This speech from YouTube is also recently an embedded broadcast on Brasscheck TV for the month of April 2012. In this speech Kennedy explains why he welcomes scrutiny of his decisions and engaging in debate about them. He famously praised the ancient Athenian legislator Solon who stated that avoiding controversy should be considered a crime.

See also: Citizens for truth on the Kennedy Assassination (http://ctka.net), the YouTube channel of Charles Ochelli, the Blind JFK researcher, James Corbett's interview with Charles Ochelli, Humanity's debt to JFK of 19 Nov 11, Why won't the "left" thank JFK for preventing nuclear war? of 23 Nov 11, Noam Chomsky, phony American dissident of 26 May 2009.

Examples of recent disinformation against JFK include: Morbid JFK: Assassination Will Protect My Legacy in The Hibernia Times - "Ireland's Internet Newspaper" of 7 May 2012, JFK - The Mother of all Conspiracies, a 10 minute discussion with David Birchall on ABC Radio National's Counterpoint of 28 Nov 12, Disinformation amidst an otherwise mostly commendable speechof 4 May 12.

As with much other history of modern and earlier times, accepted conventional mainstream histories don't properly explain the Second World War, although a growing number of alternative historians have in recent decades provided better explanations. Unless lessons of that and other conflicts are properly understood, it is likely that a new global war, fought with weapons vastly more advanced and terrible than those used to kill 60 million from 1939 to 1945, may make that barbarity seem civilised.

Subject changed from: A groundbreaking history of the Second World War. This article originated as a post in response to a review by Roger Moorhouse in the The Independent.

Next Tuesday 22 November is the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The whole world is indebted to JFK more than to any other single individual in history for preserving the peace and, on no less than three occasions, preventing global nuclear holocaust. This was originally posted in response to an article Armistice Day of 18 November on johnquiggin.com.

See also: The YouTube channel of Charles Ochelli, the Blind JFK researcher, James Corbett's interview with Charles Ochelli.

Most objections to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Carbon Tax are founded on the apparent belief that it is possible for human society to continue its wasteful consumption of non-renewable natural resources and destruction of our natural environment without posing any risk to the life support system which exists in this tiny corner of a Universe, mostly barren of life.

However, compared to what can be done and what must be done if human civilisation is to hope to further endure for a period which even remotely approaches the 32,000 years since our ancestors left evidence of intelligence probably equaling our own in the in the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave of the Ardèche department of southern France, the proposed Carbon Tax is a joke in extremely poor taste.

This article was adapted from a comment I made in response to A long time coming … an article by Professor John Quiggin written on 13 October. It has yet to draw a response there. If any visitors to candobetter.net decide that this article is more worthy of a response than visitors to johnquiggin.com have so far indicated, comments, whether critical or supportive, are most welcome.

This blog entry consists of a comment I posted to johnquiggin.com, which, I have been advised, more than eight hours after I posted it, is still "awaiting moderation" and as, appendices other comments on that page related to that comment. A number of other comments including one (#16), which is critical of an earlier post of mine have been published since.

To vote on this campaign go to http://tinyurl.com/3nmwwjq . Yesterday, I made a proposal on GetUp that GetUp launch a campaign to have the Australian constitution changed to include provisions for Direct Democracy similar to what is practised in Switzerland. Whilst the response has not yet been overwhelming, I see no reason why a campaign for Direct Democracy now in Australia should not be able to gain sufficient support to force the Government make it law. But to succeed the campaign needs your support. To find out what you can do, please read this article and the previous article, particularly, that article's What You Can Do Section.

You can help bring Direct Democracy to Australia. To vote on this campaign go to http://tinyurl.com/3nmwwjq

John Marlowe first wrote an article about Direct Democracy late last year on 17 November 2010, the same day as an excellent episode of Rear Vision about Direct Democracy was first broadcast. Today, I made a suggestion to GetUp that they conduct a campaign for the Australian constitution to be changed to include Direct Democracy as it is currently practised in Switzerland. It is easy for anyone who agrees with the aims of GetUp to join in order to vote for my proposal. What you can do.

Transcript of press conference, Canberra, Tue 24 May 11

Transcript of press conference, Canberra, Tue 31 May 11

Media release on the death of Osama bin Laden, Mon 2 May 11

See also: My submission to the Human Rights Consultation on National Security with links to my submission to the National Human Rights Consultation and the concerning page from which the submission is linked.

When I recently re-read my article
Murdoch media contradicts itself on immigration of 18 Feb 09, I found that the articles in the Murdoch Press I had cited and linked to from that article were no longer available on-line. If publishers are not prepared to preserve copies of documents published on the Internet, then why should others be prevented from doing so by the copyright laws?

On 18 May 2009 a site visitor objected to the controversy surrounding 9/11 being raised on this web-site.

As that site visitor is considered an authority on the question of petroleum and other fossil fuels and is moderator of the Australian Yahoo Group Running on Empty, Oz (roeoz) concerned with Peak Oil, I would have thought he would have been interested to know that many authoritative people don't accept the version of events used to justify the wars that have ravaged much of the oil-rich regions of the world.

Population Growth over Human History at http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/human_pop/human_pop.html.

It shows, amongst other concerning information that for nearly all of human history, the global human population has been well under 500 million.

Our supposedly steadily increasing per-capita Gross Domestic Product GDP figures are the basis of politicians' claims that their policies, including "free market" "reforms" and population growth, have increased our prosperity. An example is a graph by the Australian Bureau of Statistics which purportedly shows that average income has increased $10,000 in real terms in the ten years to 2008. In fact, the use of the GDP in this way is contrary to the intentions of its originator Simon Kuznets (pictured). Many Australians must wonder why, if their prosperity has increased so much in only 10 years, at least two incomes, instead of only one income, are necessary for most families.

See also: Living standards and our material prosperity of 6 Sep 07 and comments, What is Australia's population "carrying capacity"? of 31 Dec 10.

The world owes President John F Kennedy, who was slain by the US military-industrial complex on 22 November 1963, an unrepayable debt of gratitude for stopping not once, but three times, the unthinkable horror of global nuclear war. He also prevented an invasion of Cuba, and did what he could to prevent the Vietnam War. Those unfamilar with JFK's achievements and plans, which were thwarted by his murder, must see Oliver Stone's JFK.

Activism at Universities has declined as a direct result of 'reforms' to Australia's tertiary sector since the ousting of the Whitlam Government in 1975. Ordinary Australians have suffered considerably as Governments have been able to far more easily impose unpopular policies, harmful to their interests. (Adapted from article originally posted on 21 December.)

On this year's ABC Radio National Boyer Lectures, the main barrow that featured speaker Professor Glynn Davis pushed is that Australian Universities should be greatly expanded to take in a vastly increased number of overseas students prepared to pay money for their education. He claimed that this is necessary, because Australians are unwilling to pay the taxes necessary to fully fund their Universities. This presumes that allowing hundreds of thousands of overseas students to buy education, and through that, Australian citizenship, comes at no cost to ordinary Australians. In fact, there is a cost which is far greater.

If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed by other articles, please add your comments here.

Comments on this page have were closed on 25 Mar 11. If you wish to make a comment, please do so on the current Miscellaneous Comments Page.

If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed by other articles, please add your comments here.

In spite of much having been done by Prime Minister Julia Gillard that we should be rightly critical of, I still hold hope that there may be an outside chance that a person who has risen to the political top in her country, may have greatness and a streak of decency in her. Knowledge of past history, particularly that of the United States shows that a corrupt elite don't, on every occasion, succeed in corrupting those who rise to the top of their country's political system.

Dear site visitor,

Candobetter was off-line since some time before 7.00PM until roughly 10:00PM on Sunday 24 October. My apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you, I hope this unfortunate experience doesn't slow down too much the greater interest that candobetter has enjoyed in recent weeks.

Please keep up your visits and feel most welcome to contribute your ideas to our discussions.

If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed by other articles, please add your comments here.

Reporting of Federal Parliament this morning was dominated with claims by Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey that the Budget is about to return to deficit and counter-claims by the Government that it is not. The far more serious deficit, which got no mention, is the deficit to humanity's natural capital, caused by the consumption of non-renewable natural resources and the destruction of our natural environment, without which the global "economic recovery", in particular China's, would not be possible.

The Bendigo Advertiser has embarked on a campaign the object of which is to destroy a colony of bats in the city. Please make your objections know to the further destruction of Australian wildlife known by e-mailing the editor of the Bendigo Advertiser at. cos[AT]bendigoadvertiser.com.au  For a positive film about bats see Gracie the Flying Fox and her Friend Julia Buch on you tube.

As of from 15 September 2010 candobetter.org began to allow some advertising links. You may find our reasons for doing so a little unusual.

If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed by other articles, please add your comments here. Note that you need to go to the bottom of the page and click to go to the 'last' entry since the system won't take you there automatically.

Previous Miscellaneous Comments page of 4 May 2010 at 1.

Upon the election of an Abbott Liberal Government it is almost guaranteed that Tony Abbott will 'discover' the national finances to be in a far worse state than he now claims he believes them to be.

Consider the precedent where, because of the so-called "Beazley Black hole" Howard assumed, in 1996, a right to massively cut social spending, never knowingly given to him by Australian electors.

Update and mainstream press online comment opportunityLeader Newspaper 2 August coverage of Protest March to Alistair Harkness's office, Frankston Demonstrators walked from Shannon Mall to ALP member, Alistair Harkness's office. The reason for demonstrating was to highlight the failure to defend nature by our Victorian Government, which Alistair Harkness represents in Frankston. This demonstration was related to the violent destruction of Westerfield Bushlands and of democracy in this connection. (See this article.)

In spite of the fact that 79% of the Queensland public oppose privatisation, 66% would support industrial action to stop the Bligh Government's $15 billion fire sale and many union members have expressed a willingness to strike, the Queensland unions have failed to take the only action that could possibly cause the Queensland Government to change its mind.

See also: Queensland Not For Sale - the Qld Council of Union's anti-privatisation web site, Railing against privatisation by Daniel Hurst in the SMH of 29 Apr 10, Paul Lucas heckled at Labour Day march in Brisbane, as PM talks up super changes of 3 May 10, ETU raises white flag in fight against Queensland fire sale - Why? of 30 Apr 10.

On Saturday 10 April, at a Brisbane anti-privatisation forum held by Search Foundation, the Secretary of the Queensland branch of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), an avowedly hard-line anti-privatisation union, revealed his view that the fight against the Bligh Government's fire sale was lost.

What you can do: If you are a member of a union affected by privatisation, particularly a member of the ETU, contact your union and demand that meetings be called so that this question be decided democratically by the membership. See also: "If the unions get off their knees, privatisation can be stopped!" of 4 May 10, Queensland Not For Sale - the Qld Council of Union's anti-privatisation web site, "Time for the B team" of 11 Apr 10 on johnquiggin.com and "Explaining Bligh’s privatisation push: Search Foundation forum" also of 11 Apr 10 on larvatusprodeo.net.

Updates, 2 May 10: Branch secretary claims ETU misrepresented by article and my response and a further response by Tony Reeves; Motion carried unanimously by meeting of AMWU members in Redbank Railway workshops in June 2009 calling for industrial action to defeat privatisation.

US Republican Congressman and past Presidential contender, Ron Paul opposes a bill to impose sanctions against Iran. In his speech he describes how exactly the same bogus justifications were used for the imposition of sanctions against Iraq. Rather than satisfying the demands of the warmongers wielding power in the US at the time, they only paved the way for the subsequent illegal invasion.

Article includes editorial comments "And what if, contrary all to the known evidence, Iran was found to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program?" and "Wouldn't a US invasion bring democracy to Iran?" and contains embedded YouTube broadcast "Beneath the hype: Is Iran close to nukes?" featuring retired CIA analyst, Ray McGovern. This was first published on Information Clearing House on 23 Apr 10. Please donate to ICH to help them continue their vital work.

In response to the overwhelming rejection by residents of plans to erect a massive 31 story residential and commercial tower atop the Milton Railway Station, Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe has declared the project to be of state interest and "called-in" the development approval proces so that the normal legal avenues can be bypassed. However, Concerned Residents Against Milton's Excessive Development are determined to stand up to Hinchliffe and have called a public meeting to protest his decision.

What you can do: Please show your support for the embattled residents of Milton by attending the meeting at 6.30PM, next Thursday at the Milton State School, Vote against the use of call-in powers on Westside News's online poll. More information: Ph 0404 833057, 0408 101117, enquiries[AT]cramed.org, cramed.org.

See also: Mitchelton residents resist imposition of congestion nightmare of 16 Apr 10, Have your say: Tussle over Milton tower project in the Westside News of 14 Apr 10, ...