Miscellaneous comments from 10 Jan 2015

Sat, 2015-01-10 18:16 by admin
Comments made on the previous Miscellaneous comments page from 30 Nov 2014 can be found . 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 in other articles, please add your comments . Comments on this page are now closed. Further comments can be posted . - Ed (21/2/15)

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Sheila Newman

Sat, 2015-01-10 22:31

Reproducing your comment here because we have opened a new page for comments which unfortunately renders previous comments unanswerable (drupal software problem if you are interested and maybe can figure out a solution). My response to your question of 'why assume the shot was a hit?' is because the French news reported that he was shot point-blank and killed whilst lying on the ground and trying to shield himself, and that is what it looks like. Did you hear differently? I agree that one must take such things with big grains of salt and my own analysis does not depend on details, which can be subject to many interpretations, but it still seems wierd. Sheila N Denis's comment reproduced below: Why assume it shot was a hit? I'm skeptical of everything the media reads too. I don't know enough about the details as to what happened. You can see some kind of ground debris or impact. When I saw the video Thursday, my initial though was simply that the shot missed. Also the fact that they spoke French doesn't mean much. It isn't unusual. Paris has lots and lots and lots of non-Europeans who speak French well. Here is a four year old firing an AK-47. Even then, recoil is minimal, especially if it is a smaller calibre AK-47, which can also explain the lack of blood and ". I won't rule out that it is a false flag, anything is possible, but I don't consider this strong enough to call it one yet. ISIS have called for war on the West. There have been many previous examples of aggression. Certainly, there would be a desire to overplay events (as the "terror arrests" last year in Sydney demonstrated), and use events to further agendas, but I think that the state only has to wait for these events to occur, then capitalise on them. With so many ISIS fighters returning to Europe, they won't have to wait long.

DennisK (not verified)

Mon, 2015-01-12 09:38

That was my thought after seeing the video, but it was a hit. I don't think it means it was blanks. If you have the stomach for it, you can see other execution videos where there are "clean" shots and match this video. It's not always watermelons. While not a ballistics experts myself, there seems to be enough information to suggest that the lack of blood, or violent ejection, could be due to use of smaller calibre weapons. Full metal jacket ammunution can pass quite cleanly. There are other videos which show similar deaths. This doesnt prove, or disprove a false flag, and I won't make any claim that it is or isn't, yet. But I personally will wait for more evidence before I model my view of the events and their meaning on it being a flase flag. I dont think this event is that improbable.

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2015-02-03 07:56

AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY-: Whatever will benefit Australia - that we are for; whatever will harm Australia - that we are against. William Lane PRESS RELEASE Recipients Of The Prime Native Australian Australia Day Award 2015 Announced THE ORDER OF THE TOAD [Candobetter.net editor advises those interested to go to the site and seek the details of the award there.] AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY Identity - Freedom - Independence P O Box 223 Croydon 3136. National Contact Line 02 8587 0014 email: ausfirst [AT] hotmail.com AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY - RECLAIMING AUSTRALIA FOR AUSTRALIANS The Protocol for The Order Of The Toad SALUTATION In addressing a recipient of this Native Australian Award, “Toad” replaces the common usage of Mr/Mrs, or any other norm of address, such as those relating to profession, status, position or office. The salutation “Toad” should be used in both verbal and written communication as an acknowledgement of the personage of the recipient. Toad Award salutation surpasses accreditation attributes of any other Australian award. In personal conversation, when addressing a recipient as “Toad“, the inclusion of a Christian or first name in the appellation is not required. “Toad” is consummate. In a personal greeting, particularly when in company, the addressing of an award holder with the salutation “Toad”, should be as a loud voiced shout, as a full acknowledgement and recognition of the character of the recipient. In written communication, it is not considered appropriate to use the letters OT [Order of the Toad], following the name of a person issued the award, This is a norm for certain bourgeois awards, but for Toads, such is considered likely to decrease community regard for same, and is therefore unsuitable. “Toad” at the start of the appellation address fully completes the protocol requirement. The appellation “Toad” continues in usage not only whilst the recipient remains on our Native Soil, but also elsewhere. after either voluntary departure, or deportation under an Australia First Citizens’ Community Order. It is a lifelong accolade.

Dennis K

Tue, 2015-01-13 21:25

We need to do a lot more thinking, and take a far more critical look at ourselves, than we do at present. We’re not even playing it safe, we’re only playing it easy. And that’s just not enough. The marches in Paris and numerous other cities today were attended by people who mean well, but who should ask themselves if they want to be part of what was predictably turned into a propaganda event by ‘world leaders’. One thing is for sure; the murdered Charlie Hebdo staff would not have approved of it. The leaders hark back to usual suspect slogans like we defend ‘Liberty’, ‘Freedom of Expression’ and ‘Our Values’. But we can’t turn our backs on the fact that ‘our values’ these days include torture and other fine ‘tactics’ that make people in other parts of the world turn their backs on us. We might want – need – to march to express our feelings about torture executed in our name, as much as to express our horror at cartoonists we never heard of being the target of automatic weapons. There are major armed conflicts going on in 6 different Arab countries, and ‘we’ play a part in all of them. We get up in the morning and prepare to march against violence in our own streets, but we should perhaps – also – protest the violence committed in our name on other people’s streets just as much. We may feel innocent as we’re marching, but that’s simply because we refuse to look at ourselves in the mirror. And we must be able to do better than that. Both to be the best we can be (which is still a valid goal), and to prevent future attacks.

admin

Wed, 2015-01-14 01:44

The following, without the embedded YouTube video, was -250659">posted to a forum discussion on the Queensland elections on

The choice facing Queenslanders on 31 January is grim. The least worst of the likely outcomes would be for the removal of the Newman government, and the election to government of the same Labor Party which, without any electoral mandate, after winning office in 2009.

It seems likely that a sizable number of small party and independent candidates will also be voted into Parliament. We can hope that a sizable portion of this group are not in the pockets of the corporations.

The choice on offer to Greek voters, when they vote 6 days earlier on Sunday 25 January is much clearer. On the one hand they have a government which is resolved to continue to inflict the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) dictates of savage austerity on them. On the other, there is the opposition SYRIZA Party led by the 40 year old Alexis Tsipras. Tsipras is resolved to tell the IMF and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to butt out of Greek affairs. Below is a link to a 2:46 length video of a rally of the Greek SYRIZA Party and part of a speech by Alexis Tsipras:

The most recent opinion polls indicate that not only is SYRIZA may win an outright majority.

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Wed, 2015-01-14 14:43

Any extra money gleaned from the privatisation of Queensland’s assets above the expected $37 billion in proceeds will be split between paying down more debt and building new projects, Premier Campbell Newman has pledged.

They aim to reduce debt by $25 billion and save $150,000 a day on Labor’s interest payments and we will be able to spend at least $8.6 billion on infrastructure that creates jobs in Queensland.

So, the Government must sell State owned assets to pay debt, and build new assets. What happens when the State's jewels are all sold off? Surely running a business or household this recklessly would lead to ruin? When assets are privatized, it inevitably leads to increasing costs for the public, and it means less jobs for locals.

Premier Campbell Newman and his Liberal National Party stress that under their “strong economic management”, 1100 new jobs are being created every month and Queensland is on track to become the fastest growing state economy in Australia". Gross Domestic Income (GDI per-capita in Queensland) has decreased by 1% between June 2013 and June 2014. This is the second largest decline in the entire country. Queensland currently has the equal highest unemployment rate in the country (6.9%), matched only by Tasmania, even though this is only a few decimal points higher than the Australian average (6.3%).

Senior infrastructure planners believe the region of SouthEast Queensland will require 480,000 houses above the already projected 750,000 to built by 2040 to accommodate the influx. That means sacrificing State forests, pineapple farms, canefields and sensitive coastal zones for more housing!

‐ includes a 1:52 video featuring Bernard Salt.

Surely the government should hire some economic and planning experts to reassess their economic model, and a benefits/cost analysis done. What they have now is surely not sustainable. It may not be expedient to "grow" the economy without a blueprint, and a strategic plan for what they ultimately aim for. It's a dog chase tail exercise, of continually trying to create more jobs, raising money for infrastructure to pay for growth, and having to sell of more assets. When will we be "there", and arrived?

It makes no sense to "grow" when there's debt. If populations were stabilized, there might be a chance of enhancing what exists rather than keep spending and spending on infrastructure to fix congestion etc.

Vivienne Ortega

Wed, 2015-01-14 09:24

Former Immigration Minister "stopped the boats" and increased "border protection" but as Social Services Minister, his new department contacted housing advocacy groups and other community services providers before Christmas to inform them their funding had been cut and contracts with the Commonwealth would be discontinued. While the public were making ready for the Festive Season, and distracted from political meanderings, the Federal Government sneakingly and callously cut funding to housing programs in an effort to make more budget savings before Christmas. Several leading peak housing bodies shocked by the timing of the announcement! Instead of good cheer, and magnanimity, the Abbott government slashed funding to the most vulnerable and powerless people- the homeless and those on low incomes. Community Housing Federation Australia's executive director Carol Croce said the organisation was told yesterday its funding contract had been rescinded and would be ceased in June 2015, a year earlier than planned. It's a stab in the back for not-for-profit organisations working on already over-stretched budgets, and the homeless will be cut free from our economy. The government has previously warned it could satisfy just $800 million of the $3.9 billion in grants requested by the sector. Australia's housing affordability crisis continues, and any price rises are celebrated as a sign of our economy's advancement. The victims are to be ignored and discarded from this real estate Ponzi pyramid scheme, without any compensation or recognition. The Government is also cutting $241 million disability groups and financial counselling services. It seems that the Abbott government's neo-liberal agenda, of favouring the economy's advancement over the welfare of the incumbents, is in full force! Third world conditions, and a polarization of wealth, can be "good" for minimal social services spending, and "economic growth" at the detriment of the masses!

ProtectOurOceans (not verified)

Thu, 2015-01-15 12:01

Government accused in failing to act against illegal Southern Ocean toothfish trade. Instead of assisting Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and New Zealand, our ocean patrolling vessel, Ocean Shield, is on absence without leave in dock!

The Ship was promised to be in action for two 40 day patrols in the Southern Oceans, but they are AWOL!

New Zealand Defence Force on Tuesday said it had surprised a third unlicensed fishing boat, far south-east of Tasmania, hauling up the high-priced fish known as "white gold", or the flesh of the giant Patagonian and Antarctic Toothfish.

Sea Shepherd's boat, the Bob Barker, has been chasing the illegal vessel, Thunder, from Antarctic waters to Africa, while the Australian vessel is out of service, in dock at Christmas Island.

In contrast to Australia's efforts, NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully said so far three ships had been intercepted by the offshore patrol ship, HMNZS Wellington. Sea Shepherd skipper Peter Hammarstedt called on New Zealand to arrest the ships.

(13/1/2014)

In 2007, most illegal toothfish vessels expanded their use of gillnet fishing methods, which are outlawed under CCAMLR regulations. Gillnets pose many threats. They are more effective than longlines, the level of incidental bycatch from gillnets is greater and lost or abandoned gillnets have the potential to continue to incur marine life mortality through ‘ghost fishing’. Controlling interests are linked to a handful of Spanish-based fishing outfits, the most notorious of which is Vidal Armadores.

Bandicoot

Thu, 2015-01-15 17:18

Despite heavy lobbying and scientific evidence to the contrary, our new Victorian government has caved into the shooting and gun lobby by announcing a duck shooting season this year!
Waterbird breeding levels are the lowest on record. 'Game bird' numbers are nearly half the long-term average. Birds coming from the north where there's drought won't find peace and quiet, but will be threatened by potentially 20,000 licensed shooters, some as young as 12!
Wetlands are at drought-like lows and experts predict a hotter and drier summer than usual.
There'll be no reprieve or safety for native waterbirds.
Today, it is accepted by professionals and scientists alike that mistreating animals is not an isolated behaviour but part of a constellation of antisocial behaviours. Despite record crime rates on the streets and in domestic settings, our government is failing to end the violence towards gentle native waterbirds, and instead will celebrate it. How can human to human violence be counteracted if it's encouraged towards so-called "protected" native birds?

YouTube: Lay down you guns, by Daniel Gregory

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Fri, 2015-01-16 13:06

In recent weeks, European security services received indications of an ominous possibility: that ISIS may have started directing European extremists in Syria and Iraq to launch terrorist attacks back in their home countries, the Belgian counter-terrorism official said. Two suspects were killed and one injured on 15 January after an anti-terror raid by Belgian police who acted to prevent "imminent, large-scale attacks," two officials from the Belgian state prosecutor office said. Police stormed the suspects' hideout only to be met by bullets fired from small and assault weapons. But unlike the Paris terrorists, who attacked the office of a satirical newspaper and a kosher grocery store, the suspects in Belgium were reportedly aiming at hard targets: police installations. Read more: Belgium, which has long been home to a large Muslim population, is believed to have the highest proportion of citizens who have left to fight in the Middle East - even more than Britain and France. Muslims are about 6% of the population and are comprised mostly of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants, as well as a growing number of converts to Islam. They began arriving in Belgium in the 1960s as guest workers. Although the guest-worker program was cancelled in 1974, many immigrants stayed and, using family-reunification laws, brought over their families. There's nothing more permanent than a temporary worker! Human overpopulation, globalisation, high fertility levels due to religious preferences, and the loosening of sovereignty and borders means that cultures, religions, politics, laws and ideals are clashing more and more, lethally, and increasingly threatening the host countries where migrants have settled. The hand that showed hospitality and put out the Welcome Mat is now being bitten, and the hosts even killed! Security agencies in several European countries were intensely investigating several groups of returnees from Syria and Iraq, the official said, including the group that authorities confronted in Belgium.

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Mon, 2015-01-19 06:41

In late December, British energy giant BG Group sent the first ever shipment of liquefied natural gas from Australia's east coast, using gas from the state's booming coal seam gas industry. It will mean a dramatic increase how much households pay for gas used for hot water, cooking, or heating.

Not only was it the first time that CSG has been converted into LNG, the exportable form of gas. More importantly for consumers, it was the first time gas has been exported from the east coast of Australia

Globalization of Australia's natural resource should bring greater revenues, income and prosperity, but this will not happen. The public will share the high international prices set by international mining companies!

Origin Energy and Santos this year also hope to start pumping cargo loads full of the stuff, to be sold to buyers across China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and other Asian nations.

We are effectively allowing multinational gas exporters to displace our manufacturing sector. The gas industry employs fewer than 25,000 people across Australia. That’s less than one third of 1 per cent of the Australian workforce. Coal mining companies are typically multinational; for example, Glencore-Xstrata (the two companies merged in May 2013) is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock markets. Further, many of the companies have regional subsidiaries.

From 2015 gas reserves on the east coast would be opened to export with no regulation in place to ensure reliable and affordable gas remains available for domestic industry. A handful of multinational oil and gas companies will control the vast majority of gas reserves with ” unrestricted rights” to export it, and that industry and households would be ” forced to pay higher costs". With no limitations on exports of Australian gas, local manufacturers cannot secure long term contracts for gas, and what gas is available is increasing in price by up to 200 per cent.

A report by the Grattan Institute's Tony Wood last year estimated the average Melbourne household gas bill would jump $300 a year because of the changes over the next few years, while the average Sydney bill would rise by more than $100. How are jobs and households meant to absorb these cost burdens at a time of increasing economic hardships, budget constraints, unemployment and now unaffordable power? Surely cooking, manufacturing and heating are part of our pay of life as a developed nation?

There's a conspiracy theory that Australia is to be dismantled, piece by piece, as a global mining resource and deconstructed as a nation. It will just be a warehouse of housing and consumers as a captive business resource.

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Mon, 2015-01-19 16:24

The Commsec survey ranks economies on the extent to which their current performance exceeds their decade-long averages on eight indicators, including economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, construction work done and population growth. This is a banking business using their own performance indicators to give an assessment of Australia's States, in economic term. So, State "performance" is based on aspects of each that suits their own coffers, lending trends and profits. Economic growth is dubious, as it can be stimulated by disaster such as floods, bushfires and drought. It's a raw measure of how much money is circulating and changing hands. Housing and population growth are measured as economic pluses, and there's no measurement of quality of life, of housing stress, homelessness, crime rates, unemployment and non-tangibles that usually are more pertinent for the residents. NSW sharing the top honour with the Northern Territory, pushing Western Australia from second into third place as its mining construction boom fades. "NSW is on top because population has been growing in recent years and now home construction is responding to the shortage of accommodation," said CommSec chief economist Craig James. What "shortage" of accommodation? Housing is a guaranteed basic of life, and population growth is a sure guarantee of demand! Victoria has the strongest population growth of any state but is ranked sixth on economic growth and seventh on equipment investment. Victoria's surging population is propping up housing growth. So, without population growth propping up the housing Ponzi pyramid, Victoria would fall into an abyss of recession! Our city must keep seeing more generic high density concrete apartments and endless suburban sprawl to keep the housing growth continuing as long as possible. Population growth is being used to camouflage a flawed and weak economy. Infrastructure demands keep dominating our budgets, and there's no ultimate aim for our governments, and they keep swinging from one party to the next. We may as well pay people to dig up holes and fill them again. At least this dead end activity would not inflate the infrastructure deficit, add to house prices, clog up our roads and add to unemployment!

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-01-24 08:39

Candobetter.net Editor: Introduction to this comment.
Dear Anonymous,

We think that if the Australian Government announced that it was going to cease its misadventures in the Middle East, overnight such demonstrations and also threats of terrorism would begin to diminish. Overnight the stream of refugees and economic immigrants would cease. It is our governments which are generating these streams. When we talk about the violence in some of these diasporas we are looking at a mirror of the violence we generate in their own countries.

Thank you for making this comment. We don't censor comments but, since this comment touches on our foreign policy, Middle Eastern political position, and free press position, we will comment on this comment. Perhaps we will make an article out of this response as well. We are a bit flat to the boards at the moment, so this may be the only response. Sorry if it is a bit patchy, but it is important.

Much of what you report gives cause for anxiety, particularly the numerical demographics. However we believe there are more obvious but rarely spoken answers to these problems than come to mind in your comment.

Our first position must be to criticise the Australian government for its foreign policy which has been causing, in conjunction with NATO, increasing dispossession, conflict and the rise of militant sectarian identification in countries where most of our Middle Eastern immigrants come from.

We should also be aware that people who acted on behalf of the West in their countries, often of necessity betraying their own people, thence become likely refugees and immigrants, with a prior connection to the Western governments and corporations which may carry obligations to them. Since the West is increasingly supporting extremely religious rebels to act as leaders in 'revolutions', what kind of refugees and immigrants might we expect in future? The West was happy to accept and even to give new identities to high profile Nazis after the war because they thought they would be good agents against communism. We trust our governments at our peril. We must look beyond their express sentiments to their actual activities. Power corrupts so we cannot afford to take it on face value. Our 'free press' reports these face values because it has vested interests in maintaining their fictions.

We need to understand the history of those countries, which was were tribal and functional with relatively well drawn local territories before the end of the 19th century, when Britain, America, France and other European forces began to raid their mineral wealth on an industrial scale and dispossess and disturb their populations, by bribing or replacing their tribal leaders.

We should be criticising our government because it is supporting devastating military and economic interference in the countries where Muslim refugees and economic immigrants are coming from. The populations, having adapted with difficulty somewhat after the oil-shock of the early 1970s, through OPEC, have, through the assassination and bribing of their leaders again, been impoverished, fragmented, divided, conquered and brutalised. It is no wonder that many are becoming, with reason, completely adverse to the West. It is our government and its friends in NATO and the US which is the cause of any terrorist diaspora, flowing both ways.

As long as we continue to push into Islamic territory we will get this reaction. It seems likely that if we withdraw, local support for extreme religion will die down. At the moment it is probably one of few organising forces within the chaos. Local Mullahs are the only form of civil government which can organise practically in many cases and people rely on local militia, like Hezbollah, for survival.

In Iran, which was once dominated by extreme religious law, things have calmed as the state has grown stronger. However, the West is menacing Iran. What do you think will happen if Iran is drawn into war or invaded by 'rebels' supported by the West? As the state breaks down, religious leaders rise up, like religious defaults to now absent not particularly religious tribes and clans.

The more the West interferes, the worse things get for women in the Middle East. One could point to Saudi Arabia as an exception - because it is a 'friend' of the West and, with Qatar, the most extremely perverted with regard to civil rights. But being a friend of the West has had the same disorganising effect: As well as brutalising their women and their poor, the Saudis are devastated by early deaths from diabetes. There has been a loss of variations in tribes and local traditions which more kindly regulated relations between the sexes and traditional diets which did not contain fast foods and regulated consumption of sugar.

There is a need to acquire geographical knowledge to distinguish the difference between Islamic countries in the Middle East. If we don't do this we unfairly damn the moderates - Tunisia, Algeria, Iran, ... and risk losing the one remaining secular Islamic country - Syria. Libya was also a secular country, now brought down to chaos and sectarian wars by US, Australian, NATO interference of the worst, illegal, assassinating kind. In once relatively peaceful Egypt, Yemen, similar sectarianism developed with Western support. Western (including Saudi) interests continue to ravage Bahrain.

-There is a need to look at the pressure we are placing on the Middle East with our illegal interventions. At the moment we are supporting the US bombing Syria and arming anti-Syrian Government forces, in direct opposition to the will of the people. The history of international trouble in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan is the same.

The evocation of Western Free Speech must seem ironic to those still trapped in the wars and central economic dictates that Australia is supporting in the Middle East. Our 'free' press only represents the pro-war, pro-interference, pro-pillaging of the East by the West. It never represents the other side, although sometimes it misrepresents it as if nations and tribes there were entirely motivated by religious mania. Apart from some saccharine pretense at supporting multiculturalism as a way of preventing interpersonal conflict in the receiving countries, our press promotes the idea that the Middle East is populated by religious nutcases, justifying turning the region into a kind of internationally patrolled asylum. It also subtly promotes foreigners to join 'rebel' militias to carry out terrorist acts and war in Muslim countries as if this were something just and romantic. By preserving ignorance about the histories of these countries, it perpetuates the failure to teach geography and history to our school children. Our press promotes sectarianism as a solution to conflict in the Middle East, there where people existed together without much reference to religious differences.

We think that if the Australian Government announced that it was going to cease its misadventures in the Middle East, overnight such demonstrations and also threats of terrorism would begin to diminish. Overnight the stream of refugees and economic immigrants would cease. It is our governments which are generating these streams. When we talk about the violence in some of these diasporas we are looking at a mirror of the violence we generate in their own countries.

And we should also take into account the numerous discrepancies in the recent terrorist attack in Australia, which was strongly suspect of being a false flag and in the , which contains hugely suspect elements suggestive of false flag. Both these acts of terrorism occurred in a context where the leaders of countries they happened in or their citizens, needed a reason to continue war in the East Europe and Middle East. In France President Hollande was going to drop sanctions against Russia and in Australia there may be a growing trend against supporting wars.

Unfortunately the motives not to cease warmongering lie in our economic growth paradigm and politics. We are participating in illegal wars because we have used up our supply of petroleum and we know that fracking and coal will only satisfy the growth machine for a very short time. The machine demands war. To be peaceful we have to let go of the growth paradigm, work less, produce less, share jobs, allow our populations to reduce and develop a truly conserver economy.

If our Press, which has long been a hostage of big money, were to become free, it would help us to reorganise by representing a realistically diverse, localised opinion here.

Original Comment of "Hundreds gather at a pro-Islam rally in Sydney.

Among the 800-strong crowd in the Sydney Muslim enclave of Lakemba, placards were held up with the slogan: "Je Suis Muslim" or "I am Muslim", evoking the same sentiment that became a touchstone for many in the wake of attacks in Paris. Their insecurities about their prophet and religion are rising to boiling point.

Western ideal of "freedom of speech" is a threat, for people who would rather live in silence and heavy control, despite choosing to live here!

Some say that "Freedom is the smokescreen with which Western politicians and media conceal the underlying issues. In reality free speech is one of the many political tools that are used to maintain dominance over the Muslims." Is it paranoia of exposure, a threat, in face of the contradiction of this ancient value system, way of life, in stark contrast to 21 century freedoms?

Hamzah Qureshi, a spokesman for the controversial group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which helped organise the event, questioned the prime minister's comments about "evil things done in the name of Islam" and the suggestion the event could incite violence.

Islam is not simply a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life.

As well as the religious component, also has legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard, or the flag, for all of the other components. It's a Trojan Horse, to hide their agendas. It's easy to hide behind a benign face, a "religion", when it's much more complex and malign.

When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well.

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:

United States -- Muslim 0..6%
Australia -- Muslim 1.5%
Canada -- Muslim 1.9%
China -- Muslim 1.8%
Italy -- Muslim 1.5%
Norway -- Muslim 1.8%

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in:

Denmark -- Muslim 2%
Germany -- Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%
Spain -- Muslim 4%
Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims.

They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:

France -- Muslim 8%
Philippines -- Muslims 5%
Sweden -- Muslim 5%

Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law.
The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:

Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

Bosnia -- Muslim 40%
Chad -- Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%

100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace.. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:

Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%
Somalia -- Muslim 100%
Yemen -- Muslim 100%

Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons. With well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia Law.

Muslims will exceed 50% of the world's population by the end of this century. High fertility levels, and immigration, serve this purpose.

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

The Sydney rally ended "peacefully" according to the police, despite 14 people removed for breaking the peace!

Dennis K

Sat, 2015-01-24 21:26

Christopher Hitchens Predicted Islamic State in 2005 at

Editorial comment: In the video,linked to above and embedded below, Christoper Hitchens criticises the United States for not invading Iraq after Iraq's land forces were defeated in Kuwait in the Gulf War of 1991!? The pretext for that war was that Iraq invaded Kuwait after having been that the United States would not object to Iraq taking military action against neighbouring Kuwait in reprisal for Kuwait's provocative 'slant-drilling' for oil beneath their common border.

Saddam Hussein, who had believed that he had the support of the United States for his rule over Iraq and for his which had only concluded in 1988, clearly had been set up by April Glaspie to provide the United States a pretext to wage war against Iraq and impose sanctions, lasting nearly two decades. This caused the .

Also, I have no knowledge of Iran ever having supported terrorism since the Shah was overthrown in 1979 as claimed by Hitchens. They have provided moral and material support to those resisting aggression by Israel including to the Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Syrian government, but I fail to see how that is 'supporting terrorism'.

I think stopping meddling in the Middle East may slow, slightly, the flow of refugees and emigrants, but it won't change much. It won't be a game changer.

The fact that Western countries will be preferable to Islamic countries will remain, even if we kept way out. Even if they kept all their resources. Even if we helped them.

The fact that Islam will continue to act as a political and cultural philosophy over and above religion will remain. The fact that Islam spread by force, pressure and submission will remain, and continue to remain. The western intervention seems more useful as an excuse for bad behaviour.

I don't think the situation would be different if there was no western involvement in middle eastern wars. There is no precedent to suggest it would be so.

Imagine a country like Saudi Arabia, with its massive natural wealth, and it still remain unfit for dignified human civilisation, with oppressive laws, stonings, beheadings and death sentences for blasphemy. Iraq, even before the first Gulf war, was a tyranny, it had to be so.

Europe is going to find out the hard way that 'tolerance' and 'sophistication' in the 20th century sense will count for nothing.

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Sun, 2015-01-25 13:34

Japan is determined not to give in to terrorism. Abe, speaking to public broadcaster NHK, said chances were high that a recording and an image of what appeared to be the decapitated body of Japanese captive Harman Yukawa. He demanded that Mr. Kenji Goto not be harmed and be immediately released. The government of Japan will, in its entirety, do its utmost in order to have him released.

Yukawa, 42, was seized by militants in August, after going to Syria in what he described as a plan to launch a security company. Goto, 47, a veteran war correspondent, went into Syria in late October seeking to secure Yukawa's release, according to friends and business associates.

The militant IS group gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a 72-hour deadline — which expired Friday — to pay a $200 million ransom for the two hostages. The jihadist group has murdered five Western hostages since August last year but this is the first time it has threatened Japanese captives.
Japan, a constitutionally pacifist country has steered clear of the armed entanglements of the US, Britain and other Western nations in the Middle East.

Sharia law covers public behavior, private behavior and private beliefs. Of all legal systems in the world today, Islam's Sharia law is the most intrusive and strict, especially against women. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Muhammad, has no legal code other than the Sharia, which is enforced without mercy.
It isn't that long ago that the US was supplying arms to ISIS and other rebel groups in , and pouring scorn on Assad's description of insurgents in Syria as "terrorists".

The moral compass that lets us live relatively happy and peaceful lives in our own countries should be the same compass that we use in our diplomacy and activities around the world. What's needed is a rise of nationalism, and sovereignty. Globalisation and foreign invasions, greed for power and resources, and international trade, brings together conflicting values, religions, cultures, histories, legal systems, military strategies, and the metastasis of malignancy.

Vivienne Ortega

Mon, 2015-01-26 14:52

The Tootgarook Swamp is the largest example left of an Shallow freshwater marsh in the Port Philip bay region, at 381 hectares it is worthy of international Ramsar protection. Much of the Tootgarook swamp is inappropriately zoned as residential, and industrial with only half of it inside the green wedge. The 381 hectare swamp is found on the lower section of the Mornington Peninsula, called the Nepean Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Currently approximately 77 hectares is marked for future development proposals totalling almost a quarter of the entire swamp. After another almost 3 hectares was lost to a housing subdivision infill recently. Read more on the The northern section is under immediate threat from housing development.

SaveOurCity (not verified)

Tue, 2015-02-10 08:44

High-rise apartment towers in central Melbourne are being built at four times the maximum densities allowed in some of the world's most crowded cities, including Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo, a scathing new report finds. Despite all the claims of developers and governments trying to create "affordable housing", this aim is trying to be achieved through smaller and smaller housing, an higher densities! Leanne Hodyl is the co-ordinator of city plans and policy at Melbourne City Council. Her report said that "construction of skyscrapers in central Melbourne should be supported, because a big jump in the CBD's population had many benefits for residents, including easy access to jobs, shops and entertainment". And it made the city "more lively and animated". Certainly it's "more lively and animated"! There's a crush of people and traffic, crime, homelessness, poverty and pollution! It assumes that the big jump in population has nothing to do with governments tweaking our immigration rate, or that population growth is funnelled into Melbourne deliberately to pump up the housing BOOM! It's about investors, maximising opportunities, not creating a city that's liveable or sustainable. Construction was approved "with little regard on the effect on the residents within, the impact on the streets below or on the value of neighbouring properties", the report found. "Melbourne's planning controls offer "cheap density" to developers as they are able to build unlimited density with limited need for a community contribution. "Not one of the five cities that I studied – New York, Vancouver, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul - is choosing to develop in this way. What cities have to cope with the rapid population growth that city is supposed to cope with, and one that's being captive for the benefit of property developers, and all the hidden local and overseas "investors" in real estate? "There was general consensus from the planning and design experts that I interviewed who manage and study these established, globally successful cities that the densities being delivered in central Melbourne are too high and many questioned whether they could deliver long-term liveable outcomes." Hong Kong carefully manages and caps density in order to protect the liveability of the city for its residents. It requires developers to provide open space for their residents. In Hong Kong, significant density bonuses are not offered as increasing the numbers of people living in a neighbourhood above what is planned for is not accepted as there would be insufficient local infrastructure, for example schools, to support these greater residential densities. Here, we end up with chronic "shortages" of social housing, jobs, schools, hospital beds and overloaded transport and roads! It's the result of a dead-end economy, heavily embedded in real estate, stamp duty revenues, and profits from housing growth! This is the legacy of the Liberals in Victoria, or deregulation of planning principles and ad hoc approvals of high density constructions, under our "planning" Minister, Matthew Guy! He was the antithesis of Planning - of deconstruction of principles and professionalism. It's neo-liberalism applied to urban design, not people or environmental focus, but pure profits and opportunism.

Vivienne Ortega

Tue, 2015-02-10 09:25

The reports says that "extremely high-density developments...is facilitating rapid population growth in concentrated city areas, without consideration of whether the neighbourhood and local infrastructure can support these residents". So, while our population growth for the nation is tweaked and manipulated at Federal level, to boost the vague metric of GDP, Victoria is actually feeding into and funnelling people into Melbourne by creating the apartments and facilitating the growth! It's always a race to "catch up" with needed infrastructure, and the cost is defrayed onto the public purse! What other commercial industry has so much liquidity and flexibility that their costs can be passed onto the public, under the smoke-screen of being in their benefit? Plan Melbourne is about catering for our "projected" population growth, but at the same time it will actually facilitate the growth - as a self-fulfilling prophecy!

DennisK (not verified)

Tue, 2015-02-10 11:28

I've seen plans for a new apartment block near the city that has 30 something square meter sized "apartments". Tiny! Growth? Um, if unit sizes are shrinking, GDP per capita shrinking, space shrinking, opportunities shrinking, size of chocolate bars and packets of chips shrinking, where is the growth? wages are stagnating, shrinking in real terms. When I ask people what progress there is, all I get is smart phones. It seems if it were not for smart phones, there would be no notable meausurement of progress. It is pretty much taken for granted now that the best days are behind us, not just here in Australia. It's "cramming", "densification". It's "shrinking". It's "consolidation of wealth". I think people are too generous calling this "growth". It's proliferation, not growth. It's selling of what weve built up to benefit a few rent seekers. It's the big 'crunch' of an unsustainable system running for inhuman purposes. As long as growthists can continue to maintain the facade that they represent "growth", then they'll get away with it, hiding behind the flawed judgement people make. There is no growth. Only increase in the mose base of measurements, the number of breathing members of Homo sapiens who are not tourists here.

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Tue, 2015-02-10 14:16

Last week, a group of 18- to 30-year-olds came together at a leadership forum in Penrith to discuss the Australian identity in the 21st century, and how best to overcome cultural differences. They concluded that, increasingly, there is not one single cultural identity. It's easy to manipulate the public and soften our nationhood and borders if we have little identity as a nation. Not having a clear identity means easy access into Australia, for immigration, globalization of our resources and culture, and more opportunities foreign interests. Protestors were shouting their opposition to a proposed Islamic community centre in nearby Kemps Creek. A Protect Penrith group, of which Councillor Cornish is a member, will hold a meeting on February 22 in St Marys to further protest against the approval of the development application. "I grew up in Auburn and their first mosque in 1979 and now they have three and it is not a safe place to walk around at all," he said at a council meeting. Australia First is running a Penrith candidate at the March 28 election. Victor Waterson lives in Epping, and suggested that in light of terrorist attacks at home and overseas, residents should have a say in who to accept into the community. Child brides, forced marriages, terror, conflicts, massacres of Christians, fighting within themselves, misogyny and apostasy and just a few of the evils! There must only be ONE law in Australia - not sharia law. Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars promoting Islam and building muslim centres and mosques all over the world. Australia is gagged by stupidity and political-correctness!

ECOENGINE (not verified)

Wed, 2015-02-11 13:48

Mike Baird, New South Wales state premier, said a potential "catastrophic" incident had been avoided. Two men, aged 24 and 25, were arrested in a raid on a property in Sydney's western suburbs on Tuesday and have been charged with undertaking acts in preparation for a terrorist act.

A number of items were located including a machete, a hunting knife, a home-made flag representing the proscribed terrorist organisation Isil, and also a video which depicted a man talking about carrying out an attack.

Last year it was reported that pre-dawn raids across Sydney and Brisbane led to the arrest of fifteen people and the reported seizure of a scimitar, a gun, machetes, balaclavas and military fatigues which authorities said were to be used in a plot to “shock, horrify and terrorise” the community.

The raids involved more than 800 security officers and marked the biggest counter-terrorism operation in Australian history. Australia's national alert level was raised to high in September last year, classifying a terrorist attack as likely but not imminent.

Just how long can these terror threats be averted, and minimized? Each time there is a terrorist attack on a Western country, they all but trip over themselves and each other to condemn - at times not even waiting for anyone to confirm the actual motives of those ultimately held responsible.

The same set formula, the same mantras are reported. "We condemn. It has nothing to do with us or our faith." The last statement is probably true - the terror has nothing to do with their faith!

The reality is that the "faith" of Islam is what's "peaceful" about it. It's worship, obedience to a high power, and spiritual. What's not "peaceful" is the political and revenge agendas of Islam - of attracting the mis-fits, the unemployed, the discontented youths, the arrogance of their superiority, and justification for war and terror.

The world is not an oyster, and closed system of nations that we had in the past. Our soldiers went "off" to war, to defend our realm and that of our allies. Now, with borders shrinking, globalisation, finite resources and overpopulation causing mass migrations and the mixture of ideals, cultures and values, any involvement of Australia in global conflicts means that it comes to us - and doesn't stay out-there! Third world immigration brings third world problems, and rather than Fortress Australia we are embroiled in global problems bleeding across into our nation, and some of them today seem to have no end in sight. We can't even be sure of the "side" we are on! The Howard Government supported the disarmament of Iraq during the Iraq disarmament crisis. Australia later provided one of the four most substantial combat force contingents during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, under the operational codename Operation Falconer. Australian troops were deployed to remove a government without the sanction of the UN.
For more than two years, U.S. policy has quietly fueled the escalation of the conflict in Syria and undermined every effort to bring the Syrian people the ceasefire and peaceful political transition they need and want. The critical covert and diplomatic role the United States has played in a war that has killed at least 100,000 people means that their blood is also on our hands.

Australia was part of opening the Pandora's Box of a vacuum of leadership in Iraq, and a abyss of discords and conflicts that may not be peacefully resolvable.

DennisK (not verified)

Wed, 2015-02-11 15:38

The M.E. is a clustermess of a problem.

There are two issues at play here, Militant Islam (which I think exists) and failed, botched Western interventionism. This has resulted is a "worst case" scenario, we no longer can agree whether a problem exists! For a national integrity viewpoint, this is a big issue.

Some point out that Islam is a violent religion whose spread had been largely by force and coercion, and others point to Western interventionism as the "cause". It's not exclusively one or the other. I don't think ending ME wars will help much, if at all (not that they shouldn't end, only that their cessation won't make much of a difference). The problem now is people cannot decide whether to interpret events like this in the context of militant Islam, or the context of the result of Western policy failure, or both. So there is then credence, reason to suppose false flags, overblown reactions, hype, but also reason to suppose a true clash of civilisations. Which interpretation is correct?

I view it as a problem with Islam, exacerbated by interventionism. The other issue is Israel, a problem in that our support of Israel is a major factor. No ending of wars in the Middle East can hope to ease relations, unless it comes with a decision to no longer militarily and financially and morally support Israel. As few are willing to face the antisemitism label which will result, there is little than can be done politically.

ECOENGINE -160251">mentioned a very basic point. Immigration from the third world involves importing these issues. Any area which demographically changes, comes to resemble the region the people moved from. There is a lot of tortured discussion to "explain away" this observation, but decades of observation of the mass immigration social experiment, I think solidly supports this observation. I've been to many European cities, and this observation holds true regardless of the country and their specific policies. The populations revert to a mean.

Demographics matters. The unprecedented population transformation WILL have effects on the economy, yet our neoliberal model says you can make wholesale changes to a population, and this will have no effect at all. This is ridiculous.

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2015-02-12 02:15

Dennis, Given that Syria is a secular state, would you not support the government there? And, regarding your feeling that militant Islam would be a problem independently of Western intervention, what about Libya? It was also relatively secular. Ditto Iraq. Until intervention. Iran's reactionary religious extremism seems to be calming also. This is my take on things: Arab and Islamic states take many forms. Not all of them militant and expansionist. I would also suggest that militant Islam was not exactly a problem in the mid 19th century. It's a new problem. It may have been a problem during the Ottoman Empire, if you were one of its colonies, but since the retreat of Islam from Europe, there was a long period of quiet. Interrupted by the oil-explorers and a couple of world wars. What have I left out? Sheila N

anon (not verified)

Thu, 2015-02-12 06:57

Islam is growing, and so is their global influence. This is about numbers, and migration and the spread of the ideology. Thanks to liberal immigration into the West, and high fertility levels, it's spread across the world. Part of the problem is that it's spread from ancient cultures, and primitive countries, and thus there's clashes with the modern world. Qatar and Saudi Arabia responsible for spread of radical Islam through funding. The two Gulf states have spent billions of dollars on promoting a militant and proselytising interpretation of their faith derived from Abdul Wahhab, or the original followers of the Prophet. Many Saudis are known to have supported jihadist movements in Afghanistan, North Africa and the Middle East. Islamic extremism is driven by a totalitarian interpretation of Islam that believes in a global Islamic state. Today, throughout the world, there has been a wave of radical movements, which sometimes turn militant, whose source can be traced to the Wahhabi movement. Now "Wahhabi" followers have taken up an increasingly confrontational standpoint attempting to impose their ideology in many regions around the world. The Wahhabi mentality asserts that Islam may be reformed by means of the sword. Under this modern ideological extremism, Islam's essential principle of tolerance has been abolished. The 18th century Wahhabi movement, which is a puritanical movement, initially aiming to return people to the right path of Islam. Wholly different from peaceful followers of the Muslim faith, the adherents of radical Islam threaten the free expression of faith worldwide because they refuse to tolerate any religious, social, and political views but their own.

Dennis K

Thu, 2015-02-12 21:14

Hi Sheila, The worlds largest Islamic population is in Indonesia. Egypt , Turkey There is a list of conquests here... During the 19th century, the Ottoman empire (which had subjugated the Balkans for many generations) was in decline, as all empires eventually decline. European states were able to reassert independence from the Ottoman empire through violent overthrow. It was, during the 19th century called the "Sick man of Europe". We could perhaps say the same about the USA! The Ottoman empire ceased to become a problem for the west. These incursions aside, of which there were others in Europe, Islam spread largely due to the lack of cohesive political and religious systems in these regions beforehand, and a political/organisational vacuum. Islam provided a powerful socio-political movement and religion, of which, once established, or once enough power was gained, defended it's gains with force. It was an irreversible change, so to speak, at least outside of Europe. Islam was not able to conquer Europe, nor hold onto the Balkans (or convert it, except for two states). Certainly, there are examples of countries which are almost completely Muslim being (relatively) stable. Turkey is an example, as were some Middle Eastern states. Egypt and Turkey are mostly Sunni Iran is 90% Shia. Libya is almost completely Sunni. Iraq, which descended into violence after the authoritarian rule of the Baath party is more equally split, with 15-20% being Kurdish as well. Nigeria, is about 50% Muslim. Islamic violence in Africa is generally at the frontier. While not a 100% rule, the possibility of violence and conflict is (as usual), where two groups meet and complete. The more stable states are the more homogeneous ones. Syria is complex again, consisting of a slight majority of Sunni Muslims, but also a sizeable Christian and Shia population. Sunni's still form much of Assads powerbase though (which is what keeps him in power). This might be a testament to his popularity, I'm not sure. Certainly, it seems that a 'big man' is required to keep such a population together and working, and Assad is such a man. The two major problems for US, are the two constant and persistent frontiers with Islam. The support of Israel as a western proxy state and energy interests, and the growing frontier at home. It is these frontiers where I think conflict of interests will arise, in particular as Islam rather than being strictly religious, straddles both religion and political movement. I don't see this frontiers disappearing any time soon. The Islamic population in Western nations is projected to increase (unless there is a drastic change to immigration policies), these are people who will likely demand more power and representation, and the support for Western proxy states in the Middle East and energy interests will also continue. There is one other point, that Islam seems to adapt to the region. After all, Indonesia contains the worlds largest Muslim population, and most Muslims are in S.E. Asia, yet Islam there manifests itself differently from Middle Eastern or North African Islam. The "war against Islam" which some say is going on, seems to barely involve the majority of Muslims in South East Asia.

Australia for A... (not verified)

Thu, 2015-02-12 16:42

Appearing on Channel Nine this morning, Immigration Minister Mr Dutton was asked about reports that one of the men who planned the terror plot entered Australia illegally. One came from Kuwait, and the other from Iraq. "The initial advice to me allegedly one of the suspects may have come to Australia with some false documentation," he said. "At that stage, bearing in mind it was in 2009... over that long period about 50,000 people came on 800 boats. "It was a difficult time for our intelligence agencies." With such stresses on our Immigration Department, not only from "boat people" but during the "big Australia" of Kevin Rudd's period of ramped up immigration, it's not surprising that such soft border control has leaked through the system these misfit, terrorists. Arrivals of migrants in the 1990s and 2000s contributed to the increase in the overseas-born population, with their proportion of the overall resident population rising to 27% by 30 June 2010. While the public were diverted by the debate on how to address the flow of boat people, the masses were arriving by plane - as the default driver of our economic growth! Another piece of irony is that Saudi Arabia is building great wall — or rather, a great chainlink fence with razor wire — to “protect against ISIS” in Iraq. Saudi Arabia wants to “insulate itself from the chaos engulfing its neighbours,” and it’s doing so with a supremely high-tech wall. Two high fences, 90m apart; 40 watch towers; over 1400km of fibre optic cable; underground movement detection. The International Organisation of Migration reports that 40,000 have people have died in the past decade alone trying to cross borders. Walls are springing up across our world with incredible speed, which contradicts many cliches about globalisation. Saudi Arabia, one of the richest countries in the world, is bordered to the south by the poorest and most resource-scarce country in the region, Yemen, which has also become hotbed of terrorism. Human overpopulation, exposure of great ideological divides, resource protection, conflicts over limited land, and increasing porous international borders all fly in the face of the benefits of globalisation, and the one-world living in harmony idea.

DennisK (not verified)

Sun, 2015-02-15 14:27

This pretty much sums up the "refugee issue" in Australia...

Politicians with a complicit media froth and rave about a small number of people arriving by boat, in order to appear tough on borders to appease an Australian population which has an awareness that immigration is out of control. To keep attention diverted, poor people who risk their lives are used as a political football in order to make it appear that the government is doing the opposite of what it actually is doing, which is, namely, bringing in economic migrants on an industrial scale who can out compete young Australians for jobs and housing and push housing prices up for the economic betterment of a few investors who are tax payer subsidised and supported by corrupt elected officials. Most of these migrants are sold a lie anyway, as our government extols Australia as a land of opportunity, of people wanting to be culturally enriched, only to arrive and realise they are only here to serve as debt fodder to be exploited by unconscionable greed in a land with crushing costs of living and a gutted culture. In the meantime millionaire Chinese, whom many of which are laundering money and corrupt, can buy citizenship by buying Australian resources whereas children from troubled countries remain in detention centres.

(See also: by , with video (45:56min), - Ed)

I think this pretty much sums up the state of affairs.

No wonder the world balks at our policies regarding asylum seekers.

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2015-02-16 00:35

You missed an important aspect, IMHO. The asylum seekers we are getting tend to come from the countries we are at war with or supporting interventions in. Surely stopping wars would be a good way of stemming this tide. (I know you disagree as to the amount the tide might be stemmed by this, but surely you concede that peace is more hospitable than war.)

DennisK (not verified)

Tue, 2015-02-17 12:47

Indeed, there would be fewer refugees if there was greater stability. The sources of refugees are, according to the deaprtment of immigration... Afghanistan Iran Stateless Iraq Sri Lanka Pakistan China Egypt Myanmar Sorry I cant provide a link (due to technical limitations), but this info is easily searched and available on the government website. Note, this is on order of numbers. We can pin Iraq and Afghanistan to Western intervention, and perhaps some of the stateless. But Sri Lanka is surprising (it is a holiday destination and the war has ended,and Sri Lankans I work with go back for trips). China is supposedly the new power and the future and our good buddies and trading partners. Recent figures may include Syria. Thats not to say there arent legitimate reasons, but these reasons seem to get ignored. I support withdrawing from foriegn military engagements, but we will still have push factors. Australia needs to acknowledge this, and push harder. If Chinese are fleeing as legitimate refugees, due to persecution, then why are we allowing such a state to buy our assets? We have to ask these questions too. Is their money more important

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2015-02-17 17:09

The below is a bit of a loosely pinned rant: Can't you also obviously pin Syria to Western intervention? The so-called rebels are being financed by US-NATO. America is currently salivating to go into Syria and destroy it on the flimsiest of reasons. Sri Lanka is an argument between people who were brought there to work from the mainland in colonial times and those with a prior claim to Sri Lanka, if I am not mistaken. Pakistan is the result of a British colonial border creation. Egypt ... ugh...Such a confusing past of foreign interference. And South Africa under Mandela, a product of western interference dismantling land-rights legislation before it could be submitted. Iraq (as you have mentioned) with all its oil and gas privatised and dedicated to foreign corporate interests. And Russia - I just realised that the same thing happened there - with Gazprom and other Russian petroleum assets - asset stripped according to laws written by the United States. These were clawed back by Putin, who also got rid of a bunch of oligarchs. Fantastic story. Who elsewhere is capable of doing this? Chavez did - but he is dead. etcetera I must say that I think everyone, including Australia and the United States, should be provided with national civil codes, in Napoleonic style. That would give citizens some legally defendable rights and it would place a break on corporate interference. But then I am always saying this and few people have any idea of what I am talking about . :-)

Dennis K

Wed, 2015-02-18 00:17

Hi Sheila, How do you 'unwind' these issues, without more intervention? At this point, you either intervene, or leave the results of the intervention in place. As for the middle east, this is an interesting read, if you didn't already know the history, which you probably are familiar with. While its has an Islamic bias, the use if division by the British is a standard tactic. They did the same thing with Cyprus, leading to Greek/Turkish tensions. We can't undo this, but what interests me, is why does this mentality still persist? The same is true for African states. Arbitrary borders were drawn up, leading to divisions of nations. Yet, it interests me that no one sees the nature of the problem. Today, "all sides" of politics still treat these nations, as legitimate nations, as if the issues concerning their creation should not exist. They CAN'T exist. They're not supposed to. The above link shows ethnic borders, and you see little correlation with the current political borders (which DO correlate with how European powers divided Africa amongst themselves). Our ability to intervene without creating more problems, relates to our own sense of nationhood and identity. For example, we KNOW that the African nation states were drawn up along colonial lines. We KNOW that the Middle Eastern states were arbitrarily created (again by colonial lines). Most people stop there (if they even get that far). Why has the West failed to realise why Iraq needed an authoritarian power to stay together? Why do we seem puzzled at these intra-national fights? I think the answer is, we don't actually know what's going on! Even the anti-war Left, during the Iraq war, spoke of Iraq as a nation as real as any European nation like France or Italy or Britain or Greece. So where is the misunderstanding? The current Western narrative, is that a country is an administrative entity, which contains an arbitrary collection of people who happen to pay tax to the same entity, have the same passports, and support the same 'team'. Our modern view of a country is one which is purely propositional and bureaucratic and economic. So we assume that this should work anywhere. Why CANT we just make people all 'Iraqis' or 'Angolans', and have them adopt this as the primary, and SOLE identity? In short, we Westerners don't understand the problems, and therefore, no matter how well meaning someone might be, they won't be able to fix it, because their model of how the world works is fundamentally flawed. We can only pretend to relate. We can only impose our own viewpoint on others because we've learned to shut out other views and systems. The necessity, the actions and beliefs and systems of other peoples aren't understood and are immediately rejected, because we've only tolerated one specific narrative of progress here. What is worse, is that in the West, the others don't exist any more. There IS only one correct way. One correct vision of 'progress'. We've philosophically accepted this and as a result, have become incapable of understanding the world. This makes us incapable of successfully intervening anywhere, even with good intentions and perhaps part of the reason that Putin is gaining power and we are losing respect. We just don't "get it". We don't "get it" with regards to Islam. We don't "get it" with regards to Russia, the Middle East or China or anywhere. We've lost the ability to even see or understand different socio-political systems or what they are doing. This is NOT just the ruling elite. This includes the student activists, the anti-war activists, academia. "Left" and "Right" subscribe to the same paradigms and goals and have the same tunnel vision. Why this is so is another discussion, but I think this loss of political diversity means that talk of straightening out problems that we started will end up making matters worse (as has been demonstrated in the Middle East). It is only when we change our own view of the world that we can even hope to look at the rest of the world and not muddle it up any more. I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, but I do believe that disparate issues interrelate. I don't believe that we can have effective political change, and change the actions of our leaders and politics, unless we acknowledge this problem and start to redevelop our politics and open it up. It is a fundamental step towards shifting power away from corporations and vested international interests. It is this reason that I think that we've been so ineffective at implementing, or instigating political change, and perhaps for the apathy as well.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-02-14 09:51

The secretary of the Gold Coast North Chamber of Commerce, Gary Mays, said it was vital to create more jobs in a variety of industries so people could live and work locally.

At least there are some voices out there, not actually criticising population growth, but our business model based on housing and construction growth, and youth unemployment.

There's no economic or social precedent for our high rates of immigration, and the population growth crush we are experiencing. Housing does not produce enough jobs, and adds to our unemployment rate.

Demographer Bernard Salt predicts the combined population of the Gold Coast and Tweed will double to 1.2 million in the next 35 years!

Unemployment rose over that period, from 5.2 per cent to the 6.4 per cent reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The mantra is that "growth means jobs" - but what growth? Obviously population growth stimulates GDP growth, but there's no indication that this leads to economic growth, and jobs!

The housing "boom" is warping our economy, and leaving a damaging legacy of debt, social and environmental challenges, for future generations.

;http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-13/gold-coast-urged-to-diversify-economy-with-less/6091178">Gold Coast urged to diversify economy

Population growth is being used to mask a weak economy, and artificially prop up our GDP figures and consumption rates.

Gary Mays says that "the other thing is we've got to start utilising these graduates that we're turning out at a rapid rate from the universities with nowhere to go." Unemployed graduates is an indication of skills overshoot, and a stagnant economy, which flies in the face of our skilled immigration rate.

See also:
– the Australian, 11 Jun 11 and 14 Jul 13 and 21 Jul 13 – Courier Mail. - Ed

Waioona (not verified)

Sun, 2015-02-15 12:28

If you use the Roy Morgan unemployment statistics which includes all people over the age of 14 who are looking for work plus those who are employed but looking for more work the problem becomes even more stark. Roy Morgan research shows the unemployment rate for January, 2015 to be 9.8% plus those looking for more work at 8.2% for a total of 18%. The same figures for January 2014 were 11.3% and 8.7% for a total of 20%. While the latter figures make the former look OK, what must be taken into account is that the total workforce in same period fell by some 97,000 while the total population grew by some 360,000. The Roy Morgan data is raw i.e. not seasonally adjusted and is done face to face, not by telephone.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2015-02-16 12:03

Islamic State has released a video that appears to show the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya. The victims in orange jumpsuits are made to kneel beside the sea in what is identified by militants in the video as the coast near Tripoli in Libya. Each captive is led by a black-clad executioner who is grasping a knife. The only sound is that of the crashing waves. They are made to kneel, and then one by one they are beheaded. Militants in Libya had been holding 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians hostage for weeks, threatening them with death. “We will conquer Rome,” one of the executioners warns after committing the bloody act. The gruesome five-minute long video, is called 'A Message Signed With Blood To The Nation Of The Cross'. The Coptic Church said it was confident the Cairo government would seek justice. Al Azhar, the centre of Islamic learning in Egypt, said no religion would accept such "barbaric" acts. It's revealing that this is not a "religious" act, but one based on revenge, terror, fear, brutality and lust for power. Although Christians have lived in northern Iraq and Syria for nearly two-thousand years, and at least six hundred years before Islam, today they face extinction across the region. Across Northern Iraq, Christians are huddled in refugee camps, trapped in the desert, or trapped in their homes, waiting for death. The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century. The call to Islam resounded in Egypt with the arrival of the Arab Muslims into the Christian country in 640 A.D. Coptic history from the first to the seventh centuries was removed from the textbooks of public schools for decades till the year 2002. In 1868, the Egyptian sheikh Rifa al-Tahtawi published a history of Egypt giving full attention to her Pharaonic civilization. In fact, the entire Egyptian population was Christian on the eve of the Islamic Arab invasion of 640 AD. Egypt today may have a Muslim majority. But it has not been totally islamized yet.

Vivienne Ortega

Tue, 2015-02-17 13:01

Greyhound racers are secretly blooding their dogs with live bait as part of systemic and widespread cheating within the country's multimillion-dollar industry, according to explosive evidence uncovered by ABC's Four Corners program. Piglets, possums and rabbits tortured in sadistic greyhound training 'rituals'. Barbaric training practices in Australia's greyhound racing industry have been uncovered in ground-breaking investigations by Animals Australia and Animal Liberation Queensland. Live baiting has been banned and criminalised for decades, but trainers and owners across the country have been using the illegal training method in the belief that it will improve a dog's performance. The Victorian Government announced two separate investigations into the greyhound racing industry following the Four Corners story. The state's chief veterinary officer was appointed to undertake a broad investigation into the industry, while Mr Perna was to conduct an independent probe. More than 20 greyhound racing dog owners and trainers across NSW, Victoria and Queensland have been suspended after a series of raids which allegedly discovered the illegal use of live animals being used to bait and lure dogs. Any use of animals in "sports" or entertainment means they are open to abuse, exploitation and cruelty. There's so much money at stake, and money will drive cruelty.

Save Kangaroos (not verified)

Thu, 2015-02-19 12:07

Greyhound racing’s biggest sponsor, Macro Meats, has withdrawn its support of the industry in the wake of the shocking live-baiting scandal. The South Australian company, which specialises in kangaroo meat, was the naming-rights holder for major Group 1 races across the nation, including the $107,500 Adelaide Cup and $475,000 Golden Easter Egg, but has stopped all sponsorship immediately after the shocking revelations of animal cruelty. While it's commendable that Ray Borda has withdrawn his support for the greyhound racing industry, in light of barbaric and horrific cruelty in the use of live animals for blood baiting, it ignores the inherent cruelty of the commercial kangaroo industry. Does he not care about the cruelty to kangaroos, but for the live animals used to lure greyhounds? Borda, a passionate greyhound enthusiast, says the decision was easy and admits he was sickened once he saw the animal cruelty — aired on ABC current affairs program Four Corners. A pity he has no empathy for kangaroos, the mis-shot animals that die slowly and the 800,000 joeys that are disposed of by bashing on the head each year! There's also the inherent cruelty to the greyhounds, of the over-breeding and the killing of up to 25,000 each year because they are "too slow" or injured! Maybe Ray Borda wants to keep a squeaky clean image, and maintain the extreme mass killings of our native kangaroos that happens outside the scrutiny of the public and animal activists?

Adriana (not verified)

Fri, 2015-02-20 09:45

Macro Meats have brought themselves down a couple of notches on the cruelty scale by withdrawing sponsorship of the greyhound racing industry but when you put it in perspective what else could they do? Killing en masse our native fauna to support an avenue for gambling, greyhound racing which harbours it seems the most depraved, sadistic, hard hearted creatures in human form is really an obscenity. I would really like to see a prisoner exchange with the perpetrators of the greyhound industry's recently exposed cruelty with the convicted drug smugglers in Bali who await execution. I would be overjoyed to see the greyhound "trainers" who I saw on film this week executed. They could never be rehabilitated. They obviously enjoy inflicting pain on the weak and helpless and watching terror and bloodshed. I don't see any of those characteristics in the convicted drug smugglers in Bali.

James Sinnamon

Fri, 2015-02-20 13:03

The following was -252916">posted to a forum discussion on about the threatened execution of Australian citizens and by the Indonesian government for their attempt to traffic heroin from Bali into Australia in 2005.

Megan -252900">wrote on February 19th, 2015 at 22:10 :

The AFP knew exactly what the Bali 9 were up to and secretly told the Indonesians all about it, thereby ensuring the current outcome.

The role of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in setting up Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to face execution is chilling and shameful. Regardless of how this turns out, the AFP should be made to answer before the public for their actions, ideally through a parliamentary inquiry.

In any case, if Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran deserve to face the firing squad, so too do members of the Indonesian police, who are also known to be corrupt and implicated in drug trafficking.

One of many articles which explain heroin trafficking is , originally published 6 Sep 2008, by Professor Peter Dale Scott. The global flood of heroin, particularly from Afghanistan after the invasion of 2001, shows that the Opium Wars of and never ended.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2015-02-20 16:23

The irony is that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were LEAVING Indonesia, to come to Australia. Surely, then, there's more profits to be made from the smuggling of drugs due to the internal drug insecurity! Schappel Corby was accused of taking drugs INTO the country, not OUT! Of course the proof was destroyed.

Instead of executing the smugglers, who are said to be reformed and rehabilitated, there should be a tough crack-down on drugs inside the country, and the drug lords that provided these drug smugglers with their supplies.

Australia is officially against the death penalty, but is implicitly supportive of it if it denounced to the Indonesian police that the Bali Nine had drugs. The smugglers should have been caught arriving in Australia, if the real motive was to avoid the death penalty. Instead, they were reported and fell in a trap, with the AFP fully knowing that Indonesia has the death penalty for drug possession. They were betrayed!

A response to the above comment ban be found . Comments on this page are now closed. - Ed, (21/2/15)

Vivienne Ortega

Fri, 2015-02-20 17:01

To Whom it May concern: We, members and committee of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council, and Animals Active,  are shocked and appalled at the revelations that live animals, including protected native possums, have been used as lure to bloodlet greyhounds in the racing industry. Possums, and all native animals, are protected by law, and this gives another layer of illegality, and disregard for the sentience and status of animals in our community. This greyhound industry clearly has animal cruelty deeply entrenched, and embedded, into its history and practices.  It's all based on gambling profits without productivity or integrity.    The use of wildlife for any industry or entertainment inherently exposes animals to abuse, exploitation and depraved cruelty. The capture and killing of protected native animals in such as way is a flagrant violation of the Victorian Wildlife Act, 1975. We demand that the greyhound industry be investigated, prosecuted, and shut-down. Comments on this page are now closed. Further comments can be posted . - Ed (21/2/15)