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LY D © Te VEN? PARANOID ABOUT TELECOM? BANK SCAMS A Letter to the Editor appeared in our local paper recently. It was sent in by a local Independent candidate for the seat of Fairfax. He had queried his bank as to why his son's Austudy pay- ment was not shown on the statement six days after depositing it. To his amazement the bank advised that it was now policy of all banks not to credit any government cheques for at least seven days unless by prior special arrangement. A call to the Australian Banks Association to confirm or deny this policy resulted in a "no comment". Telecom is offering a new ser- vice called "Family & Friends" in which you can nominate five phone numbers (long distance or overseas) that will attract a sav- ing of 10%. The service costs $1 per month, and all you have to do is supply Telecom with the five STD phone numbers you ring the most. You can even include one ISD number among these. Is it just big brother keeping an eye on us, or is Telecom trying to save us money? (Source: Telecom brochure, 1992) NEW STUDY LINKS POWER LINES TO CANCER lion a week to the "ring”. Then on the other side of the fence, they don't credit any account with any government social security, Austudy, or pension payments for seven days, shoot it onto the money markets for six days, continuously rolling over, and this brings in about $1.6 million per day nett. A further call to the Federal Treasurer in Canberra for a "please explain" resulted in a record-like reply by one of the Treasurer's staff saying ... "Your comments have been noted, your comments have been noted, ... etc. etc." In now total disbelief, he phoned a friend and currency trader to see what light could be placed on the subject. His friend said it was the latest scam in banking circles to debit all accounts immediately and if they overdraw one cent, bounce and charge accordingly ... This sucks in about four to eight mil- The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technological Development is now convinced that radiation from power lines can cause childhood leukaemias. After evaluating two studies examin- ing the possible links, the board is con- vinced that action such as banning new housing in exposed zones is necessary. One of these studies involved researching the effects of Electro- Magnetic radiation in the work place, while the other researched the effects of living in houses under or near, over- head power lines. (Source: New Scientist, 31/10/92) I guess it is just what we have come to expect from banks, isn't it? (Source: Letter to the Editor, sent by M. Burnett, Independent candidate for Fairfax, published in the Sunshine Coast Daily, 11/11/92). IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK Honey ! WHAT YOU THINK SLEEPING PILL TURNS POLICEMAN INTO KILLER? An American jury found last week that the sleeping pill Halcion (triazo- lam) was partially responsible for turn- ing a former assistant police chief into a murderer. This was apparently the first case in which a jury blamed the side-effects of Halcion for violent behaviour. Although Halcion has been banned from the UK market for over a year, the FDA still considers it safe and effec- tive. 6¢NEXUS (Source: New Scientist, 21/11/92) FEBRUARY-MARCH ‘93