Dingo bytes

The glossy promotion of the Australian military is aimed at 
enticing young people to join up for a secure future, character 
building and pure adrenaline-rush excitement while defending 
Australia. Never mind that this government isn't about defence, 
but about pre-emptive strikes, invasion, suppression of 
liberation movements, the overthrowing of governments and 
colonial occupation. And there is another dark side — a rising 
suicide rate in the forces. Many young people entering the 
military with an eye on a career have found themselves the 
victims of abuse, harassment and bullying. Those in authority do 
not discourage this culture of aggression and domination, 
because, let's face it aggression and domination is what it's all 
about.

* * *

NSW Premier Bob Carr is the leading practitioner of fear and 
loathing campaigns, and he's not about to be pegged back to the 
field anytime soon. Just prior to Christmas Carr and the Labor MP 
for the Sydney electorate of East Hills, Alan Ashton, got 
together at Bankstown Airport to promote the latest piece of 
taxpayer-funded terror propaganda: a $4.43 million Polair-5 Anti-
Terrorism helicopter. "This helicopter will be available in the 
event of the most dire emergency", said Ashton in a leaflet sent 
to the East Hills residents with a picture of him and Carr and 
the public relation chopper, failing to add that its real role 
will be to quell protest and civil unrest.

* * *

The members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of the old 
Parliament House in Canberra have formed a new government. "After 
long deliberations over 32 years at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, 
it was decided that we are forming or own government based on the 
principles of Aboriginal sovereignty — that we have never ceded 
our country in any shape or form", said Embassy spokeswoman 
Isabel Coe. "The Howard Government has the worst record with 
Aboriginal people on health, deaths in custody and life 
expectancy. Howard can't even say 'sorry'."

* * *

CAPITALIST HOG OF THE WEEK: is Bryan Mercurio, lecturer in 
international trade law at the University of NSW. There have been 
some pretty ludicrous claims from those promoting the free trade 
deal between the US and Australia. Mercurio adds to the list by 
claiming that not only does the deal not threaten Australia's 
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), but to the contrary: he 
says the US drug corporations that have been demanding the Scheme 
be scrapped because it affects their profits, have actually 
helped it. This is because the drug companies, who we all know 
are deeply concerned about human suffering, have made the PBS 
better for Australians in need through the promotion of new and 
more beneficial drugs. The US Government never wanted to 
dismantle the PBS, says Mercurio. They just wanted it to become 
"more transparent" by removing the "one-size-fits-all" approach 
to drug pricing.