Miscellaneous comments from 16 October 2012

Tue, 2012-10-16 22:49 by admin
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 -form">here. Comments made on the previous "Miscellaneous comments" page from 25 August 2012 can be found . Comments made on the next "Miscellaneous comments" page from 4 December 2012 can be found .

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Sheila Newman

Thu, 2012-10-18 09:46

Ross Gittins writes, "It is surprising how little the airconditioner boom has been questioned, considering its economic, environmental and social costs." (. Ross's article is useful but he could also have raised the building design issues for which developers and town planning rules are responsible. They have resulted in houses without shade trees, without eves, with low ceilings and in high densities on land. All these things make it very difficult for people to cool their houses without resorting to airconditioning. High rise and high density in the form of multi-appartments absolutely demand airconditioning and the article should have said that. High density is associated with overpopulation and is illogically supported by pseudo greens as if it were somehow conservative of energy. Water restrictions (due to overpopulation and massive industrial consumption) make baths, pools and ponds luxuries as well. Estate developers, builders and the planners that authorise these should be made to pay a tax on their profits and be fined for all design features that cause high energy consumption, including high density. Actually, in these days of looming energy constraints I would suggest that imprisonment for increasing energy consumption through design should carry prison sentences.

NIMBY (not verified)

Thu, 2012-10-18 18:16

Currently in many Melbourne middle ring suburbs there are community campaigns calling for reinstatement of government school provision. These are generally areas which have experienced school closures followed by increased numbers of school aged children as a result of increased births, high immigration, and an influx of first home buyers and young families moving a bit further out from the inner. Docklands, Southbank, Port Melbourne, Coburg, Northcote, Brunswick and Preston are expected to be placed under the greatest pressure from the soaring student population. ''There's going to be a huge shortfall of schools in inner-suburbs,'' said Melbourne University planning professor Kevin O'Connor, who based his research on official government population projections. Read more: Professor O'Connor said existing schools could absorb the population growth by increasing their enrolments. But even if half the extra students found places, there would still be demand for about seven new schools. Reviews into the need for new schools in South Melbourne, Yarraville, Coburg and North Melbourne-Docklands are due to be released this year by Education Minister Martin Dixon. In a report released in September, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission says it is ''deeply concerned'' that some students with disabilities are only attending school part time and parents are having to pay for support in schools. Lack of support for children with disabilities, declining educational standards, bullying, crowding, school closures, over-crowded classrooms are an over-population one. With demands for infrastructure, there's not enough funds for education - including TAFEs.

nimby

Sat, 2012-10-20 10:38

The super-trawler's 18,000-tonne quota is for jack mackerel and red bait, both of which are key prey fish which help to sustain populations of larger animals like southern bluefin tuna and fur seals. Species losses are contributing to dead oceans. We are currently allowing the greatest ecosystem on our planet earth to perish and die off. After months of controversy about the largest fishing vessel ever slated for Australian waters, Environment Minister Tony Burke last month declared an interim ban on trawling in the small pelagic fishery by any vessel of Abel Tasman's size. The company’s proposals are not based on science and will not reduce concerns about localised depletion or the threat to dolphins and other marine life. The proposed catch will be frozen whole and most will then be exported to West Africa for human consumption. Despite licences for European factory fishing vessels not being renewed in Senegal, local fishermen now contribute hugely to the disappearance of species. ‘Global losses due to Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) or “pirate fishing” are estimated to be between US$10 billion and US$23.5 billion per year. West African waters are estimated to have the highest levels of IUU fishing in the world, representing up to 37 percent of the region’s catch. Ninety percent of vessels documented by EJF in West Africa are bottom trawlers, which drag heavy trawl equipment along the seabed, resulting in damage to the bottom habitat and high levels of by-catch, including vulnerable marine life such as sharks and turtles. Fishing is Senegal’s foremost economic activity, employing around 15 percent of the workforce - about 600,000 people. Their diets of protein from fish is not sustainable. Their population growth of 2.5% increase per year means that demand is growing and outstripping supplies. Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048. Hi-tech fishing vessels leave no escape routes for fish populations and how farmed fish as a solution is a myth. "We have answered all of Minister Burke's concerns," said Seafish Director Gerry Green. A local solution here won't solve the global overfishing problem. Globalizing natural resources, such as fish stocks, gives the illusion of inexhaustible supply, and that local under-supply problems can be solved by plundering other nations' resources.

Geoffrey Taylor

Tue, 2012-10-23 14:25

@

News of 'rebel' assaults on Christian population of Aleppo rarely presented on #. Why not? :

at http://www.globalresearch.ca/living-as-a-christian-in-the-hell-of-aleppo-besieged-by-opposition-rebels-the-testimony-of-a-priest .

Geoffrey Taylor

Tue, 2012-10-23 15:08

Syria's first lady, Asma al-Assad, unlike , became a for Australia's ABC on 12 March 2012:

The world was once smitten with Asma al-Assad, but after a year of lethal violence the woman who married into Syria's powerful ruling family has become a hate figure for many.

 

For reporting on Syria, Libya, Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East that is more truthful than what is to be found on the ABC visit .

nimby

Tue, 2012-10-23 16:15

Pregnant pigs can be kept for their entire 4 month pregnancy in a tiny metal stall not much bigger than the size of their bodies. Nursing mothers are similarly confined. Unable to interact with their babies they watch helplessly as their piglets have their tails cut off and teeth clipped without pain relief. Male piglets are castrated without anaesthetic.

The growth of global and local populations is denying both wildlife and domestic animals habitat, allowing them the right to land, to live naturally. The squeeze on animals means their sentience is denied and they become no more the cogs in factory-industrial processes, to churn out food products to appease human demands.

The industry has hit back at Animals Australia's emotive new campaign against sow stalls and caged eggs, saying the group failed to mention efforts to phase out the sow stalls and the importance of caged eggs as a source of cheap food.

Coles has announced it will stop selling company-branded pork, ham and bacon from pigs kept in crammed stalls as well as company-branded caged eggs from January,

Featuring flying piglets, the television advertising campaign is entitled "Make it Possible" and claims to give animals their voice so that factory farming and animal cruelty in piggeries and chicken rearing businesses will end.

It is estimated that 90% of all pigs raised for food are confined at some point in their lives. Pigs are highly social, affectionate and intelligent creatures, and suffer both physically and emotionally when they are confined in narrow cages where they cannot even turn around. Many pigs become crazy with boredom and develop vices like mouthing, and nervous ticks; others are driven to fighting and cannibalism because of their frustration.

Make the pro-pig pledge - Animals Australia:

Watch the video: Imagine a world without factory farming....

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 2012-10-24 19:22

In the 1970s, agricultural policies led to smaller farms consolidating into big monocultures. Animals were taken off the farm and squeezed into these animal “factories,” They allowed us to raise many more animals cheaply. However, "cheap" comes at a great cost to the animals. Hundreds of thousands of livestock or millions of chickens are grown in tight, dimly lit, quarters where movement is restricted and the animals don’t have access to the outdoors. Piglets' tails are chopped off, and castrated, and the chickens’ beaks are clipped without receiving pain killers. There's also the environmental impacts of monocultures. While soybean offers great economic opportunities for Brazil, huge mechanized, soy monocultures destroy tropical ecosystems, accelerate climate change, and cause human rights abuses primarily to produce agrofuel and livestock feed. Soy production has already destroyed 21 million hectares of forest in Brazil, and 80 million hectares, including portions of the Amazon basin. Concerns about large-scale animal factory farming fall into four categories:1) of animal welfare; 2) large corporations destroying small farms and rural communities; 3)of farms straining soil and water resources and requiring mass transport of chemicals,4) generating more greenhouse gas pollution. Projections for population growth and a rise in per capita consumption of animal protein in developing countries mean that the world will be consuming two-thirds more animal protein in 2050 than it does today. Worldwide, about 70 billion farm animals are now reared for food each year. The blowout of global world population will make us more reliant on cruel, unsustainable environmental and animal farming techniques. It destroys our connection to Nature. It's a lose-lose for humanity the non-human species - when they become commodities to be exploited. Ethics are being continually compromised by the growth in human numbers, causing extinctions, monocultures, increased cruelty and unethical and unsustainable practices. There's very little compassion in humanity - only a precious few people allow compassion to over-ride self-interests.

NIMBY (not verified)

Fri, 2012-10-26 09:40

Most homes fail affordability test for households on median income Read more: Most Melbourne homes are too expensive for households on a median income, and only a handful of suburbs - mostly on the city's fringe - pass the affordability test, a government report reveals. Thanks to Matthew Guy and various State governments unhealthy and corrupt collaboration with property developers and investors, Melbourne's liveability is being destroyed. In many inner Melbourne suburbs - which have better access to public transport and services - a household requires an income of between $120,000-$200,000 a year. They have designed cities that only the elite can afford. The once "Lucky country" with cheap housing and affordable lifestyles and high levels of home ownership has been wrung out, manipulated, squeezed out, exported and promoted overseas - and thus destroyed. The ageing population are taking the pressure, as they will need homes. What about the young people being locked out of housing, and the disadvantaged who have to wait up to 20 years for public housing? The section made available to The Age raises tough questions, including how Victoria will pay for the next-generation transport network. The problem of limits to growth being ignored means the problems will accumulate, with the costs of transport exacerbating the problem further. The report also identifies the need to increase job options in Melbourne's growth areas so fewer people are compelled to drive long distances to work. Our massive population growth, with Melbourne bearing much of the brunt of immigration-fueled growth, means productivity is declining with long drives and destroyed economies of scale. Melbourne's population explosion must stop, and the corrupt alliance between growth-pusher must end. Massive debt indicates limits to growth, and the benefits of growth we once enjoyed ends up eating up the benefits it once provided!!!

PostGrowthEra (not verified)

Sat, 2012-10-27 11:12

MELBOURNE may be developing as two cities — ''a successful and choice-rich inner core and a fringe with fewer choices'' — a government report has warned. It's obvious that due to mass immigration and runaway population growth, people are being marginalized on the fringes of Melbourne's society, and deprived of basic services. It's a two speed economy, one of the elites making profits from growth, and others struggling to manage mortgages, costs of living pressures and trying to access affordable housing. It's a predator and prey economy. In just two decades the number of people fully owning a home in Melbourne has dropped from 40 to 30 per cent and the number of people paying off a mortgage has risen from 30 to 35 per cent. Read more: This is a far cry from the "Lucky Country" of the highest rate of home ownership in the world, and cheap housing! It has been eroded by greed and worship of destructive and dividing growth. The Age reported that households on Melbourne's median income of $70,300 a year were being blocked from the city's housing market with few suburbs now affordable. There are a lot of people struggling to survive on less than $70k! Young people are being locked out of home ownership due to exorbitant or "improved" prices. Jennifer Cunich, from the Property Council, welcomed the planning discussion paper and said there should be no ''sacred cows in this important community debate''. There can be no debate without addressing the growth of Melbourne into a monster - of increasing complexity, costs, demands, "shortages" due to a gridlock caused by excessive growth!

Bandicoot

Sat, 2012-10-27 15:52

TWO people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a clash between police and vendors protesting plans to move a wholesale food market. Some 5,000 police officers were deployed to La Parada, a wholesale produce market, after 500 police were attacked when they tried to block street entrances with concrete barriers in attempt to force the vendors to move to a different site, National Police chief Raul Zalazar said. The health ministry said 46 people were injured in the melee, while the Interior Ministry said 66 policemen were also injured. Today Lima has a population of more than eight million, and La Parada is overwhelmed by the demand for produce. Authorities also say the market today is an unhealthy, dangerous site run by gangs that force merchants to pay protection money. News video shows one police officer firing a handgun and attackers beating police, including an officer who was kicked and pummeled after falling from his horse. At least one police horse was attacked and killed.

Bandicoot

Mon, 2012-10-29 12:50

China's 'one-child' policy has slowed population growth and brought prosperity — but it couldn't avert massive damage to the environment. The colossal industrial expansion of recent decades has depleted natural resources and polluted the skies and streams. China now consumes half the world's coal supply. It leads all nations in emissions of carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming. Pollutants from its smokestacks cause acid rain in Seoul and Tokyo. Logging, fishing and hunting to meet demands of the Chinese market pose threats to biodiversity as far away as Africa. It is estimated that by 2025 the nation will be the world’s leading producer of greenhouse gases. It has been a long time coming. Beijing and other major cities have experienced dire levels of air pollution for more than a decade, but the government has been reluctant to investigate and publicly disclose the medical consequences. Mercury emissions from China’s coal-fired power plants are building up in U.S. watersheds, for example, and particulate pollution from China appears to be inhibiting rain and snow production and reducing water supplies in some California cities. The armyworm outbreak in China’s key grain producing areas has posed a major threat to the corn and rice crops this year. Heavy storms battered many parts of China over the last July, killing 20 people and affecting more than 3 million others, officials have said. The storms swept across 15 counties and cities, causing floods and landslides. The country's population of 1.3 billion is increasing, even with the controls on family size. What is driving the growth is that hundreds of millions of Chinese are still in their reproductive years. The government's Asian Century white paper will highlight the need for the country to have a highly skilled, high wage economy. The paper will identify China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and the United States as the six countries that matter the most to Australia. Economically, the paper calls for Australia businesses to produce high-value goods and services in line with Asia's growing middle class. The Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, put together by a team led by former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, says that aside from Asia's need for resources and energy, the next demands would be for education, health, aged care, tourism, finance, household goods and high-quality food and wine. There's little consideration of the environmental costs of economic growth, and of the scarcity of natural resources used to fuel the growth. Australia, the driest continent with poor soils cannot support a swelling population of Asian immigrants, (or whatever nationality), and supplying them with food and goods on finite resources will see our own resources fading over the horizon. Another aim is to promote Asian languages in schools. Literacy in English should be the priority, especially with declining standards in Australia. Burdening students with another language, inherently different from English when we already have a high mix of immigrant, will further push standards down. The process of trade — particularly international trade — is increasingly challenged by environmental interests. Under the GATT-WTO regime, world trade has continuously expanded. Today it involves all the countries in the world to a greater degree, and developing countries such as China and India have become major traders. Trade sometimes affects the environment through the channel of economic growth. Second, is whether the global biosphere can accommodate a situation of perpetual global economic growth. There are simply not enough natural resources for a finite planet to provide for Western levels of consumption, in light of the constraints of a swelling global population, climate change and diminishing natural resources. It could be a very dangerous and deceptive myth - of perpetual "economic growth".

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2012-10-30 09:07

AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY 14th October 2012 His Excellency Mr Chen Yuming Chinese Ambassador to Australia 15 Coronation Drive Yarralumla ACT 2600, OPEN LETTER Dear Sir, RE: Cubbie Station- 93,000 Hectares Land Holding - Queensland I write on behalf of members and concerned citizens, in relation to reports that the corporation Shandong Ruyi Scientific & Technological Group Co. Ltd of Jining, Shandong, China, is seeking to acquire this agricultural producing property. It is noted that Toad Wayne Swann, a member of the political caste in Australia has been acting to facilitate this purchase, albeit without any authority from the Australian People. The concern is that any proposed purchase of properties of our Native Soil by foreign corporations Is indicative of economic imperialism, as such purchases undermine our sovereignly and independence, and have never been sanctioned by the Australian People. We consider this a very serious matter. Your attention is drawn to understanding that land of the National Estate of Australia, whilst comprising public holdings under the Crown, and private ownership, is also based on a higher level of moral ownership vested in the People of the Australian Nation. This moral ownership of our Native Land is non-negotiable and is the guarantee of our People. The Directors of Shandong Ruyi corporation may have been misled by other elements of our political caste that foreigners purchasing properties of our Native Soil is welcome, however be under no illusions as this position emanates from Quislings whom our Australian Peoples Movement will require accountability from for such actions. I therefore call upon you as Chinese Ambassador to Australia, to bring these concerns to the attention of this corporation of your country, and to seek their withdrawal from undertaking any purchase of Australian land. And also to bring to the Company Directors notice that our Australian Peoples Movement, will enforce without redress, the nationalisation of foreign controlled and inhabited Australian land, as a necessity for our National Self Respect and independence. I urge your compliance to this request as a means to add to the process of mutual respect between the Australian and Chinese People. A public announcement from the Shandong Ruyi corporation rescinding any intention to now purchase such properties will effectively close this very important matter. Your immediate attention will be appreciated. Yours faithfully, Harold Reardon Assistant State Convenor Melbourne Branch P. O. Box 223, Croydon, 3136 National Contact Line - 02 8587 0014

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 2012-10-31 19:30

Very strong words indeed "..... will enforce without redress " almost sounds like a declaration of war. Where is the back up? Does Harold Reardon expect to be taken seriously? I support the sentiment but this seems like silliness.

nimby

Fri, 2012-11-02 17:43

FOR: Australia will face rising costs of health and aged care services. As our population becomes older and more people exit the labour force, the financial burden of our health and aged care systems will increase, while the growth of the labour force – which supports the elderly through tax revenue – is going to be slowing. The Productivity Commission estimates that health costs will double as a proportion of GDP by 2045, and housing older Australians will also become a more pressing issue. It will be difficult to meet these higher costs if the workforce is falling as a proportion of the overall population and the tax base is thereby shrinking. This will have negative implications for intergenerational equity, as future generations will be asked to carry the greater burden. Higher fertility rates will have a big effect in alleviating demographic change. Having high birth rates would make a big difference to ageing. For instance, Brown and Hartwich project that an increase of fertility to 2.1 babies per person would lead to a median age of 39.5 by 2050, whereas a decrease of fertility to 1.5 babies per person like in the EU would cause the median age to rise to 45.9. The current rate in Australia is about 1.9. We can therefore be confident that if fertility is part of a strategy to grow our population, it will have a meaningful effect on the demographic issue.

nimby

Sun, 2012-11-04 08:37

Few TV programs in history have packed a public and political punch quite like 'A Bloody Business' — the Four Corners exposé of our investigation into the live export trade to Indonesia last year. This Monday night at 8:30PM, Four Corners will again expose a story that the live export industry doesn't want you to see. Twelve weeks ago, 75,000 sheep were loaded onto the MV Ocean Drover in Fremantle, bound for slaughter in the Middle East. There would be no happy ending for these animals. But what 21,000 of them were ultimately forced to endure shocked everyone — even the live export industry. After being rejected by Bahrain these sheep were stranded at sea in high heat and humidity for nearly two weeks while the exporter made desperate attempts to secure a country to take them. Within 24 hours of this situation being exposed in the Australian media, a 'solution' was announced: the sheep were being unloaded in Pakistan. Yet not only was Pakistan not approved to take Australian sheep when these animals left Australia four weeks earlier — Pakistan had never been a traditional market for our sheep... What then happened to these sheep, and why, is a story that desperately needs to be told. On Monday night, Walkley Award winning journalist Sarah Ferguson will reveal the whole truth in the final Four Corners episode for 2012. Whether or not you choose to tune in, join us after the show at to take urgent action on behalf of these and all victims of the live export trade. Lyn White Campaign Director

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2012-11-06 13:28

The atrocities happening to animals sent live overseas is shameful, disgraceful and horrific. How can farmers, the industry and government simply turn a blind eye? Australia is globalizing animal abuse and cruelty. The Supply Chain Assurances do not work. The brutal slaying and burying alive of 21,000 sheep in Pakistan is not an "isolated incidence"! 2000 cows are to be sent to Pakistan, to the same government organisation that culled the sheep!! The lust for money is the root of all evil. The live export industry is shameful to Australia and must end. Money can't justify it.

quark

Wed, 2012-11-07 09:30

One hears the argument that were Australia to cease live animal exports , that international live animal trade would continue anyway with other source countries. This is more of a rationalisation to continue sending innocent animals to meet a terrible fate whist suffering for an extended period on the way. Ultimately a national government has to make major decisions within its own sphere of influence. Many countries boycotted South Africa to isolate the country and highlight the issue of Apartheid. To continue business as usual does not apply any pressure to change. Just because Australia has less ability to change hideous treatment of animals in foreign countries like Pakistan, does not mean it has to join in. Australia should cease live animal exports. Australia is a party to that recent barbaric and seemingly illogical act of cruelty to the sheep in Pakistan. It seems that country doesn't really need the meat anyway if it can throw away 20,000 sheep.

Bill Sanders (not verified)

Sun, 2012-11-18 21:04

By J Hood I see the changes at work My work is full of ethnics And I’ll front to work one day to find There are no seats left They push and insist with their new rights But they have more rights If I speak out, they cry ‘discrimination’ What about us locals, displaced in our own home? This feels like intrusion, dare I say invasion No one asked me if their millions could take over I didn’t see the signs Was I too tolerant? I shouldn’t have given up my seat Thank God I’m not Aboriginal, poor bast*rds.

Bandicoot

Mon, 2012-11-12 12:28

http://youtu.be/HhTEV905-3Q

Leard State Forest includes the most extensive and intact stands of the nationally-listed and critically endangered Box-Gum Woodland remaining on the Australian continent. The thousands of hectares of Australian native forest within Leard are teeming with life – representing the most significant forest for conservation of the entire Wheat-Sheep belt. (NCC, 2012)

Three open cut coal mines, two of which have already commenced and are now seeking to expand, will clear over 5,000 hectares and destroy the largest remnant of bushland left on the Liverpool Plains.

“This protest highlights the glaring failures of environmental protection legislation and the NSW Government Strategic Regional Land Use Plan” said Phil Spark, farmer and spokesperson with the Northern Inland Council for the Environment.

If this endangered forest were located on adjoining farmland there would be strict rules preventing farmers from clearing it, but the coal miners are a law unto themselves. It's humans fouling their own nest, and more importantly, that of native flora and fauna species.

Leard State park is home to 26 threatened plant and animal species, as well as two endangered ecological communities, including one of the largest remaining strands of the nationally endangered Grassy White Box ecosystem. It's irreplaceable.

When the public spoke loud enough, Tony Burke stopped the ecologically devastating super-trawler. Now he needs to stop the ecologically devastating Maules Creek open-cut coal mine and he has clear powers to do it. If this coal mine is allowed to go ahead it will wipe out nationally protected woodlands and koala habitat in Leard State Forest near Narrabri in north-west NSW. The equivalent of 2800 soccer pitches of precious woodland will be razed and replaced with a massive open cut coal mine.

Take Action:

Not stupid (not verified)

Wed, 2012-11-14 16:08

All the arable land around the Ord River - 15,200ha - has been leased for 50 years to a Chinese property development conglomerate, which apparently intends to grow the cheapest of third world tropical crops - Sugarcane - and process it for ethanol fuel. Australian taxpayers financed the infrastructure of roads and irrigation which this foreign commercial entity will now benefit from at our expense.
"The little-known Chinese private company has been handed all available land in the second stage expansion of the Ord irrigation scheme in Western Australia's Kimberley region for a peppercorn rent, on the condition it is cleared, developed, farmed and a state-of-the-art export sugar mill built." (Sue Neale:
There will be no food crops and the above articles report that the company, Shanghai Zhongfu, will be paying a peppercorn rent and no taxes. Apparently this commercial invasion (facilitated by Bob Hawke) did not have to be vetted by our (xenophilic) foreign investment review board because it was not a sale per se, but a leasing arrangement - no matter that it will last for about two generations, by which time we can expect an entire population of foreign workers and their descendents to have built towns and, virtually a new country. Will it be a direct portal to China, with millions to follow, or will it be an independent country What have the Aborigines got to say about this? Did anyone ask them? No-one asked the rest of us. Whatever we are told, after the fact, no-one can feel safe or secure with a government that permits the casual corporate secession of a large part of Australia containing the only major river system besides the doomed Murray Darling Basin in the South East of Australia? For all their caterwauling, even the country politicians have little to say about thisa because they are so beholden to the ideology of growth and development that democracy just isn't on their radar. Senator Joyce did pipe up, and is quoted by The Australian as having said "if the FIRB did not have oversight of the arrangement, the rules should be changed." And that, "China was attempting to secure its long-term food security at Australia's expense." “I've got no problem with the Chinese being clever,” he said. “My problem is with Australia being stupid.” He's right about that. As the anonymous writer of this comment, I suppose I need to say that I have nothing against the Chinese. I don't. But I do have a lot against overpopulation and loss of political control over my country to whomever.

PostGrowthEra (not verified)

Wed, 2012-11-14 17:33

Is Australia so impoverished that we can't develop our own land? Why is China doing it? It there some trade deal the public don't know about that China must have more land or will refuse to buy our resources? Their arable land is shrinking, due to population growth and infrastructure creeping over it, and soil depletion. Australia is the driest nation, yet we have a foreign nation controlling our biggest irrigation scheme? Professor Geoffrey Blainey, noted historian and author, said (in 1985) that as a nation Australia seemed to be passing through a moderately serious crisis of identity and one of the clearest symptoms of the crisis was an inability to handle our pride and our unease – some would say our guilt. Professor Blainey listed the achievements: “In the last 200 years Australians have developed this continent so that some 40 or 50 times as many people live here today as lived here in 1788. We not only feed ourselves but each year we feed tens of millions of people in China, Egypt and other lands. This achievement was made in the face of severe obstacles. Now we are facing the "Asian Century". Trade with China is fine, but not foreign ownership of assets and land, or unhealthy reliance on their companies to "develop" Australia - our own soil. Perhaps it's our "white" or "Western" guilt, forcing us to cave into Asia's demands, matching Asia's population density, their environmental woes, and economy size?

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 2012-11-14 21:52

From the AFP Electoral And Community Programme - May 2012 FOR A UNITED PATRIOTIC FRONT The Australia First Party recognises the dependent nature of the Australian state upon the forces of globalism. Australia is a client state, ruled by a traitor class which is integrated into a transnational network of globalist elites and their economic and political structures. This class would govern Australia as a resources quarry cowed by thought-policing and a secret political police. Australia is further menaced by a new Chinese imperialism that competes with the American face of the New World Order for domination over Asia and the Pacific, with Australia a pawn in the game. The unfolding population / food crisis coupled with New World Order wars launches refugee hordes at Australia’s borders, whilst the traitor class sponsors a mass immigration recolonization of Australia for the purposes of economic enmeshment with the ‘global economy’. In the world crisis of the first quarter of the twenty-first century, Australia lacks status as an independent country. Indeed, Australia may disappear by century’s end as a country - and suffer partition by other states. To rescue our country and our people means removing Australia to a position outside of the chaos of globalism. That means the creation of an independent Australia. To win an independent Australia where political power can be exercised directly by the people, where wealth comes to all who labour and where arms and the initiation and the enforcement of the laws are in the hands of the people, a new force outside of the old parties and their worn-out ideologies and prejudices - has become necessary. This new nationalist movement must now fight and win the struggle for Australia’s national independence. It is ultimately necessary to unite all who can be united against the traitor class into a broad patriotic front to achieve Australian national independence. All those parties, groups and trade and community associations which contest the ideology, the politics, the economics and the cultural expressions of globalism, can find common ground against the foreign control and exploitation of Australia. Their uniting thread is the cause of Australian national independence. The patriotic united front should not be a matter for tomorrow, but a matter of immediacy. United fronts operate in two ways: we predict the ultimate formation of a mass united front in times future, one that will win Australian national independence at a moment when parties and groups, economic and social and cultural associations all bond together in intense struggle. For today, we must build for that future in struggles on a daily basis around all manner of issues; we must wage community campaigns apposite to each Australian group and build unity on the ground. It is mandatory to seek this unity.

nimby

Thu, 2012-11-15 07:32

The racing industry earns massive amounts of money for punters and owners and allied services. It's a lucrative industry. However, horses are often cruelly and heartlessly discarded as "wastage" once they are too slow, injured or past their "use by" date.

$14,387,790,000 was wagered on thoroughbred racing in 2011. A 1% levy could be applied to all bets to secure the horse’s future. This would equate to more than $143M in 2011. If owners breed foals, they have a duty of care to make sure their animals live normal lifespans, not end up - in their thousands - at the knackers for pet food!

Horses need a retirement plan, not just be discarded as waste meat.

15,893 new horses were born into the racing industry in 2011. A widely accepted figure is that only 300 of 1000 Thoroughbred foals born actually end up racing.
Read more at and SIGN THE PETITION

Bandicoot

Fri, 2012-11-16 17:45

There is outrage from the Indigenous Elders here on the Coast and outlines the anger at these dingoes being destined for destruction. No more dingoes should die. There should be a complete moratorium on killing dingoes until the Ecosure FIDMS and peer review is released in Feb.2013, . Dingoes may be unnecessarily destroyed by then. There really is no independent scientific data to determine how many sustainable dingoes are left for the future of our Fraser Island dingoes. Repeatedly stated over and over again by the locals, the Indigenous Elders and Stakeholders and the predominant conclusion,at a recent open workshop arranged by Ecosure in Maryborough on the 5th.Oct.2012, is the failure of the present FDIMS & QPWS to correctly care for these dingoes and as yet their future looks bleak. The recent media release of Ross Belcher's relentless hunting of one little juvenile male dingo one of the K'Gari Butchulla camp dingo's, called "Inky" is deplorable. Also the rangers damaging the ear of a 3 month old pup from negligent ear tagging of this age pup at Eurong, has given serious concerns to the Aboriginal community and Elders and locals here on the Coast. "Inky" is now a timid frightened animal fearful of the rangers and as has been stated with Statuary declarations from the Butchulla and poses no threat. But he is part of the new generation males. All healthy juvenile and a puppy, necessary for the future breeding stock now at risk The puppy from his inability to hunt and will therefore seek food from tourists, or at a risk of starvation, obtaining a bad mark against him for "Habituating" from the rangers and caused by the very QPWS rangers who tagged him. When will the locals and the Indigenous elders, be listened to? Aunty Mallie wrote recently of her anger recently, and the locals in a recent public opinion from an online poll ,asking " if further dingoes be destroyed," was an overwhelming amount of 98% saying no more dingoes should be killed. Why are the Indigenous Elders and the public not being listened to. Why is the track and kill mentality still in existence on Fraser Island.? Marie -Louise Sarjeant Ph. 07 54742364 Mob:-0410 909 911

James Sinnamon

Mon, 2012-11-26 09:58

The following is adapted from an e-mail I posted to Tony Cartalucci who produces the web-site (http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com). The e-mail was in response to a request for suggestions in his article of 25 November.

Open source software made the Internet possible. Two of many examples are:

1. The Apache Webserver. Almost every web-site in the world is provided from an Apache webserver

2. The Linux Operating system. The Apache web-server, as well as open source mail-server, etc. will almost certainly be run from a computer running the the Linux operating system (or BSD, another open source operating system).

Sites on which you can read about and download open source software include and

There is no way that the Internet could have grown so large and so fast if they had attempted to build it with the old proprietary software system. A web content provider would have been forced to pay for each and every piece of software necessary to run a webserver and to develop the content or else have had to resort to copying copyright software and have been in breech of the law in many countries. (In Australia, BTW, we are periodically subject to which warn us not to illegally copy copyright DVDs.)

Sadly, it seems that proprietary software producers have succeeded in convincing the overwhelming majority of computer users to continue using the proprietary Apple and Micro$oft operating systems on their personal computers. It seems that only a small minority of computer users in countries like Australia, the UK and the US use Linux. I think this is largely because Micro$oft and Apple are able to persuade educational institutions to install their software on classroom computers. Once a child is familiar with a proprietary operating systems he/she is reluctant to try anything different.

... but open source software still needs a business model to remunerate producers

A problem with open-source software is that many who contribute, or would like to contribute, are not remunerated. They miss out on a livelihood they would enjoy and we miss out on much of what they would otherwise be able to contribute.

A possible solution could be adapted from < a href="http://flattr.com">Flattr (http://flattr.com). I think many web users would be happy to voluntarily make a payment in the order of AU20c, AU50c, AU$1, AU$2, ... for an article, image, video that they liked or found particularly helpful. If they could easily do so with Flattr, PayPal, or another system, I think it very likely that at least a large proportion of content providers would find that they are adequately remunerated for their work.

Another example of open source intellectual property is Project Gutenburg. From and you can download literary works that are no longer copyrighted.

I think such a site could have added to it the means for consumers of the literature provided to voluntarily remunerate the producers of the literature.

Conclusion

I think, if the business model I have described were more widely adopted the Internet could go a long way further towards solving the problems we face in the world in 2012.