Thursday, May 28, 2015

Australian treasurer Joe Hockey has agreed to reconsider the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on tampons and other hygiene products after being confronted about the issue on Q&A Monday night. Mr Hockey was responding to a question from student activist Subeta Vimalarajah.

“I started a petition against taxing the sanitary products under the GST. It now has over 86,000 signees and 11,000 submissions to the Better Tax Review. Mr Hockey, do you think that sanitary products are an essential health good for half the population?” she asked.

“Do I think sanitary products are essential? I think so,” Mr Hockey responded “Should the GST be taken off them? It probably should, yes. The answer is yes.”

He said that he will raise the issue with the next meeting of the state treasurers in July.

“I understand there’s long been a push to take the GST off goods, which are one way or another regarded as health products,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. “It’s certainly not something that this Government has a plan to do.”

He said he interpreted Joe Hockey’s remarks as meaning it was a matter for the states.

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said the matter deserved serious consideration.

“Why did it take till Mr Hockey was asked a question on live TV for him to acknowledge this was an issue?” he asked.

“I understand the concerns with taxing sanitary products — concerns that go back to the introduction of the GST by the Coalition.

“These are in effect health products and aren’t simply a matter of choice for women.”

The GST was introduced in Australia in 2000. The then Prime Minister John Howard said the tax on tampons was not a woman’s issue.

“I mean, of course if you look at tampons in isolation – just as you look at something else in isolation – you can mount an argument to take the tax off it,” Mr Howard said at the time.

“I could mount an argument to take the tax off children’s clothes. I could mount an argument to take the tax off old people’s clothes, I could mount an argument for a whole lot of things. But we’ve had that argument and if you start doing that, you will have no GST in the end, and the whole system will begin to unravel.”

The time is 18:00 (UTC) on July 4th, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.

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See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list.Tuesday, September 13, 2005

NAICU has created a list of colleges and universities accepting and/or offering assistance to displace faculty members. [1]Wednesday, September 7, 2005

This list is taken from Colleges offering admission to displaced New Orleans students, and is intended to make searching easier for faculty, graduate, and professional students.

In addition to the list below, the Association of American Law Schools has compiled a list of law schools offering assistance to displaced students. [2] As conditions vary by college, interested parties should contact the Office of Admissions at the school in question for specific requirements and up-to-date details.

The Association of American Medical Colleges is coordinating alternatives for medical students and residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. [3]

ResCross.net is acting as a central interactive hub for establishing research support in times of emergency. With so many scientists affected by Hurricane Katrina, ResCross is currently focused on providing information to identify sources of emergency support as quickly as possible. [4]

With so many scientists affected by Hurricane Katrina, ResCross is currently focused on providing information to identify sources of emergency support as quickly as possible.

Physics undergraduates, grad students, faculty and high school teachers can be matched up with housing and jobs at universities, schools and industry. [5] From the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Society of Physics Students, the American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society.

If you are seeking or providing assistance, please use this site to find information on research support, available lab space/supplies, resources, guidelines and most importantly to communicate with fellow researchers.

The following is a partial list, sorted by location.

Alabama |Alaska |Arizona |Arkansas |California |Colorado |Connecticut |Delaware |District of Columbia |Florida |Georgia |Hawaii |Idaho |Illinois |Indiana |Iowa |Kansas |Kentucky |Louisiana |Maine |Maryland |Massachusetts |Michigan |Minnesota |Mississippi |Missouri |Montana |Nebraska |Nevada |New Hampshire |New Jersey |New Mexico |New York |North Carolina |North Dakota |Ohio |Oklahoma |Oregon |Pennsylvania |Rhode Island |South Carolina |South Dakota |Tennessee |Texas |Utah |Vermont |Virginia |Washington |West Virginia |Wisconsin |Wyoming |Canada

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The Honourable Peter McGauran, Federal Minister for Agriculture, has issued a 72 hour Australia wide travel ban on all Equine horse species. The ban followed confirmation that 16 horses from two separate Sydney locations have been infected with Equine Influenza. This follows earlier restrictions placed on horses in New South Wales (NSW).

Mr McGauran said “There will be a 72-hour ban on all race meetings for both thoroughbreds and harness…”

“In addition there will be an order for standstill for all horses under licensed persons. Also, an appeal to all those with ponies, recreational horses or work horses not to leave their properties…”

Equine flu was first detected in a stallion at Eastern Creek Quarantine station after arriving from the northern hemisphere. There are 80 horses currently in quarantine at either Eastern Creek in New South Wales or at the Spotswood quarantine station in Victoria. These horses are thoroughbreds brought into Australia for the spring breeding season. Horses currently in quarantine are expected to be held for another 30 days.

The movement ban caused the cancellation of race meeting across the country, resulting in losses of tens of millions of dollars.

Equine flu is highly contagious though it is not infectious to humans, though skin, clothing and equipment can transmit the disease. Additional restrictions have been place on people and equipment in NSW with exclusion zones around the quarantine stations. Breaches of these restriction could result in fines of up to A$44,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.

The normally unrestricted travel of horses between Australia and New Zealand has been suspended and New Zealand authorities are checking all horses that have entered the country since the beginning of August.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Gay Talese wants to go to Iraq. “It so happens there is someone that’s working on such a thing right now for me,” the 75-year-old legendary journalist and author told David Shankbone. “Even if I was on Al-Jazeera with a gun to my head, I wouldn’t be pleading with those bastards! I’d say, ‘Go ahead. Make my day.'”

Few reporters will ever reach the stature of Talese. His 1966 profile of Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold, was not only cited by The Economist as the greatest profile of Sinatra ever written, but is considered the greatest of any celebrity profile ever written. In the 70th anniversary issue of Esquire in October 2003, the editors declared the piece the “Best Story Esquire Ever Published.”

Talese helped create and define a new style of literary reporting called New Journalism. Talese himself told National Public Radio he rejects this label (“The term new journalism became very fashionable on college campuses in the 1970s and some of its practitioners tended to be a little loose with the facts. And that’s where I wanted to part company.”)

He is not bothered by the Bancrofts selling The Wall Street Journal—”It’s not like we should lament the passing of some noble dynasty!”—to Rupert Murdoch, but he is bothered by how the press supported and sold the Iraq War to the American people. “The press in Washington got us into this war as much as the people that are controlling it,” said Talese. “They took information that was second-hand information, and they went along with it.” He wants to see the Washington press corp disbanded and sent around the country to get back in touch with the people it covers; that the press should not be so focused on–and in bed with–the federal government.

Augusten Burroughs once said that writers are experience junkies, and Talese fits the bill. Talese–who has been married to Nan Talese (she edited James Frey‘s Million Little Piece) for fifty years–can be found at baseball games in Cuba or the gay bars of Beijing, wanting to see humanity in all its experience.

Below is Wikinews reporter David Shankbone’s interview with Gay Talese.

Monday, February 25, 2008

One of last night’s surprise wins at the 80th Academy Awards was Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová winning the Best Original Song Oscar.

The song “Falling Slowly” is from the 2006 film Once, which also co-stars Hansard and Irglová.

The favorite in the category was Enchanted, a Disney film which received nominations for “Happy Working Song“, “That’s How You Know“, and “So Close“. Also nominated was “Raise It Up” from August Rush.

The soundtrack received a Grammy nomination in 2008.

Irglová was cut off by music, when stepping up to the microphone to speak. She was given a second chance to speak after the next commercial break, and was introduced onto the stage by host Jon Stewart.

For some time, the song’s eligibility for an Oscar was in dispute, as it had appeared on a 2006 CD issued by Hansard’s band, The Frames, and it had been performed by the couple in various European venues. The Academy ruled that because the song had been composed for the movie, and the prior public exposure during the long period that the movie took to produce had been minimal, it remained eligible.

Friday, May 5, 2006

‘The Sultan’s Elephant‘, an enormous theatrical spectacle, has arrived in London on the start of its four day show. The elephant, a huge moving stage measuring forty feet high and weighing 42 tonnes, is the creation of the Royal de Luxe theatre company. The elephant will move through London, accompanied by a troop of puppeteers and circus acts, telling the story of the Sultan who set off to find the little girl from his dreams with a time-travelling elephant.File:The Sultans Elephant-Rocket.jpg

At a rumoured cost of £1 million, The Sultan’s Elephant is one of the biggest public art pieces ever performed in London. The project has been organised by Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb from Artichoke Productions, and has required co-operation and funding from a number of different bodies, including the Arts Council England, the Mayor of London and the City of Westminster.

The story began on Wednesday, when a ‘crashed spaceship’ landed in London, smashing up the pavement around it. The elephant first made an appearance on the Thursday.File:The Sultans Elephant in London.jpg

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Former Salt Lake City mayor and human rights activist Rocky Anderson took some time to discuss his 2012 U.S. presidential campaign and the newly-created Justice Party with Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn.

Anderson served as mayor of Salt Lake City for eight years (2000–2008) as a member of the Democratic Party. During his tenure, he enacted proposals to reduce the city’s carbon emissions, reformed its criminal justice system, and positioned it as a leading sanctuary for refugees. After leaving office, Anderson grew critical of the Democratic Party’s failure to push for impeachment against President George W. Bush, and for not reversing policies on torture, taxes, and defense spending. He left the party earlier this year and announced that he would form a Third party.

Anderson officially established the Justice Party last week during a press conference in Washington D.C.. He proclaimed “We the people are powerful enough to end the perverse government-to-the-highest-bidder system sustained by the two dominant parties…We are here today for the sake of justice — social justice, environmental justice and economic justice.” The party promotes campaign finance reform and is attempting to appeal to the Occupy Wall Street movement. It is currently working on ballot access efforts, and will hold a Founding Convention in February 2012 in Salt Lake City.

Among other issues, Anderson discussed climate change, health care, education, and civil liberties. He detailed his successes as mayor of Salt Lake City, stressed the importance of executive experience, and expressed his views on President Barack Obama and some of the Republican Party presidential candidates. He spoke in depth about former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, with whom he worked during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and fellow Utahan, former governor and U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr..