Tasmanian Times http://tasmaniantimes.com/ en editor@tasmaniantimes.com Copyright 2010 2010-09-02T08:16:30+00:00 In Their Own Words http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/pr-article/in-their-own-words/ MEDIA RELEASES: Government Greens Tasmania MEDIA RELEASES:
Government
Greens Tasmania
Australian Greens, Bob Brown
Australian Greens, Christine Milne
Tasmanian Liberals
Tasmanian Liberals, Will Hodgman
Tasmanian Labor, David Bartlett
Federal Labor
Federal Liberal
Australian Democrats
Tasmanian Socialist Alliance
Australian Socialist Alliance
Ethics and Sustainability Party
Senator Online - Australia’s first and only internet based political party

Please Release Us: Lack of One-and-a-Half-man Band time has forced us to stop publishing many MRs sent. If you have regular MRs and want to add your link to the list above, send ‘em in …

]]> 2010-06-17T14:00:38+00:00 Wilkie backs Gillard government http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/wilkie-backs-gillard-government/ Mr Wilkie also revealed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott offered him almost three times as much for the Hobart hospital, but he turned it down. “The ALP best meets my criteria that the government must be stable, competent and ethical,” he said Politics, National 2010-09-02T08:16:30+00:00 Tasmanian Times: A Rage Against the Dying of the Light ... http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/tasmanian-times-a-rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light/ ... or a Wayward Angst-ridden Nihilistic Kneejerk? Well, they’ve got to earn a crust somewhere and the media experience in Tasmania isn’t helped by management that has lost its way… through timidity and a desire to keep the Masters and Overseers and Advertisers happy (particularly true of The Examiner whose home town is also base to perhaps the nation’s most reviled company of the past decade, Gunns Ltd). Other reasons are the daily-changing media landscape as the Net revolution lays waste, and the intolerable pressures of declining circulations, revenue and staffing levels; a pervasive emphasis on superficiality and celebrity and uniformity - a media monoculture if you like (only browsing animals and snails live in monocultures) -  graduate journalists who have not learnt the way of terror and failure; and the development of Journalist As The Story,  or part of the story, rather than telling the story. Tasmanian Meedja also has a very fragile glass jaw. Criticise them and they lash back, or decide to put you on virtual ignore ... Writers, Lindsay Tuffin, Media 2010-09-02T01:00:24+00:00 FOXing the facts at the ABC http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/foxing-the-facts-at-the-abc/ The news media template for science reporting is well known.  It seems to demand one of either broad category.  There are scientific stories that offer opportunities to announce that a breakthrough or a world first is at hand - however spurious the claim.  Then there are scientists who come out to slam something.  The news media loves a good slamming. … The first handful of inaccuracies had been fed into the media sausage mix and the media fed upon it, building upon them.  The absolute bitter irony of it all was that my original on-line story dealt precisely with the consequences of misinterpretation, inaccuracy, poor deductions, flawed data and an inability to discern between belief and knowledge. Like a Greek tragedy, the media martyred itself to these very failings. Overall in Tasmania, the relentless inaccuracies, poor analysis and the Jackson Pollock approach to news reporting has made the Tasmanian fox saga the intractable, fact aversive and odious saga that it is today.  And people are being asked not to criticise?  Really? ABC news cannot be held responsible for all, or even a good swag of the current confusion.  Not by any means.  At least they were prepared to have a crack at the issue and try.  Yet tabloid reporting has left everyone badly confused, and the issue has become “a sun drenched bucket of prawns” as one person so vividly described. Politics, Local, National, State, Environment, Media 2010-09-01T18:09:08+00:00 Grant Broadcasters acquire new commercial radio licence in Launceston http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/pr-article/grant-broadcasters-acquire-new-commercial-radio-licence-in-launceston/ Download a Media Release outlining the purchase of a new commercial radio licence in Launceston, Tasmania by Grant Broadcasters (pending approval): TAS_BR_INTG_PRNL_010910.pdf… Download a Media Release outlining the purchase of a new commercial radio licence in Launceston, Tasmania by Grant Broadcasters (pending approval):
TAS_BR_INTG_PRNL_010910.pdf

]]> 2010-09-01T09:17:55+00:00 Greens sign deal to back Labor http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/greens-sign-deal-to-back-labor/ Now it is understood they have struck a deal with Labor that says they would support a Gillard government. The deal will draw the Labor bloc level with the Coalition in the House of Representatives, with 73 seats each. Politics, National 2010-09-01T00:03:29+00:00 EMRS State Poll: Drop in undecided response worry for the Libs http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/emrs-state-poll-drop-in-undecided-response-worry-for-the-libs/ It could be that a majority outcome is not the issue it was. It could be that voters are reasonably happy with the way the Labor/Green coalition is going in government. If this is the case, then the Liberals have a lot to be worried about. Their main (really, only) chance of winning government at the next election is for voters to reject minority government. The Libs want to see, if not voters coming over to their side, at least a high undecided rate because those would be the voters still keeping their powder dry, and therefore more susceptible to being swayed. Politics, State, The Psephologist, Peter Tucker 2010-08-31T21:38:13+00:00 Over $18 million lost on pokies in July alone http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/over-18-million-lost-on-pokies-in-july-alone/ $2 Million Increase from June “Decision-makers cannot keep turning a blind eye to the flood of hard-earned income out of pockets down the gullets of these insidious machines, action must be taken now to address the negative impact pokies are having on the community and to start weaning government’s off their addiction to pokies revenue.” $1 bet limit progress puts Tasmania in front of nation: The Tasmanian Greens today said that Tasmania was poised to lead the nation on implementing the recommended $1 bet limit on pokies, after negotiating with the Liberal Party to refer the matter to a specifically appointed Parliamentary Committee. Politics, Local, National, State, Economy, Legal, Personal, Society 2010-08-31T21:34:59+00:00 Into The Woods - the battle for Tasmania’s forests http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/into-the-woods-the-battle-for-tasmanias-forests/ Book Review: This book describes sudden attacks in a hard-fought war over our forests and the longer political sagas filled with deception bordering on organised crime. It speaks of the tremendous personal courage of so many individuals who truly held the line well before and well after David Bartlett’s sand line had washed away in the spin of the daily tide. Writers, David Obendorf, Politics, Local, National, State, Forestry, Gunns, Books, Economy, Environment 2010-08-31T21:30:26+00:00 An Informal Report On An Informal Update Of The Secret Informal Talks ... http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/an-informal-report-on-an-informal-update-of-the-secret-informal-talks-/ … Yes, it’s a mouthful, but it seems consistent with the circular vortex of issues being reported. Kim Booth: Forestry Tas destroying old forests to prevent their conservation ... Politics, Local, National, State, Forestry, Gunns, Economy, Environment 2010-08-31T21:30:02+00:00 Duck River Flood Monitoring Reveals 42 Contaminations from 48 Tests in Just One Month http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/duck-river-flood-monitoring-reveals-42-contaminations-from-48-tests-in-just/ The Tasmanian Greens today called on Labor to admit that its regulatory regime of the last 12 years to oversee the use and application of dangerous agricultural chemicals has failed, and to commit to reforming the system to prevent the ongoing contamination of Tasmania’s rivers and waterways with these toxic chemicals, after flood testing revealed that the Duck River was contaminated with extremely high levels of the herbicide MCPA during June and July this year. Politics, Local, State, Environment, Health 2010-08-31T21:29:42+00:00 Banks Grow Wary of Environmental Risks http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/banks-grow-wary-of-environmental-risks/ For a growing number of banks, however, that does not seem to matter. After years of legal entanglements arising from environmental messes and increased scrutiny of banks that finance the dirtiest industries, several large commercial lenders are taking a stand on industry practices that they regard as risky to their reputations and bottom lines. Politics, Local, National, State, Forestry, Gunns, Economy, Environment 2010-08-31T21:28:37+00:00 Power shock: price rises on the way http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/power-shock-price-rises-on-the-way/ “We know that people are already having problems affording the cost of electricity.” Paul Harris MLC: Independent Member for Huon Paul Harriss today in the Legislative Council Question Time revealed evidence that Treasurer Michael Aird knew of Aurora’s deteriorating financial position prior to the State Election. Bill Harvey… Politics, State, Economy, Environment 2010-08-31T21:28:20+00:00 Tasmania moves to recognise same-sex unions http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/tasmania-moves-to-recognise-same-sex-unions/ Only three of the 25 Members of the House of Assembly voted against the amendment to the Relationships Act; Liberal members Rene Hidding, Michael Ferguson and Jacqui Petrusma. Politics, State, Legal, Society 2010-08-31T21:27:39+00:00 Under fire from industry, scientific panel is ‘gutted’ http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/nvc-article/under-fire-from-industry-scientific-panel-is-gutted/ http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/after-warning-about-toxic-farm-chemical-scientific-panel-gutted-4332 By Amy Standen… Politics, Education, Health, Society http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/after-warning-about-toxic-farm-chemical-scientific-panel-gutted-4332

By Amy Standen Center for Investigative Reporting 30 August 2010

Five out of nine members of a scientific panel that advises California on toxic chemicals have been fired in recent weeks, following disputes with the chemical industry and a conservative group that targets environmental laws.

While the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants is not well known outside of regulatory circles, its work carries clout in state environmental policy. Since its inception in 1983, the panel has evaluated more than 300 chemicals - everything from pesticides to secondhand smoke - and advised the state on how these chemicals should be regulated.

more
http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/after-warning-about-toxic-farm-chemical-scientific-panel-gutted-4332

For anyone working on environmental health science who wonders why policy decisions don’t always reflect scientific findings, this is an insightful article It’s about one of the biggest funding sources that opposes environmental regulations based on philosophical commitments to libertarian beliefs.  Toward the end there is a section on formaldehyde and cancer. But there is much much more.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer Covert operations. The Koch brothers are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry - especially environmental regulation. And they are putting their enormous wealth behind their beliefs.
http://www.newyorker.com/ New Yorker. 25 August 2010

http://nyr.kr/cUIIvj

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