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Coming to the Party
The coming NSW ALP State Conference marks an important moment in the changing relationship between the political and industrial wings of the Party.
Interview: Crowded Lives
Labor frontbencher Lindsay Tanner talks us through his new book on the importance of relationships and why politics is letting the people down.
Activists: Life With Brian
Work by men like Brian Fitzpatrick is exposing new Australians to old truths. Jim Marr reports
Industrial: National Focus
A showdown looms in Cancun, Qantas gets bolshie, casual and lazy in its response to aviation challenges, and long festering disputes fester on in Victoria and Tasmania reports Noel Hester in this national wrap.
Unions: If These Walls Could Talk
Trades Hall is preparing for a major facelift but first, Jim Marr reports, it must bid farewell to the colourful bunch who have populated its dusty corridors in recent years.
Economics: Beating the Bastards
Frank Stilwell looks at some of the proposals for building a fairer finance sector.
Media: Three Corners
So its come to this. Four Corners, one of the world's longest running television programs is now under pressure from an ABC Executive that is less cultural visionary than feral abacus.
History: The Brisbane Line
Percy Spender was Menzies' foreign minister, but, Neale Towart asks, was he also prepared to serve as Prime Minister in a Japanese controlled Australia?
Trade: The Dumping Problem
Oxfam-CAA helps set the scene for this month's World Trade Organisation in Cancun.
Review: Frankie's Way
In The Night We Called It A Day Frank Sinatra learns 'sorry' Down Under is a loaded word and refusal to say it when due will lose fans in important places, writes Tara de Boehmler.
 Violence: Rail Workers' Hot Spray
Corporate "Branch Stack" in Court
Entitlements: Ball in Carr’s Court
Asbestos Prospect for Home Buyers
"Stand Over" Claims at Hilton
US: Iraq on the Block
Sheeps Of Shame
Teachers Applaud TAFE Backdown
Council Delays Sweat Shop Action
Monk Aims Muscle at Unis
Cobar Beats Off CBH Assault
Sign Here For Reconciliation
Workers Denied Home Loans
Casual Approach No Holiday
Activists Notebook
The Soapbox
Staking Our Territory
ACTU secretary Greg Combet argued for a fairer Australia in his keynote address to last month's ACTU Congress. The Locker Room
Seasonally Agisted
Spring is a season when a person’s thoughts turn to…horse racing. Phil Doyle reports on the fate of nags and folk heroes. Housing
Beyond the Block
We are wild about the people who live in The Block but not too interested in those who are on the streets outside, writes Michael Rafferty. Politics
The Westie Wing
Workers friend Ian West MLC, reports form the Bearpit about a project to raise awareness about trade unionism amongst young people. Postcard
The Awkward Squad
Paul Smith meets one of the new generation of British union leaders who is taking the ball up to the Blair spin team.
The Clown and the Magician.
Shorter Hours
A Sick War
Taxi!
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Evatt Foundation
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Letters to the Editor
A Sick War
I raise the following issue with a growing sense of dread.
Citing the US military Central Command as its source, the Washington Post reported on September 2 that „more than 6,000 service members‰ had been medically evacuated from Iraq since the launch of the war.
At the time, the number of combat wounded stood at 1,124. A further 301 personnel had been injured in non-combat incidents such as vehicle accidents. The figure of „more than 6,000‰ supplied to the Post therefore implies that over 4,500 US troops have required evacuation from Iraq for medical reasons other than combat or non-combat injuries.
At no point in the last six months have we been told that for every soldier who has been killed in Iraq, at least another 15 have fallen so ill that they had to be flown back to the United States. The Post described the unexplained evacuations simply as the „thousands who became physically or mentally ill‰.
On July 31, the US Army Surgeon General announced an investigation into the deaths of two soldiers, Michael Tosta and Josh Neusche, and the hospitalisation of another 100, diagnosed with severe pneumonia. It has been established that inhaling large concentrations of DU-contaminated particles damages the lungs and kidneys and can cause respiratory illness. There are also recorded medical suspicions that the US military‚s anthrax vaccine can trigger pneumonia.
How many Australian service men and women have been exposed to the same combat pollution and vaccines?
And, are we to be told if the same proportion of our forces are suffering similar health problems?
Remember the sailors who refused to obey what they thought was an unlawful order to submit to an Anthrax injection?
John Ward
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Issue 197 contents
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