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Trumix.com : Podcast : Society and Culture : Blogs and Commentary

The Public First Program

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Language: English
Category: Society and Culture / Blogs and Commentary
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Editorials from the Public First Program aired on Gippsland FM 104.7, Thursdays at 11:00am (AEST). An alternative viewpoint on local, national and international events. Often polemic, always controversial. Highly researched and presented by Shane Elson an award winning radio commentator and producer. Available free of charge. Only ask is that, if used, quoted or otherwise referred to, that proper acknowledgement be given.


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April 2009 #1 - Foot Spas R US

On my way to work on Wednesdays, I sometimes take the long way round. On the longer route I pass a 'spa'. Its housed in a renovated factory type place. You know the kind, all angles, glass and cement. Very trendy and upmarket. The kind of place you don't take the kids, if you know what I mean. When I walked passed it the other day there was a sign out the front. It read “Easter Bunny Specials” and included the listing “Spiced Chocolate Foot Spa. 15 Mins. $35”. It got me thinking. What ...

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[ 08 Apr 2009 18:10:00 +1000 ]


March 2009 #1 - TV or Bust

Have you ever had one of those months where its suddenly the end and you are hard pressed to recall what you did over the last 30 or so days? If so, welcome to the brave new world of disasters, terrors, wars, gluts, downturns, failures, frauds and fiscal miscreants. How are we meant to keep up? According to the producers and programmers employed by our TV networks, we aren't. They tell us we (that is the unwashed viewing public) don't want tough, thoughtful, insightful programs after a hard da...

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[ 19 Mar 2009 19:30:00 +1000 ]


January 2009 #1 - Gaza, Gas and War

Have you ever heard of British Gas? Or perhaps the BG Group? Or what about the Consolidated Contractors Company? OK, then what about Tony Blair, Mahmoud Abbas, Ehud Olmert? I guess these last three are recognisable. But what do all these names share in common? Two things Gaza and gas. In 2000 a $4 billion US dollar gas field was discovered just off shore from the Gaza strip. The field is under waters that, by international recognition, makes it the property of the Palestinians. Kind of like th...

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[ 19 Jan 2009 15:10:00 +1000 ]


December 2008 #4 - Gaza Again

As I sat down to finish off the last of the Christmas fare I switched on the evening news. It was not a pretty sight. The lead item was the latest genocidal attack by Israel against the civilians of the occupied Gaza strip. The first pictures were of the bombing of the university in Gaza city followed by a montage of shots of ambulances disgorging wounded civilians and other pictures of injured children being carried into hospitals by their distraught parents. Then the cruncher. The reporter ...

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[ 30 Dec 2008 14:00:00 +1000 ]


December 2008 #3 - Gouge Your Eyes Out

So now George Bush knows what its like to be a friend of Dick Cheney! Well, at least the guy didn't have a shotty. Might have made for better tele though! Nonetheless, Muntadhar al-Zeidi will continue to languish in an American controlled Iraqi jail until he confesses … whatever. We haven't seen shoes used in such reverential surroundings since Nikita Khrushchev took off his off and banged them on a desk in the UN. What is interesting is that his reason for doing so was when a delegate from...

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[ 17 Dec 2008 16:15:00 +1000 ]


December 2008 #2 - Human Rights or Our Shame?

Sixty three years ago the global community drew its collective breath and sighed in relief at the end of World War II. Millions had died and many more millions were displaced, suffering under conditions that the so called “civilised” world found repulsive. In a collective head spin the leaders of the “free world” came together to assemble what we now know as the United Nations. Ironically, an Australian politician, Herbert (Doc) Evatt, was the foundation President of the UN. Some would...

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[ 10 Dec 2008 14:05:00 +1000 ]


Dec 2008 #1 - Dentists, Dole and Private Schools

There are two places I really don't like. The first is dentist's waiting rooms and the second are dole offices. Being in both give me a sense of dread. In the dentist's waiting room I begin to sweat a little and my knees begin to ache. I imagine the huge I mean really, really big needle that will be plunged into my gums and the way in which my jaw will ache for a day or two afterwards. I imagine the recurrence of the dreaded 'dry socket' which is even worse than the toothache. In the end I...

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[ 03 Dec 2008 16:45:00 +1000 ]


Nov 2008 #4 - Not Winning. Losing

Its amazing how time flies when youre having fun. And havent we been having some fun lately. Work, mortgage, work, car repayments, work, groceries, work and on and on it goes. Meanwhile, out in the real world, elections have been had, grand finals lost, economies collapsing and all that stuff. If it wasnt for the distractions of work, mortgage, work, car repayments, work, groceries, work and so on, one could get very depressed. Take the oldies. A bunch of them recently got together in M...

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[ 25 Nov 2008 12:20:00 +1000 ]


September 2008 #3 - Goldman's Chickens
Its funny, isnt it, that as the capitalist system tries to reinvent itself, the so called market leaders, who caused the problem in the first place, have now been put in charge of designing the fix. Although not unlike putting the foxes in charge of the chicken coop, the main difference is, this time, the farmers are shooting, cleaning and serving up the chooks for the foxes. One of the main characters in this story is a rather large and influential firm called Goldman Sachs. They arent t...

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[ 30 Sep 2008 19:30:00 +1000 ]


September 2008 #2 - Finance for Dummies
Heres how economic life works. You want to buy something and I own or make what you want to buy. You dont have enough cash at hand to pay for it. In order to obtain enough ready cash to purchase my product or good, you go to a bank and get a loan. This is called being practical. The bank gets you to sign a contract. Now, in the real world a contract is a document that sets out agreed terms that both parties negotiate. When you go to the bank, the real world stops at the door and you enter ...

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[ 24 Sep 2008 12:00:00 +1000 ]


Sept 2008 #1 - In a Split Second
Making split second decisions is something we do all day. Do we choose the ham and cheese sandwich or the salad and lamb? Do wear the blue shirt or the green one? Do we have our coffee in a mug or a cup? Obviously not all decisions carry the same weight or consequences.I had to make a split second decision last Sunday morning. It was, on reflection, perhaps not my best. I got knocked off my bike by a forby. You know, a Toorak tractor. I certainly didnt expect that outcome from my decision but I...

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[ 08 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +1000 ]


August 2008 #3 - Its all Relative I Suppose
The six thousand dollar a week man lives in a house like ours. Well, it has walls, floors and ceilings. He earns his six thousand dollars a week by occupying a chair in an office in a central city high-rise building. The six thousand dollar a week man has to make important decisions. He is paid, not by the number of decisions he makes, but by remaining committed to theteam and by ensuring that all his decisions are positive towards the team outcomes. We have an office. Well its really an e...

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[ 21 Aug 2008 11:00:00 +1000 ]


August 2008 #2 - Georgia On My Mind
You may have heard about the little stoush being fought out in the Republic of Georgia at present. Georgia is a little country that grew out of the former Soviet Union. Bordered by the Black Sea to the west, Turkey and Armenia to the South, Azerbaijan to the east and Russia to the north, this little country could well be the flash point for a new cold war.The bloody rule of the communist leaders of the former Soviet Union, during most of last century, saw thousands killed and many more displaced...

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[ 15 Aug 2008 13:30:00 +1000 ]


August 2008 #1 - The Royal Gosper
Everyone loves freebies. You know, a free hat or t-shirt to remember an event by. Even Royalty like to be in on them. The Olympic Family are royalty. Well at least thats what they like to think of themselves as, not mere mortals who must adhere to the strictures of even mundane things like the truth or moral obligation. No, this group, who control the multibillion-dollar circus we lovingly call The Olympics, are not like us. They inhabit a universe to which many aspire but must remain sat...

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[ 06 Aug 2008 19:40:00 +1000 ]


July 2008 #3 - Obama-Danger to the Middle East
Any of us who have attempted to speakoff the cuff in a public setting know just how dangerous it can be. We can muddle our words, prattle on incoherently and mis-speak important facts. So when it comes to politicians delivering speeches we can rest assured that the words we hear were carefully planned and scripted. Not onlydo the words have to make some kind of sense, they have to fit the established narrative they are creating based on the historic record that precedes them. Of course some ...

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[ 30 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +1000 ]


July 2008 #2 - The Real Danger Within
We live in troubled times. Perhaps the words of George Orwell in 1984 were prophetic in some small way. Who knows, maybe he did have an alien implant that gave him foresight? But perhaps that is my paranoia speaking. Whatever the situation, it seems that as time passes I cant help but think that things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser. Before I go on, I think its important to acknowledge that for many communities within our society life is rough, tough and often brutal. There are many...

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[ 23 Jul 2008 14:20:00 +1000 ]


June 2008 #2 - Lurking Lippy Danger - Reprise

As we read, hear and see more about how the Imperial adventure in the Middle East is going bottom up, a little known terrorist threat is looming on our back door. A bioterrorist threat more dangerous, destructive and devastating than anything seen before. This little discussed threat is, Im sure, being monitored at the highest levels of our intelligence community and is receiving the just attention it deserves. It was only by luck (good or bad is yet to be determined) that I stumbled across th...

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[ Wed, 12 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST ]


June 2008 #1 - Left Right or Wrong

All hail, the Left is dead! Well at least according to the reality in which Ken Phillips of the Institute of Public Affairs exists. Ken is one of the Directors of this organisation and I guess he is far more qualified than me to make such a bold claim. In an article in the Business section of The Age a week or so ago, Ken wrote that, About six years ago some left thinkers in Labor made the shift to acceptance of market capitalism. I wont argue against the words he writes but I will take e...

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[ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EST ]


May 2008 #4 - Art, Power and Parenting

Most parents begin exercising power over their children by using the fear factor. Dont touch. Youll get burnt or Dont play with that. It / you will break. While these types of directives often have very practical and necessary applications, they do remain a fairly central theme as we try and guide our children / teenagers / young adults through the complex maze we call life. However, for many parents there comes a time when all we can do is hope that weve given them enough of a commo...

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[ Wed, 28 May 2008 17:20:00 EST ]


March 2008 #2 - Carers, Get a Life

Did you see 4 Corners on the ABC last Monday night? It was about the plight of the grief stricken carers and the burden they carry looking after their disabled loved ones. What a bunch of whingers? I mean, lets do a reality check here. But first some facts, drawn from the most recent federal budget. According the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, there are 483,550 people in Australia who are cared for by someone in their immediate family or who qualifi...

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[ Thu, 15 May 2008 12:20:00 EST ]


May 2008 # 1 - Bare Chested and Beautiful: Cabbies and Viral Unionism

Blokes with bare chests beat the big end of town! Perhaps that should have been the headline that celebrated the cabbies victory last week. It seems that not only are Melbournes cabbies the proudest and loudest in the country, they are also on the road to becoming the BLF of the 21st century. But it seems that for some of the nice, quiet people, fighting for your rights as a worker is still something akin to terrorism. This is what is implied by Melissa Fyfe in her article in last Sundays Ag...

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[ Wed, 07 May 2008 11:00:00 EST ]


April 2008 #4 - Tom, GE and Bush

About this time five years ago NBC current affairs anchor, Tom Brokaw, always one to ask the "tough" questions, got an exclusive - one on one - interview with George Bush. It was revealing in a number of ways. Firstly, NBC is owned by General Electric. Of course, GE not only try and ensure that you can make your cuppa in the morning or cook the toast just right, they also try and ensure that your multimillion dollar armaments are delivered to their targets. To warm them up a bit I suppose. GE ...

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[ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST ]


April 2008 #3 - William Robert and the ANZAC Legacy

William Robert Elson, Serial Number 6733, natural born British Subject, was 21 years and eight months old when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 4th August 1916. He was sent off to the other side of the world as a private in the 22nd Regiment, 12th Battalion. He was my grandfather. I grew up in a small town on the northwest coast of Tasmania, not far from where my grandad was born. He noted on his enlistment form that he next of kin was his father, William Elson of Sprent. He...

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[ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST ]


April 2008 #2 - Porn, Footy and 9-11

What do pornography, 9-11 and Sydney Swans footballer, Barry Hall, have in common? On the surface not much but I reckon its worth a look. Last weekend Barry Hall punched and concussed an opposition player in an off ball incident that was, fortunately for the TV networks, captured on film. The incident was repeatedly played on news broadcasts over the next few nights. After Id seen it a few times I started to notice the reactions of the crowd who witnessed the punch that would make Rocky...

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[ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:05:00 EST ]


April 2008 #1 - The Family

Aint the Olympics great? All the glitz! All the glamour! The prestige and the glory! Wow! Im over the moon about the Olympics and really, really wish I could be part of the family. Dont you? Then again the mafia is often referred to as The Family. These two multinational organisations have many similarities. Lots of hopefuls are groomed for their future places. The never-could-bes are forgotten or rubbed out of the corporate memory. Lots of men in suits have incomes from indeterminate sou...

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[ Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:00:00 EST ]


March 2008 #4 - Human Rights Day 2007. Dateline Kuala Lumpur

It seems to me that wherever you go there are forces at work that seek to prevent the expression of basic human rights. On December 10th, 1948, the United Nations adopted the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". The member states, then and now, were expected to accept the basic tenets of the document that was supposed to enshrine, in so called 'democracies', some basic criteria against which they could be measured in their legal frameworks to protect and advance basic human rights. One pa...

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[ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:00:00 EST ]


March 2008 #3 - Chris Berg - On yer Bike

I reckon that it must be pretty easy to get a job at the Institute for Public Affairs. But first, the grandiose title of the organisation needs some clarification. Firstly, the so-called Institute is not at all concerned with affairs of the public. In fact, and secondly, it has no real interest in the public, affairs or not! What leads me to sledge the IPA again, is that each time I read their little diatribes in The Age, I am, once more, appalled that the claims the writers make are given s...

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[ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:00:00 EST ]


March 2008 #2 - Political Animals

Animals. Inhuman. Terrorists. Unmerciful killers of innocent men, women and children. These are just of few of the epithets that are used to describe Palestinians. Not some Palestinians but all of them. The people who use these words are not using them randomly or as mere rhetorical turns of phrase. These words and many others like them, are deeply ingrained into certain classes of the Jewish ruling class and their supporters. The events of the last few weeks show that our current crop...

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[ Thur, 13 Mar 2008 08:30:00 EST ]


March 2008 #1 - Kids Business

As Edmond Groves swans around the US trying to flog off bits of his failing empire, mums and dads are getting worried. Now, as it happens, these mums and dads are also tax payers and, so it transpires, they have contributed mightily to the fortunes of Edmond, his missus and a few others in the inner ABC circle. I found it rather interesting that in the huff and puff of last weeks medias examination of the fall and fall of ABC little attention was paid to the real issue. That of the privatisa...

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[ Wed, 04 Mar 2008 08:30:00 EST ]


February 2008 # 4 - The Great Council of the 1000

The Third World is alive and well in Australia and a gathering of the great council of 1000 of the chattering, polite classes, gathered in the big house over a weekend, will not change a thing. Almost unimaginable amounts of money are spent each year in trying to hide this Third World from the polite classes or in attempts to distance the reality of this fact from those of us who choose to live here. One of the most visible attempts to create a sense of distance between the polite classes...

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[ Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:30:00 EST ]

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