standing.

He wrote on all of the (barcoded) random survey forms that the TAFE department and the Board of Studies gave us that he was aboriginal. Both of his parents were swedish immigrants, and his hair was the blondest that I have ever seen.

The amazing part was that he was a no-hoper and his test scores never passed 20%.. However, he remained there for the full year.. If they thought he wasn't aboriginal, he would have been asked to leave within three months..

Think for yourselves

Regards
Peter Cook

Subject: Comments on Australian News of the Day

If this article is a typical example of your news bulletins I don't know why you bother to produce them.

George Trumbull is not the CEO of Telstra but the AMP Society (an Australian institution)and it was the AMP Society which made a profit of $68.5M not George Trumbull. The article in the Australian only refers to Telstra CEO Frank Blount as having an undisclosed number of personal shares which you choose to misrepresent as having "made an amount so large that it would not be disclosed".

You then go on to claim that "another very profitable company (in fact our biggest) will now be owned by overseas interests" which is just patently untrue - overseas investors bought 19% of the 33% of Telstra that was sold which by my reckoning is just a tad over 6% of the total stock.

The irony of all this is that you conclude your article with a reference to the "media inspired world of fantasy" - I wonder if perhaps it is you who might be living in a fantasy world.

If you are going to set yourself up as a professional news service you might at least try to get your basic facts right especially when you present yourself as a "gateway" to this country.

Richard Clarke

My point is that once a profitable government owned business like the Commonwealth Bank is floated by the government the stock is bought up by overseas interests - note I say "will be owned".... and history will prove me right.

Just yesterday, shock horror, it was revealed that the Australian meat industry has now fallen into American hands with a resulting loss of jobs.

Stealth... taken by stealth, and Telstra will be no different - why else would the American CEO of the company, Frank Blount, float the company on the New York Stock exchange!

Editor.

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Nice cool change!

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