Auspol headlines Thursday 22 June 2017

Good morning/day/evening to you it's time to do a wrap up of the latest Auspol headlines...so relax with a cuppa and here we go:

Australian Press Council head David Weisbrot resigns amid GetUp! Bruhaha: Australian Press Council chairman David Weisbrot has bowed to pressure from the LNP and the rightwing Murdoch dominated Main Stream Media and resigned from the media watchdog in the wake of the appointment of a GetUp! Activist, Carla McGrath, to the independent council.
In his resignation letter, part of which was released in the APC statement, Professor Weisbrot said his heart was "simply no longer in the job" after weeks of sustained attack, blaming a campaign of "misinformation" over Carla McGrath's appointment and "persistent personal attacks" for his decision.
Professor Weisbrot's resignation comes almost a month after the decision to appoint Ms McGrath was announced. Critics of the decision to appoint Ms McGrath to the Australian Press Council had called for Ms McGrath to resign.   Opponents to Ms McGrath included independent senator Nick Xenophon, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield and his Labor his counterpart, Michelle Rowland, and the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, which had originally voted for Ms McGrath before reversing position following its members' outrage. Link

Pauline Hanson who loves to vilify minorities, attacks autistic children: Demonstrating a clear and wanton disregard for children with autism, Pauline Hanson said that autistic children should be removed from mainstream classrooms as teachers were wasting too much time on them. Link

AGL says renewables will provide new “base load” not coal: It appears that only the LNP and their RW corporate cronies think that “coal is amazing”, and one day after PM Turnbull spruiking the positives of a new coal plant, AGL Energy CEO, Andy Vesey has delivered a couple of energy market home truths and clarifications: renewables will be the only source of new baseload energy in Australia, and coal cannot compete. Link

Corrupt as muck: Brandis slammed by Senate inquiry into Bell Group conduct: Attorney-General George Brandis has been accused of trying to limit the independence of the Solicitor-General. A Labor and Greens led Senate inquiry was investigating the extent to which the Attorney-General's involvement in the bid to get back close to $1 Billion from the late Alan Bond's failed Bell Group of companies following allegations that a secret deal was struck between the Commonwealth and the WA Government to allow the states to take precedence in the carve up of company assets. Link

And a Geopol warning for unwary travelers: Tourist sentenced to 15 years hard labor in a North Korean prison for stealing a propaganda poster, dies 6 days after getting home: At a time when American-North Korean relations are strained comes the death of Otto Warmbier. This story is a parents worst nightmare, Otto Warmbier allegedly stole a propaganda poster as a souvenir and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour, seventeen months later and he is dead, having been sent home unable to walk, talk, see or react. North Korea says that Otto took a sleeping pill and fell into a coma, US doctors disagree with that explanation of the death but cannot pinpoint what caused him to die. US Senator John McCain used stronger language in reaction to Warmbier's death. This story should also serve as a warning to those going overseas, be prepared and check out the local customs and laws before you travel. Link

And that's today's headlines, thanks for reading!