Miscellaneous comments from 31 May 2013

Thu, 2013-05-30 21:12 by admin

Comments made on the previous Miscellaneous comments page from 1 May 2013 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 by other articles, please add your comments .

This comment page is now read only. Please add comments 14 Aug 2013 - Ed.

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Comments

Geoffrey Taylor

Thu, 2013-05-30 21:59

This was first published earlier today on YouTube by on 30 May 2013 as .

In recent years, a greater and greater proportion of computer devices -- network routers, network switches, even, keyboards, mice, earphones and microphones -- have been manufactured in wireless versions rather than in the old-fashioned cabled versions. I have personally always bought and used cabled devices rather than wireless devices, often going to considerable trouble to do so. I did this because I had intuitively feared that the digital radio signals that would inevitably have to pass through my body as a result of my using such devices could only have been detrimental to the cells of my flesh and body organs.

For practical reasons, I have seen no choice but to continue to use a mobile mobile phones, but I would have chosen not if I had been given alternatives such as, for example, larger numbers of public phones.

The video below, appears to confirm that my intuitive fear of radio controlled devices was correct.

Neutrino

Sat, 2013-06-01 13:00

This film seems to be about room-fulls of wireless computers, running all day, rather than one or two computers as we have at home. The experiment with the plant seeds is totally inconclusive unless it is reproduced many times. I mean, the seeds could have failed to shoot for all kinds of reasons.

These arguments I am making are not to say there is not a possibility that this claim is true, but that the report is unconvincing - albeit that a room full of wireless machines and small children does seem pretty counter- intuitive to anyone with common sense. Geoffrey is right, of course, fundamentally, to suggest that new sources of any kind of wave have to have some kind of effect. As to what that effect is ... well, we don't know.

France did some studies of mobile phone waves and came to more rigorous conclusions than anglophone countries i.e. that there is a good chance they are doing damage to living cells. and a need for a precautionary approach.

See this Wikipedia article at

Vivienne Ortega

Fri, 2013-05-31 09:35

Within weeks, our government could allow developers to start tearing enormous holes in the seabed inside the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area - a practice known as dredging - near the Whitsunday Islands. Some 3 million cubic metres of sediment (enough to fill 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools!) would be ripped from the ocean bed, destroying the homes and food sources of turtles, dugongs and rare snubfin dolphins. Similar actions at Gladstone have been blamed for crippling the fishing industry. Now mining companies want do it all again at Abbot Point -- but they won’t get away with it if we act now. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has the power to stop this. So we’ve launched an emergency petition to demonstrate massive community opposition to this dreadful plan. Sign on today and we’ll hand deliver the petition to Burke in front of journalists during the UN World Heritage Committee meeting in June. Environment Minister Tony Burke (yes, it's hard to believe that we actually have one) is still feeling the heat after the UN World Heritage Committee put his department on notice for failing to protect the Reef. The Committee is holding its annual meeting in June, where they’ll give an update on its verdict to save the Reef. He’ll already be nervous about approving another project that would cause more damage, so he’ll be much more receptive to our calls. It would be derelict of duty to allow big mining businesses to destroy a world heritage area. But, money and profits are the only values that matter when governments end up hijacked by their interests and powers.

Geoffrey Taylor

Fri, 2013-05-31 14:05

As I wrote , yesterday, these criminal plans to destroy the barrier Reef only to enable still more coal to be exported more quickly to China, in order to be turned into global warming carbon dioxide and junk that will mostly end up in Australian landfill after only a few years at most, must be made a Federal election issue. Any candidate who does not pledge to do all in his/her power to end this vandalism must be put very low in your voting preferences.

nimby

Sat, 2013-06-01 18:27

When Ford employees lose their jobs in 2016, Julia Gillard is offering a package of $15.1m to help them find new positions. Ironically, funding to universities has been slashed by nearly $3 b, yet Ford has been subsidized by over $1 b over the years to keep the industry in operation. Obviously manufacturing skills are more highly valued that knowledge and academia. This is despite free trade with foreign countries with much lower wages and conditions demolishing our manufacturing industries. With 1,500 new people entering Victoria each week, the problem of our unemployment will be exacerbated by competition with "skilled" workers. A new suburb was announced recently by planning Minister Matthew Guy, offering more jobs for developers. An incentive to create jobs in Victoria would be very welcome, but the competition with temporary and permanent migrants will mean more people will need employment at a time of cutbacks and company closures.

nimby

Wed, 2013-06-05 12:57

Coles corporate affairs Anna Kelly said Coles welcomed the large number of community members supporting its push for improved animal welfare standards. Animals Australia will withdraw its limited range of Make it Possible shopping bags from sale. "Coles was concerned that the good work with our farmer suppliers in the pork and chicken industries would be over shadowed by farmer reaction to the Animals Australia campaign on live cattle exports and has therefore agreed with the offer to withdraw its shopping bags," Ms Kelly said. Coles is admitting there is no middle ground between meeting Animals Australia's standards of humane chicken, eggs and pork supplies. The system is entrenched in animal cruelty, due to factory farming. Coles obviously supports the obscenity of live exports, and having animals dragged, stabbed and tortured in overseas abattoirs. Farmers should work with Animals Australia. They are not an abolitionist group trying to destroy farmers and the meat industry. Animals Australia are trying to make the public aware of animal cruelty more and more inherent in farming. The "good work" done by farmers in producing meat from pigs confined in sheds for their whole short lives, and being mutilated in the process, is "good" for Coles too! It's business as usual, and they are shunning any free-range systems that would require the public to pay the real costs of producing humane meat and eggs, as was in the traditional methods of farming. The organisations should work together to gain the confidence of the public. This furore makes the Farmers Federation sound as if they actually endorse animal cruelty! "Making it happen" is increasingly difficult as farmers' livelihoods depend on mass production. With land prices soaring, and our cities swelling is size, the days of traditional farming are diminishing as demands for livestock products outpace animal welfare standards.

Bandicoot

Thu, 2013-06-06 11:17

It's under the umbrella of "sustainable living" - but not for the kangaroos! According to the ACF, 'there is perhaps nothing so Australian as the fact that we will happily chow down on our national emblems. Other countries don't eat their national emblems", but "our irreverence for the iconography of state stands in stark contrast with our cultural and political antecedents. Thus we eat our national emblem.." Well, actually we don't eat too much of it. There's no tradition of eating kangaroo in Australia except for traditional aborigines. Our colonial settlers only ate it when desperate. Indigenous people ate kangaroos, but it wasn't an industry. It's mainly exported or used as dog food. It's been promoted as an "environmentally friendly" meat alternative. It's assumed that because kangaroos aren't farmed, they can be "harvested" in the wild, and "humanely shot". The article is full of contractions and oxymorons. If every meat-eater swapped to kangaroo meat instead of livestock, the animals would soon be extinct. They simply can't produce the bulk of meat quickly that livestock do. They take years to mature, and even then it would take about 20 kangaroos to equal a cow. This idea is a discredit to the organization. If they really want to promote conservation, then they should be promoting conservation and respect for our national iconic kangaroos.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2013-06-10 11:05

Globalization and the making of the world as an equal paying field will destroy identities, increase poverty, destroy economics of scale and increase populations. The new global-citizenship drive, and social justice agendas, are about making all peoples "equal". It means developed and wealthy nations are under pressure to open their borders and allow the flow of under privileged and impoverished. The overflow of populations will spill-over and destroy any reserves of water, food resources and the concept of nation-hood. It's about making a generic world, and generic populations. A bill to have overseas same-sex marriages recognised in Australia will be put to the vote in the Senate by the Australian Greens before the end of June. The Greens have morphed from being a party deeply rooted into the environmental movement to one more focused on inner-city votes and social justice. Not only nationhood is under threat, and our borders from ad hoc asylum seekers arrivals that the Greens want to encourage, but gay marriage is an attempt to hijack traditional marriage and make it genderless and "equal". We are not all "equal"! Marriage is traditionally a bond between husband and wife, and is the cornerstone of families. Gays are a minority group, and they should have their relationships recognised, but in domestic partnerships, not "Marriage"! It's all part of homogenizing our populations, making them "diverse" from multiculturalism, without recognising traditional values of citizenship, sovereignty, specific relationship identities and patriotism to specific national values.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2013-06-17 10:51

I have this experience with two different ASUS products - a notebook and an eee pc. The keyboards are bizarrely unreliable to the point where one simply abandons the product. Unpredictably the text I am typing will backspace and insert letters or a portion of a word elsewhere in the text. I cannot work out how to change this. I am writing this to your forum in desperation because I do not know how to get help and do not have the time to stuff around with guarantees etc. Many people must have this problem. Help!

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2013-06-17 10:58

I would not have published this if I did not have the same kind of problem. Letters jump all over the place. It makes it r impossible to reliably use these machines for which line one has paid hundred of dollars and in some cases thousands. Note how the 'r' and 'line' inserted themselves in the above sentence. How can ASUS sell this RUBBISH? I don't understand why there is not more about this on the internet unless somehow ASUS is managing to block discussions. It is mysterious and awful.

nimby

Mon, 2013-06-17 11:43

Household gas bills in Victoria are set to soar by $170 a year, a new report warns. Australians have traditionally paid a low price for gas compared with other countries thanks to abundant supplies and the fact gas could not be exported. Gas will be exported from the East coast of Australia, so gas prices consumers will be hit with higher prices. This is part of the "economic benefits" of the Asian Century! Japan is willing to pay more for gas that our domestic consumers, so they get the priority. Struggling Melbourne households will miss meals and cut back on medicines to cope with huge water price rises to pay for the desalination plant, a peak welfare agency warns. VCOSS calculations are based on a draft City West, South East and Yarra Valley price ruling for annual bill increases of $145 to $234 for typical Melbourne households. Hardship programs will have to be increased to pay for the desalination plant. Gas, water, housing, and increasing council rates are threatening our standards of living. Do we have to go to using the village pump, community toilets, temporary housing and lamps to avoid the heavy costs? The standards of first world are that these are basic commodities, and should be standards amenities for everyone. Population growth is gouging out economies of scale - not for the actual water, energy or gas, but for the increasing costs of maintaining and extending the infrastructure. A city which deprives people of decent and affordable living standards for the majority, not just the wealthy, is counter-productive and a result of poor government and dis-economies of scale. How are we supposed to accommodate asylum seekers when already basic resources are increasingly becoming too expensive for those on fixed incomes or pensions? A stable population would stablize these prices, but "economic growth" is threatening our hip pockets.

admin

Mon, 2013-06-17 22:07

On 11 June 2013, the Albury-Wodonga (See your ad ) by local journalist David MacIlwaine.

Unlike most Australian media coverage, MacIlwaine accurately reports the conflict in Syria as another attempt at "regime change" (by the same parties guilty of since 1990 with bombing, invasion, death squads, disease and starvation caused by sanctions).

Unlike the tragic cases of Libya and Iraq, the Syrian people and the government of President al-Assad have kept the upper hand against the West's terrorist glove puppets:

Not only has the Syrian government regained control over many rebel-held areas but it has regained the moral high ground in the eyes of the rest of the “non-aligned” world with a clear commitment to a political and diplomatic resolution.

David Macilwaine concludes:

We can help them by pressuring our government to oppose any “intervention” by our allies, including Israel and the US, and to start telling us the truth about this proxy war for dominance over the Middle East and its resources.

A Stop the War rally in Sydney will take place on Saturday, supported by Hands off Syria, and later in the month a powerful voice for reconciliation in Syria, Mother Agnes Mariam, will be visiting Australia to talk about how we can help with this vital project

I heard the rally in Sydney reported only once briefly at 9:30AM on Saturday 15 June 2013. It was also reported that the protestors rejected John Kerry's that President al-Assad had used poison gas against this own people. A longer and well illustrated of the large rally has since appeared on 16 June  on the Syrian Arab News Agency ().

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2013-06-20 10:22

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned against any attempt at foreign military intervention in Syria, stressing that the move would only make the situation worse. The Russian president also defended his country’s decision to deliver advanced S-300 air defense missile systems to the Syrian government, saying it complies with the international law and will help to tilt the balance of power in the region. He, however, said that Russia has not yet fulfilled the contract, which was signed a few years ago.

11,000 deaths of women and children has been documented thus far in the conflict, some 7,500 have died as a result of regime aerial bombardment and shelling of their towns and neighbourhoods.

Editorial comment: Even some who rightly oppose NATO's terrorist war against Syria will sometimes unwittingly use language of anti-Syrian-government propagandists, for example, 'regime'. All the evidence as even , shows that the Syrian government is overwhelmingly supported by the Syrian people. As the anti-government terrorists often hide in apartment blocks and use the residents as human shields, the Syrian government often faces no choice but to bombard the apartment blocks.

Humanitarian concerns are usually put forward as a key justification for intervention in other nations, but the real reasons why the US decides to act usually involves broader considerations, such as maintaining regional stability or upholding the cohesion of Nato and other Western-led military alliances.

The US also used secret arms supplies to rebels and no-fly zones as key policy instruments even if these ran contrary to international law restrictions.

US President Barack Obama had authorized lethal aid to the rebels for the first time, after Washington said it had conclusive evidence that the regime of Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons. Syria and Russia have accused Obama of fabricating the evidence.

Russia is standing in stark opposition to any sort of resolution so far put forth by other nations present, especially the United States. Iran's President-Elect, Hassan Rowhani, warned against foreign intervention in Syria, insisting that the strife-torn country's crisis should be resolved by its own people. There might be some visionary advantages of globalisation, but not any nation's globalisation of conflict and wars and military intervention.

Bandicoot

Thu, 2013-06-20 09:16

In a year (2012) when 15,000 temperature records were set in March alone and many freak weather patterns continued to cause drought and flooding across the globe, the danger seems increasingly real and undeniable. The latest addition to these concerns is the release of methane gas from the Arctic permafrost. Scientist Igor Semiletov has sailed the Russian arctic ocean for years checking for small plumes of dangerous Methane gas. He’s mapped many of these meters-wide plumes, emitting gas 20 times more damaging to our climate than carbon dioxide. But on his last trip, as he came across the first plume, he couldn’t believe it. It was a KILOMETER wide. A vast column of gas spewing into our atmosphere. He sailed on and found another a kilometer wide, and another, and another. Hundreds of them. Scientists are investigating, but this could be what experts warned us about. As the earth warms, it creates many “tipping points” that accelerate the warming out of control. From 2003 to 2008, an international research team led by University of Alaska-Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov surveyed the waters of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, which covers more than 772,200 square miles (two million square kilometers) of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean. On May 9 this year, the daily mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since measurements began in 1958. This is 120 ppm higher than pre-industrial peak levels. This unfortunate milestone was widely reported in the media. Now another milestone has been reached that looks even more threatening than the above one. On the morning of June 16, 2013, methane levels reached an average mean of 1800 parts per billion (ppb). This is 1100 ppb higher than pre-industrial peak levels. Read more at .99">http://investmentwatchblog.com/methane-plumes-going-off-in-a-massive-way... As it has for decades, the scientific community as a whole is moving conservatively, slowly embracing a gradually more and more alarming consensus as evidence rules out other possibilities. But the vast majority agree, with many desperately trying to the get our societies to understand, that we are facing catastrophic threats unless we act. Climate change is being seen largely as a social justice, or political, issue rather than a scientific one. It's "business as usual" for the media and politics!

admin

Fri, 2013-06-21 00:57

From of 9 June 2013:

The bold journalist died in a car accident in Los Angeles

Michael Hastings, the fearless journalist whose reporting brought down the career of General Stanley McChrystal, has died in a car accident in Los Angeles, Rolling Stone has learned. He was 33.

Hastings' unvarnished 2010 profile of McChrystal in the pages of Rolling Stone, captured the then-supreme commander of the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan openly mocking his civilian commanders in the White House. The maelstrom sparked by its publication concluded with President Obama recalling McChrystal to Washington and the general resigning his post. "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be met by – set by a commanding general," Obama said, announcing McChrystal’s departure. "It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system."

nimby

Thu, 2013-06-27 13:52

Fires in South East Asia are polluting Singapore. They are set purposely to convert rainforest into land that can be used for agriculture and plantations, mostly for palm oil production. The fires in Indonesia have created Southeast Asia's worst smog crisis for years, pushing haze levels in the neighboring city-state of Singapore to record levels last week. The Singapore Tourist Board said it continues to welcome tourists but is keeping a close watch on the situation and advised tourists to limit outdoor activities at the weekend. WWF says that the burning of forests to clear land for oil palm plantations in Indonesia and, to some extent, Malaysia has been cited as the major cause of the air pollution that affected many areas of Southeast Asia in 1997 and 2002, including Singapore and other cities. Research shows that up to 25% of concessionaires, including local and foreign companies, ignore the rule restricting the planting of oil palm on peat more than three metres deep. All plantation lands and future plantations on peat are essentially illegal because they contravene national laws. But over 50% of new oil palm plantation areas are planned in peat-lands. (Greenpeace) Indonesia is preparing to tackle the fires - which happen nearly every year on Sumatra's palm oil plantations - by using planes and helicopters in a 'water-bombing' operation. Palm oil has become a scourge that humans have inflicted upon this planet. And its fallout is due as much to human overpopulation as it is to pure greed. Palm oil is a cooking oil. It’s also used in many processed foods. Palm oil comes from the fruit of a very specific palm tree. And it’s cheap. It is also high in saturated fat. So why is it spreading like a bad rumor? Let us repeat. It’s cheap, and people need income. (Rainforest Action Website: ) There are more people than ever on the earth. Most of them use edible oils. Palm oil is now the most widely used. Other popular oils include soybean and corn. They are much less unhealthful than palm oil. Brazil is well along in decimating its own rainforests, savanna and jungle habitats with farms of various types, often displacing its indigenous communities with both lawful and unlawful development. Orangutans are endangered due to habitat loss and capture for the illegal pet trade. Their rainforest homes are rapidly declining due to illegal logging, mining, farming, oil palm plantations, and human overpopulation. Orangutan populations have declined more than 50 percent in the last decade. Orangutans are considered to be pests by the palm oil industry. (The same way kangaroos are considered an ecological threat in Australia). In the deforestation process, orangutans are often run over by logging machinery, beaten to death, buried alive or set on fire. Orangutans that wander into palm oil plantations are considered to be agricultural pest, because they have the potential to damage oil palm crops. Palm oil produces immense amount of smoke pollution that is toxic to planet earth. This has been found to be the second biggest contributor to greenhouse gas in the world. Scientists warn that many of Indonesia's species could be extinct in the wild within 20 to 30 years. There are many "environmental" groups who still deny the threat and impacts of human overpopulation. With human numbers surging, the demand for economic growth means infiltrating forests and producing goods for commercial benefits - at what ever costs to the planet!

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2013-07-02 23:31

Canberra's lead counsel has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Australia is totally opposed to any form of commercial whaling "whether it be carried out under the guise of science or not". It's junk science that could easily be refuted. Lawyers for Tokyo are expected to argue Tuesday that the International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction to hear the dispute with Australia and New Zealand over the annual hunt and slaughter of hundreds of minke and fin whales in the Southern Ocean. It seems that Japan will argue that they can do what they want do, and whatever laws and policies they violate, that they are superior to and above them! The Antarctic Treaty, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, Australia's EEZ in the Antarctic, and now even the Court of Justice have no jurisdiction over what they are allowed or not allowed to do. Lawyers for Australia told the court last week that the whaling is a commercial hunt dressed up as science and should be stopped. Japan has their own culture, and values. They don't feel they have obligations to the rest of the world's problems, values, or laws. $10 m donations from Australia, after their earthquake, was squandered on "security" for the whaling fleet and other irrelevant projects.

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2013-07-04 11:48

Iranians become the leading group of asylum seeker arrivals and the massive numbers of Sri Lankan seen last year shrink dramatically. Government records show 1079 Iranians have made the trip to Australia by boat in 2013, taking top place from Sri Lanka, from where 6428 people arrived in 2012.

Iranians gain relatively painless entry to Indonesia, with the Middle Eastern country on the list of those whose nationals are able to acquire a visa on arrival. That has meant that Iranians ultimately seeking to arrive in Australia by boat are able to conduct the stretch of the journey as far as Indonesia without legal difficulty.

Early indications are that many of the Iranians arrivals are middle-class residents of big cities such as Tehran who have been able to summon up the tens of thousands of dollars to pay a people smuggler for a chance at entry to Australia. As essentially economic refugees, they face little chance of their claim being accepted.

of 11 Jan 2012 on crikey,com.au

Senator Carr says there have "been some boats where 100 per cent of them have been people who are fleeing countries where... their motivation is altogether economic". According to the UNHCR, Iran currently recognises almost a million Afghan refugees. In 2008, Iran said it intended to expel 1.5 million Afghans it considered to be illegally in the country.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees regional head Richard Towle attacked Bob Carr's claims the majority of Iranian asylum-seekers were seeking improved economic circumstances. The problem is due to sheer numbers and costs, causing a need to refine what "asylum seekers" really are. Bob Carr is quite right that economics could play a part in the displacement of nationals from their homelands.

Human population numbers are set to continue to swell by 2 billion more by 2050, and as a result there will be conflicts over finite resources, causing wars and revolutions. Along with climate change and failing food supplies, migrations of entire nations will soon take place as people begin to flee their homelands to seek asylum elsewhere.

GREG BARNES from the Australian Lawyers Alliance says that one of the other things that Mr Carr seems to be confusing is the fact that economic oppression can amount to persecution. "Economic oppression" could include billions of potential refugees who are denied jobs

! ... on ABC Radio National's The World Today of 2 July 2013.

The latest figures from the Immigration Department show that in the past year the Government has paid out almost a million dollars in compensation to detainees who allege they've been wrongfully held or injured in detention.

There is a deep concern in the community that Labor is allowing migration intake to run out of control. We now have over 200,00 new skilled and family-reunion migrants a year net, along with uncapped temporary migrants, in Australia.

There is a need to have an orderly refugee process, and we certainly have credentials as a compassionate nation. However, we have to protect our borders from unsustainable surging asylum seeker numbers at a time when our cities are already under considerable population pressure.

We need a tough, strong border protection policy, and a redefinition of who qualifies as needing asylum, but there needs to be some rational debate on priorities. Permanent economic migrants arriving at airports each day are shielded because a relatively small number of asylum seekers hijack the "immigration" debate.

Fairfax Media understands that Australia is speaking to Iran and the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, about how failed asylum-seekers can be returned to that country.

Read more: in the Canberra Times of 2 July 2103.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2013-07-05 13:45

Mr Rudd is meeting with the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta today, and the beef trade is expected to be high on the agenda.

of 5 July 2013 on

It's assumed that by securing supply chains from Australia, our beef can help "feed the world". There are rising protein levels required in Indonesia, and Kevin Rudd is believes the live export industry represent a "huge opportunity" for us, despite Indonesia recently considering being more self sufficient in food.

What's really chilling is that Rudd said that "I think the first thing he needs to say is apologise to the people to the government and to the Indonesians for what the Australian Government did when they stopped the trade without talking to them". Cattle were routinely smashing their heads on concrete plinths, having their eyes gouged, tails broken, and throats brutally hacked at in Indonesian abattoirs.

If we apologise for ending their stabbing, torture and atrocities to the animals we sent there is an insult to sanity and any humane standards of animal welfare. An ‘apology’ will also send a damaging message to importing countries that trade relations are more important than stopping animal abuse.

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive, Alison Penfold, says halting exports would be premature and damaging to Australia's relationship with Vietnam. There's not mention of the lack of transparency and mismanagement of the industry that allowed the shameful atrocities to being in the first place!
Australia can't provide "food security" for the world. Cattle are starving now because of drought, and we are they driest country with a rapidly rising population.

According to Animals Australia, live export represents just 0.3% of Australia's total exports. The chilled meat trade is worth nearly 6 times more to the economy. The vast majority of jobs currently supported by the live trade would still exist if livestock were being sent to local markets. Ending live export would in fact create jobs in Australia through increased domestic processing.

PostGrowthEra (not verified)

Fri, 2013-07-12 18:02

The Federal election campaign lacks substance, is full of vague policies, heavy reliance on personalities rather than programs, clashes with the Opposition, and vague praise for our great economy!

Kevin Rudd said in his Press Club speech that "Our population should continue to be supported by a strong migration policy designed to mitigate the effects of our ageing population..."

Read more: of 1 July 2013 in the Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/kevin-rudds-press-club-speech-full-transcript-20130711-2prqg.html .

Thanks to a unique history, our economic growth and our nation's foundation was forged through immigration - as an immigration nation. It's naively assumed that what we gained from it can continue to be propagated at our present times, contrary to empirical evidence that we are far from benefiting from our ongoing population growth.

That someone presumably as educated, and intelligent, as Kevin Rudd can actually believe that ongoing immigration can dilute our ageing population shows lack of strategic thinking, the ability to adjust his thinking from the past, and naively project it into the future. It's pure Ponzi Demographic- and growth now will mean lower wages, higher unemployment, a further blowout of homelessness and housing costs, and further demands on natural resources which will mean loosening our environmental protection policies even further. Comment: To attribute Kevin Rudd's actions to naïveté is being too kind to him in my opinion. See also of 28 June,- Ed

Joseph Chamie, the former head of the United Nations population division, has been quoted as saying: "Like all Ponzi schemes, Ponzi demography is unsustainable. Among its primary tactics, it exploits the fear of population decline and ageing. Without a young and growing population we are warned of becoming a nation facing financial ruin and a loss of national power". The irrational fear of ageing is being exploited, and ignores the fact that it's not only baby-boomers who are ageing, but migrants too!

The next generation will have an even bigger ageing population, and if the same logic is applied, are they then also to have even a bigger immigration program to compensate for it? It's a dangerous, lethal the idiotic human pyramid - one that will collapse under the weight of our own biomass!

Bandicoot

Wed, 2013-07-17 13:46

In a landmark case, Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice over its ‘scientific whaling’ program—one that kills hundreds of whales every year in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. Japan, Iceland and Norway all continue their whale hunts, despite the fact that these gentle ocean creatures already face increasing challenges posed by marine pollution, climate change, ship-strikes, bycatch, and more. While the court’s decision on Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean is expected by the end of the year, there has never been a more opportune time to pressure whaling nations to stop the cruel practice of commercial whaling. Make your voice heard today. There is no excuse for continuing to allow this barbaric and outdated practice, especially as other threats to whales such as pollution and climate change increase. It is time to call on all nations to safeguard whales from this cruel and unnecessary threat to whales in their waters. Join us (Humane Society International) in calling on world leaders to make their waters whale-friendly by banning commercial hunting and the transit of whale products, thereby giving whales needed refuge everywhere they feed, breed and migrate. No exceptions. Killing animals subject to scientific research should be the last option, not mass killings and then trying to justify it in hindsight for the economic and cultural value of the "by-catch".

Bandicoot

Thu, 2013-07-18 16:11

Shooting kangaroos in Canberra's Pinnacle Nature reserve, adjacent to Weetangera and Hawker, stopped temporarily about 8pm on Sunday after activists sounded air horns and charged across the reserve. The designated culling sites were due to be closed to the public at midday last Thursday to enable shooting to begin. The annual kangaroo "cull" had been given the green light after a decision handed down by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday, ruling that 1244 kangaroos could be shot by the end of July. The number was reduced to 740, excluding the dependent joeys! Hardly coincidental is the report in Canberra Times of a jump in kangaroo collisions in Canberra. There has been a spike in the number of car accidents involving kangaroos. Claims data from NRMA Insurance shows a 30 per cent increase in the number of kangaroo vehicle collisions in the ACT in the past year. The 30 per cent increase would be due to Canberra's human population growth too. Rather than overwhelming conservationism and excessive concern for endangered species being threatened by the number of overgrazing kangaroos, this is likely to be the real reason for the kangaroo reduction. Michael Linke from the RSPCA says the spike is not surprising as animals are facing increasing hazards on Canberra roads. "There's increased traffic on the road and more housing development, so it's something that's going to increase over time." He's unknowingly "hit the nail on the head"! There's usually a hidden monetary reason, a hip-pocket concern, for these "culls". Kangaroos are silent scapegoats for lack of wildlife corridors, over-passes, and urbanisation.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2013-07-22 10:19

Thousands of Indian students, skilled workers and 457 visa holders have been admitted to Australia on dodgy travel and work documents. Freedom of Information show out-of-control fraud of the visa system. The internal audits, from the 2008/09 financial year, show fraud rates approaching 50 per cent, and an Immigration Department struggling to properly identify people who are entering the country. An Immigration Department spokesman said that "Around the periods of 2008, 2009, 2010 the fraud levels were quite considerable, a matter of real concern to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship". It is reported that the Department is nearly powerless to stop identity fraud, because of the low level of technology in Indian passports. Documents outline one alarming case where a man breached Australia's borders by entering the country under a false identity. For a General Skilled Migration visa class, from 23,767 visa lodgements there was a 46.9 per cent fraud rate for 2008/2009. There does not appear to be much the Department can do, with one of the documents finding "opportunities to combat this type of fraud remain extremely difficult". "People cheat about all kinds of things, around fraudulent marriages and do scams of all sorts and really that's a challenge for the compliance officers of our country whether they be the police or be they be immigration officials." Maurene Horder from the Migration Institute of Australia, the peak body for migration agents, wants migration agents overseas to be forced to register with the Department of Immigration, so they can be banned if they cheat the system. "That was a porous, very bad system," she said. Our whole immigration system is a rort, due to enormous fees being collected by immigration agents, and our own Immigration Department. With our economy's slowdown and unemployment expected to rise, Australia is not short of labour!

Bandicoot

Tue, 2013-07-23 09:41

The attack on Australian working and living conditions doesn't stop there! Our environment is being cleared for logging. housing, industries and mining, and iconic koalas are facing a carnage! Thousands of koalas have taken refuge in the vast timber plantations that have emerged across the region of south east Australia, which are increasingly maturing for harvest. While human diaspora get a lot of media attention, there's little attention given to our wildlife. While humans are reproducing in record numbers, other native species, endemic to our land, are being cruelly eradicated. Koala experts and wildlife refuge staff say many koalas are being wiped out during the logging process. The ABC's 7.30 program has been provided with damning evidence of the carnage, the scale of which has previously been kept confidential. "What's happening in our country? We create a big brouhaha when we see it happening to cattle in a slaughterhouse in Indonesia or somewhere like that, but this is happening in our own backyard with a much bigger impact. "This is a national and international icon that we are treating with so much disrespect and disdain" says Dr Stephen Phillips, a member of the Federal Government's Koala Abundance Working Group. Australia is descending into hostile, third-world mayhem, and the integrity of our land, our jobs, our economy and environment is under attack for industry $$$$. Tracy Wilson, a wildlife rescue volunteer from Koroit in Victoria, says she deals with koalas with horrendous injuries. "Broken limbs, impact wounds, broken backs, severed arm, dead mothers with joeys still alive trying to survive," she said. Instead of asylum seekers, we should concentrate more on the victims in Australia - animals! Industries are supposed to "self-regulate" but that's like asking the fox to take care of the chicken coop! Mark Butler MP is our new Minister for the Environment.

Vivienne Ortega

Wed, 2013-07-24 17:18

The US and Japanese owned companies that run the plantations export this timber as woodchip for paper production in Japan and China. So rather than acknowledge the problem and try to address it, these companies have tried to avoid bad PR by denying any animals are being killed. Please sign the to stop the koala slaughter. With dwindling natural habitats, some koalas have turned to Blue Gum plantations for refuge. But now, as these plantations are being cut down, an animal welfare disaster is unfolding. With no apparent plan to relocate the local inhabitants, and without any government monitoring, trees are simply being cut down with animals still in them. Volunteer wildlife carers are struggling to keep up with the number of casualties — koalas suffering from broken limbs and backs, severed arms and impact wounds. Many more don't even survive the fall. Witnesses have even described injured koalas still on the felled trees as they are pulled through the shredders. The Victorian Department for Environment & Primary Industries has admitted that they rely on timber companies to self-report wildlife issues. Yet the international companies that run the plantations continue to deny there's any problem. What's clear is that self-regulation is failing, and stronger protection for wildlife is needed. At a minimum, the detection, capture and relocation of koalas (and other at risk wildlife) needs to occur under government supervision before forest areas are logged. Koalas urgently need you to be their voice. Please call on the Ministers responsible in Victoria and South Australia to stop the tragic killing of koalas and introduce stronger protection for wildlife. The globalization of our land, our trees, our agricultural output will put our wildlife under international standards of "animal welfare" - something that can't be controlled overseas and to standards that in many countries don't exist. Species such and elephants and orangutans are simply killed as "agricultural pests" - and this is not what we want for our native, iconic, much-loved animals!

Sheila Cross (not verified)

Fri, 2013-07-26 09:41

To Ian Hunter and Peter Walsh via the Animals Australia website petition on Thursday, 26 July 2013. cc: The Age and The Adelaide Advertiser. I have recently become aware of the killing of koalas on timber plantations in South Australia and Victoria. This is as shameful as it is a betrayal of the Australian people's trust. I'm appalled that the welfare of native animals has been so grossly neglected by our elected representatives and of their lack of moral integrity. The companies involved are foreign owned, and government continues to sell out to clearly disproven neo-liberal views of free markets and wholesale profit grabs by those pretending to represent the people of South Australia, Victoria and thus Australia. Please don't plead the responsibility of a prior government or lack of resources. The contracting practices of all Australian governments are a sham - and you know this. Self-regulation is a joke - and you know this too - in the forest industry and equally amongst the elected representatives who hide behind a constitution that cannot be changed without their approval. Animal cruelty, animal suffering must not be tolerated and in this instance it is clearly preventable. Shame on you and your involvement as elected representative to allow this to continue. What are you going to do to meet your responsibilities as a human being and as one elected to represent more than profit margins and your own power base. Create a legacy of your time in office and step up to protect the natural environment, its fauna and flora for the well-being of the human family and yours. Sincerely, Sheila Cross

nimby

Mon, 2013-07-29 08:30

McDonald's: abandon plans to build a massive 24/7 store opposite the kindergarten in Tecoma. McDonald's plans to build a huge 24/7 store and drive-through in our town on the Dandenong ranges -- demolishing local iconic buildings on the site and ensuring it goes directly opposite the kindergarten and school. For our kids, the nearby national park and our beautiful small-town culture, there could be nothing worse. Every day, kids as young as five years old would need to walk past a giant advertisement for junk food just to go to school. This is despite health experts warning of the damaging impact of junk food on young children -- and child obesity spiralling out of control. Perhaps even more worryingly, if it goes ahead here, it could set a dangerous precedent of junk food stores being built next to schools. Our community doesn't want that. The plan is opposed by 90% of residents. The application was rejected by council. But instead of respecting our wishes, McDonald's appealed the decision and are using their huge financial and legal power to bully their way into our town. They're now suing locals who are objecting to the building of the store in the Victorian Supreme Court -- and there are accounts of McDonald's private security on the proposed site threatening and intimidating locals who have peacefully protested against the plan. If McDonald's win this fight, it'll break our hearts. This town, our special part of the world that we think deserves protecting, would be irreversibly changed. That's why we need your help. The only way McDonald's will walk away now is if they see it becoming a huge brand risk for them -- that thousands of consumers will stand with us in opposing their plan. Please sign my petition and join our community standing up against McDonald's -- and help ensure they abandon plans to build the store opposite our primary school. It'd be devastating for our beautiful little town and national park. You can also leave a message for McDonald's on their Facebook page here or tweet at them: Petition by Garry Muratore Belgrave, Australia

PostGrowthEra

Tue, 2013-07-30 13:30

Orang-utans are reported in the American Journal of Primatology, has been observed in Borneo to be coming down from the trees to forage and travel. The amount of time the orang-utans were spending on the forest floor had never before been seen. Read more: Borneo is a network of timber plantations, agroforestry areas and mines, with patches of natural forest. They are being deprived of their natural habitats due to human encroachments and violence. Being forced to change their behaviours and adapt to living on the land is an adaption being forced onto them, to survive. Their jaws may be getting larger to allow for the eating of bark, rather than fruit. Human oppression against orang-tans means their survival is under threat. It's said that these gentle animals are better evolved than humans, and on a higher ethical plane. Human egotism has put us on a pedestal, but we aren't necessarily superior in adaption ability, or socially. Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz. Originator of the orangutan theory of human origins(1984) proposed that humans are more closely related to orangutans than to chimpanzees - a model that contradicts the greater molecular similarity (often misrepresented as being the sole 'genetic' component of evolution) of base pair sequences in humans and chimpanzees.

Bandicoot

Wed, 2013-07-31 18:17

July 2013

RUSSIA'S DECISION TO FORBID KANGAROO PRODUCT IMPORTS
APPLAUDED BY THE ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT NOW FACES DISGRACE AFTER SUPPORTING AN INDUSTRY WHICH MOSCOW NOW UNCOVERS AS DECEPTIVE AND CORRUPT

It has been confirmed with the Animal Justice Party by Yury Aleshin, Chief of the Agriculture Ministry at the Russian Embassy, that Russia has again imposed a full ban on the importation of kangaroo meat from Australia on grounds of fraudulent and deceptive conduct.

Following an investigation and seizure of containers containing 1,860kg of meat it was discovered the meat was sourced from unapproved plants via unregistered companies owned by Macro meats. The decision follows two former bans in 2008 and 2009 after major contamination was detected.

This will help bring this grotesquely brutal, rogue industry to an end. A core goal of the Animal Justice Party for the current election campaign is now well on the way to being achieved.

Both Labor and the Coalition have provided significant financial and lobbying support for the kangaroo killing industry to access overseas markets in recent years. This was in return for votes in rural areas. Until now, Russia was the largest importer of kangaroo meat which was enough to keep this brutal, unregulated and heavily subsidised industry operational.

“The kangaroo killing industry is an international disgrace and has been the main contributor to Australia having the unenviable distinction of the highest rate of land-based wildlife slaughter on the planet”, said AJP President Professor Steve Garlick.

“The end of this industry is now in sight thanks to the Russian Government. But there is no thanks to Labor and the Coalition who actively propped up this industry, or to the Greens who have failed to oppose this brutal industry. The Greens have never supported Australia’s iconic fauna emblem.” said Professor Garlick.

Animal Justice Party members played a key role in providing evidence to Russian Government officials in order to help them in their decision to ban these imports from Australia.

A full list of AJP policies, including its policy on kangaroos and wallabies, and its manifesto can be found at:

For further information please email info@animaljusticeparty.org or tweet us .

Media Enquiries: Professor Steve Garlick – AJP President – 0428 880 564
Mark Pearson - lead Senate candidate for NSW – 0417 252 107

nimby

Wed, 2013-07-31 18:48

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is proposing to reduce the corporate tax rate from 30% to 25%.

To make up for lost revenue, company tax revenue would be replaced by increasing and expanding the GST so all Australians would pay more for our basic essentials such as food, education and health care.

The Grattan Institute estimates this would add another $3000 a year to average household costs.

They're also proposing to slash penalty rates and reduce the minimum wage for workers, meaning you would have less money in your pocket to pay bills and feed your family. This is to create more "prosperity" for Australia, and create a future surplus.

They would increase immigration too.

It's pure Ponzi economics, a way of getting working Australians to participate in the scheme so that more of their hard-earned saving and wages drift into corporate hands - those at its peak!

Only dodgy and questionable organisations rely on population growth for their revenues. It's about accumulating consumers, as business resources, to boost business profits and opportunities. There's no guarantee of jobs for the migrants they would like to import.

And homebuyers would be invited to pay even more, by introducing a new land tax on home owner-occupiers.

Mitigating an ageing population by adding would mean a further ageing deficit for the next generation. It's Ponzi demographics and is intellectually dishonest.

Financial and corporations, and collectives such as this business "council", make demands and create reports that suit their vested interests.

Bandicoot

Fri, 2013-08-02 09:14

Thousands of koalas have taken refuge in the vast timber plantations that have emerged across the region, which are increasingly maturing for harvest. In plantations that are used for wood pulp, hundreds of koalas are being killed and suffering from horrific injuries and left to slowly die. A plantation harvesting operation is so mechanised and cost-efficient, it has no time to look for and avoid koalas in trees. According to the Victorian government's Department of Environment and Primary Industries, "there are significant numbers of koalas across suitable habitat in the South west. The high population densities have resulted in many koalas moving into the blue gum plantations in the region. This is a significant issue for the timber plantation industry that they haven'??t had to address in such magnitude before". In other words, the koalas are being shredded in Blue Gum plantations because of their own population growth. It's their own fault for over-breeding! "DEPI is working with the Blue Gum Plantation industry in the south west to make sure it responds humanely and effectively to the influx of koalas onto its plantation estate". It's more like stress on their habitats, fragmentation and lack of it that they are going into the plantations, only to suffer callous carnage during logging. There are a lot of motherhood statements about caring, and guidelines, and policies for koala management. "DEPI, in partnership with Wildlife Carers, is developing a training program for operational forestry field staff focusing on koala awareness, signs of distress and handling techniques for those operating in koala environments. This new training will begin in August". The Victorian government should buy the plantations, at any costs, to save our wildlife. Why would foreign plantation owners care about koalas, any more than palm-oil plantation owners care about orangatans or other native animals.

PostGrowthEra

Sat, 2013-08-03 11:13

Environment Minister Mark Butler announced that he approved the mine in Tasmania's Tarkine, which was halted two weeks ago by a Federal Court decision that found his predecessor, Tony Burke, had failed to properly consider official departmental advice about its impact on the Tasmanian devil. The mine’s development was halted by a federal court ruling in May, which found the mine to be unlawful due to its potential impact on Tasmanian devils. "Environment" Minister Mark Butler is quite comfortable about going down in history as the "Minister for extinction" There are currently 58 exploration licences granted over the Tarkine. Exploration activities such as drilling, geophysical surveys and pit tests have a substantial impact on the Tarkine through clearing, roading and introduction of contaminants. The Tarkine is the last stronghold of disease-free Tasmanian Devils. Economic benefits are not to be thwarted by the small problem of protected and threatened Tasmanian Devils! They are disposable, natural assets! Australian Greens leader Senator Christine Milne said the future of the Tasmanian devil and the tourism potential of the Tarkine were being trashed by Labor for short-term political gain. Also trashed is any legal guarantees and policies that protect even threatened native species. The conditions of the new approval stipulate that Shree Minerals Limited make contributions to organisations that protect flora and fauna in the area, including a donation of $350,000 to maintain an insurance population of devils in response to the deadly facial tumour disease epidemic. This is pure and futile tokenism considering their mining trucks and heavy equipment will access the area and trample on any flora and fauna inhibiting their access.

Bandicoot

Thu, 2013-08-08 09:19

The political parties vying for votes are offering a selection of goodies for those who vote for them. However, there's is more at stake than ourselves, and our own concerns and the economy. National laws require the Australian Government to develop recovery plans for all 112 birds listed as threatened … but there is no dedicated fund to implement them. This is not a big commitment. Birdlife Australia estimate it would only cost an average of $380,000 for each species. And we know funded recovery plans work – they save birds. They are urging both major parties to fund the implementation of national recovery plans for threatened birds. They need your help to ensure threatened birds have a voice in this election campaign.

nimby

Fri, 2013-08-09 14:13

Masao Yoshida, the man in charge of Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in the wake of the catastrophic 2011 earthquake and tsunami, has died at 58 from oesophageal cancer. Yoshida was called a "hero" for his actions during the disaster that helped curtail the spread of nuclear fallout. Yoshida-one of the "Fukushima 50"- risked his life to do so, even disobeying orders by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), to stop pumping cooling seawater into the overheating reactors. The "Fukushima 50" were the 50 engineers and workers who stayed on at the plant, braving potentially lethal amounts of radiation, in an attempt to restore the damaged cooling system. At first reprimanded by the company for his disobedience, Yoshida's decision helped to lessen the damage of the meltdown, and later they praised Yoshida for his resolve. In fact, Japan's Prime Minister, Naoto Kan tweeted about Yoshida saying, "I bow in respect for his leadership and decision making." Yoshida stayed at the disabled nuclear facility for nearly nine months, heading up the disaster response. In a December, 2011 statement after Yoshida stepped down from his post as plant head of Fukushima due to illness, Tepco President Naomi Hirose said, "We deeply appreciate his contribution and the way he handled the accident."

PostGrowthEra

Sat, 2013-08-10 10:36

MEDIA RELEASE:AiAUS BALLS ON THE LINE FOR PLANET EARTH For release: 10am Monday July 8, 2013, Adelaide, Australia Australia hosts the world?s-first vasectomy-athon asking men to take a very personal action to save the planet, protect their families and do right by themselves. On October 18, 2013 men all over the world, who are ready to exit the gene pool, will dedicate their vasectomy to Planet Earth. 1,000 men in 25 countries will take the ultimate snip to show they care about the growing strain that population is placing on the planet?s resources, their families and themselves. The world?s most prolific vasectomist, Dr Doug Stein will perform live vasectomies in front of an audience in Adelaide at the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) to launch the inaugural World Vasectomy Day event streamed live online. Renowned thinkers, academics and activists will surround the operating room as they debate the future of our planet. World Vasectomy Day (WVD) is the creation of Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stack, who while setting out to tell his own story about getting a vasectomy, met legendary Florida-based vasectomist Dr Doug Stein and together, ended up making a film about population on the planet – THE VASECTOMIST. But it didn?t stop there. The journey inspired them to create a movement to raise global awareness of: the dangers an ever-increasing population has on the planet?s finite resources; and vasectomy as a viable solution to prevent unintended pregnancies. “We?re asking men who do not want more children to shoulder the burden of family planning, to fight for their family, their community, their country and our planet,” says Stack. “To be like Frodo in ?The Lord of the Rings?! By throwing our fertility into the fire, we?re protecting our women, our families and future generations.” Australia has one of the highest uptake rates of vasectomy in the world and this trailblazing spirit led the producers to launch WVD in Australia to set the stage for the global conversation. Director of RiAus Paul Willis welcomed the partnership as a prime opportunity to host a world-class knowledge-sharing forum addressing critical science related issues within the context of a highly innovative and ambitious multiplatform public event: “This event will take vasectomy out of the medical suite and into the homes of people who may never have considered vasectomy. It will be an important way of encouraging people to think about how their ecological footprint leaves its mark on the planet,” says Willis. The live-streamed vasectomy-athon will feature Dr Stein performing vasectomies while fielding questions from both the live Adelaide audience and an international online audience. Simultaneously, a gathering of diverse thought leaders including population expert and author of The Population Bomb Professor Paul Ehrlich will weigh in on the social, political, cultural and ethical issues raised by the event and Dr Stein?s mission to save the planet, one vasectomy at a time... “Can vasectomies really make a difference? Mine made a big difference in my life, and to this day I consider it the single most important contribution I have personally made to the wellbeing of future generations, “ says Ehrlich. World Vasectomy Day is coproduced by Jonathan Stack?s New York-based Gabriel Films and Sydney-based Smith&Nasht – a media production company focused on social issue storytelling founded by Simon Nasht and Dick Smith. For all media enquiries and interviews contact Ruth Cross - Producer +61 435 556 339

Bandicoot

Mon, 2013-08-12 10:08

Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands publicly unveiled his lab-grown burger at a high-profile London taste-testing event. Some people think that have to eat real meat, despite tasty soy and gluten convincing alternatives. Post made his by placing stem cells taken from cows into a culture dish and feeding the cells with fetal calf serum to make them grow. He says that one sample of muscle cells taken from a live cow during a biopsy could create up to 20,000 tons of cultured beef. It uses stem cell technology to produce up to 10 kilos of beef. No harm is done to the cows. PETA is offering $1 million for the production of in vitro chicken meat to the market. Animal rights group PETA supports this development. Besides eliminating the need to slaughter billions of animals every year, growing meat in a laboratory would end clear-cutting of forests for livestock production, conserve vast amounts of water and energy, and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions for meat production by 78 to 96 percent. For those who insist on eating animal flesh, this lab-produced meat is an ideal alternative, environmentally and for a more humane society.

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2013-08-12 13:08

Bandicoot, I think what you will find, with lab-grown meat, is that it will be used as an excuse to continue overgrowth of human populations and to eradicate most other large forms of life. It may free a proportion of ungulates from suffering, but it may also herald the rapid extinction of their species because they will be deemed of no further use to humanity, which could now be fed with a few cells grown over and over. Suburbs would overtake the ranges where cattle and other animals (including wild ones) currently live. It will also be used to make nearly all humans utterly dependent on corporate manufacture and distribution of food - all of which will be in processed form. The circle of our slavery will be complete. I personally would go for permaculture - mixed farms where humans adapted to their surroundings and localised all production and consumption and kept human populations small, in line with other animal and vegetable populations, as we once were. Sheila N

PostGrowthEra

Tue, 2013-08-13 10:25

PERTH residents have vented outrage that their power bills will increase to an average of $2000 within three years. State Budget papers reveal yearly "approved increases" of 7 per cent for electricity prices from 2014 through to at least 2016-17. They have already gone up 4 per cent this year. This will take the average annual family power bill from $963 to $1998 under Mr Barnett's reign, despite his promise during the March state election campaign to keep electricity prices "at or around the rate of inflation" which is now 2.5 per cent. Perth has "enjoyed" solid and sustained population growth. Last year alone, 75,000 people moved to the city – and the people transport network catered for an extra five million boardings. Almost one in three renters in the marginal seat of Canning south of Perth, currently held by the Liberals’ Don Randall, are suffering rental stress, and almost 3000 households in Pearce, northeast of Perth are in mortgage stress. “We have 500 community organisations saying (housing affordability) has reached crisis point, so it’s a national issue,” said Roland Manderson, Deputy Director of Anglicare. Not for profit organisations and charities should not be overwhelmed by demands, from the fallout of government mismanagement of population growth. They are becoming a fixture of our society, of "growth" that displaces people from the economy. As for electricity, the main cost is the poles and the wires, and they need to be maintained and expanded for a swelling population - blowing out the electricity prices. Having power, water and gas are accepted amenities as a first world country, but now they are biting into hip pockets.