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Issue No. 157 18 October 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

End of Ignorance
The tragic events in Bali have touched all Australians, brought the human face of terrorism into our lives and created a few brief moments of political bi-partisanship.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Wet One
NSW Opposition industrial relations spokesman Michael Gallacher stakes out his relationship with the union movement.

Bad Boss: Like A Bastard
Virgin Mobile is sexy and funky, right? Well, only if those terms have become synonyms for dictatorial or downright mean.

Unions: Demolition Derby
Tony Abbott likens industrial relations to warfare and, like a good general should, he is about to shift his point of attack � from building sites to car plants, reports Jim Marr.

Corporate: The Bush Doctrine
For the powerful, consumerism equals freedom, and is all the freedom we need, writes James Goodman

Politics: American Jihad
Let�s get real. The origins of modern Islamic terrorist groups are in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Langley, Virginia not Baghdad, argues Noel Hester.

Health: Secret Country
Oral history recordings are an inadequate tool in trying to find out what happened to Aboriginal stockmen and their communities on cattle stations in Northern Australia, writes Neale Towart

Review: Walking On Water
On the 20th anniversary of the first AIDS-related death, Tara de Boehmler witnesses the aftermath of losing a loved one to the illness in Walking On Water.

Culture: TCF
Novelist Anthony Macris captures life on the shop floor in this extract from his upcoming novel, Capital Volume II

Poetry: The UQ Stonewall
The University of Queensland has sought to join the ranks of union-busting companies like Rio Tinto in trying to sack the president of the local union - and made the mistake of thinking they were dealing with an array of acquiescent academics.

N E W S

 No Night Shift for Sunset Workers

 Workmates Back Kamal�s Right to Pray

 Unions Target Corporate AGMs

 Nurses Short-Changed On Parking

 Abbott Makes Grab for Broken Hill

 Unions Get Ready to Wobble

 Brogden Flags Assault On Injured Workers

 �Build a Life� Gathers Steam

 The West Gets with the Best

 Child Carers Get $18 Living Wage

 Victorian Workers Rally for Kingham

 Woolies in Redundancy Fight

 Unions Call for Peace

 Clown Nearly Shuts Darwin Hospital

 Teachers Eye Historic ATSIC Alliance

 Support Grows for US Waterfront Workers

 Work Stress Kills The Healthy

 Unions Back Sinn Fein Mandate

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
I Walk The Line
American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has weighed into the Hilton Hotel dispute with this special message to the workforce.

Postcard
Mekong Daze
Union Aid Abroad's Phil Hazelton fires off a missive from Laos where he is spending a year working with the community.

Month In Review
Bush Whackers
It was a month where the world teetered on the brink of peace, no thanks to the leader of the free world, writes Jim Marr

The Locker Room
The Laws Of Gravity
Phil Doyle goes looking for the fine line that separates sport from an exercise in time-wasting

Bosswatch
Snouts in the Trough
It�s AGM season in the corporate world, and deal after shady deal is being exposed as highfliers treat company accounts like the proverbial honey-pot.

Wobbly
Songs of Solidarity
There has been a proud history of pro-worker tunes dating back to the early days of the 20th century, which will be continued in a new CD, writes Dan Buhagiar.

L E T T E R S
 Talking Frankly
 Memo to Junior
 Defence Signals
 Pandora's Box on Prayer?
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Letters to the Editor

Memo to Junior


Hiya there junior. I heard you'll be at some grade school Thursday reading to the kiddies. How noble an effort, in a state where your brother has abandoned public education.

While you're reading to the kiddies, junior, please teach them that, on average, 1 in 6 of their families has no health coverage. Plus, about half of them and their families have inadaquate insurance that pulls deeply into their already half empty pockets ( Volusia Cty- check out the average incomes here, junior).

As you're telling them about whatever fantasy is in the book at hand, tell them the real "fantasy" of yours junior- the one of having Jesus of Nazareth as your role model. Let's see, isn't he the one who stated: "Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven". Isn't he the fellow who told us to "turn the other cheek" and to "love your enemies"? Is that before or after you conduct your newest "war game" of pre-emptive strikes against a minor opponent. How many "thou shalt not kills" will you forget were said by your role model , as you send tens of thousands of our soldiers and Iraqi civilians to "meet jesus"? Will you tell the kiddies it may be about 112 billion gallons of oil under Iraq, and showing the rest of the world our "BIG STICK"?

Since you'll be in a comfortable environment Thursday, finally around "peers", all I can conclude is "Now junior, behave yourself!"

Philip A Farruggio

Port Orange Fl 32127

386- 760-0231


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