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Australia Point Piper, Australia - 27 September 2015 Political activists concerned with plans to resettle 12,000 Syrian refugees in Australia faced police while delivering a petition to the house of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Point Piper, Sydney on September 27, 2015. Seven members of the right-wing Party For Freedom called on the PM to resettle the refugees, many of which are expected to be Muslim, in his affluent electorate of Wentworth and surrounding areas. Their petition follow suggestions that in line with the current humanitarian resettlement model, Sydney may take up to 7,000 of the 12,000 refugees, with the majority housed in Fairfield and Liverpool in Sydney's west. Party For Freedom leader Nick Folkes told Newzulu that despite asking "probably 150" people in the area, the petition only attracted one signature. http://www.newzulu.com.au/en/photos/australia/2015-09-27/12442/sydney-pm-urged-to-resettle-muslim-refugees-in.html#f=0/134541

Letter writers bemoan the buying up of real estate by cashed-up foreign interests to the exclusion of locals, and the proliferation of high-density dwellings or "monuments to mammon". What will they make of a $30billion-plus Chinese-backed plan for a hi-tech "city" of 80,000 residents in the outer west? Residents are reportedly to be sourced from "tapping into soaring demand from China for education in Australia". The "Australian Education City" is to house residents in towers of up to 50 storeys. Makes the buying up of residential properties seem like small biccies. Deborah Morrison, Malvern East Read more: Are we selling out? (27/9/15) | The Age | Letters Follow us: @theage on Twitter | theageAustralia on Facebook

I can understand where you're coming from Will. I, too, was born in Melbourne at St.George's Hospital in Kew almost 66 years ago. Today Melbourne is just another bloated, ugly city as you say overpopulated, overdeveloped and overblown. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s as Kelvin Thompson repeatedly says Melbourne was a vibrant place to be. Its people were amenable, employment aplenty, education and health services were adequate, transport public and private catered for our needs with plenty of sporting, recreational and artistic activities to keep us occupied in our leisure hours. What happened? I once did a piece on the achievements of Sir Henry Bolte, some good some not so good depending on your viewpoint. The boy from Ballarat was a ruthless but shrewd politician and Premier, a true liberal unlike today's conservatives, Bolte understood the needs of both urban and non-urban Victorians. He was able to attract foreign investment for vital infrastructure projects that were vital for Melbourne and Victoria. Henry's infrastructure achievements were many and varied, from dams to freeways, the city loop and grade separations, both the West Gate Bridge and Tullamarine Airport, universities and hospitals, established National Parks and instigated the Soil Conservation Authority and promoted the 0.05 bac and seat belt legislation for motorists. His successor Dicky Hamer picked up on these initiatives, but slowly the initiatives dried up until the early 1990s when the wheels fell off completely as we got Jeffed! The beginning of the neoliberal malaise was the beginning of the end for Melbourne. Neoliberal dogma predicated that economic rationalism must prevail and that everybody and everything must bow down to market forces. This led to schools and hospitals closing, council amalgamations, services discontinued, utilities privatised and rising unemployment. We were advised that the service industries would cater for employment opportunities, what we were not told is that these jobs wouldn't pay as much as our old jobs. Those still in jobs went from central enterprise agreements to having to bargain for individual agreements which caused a drop in morale in the work place as those bargained best got more money that those who couldn't. Jeff got Jeffed when the bastards from the bush, who were treated like second class citizens, said enough was enough. The incoming Labour government were beholden to the same neoliberal ideals as Jeff and as an answer to the decline in manufacturing they promoted population growth as the panacea. Population growth meant jobs for the construction industry while the immigrants could work in the service industries. By this time infrastructure construction had slowed to a walk and most of that built was an after thought. Some of the infrastructure that was constructed was whimsical to say the least none more so than the Desalination Plant at Wonthaggi. The plant, completed in 2012, hasn't produced a drop of water at the astronomical cost of $20 billion!! It's projects like this one that have shanghaied infrastructure development in Melbourne. Talking about putting the cart before the horse! The editorial in last Thursday's Age blamed Victorian governments past and present for not building enough roads and railways for Melbourne's chronic overpopulation problem. This is sheer hypocrisy!! Fairfax Media owner of the Age is a proponent of a Big Australia with interests in the housing industry. Until we can get some vision back into government at both state and federal level Melbourne will remain a second or third rate city.

Letter to Tony Jones re Lateline (25 Sept 2015) interview with Robert Fisk and Indyk

Dear Tony,

I am a spokesperson for AMRIS - Australians for Reconciliation in Syria. Just before Australia declared de facto war on Syria, AMRIS put out a media release, requesting that we work with the Syrian Army and government to combat ISIS, Jabhat al Nusra and all the other terrorist groups in Syria. Evidently now this means also working with Russia and Iran.

But the government, like the US, is not actually fair dinkum about fighting IS, as pointed out by Robert Fisk, and as you pointed out to Indyk last night. Not only that, the very areas that Bishop said we would be bombing, in the NE of Syria, on the grounds that the Syrian 'regime' was 'unwilling or unable' to stop IS terrorists there, is currently the scene of many battles between IS and the Syrian army, for instance in Hasakah where the SAA is working with the YPG. ( RT's Lizzie Phelan did a good report on this battle from Hasakah, shown on SBS weekly RT report on Monday night).

We appreciate very much that you interviewed Robert Fisk, who has hardly been supportive of Syria or Assad in the past - making his testimony from the front so much more valuable - , and that you for having interviewed Dr Bouthaina Shaaban.

I do however have some questions on why you would think to interview this man Indyk, chief propagandist for Israel and US neo-con policy, who told some unbelievable lies in the most believable fashion. They were not lies that he could possibly believe, given the clear policy of the Brookings on 'remaking the middle east' so recently expressed by Michael O'Hanlon here:

Deconstructing Syria - towards a regionalized strategy for a confederal country (PDF - 374K, June 2015) by Michael O'Hanlon | Brookings Institute

To understand the extent of America's deception on Syria, this article by Brandon Martinez gives an excellent overview, for instance on the 10,000 fighters trained by the CIA in Jordan over the last two years ( the 'New Syria army is just a farago..), as well as on the actual and underlying intent of the US for regime change in Syria.:

US-Israeli Imperialists Plot Downfall of Syria and Iran (11/7/15) | Global Research

Martin Indyk's 'view' that Russia and Iran are 'backing a losing horse' is just a sham; the fact is that Russia has the US snookered over Syria, and is doing what any reasonable law-abiding world citizen would do - protecting a democratically elected government from a foreign-backed insurrection. It is unfortunately now Australia that is backing a losing horse, and about time our leaders and media woke up to it.

Our media release can be viewed on the AMRIS website.

I would much appreciate a response from you by email, at least to acknowledge you have read this.

I also look forward to more interesting interviews with people who can give us the other side of the story - the Syrian side.

many thanks, David.

If as part of a jubilee, money is put into an account with the requirement you pay debt, what happens if you dont have debt and are not a creditor, aside from your money in the bank? Would this encourage people to not pay debt? Not demand payment as you will be paid anywhere? wont this make asset bubbles worse because they are the result of debt without strict repayment requirements? It would seem to me, making it easier to not pay back debt makes problems worse. Debt has to be strict. It has to be repaid. Otherwise monetary systems are abused. It is clear that much debt is due to greed and avarice. This should be allowed to ruin people to correct the economy. If someone owes more than they will ever produce, then tough. The jubilee made sort of sense in an era of slavery and ancient monetary principles, but today doesn't make sense.

If we thought that Tony Jones had learnt something from Bouthaina Shaaban last week, then listen to his interview with Indyk, and weep. Indyk says the Syrian army is failing, and we should let Russia and Iran get on with it because they are backing a losing horse. We can’t cooperate with them against ISIS because they won’t let go of Assad, and he MUST go.. So we really need, after what Petraeus said here two weeks ago, we really need to work with AL Nusra, if they can loosen their links to Al Qaeda, because they are the only effective force to fight DAMASCUS on the ground. That’s what the man said. To be fair to Jones, he played some of Shaaban’s interview first, and he also asked Indyk about what Fisk had said, on why the US didn’t bomb the IS convoys to Palmyra and Ramadi. ( and I think he does really wonder why) Indyk couldn’t really answer this giveaway question, so claimed that really the Syrian army, which Fisk was with and quoted views of , didn’t have a presence in eastern Syria... LIAR! You only have to watch RT news, or read reports on the recent airstrikes on Tadmor, helped by Russian satellite intel, and of course the Brookings knows all about this. I don’t like the fact that these two Zionists and CIA agents have been here, both talking at the Lowy, during the very time when Australia has declared war on Syria with its allies. How can we tell the ABC what they are believing is total rubbish, and dangerous rubbish?

Hi, tomorrow in Madrid in front of the Saudi embassy the FOrum contro la guerra imperialista holds a demonstration aginst the criminal war of Saud in Yemen. On october 1 and also in another day, in Rome as No War Network we will protest against the tyrants for the war and also for the death sentence to the young opposant. And in Ryad? This article is very interesting: http://www.rt.com/op-edge/260133-sheikh-al-nimr-execution-saudi/http://www.rt.com/op-edge/260133-sheikh-al-nimr-execution-saudi/ Hopefully, the end of Saud is near!! Let's work for the Arab Republic (former Saudi Arabia)

Properly created and used, I'd suggest that money can and does allow for the creation of wealth. It doesn't do it by itself, of course. There needs to be physical resources, labour and organisation as well. If I want to build a new airport, I need money to do so. I might borrow that money (from a bank that will create out of nothing) and spend it on assembling the resources, labour etc to get the airport going. If I'm successful, I'll generate enough return to cover costs, repay my loan with interest and still make a profit. I will be generating wealth and helping others to do so too. If I can't access money, my airport remains an idea. We don't have a problem with too much money in the system currently. Far from it. Too much money results in inflation. Zimbabwe and Weimar Germany were good examples. We have low levels of inflation. We also have the reserve bank keeping official interest rates low in an effort to stimulate economic activity. But that lever's broken, because as Steve Keen seems to be saying, we've reached a point where we are saturated with private debt. Relying on private demand for bank issued, interest bearing debt to stimulate the economy doesn't work any more. QE as delivered by the Obama government was ineffective because it just threw more money at the banks to lend out. The National Credit proposal, which is effectively what Positive Money and the American Monetary Institute are now promoting wouldn't rely on the manipulation of interest rates to stimulate (or dampen) demand. It'd spend more money directly into circulation when the economy needed a kick along - and less if inflation rose unacceptably. Unlike Howard's $800 battler bucks, National Credit would also be spent on things of enduring value, rather than on imported flat screen TV's. The Reserve Bank's role would be to determine how much money to spend into the system, ensuring a proper balance between unemployment and inflation. Bill Mitchell has suggested that government should become an employer of last resort and use money it creates in this way to ensure full employment. This is kind of appealing, but might ultimately divert money to 'make work'projects that don't really need to be done. So if we went back to feudal England with millions of pounds, we'd probably create inflation because the productive capacity of society at the time was constrained by a lack of technology. Almost everyone worked hard all the time, but by comparison to today they weren't productive. Today we have large numbers of people unemployed or under-employed. They are, by comparison, highly educated and can use technology in ways that make them productive. Spending on useful projects as opposed to lending for propery speculation would engage the productive capacity of these people like never before. .

The recurring instability of political leadership in Australia has raised the spectre the country may be heading down the same path as Europe, according to a political historian from the University of Western Sydney. Dr David Burchell, from the UWS School of Humanities and Communication Arts, says the continuing uncertainty surrounding the Federal Liberal Party leadership, on the back of recent election results and leadership ballots across state governments, is cause for concern. "As a consequence, Western liberal democracy is starting to look moribund and even dysfunctional, summoning visions of the 1920s and 1930s", he says.

The Migration Council sees only growth, apparently ignoring the capacity of Australia to support more people. Besides more growth, the Council sees accelerated growth as the solution to a future flatlining of the Australian economy. By 2055, the Migration Council sees the Australian population at 40 million. Even at 22 million today, we are already killing koalas at an unprecedented rate because we are squeezing them out of their shrinking habitat.

Migration Council Wants Accelerated Immigration [1] | NewsBlaze Australia

There are many lobby and business groups with self-interests on their agendas, pushing for "growth". Countries with a faster rate of population growth than Australia invariably have poorer living standards and political instability. Countries with a larger population invariably have poorer environments and quality of living for their residents.

No doubt migrants are attracted to Australia for the promise of political stability, but with toppling demands of the growth pyramid, and all the disturbances of high population growth, the shine may wear thin, and then we'll be forced to pay more taxes, and less welfare, to support the unsustainable growth!

Footnote[s]

[1] Article is undated as of 23/9/15. - Ed

Thanks for the reference, John. I had a quick look at the website and would like to spend a bit more time trying to digest it all. It's certainly interesting and there are some concepts presented there that I would agree with. I couldn't get the graphs to display properly so some of the ideas might be clearer when I work out how to do that.. The criticism of neo-classical economics is encouraging, though I'm not familiar with the work of Minsky - on which much of Keen's ideas are apparently based. The fundamental idea that debt deleveraging can cause recessions / depressions sounds logical, and not something that you'd hear from mainstream economists. I like the idea of the debt jubilee, which looks like a sensible way of reducing the levels of private debt which will certainly be constraining demand at present. Keen also deals with fractional reserve banking and notes the good work being done by Positive Money in the UK. However, he says that he's not convinced that the ability of private banks to create money is, of itself, a 'causa causans' of crises, but rather it's the way that money in this way is used. This is worth thinking about. I wonder whether it's practically possible to separate the two? Keen suggests that over-investment in real estate could be addressed by imposing limits on lending based on the rental potential of the property. Perhaps this would work, but it seems like an attempt to treat symptoms rather than curing the disease. What do you think? Also, the debt jubilee sounds like a great idea but if it just allowed banks to start pushing newly created money as interest bearing debt again, wouldn't that just be giving the current system another opportunity to start the cycle all over again? Back in the 1980's, Allan R Jones identified that the creation of money and the use to which it's put are closely related and this underpinned his National Credit idea, which preceded the work being done by Positive Money and the American Monetary Institute by twenty years. I think that in the future, he will be recognised as an economic visionary. Keen's ideas are obviously well thought out and I'm looking forward to working through his ideas a bit more. Thanks again for the reference.

You're making sense there nineofclubs. Steve Keen has also studied the topic of money creation by banks, Ponzi schemes and the like and among other things suggests that modern jubilees and full reserve banking maybe the way forward in the future. This is not to suggest that your suggestions are unworkable, but we need a way forward that is workable for everybody. Steve's article can be read at www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/manifesto Let me know what you think.

What the Turkish president was effectively doing was funding IS with one hand, while absorbing and supporting the refugees fleeing from it with the other. Erdogan believed that the larger the number of displaced Syrians, the better his chances of convincing the international community of the need to enforce a no-fly zone across northern Syria, where the refugees could ostensibly be settled. To ensure that this would become the preferred solution, the Turkish authorities made it difficult for refugees, now numbering close to 2 million, to leave for third countries. As their numbers in Turkey reached a critical mass," NATO member stateswould be more likely to act, Erdogan had hoped. #000000">The body of Aylan al-Kurdi#000000">, 3, washed up on the shore of Bodrum, Turkey, in early September after the boat he was in with his parents capsized en route to Europe. His aunt has said that the family took the deadly journey because the #000000">United Nations had refused to grant them refugee status#000000">, and Turkish authorities had refused to grant them #0000ff">exit visas.

Interest is justified when one person makes a loan to another. If I'm a depositor, and the bank loans my money to you, then you pay interest and I earn it. This is because I am forgoing use of my money now, so you can use it now. As money is more valuable now than later, interest is paid. Interest is you paying me to defer my spending so you can bring yours forward. You get the car I could have bought earlier and enjoy it longer. In this respect, low to zero interst rates are a problem because you are spending my money now, I have to wait, but there is no compensation. So why save? The problem is when interest is charged on money which wasnt earned by somone. If a bank creates money out of thin air, and lends it, with interest, then who is deferring turning thier works into goods and services? No one. So why pay interest? Here lies the problem, that so much money is created as debt, with interest. Even without interest, it is a problem. Rather than produce first, we get our payments up front and enter debt bondage as a result. Pushing more money increases debt, increases bondage. The money to fund housing bubbles is manufactured, its not a result of Australians having billions saved up.

Here's the fix: Meanwhile, the EU has presented Turkey with a proposal of 1 billion euros in aid for the expenses incurred by the 2 million refugees. EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said in a press conference on Thursday that the commission wants to help Turkey with the expenses of caring for the nearly 2 million refugees it currently hosts. In order to receive the aid, Turkey will be required to comply with guidelines set forth by the EC, including the profiling of all refugees that enter the country for easy identification, should they ever face deportation by European Union officials http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_german-fm-turkish-officials-discuss-cooperation-on-refugee-crisis_399523.html

A thought-provoking article, Anon. Interest acts to transfer money from those who have little (the poor) to those who have lots (banks and the wealthy). It's like income tax in reverse. Robin Hood in the bizarro world. But unlike income taxes, interest cannot be avoided. Not true, nineofclubs, you say! If you don't borrow money or use credit cards, you don't pay interest. This seems to make sense, but is actually very wrong. American money writer Ellen Brown has documented how hidden interest costs are built into the cost of everything we buy. She calculated that in Germany, interest costs represented a staggering 30% of all the money spent in the economy. The figure in Australia is likely to be somewhat less now, given the lower rates of interest prevailing now compared to the late 90's when Brown's study was conducted. However, the proportion is still likely to be significant. Libertarians are continually whining about the evils of taxation, because it represents 'an unjustified transfer of wealth'. It's high time that we started looking at interest in the same light, particularly where it's charged on money that has been created by book-keeping, rather than earned through effort. .

Austria is bracing for an influx of 10,000 refugees as Europe's increasingly divided countries step up efforts to push the wave of desperate humanity on to their neighbours. Truly amazing to read about the inflated sense of entitlement held by these people, many of whom have probably badmouthed the West for most of their lives! The UN Refugee Convention, no doubt has given an assumed entitlement to access open borders of Europe, and become "refugees". It turns out that only 21% of these so called migrants are Syrian, so 60 to roughly 80% are not even syrian,these are migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Cameroun, Nigeria, Somalia ie the 3rd world. They are using the media coverage, and the chaos, to join in the mayhem. None of the Arab states has offered to take in their Muslim brothers and sisters- neither Saudi Arabia or the UAE/Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc. has offered to take in these refugees. They are some of the wealthiest nations in the world, but do offer to fund the building of Mosques in Germany!

Dennis, I share your pessimism. Under current conditions, Australian culture as a distinct and unique thing is certainly threatened. But outside of the major metro areas, you'll find that it's still kicking along - albeit with some obvious influences introduced via TV. Personally I don't mind the melting pot idea, but like an actual melting pot it doesn't work when it's overloaded with too much ingredient, or incompatible ingredients. Your point about the term multiculturalism being a cover is probably right. While it IS about encouraging a multiplicity of ethnic cultures in Australia, it is misleading in implying that ethnic cultures are the only kind of culture that matters. At the same time, it has also been used as a politically correct euphemism for ongoing mass immigration and the ethno-suburbs that have emerged as a result. .

THE owners of an Otways wildlife shelter have left a rescued joey at government office in protest over a kangaroo cull permit at their neighbour’s property. “Desperate times call for desperate measures and this is proving to be so hard on all of us,” said Ron Anstie, who runs the Carlisle River Wildlife Sanctuary with wife Carola. #e7e7e4 1px solid;BORDER-BOTTOM:#e7e7e4 1px solid;PADDING-BOTTOM:7px;PADDING-TOP:7px;PADDING-LEFT:7px;MARGIN:0px;BORDER-LEFT:#e7e7e4 1px solid;LINE-HEIGHT:18px;PADDING-RIGHT:7px;BACKGROUND-COLOR:#fff">#666666">Carola Anstie with Angel the joey. Source: Supplied They left eight-month-old Angel at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning offices in Colac on Tuesday. “There are a lot of wildlife shelters around Victoria in a position like we are and we just want change,” he said In August, the Geelong Advertiser told how the #268dce">Ansties had decided to stop rescuing and rehabilitating joeys and injured eastern grey kangaroos because their neighbour had been given permission to legally cull 60 roos. They said some of the kangaroos that could be culled would most likely have been released from the shelter after being handraised over two years. The couple, with 23 years of experience in wildlife care, is calling for state government change that would see exclusion zones around wildlife shelters to prevent the allocation of culling permits. They’re also calling for properties neighbouring cull permit applications to be notified of the application and given the opportunity to appeal if necessary. Mr Anstie said there was no criticism of his neighbour or staff at the department, as both were acting well within the law. “They were entitled to issue the permit and he was entitled to apply for it, that’s not the problem. We need to change the rules,” he said. “There are no safe places to release these kangaroos.” The department’s Barwon South West Region operations director Hamish Webb said the department would “work closely with the sanctuary owners to identify safe areas for the rescued kangaroos to be moved to.” “The aim of the (cull permit) system is to strike a balance between the conservation of native wildlife and the protection of private property rights and livelihood,” Mr Webb said. “To comply with its licence, the Carlisle River Sanctuary must identify appropriate sites for the release of rehabilitated animals.” http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/geelong/carlisle-river-wildlife-sanctuary-forced-to-leave-rescued-joey-at-government-office-in-protest/story-fnjuhovy-1227529789773

That is such an important point you make, nineofclubs regarding e.g. surfer culture and cultures in aspects of life in Australia. I think it is amazing how distinctive are the traits of what could be encompassed in an Australian culture in such a short time, let's say a hundred years or even less. I am very conscious of the myth that is perpetuated that Australia does not have a culture of its own but only derives from the mother countries of settlers and immigrants. It's as though there are no environmental factors in the evolution of "culture" and that it is just a hand me down sort of thing, devoid of geographical context. Yet it is clear, that culture derives from environment because many aspects of culture are practical e.g clothing adapted to climate, food from local resources, preserved as necessary for leaner times and many others which are not so utterly obvious. And there are more recent migrant cultures, complete with their own distinctive ways of speaking Australian English that have developed all within a generation. (Remember "Wogs out of work"?) I do not mean transplanted cultures but ones that grew up in Australia. We do not need social engineering and special institutions to bolster multi-culturalism. All we need is a "fair go".

Last year President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela warned against the acts of “the imperialist powers” to disrupt stability in Syria and the countries of the Middle East region. The Venezuelan President referred to an article written by former Cuban President Fidel Castro in which the latter cautioned against the U.S.-Western attempts to destabilize the entire region by means of employing Takfiri terrorist organizations.

This month, Cuba and Syria both reaffirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the bilateral solidarity, friendship and cooperation ties that were established 50 years ago by Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro and then Syrian President Hafiz al-Assad.

Syrian and Cuban peoples' ties have historical and joint fight roots, and that is why Syria was one of the first nations to recognize the Cuban Revolution and establish diplomatic relations with the Caribbean country.

A pattern of dislocation has been rising steadily since the wars of regime change in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Libya and Nigeria from 2001 until the present. When the U.S. and its NATO allies went to war against the Taliban government in Afghanistan they claimed that it was designed to end “terrorism” and ensure stability in Central Asia. CIA officers, based in Turkey, were not to supply arms ("the Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels"), but rather to “help” those supplying arms “decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms.” The supply of arms to Syrian rebels by the US and Saudi Arabia is a well-established fact.

Islamic fundamentalists represent the greatest danger to those modernising secular governments in the Islamic world that want to pursue an independent course of economic development. The US’s policies frequently lead to Islamic fundamentalists prospering as the most powerful and well-organised political movements.

So far this year, nearly 400,000 migrants, many of them refugees, have crossed the Mediterranean, with many more expected. The CIA spent US$1 billion ($1.4 billion) to fund early efforts to unseat Assad. Others have argued that no one could have foreseen the magnitude of the war in Syria.

Ron Paul: Migrant Crisis Caused By U.S. Interventionism And Support Of ISIS, Al Qaeda (10/9/15) | HNGN

Rather than a "refugee crisis", it's now a "migration crisis". The doors to Europe have been flung opened, and the flood of migration has been let lose. It's assumed that the war in Syria, and displacement, is somehow inevitable, and the UN keep dissolving national borders and sovereignties instead of actually preventing interventions, and the mitigating factors causing refugees.

Recent CIA assessments have warned that the war is approaching a critical stage in which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is losing territory and strength, and might soon be forced to relinquish all but a narrow corridor of the country to rebel groups. If the al-Assad government has some stronghold against ISIS in Syria, then the bombing by Australia and allied forces could destroy this, and open up the country more to ISIS. Instead of working against the "regime", we should be working together to improve security. If thousands as leaving Syria, then bombing will mean more asylum seekers and refugees. Russia has stepped up naval training exercises off the Syrian coast in recent months and is preparing to hold more drills, according to several sources. Sources in the United States, Israel and Lebanon have said that Russian soldiers have joined combat operations on Syrian soil. Russia would continue to supply weapons to the Syrian government, following warnings from US and NATO over Moscow's increasing involvement in the Syrian conflict. Many in the Obama administration fear Russia will attack Syrian opposition groups that are fighting against Assad, using the war against the Islamic State as a cover. The U.S. has been sending money and weapons to the Free Syrian Army even though they’ve known since 2012 that most of these weapons were ending up in the hands of extremists. - See more at: The covert origins of ISIS: United States, CIA In Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan" (2/9/15) by by Diane Bukowski | Voice of Detroit. The Arab world is, in large part, turning its back on Syrian refugees. The wealthy Gulf States have spent the past four years sowing havoc in Syria – funding and arming brutal jihadists to bring down Bashar al-Assad. The US, leading the "war against terror", accepted a meagre 1 500 of Syria’s 4 million refugees to date. The US says it plans to accept 5 000-8 000 Syrian refugees next year, which is hardly acceptable when the crisis is immediate. Countries that cause and back these "civil wars" should also absorb and be responsible for the human migrations they cause.

Sydney: US policy maker threatens warlike acts against Russia over ISIS This whole thing about ISIS smells. All the agonising about bombing its controlled areas in Syria and Iraq, involving Australia, involving others – and still it exists and grows. Then, Russia intervenes last week in Syria, promising to refit the Syrian army, join with the Syrian air force at its bases – and launch the attacks needed to crush this thing once and for all. And what is Australia’s response? Opposition. Now it gets worse – and sinister. For Australia and for our allies, it has from the start all been about removing President Assad from power. They say so. At a Sydney meeting of the Australia / Israel; Jewish Affairs Council on September 8, Elliott Abrams, a former senior adviser of George Bush and a member of the shadow-government ‘Council For Foreign Relations ‘ (CFR) in the USA, threatened acts of war against Russia. This creature conferred privately with Prime Minister Abbott only the day before. He does not speak alone. Abrams was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald: "If we're serious about defeating ISIS, we need to be serious about bringing the Assad regime … to an end." "You cannot allow an Iranian or Russian veto … We have to reject that. They have no right to dominate the government of Syria and determine Syria's future. "That's what it would take – a willingness to say to the Russians, 'We're not willing to tolerate barrel bombs slaughtering civilians. So we're willing to destroy the Syrian air force. So you had better not have people at that air base'." The USA bears the responsibility for bringing on the war against President Assad. Its allies have aided the so-called 'opposition' which has also included Islamists connected to al Qaeda. Russia has also insisted that US allies like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have also supported ISIS when it suited them too in their war against Assad. Israel may also have trained ISIS. This is filth politics. The idea that these American garbage can lecture the world about Assad, coming up even now with stories about chemical weapons being used by Assad and so on – staggers credibility. This is from the very same people who gave us a war to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. To now threaten Russia as Mr. Abrams did, means that there is something in ISIS we are not meant to find. Australian nationalists might think better of Russia’s intervention in Syria: let Assad win the war! Syria plan is 'madness' and won't work: former Bush adviser (8/9/15) | SMH

Dear CDB In reference to your editorial comment beginning with: "[Editorial Comment: This article suggests that Syria is in trouble due to overpopulation..." I'd point out that the SPP media release did not say Syria is in trouble due to overpopulation. It said: "To achieve this ultimate goal, we also need to address underlying DRIVERS [plural] of resource scarcity and conflict in Syria, INCLUDING rapid population growth." It clearly states therefore that rapid population growth is just one of the factors involved. Your editorial therefore is based on a false premise and introduces irrelevant issues such as comparisons with Australia's population growth. In my view it would be best be removed so as not to confuse readers. Regards William

Why Murdoch Pushes for War by craig on September 7, 2015 1:33 pm in Uncategorized Given the disgraceful Sun front page and middle spread urging war on Syria, and the all-out propaganda on Sky News, it is important to understand why Murdoch is pushing so hard for war. I therefore reproduce my article from February 2013. It is important to note that the links are to industry publications: this is very genuine, hard information. Israel Grants Oil Rights in Syria to Murdoch and Rothschild Israel has granted oil exploration rights inside Syria, in the occupied Golan Heights, to Genie Energy. Major shareholders of Genie Energy – which also has interests in shale gas in the United States and shale oil in Israel – include Rupert Murdoch and Lord Jacob Rothschild. This from a 2010 Genie Energy press release

Claude Pupkin, CEO of Genie Oil and Gas, commented, “Genie’s success will ultimately depend, in part, on access to the expertise of the oil and gas industry and to the financial markets. Jacob Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch are extremely well regarded by and connected to leaders in these sectors. Their guidance and participation will prove invaluable.” “I am grateful to Howard Jonas and IDT for the opportunity to invest in this important initiative,” Lord Rothschild said. “Rupert Murdoch’s extraordinary achievements speak for themselves and we are very pleased he has agreed to be our partner. Genie Energy is making good technological progress to tap the world’s substantial oil shale deposits which could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world.”

For Israel to seek to exploit mineral reserves in the occupied Golan Heights is plainly illegal in international law. Japan was succesfully sued by Singapore before the International Court of Justice for exploitation of Singapore’s oil resources during the second world war. The argument has been made in international law that an occupying power is entitled to opeate oil wells which were previously functioning and operated by the sovereign power, in whose position the occupying power now stands. But there is absolutely no disagreement in the authorities and case law that the drilling of new wells – let alone fracking – by an occupying power is illegal. Israel tried to make the same move twenty years ago but was forced to back down after a strong reaction from the Syrian government, which gained diplomatic support from the United States. Israel is now seeking to take advantage of the weakened Syrian state; this move perhaps casts a new light on recent Israeli bombings in Syria. In a rational world, the involvement of Rothschild and Murdoch in this international criminal activity would show them not to be fit and proper persons to hold major commercial interests elsewhere, and action would be taken. Naturally, nothing of the kind will happen. The following was a comment on the original site of publication of the above. Its all interlinked with US Vanguard Group inc. Dick Cheney was also a member of Genie Energy Corporation Strategic Advisory Board. Dick Cheney (Halliburton), had close to $85 million invested in the Vanguard Group. Rupert Murdoch is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of News Corp. Vanguard Group Inc held 85,939,439 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $2,192,315,109 in News Corp. John Kerrys wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, has over $3,500,001 stake in General Electric Co. Biggest stakeholder in General Electric Co is Vanguard Group: Jul 30, 2012 The board of directors of General Electric Co. has elected John J. Brennan as an independent member of the company’s board of directors. Brennan is chairman emeritus and a senior advisor of The Vanguard Group Inc. Vangaurd got Investments in every going concern. Raytheon, for example #5 15,664,626 $920,923,362 This from 2013: ‘Raytheon stock nears all-time high amid news of possible cruise-missile strike in Syria Stock shares of perennial defense contracting powerhouse Raytheon hit nearly $77 apiece Tuesday as news of a possible US strike in Syria intensified. The US has said if it strikes Syrian government targets for alleged use of chemical weapons, it would likely use Tomahawk cruise missiles from warships positioned in the Mediterranean. Raytheon is responsible for making and selling the bulk of the long-range, subsonic missiles to the US government.’ John Kerry spouse, Teresa Heinz Kerry, holdings. 3. Raytheon Co. $960,010 – $2,200,000 • Raytheon Co. received $11,662,797,975 in government contracts for fiscal year 2007, including a total of approx. $10 billion from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. US goes to war, they the politicians get return on investments from the very instruments that do the killing. That’s how the game works.

My second thought (the first being of the sadness of the situation), when I saw the pictures of the drowned boy and heard of the "world wide" reaction to it, was this was deliberate and blatant, and DISGUSTING manipulation of the people, to make them more eager to accept the states population policies. There are many children who die as a result of war, violence and dispossession, but why this one in particular? He was going to Greece, and the message is, let them all in. If he drowned going to Saudi Arabia, it wouldn't be news, because Saudi Arabia is not populated by the right people. Le Pen is right, and brave to call it out. And to make the situation more interesting, those who are talking about helping the refugees are acting with the very same racist assumptions they accuse Le Pen of having. Why this boy? Why demands of Europe and not Asia? Why no calls for China, which has entire cities empty to help? Why do people assume they can only really be helped by going to Europe, Australia, UK, Canada? There are obvious answers to this, and I think some of it has to do with grievances people have about their own state, than a desire to help.

The child's family were living safely in Turkey, and had to pass through safe countries to get there. They had been in Turkey for 3 years, and they had never been in a war zone. The place where they did live has since seen violence, from ISIS, but was safe in their time. The father did not go on the boat, but put his family on, without life jackets. They wanted to go to Canada, but there was no formal application. The father wanted to have his teeth fixed, by the welfare system. The photo has been used by the media to symbolize the plight of asylum seekers, and how the West should do the right thing and take more refugees! It's backfired, by revealing that not all those flocking to Europe are escaping "persecution and terror"! However, it's assumed that the war and the de-stablization of Iraq and Syria are inevitable, and unavoidable. The UN is admitting defeat and derelict of duty. They should be UNITING NATIONS against intervention by first world nations, their de-stablization and illegal wars. How many world leaders are actually trying to address what's causing the mass exodus from Syria, and trying to end what's causing it? How many are condemning the US war machine for the tragic loss of countries and lives? The tragic image of the small, drowned child is being used to promote guilt in the West, and encourage Europe and Australia to take in more asylum seekers from Syria, and other countries in conflict, but this is not the way! The truth must be known, that not all those entering are fleeing terror, and that we must not continue bombing the sovereign nation of Syria, but work with them to end this conflict.

AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY PRESS RELEASE National Wattle Day 1st September 2015 A Celebration of Australian Culture Native Australian Awards Announced John Wilson Commitment to the cause of freedom and justice under inherited Commonwealth Law Phylis lobl Excellence in the creation and performance of folk music to the advancement of Australian Culture Bernard Gaynor Commitment to advancing the values of a High Culture for Australian Society AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY P.O. Box 223 Croydon 3136 www.australiafirstparty.net ausfirst [ AT ] hotmail.com National Contact Line 02 8587 0014 Australia First Party - Reclaiming Australia for Australians The Protocol for The Order Of The Wattle Blossom SALUTATION In addressing a recipient of this Native Australian Award “Order Of The Wattle Blossom” is spoken following the normal usage of the appellation. In written communication, following the name of a recipient, OWB initials are added. “Order Of The Wattle Blossom” salutation surpasses accreditation attributes of any other Australian award, excepting traditional Defence Force Awards .

Thanks for the #fn1">footnote, ed. The attraction of a growing population to our business class is simply growing domestic demand. More consumers, more workers, bigger bottom lines. Obviously this grows GDP, but it does nothing to enrich the lives of the existing population. When social and environmental factors are figured in, mass immigration results in a decline in living standards for most technologically advanced Western countries. GDP per person is, I agree, a better (though still far from perfect) measure of economic performance. To my mind, GDP per person is only loosely related to population. In theory, you could have a huge population with low productivity that would have lower material standards of living. Or a very small population with high levels of productivity that enjoys a high material standard of living. In this latter case, the nations GDP would be quite small, but GDP per person would be high. Your point about the disruption created by mass immigration is relevant and may explain why countries that continue to develop better technology have flat GDP per capita. It could be that the efficiencies gained by automation are being eroded by inefficiencies caused by the arrival of new migrants who are ill prepared to work in their host countries. The diversion of investment capital to housing instead of more innovative / productive ventures is also certainly contributing. The US author Mark Krikkorian has written some interesting pieces on the productivity lowering effects of a cheap labour force. He argues that cheap labour acts as a disincentive to investment in labour saving technology, effectively holding back potentially big increases in productivity for the sake of quicker, easier, but potentially smaller gains achieved by forcing down wages.

Even if GDP was to grow as a result of population growth, this would not imply any real improvement to the state of the economy - much less any increase in the standard of living or quality of life of most Australians. Bigger is not the same as better.

The fact that GDP is flat_{#fn1" id="txt1"> 1}  despite mass immigration says that the economy is really in deep trouble. But this should come as no surprise.

The Coalition (and Labor to a large extent) have yet to come to terms with the fact that low wage conditions represent a useful phase in the development of an economy, but that Australia is well past that stage. Most of the Western world is past that stage. Japan is past it and within a decade or so, China will probably be past it.

In the event that free trade remains the dominant paradigm for international business in coming years, the only way that advanced Western nations can maintain their wealth is by using technology to boost productivity. Expecting employees to work for longer or for less money is short sighted and will not deliver the required increases in productivity. Furthermore, it robs consumers of the purchasing power necessary to stimulate demand. Nevertheless, this is still the preferred approach of most Australian business lobby groups, including the Liberal Party.

Thirty years ago, a great Australian by the name of Allan Richard Jones (not to be confused with the corporate sock puppet on Sydney radio) founded the National Technocrat Party, which argued for appropriate technological development and radical reform of our money system. Had the policies of the NTP been adopted at that time, Australia would be riding a wave of sustainable productivity now that would be the envy of the world.

It's not too late to look at such policy ideas again.

Footnote[s]

#fn1" id="fn1">1. #txt1">↑  Of course, claims, that productivity, in a population with rapidly growing population, is increasing, are ludicrous. But, in my opinion, even those measures of economic performance which show per capita GDB to be flat as a result of population growth and immigration, are wrong. Given all the chaos and disruption caused by high immigration, I would expect an accurate measure of the productivity of the real economy to show not just a flat line, but a significant loss of overall productivity. - Ed

It is beyond sadness what is happening to Syrians, However, The The west, USA, Canada and their dogs in the region are fully responsible for all the crimes committed against Syria and its people. Progressive demands should be to cut off support supplies to terrorist groups, Work with Syrian's Gov. to defeat them and restore the diplomatic relationships with Syria in order to facilitate consular services to Syrian's refugees.

Dear Friends

The kangaroo industry's bill to permanently lift the ban on kangaroo imports has been introduced to the Californian legislature.

Lobbying is furious with a countdown to a vote imminent right now.

#009900">We need your help to push this over the line and ensure protection for kangaroos.

LEARN MORE: #009900">www.kangaroosatrisk.org

TAKE ACTION: #009900">http://www.kangaroosatrisk.

SHARE THE POSTS

Animals Australia

Facebook post: (targeting full list) #009900">#009900">https://www.facebook.com/AnimalsAustralia/photos/a.107448345298.115177.32799215298/10154154760265299/?type=1

Voiceless

Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/Voiceless.institute/photos/a.186707174715341.55257.161639987222060/989986107720773/?type=1

Humane Society International – Australia

Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/HSIAustralia/photos/a.10150282690839511.350871.136441724510/10153613190259511/?type=1

MEDIA

Australia

• Senator Lee Rhiannon, Media Release 31 Aug 2015: http://lee-rhiannon.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/australia-moves-overturn-ban-kangaroo-products-us-greens-questions-reveal-abb

• Brietbart News Network, 2 Sept 2015: http://www.breitbart.com/california/2015/09/02/ca-legislature-may-un-ban-kangaroo-products/

• Sydney Morning Herald, 3 Sept 2015 http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/kangaroo-industry-australian-government-accused-of-dirty-tricks-in-california-20150902-gjdx9x.html

• ABC Radio National Breakfast, 2 Sept 2015: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/us-animal-welfare-lobby-fights-australian-kangaroo-meat/6742712

• ABC Rural, 27 Aug 2015: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-26/california-kangaroo-ban/6726172

• ABC Rural, 26 Aug 2015: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-26/kangaroo-ban-kelly-bergen-scott/6726058

California & the US

• News.Yahoo, 3 Sept 2015: http://news.yahoo.com/australia-under-fire-lobbying-california-kangaroo-trade-055246028--finance.html

• Sierra Club, https://secure.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?alertId=16373&pg=makeACall

• Sacramento Bee, 1 Sept 2015 Editorial: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article33271440.html

• Sacramento Bee, 1 Sept 2015: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article33192168.html

• Sacramento Bee, 1 Sept 2015: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article33230376.html

• Sacramento Bee, 10 June 2015: Opinion: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/dan-morain/article23699872.html

• LA Times, 1 Sept 2015: http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-kangaroo-ban-bill-20150901-story.html

• LA Times, 28 Aug 2015: http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-kangaroo-australian-complaint-20150828-story.html

• LA Times, 11 June 2015: http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-kangaroo-product-ban-20150610-story.html

• News.com.au, 12 June 2015: http://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/california-kangaroo-skin-battle-heats-up/story-e6frfkui-1227393913112

Helen Bergen

Bathurst NSW Australia

Thank you, Helen Burgen, for your most interesting and helpful post, but could I ask you, and other contributors, in future, to use ordinary text editors, or else HTML editors which produce HTML which is less verbose and more intelligible than that contained in the earlier version of your post? Your post has been edited to move a large amount of unintelligible HTML. A file containing a copy of the above post, as it has been edited, is attached to the above article here and can be downloaded. Evidently, your earlier version of the above post was created with a commercial web page editor which produces HTML which is far more verbose than it need be. -  Ed

The EU is under tremendous pressure to absorb the number of displaced people, many of whom come from the Middle East, such as Syria, and from Africa. There's been little discussion on why, or how to end the misery and overflow! It's assumed that it's part of our modern world, inevitable, and unavoidable, and must be dealt with by absorbing the huge numbers into Europe.

With global population doubled since 1970, any disruption to peace and invasions, will cause massive spilling over of people. In the past there were always new countries, or colonies, to subdue and escape to, for a better life! Now, the world is full!

According to international law, the US cannot intervene in another country militarily or otherwise without the approval, without the cooperation and coordination of that country. They want to bomb ISIS, in Syria, but it has done it without the approval of the Security Council and in clear violation of the charter of the UN. Countries that have helped arming, funding, training and facilitating the work of ISIS are telling the world they are "fighting terrorism".

Australia has a long history of participating in Washington's criminal wars.

Don Rothwell, a professor of law at the Australian National University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the government was considering action that would "radically adjust Australian doctrine."

The destruction that the US invasion wreaked on Iraq, followed by Washington's open stoking of civil war in Libya and Syria, has plunged the entire region into chaos, giving rise to phenomena such as ISIS, as well as the world’s worst refugee crisis. Despite the flows to Europe, the United States has welcomed few Syrian refugees to its shores. They have a miles-long asylum backlog, insufficient temporary relief, and laborious national security screening procedures that make sure terrorists are not slipping into the country keep refugee admissions to a minimum. Refugee families have changed the demographics of their host cities, such as Shelbyville, Tennessee; Lewiston, Maine; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, all of which have reported culture clashes between Muslims expecting everything from foot baths at public colleges to dietary concessions at public schools.

Read more at U.N. to dump flood of Muslim refugees on U.S. (15/9/14) | WND

Politicians and the press tend to use the first term, implying that the new arrivals are being pulled toward Europe in search of economic opportunities. The United Nations insists that the vast majority of the new arrivals are in fact refugees, people who are being pushed from their homelands due to persecution or conflict.