* this broadcast was cut short and labelled boring by an allegedly conservative broadcaster. In fact, it is very good. It highlights how bad the Rudd opposition is.
* News Corp to buy Dow Jones
* State Governments make home owning unaffordable
* Itunes (Apple) sells 3 billion songs
* Caffeine may aid fight against skin cancer
* ALP backflips on obesity
* School kids assaulted by lefties
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Prime Minister John Howard 310707 press conference
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Apple iTunes sells over 3bn songs
from news.com.au correspondents in San Francisco
APPLE announced today that it has sold more than three billion songs at its iTunes online store exclusively paired with its popular iPod MP3 players.
According to statistics from market tracking firm NPD Group, iTunes is the third largest music shop in the US, ahead of real-world Target stores and pioneering internet retailer Amazon.
"We'd like to thank all of our customers who have contributed to this incredible milestone," said iTunes vice president Eddy Cue.
News Corp board OK's Dow Jones deal
from news.com.au correspondents in New York
NEWS Corporation's board of directors has approved a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co Inc for $US5 billion ($5.83 billion), a source familiar with the matter said today.
The board met today to consider its $US60 ($69.90) per share offer.
The board vote came after at least 38 per cent of Dow Jones's voting shares held by the Bancroft family agreed to support the deal, the source said.
The family controls 64 per cent of the Dow Jones voting shares.
News Corp, Dow Jones and Bancroft family officials declined to comment.
Home ownership now an 'unattainable dream'
from news.com.au
HOME ownership has become an unattainable dream for many low- to middle-income earners in Australia, a new report has found.
The Beyond Reach report, undertaken by the Residential Development Council (RDC), examines the cost of owning or renting a house or unit for six household “types”, comprising different family and wage structures, in 16 metropolitan locations across the country.
It shows owning a median-price home in almost any location in Australia requires a combined household income of about $100,000, while the average annual wage for workers is $55,000 a year.
According to the report, not one of the 16 locations studied offered a median-priced home that was affordable on that level of income.
In calculating affordability, the report used two different measures - that no more than 30 per cent of household incomes should go on housing costs, and a property should cost no more than three to four times the median household income.
RDC executive director Ross Elliott said the research provided a more human angle on the affordability crisis.
“If key workers necessary for society and the economy to function are being denied entry to the housing market, or if the option of a single income family is now completely shattered by the price of housing, we are faced with obvious long-term social and economic consequences,” he said.
Who's to blame?
Mr Elliott said there were three major contributing factors to the housing affordability crisis: a lack of supply of land which had created artificial pressure on prices; a rapid escalation of upfront homebuyer taxes, fees, levies and charges; and excessive delays and costs in town planning decisions.
Mr Elliott said RDC research showed that taxes on new homes were between 25 per cent and 33 per cent of the cost - a rise of 300 per cent to 400 per cent in the last five years.
“State and local governments have added up to $100,000 to the price of a new home in the form of unsubstantiated home buyer infrastructure levies,” he said.
“They've added to the problem by deliberately refusing to release sufficient land in the naive belief that people will be forced to live in higher density housing close to the city.
“Then to make matters worse, they've presided over a worsening planning and development assessment system which is taking years longer and costing a great deal more for decisions but delivering no net benefit to the community and higher housing costs are the result.”
Call on Federal Government
Mr Elliott called on the Federal Government to step in, despite supply, taxes and planning being state government responsibilities.
He said a high level group was needed to bring all levels of government together to tackle the issue, including the fast-tracking of a 10-point plan from the national Development Assessment Forum to reform planning systems.
“The Federal Government cannot stand by and watch the future economic prosperity of a generation of Australians ruined by the policies of state and local government,” he said.
“They need to intervene.”
The RDC is the national residential advocacy arm of the Property Council of Australia.
Double espresso a day may keep cancer away
from news.com.au
DRINKING a double espresso a day and taking regular exercise may help prevent skin cancer.
A study on mice at Rutgers University in New Jersey showed that a combination of exercise and some caffeine - equivalent to one or two cups of coffee a day - protected against the effects of the sun's ultraviolet-B radiation, which can lead to cancer.
The caffeine and exercise seemingly conspire to kill off precancerous cells whose DNA has been damaged by UVB-rays, the authors say.
The study was published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Groups of hairless mice, whose exposed skin is vulnerable to the sun, were the test subjects in experiments in which one set drank caffeinated water - the equivalent of up to two cups of coffee for humans; another set exercised on a running wheel; and a third group both drank caffeine and ran.
A fourth group, which served as a control, neither ran nor drank caffeine.
All of the mice were then exposed to lamps that generated UVB radiation that damaged the DNA in their skin cells.
The Rutgers team looked for evidence of programmed cell death, also known as apoptosis, among the four groups of UVB-treated mice.
Apoptosis is the process by which cells with badly damaged DNA destroy themselves as a natural defence against illness and infection.
Drugs that induce apoptosis are currently being investigated as a means of preventing different types of cancer, but Allan Conney, one of the authors, said that the combination of caffeine and exercise appeared to have a similar protective effect.
Compared with the UVB-exposed control animals, the caffeine drinkers showed an increase of about 95 per cent in UVB-induced apoptosis, the exercisers showed a 120 per cent increase, while the mice that were both drinking and exercising showed an increase of nearly 400 per cent.
Dr Conney said the cumulative difference seen in the caffeine-drinking runners "can likely be attributed to some kind of synergy between the two factors".
Previous research has found that coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, kidney stones and colorectal cancer.
The Times, Washington, in The Australian
Labor drops attack on Shrek
By Matthew Franklin
KEVIN Rudd has failed to back a push by Labor health spokeswoman Nicola Roxon for a ban on cartoon characters such as Shrek being used to market junk food to children.
In fact, the Opposition Leader yesterday echoed the Howard Government's line on junk food by saying parents should control what their children eat.
Health Minister Tony Abbott seized on the difference of opinion to label Ms Roxon a political middleweight who was not taken seriously even among her own colleagues. "She has essentially been cast adrift by her own leader," he said.
Ms Roxon rejected the criticism last night and said Labor wanted to help empower parents to make healthy choices for their children.
On Monday, Ms Roxon said childhood obesity could be tackled by bans on the promotion of food to children, including the use of promotional toys. She said such promotions led children to pester parents to buy unhealthy foods.
'I could not believe that Shrek is used to sell everything from yoghurt to chocolate eggs to cheese crackers and I am sure there is another long list
that I have forgotten," Ms Roxon said.
But yesterday, Mr Rudd, visiting Adelaide, seemed indifferent to the proposal. He said Labor wanted to take practical steps against Type II diabetes, which is linked to childhood obesity.
"When it comes to the proposals which have been aired today, there is no silver bullet to fix the problem but you've got to be realistic about practical measures to deal with the obesity challenge," he said.
"Ultimately these are decisions for parents. I accept that, but the role of government is to do what you can in getting in behind to make sure that the best decisions are being made for kids."
The Australian sought clarification, asking Mr Rudd in writing whether he supported Ms Roxon's proposals on banning the use of movie characters to promote food.
He replied through a spokesman: "Mr Rudd and Ms Roxon both believe we should consider all practical options to reduce the impact of diabetes and childhood obesity on the long-term health of Australians."
Later, Mr Abbott questioned why the public should take Ms Roxon seriously. "It's plain Rudd doesn't take her seriously," he said.
Pupils poisoned by politics
By Bruce McDougall
EDUCATION chiefs fear thousands of school children are in danger of having their minds poisoned by "political" activity in the classroom.
The Daily Telegraph has learned that principals have received a strong warning not to allow their schools to be infiltrated by controversial political issues.
A written memorandum issued by a senior education officer tells primary and secondary school heads: "Schools are not places for recruiting into partisan groups."
Is this happening at your child's school? Share your thoughts via the feedback form below.
The memo sent by Hunter/Central Coast regional director John Mather says "issues" for schools had arisen during the state election in March.
Referring to the federal poll due later this year, Mr Mather warned principals: "Schools are neutral grounds for rational discourse and objective study. They are not arenas for opposing political views or ideologies.
"Discussion of controversial issues is acceptable only when it clearly serves the educative purpose and is consistent with curriculum objectives.
"Such discussion is not intended to advance the interest of any group, political or otherwise."
The reminder to principals follows accusations in November last year that schools allowed children as young as five to distribute "political propaganda" against the Howard Government's controversial WorkChoices laws.
Parents were outraged and one school principal was "counselled" by the Department of Education for breaching guidelines on political material.
As the latest warning was sent out to principals, bemused parents yesterday criticised a bizarre turf war between the state and federal governments over access to schools.
Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop was refused permission by NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca to meet up to 71 principals on the Central Coast.
Ms Bishop said yesterday it was the first time anywhere in Australia she had not been allowed to see public school heads.
"This was a petty attitude . . . we (the Commonwealth) provide $1 billion a year to NSW public schools," she said.
"I think the state Education Minister was frightened of what I might learn (from the principals)."
Opposition education spokesman Andrew Stoner claimed the Iemma Government had been caught "peddling politics in the playground".
But Mr Della Bosca's office said Ms Bishop had given just 24 hours' notice of the meeting planned for the first day of the new school term.
A request to visit Berkeley Vale Public School to make an announcement about chaplains had been approved, a spokesman said.
"Neither Ms Bishop, nor any other Federal Minister for that matter, has been banned from visiting public schools or meeting principals.
"Ms Bishop should know better than organising a forum for 71 principals on the first day back at school during school hours. Principals should be looking after their schools and supporting their teachers and students during school hours," the spokesman said.
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