Standing up to the War on Terror

FORUM: Standing up to the War on Terror

Wednesday October 26 6pm

Carslaw Building Room 175 Sydney University

Organised by Sydney Uni Peace Group

• Professor Ahmad Shboul - Arab and Islamic Studies Sydney University
• Micheal Thompson - National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)
• Speakers from National Association of Community Legal Centres and Students Against War

Proposed 'anti-terrorism' legislation is being widely condemned as a further step towards a police state. ASIO would be given coercive powers and the ability to secretly detain people for two weeks without charge; supporting the right to resist military occupation would become and offence punishable by seven years imprisonment; a 'shoot to kill' policy would be introduced for people 'fleeing' police questioning, even if not suspected of a terrorist offence.

At this forum, Ahmad Shboul will discuss the real impact that the 'war on terror' is having on the people of the middle east and on the muslim community in Australia. A speaker from the National Association of Community Legal Centres will outline the extent of the laws and the effect they will have on civil liberties. The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) have come out against the laws and will speak at this forum about their stand.

If passed, the new anti-terror laws are set to give police more rights to keep anti-war protesters off the streets and intimidate the movement. On campuses the crack down on dissent is being acutely felt - Voluntary Student Unionism is aimed at removing our ability to organise against government policy and police have arrested many activists campaigning against VSU.

Come along and discuss how we can defend our civil liberties, stop the racist scapegoating and re-build a challenge to the ongoing War, which has already killed over 100,000 people in Iraq, starting with the national rally on November 5.

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Blog Rolling 2

Time to roll through the blogs again by clicking the next blog button:

• An advertisement.
• Write On is a progressive blog by Demi Ray. He produces off-broadway plays.
• Liaison Américaine is another progressive blog by Lisap from Boston MA USA. She appears to be a journalism student.
• LOLLIPOP is a blog of cartoons of young adults. Good artwork.

And there ends the blog rolling this week. But then I decided to back up and try one more time.

• Elsinore Magazine 2 is an online newspaper for the City of Lake Elsinore, CA, USA. The editor (John Brooks) could use a few hints in choice of colours and the layout of the blog.
• Desert Photography & Fine Art is a fine collection of stunning photographs by Peggi Meyer from AZ, USA. This is one good reason for just clicking on the next blog button - you end up in places like this.
• Breakfast at the Bookstore is an empty blog by Tia.
• We escape from the USA to Brazil to find just Pictures of THEM* where Kennya Karoline posts pictures of himself and friends. The commentary is in Porteguese.
• Then onto Singapore where a secretive guy posts thoughts from his White Skull. Best not to linger here.
• Onward to where the words are English but the semantics are somewhat cryptic at BINGO ONLINE REAL. Somewhat of a fetish for cow pies, methinks.
• Onwards and upwards to Ontario, Canada where Faye Leung discusses SECRETS THAT TEDDY KNOWS about the life of a teenage girl (especially maths tests).
• Then a cute blog called it's raining...* by Umbrella Girl.
• Back to Singapore only to be attacked by a Jaguar Shark as she pummels the self-righteous.

Once more the chain is broken. Enough wandering for now.

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Stopping a stutter

Some good news for stutterers as researchers at the University of Sydney find an effective way for Stopping a stutter. The basis of the treatment is:

After nine months, children in the treatment group had reduced their stuttering by 77 per cent, compared with 43 per cent of those in the control group.

The program is based on speech pathologists teaching the children's parents to praise them for not stuttering and, from time to time, when they do stutter, to ask them to repeat the sentence again.

Apparently, it is too late for people like me:

"If you finish up as an adolescent or an adult with stuttering, you will probably be affected with it for life.

"But treatment is very effective in the preschool age group."

Prof Onslow said around one in 100 adults stuttered, reducing their amount of verbal communication over a lifetime by up to three-quarters compared with the general population.

They were also at risk of being bullied during their school years, to have limited job opportunities and were highly susceptible to developing social phobia.

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