N.Korean Security Turns to Sexual Abuse, Seduction

Chosun Ilbo, 16 March 2010

North Korean security agents specialize in torture techniques using needles, water and electric shocks, but recently, sexual abuse is said to have become the preferred interrogation tool.

Robert Park, a missionary released by Pyongyang last month after crossing the border on Christmas Eve, was severely beaten and sexually abused during his detention, according to his close associates. Park, 28, who was released after 43 days in detention has received psychiatric treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was severely beaten by North Korean border guards just after crossing over the border. After being transferred to Pyongyang, Park was then tortured by security agents. The sexual abuse was probably intended to break his will and exact a fabricated apology.

Read rest of article here

Thai PM rejects protest ultimatum

BBC News, 15 March 2010

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has appeared on national television to reject a demand from demonstrators that he resign by midday and call elections.

As he spoke, tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside the army barracks where he was holed up.

The rally, led by red-shirt supporters of ousted ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, was one of the largest in recent years.

The protests have been peaceful but two soldiers were hurt when grenades exploded inside another army base.

An army spokesman said the grenades appeared to have been fired into the compound, but said it was not clear who was responsible.

Early in the day, crowds of demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Battalion barracks in the north of the Thai capital.The protesters have now begun returning from the barracks to their base camp around Government House. Red-shirt leaders said they would meet to discuss their next move.

Some 50,000 soldiers and police have been deployed in Bangkok, and several thousand extra soldiers were sent to the barracks to reinforce security.

Flanked by ministers and coalition allies, Mr Abhisit appeared on national television as the protesters’ deadline for him to step down passed.

Read rest of article here

Thousands of protesters gather in Bangkok, seek elections

Reuters, 14 March 2010

Thousands of protesters gathered in Bangkok today and planned to give Thailand’s military-backed government an ultimatum: either call elections or face more pro-democracy demonstrations over the coming week.

About 80,000 red-shirted supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a military coup in 2006, arrived yesterday, many traveling in pick-up trucks, motorcycles or vans from northern provinces, carrying red flags and blaring music about democracy and freedom.

Thousands more were expected today, including hundreds who boarded boats in nearby Ayuddhutthya province.

Investors are worried about violence, and about the government being distracted when it should be concentrating on nurturing the economy as it recovers from a brief recession.

But Thailand is still benefiting from investment funds flowing into Southeast Asia and foreigners have snapped up US$500 million (RM1.7 billion) of Thai stocks so far this year, much of it this month. The stock market rose 1 percent on Friday.

The protesters plan to maintain pressure on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve 

parliament and call an election Thaksin’s allies would be well placed to win, or face more protests over a 20 km radius of their main protest site on Ratchadamnoen Road in the heart of Bangkok.

“It is expected to get up to over 100,000 people today,” Thawil Pliensri, secretary general of the National Security Council, told Reuters. Protest leaders say they already had drawn hundreds of thousands to Bangkok as of Saturday night.

“The security forces are on highest alert. The situation remains normal and we expect it to remain so today,” he added. “But it may get more volatile after a few days as the protest leaders step up their measures and people are tired and frustrated. We have to make sure there is no damage.”

“We are here to ask for justice and for rule of law to be applied to all,” one protest leader, Weng Torirajkan, told supporters who responded with loud cheers.

“Since the government cannot do it because it’s too busy serving the elite, we ask that it step out and call fresh elections so we have a government that represents the whole country, a government that represents us.”

About 40,000 soldiers and police have been mobilised.

The protests add a new chapter to a seemingly intractable political conflict pitting the military, the urban elite and royalists, who wear the revered king’s traditional colour of yellow at protests, against the mainly rural Thaksin supporters.

The protesters say the Oxford-educated Abhisit came to power illegitimately, heading a coalition cobbled together by the military after a pro-Thaksin party leading the previous coalition government was dissolved by the courts.

The “red shirts” chafe at what they say is an “unelected elite” preventing allies of twice-elected Thaksin from returning to power through a vote. Adding to their anger, Thailand’s top court seized $1.4 billion of his assets last month, saying it was accrued through abuse of power.

On Saturday, a Reuters photographer counted thousands of pickup trucks streaming into Bangkok along a main road from Thaksin’s strongholds in the north and northeast of the country. Police briefly stopped them and searched for weapons.

Thousands had gathered on Ratchadamnoen Road, a central Bangkok thoroughfare leading to the bridge that will be the main site for today’s rally.

Armed guards stood at many banks and state buildings after government warnings of potential sabotage, including bombings.

In 2008, a rival group sought to topple a Thaksin-allied government by seizing Government House for three months and shutting Bangkok’s two main airports for eight days, damaging the tourist sector and dealing a blow to investor confidence.

The UDD insist they will not use the same tactics.

Roberto Herrera-Lim, an analyst at Eurasia Group, said the “red shirts” recognised violence would be counter-productive and were now intent on building up public support for what they present as a pro-democracy movement.

“Whether the ‘red shirts’ will accomplish anything at all depends on the numbers that they can muster,” he said.

Thaksin fled Thailand in 2008 to escape a two-year sentence for graft. Woravat said he was in Dubai, now his main base, but would be flying to Europe soon to meet up with his daughters.

Government House, which includes Abhisit’s office, has been cordoned off. The authorities have closed several other roads to prevent protesters from besieging government buildings. — Reuters

4500 new affordable rental properties for Victoria

From The Age

 

DEWI COOKE

 

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi urges response to ‘unjust’ law

AFP, 11 March 2010

Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday called on Myanmar’s people to give a united response to an “unjust” election law, her lawyer Nyan Win told AFP.

“The people and political forces have to respond united to such an unjust law,” Suu Kyi said, according to Nyan Win, after he visited the democracy icon at her house. “She didn’t think such a repressive law would come out.”

Under new election legislation Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi faces exclusion from her own National League for Democracy (NLD) party and is not allowed to stand in elections this year on the grounds that she is a serving prisoner. – AFP

Tourists told to avoid weekend protests in Bangkok

Associated Press, 11 March 2010

Tourists in the Thai capital should brace for more traffic than usual and avoid sites near anti-government protests this weekend that authorities fear could turn violent, the government spokesman said Wednesday.

More than 30,000 security officials will be deployed around Bangkok and 46,000 “civilian defense volunteers” are on standby for rallies scheduled to start Friday and run several days, said the government spokesman, Panitan Wattanayagorn.

Supporters of ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup, have called for a “million man march” to begin nationwide Friday and converge in the capital Sunday, where they plan to possibly remain several days.

Authorities estimate the turnout will be tens of thousands. On Tuesday, the government invoked its Internal Security Act, a law that gives the military special powers to restore order if necessary. It cited intelligence reports about plans to instigate violence at the rallies.

“We have confidence that we can manage to get through this situation peacefully,” Panitan told a news conference attended by police, military and Bangkok city officials. “But due to the large number of demonstrators planning to come we have concerns.”

Tourists and foreigners are not targets of the protesters, who are calling for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and pave the way for fresh elections.

Popular tourist attractions the Grand Palace and backpacker street Khao San Road are “areas of concern” because of their proximity to the main protest site, said Bangkok Metropolitan Authority spokesman Thanom Onkeppol. Protesters plan to gather at an open field near the Grand Palace, and spread around the area.

Tourists should avoid the areas “if that’s possible,” said Panitan, adding that more than 50,000 tourists pass through the Thai capital every day.

Some two dozen foreign embassies have issued advisories, including the United States which urged Americans to stay away from the protests where “violence cannot be ruled out.”

Protest leaders from the pro-Thaksin movement, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatoriship have repeatedly said they will gather peacefully and accuse the government of hyping security concerns to make them look bad.

Authorities fear a repeat of April 2009 when tens of thousands of Thaksin supporters paralyzed major Bangkok intersections and sparked violence that killed two and injured more than 120 people.

Thailand has been gripped by a political crisis and sometimes violent protests since 2006, when Thaksin was ousted for alleged corruption and abuse of power. In 2008, when a pro-Thaksin administration was in power, anti-Thaksin activists seized Bangkok’s two airports and stranded thousands of tourists.

Bangkok’s international Suvarnabhumi Airport has a contingency plan in case of emergency, an airport statement said Wednesday. International passengers were advised to get to the airport three to four hours before their flights depart. – AP

Beijing rejects political reform calls but rhetoric softens

Associated Press, 10 March 2010

The top lawmaker on the mainland rejected calls to open up the communist political system to reform on Tuesday, but his milder rhetoric indicated confidence among the authorities that a crackdown on dissent has been effective.

Beijing will stick to the “socialist path of political development with Chinese characteristics,” Wu Bangguo told the nearly 3,000 National People’s Congress delegates gathered in Beijing for their annual full session.

While such statements are routine in speeches to the legislature, the tone varies depending on how threatened the government feels by its critics.

Wu, the ruling Communist Party’s second highest ranking official, used much more strident language last year, when the party was beating back a bold call for sweeping political reform known as Charter 08, which drew considerable attention among intellectuals and on the internet. On that occasion, Wu spoke at length about the unique suitability of the political system, declaring: “We will never simply copy the system of Western countries.”

More than one year later, Charter 08’s most illustrious signatory, Liu Xiaobo, is in prison serving an 11-year sentence for incitement to subvert state power. Others who signed have been threatened and intimidated into silence, along with activists for religious and ethnic minority rights.

The apparent success of the harsh response has left the leadership secure enough to tone down the tough rhetoric, which many better educated and cosmopolitan people find alienating.

“They feel they’ve conveyed the message,” said Michael C Davis, a law professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Davis said he also saw in the toned-down rhetoric a realisation that audiences at home and abroad were growing less receptive to the party’s more aggressive approach to political and economic disputes.

“The leadership had the sense that people didn’t understand them and had to drive home the message, but there’s now a certain weariness of this message,” Davis said.

Since sending troops to crush 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, leaders have shown zero tolerance towards political dissent, while pursuing sweeping economic reforms that have brought thriving growth but exacerbated social inequalities.

In his address, Wu said legislative priorities this year would focus on improving social security and fostering more equitable economic development.

Uneven economic growth, skyrocketing home prices, limited and expensive medical care, and sparse pension plans have provoked widespread discontent and raised huge concerns about social stability.

Elsewhere in his address, Wu said delegates would put the final touches on a draft social security law and make adjustments to the legal system to “dispel the people’s worries and better maintain social harmony and stability.”

“China is in an important period of strategic opportunities for its economic and social development as well as a period of serious social problems, and its tasks for promotion reform, development, and stability are arduous and formidable,” he said.

The social security law broadly aims to establish a safety net of pension, health care and unemployment benefits, provide free primary and secondary education, and assist the migration of rural residents to cities.

Wu also said the congress backed efforts to accelerate economic and social development in Tibet, Xinjiang and other ethnic minority areas. – AP

News from Down Under: Job ads, mood on the rise

• Fleur Leyden
• From: Herald Sun
• March 10, 2010 12:00AM

The latest National Australia Bank survey suggests businesses shrugged off the Reserve Bank’s last three rate hikes – with confidence now back where it was in November, its strongest level since May 2002.

Business conditions also picked up in February, buoyed by improved trading and profits.

News of the upbeat mood came as the latest job advertisement survey from ANZ revealed the number of positions advertised in newspapers and on the internet notched up their biggest gain on record with an almost 20 per cent surge last month.

The strength of the data took most economists by surprise and kept the Australian dollar near US91 and close to a seven-week high.

Economists said the consistently good local news was keeping the upward pressure on official interest rates, which sit at 4 per cent.

However JP Morgan chief economist Stephen Walters said the RBA could still hold fire next month, particularly if economic news from overseas was less favourable.

“It’s very clear that interest rates are going to be quite a bit higher in a year’s time but does that mean they have to do it in the next four weeks? I don’t think we can make that judgment yet,” he told BusinessDaily.

“The RBA held fire in February – despite all the evidence that things were pretty firm.

“That was because of some of the stuff that was happening in Greece and the slowdown in China and some of the US data looked pretty awful back then.”

The next important test for Australia’s economy arrives today with the release of consumer confidence figures.

These will be followed tomorrow by official job figures from the Bureau of Statistics.

The labour market was looking healthy yesterday with the ANZ survey showing job advertisements are now just 2.3 per cent lower than last February.

ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said the unemployment rate was likely to keep falling but noted that almost one third of Australian jobs are now part time and the total number of hours being worked across the economy remains about the same as this time last year.

“This indicates a significant degree of spare capacity … still exists among current employees in terms of their potential to increase work hours,” said Mr Hogan.

“Given the recent stellar performance of the labour market and the positive nature of current forward indicators of labour demand, we expect Australia can achieve 30,000 net new jobs this month (keeping unemployment stable at 5.3 per cent).”

NAB chief economist Alan Oster said yesterday that the unemployment rate could moderate to about 4.75 per cent by the end of 2010 and fall as low as 4.25 per cent by late 2011.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/job-ads-mood-on-the-rise/story-e6frfh4f-1225838897757

官员财产申报，“水”到后“渠”将成

News.com.cn, 6 March 2010

３月５日，第十一届全国人民代表大会第三次会议在北京人民大会堂开幕。国务院总理温家宝作政府工作报告。 深圳特区报特派记者 许业周 摄

　　改革收入分配制度：

　　打击取缔非法收入

　　规范灰色收入

　　报告提出，要改革收入分配制度。

　　温家宝 (Wen Jiabao) 表示，我们不仅要通过发展经济，把社会财富这个“蛋糕”做大，也要通过合理的收入分配制度把“蛋糕”分好。一要抓紧制定调整国民收入分配格局的政策措施，逐步提高居民收入在国民收入分配中的比重，提高劳动报酬在初次分配中的比重。加大财政、税收在收入初次分配和再分配中的调节作用。创造条件让更多群众拥有财产性收入。二要深化垄断行业收入分配制度改革。完善对垄断行业工资总额和工资水平的双重调控政策。严格规范国有企业、金融机构经营管理人员特别是高管的收入，完善监管办法。三要进一步规范收入分配秩序。坚决打击取缔非法收入，规范灰色收入，逐步形成公开透明、公正合理的收入分配秩序，坚决扭转收入差距扩大的趋势。

　　就业政策：

　　中央财政拟投入

　　433亿元用于促进就业

　　报告提出，要千方百计扩大就业。

　　温家宝说，今年就业形势依然严峻，工作上不能有丝毫松懈。要继续实施积极的就业政策。中央财政拟投入４３３亿元用于促进就业。重点做好高校毕业生、农民工、就业困难人员就业和退伍转业军人就业安置工作。２００９年到期的“五缓四减三补贴”就业扶持政策延长一年。加强政策支持和就业指导，鼓励高校毕业生到城乡基层、中西部地区和中小企业就业；拓宽就业、择业、创业渠道，鼓励自主创业、自谋职业等多种形式的灵活就业，以创业带动就业。建立健全公共投资带动就业的机制。继续加强职业技能培训，重点提高农民工和城乡新增劳动力的就业能力。完善就业服务体系，健全劳动力输出输入地区协调协作机制，引导劳动力特别是农民工有序流动。维护劳动者合法权益，构建和谐的劳动关系。

　　社会保障体系：

　　企业退休人员基本养老金

　　今年再提高10%

　　报告提出，要加快构建更加完善的社会保障安全网，使人民生活有基本保障、无后顾之忧。

　　温家宝说，要加快完善覆盖城乡居民的社会保障体系。扎实推进新型农村社会养老保险试点，试点范围扩大到２３％的县。加快解决未参保集体企业退休人员基本养老保障等遗留问题。将全国１３０万“老工伤”人员全部纳入工伤保险范围。积极推进农民工参加社会保险。加强残疾人社会保障和服务体系建设，进一步落实好扶残助残的各项政策，为他们平等参与社会生活创造更好的环境。企业退休人员基本养老金今年再提高１０％。

　　温家宝说，各级政府要进一步增加社会保障投入，中央财政拟安排３１８５亿元。

　　政府工作体会：

　　充分发挥

　　集中力量办大事的优势

　　报告指出，一年来，我们认真贯彻落实科学发展观，积极应对国际金融危机，全面做好政府工作，有以下几点体会：必须坚持运用市场机制和宏观调控两种手段，在坚持市场经济改革方向、发挥市场配置资源基础性作用、激发市场活力的同时，充分发挥我国社会主义制度决策高效、组织有力、集中力量办大事的优势。必须坚持处理好短期和长期两方面关系，注重远近结合、标本兼治，既克服短期困难、解决突出矛盾，又加强重点领域和薄弱环节、为长远发展奠定基础。必须坚持发展经济与改善民生、维护社会公平正义的内在统一，围绕改善民生谋发展，把改善民生作为经济发展的出发点、落脚点和持久动力，着眼维护公平正义，让全体人民共享改革发展成果，促进社会和谐稳定。必须坚持发挥中央和地方两个积极性，既强调统一思想、顾全大局，又鼓励因地制宜、探索创新，形成共克时艰的强大合力。

　　要把查处大案要案作为反腐重要任务

　　报告提出，要努力建设人民满意的服务型政府。

　　政府工作与人民的期望还有较大差距

　　温家宝说，一年来，政府自身改革和建设取得新进展。为应对各种困难，我们特别注意发扬民主、倾听基层群众意见，重视维护群众利益。广大公务员兢兢业业、勤勉尽责，为保增长、保民生、保稳定作出了积极贡献。但是政府工作与人民的期望还有较大差距。职能转变不到位，对微观经济干预过多，社会管理和公共服务比较薄弱；一些工作人员依法行政意识不强；一些领导干部脱离群众、脱离实际，形式主义、官僚主义严重；一些领域腐败现象易发多发。

　　温家宝表示，要以转变职能为核心，深化行政管理体制改革，大力推进服务型政府建设，努力为各类市场主体创造公平的发展环境，为人民群众提供良好的公共服务，维护社会公平正义。

　　温家宝说，要全面正确履行政府职能，更加重视公共服务和社会管理。加快健全覆盖全民的公共服务体系，全面增强基本公共服务能力。健全重大自然灾害、突发公共安全事件应急处理机制。加强防灾减灾能力建设。加强食品药品质量监管，做好安全生产工作，遏制重特大事故发生。

　　绝不允许各地区各部门各自为政

　　温家宝表示，要适应新形势，推进社会管理体制改革和创新，合理调节社会利益关系。认真解决企业改制、征地拆迁、环境保护、劳动争议、涉法涉诉等领域损害群众利益的突出问题，保障人民群众的合法权益。加强和改进信访工作。改善流动人口管理和服务。加强社会治安综合治理，着力解决突出治安问题，防范和依法严厉打击各类违法犯罪活动，维护国家安全和社会稳定。

　　温家宝说，要努力提高执行力和公信力。坚持决策的科学化、民主化，使各项政策更加符合实际、经得起检验。加强对政策执行情况的检查监督，做到令行禁止。强化行政问责，对失职渎职、不作为和乱作为的，要严肃追究责任。各地区、各部门对中央的决策部署要执行有力，绝不允许各自为政。各级行政机关及其公务员要自觉遵守宪法和法律，严格依法行政。切实改进行政执法工作，努力做到规范执法、公正执法、文明执法。加快建立健全决策、执行、监督相互制约又相互协调的行政运行机制。

　　充分发挥新闻舆论的监督作用，让权力在阳光下运行

　　温家宝强调，要把反腐倡廉建设摆在重要位置。各级领导干部特别是高级干部要坚决执行中央关于报告个人经济和财产，包括收入、住房、投资，以及配偶子女从业等重大事项的规定，并自觉接受纪检部门的监督。要把查处违法违纪大案要案，作为反腐败的重要任务。充分发挥监察、审计部门的作用，加强对行政权力运行的监督。要建立健全惩治和预防腐败体系的各项制度，特别要健全公共资源配置、公共资产交易、公共产品生产等领域的管理制度，增强制度约束力。要坚持勤俭行政，反对铺张浪费，不断降低行政成本。严格控制楼堂馆所建设，禁止高档装修办公楼，加快公务接待、公车使用等制度改革，从严控制公费出国出境。切实精简会议和文件，特别要减少那些形式重于内容的会议、庆典和论坛。要深入推进政务公开，完善各类公开办事制度和行政复议制度，创造条件让人民批评政府、监督政府，同时充分发挥新闻舆论的监督作用，让权力在阳光下运行。

　　温家宝指出，我们所做的一切都是要让人民生活得更加幸福、更有尊严，让社会更加公正、更加和谐。

　　户籍制度改革：

　　放宽中小城市和小城镇落户条件

　　农民工与城镇居民要享有同等待遇

　　报告提出，今年要加大统筹城乡发展力度，强化农业农村发展基础。要按照统筹城乡发展的要求，坚持把解决好“三农”问题作为全部工作的重中之重，进一步强化强农惠农政策，协调推进工业化、城镇化和农业农村现代化，巩固和发展农业农村好形势。

　　要促进农业稳定发展和农民持续增收。继续实施对种粮农民直接补贴，增加农资综合补贴、良种补贴、农机具购置补贴，中央财政拟安排补贴资金１３３５亿元，比上年增加６０．４亿元。进一步提高粮食最低收购价，早籼稻、中晚籼稻、粳稻每斤分别提高３分、５分和１毛钱，小麦每斤提高３分钱。

　　要统筹推进城镇化和新农村建设。着力提高城镇综合承载能力，发挥城市对农村的辐射带动作用，促进城镇化和新农村建设良性互动。壮大县域经济，大力加强县城和中心镇基础设施和环境建设，引导非农产业和农村人口有序向小城镇集聚，鼓励返乡农民工就地创业。城乡建设都要坚持最严格的耕地保护制度和最严格的节约用地制度，切实保护农民合法权益。推进户籍制度改革，放宽中小城市和小城镇落户条件。有计划有步骤地解决好农民工在城镇的就业和生活问题，逐步实现农民工在劳动报酬、子女就学、公共卫生、住房租购以及社会保障方面与城镇居民享有同等待遇。进一步增加农村生产生活设施建设投入，启动新一轮农村电网改造，扩大农村沼气建设规模，今年再解决６０００万农村人口的安全饮水问题，实施农村清洁工程，改善农村生产生活条件。我们要让符合条件的农业转移人口逐步变为城镇居民，也要让农民有一个幸福生活的美好家园。

　　教育政策：

　　推进高等学校招生制度改革

　　报告提出，今年要全面实施科教兴国战略。

　　要优先发展教育事业。抓紧启动实施国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要。着重抓好五个方面：一是推进教育改革。要对办学体制、教学内容、教育方法、评价制度等进行系统改革。坚持育人为本，大力推进素质教育。探索适应不同类型教育和人才成长的学校管理体制和办学模式，提高办学和人才培养水平。二是促进义务教育均衡发展。在合理布局的基础上，加快推进中西部地区初中校舍改造和全国中小学校舍安全工程，尽快使所有学校的校舍、设备和师资达到规定标准。加强学前教育和特殊教育学校建设。加大对少数民族和民族地区教育的支持。三是继续加强职业教育。改进教学方式，着力培养学生的就业创业能力。四是推进高等学校管理体制和招生制度改革。进一步落实高等学校办学自主权，鼓励高等学校适应就业和经济社会发展需要，调整专业和课程设置，推动高等学校人才培养、科技创新和学术发展紧密结合。五是加强教师队伍建设。从多方面采取措施，吸引优秀人才投身教育事业，鼓励他们终身从教。鼓励优秀教师到农村贫困地区从教。加强师德教育，增强教师的责任感和使命感。

　　医疗卫生政策：

　　控制医疗费用改善医患关系

　　报告提出，要加快推进医药卫生事业改革发展。积极稳妥推进医药卫生体制改革，全面落实五项重点工作。继续扩大基本医疗保障覆盖面。

　　温家宝说，今年要把城镇居民基本医保和新农合的财政补助标准提高到１２０元，比上年增长５０％，并适当提高个人缴费标准。开展农村儿童白血病、先天性心脏病医疗保障试点，尽力为这些不幸的儿童和家庭提供更多帮助。在６０％政府举办的基层医疗卫生机构实施基本药物制度，其他医疗机构也要优先选用基本药物。推进基本药物集中采购和统一配送。基本完成城乡基层医疗卫生机构建设规划，大规模开展适宜人才培养和培训。进一步完善支持村卫生室建设和乡村医生发展的政策措施。完善基层医疗卫生机构补偿机制，落实岗位绩效工资。开展社区首诊试点，推动形成基层医疗卫生机构和医院功能区分合理、协作配合、互相转诊的服务体系。切实加强甲型Ｈ１Ｎ１流感等重大传染病防控和慢性病、职业病、地方病防治，提高突发公共卫生事件应急处置能力。

　　温家宝说，要开展公立医院改革试点，坚持基本医疗的公益性方向，创新体制机制，充分调动医务人员积极性，提高服务质量，控制医疗费用，改善医患关系。

　　温家宝强调，医药卫生事业改革发展关系人民身体健康和家庭幸福，我们要克服一切困难，把这个世界性难题解决好。

　　军队建设：

　　积极稳妥深化国防和军队改革

　　报告提出，新的一年，要紧紧围绕党和国家工作大局，着眼全面履行新世纪新阶段军队历史使命，按照革命化现代化正规化相统一的原则，加强军队全面建设。

　　温家宝说，过去一年，国防和军队现代化建设取得新的成就。人民解放军和武警部队圆满完成国庆首都阅兵、重点地区维稳等重大任务，为维护国家安全和发展利益发挥了重要作用。

　　温家宝说，今年要以增强打赢信息化条件下局部战争能力为核心，提高应对多种安全威胁、完成多样化军事任务的能力。大力加强军队思想政治建设。加快全面建设现代后勤步伐。加强国防科研和武器装备建设。积极稳妥地深化国防和军队改革。加强武警部队现代化建设。

　　外交政策：

　　积极参与国际体系变革进程

　　报告指出，中国将始终高举和平、发展、合作旗帜，坚持独立自主的和平外交政策，坚持走和平发展道路，奉行互利共赢的开放战略，推动建设持久和平、共同繁荣的和谐世界。

　　温家宝说，我们积极开展全方位外交，与各大国、周边国家和广大发展中国家的对话合作稳步推进。大力加强人文等领域外交。有效维护我国公民和法人在海外的合法权益。

　　温家宝说，新的一年，我们将继续以２０国集团金融峰会等重大多边活动为主要平台，积极参与国际体系变革进程，维护发展中国家利益。统筹协调好双边外交与多边外交、国别区域外交与各领域外交工作，推动我国与各大国、周边国家和发展中国家的关系全面深入发展。进一步做好应对气候变化、能源资源合作等方面的对外工作，在妥善解决热点问题和全球性问题中发挥建设性作用。

　　两岸关系：

　　巩固政治基础 增强政治互信

　　报告提出，在新的一年里，我们要继续坚持发展两岸关系、促进祖国和平统一的大政方针，牢牢把握两岸关系和平发展的主题，不断开创两岸关系和平发展新局面。

　　温家宝说，过去的一年，两岸关系在新的历史起点上取得重要进展，呈现和平发展良好势头。两岸交流合作不断深入，全面直接双向“三通”得以实现。

　　温家宝表示，在新的一年里，要密切两岸经贸金融交往，深化产业合作，支持在大陆的台资企业发展，维护台胞合法权益。鼓励有条件的大陆企业赴台投资。支持海峡西岸经济区在两岸交流合作中发挥先行先试作用。通过商签两岸经济合作框架协议，促进互利共赢，建立具有两岸特色的经济合作机制。加强两岸民众和社会各界交流，共同分享两岸关系和平发展成果，进一步凝聚推动两岸关系和平发展的共识。坚持大陆和台湾同属一个中国，巩固两岸关系和平发展的政治基础，增强两岸政治互信。

　　港澳政策：

　　深化粤港澳合作密切经济联系

　　报告提出，将坚定不移地贯彻“一国两制”、“港人治港”、“澳人治澳”、高度自治的方针，全力支持香港、澳门保持长期繁荣稳定。支持香港巩固并提升国际金融、贸易、航运中心地位，发展优势产业，培育新的经济增长点。支持澳门发展旅游休闲产业，促进经济适度多元化。

　　温家宝说，要认真实施珠江三角洲地区改革发展规划纲要，积极推进港珠澳大桥等大型跨境基础设施建设和珠海横琴岛开发，深化粤港澳合作，密切内地与港澳的经济联系。

　　温家宝说，伟大祖国永远是香港、澳门的坚强后盾。只要特别行政区政府与各界人士同心协力，包容共济，共同维护繁荣稳定发展的大局，香港、澳门的明天一定会更加美好。

　　民族政策：

　　优先支持边疆民族地区加快发展

　　报告提出，要巩固和发展平等、团结、互助、和谐的社会主义民族关系。

　　温家宝说，要认真落实中央支持少数民族和民族地区发展的政策措施，优先支持边疆民族地区加快发展。加快完成边境一线地区危旧房改造，实施游牧民定居工程。加大扶持人口较少民族发展力度。继续推进兴边富民行动。重视保护少数民族文化遗产和民族地区生态环境。切实做好少数民族流动人口公共服务、就业和管理工作，保障他们的合法权益。同时，加强国家意识、公民意识教育。

　　温家宝强调，要旗帜鲜明地反对民族分裂，维护祖国统一，让少数民族和民族地区各族群众充分感受到祖国大家庭的温暖。

Source: http://news.china.com.cn/rollnews/2010-03/06/content_904692.htm

Perfect spin is so elusive

Perfect spin is so elusive

• Andrew Bolt
• From: Herald Sun
• March 05, 2010 12:00AM

 POOR Peta Duke. If she hadn’t somehow typed the ABC’s address on the email she’d actually meant for her boss, she’d be a hero.

“You’ve done it again, girl!” Planning Minister Justin Madden would probably have chortled.

“Your plan will do the trick.” With emphasis on the word “trick” – as in one more deceit by those pea-and-thimble shysters you now elect in these spin-spin days.

You know the kind of thing – stacking committees to produce the “right result”, fudging surveys to prompt the longed-for answer, and launching sham inquiries to give your crusading politicians exactly the dodgy conclusion they always wanted.

But, alas. Duke, eyes no doubt whirling from another frantic day of spinning in the Brumby Government’s media unit, last week accidentally emailed her plans for the Government’s latest “trick” to the ABC, and now must pay the price for being caught doing precisely what she’s paid to do.

Denounced by the suddenly moral Premier, John Brumby, and the suddenly outraged Madden, she was “demoted” to doing, er, what she always does.

Paid to spin, and now “punished” as spin, by a minister whose other new title – “Minister for Respect” – is pure spin, too, to trick Indians into thinking this Government is cracking down on racist thugs.

It’s a circus, folks.

You’ve no doubt heard about Duke’s precise “crime” – drawing up a document titled “Minister for Planning Justin Madden’s Media Plan” to help her man rig the blocking of a proposed redevelopment of the heritage-listed Windsor Hotel.

The problem, she wrote, was that the “Windsor Advisory Committee report is expected to recommend that development go ahead”.

The solution: “Strategy at this stage is to release it for public comment, as this affects the entire community, and then use those responses as reason to halt it, as we have listened to community views.”

Well, listened to only the “community views” they were sure they could incite.

The Government has since tut-tutted that Duke’s email was something it neither wanted or endorsed, being “not professional” and filled with “speculative language”. Heavens, they would never do anything so cynical.

But they do, and many of you – I’m afraid to say – keep falling for it.

Want some examples?

Right from the very start of this Labor Government, we got exactly the kind of rigged public consultation Duke proposed a decade later.

Remember the Government’s plans then to give us five “safe” injecting rooms for the addicts it falsely claimed would otherwise die by the hundreds?

It appointed a committee of experts under Prof David Penington who – surprise! – already agreed with the Government’s mad scheme, and who commissioned a survey that claimed that two-thirds of residents in the five lucky druggie-packed municipalities agreed, too.

Except, of course, the Government never released the survey questions that prompted this highly unlikely support, and it soon dropped the whole idea when it became only too obvious that the public was in fact furiously against it.

Later came the Government’s even more reckless spinning over our water supplies. Maniacally opposed to building the dam that fast-growing Melbourne clearly needed, it appointed just the kind of committee that would say it was damn right, too.

This 2003 committee on Melbourne’s water resources was stacked with “experts” sure to share the Government’s green ideology – dam-buster Tim Fischer of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Mary Crooks of the Victorian Women’s Trust (yes! really!) and a spokesman for the Victorian Council of Social Service.

And the Government got the echo it wanted – a committee that called dams “unacceptable”, suggested “exploring the drought response strategies adopted by indigenous people”, and pooh-poohed even a desalination plant (which Labor then opposed), saying we’d be right until 2050 if we just used a lot less water.

Wrong, insane and wrong. Three strikes, but is the Government out for fiddling such a trick?

But here I am criticising the apprentice for the sins of the master.

If you want a real lesson in salt-the-mine spin, look no further than your Prime Minister.

YOU’D think Kevin Rudd actually set the bar with the trick he pulled with the bill of human rights that is Labor policy – a bill that lets Leftist judges bring in the laws that Leftist politicians can’t get through parliament.

He stacked a committee, led by Jesuit Frank Brennan, and had it do “public consultations” of the kind that were sure to be dominated by the very activists who’d back Labor.

And, indeed, Brennan’s committee found that 87.4 per cent of the 35,014 submissions it got agreed – goodness, yes – we did need the human rights act the Rudd Government wanted.

Which would make you think every sane person backed this idea, right?

Ahem: consult now the survey Brennan unguardedly commissioned, that found that whatever Rudd, his committee and their consulted experts thought, two-thirds of Australians were sure their rights were already protected just fine, thanks. Not that this mere detail stopped the committee from telling Rudd his plan was just peachy.

Yet Rudd trumped even that effort, and anything John Brumby could dream up, with his 2020 Ideas Summit.

Remember that farce of two years ago? Rudd invited 1000 of our “best and brightest” – actually almost all tame Leftists, including 118 members of the GetUp group alone – to give the Government a plan for our future.

This was meant to show you that all Australians, or at least the smart ones, agreed with Rudd. Indeed, delegate Sam Mostyn even boasted: “We do represent the whole community.”

And – like magic – these 1000 “best and brightest” almost unanimously agreed that so many of Labor’s policies were fabulous, whether it was fighting “global warming”, giving us that bill of rights, creating one-stop childcare centres, reviewing the tax system or assembling fresh armies of bureaucrats.

Not one person at Rudd’s summit was a declared climate sceptic. Most tellingly, only one even objected to the summit’s call for a republic, even though the latest Galaxy poll shows fewer than half of the rest of us want such a thing.

BRILLIANT spinning. Fabulous, and better than anything Peta Duke could suggest to our Minister for Respect – yet I’d still have expected voters to have learned by now to see through such flagrant fakery.

But, no. There you lot go again, falling for the latest trick of these watch-my-hand slyboots – of appearing sorry for having stuffed up what they’d once pretended to fix.

There was Rudd last week, in strife and suddenly admitting his Government deserved a “whacking” because “we haven’t been up to the mark so far”.

And there, almost within hours, were Brumby and South Australian Premier Mike Rann playing the very same trick to turn scorn into sympathy by putting the con in contrition.

“We’ve been not delivering as well as I would have hoped,” sighed Brumby.

 

“We haven’t communicated our message well enough,” cried Rann.

What a great trick, but to have three leaders play it at once forces me to ask young Duke a hard question.

Peta, you didn’t muck up your emails again, did you – sending to Rudd and Rann advice meant only for Brumby.

 

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/perfect-spin-is-so-elusive/story-e6frfhqf-1225837126876

Next Page »