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admin

Fri, 2015-06-12 01:01

This was posted to a forum discussion, Big Oil changes sides in the War on Coal.

Ultimately, whether it is achieved directly by accountable democratic government or, somehow, by 'market forces', I expect a sustainable world, which would not be threatened with global warming, would include something like the following:

  • Population stability - an end to the high immigration encouraged by the Abbott government and most state governments for the benefit of property developers and land speculators;
  • communities in which most places of work, education, leisure and retail are less than a 15 minute cycle ride a way;
  • public transport sufficient to make car ownership for longer journeys unnecessary;
  • most food consumed by a community produced in market gardens close to that community or in the yards surrounding the free standing houses of its inhabitants;
  • the manufacture of artefacts with built-in obsolescence to be outlawed;
  • over-packaging outlawed, or at least taxed sufficiently to cover the cost of disposal in council landfill;
  • all beverage or food containers to be manufactured to conform to design standards, be reusable and be paid for by consumers with refundable deposits.

Unless something like this is achieved I think we stand no chance of reducing our consumption of non-renewable resources, including fossil fuels, to sustainable levels. The chance of achieving this with the 'free market', which is still the official ideology guiding Australia and much of the rest of the world, is close to nil.

Will Archie (not verified)

Fri, 2015-06-12 00:49

I was born in Melbourne 35 years ago (scares the hell out of me) I have always been passionate about this city up until the last 5 or so years... so with the ugly over-development, over-population and the overly-sensitive defenders of this touting all these wonderful things we now have... Can I ask, in Melbourne, aside from increased traffic, racial intolerance driven by housing and personal space related tension- what is it that we now have that we didn't have in Melbourne 5 or 10 or even 20 years ago? My answer is nothing. If anyone can come up with anything or even tries to, well, you are a complete f#$%^&. Simple! We should all very sad but motivated to start speaking out about what's happening to Melbourne and to those who are pushing for this population growth well shame on you and no doubt it will come back to haunt you and not soon enough!

Robert Braby

Thu, 2015-06-11 21:54

The current housing boom has its origins in the global financial crisis of 2008, when the federal government and Reserve Bank engaged in expansionary monetary and fiscal policies to avert a major recession. This they did successfully, but the fallout is still lingering on. The Reserve Bank pushed interest rates down to historically low levels. They recovered slightly, but the world economy has not fully recovered from the GFC, and that has stalled Australia’s economic recovery also. So we have now drifted back into a mini recession, prompting the Reserve Bank to drop interest rates again – to historically low levels not seen for many decades. Meanwhile, the expansionary fiscal measures taken by the Federal Government during the GFC resulted in an uncomfortably large deficit, which the government now wants to reduce. This has discouraged them from engaging in further fiscal stimulus, thereby putting most of the burden for preventing a deepening recession on monetary policy; hence the exceptionally low interest rates now. The profit motive is alive and well, so many people have taken advantage of these low interest rates and piled into the housing market – including foreign buyers and ordinary people taking advantage of the tax benefits of negative gearing. Eventually the economic cycle will turn up, unemployment will start to fall and the Reserve Bank will put monetary policy into reverse. Interest rates will start to rise and the housing boom (bubble?) will end. But there are no signs that population growth will end. It marches on relentlessly. Investors know this and factor it into their investment decisions. Each year the impact of population growth increases. Why? Because each year the supply of vacant land is diminished by development, but the population numbers increase.* They might decrease in percentage terms but still increase in absolute terms. So house prices will continue to increase but at a slower rate than we have seen over the last few years. • I am referring loosely here to the trend rate of increase, ignoring year by year fluctuations.

Dennis K

Wed, 2015-06-10 23:29

The Greens are basically a "Social Justice" party, who conflate wishing for the right things with good policy. Their policy mostly targets social housing, and the poorest of us all. That is, they don't address the problem at all. Poor people have always struggled to afford a home, and the fact someone with no income can't afford a house, doesn't mean there is a problem with the price of the house. Saying that poor people can't afford a home is as asinine as saying that if you need more money, you need to earn more. Their housing policy doesn't even mention that housing is overpriced. Even Abbott acknowledged that! The Greens motivation has more to do with using the tax money to provide social housing and a more equitable tax system. Perhaps middle class home ownership is too bourgeois for many of their supporter base, hence why the Greens rarely seem to say that average middle class Australians's shouldn't be priced out. That said, Negative Gearing should go. It is essentially wealth distribution, where wealth is distributed from one tax payer to someone else, purely on the basis of what the recipient chooses to do with their money. It is ironic that the Liberals and conservatives, who are averse to wealth redistribution, support negative gearing. They decry Socialism, but practice it using our money. IT is "from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs". The only thing that changes is the basis by which 'ability' and 'needs' are determined. Negative Gearing favours some investment activity (that which can be negatively geared) over other investment activity. The Government, and the Arts/Law graduates who fill Canberra, are NOT in a position to determine efficiently and effectively, where that investment should go. They don't know, and can't know. A large factor in the housing bubble is the expansion of cheap credit. The Australian housing bubble is only unique, because it continued after the GFC. The other Anglosphere nations also had housing bubbles, but they popped, whereas ours remained due to the capacity for further government interventions through simultaneously increasing the FHG, increasing immigration and opening up the market to foreign investors, all instituted by Rudd. Our housing bubble was primed to deflate in 2008, but action in 2009 kept it afloat. The influx of funny money and cheap credit fuelled these bubbles. The exact same thing is occurring today. Housing bubbles are growing in Ireland and in the USA, and here in Australia again. We also have immigration rates through the roof, which help prop it up, moreso by increasing the perception that property is a winner, than by actually pumping money into the ponzi. That is to say, the perception among investors that high immigration means capital gains, may have more of an effect on house prices than the actual purchases immigrants make. The government could just fudge the data, bring in no one, and the sentiment alone would still keep prices up. As for foreign investors, I would guess of the Australian government was to really crack down on purchases made with black or grey money, or made illegally and appropriate their houses, then maybe 20% of houses would be reclaimed, perhaps many more so. The mass investment in Australian property is riddled with criminal and fraudulent activity. I think the number of purchases in contravention of laws would when eventually revealed by quite staggering. The data just doesn't match up with legal activity. How is it so many Chinese can take so much money out of China to buy properties here, when their country limits them to extracting $50K? Our government is perhaps party to one of the biggest financial crimes being committed in Australia. Our leaders are so corrupt and so arrogant, it is a sign of the times that they can do this openly, and not fear repercussion. No doubt corruption in China allows this to occur too. The entire situation reeks of corruption. http://www.chinalawblog.com/2012/10/getting-money-out-of-china-thats-ill... http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2015/06/stop-money-laundering-so-our-kid... http://www.whocrashedtheeconomy.com.au/blog/2014/07/australian-real-esta... https://sourceable.net/is-australian-property-a-haven-for-money-laundering/ If the Greens were willing to treat our criminal class for what they are, criminals, then they might get my support. But alas, they don't. Only a party willing to put them in jail, or impose huge fines on serving and ex members can hope to make a difference. Fiddling with Negative Gearing is no longer enough. If the Chinese stock bubble which is forming now bursts, this will have massive repercussions for Australia. It may solve our 'housing crisis' in a very brutal manner.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2015-06-10 23:23

Hi Denis, It is the promise of population growth that has got the investors manic. And then we get the manic population growth to make them feel that the promise will be fulfilled. i.e. the perception needs to be constantly massaged. I agree with your other observations. And of course there are the other inducements, like citizenship, bolt-holes, dual citizenship, and the general opportunities for corruption that we are so famous for.

Dennis K

Wed, 2015-06-10 21:21

I think population growth did play a large part, but has taken a back seat to speculation. Firstly, the portion of homebuyers who are first home buyers is lower than ever. This suggests that new people are not entering the market. Data indicates that it is mainly investors buying properties. Warnings of a bubble are being repeated frequently in the past few days, as there are growing concerns that the housing market is overheated (always late to realise). Secondly, rental yields are low. Investment is primarily in the hope of capital gains, or in subdivision. Rents are stagnant or dropping, so demand for rental properties isn't the main driver. Many investors leave the properties vacant. Thirdly, we are assuming rational supply/demand economics. There isn't demand for the hundreds of apartments, these are merely an investment vehicle for speculation. Investors are caught in a mania, and are seeking to ride the bubble further up. At the moment, mania is becoming more and more an factor. Our housing market is becoming more and more divorced from DEMAND, and these towers are build purely to channel speculative investment money. We are no longer building houses to house people, but to act as a phyiscal unit of currency in a speculative bubble. Stopping population growth now will reduce demand, but it will not remove the 'bubble mania'. Investors will not care, as long as there is the perception that the bubble will grow. I think at this point, the beast is out of control, and will either crash, or consume us all.

Dennis K

Wed, 2015-06-10 21:16

I hope he was three sheets to the wind when he said that. Who would have thought, that if you have more money, things become easier to afford. Thank you Mr Hockey. No one in Australia knew this. Just get more money! Here I was thinking that getting a job which pays LESS might help. Ahh, there is where I was doing wrong. Thanks Joe. I'll just get a job that pays $150K. Problem solved. Easy done! Good to see our best minds are tackling our countries finances.

Dennis K

Wed, 2015-06-10 21:11

I would be overjoyed to hear Dick Smith deciding to enter politics. I've held him in high esteem since I was a young teenager and am continuously impressed by his passion, ingenuity and drive to do right by Australia. The country needs people like Dick Smith.

End the housing... (not verified)

Wed, 2015-06-10 18:12

Dick Smith, 71, is among Australians receiving the highest of accolades to be awarded in the Queen's Birthday honours on Monday. He was 24 when, with $600, he started Dick Smith Electronics in 1968. "I was fixing the Manly Cabs radios. Twelve months later, my accountant said, 'You've earned more than the Prime Minister.' I had made $30,000." Smith says he is too old to enter politics, but he is in discussions about lending his name to a political party: Dick Smith's Sustainable Population Party. Mr Smith told The Australian he was considering running under the Sustainable Population Party’s ticket but may also run as an independent. It follows Mr Smith’s announcement in March that he had registered the Dick Smith Party but declared he would not run as a candidate. The SPP is carrying out a survey to decide whether they should change their name to Dick Smith’s Sustainable Population Party, he said. Do we really believe our increasing population, which outstrips that of many "third world" countries is a good thing? No national debate is permitted, because there is a three-pronged support for this population Ponzi scheme in the form of the Liberals, Labor and property developers - and the silence of the Greens is also silent collaboration with "big Australia".

quark

Wed, 2015-06-10 08:18

Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott are skating on thin ice with their defence of stratospheric house prices especially in Sydney. Another Liberal politician, Craig Laundy has defended Joe Hockey's recent remarks on the subject and advised the public that now is a good time to get into the property market. What happens if someone takes on a mortgage which he can just afford and then interest rates rise and he can no longer cover the repayments? Does the government bear any of the responsibility? Abbott said that he wanted prices in Sydney to rise because he has a property there (mortgaged). He is far from disinterested. Hockey says housing is not unaffordable because people are buying but that the answer to the problem that apparently is not a problem is to "build, build, build". He must know that the problem is shortage of land , land land in relation to the huge numbers of people, people, people needing housing in the areas where people want to live. He knows that the average person can only buy where land is cheap or buy in more expensive areas but have little or no land. Members of the government are skating on thin ice because they appear to be interfering in the housing market. Isn't their dictum to let markets be free? They also appear to be giving advice and to have their own interests in the asset case in which they are giving advice to the public. What they need to do is take on the responsibility of a housing safety net. This means "public housing, public housing, public housing!"

anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2015-06-09 18:39

He declared that "If you've got a good job and it pays good money and you have security in relation to that job, then you can go to the bank and you can borrow money and that's readily affordable". The fact that wages are not keeping up with house prices is being ignored by this buffoon, and shows just how callous and out of touch our arrogant politicians really are!

Mr Hockey made the comment at media conference in Sydney where he was being asked about rising housing prices across the country, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. He denied that housing in Sydney had become unaffordable, particularly for new entrants into the property market. Just wonder how the normal people are actually able to communicate with our leaders, in their ivory towers of affluence. How many houses must our politicians have? They just watch their profits increasing, while the masses are struggling to meet mortgage payments, or are thrown onto the streets. Older people now are in danger of homelessness, due to pension cuts and soaring housing and costs of living.

The Treasurer said rising house prices were a good thing because they enabled owners to borrow against the equity to fund new spending. After decades of paying off a house, or even part of it, how are they to see it eaten away with reverse mortgages? Houses can't be used to pay water, Council rates, electricity and everyday expenses!

Joe Hockey's advice to first homebuyers - get a good job that pays good money (9/6/15) | SMH/the Age

Other stories : Joe Hockey pilloried for 'get a good job' remarks (9/6/15) | SMH, [Joe Hockey's claimed] property crackdown 'won't hurt Australia' (9/6/15) | SBS

Robert Braby

Mon, 2015-06-08 16:20

Tony Abbot's comments are typical of what we have come to expect from a Prime Minister so lacking in a vision of a better Australia, and augur poorly for the government's response to the recently released report on housing affordability. As for Chinese investment in housing, the reason I made no reference to this in my submission to the housing inquiry is twofold; firstly, foreign investment involves a complex mix of economic and policy variables, including foreign exchange rates, interest rates and other monetary variables which were outside my immediate field of interest. Secondly, a major motive for housing investment, whether coming from inside or outside the country, is capital gain. The major fundamental long-term driver of capital gain, as I emphasised in my submission, is population growth. So I suspect the current high rates of overseas investment in the Australian housing industry are, to a large extent, merely a manifestation of our very high rate of population growth. If we can solve the population problem the overseas investment problem should largely solve itself. The same could be said of negative gearing - it is also largely motivated by capital gain.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2015-06-07 10:54

Title was: Australia singled out as a climate change 'free-rider' by intern[ational community]. - Ed

Australia is named along with Canada, Japan and Russia as appearing "to have withdrawn from the community of nations seeking to tackle dangerous climate change". Japan is sensibly heading towards a sustainable population size, so they probably claim their detachment from mitigation efforts is their right!

However, Australia is still in the "growth" frenzy, with the biggest population growth rate of the developed countries, along with Canada. It would be dishonest and intellectually incongruent to claim Australia is making efforts to mitigate climate change, yet heading towards "big Australia".

The country was on course for emissions to rise 12-18 per cent above 2000 levels after scrapping the carbon price in 2014, compared with the promise of a 5 per cent reduction by decade's end. Anthropogenic climate change can't be addressed while population growth is being promoted, along with land clearing, coal exports, mining and urbanisation.

The energy needs of a continent home to 600 million people without access to electricity, Africa has a keen interest in reducing global warming risks given its exposure to extreme weather and widespread poverty. However, most of the world's population explosion is from developing nations, such as Africa. While they are low per capita on energy use, they are offsetting this with their bulking up of people.

Of course, the elephant in the room is never mentioned – increasing demand for energy fueled by population growth! Australia's economy is the most environmentally and climate-hostile in the world, not only because of population growth, but due to the export of climate change through coal mining.

Australia singled out as a climate change 'free-rider' by international panel (5/6/15) by Peter Hannan | SMH

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2015-06-07 09:05

Last month the ABC revealed that just days before the January election Campbell Newman's LNP government approved the clearing of nearly 32,000 hectares of land on Olive Vale station, in a decision that was not publicly announced. The Queensland government has now stepped in by asking the Commonwealth government to stop the bulldozers! The Newman government allowed the land to be cleared, in secrecy. Conservationists say the land in and around Olive Vale is worthy of world heritage listing, is home to 17 listed threatened species, and includes important rivers flowing into the Great Barrier Reef. It's the highest volume of clearing in Queensland, and was for "high quality agriculture". There's nothing high quality about the decision-making process! ABC: Queensland government steps in to stop Olive Vale land clearing Australia is under pressure to "feed the world", it seems, due to declining agricultural output, and human overpopulation. "Food security" is an economic opportunity for Australia!! This region is “smack in the middle of core habitat” for the endangered buff-breasted button-quail. Ryan Global won approval days before the election in January to clear land mostly to grow sorghum to feed cattle and expand its numbers on the property from 15,000 to 25,000 beasts. “The blank cheque granted to the proponent to clear over 30,000 hectares of Cape York is astonishing" said ACF program manager Andrew Picone. Nothing promotes lawlessness like filthy lucre! The Guardian: Endangered Quail threatened by controversial Queensland land clearing The company that owns the station, Olive Vale Pastoral, told the ABC last month that the clearing would help create dozens of jobs on Cape York. There are plenty of "jobs" being created through crime, and a lot of unwanted and ugly means. With rising crime and terror, "jobs" are being created right through the law enforcement process, to the courts, legal system, and prisons. There's prostitution, the sex industry, pornography, drugs, gambling - and environmental vandalism! "Jobs" don't justify all human activities. Why would you justify "jobs" when it would eventually add to droughts, loss of native species, and destruction of Nature - the system of rivets that and fasteners that keep the machinery of ecological benefits functioning? If there's an overburden of unemployment, why propagate the skilled immigration program and create the illusion overseas that we have "skills shortages" - and then justify environmental destruction? Read more at AWPC website Any Environmental Day in Australia is laughable, in the land of mass exterminations and heavy land clearing. But Mr Hunt said he had instructed his department to investigate whether the land clearing on Olive Vale station complied with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Let's hope that Hunt actually stops this destruction and acts actually as an Environment Minister!

Katie (not verified)

Fri, 2015-06-05 23:31

I can't bear to look at the video. The photographs are bad enough. The documented cruelty happening in the world, news of which reaches me daily via my computer is becoming overwhelming. I am bombarded with it and this would be bearable if it were fiction, but it is not. It is true! It is no longer possible to be happy in this world; knowing of this undeniable suffering and wanton cruelty, perpetrated by humans such as that illustrated in the above article. If it happened once, maybe it could eventually be forgotten but it never ends. It's getting to the stage now where, if I see a photo of a dead animal that shouldn't have died but may not have suffered too much, I'm almost reassured. One cannot ever un-know about the cruelty one sees on the Internet so the best that I can now manage is temporary escape through entertainment or the occasional momentarily distracting conversation on an unrelated subject. I feel assaulted, hurt, damaged by these photos and all the other terrible ones that have entered my life via the computer screen. I'm sure I am not alone in this. The sooner humans disappear from the face of the earth, the better.

Dennis K

Fri, 2015-06-05 21:25

All too often, the argument that living things must devour to live, that other animals hunt kill and eat, and therefore so must we, gets trotted out. What makes us human, is our ability to reflect on our actions, to be cognisant and realise the implications of what we are doing. Animals don't have this ability (at least it doesn't appear to be so), so they do hunt, kill and eat, often without regard for the preys suffering. The hyena's don't have the faculties to realise, and empathise with their prey they are eating alive for half an hour. They are not choosing to forgo the use of these mental faculties. It just isn't there. We however do. Which is what makes a human being treating animals this way so much worse. We can know, have the ability to know and understand, but we choose to pretend to be at a lower animal level, that we have to do what it takes to survive. In doing this, we shuffle off part of our humanity. So much misery and suffering is caused by people justifying acting on automatic impulses and desires, rather than mastering them. This is why time and time again, whether in the Bible, in moral teachers and philosophers, that the idea of self restraint and self discipline comes in, and why what is considered sin, is often acting in impulses. Greed, lust, gluttony, anger and envy are the result of us being driven, and controlled by automatic urges, than being in control of them. Unfortunately, I don't think it is simply the draconian society that does this. Cruelty exists in free countries. It could be the deculturalisation of China, but one has to wonder why Communism didn't have the same effect in Eastern Europe.

anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2015-06-05 13:03

There are those who deny the concept of human "evil" and dismiss it as superstition, or some cultist thinking! One only has to see these horrendous and hideous images to realize that we are looking at evil! This is not about food, or about texture, or gastronomic delight -but about sadism and clammering to be the highest in the "jungle" to be the top predator of species. Some pathetic people need to feel power over others, and it's evidence of some inherent personal inadequacy or weakness. The need to inflict pain and suffering on "lower" beings, without defence!

On the contrary, caring for animals and the animal rights movement tends to bring out the best qualities in people, and a closed link with Nature.

Proverbs 12:10 "a righteous man (person) has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.."

“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.” Leonardo da Vinci

“Man is the cruelest animal.” Friedrich Nietzsche

Why so much suffering in China? Probably living in draconian society with little compassion for human rights has hardened their hearts.

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2015-06-04 23:45

Phillip Adams interviewed someone yesterday about a forthcoming book, by Carl Safina,
Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. The interviewed writer sounded capable of truly independent thought and spoke with refreshing logic. People might like to look out for it.

You can listen to the program online here or download the 9.9Mb mp3 file from here. - Ed

Katie (not verified)

Thu, 2015-06-04 13:18

I agree with the above comment that sustainable intensification of agriculture is an oxymoron and that it is associated with in creased pressure on the environment. It must not be forgotten that also, farmed animals lose out badly in this process with increased cruelty as their needs and feelings are increasingly disregarded.

anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2015-06-04 12:05

According to a 2009 report from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation the number of food insecure people is estimated between 800 million to 1 billion, with a similar number suffering obesity. The world’s middle class is also predicted to rise from around 2.5 billion to 4.9 billion over the same period.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/voice/sustainable-intensification-of-agriculture-oxymoron-or-unavoidable-imperative-20150604-3x5ud.html

The global population, currently growing at around 140 people per minute, is predicted to reach 8 billion by 2030, 9.1 billion by 2050 and possibly as high as 14 billion by 2100. Any pretense towards "sustainable agriculture" is just delusional, and procrastinate real action of food security. This is one of the "challenges" faced by both scientists and producers who need to increase food production to feed a hungry planet, while transitioning farming to a sustainable footing.

Economically, Australia has an opportunity to meet the growing demand for food in the world, but at the same time we seeing a steady decline in agricultural productivity and the agricultural resource base. The Economy can't be divorced from the Environment, and the threats of climate change.

Additionally, there's been a decline in investment in agricultural research and development, as a proportion of agricultural GDP, and an increasingly urbanising population is leading to urban expansion into prime agricultural land. We can't eat houses, but it's assumed that housing growth can offset what we are losing from the fading mining boom!

The UN Environment Program estimates that 25 per cent of the world’s food production may become lost due to environmental breakdown by 2050. The unavoidable fact is that human populations are outstripping food supplies, and Nature's ability to increase production to meet human demands.

The term sustainable intensification of agriculture is an oxymoron, as most agricultural intensification to date has been associated with increased pressure on the environment and natural resource base. The term "sustainable growth" is also an oxymoron, and nothing in a finite world can keep being consumed while at the same time be replaced if population keeps exploding.

quark

Wed, 2015-06-03 12:13

Tony Abbott's revelation that he (and the bank) own a house in Sydney, therefore he wants house prices to increase "modestly" is a significant step towards normalizing what most would see as a conflict of interests. Aren't politicians at his level supposed to be at arm’s length from their investments in order to be properly disinterested in decision making? But it is difficult to arrange this with property that one uses. If Abbott wants what he obviously sees as an investment (his property in Sydney ) to increase in value, then it is ingenuous to say that he only wants it to increase “modestly”. In truth investors hope their investments will go through the roof ! But from the societal and moral point of view, a house to live in should not be seen as an investment like shares or bonds since it is essential to life as are water and food. If Tony Abbott and his government can affect house prices through policy (and they can) perhaps they should be banned from owning property whilst they are in government. Then they would not be so eager for prices to increase.

anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2015-06-02 16:39

People wanting to become citizens in Australia should have to undertake an English language test, Liberal MP Sharman Stone says. We disposed of the White Australia Policy, but now there are few controls in place. Would-be citizens are currently asked 20 questions in the Australian "citizenship test" about Australia's beliefs, values, its law system and Australian people. She says that if people cannot speak English in Australia, in drawing from experience at citizenship ceremonies in her Victorian electorate of Murray, where she estimates a number of new citizens cannot read, write or speak basic English. It flies in the face of why we have the majority of our migrants, to plug in skills shortages? If they lack skills in English, they really can't have any other useable skills in industry. The Immigration Department are disjointed from our economy, democracy and are immune to public opinion. They liberally distribute and print all sorts of visas and permits to enter Australia, and there's no accountability or matching to our living standards, unemployment, prices and the cost of upgrading our infrastructure to cope with congestion. Dr Sharman should also be questioning immigration numbers too, and just why we need skilled migrants at a time of high unemployment and savage cuts to TAFE funding. English test should be mandatory for people wanting citizenship in Australia, says Liberal MP Sharman Stone

BanDuckShooting (not verified)

Tue, 2015-06-02 16:26

Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said he wanted to boost the parrot's captive population as part of an urgent response to an outbreak of beak and feather disease. "This bird is right on the edge of an extinction precipice in the wild," Mr Andrews said. With such few numbers struggling against "developments" and environmental destruction, any disease could destroy their stronghold on existence.

Around 64 wild parrots flew out of their single Tasmanian breeding colony this autumn for Victorian coastal wintering grounds. 27 were captive bred and released to the wild. The young are listless and shedding feathers. With such small numbers, fewer than 70 in the wild, there's no room for disease, neglect or complacency. Such small number don't encourage genetic diversity, or robustness in the species.

Australia, famous for mammal extinctions, is also ramping up our world record to include native bird extinctions.

Disease strikes endangered orange-bellied parrots in Tasmanian breeding colony (1/6/15) | The Age

Stop the housin... (not verified)

Mon, 2015-06-01 19:06

'I do hope our housing prices are increasing': Tony Abbott quizzed on housing bubble.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has welcomed increasing house prices in Sydney on the same day the head of Treasury voiced strong concerns about a developing housing bubble in the country's largest city. Wonder how many houses does our Prime Minister have?

"I want housing to be affordable but nevertheless, I also want house prices to be modestly increasing". What hypocrisy! The prices have more than "moderately" increased, and many people are locked out. He wants people to have resources, jobs and houses, but houses are NOT available. We can't go any higher.

“As someone who, along with a bank, owns a house in Sydney, I do hope that our housing prices are increasing,” Mr Abbott told Parliament today.

Labor’s Andrew Giles was among the MPs to slam Mr Abbott’s comments, saying they were “extraordinary”.

Tony Abbott opened his mouth in without controlling his tongue, and now we know his real agenda of protecting his own interests and that of the super-wealthy investors.

Without any real economic activities except for inflating house prices, our nation is becoming divided by the capital owners and those struggling with cuts to public funds, and falling into a hole of deprivation and poverty.

Abbott should walk down the street and see the homeless and distitute.

Appendix: Ostensible mainstream media indignation against Tony Abott

'I do hope our housing prices are increasing': Tony Abbott quizzed on housing bubble (1/6/15) | SMH

Analysis: Sydney housing bubble threat presents challenges for Government, Reserve Bank (1/6/15) | ABC News

Housing affordability: The comment that shows that Tony Abbott doesn’t get it (1/6/15) | SMH

Tony Abbott wants house prices to keep rising, contradicts RBA and Treasury who warn of a bubble (1/6/15) |SMH

Stop the Planes (not verified)

Mon, 2015-06-01 08:08

The illustrations of aeroplanes is incredibly revealing and shows the little Cessna of the "asylum seekers" compared to the giant Jumbo, Titanic of the air, of economic migrants! The media focus on the former and diverts the public attention away from the latter. It's all smoke-screen, and we get letters to the editor, and editorials, on how Australia lacks "compassion" for the displaced, yet do they know or realize just how many migrants we DO accommodate each year in Australia, and the enormous costs involved? No wonder we are being crushed by infrastructure deficit, and our "growth" is being treated as inevitable! If we had NO immigration, our population would stabilize in about two decades, but with immigration equalling emigration, about 70 or 80k people per year, we could stabilze by mid-century. This what we should be doing, as the world - including Australia - is becoming more hostile in environmental and economic terms, and the number of displaced will continue to soar and more land masses become inhospitable to human settlements. Obviously, we in Australia can't possibly build all the housing we need to keep up with the housing boom, and the immigration rate. Housing is a major industry in Australia. So, we must have foreign "investment" to help keep the prices high. Nick Folkes should be congratulated for his courage, at standing against the big Giants of the banks, and property developers. The fact is that is IS China that's the major investor in real estate in Australia, and it's not being "racist" to mention this country specifically! Housing should be enshrined in our Constitution as a normal Right, not something optional.

admin

Sun, 2015-05-31 15:17

No action is to taken by the DELWPH 1  or the police to prosecute a farmer who, on 26 May trespassed on Waterboard land at Boneo on Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. The farmer trespassed in order to release dogs to drive kangaroos, who were sheltering in the bush back onto his cleared farmland where he then killed an unknown number with 100 rounds of ammunition. Four more kangaroos were driven onto the road and killed by passing motor vehicles and two live joeys were killed by his dogs. According to the ABC News of 19/5/2015 the Goongerah Environment Centre were threatened with prosecution for trespassing in order to protect rainforest on the Errinundra Plateau with clearing. The ABC reports:
Ed Hill from GECO said he was shocked by the threats. "Quite frankly we're disgusted that the Government would threaten to prosecute community members for getting out there and basically doing the work that the Government is meant to be doing and holding VicForests accountable to state laws that protect unique environmental values, like rainforest," he said.
On the same day the ABC also reported in the story Errinundra Plateau rainforest canopy needlessly destroyed in East Gippsland, Environment Dept report finds:
A report from the Department of Environment has revealed VicForests' contractors needlessly destroyed rainforest canopy in East Gippsland. The department visited the area in April to investigate claims VicForests had illegally logged rainforest on the Errinundra Plateau. ... Investigators said they were concerned because there was no obvious reason why the rainforest canopy had been destroyed. It said VicForests retained a degree of culpability because it did not tell its contractors not to harvest the trees. It said regulatory action would not succeed because of a lack of conclusive evidence but it recommended VicForests review its guidelines. Last week, Environment Minister Lisa Neville said she would send in department staff to conduct spot checks on VicForests' logging activities. The Victorian Greens' forestry spokeswoman, Samantha Dunn, said independent ecologists and inspectors should be deployed to keep an eye on VicForests. "I've seen a wealth of material produced by the community out there which clearly indicates rainforest species have been felled, it's a bit laughable in terms of yes the evidence has actually gone off on a logging truck to the mill now, so no wonder there's inconclusive evidence," she said.
Footnote[s] 1. ↑  Does anyone know what the acronym ' DELWPH' stands for? - Ed

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2015-05-31 08:27

In a slap on the face to the Victorian government, the Gippsland environment group Goongerah Environment Centre (GEC) last week was shortlisted for the prestigious United Nations World Environment Day Awards in the Habitat Restoration and Biodiversity category.

VicForests were exposed for illegally logging ancient old-growth forests, but it was covered up and denied by the government. In face of this exposure by the Goongerah Environment Centre (GEC) they were threatened with prosecution for entering a “timber harvesting safety zone”.

Victorian environment minister Lisa Neville said: “There was extremely poor practice and it was probably a fine line whether this was a breach or not.” This "fine line" meant the vandalism of trees hundred of years old!

“The state government are shielding VicForests’ logging operations from public scrutiny.

GEC spokesperson Ed Hill said: “It’s a great honour to have made the shortlist for this prestigious award that recognises significant contributions to the conservation of biodiversity by local community groups. Ironically the Victorian government are threatening to prosecute our volunteers for doing the exact work the United Nations has recognised and shortlisted us as finalists for.

Green Left:Victorian government threatens environment group honoured by UN

Experienced at VCAT (not verified)

Sun, 2015-05-31 02:03

VCAT bullies parties that are off-side to its own interest. This is because many VCAT lists are funded by companies through consumer affairs victoria (CAV). This leaves significant conflicts of interest. As a result VCAT is effectively a Mexican court. Cases are decided before they even go to hearing. The Owners Corporation List for one, is an outright joke. Don't expect due process if you're against such a protected party at VCAT, especially if your claims may expose the protected party.. So much for the Australian Justice System!

Dennis K

Sat, 2015-05-30 23:25

Urban Taskforce Australia aren't concerned, because they benefit financially at the detriment to the rest of us. So of course they would say that, wouldn't they? Statistics, which can be found after some light web searching show there is indeed reason for concern, as well as evidence witnessed by people all around Melbourne and Sydney, in particular, certain parts which seem to be targeted. There are millions of empty dwellings in China, many unsold. Some estimates over FIFTY MILLION. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-11/mindblowing-fact-day-china-has-over-52-million-vacant-homes The city which is quite literally empty is well documented, and many other towers suffer the same fate. Yet with so many opportunities available, wealthy Chinese have to push out locals here (often using dubious money and I would dare say, our homes are being used to launder dirty money quickly). To call this "redneck", when it is nothing more than sane, healthy concern over ones own country demonstrates how hostile the media is towards us. Even the term 'invasion' could perhaps be justified, as what we have are foreign interests occupying local resources. Lastly, the comment that the Freedom Party's site features swastikas is joke and libellous. There are no swastika's featured on the site, and if by 'featured' they mean you can see one, then one could just as well say that the SBS site also features swastikas, as can be seen here. SBS Swastika From what I can see, the site mentions Nazi Germany in a negative context. The SBS is essentially paying people using tax payers money, to work against the interests of the people who are paying them.

nimby

Sat, 2015-05-30 13:07

'Redneck' anti-foreigner flyers distributed ahead of Sydney protest is how the SBS present this protest!

Their accusation is that "the organiser behind an anti-foreign investment rally at the Chinese Consulate denies his campaign is racially motivated, dismissing government figures citing the necessity of foreign buyers.."
They throw in all the taboo words, such as "anti-immigration", "red-neck", "racist" and "anti-foreign investment" along with all the other condemnation of the Party for Freedom.

"The new dispossessed or forgotten people will one day be remembered as the 'stolen generation' priced out of the market by invading overseas Chinese colonising our suburbs and cities," their website reads. Actually they are quite accurate! That's what's happening now to people, they are dispossessed because of unaffordable housing and high population growth!

Urban Taskforce Australia, a group of property developers, say that Chinese investment was “not considered to be at a level to warrant the community concerns and intense media scrutiny”. In conclusion, it stated that foreign investment was “a vital component” of the housing economy. How do groups with such entrenched vested interests determine the sovereignty of our housing?

How many migrants come to Australia to buy a house, get a job, and work towards a "better life" only to find foreigners are allowed access to our housing, to push up prices?

SBS: Redneck anti-foreigner flyers distributed ahead of Sydney protest

Indonesians buy property here but Australians cannot buy property in Indonesia. Canada has already passes legislation which doesn't allow the Chinese and the Indians to buy their visas or buy properties. Australians cannot buy property in China therefore this relationship with China is unilateral and certainly not for the long term benefit of Australia.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-30 09:44

Using 20 models and a mid-range projection of carbon dioxide emissions, researchers found the peak intensity of storms such as super Typhoon Haiyan, which tore through the Philippines in November 2013, will become even stronger and more common. Tropical cylones in the north-west Pacific and their ferocity will continue to increase even with moderate climate change over this century. Haiyan left more than 6200 people dead and 1785 missing in the Philippines alone, clocking sustained wind speeds of 315 km/h, the fastest ever recorded. El Nino years are likely to foster stronger typhoons in the north-west Pacific because the region they form in tends to shift - along with the warming surface waters - further southeast towards the central Pacific. The Age: Super typhoons to increase in strength with climate change, researchers find The latest three-month outlook released by the Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday (Australia) shows the odds favour drier-than-average conditions for most of south-eastern Australia for June and for winter as a whole. South-west WA is an exception. The outlook is likely to make grim reading for many inland regions, particularly western NSW and Queensland – where more than 80 per cent of the state has already been declared to be in drought. The Age: Australia's winter likely to be drier and milder than usual as El Nino kicks in The findings of the famous 1972 study, Limits to Growth, and those that followed concluded that the world can only sustain a limited human population and that at some point the planet’s ecological limit will be reached and then exceeded. World population is forecast to increase from over seven billion, up from about two billion before the Second World War, to more than nine billion by 2050. Our planet's increasing hostility to humanity will cause devastation, disaster and displacements.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2015-05-29 14:35

Logging in East Gippsland is not commercially viable and cutting down native forests across the region is racking up losses of up to $5.5 million a year, internal government documents reveal. That's the high monetary cost of logging our native forests, in the cause of producing "jobs"!

A leaked report revealed that East Gippsland logging is being cross-subsidised by profitable harvesting in the state's Central Highlands.

The report floats the idea of the government subsidising VicForests to continue East Gippsland logging. A separate internal VicForests corporate plan for 2013-14 to 2015-16 characterises the last option as treating logging operations in East Gippsland as a "Community Service Obligation." So, they are doing the people of East Gippsland a favour, of providing a "community service" they don't want?

VicForests general manager of planning, Nathan Trushell, said that "[East Gippsland] operations are expected to cost approximately $1 million this year with this expense covered by profitable operations elsewhere in the state." So why is the destruction continuing, under the guise of an "industry"? Probably to keep the political fat-cats in Spring Street, and justify their staff and public servants!

Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said overall VicForests had remained profitable in 2013-14 and the industry supported jobs in Melbourne and regional Victoria. No other private industry would survive so long, without taxpayer subsidies, and losing money for "jobs" in regional Victoria is a water-thin reason for continuing. They would be better employed by digging holes, and filling them again! It would oxygenate the soils too!

Despite recent focus on the Central Highlands, logging in East Gippsland has also been heavily contested by environmentalists and scientists for decades.

The Age: Logging in East Gippsland losing up to 55 million a year (28/5/15)

Dennis K

Thu, 2015-05-28 21:16

The idea of rallying may seem silly to some, but it seems a reasonable enough idea and the action is in my opinion warranted. Especially since it seems that some (much?) of the purchases of housing may be using illicit funds, or being a money laundering exercise. The fact is, our government have sold out the people with regards to basic human rights, such as shelter, and the democratic process seems ineffective in dealing with peoples concerns. Particularly since peoples wishes are blatantly being ignored for the favours of big developers and investors. Unsuitable housing projects (which do NOT provide affordable housing, NO housing project does these days) go ahead despite hundreds of objections. What else left is there to do, but more direct disapproval? I think the situation warrants it now. The media will treat it with The Silence, which they do for anything they don't wan't DISCUSSED. The statistics with regards to foreign investment are shocking, and while some do rightfully state that China is not the only nation to buy our residential real estate, it does seem that Chinese appetite for our own homes is disproportinatelly larger, and having a major influence. China does seem to be head and shoulders, the bigger player in all this, especially the past couple of years. Therefore, given that it is our childrens ability to put a roof over their head which is at stake, and under threat from a country which is still technically a Communist dictatorship, I think this protest may spark some discussion. Unfortunately, it is in the wrong city for me, maybe something similar could be done in Melbourne. However, it is important to direct the accusation at those who have the power to do something, and force their hand to act on this problem. Protesting against the Chinese buyers will go nowhere, as the message will be lost as they don't collectively have power. Our government does, and this protest could be used as a way of putting forward the message to OUR government that the image that Australians have of Chinese investment is heavily tarnished by their refusal to control foreign residential investment for our benefit,. and that this could result in negative sentiments expressed against China more directly (which is what this protest seems to be doing already). P.S. I've spoken to people who work in the property biz in Melbourne. The figures with regards to Chinese purchases specifically ARE as alarming as people say they are, and perhaps even more so.

Nick F. (not verified)

Thu, 2015-05-28 13:30

Australia is under attack from greedy foreign intruders who are rapidly acquiring Australian residential property pricing locals out of the market. Aussie battlers are being pushed to the fringes of our cities while foreign intruders are reaping the benefits of hard working previous generations. The price of housing in Sydney and Melbourne has skyrocketed crushing the dreams and aspirations of young Australian families who are increasingly dispossessed. The new dispossessed or forgotten people will one day be remembered as the ‘stolen generation’ priced out of the market by invading overseas Chinese colonising our suburbs and cities.

The Australian dream of owning a residential home is rapidly becoming a distant memory due to the drastic increase in mass third world immigration coupled with foreign ownership. Housing affordability has become a smashed due to foreign buyers snapping up property at our expense.

In particular Chinese foreign ownership of residential property and assets is pushing the Australian prospective homebuyer to the fringes of society living in compromised living arrangements competing against foreign forces invited here by the policies of the major political parties who ignore the plight and struggles of young families seeking to progress up the economic ladder.

Chinese nationals are Australia’s largest foreign buyers of residential property and farms with recent figures showing over 20% of new residential property in NSW and Victoria sold to foreign nationals but contrary to the lies perpetrated by real estate agents (pimps) and government officials, they’re not just buying expensive properties. New figures reveal that around 70% of all sales to foreign buyers were below the $1 million mark.

Demography is destiny, and with the full support of the major parties, Australia is undergoing a drastic demographic change. Traditional Australians are becoming strangers in their own land with many of our suburbs being turned into third world ghettoes riddled with crime, social friction and impending real estate bubble collapse. Current trends indicate Australians will become a minority in their own land within the next 30 years if present invasion figures continue.

Party for Freedom is a grassroots patriotic political party that represents the forgotten people. We need your support on the 30th May in sending a strong message to the Chinese government and Chinese nationals that their residential property purchases (ownership) in Australia is not welcome.

Pls. bring Aussie flags, and placards expressing your opposition to Chinese nationals raiding the local residential property market.

Where: Chinese Consulate,
39 Dunblane Street, Camperdown

Date: Saturday 30th May 2015

Time: 12 noon to 2pm

quark

Wed, 2015-05-27 23:26

I thought the idea of "renewable energy" was its low carbon emissions and clean-ness. Burning wood gives off Greenhouse gases so why would anyone with half a brain suggest burning our forests when we have coal? What's the difference in GGEs between wood and coal? If there's no saving in GGEs, then there is no advantage in it being "renewable" !!

Fake "growth" (not verified)

Wed, 2015-05-27 18:54

A continued surge in residential building work has not been enough to offset an even steeper slide in mining engineering projects. The frenzy of housing and construction is failing to bring the economic reward of mining. ABS claim that over $14.7 billion worth of residential construction work was done in the three months to the end of March.

Redidential building boom fails to offset mining bust | ABC News 27/5/15

The housing boom is helping to offset the weakness in engineering activity, but we are being crushed by infrastructure deficit, and loss of productivity from gridlocks and slow traffic.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a deficit of $1.32 billion in March, following a revised deficit in February of $1.61 billion. While export volumes of coal and iron ore continue to increase, their price continued to fall over March and that was a key driver of the bigger deficit.

The first national audit of the country's transport network by Infrastructure Australia has revealed that population growth will rapidly congest both roads and public transport at an alarming rate, with an added price tag of $53 billion by 2031. The simple truth is that population growth and the consequent demand for transport is occurring faster than we can build new roads and railways, placing unprecedented strain on our existing transport networks.

Housing and population growth have become imbedded into our economy, and there seems to be a surprise when we end up with a massive trailing deficit of infrastructure for retro-fitting our cities!

Fake "growth" (not verified)

Wed, 2015-05-27 07:54

Despite 24 years of glorious "economic growth", more and more Australians are quietly slipping into poverty and third world living standards.

A Salvation Army national survey of 2406 visitors to Salvation Army Community Support Services found those on Newstart allowance hardest hit with just $9.57 a day to live off when accommodation expenses were paid. Despite our cities great tall, glass towers and impressive expansion, it hides increasing deprivation.

Of the children represented, many parents could not afford out of school activities such as, sports trips and camps, and in a third of cases, fruit and vegetables on a daily basis.

An average of all those visiting the centres showed just $17.86 a day to live off when accommodation expenses were paid. It's easy to blame drugs, domestic violence, alcohol, and other vices, but despite "economic growth", why are more people falling outside the safety net?

Our population is growing at over 400,000 people per year, and our budgets mean that more must be spent and don't cover all the needs. Even if a family's combined income increased, and their house price inflated, with more babies and mouths to feed, they can still fall into poverty.

Population growth is outstripping our economic growth, and it's not really "economic growth" if it doesn't stretch to provide basic welfare, public services, social housing and jobs for all the people!

The Age: Salvation Army survey reveals thousands living off less than $10 a day

The Salvation Army should be for emergencies, and for unpredicted family fallouts, and individuals facing harsh times, not to represent the mainstream and fill in for government's harsh policies and economic model that provides for the elite.

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2015-05-26 17:56

Melbourne's heavy and unprecedented population growth is threatening our biodiversity. Ecologists have warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plant species over the next century, with grasslands in Melbourne's west most vulnerable to the city's urban sprawl.

Our population growth overload is turning deadly for native species.

Compared to 22 cities around the world, Melbourne had the largest "extinction debt" in terms of the proportion of native plant species likely to go extinct. This result is not surprising as our rate of population growth is outstripping other developed nations, and is unsustainable ecologically, ethically and economically.

Research found that 55 per cent of the 1200 Indigenous plant species found in greater Melbourne are threatened with extinction over the next 100 years. Housing is killing off our ecosystems, and species. We have governments in the palm of property developers, and their sponsorship means that any conservation or management is being thrown out the window.

Just 2 per cent of original grasslands between Melbourne and Adelaide still remain. 2% remaining is unsustainable, for reproduction and to maintain robust reproduction and wildlife. We are heading towards a dead-end of destruction, and deserts of housing, concrete, roads and infrastructure.

This is not "planning" but growth, and then trying to "manage" environmental impacts in hindsight. All environmental groups that are genuine should be addressing the threatening process of urbanization and destruction not only of native species, and grasslands, but of our food bowls! Nobody can eat houses.
"This is Australia's natural heritage. When we destroy it, it will not exist anywhere else in the world" says Mark McDonnell, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens' Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology.

The Age: Biodiversity under threat as Melbourne's grasslands become suburbs

Dr McDonnell acknowledged development wasn't going to cease, but said it was important to work with what remained and try to incorporate grasslands in new housing estates. Trying to avoid the issue of unwanted, unwarranted and socially-engineered population growth means trying to "offset" the losses, but he should admit it's pure tokenism - existing green wedges are also under threat from being nibbled away!

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-25 19:47

Subject was: Of course he's innocent - Ed

I'd like to see the same.

Australia's corrupt succession of governments will do anything to push for increasingly oppressive laws, determined to make every Australian powerless and defenceless. I'm sure they have their reasons, though they'll never tell the rest of us what those reasons are, because they know there'd be a bloody national riot if we ever find out.

This is all no doubt at the behest of the Yanks, who every Australian PM has always been sickeningly submissive to.

It's repugnant, disgusting and vile, just like our politics.

Hussain Almousawi (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-25 17:54

Saudi conflict with Yemen goes back to the 30s of the last century When Then (king) Abdul Aziz (Bin Sa'ud), had attacked three of Yemeni provinces (Aseer, Jeezan and Najran). Bin Sa'ud was defeated. He was forced back to Tai'f after counter attack by the Yemeni Imam Yahya's forces. Bin Sa'ud on his part, did not give up. He seek d British colonial help, (was based in Aden+south coast of Yemen today) in the same time he had besieged Yemeni (Huday-ydeh) port. By this Imam of Yemen was forced to singe agreement with Bin Sa'ud Known as (Tai'f Agreement) to lease those three provinces to him for 20 years, so to be renewed every 20 years after. Ever since the Sa'uids kept creating all sorts of conflicts in Yemen internally and externally, including buying loyalties among notable Yemeni tribes,army officers and conducted Wahhabi religious Missions to brain wash Yemenis. This continued up-to 2004 after the rise of the (Ansaar-ullah, Huthy) movement in Sa'ada provence in the north of Yemen, who refused the continuation of the renewal of the lease of those three Yemeni provinces. Hussain Bader-u-ddeen Al Huthy (was the sole founder and spiritual leader of that movement) was killed during that year in cooperation by the Yemeni government under president Ali Abdullah Salah and the Sa'udi forces. Leader Hussain's killing fueled up his message more, expanded through most of north Yemeni tribes and grow rapidly to covered almost all of north provinces rather than Sa'ada. Between (2004-2014) Huthy movement became formidable force that was able to challenge both the Sa'udi and Salah government. Also witnessed massive enrollment from the Yemeni army ranks and troops, to the movement. It became impossible to distinguish between the army and the movement. In 2014 this total mass managed to control the capital Sana'a distributed over all government's offices and organizations maps of Yemen which included, the above three provinces (Najran Jeezan and Aseer). As a mater of fact it created grate panic to the Saudis who know what that (can result into)+the discovery of huge oil reservoir in Yemen (Jouf) province north, close to Saudi borders, THIS IS THE REAL REASONS FOR THE SAU'DI AGGRESSION AGAINST YEMEN. It is nothing to do with any thing else.

Stop the slaughter (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-25 12:10

It's incredible that a leader of the Greens, Shame Rattenbury, actually endorses the mass slaughter of kangaroos in the ACT! He claims they do "damage" to the environment, despite being native animals. It's an oxymoron, and contradiction in terms, for animals that evolved and co-evolved in Australia over millions of years. These "Greens" or pseudo conservation extremists are worried by the smaller species in the grasslands and kangaroos damaging the earth and soils? With Australia's vast land clearing and potential sacrifice of a world Heritage Great Barrier Reef for coal mining, surely they are being myopic and extreme? The "real" reason for this cull of kangaroos is probably very hip-pocket, monetary based and mundane! It's probably about traffic restrictions and accidents because of kangaroo collisions. Creating overpasses and underpasses means spending money on innovations, something that's in short-supply in Australia.

Ytzak (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-25 09:19

Why is the world standing by while the Saudis invade, bomb and ethnically cleanse Yemen? Why would anyone support an extension of the Saudi Royal Family's depraved and brutal dictatorship? Yet Australia supports Saudi Arabia, along with the USA and NATO. This is mad. I mean, if you don't care about women's rights, what about gay rights? There aren't any of either in Saudi Arabia.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-25 08:49

Nine out of 10 low-income families will lose money under Budget savings proposed to be brought in by 2018-19. Research found that a couple with two children – one at primary school and one at secondary school — on a single income of $50,000 would lose about $68 a week of their disposable income from next year. The Abbott government is stripping more than $15 billion over four years from families and lower-income Australians, new analysis by the Australian Council of Social Service shows. The cuts would "disproportionately and adversely impact on low income families, particularly single-parent families". Research also found a couple with two children — one at primary school and one at secondary school — on a single income of $50,000 would lose about $68 a week of their disposable income from next year. It's pure Liberal policy, to give more to the money owners and wealthy, and cut out the poor. This attack on struggling families is an attack on our status as a wealth nation. It's an attack on those most vulnerable, considering families are the backbone of our nation, and future generations. Our nation is being slowly, by stealth, dismantled from first world status, to a bulked up one of big population, but with more impoverished and disadvantaged people! It's about supporting those with monetary power, and allowing the poorer to be dis-emplowered.

Dennis K

Sun, 2015-05-24 22:23

The amazing, surprising, Africa-driven demographic future of the Earth, in 9 charts The United Nations Population Division, which tracks demographic data from around the world, has dramatically revised its projections for what will happen in the next 90 years. The new statistics, based on in-depth survey data from sub-Saharan Africa, tell the story of a world poised to change drastically over the next several decades. Most rich countries will shrink and age (with a couple of important exceptions), poorer countries will expand rapidly and, maybe most significant of all, Africa will see a population explosion nearly unprecedented in human history. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/16/the-amazing-surprising-africa-driven-demographic-future-of-the-earth-in-9-charts

admin

Sun, 2015-05-24 15:58

The following was posted to a forum discussion on JohnQuiggin.com:

A symptom of Internet illiteracy is the frequent use of the catch-phrase "just Google it" rather than supplying an explicit URL to link to the page. An example of this illiteracy follows:

... If you type "above type (sic) secret" into google, the Above Top Secret site comes up as the first link with the blurb:

...

The page linked to previously by Sheila Newman lists 10 known conspiracies which have occurred throughout history (listed on May 24th, 2015 at 01:04 | #11) and nothing about "Aliens and UFOs".

Nothing written by Sheila Newman, here or anywhere else, indicates a belief by her in the "faked Moon landing", the Roswell incident or other bizarre conspiracy theories. To the contrary Sheila, Newman has shown here in great detail (on May 24th, 2015 at 01:04 | #11) why she repudiates such beliefs and 'jt' should stop pretending otherwise.

admin

Sun, 2015-05-24 02:43

This was posted as a comment about Professor John Quiggin's article Standard Chartered and Galilee (23/5/15):

I am somewhat relieved to learn here here that this project is "financially marginal". Just hopefully, in spite of Tony Abbott's support, it will collapse.

The expansion of coal mining at such a breakneck pace when we face so much uncertainty about the future of our global life-support system ranks in criminality with the starting of the Second World War.

What I posted to my own web site's 'about' page in June 2007, when John Howard was still Prime Minister, may be of interest:

The only fundamental difference between today's globalised civilisation and those earlier failed civilisations that we have discovered fossil fuels formed over tens of millions of years through biological and geological processes under the ground. Instead of treating this endowment as a priceless gift, belonging to this and all future generations of humankind, we have dug up almost half of it in less than 200 years. The consumption of fossil fuels has allowed the world's population to double from 500 million in 1650 to from around 1 billion in 1850 and over the next 150 years to expand again by six and a half to reach today's global population of 6.6 billion. How such a large population is to have its current standards of living maintained, or even be fed once our fossil fuel reserves are exhausted, is uncertain at best.

admin

Sun, 2015-05-24 02:00

An excerpt of this article with the the introduction below is to be posted to JohnQuiggin.com

Jane Stillwater was one a number of foreign observers who verified that the Syrian Presidential elections of 4 June 2014, in which President Bashar al-Assad won the overwhelming endorsement of Syrians, were conducted fairly. She and three other observers described the elections at a press conference held at the United Nations on 20 June 2014.

admin

Sun, 2015-05-24 00:45

This was posted to a forum discussion on JohnQuiggin.com:

'jt' wrote on May 23rd, 2015 at 08:16 | #8 :

On Prof Quiggin's order I will not argue with James

The 'argument' here ended when you failed to respond to the arguments I put in my post of page 1 of May 20th, 2015 at 16:46 | #54.

Sheila Newman asked me to post the following in response to other content 1  of the abovementioned post by 'jt' (Footnotes have been added by me):

I believe that it is a slur on me to suggest that I am linking to a 'right wing conspiracy site'. It is not obvious to me what the politics of the site were or are, nor are they relevant to my post. The first URL I give under the heading, 'Fantastic Conspiracy Theory analysis site found', gives the URL and cites from it a system for rating the validity of conspiracies that its first poster describes. That is the 'fantastic conspiracy theory'. Nothing under the heading in this comment on candobetter _dot_ net is mine. I am simply quoting what someone called 'Curmudgeon' posted suggesting a system for evaluating conspiracy theories to another site in 2007 (5 years prior to me citing it). The system is half humorous but does attempt to award points for what can actually be proven in a conspiracy theory. The moon landing being faked 'theory' scores a 3 out of 5. 5 is proven. 3 is not proven.

I do not show any particular approval for the moon landing as a hoax theory here. I don't say anything about it. It is possible that 'jt' thought that everything I cited was written by me, but actually none of it was; it was all written by Curmudgeon. Perhaps I could have put it in quotation marks, but 'jt' should have checked whose words he was attributing to me.

Regarding the second URL I cited, I cannot see how my detractor can say this is a UFO site. As far as I am concerned it is not a UFO site and being labelled as someone who apparently thinks a UFO site is great presents me as someone with values that I do not hold. I am an evolutionary sociologist and do not appreciate being portrayed as an enthusiastic endorser of UFOs and moon-landing conspiracies, although I do write on other controversial subjects, but I do this scientifically or journalistically. Furthermore, the slur has been reinforced with the implication that this is how I choose to live my life, as if enthusing over moon-landing conspiracies and UFOs on 'right wing' sites was a major defining quality of my writing. ('jt' writes, "If this is how someone chose to live their life, let them have at it.")

Why is this person targeting me?

The second site I referred to (which my detractor calls a UFO site) was one called, "The Top ten real conspiracies" and lists the following which few would dispute.

  • 1/ The Assassination Of Julius Caesar,
  • 2/ Nero Fiddles As Rome Burns,
  • 3/ The Gunpowder Plot - A Conspiracy Within A Conspiracy,
  • 4/ Galileo: The Suppression of Knowledge,
  • 5/ The Dreyfuss Affair,
  • 6/ The Birth Panama and it's Canal,
  • 7/ The Reichstag Fire,
  • 8/ The Suez Crisis
  • 9/ The Watergate Scandal and
  • 10/ The Iran/Contra Affair.

There are over 4000 articles on candobetter _dot_ net, of which a fair proportion have been written or edited by me. There is almost nothing on moon landings 2  and little endorsing right wing stuff. We have numerous writers. It is not a two person blog. I also do cartoons and I sometimes write satire. But the main subject is 'reform in democracy, environment, population, land use planning and energy policy '. If anyone wants to know more about what I really do, they can read about me on candobetter _dot_ node net /node/1882 .

I appreciate being able to clarify on this.

Tim Macknay on May 22nd, 2015 at 20:25,

The words "Warren commission apologist" have been removed. The title of the post is simply "Opposed to investigation of crime?"

Footnotes

1. ↑  For more information, see The "Conspiracy Theory" Label: Powerful Tool of Media Disinformation and Political Discourse (1/4/14) by Professor James F. Tracy | Global Research.

The article includes an embedded 4 minute YouTube video (aslo embedded above) in which Luke Rudkowski confronts Cass Sunstein who was, from 2009 to 2012, Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Sunstein had said, in an article Conspiracy Theories (12/1/08) (in pdf):

What can government do about conspiracy theories? Among the things it can do, what should it do? We can readily imagine a series of possible responses. (1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing. (2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories. (my emphasis - Ed)

2. ↑  Apart from the comment previously linked to, I could find only one other reference to 'moon landings'. That reference is in a comment at /node/2406#comment-6260 cited an article, by Bernard Salt of 2 Jul 2008 on Rupert Murdoch's Australian, which has since disappeared.

The article uses similar techniques to those used above to ridicule people who dispute the official narratives about the murder of JFK, etc.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-23 23:02

I'm trying to collate articles, documents, even if in Arabic. Please comment if you know more. https://www.facebook.com/yemen.crisis/posts/466542166845358?fref=nf https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=854333647987693&id=100002331976761&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Far-ar.facebook.com%2Fshfinews%2Fposts%2F980340311996225&_rdr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iz45MZ4QXU&app=desktop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCzvcuy9m80&app=desktop On Sat, May 23, 2015 at 2:44 PM, vanessa beeley wrote:

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-23 21:47

Neutron bomb dropped by IAF plane with Saudi markings...

By Gordon Duff and Jeff Smith, Editors

A video received from Yemen, believed to be taken May 20, 2015, of an explosion, when analyzed by nuclear weapons experts is, by very high probability, a neutron bomb that could only have been an Israeli attack.  The analysis:

A. Its not a conventional 2k lb bomb. It’s much bigger.

B. Its either a very large MOAB bigger than 4,000 lbs. or; ???? Max weight for an F-15 / 16 is about 2,000 lb payload per bomb rack making the deployment of a MOAB impossible.

C. Its appears to be a small neutron bomb. The size, color, lightning effect and duration of the fire ball being suspended in mid air and the very large mushroom cloud is the main give away. The CCD cameras imaging device was “scintillating” (detecting Neutrons) That is the white pixel flashes in the video. When the photo has white pixel flashes in it, that is because it is being hit by neutrons from the nuclear fireball blast. It overloads the ccd’s electronic circuit producing white flashes.

If the radiation is too high it will burn out the chip. They ha big problems with this in Japan with the Fukushima robots cameras failing due to very high radiation counts.

D. Delivery is most likely by an IDF F-16 with a Saudi paint job on the plane. They are not even hiding their use anymore, they just don’t publicly admit it and the IAEA does nothing or says nothing. That is the true war crime. The UN just ignores it unless the US, France or GB complains…….. Russia and China say nothing.

E. This is now the second known use of nukes in Yemen by Saudi Arabia…………..

Jeff Smith is a nuclear physicist and former IAEA inspector.

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2015-05-23 13:56

Damascus, SANA-Director General of Museums and Antiquities in Syria Ma’amoun Abdul-Kareem said on Wednesday that there is a terrorist, brutal attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to have control on Palmyra ancient city which is considered one of the most important cities on UNESCO World heritage. “ISIS terrorist attack on Palmyra is to revenge on the Syrian society and civilization,” Abdul-Kareem told SANA, adding that Palmyra is an international Syrian city which is recorded on World heritage list. “We hoped the international community wouldn’t fail to defend Palmyra, but we didn’t touch any actual reaction by it,” Abdul-Kareem said, referring to the great sacrifices offered by the army to protect the city from the terrorists. He affirmed that hundreds of statues were rescued through a series of procedures taken by Culture Ministry which moved them into safe areas, expressing concern over the destiny of monuments and temples in Palmyra from the danger of ISIS terrorists.

Nick F. (not verified)

Fri, 2015-05-22 22:39

'STOP THE CHINESE REAL ESTATE INVASION' FLYER DROP. Party for Freedom needs your help in distributing our rally notice and party flyers in the Lane Cove area this Sunday. We will start early and finish late to get the message out to as many residents as possible. Even if you can only spare a few hours, your help is much appreciated. Our government has disowned us on all issues facing the Australian people. It is up to us to fight back against the dark forces of Labor and Liberal and their treasonous policies on foreign ownership and open borders immigration. Meet-up: Front of Woolworths, Longueville Rd., Lane Cove Time: 10.00 to 10.30am, Sunday 24th May 2015 Info: Nick Folkes ph: 0417-679972

Vivienne Ortega

Fri, 2015-05-22 15:02

The audit by Infrastructure Australia spotlights transport networks as needing serious attention to cope with a national population that will grow from 22.3 million in 2011 to 30.5 million in 2031. Our infrastructure backlog is not growing independently, or in a vacuum! It's being outstretched by heavy population growth. SMH:$53 billion congestion crunch looms warns Infrastructure Australia The report put the cost of congestion on all urban roads in Australia at $13.74 billion in 2011. It's a looming Ponzi scheme of greed, a self-fulfilling cycle of growth, then more congestion, more retrofitting of our over-crammed cities, and then a backlog of infrastructure that grows and grows and demands more taxpayers to help pay for it! We've landed in the middle of a big and growing Juggernaut we have to keep paying, but never get out of. We may as well claim that Australia is now a "regime", rather than a democratic government. This "growth" is not allowed to be questioned, and is outside public debate. However, the public will lose productivity and they will be force to foot the bill! This cost is killing our economy, and the only way our governments can see out is more "growth" and more infrastructure. It is shifting the blame onto the population that never asked for hundreds of thousands of immigrants per year. Infrastructure Australia chairman Mark Birrell said that "It is time for the nation to treat population growth as a fact, a fact our nation should accept and gear up for..." It's not a FACT, but politically engineered, outside democratic processes! "Without action road travel times in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra are expected to increase by at least 20 per cent in the most congested corridors by 2031." What is the point of a "growing" economy when our quality of life is trampled in the process? It makes people no more than cogs in the wheel of the machinery they are trapped in. It's a false economy that relies on population growth for the desired figures so politicians can put up charts to impress voters and retain power to make greater profits for their corporate sponsors. As most of the growth is from economic immigration, and family reunions, then there must be a cost/benefit analysis of bulking up our population, considered against huge infrastructure spending. Infrastructure was cheaper initially, but retro-fitting our cities is hideously expensive and 70 million people by the end of the century needs a re-think! More reason to vote for Sustainable Population Party next elections.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2015-05-22 14:34

The frenzy of building houses, struggling to keep up with population growth, is not about providing a service, or creating "affordable housing". It's an industry, to make investors happy and produce good returns. Pumping up our population with skilled economic migrants ensures demand remains inflated, as we all need some sort of housing. It's an investor's market, a reflection of the fading mining boom, we now have a housing boom!
The fact that we are producing more and more homelessness is being ignored by governments. They are just the flotsam and jet-some of "economic growth" and lazy economics. Easier to blame dysfunctional human traits, such as drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and poverty, not the whole cause and effect of unaffordable housing. Liberal governments don't have ethics, or social conscience, so it's just about money and profits.

Then Britain’s leading economist, John Maynard Keynes, explained that capitalism could last indefinitely under the new conditions if certain traditional policies of the capitalist governments and central banks were changed.
Government policies based on Keynesian theories and the institution of central banking form a nexus of central economic planning. It's a winner-take-all proposition for businesses. Housing is one of the three pillars of the Australian economy, along with financial institutions and natural resources, but banks are warning that houses in Australia are the most inflated of anywhere in the world.

Various governments sold out to the international central banking cartel long ago, with a variety of short sighted “deals” such as the GST , compulsory superannuation, FIrst home buyers, High immigration, and "free” trade! The models themselves are based on Keynesianism currency, which we are told means that more circulating money = more GDP= A better economy. Central Bankers need to convert every productive asset and home into a ” bank asset” and drain wages and earnings from workers into their clutches. Melbourne and Sydney are set to double in population in the next few years. It's all about promoting and inflating the housing bubble, lending, and our GDP. The fact that infrastructure backlog is blowing out won't be a problem as the people will pay for it!

admin

Fri, 2015-05-22 13:58

The following is to be posted to a forum discusion on JohnQuiggin.com

Tim on May 22nd, 2015 at 11:10,

My apologies for implying, whether implicitly or explicitly, that you were not posting to this forum in good faith.

Nonetheless, I think you should acknowledge that the issue of who killed President Kennedy, and why, is one of the critical questions of the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The 1,000 days for which Kennedy was President was one of two occasions in which the United States made a constructive, and not destructive, contribution to humanity. The other occasion was the period from March 1933 until April 1945.

In that time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR):

  1. scrapped the dogma of economic neoliberalism and used massive government spending programs to eliminate unemployment and lift the standard of living from ordinary Americans; and
  2. against understandable public opposition, got America to enter the Second World War against Nazi Germany and its allies, thereby probably making the difference (not withstanding the bravery of, and terrible sacrifice by, the Soviet peoples) between the survival of democracy and the global triumph of Nazism.

We are living today, in May 2015, with the consequences of the murders of the two Kennedy brothers and of Martin Luther King and the rule of the United States by a succession mostly of rogues since 1963. The consequences include:

  1. The Vietnam War;
  2. The wars and sanctions against Iraq since 1990 which according to former United States' Attorney General Ramsey Clarke, have cost as many as 3 million lives including 750,00 children;
  3. The invasion of Libya in 2011;
  4. The terrorist proxy war against Syria since march 2011, which has since 2011, cost over 220,000 lives;
  5. The coup which installed a neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine in January 2014 and the subsequent war against Russian speaking people in East Ukraine; and
  6. The current invasion of Yemen by the Saudi Arabian dictatorship.

Tim on May 22nd, 2015 at 11:10:

The stuff about law enforcement officers is just a rant, that has no relevance to anything I said.

The relevance is: With the exception of Jim Garrison and a few others, including a number of other police officers and security agents on duty in Dallas on 22 November 1963, most law enforcement officers with the responsibility to care for President Kennedy and solve his murder, abysmally failed in their duty to test "multiple points of view that are at odds with each other" against the evidence. That is why an innocent man was framed for the murder and killed that very same day before the supposed evidence against him could be tested in a court of law.

A good resource to understand the history of the United States is The Untold History of the United States (2012) by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. The video of that book is now freely available here (update, 3/6/16 - no longer available, supposedly because of copyright violations) on YouTube.

Steve Chovanec (not verified)

Fri, 2015-05-22 13:57

Some more info had come up up in addition to my article, the really great blog Moon of Alabama recently built off my article and found that the DIA documents released in 2012 not only knew the Syrian opposition was dominated by al-Qaeda, they actually predicted that US support would lead to an "Islamic principality" (ie the Islamic State) in eastern Syria, but not just that, but that the Western supporters of the opposition actually WANTED this to happen... Further they also predicted the fall of Ramadi! So we don't have to wonder why the US only did 7 air strikes while IS took it over, nor do we have to wonder why the US didn't bomb IS while they were in the open celebrating their Ramadi victory: the fall of Ramadi was all part of the plan. Check it out for yourself: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2015/05/us-intelligence-predicted-us-support-for-rebels-in-syria-would-lead-to-fall-of-ramadi.html Steven Chovanec

admin

Fri, 2015-05-22 02:11

The following is adapted from a post to a forum discussion, about the imposition of globalising 'race to the bottom' neoliberal economic 'reforms' by then Federal 'Labor' Paul Keating and his successors since 1983, and its effects, on JohnQuiggin.com :

A story in a local community newspaper, Australians feeling the hunger strain further confirms the overwhelming anecdotal evidence on this page (see May 19th, 2015 at 20:06):

TEN per cent of Australians say they can't afford to buy enough food.

That damning figure from the 2014 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is compounded by the waste of so much fresh food.

...

Foodbank Victoria's Hunger Report last year revealed almost 9000 Victorians – 2700 of them children – were being turned away from food charities that couldn't keep up with demand.

The report, compiled from responses by 1197 food relief agencies, showed that more than 90,900 people in Victoria alone accessed food relief each month – almost a third of them children.

...

James Sinnamon

Fri, 2015-05-22 01:55

The comment subject was previously "Warren Commission apologist opposed to investigation of crime?", but I have changed it after the person concerned objected.

The following was posted to a forum discussion on JohnQuiggin.com :

Thank you, Megan on May 21st, 2015 at 01:06 and on May 20th, 2015 at 21:32 and Julie on May 21st, 2015 at 09:06.

On the one hand Tim, by dismissing the evidence presented in Oliver Stone's JFK and in Jim Garrison's On the Trail of the Assassins, is taking sides with those, here and elsewhere, who wish to cover up the facts about the murder of President Kennedy on 22 November 1963 (and the murder of others who have blown the whistle on JFK's murder since) and, on the other hand, Tim has twice stated (on May 20th, 2015 at 17:08 and on May 21st, 2015 at 10:43) that he has no interest in finding out the truth of this matter.

You can't have it both ways, Tim. Either deal with the arguments I have presented or stop wasting my time and and stop wasting the time of other visitors.

Tim wrote on May 21st, 2015 at 10:43 :

Also, the JFK film, based on Garrison's account, provides just one point of view on an issue that, rather obviously, has multiple points of view that are at odds with each other.

The murder of a President John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1963 was a crime. When a crime is committed, particularly a crime as serious as the murder of a country's head of state (not to mention the subsequent escalation of the Vietnam War, made possible by that murder) the job of the police is to solve that crime, to charge and arrest suspects and present the evidence they have gathered to court so that a jury can decide on whether the person or persons charged is guilty or not guilty.

If all law enforcement officers were to adopt the mindset displayed by Tim, a good many more serious crimes would remain unsolved.

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2015-05-21 12:18

See also: Japan aquariums vote to stop using dolphins from Taiji (20/5/15) | Japan Times News, Japanese association to ban aquariums from obtaining dolphins captured via drive fishery (21/5/15) | Asia One, Japan aquariums say they'll stop getting Taiji-hunt dolphins (21/5/15) | Boston Herald, Japan Aquariums to Stop Obtaining Dolphins from Taiji (21/5/15), Australian group forces Japanese aquariums to stop buying dolphins caught in harrowing chase (21/5/15) | SMH

There's few victories for animals, and for animal rights activists, in a world more and more captured by human concerns, but at least there is one victory - for captured dolphins!

In a stunning setback to the dolphin hunt in Taiji, the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums on Wednesday banned its members from acquiring animals captured during the annual slaughter. Of the country’s 54 aquariums that house dolphins, 17 are non-JAZA members and are not bound by the decision.

It's a blow to the live animal trade in Taiji!

The Pacific coast town of Taiji is known for its fishermen who trap dolphins and then kill them to sell their meat, a practice widely condemned as brutal. Fishermen also capture a small number for sale at zoos and aquariums. The meat is said to be laced with mercury!

JAZA (Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums) will "prohibit its members to acquire wild dolphins caught by drive fishing in Taiji and to take part in their export and sale,” the group’s chairman, Kazutoshi Arai, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

“This momentous decision marks the beginning of the end for dolphin hunting in Japan,” Australia for Dolphins chief executive Sarah Lucas said. It should mean the beginning of the end of cruel and brutal and unwarranted dolphin killings, and the end of taking these social animals out of the group into the artificial world of captivity, and entertainment.

admin

Thu, 2015-05-21 12:02

Sheila Newman wrote in the above article:

Saudi Arabia ... appears to have gone on a rampage because it is furious with the United States for talking to Iran, whom it considers a religious enemy.

Given the record of the United States since 1990 – genocidal sanctions against Iraq after 1990, the Gulf War of 1990-1991, the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, complicity in the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2100, the proxy terrorist war against Syria which has claimed over 220,000 lives since March 2011, installation of the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine in February 2014 – I think it highly unlikely that the United States would ever act out of good intent.

Siding with the Islamic Republic of Iran against the despotic, pro-imperialist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would appear on the surface to be an act of good intent on the part of the United States. However, given the the number of times in history where appearance has differed markedly from what actually occurred, 1  I would need more evidence before I am convinced that, on this occasion, the United States has truly sided with Iran against Saudi Arabia.

Footnote[s]

1. ↑  One striking example is include the sinking of the USS Liberty by Israeli warplanes on 8 June 1967, the fourth day of the Six Day War. The clear intention of Israel was to ensure that there were no survivors and blame Egypt for the sinking of the Liberty, thereby providing President Johnson a pretext to join the war against Egypt. Had a nearby Soviet warship witnessed the incident, their would have been no survivors.

Regarding the presence of witnesses aboard a Soviet warship referred in the paragraph above, I believe I read this on a previous occasion. However, I am not able to find, in any of a number of otherwise informative articles about the USS Liberty incident, any mention of this or any explanation of why the attack was stopped – a suprising omission.

Further note: In fact, the Voltaire Net article, republished on candobetter.net as mentioned above, states:

They only stopped at the approach of a Soviet ship, after killing 34 crew members, mostly engineers, technicians and translators.

My recollection was correct after all.

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2015-05-21 11:54

Citizens Electoral Council of Australia Media Release Wednesday, 20 May 2015 Craig Isherwood‚ National Secretary PO Box 376‚ COBURG‚ VIC 3058 Phone: 1800 636 432 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.cecaust.com.au Australia should rescue and settle Rohingya refugees The world’s richest, emptiest nation should open its arms to the refugees from Myanmar who have been forced to drift for months off Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Adults and children alike suffered incredible hardship, running short of food and water, with no relief from the elements and the incessant swells of the ocean, as nations refused to let them land until the last few days. Australia should take the lead on rescuing these desperate people, by sending the navy to transport them here for settlement. We should take this action, not just because our nation boasts a rich continent which can easily fit many more people, but because we are, in a real sense, responsible for the appalling way they have been treated. In pushing back these refugees, and extending their suffering on the ocean, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia—which unlike Australia cannot be called underpopulated—are emulating the shameful behaviour Australia has taken towards refugees since the MV Tampa incident in 2001. Certain European nations—notably the UK—have also started to emulate Australia’s behaviour, with regard to the African refugees crossing the Mediterranean from Libya, and with deadly results. Australia began this race to the moral bottom; Australia must take the lead in reversing it. The great lie: we’re saving lives The great, Goebbels-style lie (yes, Goebbels—a Nazi policy deserves a Nazi name) that has been drummed into Australians to justify our appalling treatment of boat people is that it is necessary to save their lives, to stop them from drowning at sea. On 17 May Prime Minister Tony Abbott piously gave his blessing to the actions of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand: “I don’t apologise in any way for the action that Australia has taken to preserve safety at sea by turning boats around where necessary,” he said. “And if other countries choose to do that, frankly that is almost certainly absolutely necessary if the scourge of people smuggling is to be beaten.” The proof that this is a great lie is that Australia’s cruel policy started before refugees drowned at sea. It actually started when Keating’s Labor initiated mandatory detention, but it took on its brutal present form in 2001 when Abbott’s mentor John Howard was facing electoral defeat, and decided to make an example of the 438 Hazara Afghani refugees fleeing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda who had been rescued by the Norwegian vessel MV Tampa, by refusing to let them land in Australia. “We will decide who comes to this country, and the circumstances in which they come,” Howard bellowed in his 28 October 2001 election campaign launch speech—an attitude and tone that wouldn’t have been out of place in one of the Nazi fist-pumping rallies staged in Sydney in the 1930s by the pro-fascist New Guard, which his father Lyall probably attended as a member. Howard’s re-election ensured that this cynical scapegoating of refugees would become the new standard in Australian politics. The first deaths at sea occurred two months after Howard stopped the MV Tampa from offloading its passengers, when the SIEV-X sank with more than 400 passengers—an incident that to this day is shrouded in mystery, as it coincided with Howard’s policy to turn boats around, which some suspect to have caused the sinking. In a different incident, Howard’s minister Peter Reith was caught out lying that refugees deliberately threw their children overboard—an intentional slander calculated to deflect scrutiny of the government’s policy, and make out the refugees to be responsible for inflicting their own suffering. Not all Australians would be aware that our nation’s name is forever enshrined in infamy, at the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, where the words of the Menzies government’s delegate to the 1938 Evian conference on Jewish refugees are on display, to epitomise the attitude that led to millions of Jews being abandoned to Nazi genocide. US President Franklin Roosevelt had convened the conference in Evian, France, to try to organise a coordinated effort by nations to take those desperate to flee Hitler. Australia’s delegate, Trade Minister T.W. White, set the tone that ultimately led to the failure of the conference when he expressed the Menzies government’s unwillingness to accept more Jewish refugees; White stated that it “will no doubt be appreciated that as we have no racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one.” These are the words on display at the holocaust memorial. Malcolm Fraser redeemed our nation for its shame when he demonstrated how a civilised society should treat people in desperate need of sanctuary. John Howard, Rudd/Gillard, and now Abbott have again earned Australia its place in the holocaust memorial. It’s easy to prove that welcoming refugees to Australia will be a benefit to our nation, not a cost. It’s easy to prove that Australia is an empty continent in desperate need of economic development, in which new Australians would be enthusiastic participants, as they were on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, Tasmania’s hydro development, and other such projects. It’s easy to prove that the costs we are presently incurring to treat people so cruelly, in the form of billions of taxpayers’ dollars going to shady private prison contractors such as the British firm SERCO, are far greater than if we let them all live in Australia. But those are the secondary reasons that Australia should take the lead on helping these refugees. The primary reason is that it is the right thing to do. For an Australia that is committed to the common good of all people, and the necessary policies of economic development that can meet the needs of all people, join the CEC.

Steve Mc (not verified)

Thu, 2015-05-21 11:23

ISIS gains in Palmyra I think are correlated to the US-coalition ramping up aid to the extremists:

In Israeli intelligence source DebkaFile's weekly newsletter (which you have to pay to get) they note that

"Bashar Assad’s fortunes have been waning in recent weeks. His army’s morale is in the pits. Some units are keeping to the sidelines of battles. Iran no longer rushes forward with fresh military supplies. Hizballah, the strongest force still fighting for Assad, is taking heavy losses at the hands of Al Qaeda’s Syrian arm, the Nusra Front. All this is the outcome of the first heavy weapons to reach the hands of the Syrian opposition in years of civil war from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey – blessed by Washington after long hesitation."

This, coupled with a recent NYT revelation that King Salman

"has shifted toward an activist foreign policy, going to war in Yemen and increasing support for rebels in Syria as he positions his country as the defender of the region’s Sunnis. In some cases, he has sanctioned allying with Islamists to serve the kingdom’s agenda... And his support for Islamists could end up empowering extremists, just as Saudi support for the Afghan jihad decades ago helped create Al Qaeda... In another shift, King Salman appears to have discarded his predecessor’s rejection of political Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood as a fundamental threat to the regional order... King Salman has a history of working with Islamists. Decades ago, he was a royal point man and fund-raiser for jihadists going to Afghanistan, Bosnia and elsewhere."

King Salman Upends Status Quo in Region and the Royal Family (10/5/15) by Ben Hubbard | New York Times

So in essence, what the NYT is saying without saying, coupled with the Debka report, is that Saudi Arabia, with the blessing of the US, is ramping up aid to ISIS in Syria, and Obama has approved of providing heavier weaponry to the opposition after long hesitation.

And now we see ISIS gaining ground in regions like Palmyra. Coincidence? I think not...

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2015-05-21 10:03

Official: Syrian Armed Forces Withdraw from Ancient City of Palmyra

By Leith Fadel on May 20, 2015 Featured

The Syrian Armed Forces (Syrian Arab Army’s 18th Tank Battalion and National Defense Forces) have officially withdrawn all of their soldiers from the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur) after a large-scale assault was launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) for the second time in six days.

According to a military source, 16 National Defense Forces (NDF) and Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers were killed-in-action (KIA) and another 68 were wounded during the fierce clashes for the Palmyra National Hospital, Palmyra Museum, Palmyra Military Airbase, Desert and Development Office, Badiyah Military Branch Office, and the northern suburbs of this ancient city in the east Homs Governorate of Syria.

The military source unable to confirm the exact number of deaths ISIS sustained during the violent battle for Palmyra; however, he was able to confirm that a force of about 600-800 militants reinforced their entrenched comrades and helped them recapture their lost points to the Syrian Armed Forces.

The Syrian Armed Forces are still on the outskirts of Palmyra, but they hold no positions inside the city itself; if they were to counter-attack, they would launch the assault from Mount Qassoun, where they currently possess the higher ground against ISIS armed combatants.

limits to growth (not verified)

Wed, 2015-05-20 16:09

EU quotas for migrants crossing the Mediterranean sea come into rough waters. Quota proposals were drawn up in response to the refugee crisis that has seen hundreds of people drown off the coast of Italy as the attempt to flee Libya. A quota system to be imposed on member states stipulates how many refugees each country should accept is rapidly losing support with France now joining the “No” camp. The UK last week said it would opt out of the scheme but now Spain, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland among several others are opposed to the idea. Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, whose country is bearing the brunt of the migrant surge. The numbers are far too numerous to accommodate. A UK Tory MP Nigel Mills said: “This is a very aggressive approach for the European Commission to take when they know the concerns that people have in this country. They are better off trying to find a solution to this problem of people fleeing from North Africa rather than making threats that are totally unacceptable to the British people.” Local problems need to be addressed locally, not adding it to a global problem. The best way to stop the drownings at sea is to stop the boats. Germany is accepting 200,000 asylum seekers, but Home Office spokesman said the proposal was “unacceptable” to the UK. Britain accepted 31,745 refugee cases last year but could see the number more than double to the level seen in other EU countries. There's conflict in Libya, due to civil war. However, the nation has also become a transit point for sub-Saharan Africans who previously sought work in Libya and for Syrian refugees attempting to get to Europe by way of North Africa. Open borders are not feasible, and Europe cannot help but say no to most refugees because the continent simply does not have the means to keep all migrants and refugees in the long term.

Vivienne Ortega

Wed, 2015-05-20 13:46

Shocking footage has emerged of live export Australian cattle being bludgeoned to death with sledgehammers in Vietnam. There is a call for a BAN on live export. Evidence reveals slaughterers in abattoirs, that appear to be more like sheds, repeatedly hitting cattle over the head with sledgehammers! The hidden camera vision was captured late last month in a facility in northern Vietnam. Animals Australia spokeswoman Lisa Chalk said Vietnam was currently the second-largest export market for Australian cattle, with 178,000 animals exported there in 2014. There's nothing more alluring than MONEY and PROFITS to negate any responsibility for ethics or morals when it comes to animal welfare. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said there were already three reviews under way into breaches in Vietnam of a system known as the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme. The ESCAS is nothing than an empty policy, and once animals are overseas, all control is gone. But Mr Joyce said the government was “totally committed” to the industry. Similarly, terrorists and criminals are also "totally committed" to their causes! The probe is seeking to determine how three family-run abattoirs got access to the animals, given they were not accredited. In his usual unmovable and draconian mode, Mr Joyce ruled out any ban on live cattle exports, saying Australia had to fix the issue rather than resort to knee-jerk reactions. So, any exposure and outcry from the caring public is simply over-emotional response, a "knee jerk" reaction? There are social psychopaths that have no empathy for other living things, and can't understand the democratic system, or any other response to industries except profits and filthy lucre!

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 2015-05-20 08:41

The Department of Environment found VicForests had needlessly destroyed rainforest canopy on the Errinundra Plateau. However, in revenge, members of an environment group, Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO), who revealed evidence of rainforest clearing in East Gippsland, in south-east Victoria, have been threatened with prosecution! Whistle-blowers are not welcome in the logging industry, and if they do expose corruption, they end up being prosecuted! The state forestry compliance officer has now threatened to prosecute members of GECO for trespassing in the disputed logging coupes. But, if they hadn't entered the "disputed" area the illegal vandalism would not have been discovered! Clearly, government organisations don't like the public exposing environmental crimes. East Gippsland's Valley of the Giants contains some of the finest remaining old growth forest left in Victoria. Mr Ed Hill said he had asked for Environment Minister Lisa Neville to intervene. They found that VicForests had needlessly destroyed rainforest canopy on the Errinundra Plateau. This violation of old growth forests in Gipplsand is for claimed to be for windows, doors and timber for the housing industry, to prop up the housing bubble and keep the building frenzy alive, while we continue with our world-record breaking rate of population growth. Actually, records obtained from VicForests' show that 85 per cent of our native forests end up as woodchips, sawdust and waste. This is a taxpayer-subsidised industry! Green group threatened with prosecution after revealing Errinundra Plateau rainforest clearing The Great Forest National Park is needed in Victoria. Sign the petition: Petition for the Great Forest National Park

admin

Wed, 2015-05-20 02:40

Sheila Newman wrote:

... is there anyone else in America likely to win who is not a raging narcissist and paranoid warmonger? Is it indeed possible to be a multimillionaire and not psychopathic? ...

We must not forget that for all the grave flaws of America's democracy, including its presidential election system, at least three great people, of good intention and opposed to the interests of the corporate elites, were elected to the office of President since the middle of the 19th century – Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and John F Kennedy (JFK). In 1968, JFK's younger brother Robert Kennedy (RFK or Bobby Kennedy) was suspiciously murdered just as he was about to win the Democratic Presidential primaries in 1968. Had both RFK and Jim Garrison, who was working to prosecute one of those who had conspired to murder JFK (as portrayed in Oliver Stone's JFK of 1991), thought to work together that murder could well have been prevented. Bobby Kennedy would then almost certainly have won the elections of 1968, and in doing so, have brought the bloody Vietnam war to an end five and as half years before it was eventually to end in May 1975.

These examples show that, for all the shortcomings of the American Presidential system and for all the perils faced by candidates not in the pockets of the corporate elites, it is still possible for a good candidate to win.

The only course of action that could possibly cause any good to come out of the American Presidential elections, not just for Americans, but for the rest of humanity, which also has a stake in the outcome, is to support any candidate who stands for principled domestic international policies. One such candidate is Bernie Sanders.

Given the advantages the Internet gives anybody with evidence and logic to back up his/her viewpoint, and the existence on that Internet of large independent anti-corporate, anti-war newsmedia, both inside America and overseas, it should not be precluded that a good candidate such as Bernie Sanders may well be elected president, whether as an endorsed Democrat or Republican, an Independent or a Green.

Even if Bernie Sanders were not to win, a large grassroots campaign in support of Sanders could well make it much harder for the winner to implement his/her plans to serve his/her corporate masters and extend the United States' global hegemony.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2015-05-20 00:19

Hillary Clinton article Well, I watched the second movie in this article on Hilary, "Hillary Clinton Exposed, Movie She Banned From Theaters Full Movie." It was obviously made by conservatives and neocons. They fear that Hilary would try to bring in national health care and national education, which they believe is socialism and for them that is beyond the pale. She is termed in the movie as 'the closest thing in America to a European socialist' - seen to be a bad thing. They also cast doubt on her ability to commit to defend America - by which they mean to further US aggression and domination globally. Then they describe a number of scandals - some very unsavory and involving court cases - that the Clintons were involved in. They accuse Hillary of being a psychopath and she may very well be one; the examples given were fairly convincing - but it isn't like the film-makers didn't have their own political agenda. Despite the professed concerns that Hilary would not commit to war strongly enough, I am personally very worried by Clinton because of what seemed a very stupid, insensitive and gung-ho approach to war in her book, Hard Choices; a willingness to purvey war propaganda. I did come away with the impression that Hillary Clinton is a psychopath. If she were to maintain the position she puts in her book, then I would say that she would make WW3 all that much closer. That said, is there anyone else in America likely to win who is not a raging narcissist and paranoid warmongerer? Is it indeed possible to be a multimillionaire and not psychopathic? But that doesn't make Hillary okay. [Note: I have edited this comment a bit the next day by including the title and link to a review of Clinton's book.]

Dave Macilwain (not verified)

Tue, 2015-05-19 20:30

Having read more thoroughly this interview that you have republished with the Ukrainian soldier, I have to say that this is really a great discovery, and a shocking one. To me, it suggests collusion between Channel 9 and the Ukrainian SBU/Kiev junta, with the intent to continue and reinforce the deceit of Australians, and to continue the ‘war on Russia’ and demonisation of Putin. It simply is not tolerable that Channel 9 gets away with putting out this truly criminal propaganda serving the 'interests' of Australia and the US and NATO. It is in fact not serving Australia's interests or those of the poor relatives of the victims of Ukraine's criminal junta - if only they knew! The testimony of this soldier brilliantly destroys all of Eliot Higgins 'open source' 'investigations', for which I assume he was paid handsomely by GCHQ and other agencies. It also makes apparent that Channel 9 cooperated with Kiev and the SBU, having copied the SBU's false claims about BUK missiles - that we had that interview with the disgusting Arseny Yatsenyuk - who proves himself a psychopathic liar yet again - shows what sort of 'coordination' there was with Kiev. It doesn't seem much of a jump to imagine that Channel 9 was actually contracted/invited/seduced into coming to Ukraine to make this stunt film, as the case for the 'Russian controlled separatists' having shot down MH17 evaporates like the mysterious BUK con-trail....

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2015-05-19 15:05

The Thomson vs Doyle population debate at Deakin Edge on 13 October 2014 culminated in a call by Mary Drost, of Planning Backlash, for a referendum on Australia's population growth. Both Kelvin Thomson and Lord Mayor Doyle agreed that this was a good idea.

Now Mary has put a petition for this up at Change.org Please consider signing it. We need that referendum.

Petitioning Member for Wills Federal government – attention Kelvin Thomson, Federal Member for Wills

An Australia-wide referendum to be as follows: 'Do you agree that Australia should keep on growing at the present rate because of the much higher immigration numbers that the government has introduced? Yes or No.'

We the people of Australia have never been asked what we think about the huge increase of population that our government is determined to give us, therefore we request that the government conduct an Australia-wide referendum and let the people decide if we want a big Australia or not.

Member for Wills Federal government – attention Kelvin Thomson, Federal Member for Wills

An Australia-wide referendum to be as follows: 'Do you agree that Australia should keep on growing at the present rate because of the much higher immigration numbers that the government has introduced? Yes or No.'

To promote this page here are two links: http://tinyurl.com/k8hnzbd

and

https://www.change.org/p/federal-government-attention-kelvin-thomson-federal-member-for-wills-an-australia-wide-referendum-to-be-as-follows-do-you-agree-that-australia-should-keep-on-growing-at-the-present-rate-because-of-the-much-higher-immigration-numbers-that-the-governme?recruiter=38328596&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive#petition-letter.

Dave Macilwain (not verified)

Tue, 2015-05-19 12:59

Please watch and consider - this slick propaganda is now believed by all Australians who watch 60 mi Minutes - screened at 8.30 on Sunday night and one of the most viewed programmes. And for the otherwise uninformed the 'evidence' - which they call 'proof' - is quite convincing. It draws your attention away from the key faults in any such 'analysis', particularly the question of WHY on earth would Vladimir Putin order a Russian BUK launcher to go into Donetsk specifically to shoot down a passenger plane over rebel territory? Anyone faced with that question would surely agree, whatever they think of VVP - that it would be insane - much like Assad throwing Sarin at his own people in front of UN inspectors. So it never mentions motivation. Meanwhile it cleverly dodges round key issues - the lack of photos or reports of the BUK missile launch, and the nature of the damage to MH17. In the first case, there is a photo showing remains of a con-trail, perhaps of a smaller SAM, which someone tweeted, and Eliot H uses to 'geolocate' the origin of this on the ground - a ploughed field where they state absolutely categorically 'this is where the missile was fired from'. As for the damage - an 'expert' shows pieces of metal with simulated shrapnel and bullet damage ( though there is no mention of the SU25 having shot the plane down with BULLETS, and we see it loosing a missile in the 15 second 'Russia says' section), but then we actually see a photo - the famous photo of the bullet riddled cockpit section - immediately after a photo of bullet perforated metal, but the way the camera pans across it allows the presenter to say that 'it clearly shows this is shrapnel damage' even as we see the round holes!! Most notably missing is the crucial point that a BUK missile launcher cannot operate without its accompanying radar and guidance system, which is on a similar sized vehicle. CANNOT OPERATE. Also missing of course is the report from the Russian defence team, showing the radar photos of aircraft trails, and observations about the US satellite over the area. What we have instead is a debunking of that fabricated photo which was shown on one Russian TV station of a sat photo of the missile being launched from a fighter jet. This one suspected always was a straw man, put up there by the other side. It is here presented as 'the Russian evidence'. The last part focuses on a photo long debunked, which they say the Russians used to claim the BUK came from Ukie territory, but then show it was actually taken in Lugansk and shows the launcher returning to Russia with a missile missing. This was actually the photo the Ukies first put out and claimed it showed the launcher, which was then debunked by Russia because it had been taken in Ukie territory! Very clever Mr Higgins! But the consequence at the end is truly disturbing - saying that the killer missile was operated by young Russian soldiers who weren't really responsible as it was Vlad Putin - and we get a demonic head shot of him to end the program. How hard do we now have to work to tell the hopeless Australian public the truth? And just at a time when there is some light on the horizon over Donetsk and the Russian sanctions.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-18 16:20

This drive to attract more foreign students, by offering them job opportunities after, is more an admission of our failure to keep our universities attractive and viable. So, they are offered an extra incentive to come here and study! Australia is the most expensive place for an international student to go to university but it is not seen as the best place for a top quality education. It was estimated an international student in Australia would spend more than $42,000 each year on fees and supporting themselves. We ranked relatively low on quality and we are the most expensive, given that education is our largest export service. Around 70 students from the universities of Newcastle and Sydney, and several other major universities, were recently caught up in a cheating racket stemming from their use of an online essay writing company. The website was written in Chinese, aimed at international students. "The gap between student capabilities and academic demands increases the likelihood that students will offer inducements to academics in order to pass courses and, conversely, makes students more vulnerable to improper demands from academics," an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)paper said. The ICAC report found that academics can feel pressure to not enforce compliance with academic standards because of the competitive environment of the international student market. So, unless academics compromise their standards, they are threatened with job losses, and universities might lose more of their revenues! The educational export industry relies on international students for their fees, and rights to jobs are added in to the basket to attract more participants despite record high unemployment and that local graduates struggle to get jobs.

James Sinnamon

Mon, 2015-05-18 14:09

The following was posted to a forum discussion on JohnQuiggin.com  :

Ikonoclast at May 18th, 2015 at 09:37 asked:

I really wonder what is happening in our society. I know is isn't good. Our young people are filled with despair and alienation.

This is an example of cause and effect.

The cause is the globalising neo-liberal 'small government' economic 'reforms' that Keating and his heirs on both 'sides' of our Federal and state parliaments have imposed on Australia since 1983.

The effect is that our society which is becoming ever more dysfunctional with higher unemployment, less career structure and more crime, domestic violence, drug abuse, health problems, environmental destruction, etc.

A component of this is the ever higher immigration of skilled workers in place of workers trained in Australia being employed here. (This was known as the Section 457 Visa system, but I believe it now goes by another name.)

As I may have written before, I remember a time when many workers would be trained in work time at the expense of their employers, whether government or private, and there was no need to study part-time, including late in the evenings or on weekends to get the additional necessary qualifications. (Another aspect of this scam is creeping credentialism, but, for now, I will leave that for another time.)

One Federal Member of Parliament who has consistently spoken up against much of this is the Labor Member for Wills, Kelvin Thomson.

Vivienne Ortega

Mon, 2015-05-18 08:34

CLOSE to half of international students want to live and work in Adelaide after they graduate, a landmark survey has found, prompting migration and business experts to say they must be harnessed as an economic resource to fill skills shortages and boost the state’s population.

Close to half of South Australia's international students want to live and work in Adelaide after they graduate (This 'premium content' Herald-Sun article is behind a paywall. - Ed)

With record rates of unemployment, how does SA have "skills shortages" unless it's due to non-investment in domestic skill training and unaffordable university courses? SA’s monthly unemployment rate was 7.3 per cent in January, up from 6.6 per cent in December – and the worst in the nation.

Youth unemployment was up to 23.6 per cent, above the national rate of 20.3 per cent.

Thousands more foreign students will get the green light to compete for Australian jobs as from March this year, when the Government expands a work visa scheme. The Immigration quietly, by stealth, make these "changes" to visas outside democratic consultation, and without any relationship to needs or our employment landscape! It's using access to a tight jobs market as a lure for international students, to boost numbers!

We should be promoting academic excellence, and high standards of training and degrees, but all reports are on the contrary! Tertiary educational standards are being compromised by its business nature, so these "students" must now be given more opportunities to WORK in Australia too - and then PR?

From March 23, all international students will be allowed to stay and work in any job for up to four years after they graduate from an Australian university.

Work rules relaxed for foreign students

Our government is guilty of breath-taking hypocrisy by going through the motions of tightening restrictions on the 457 visa rort, to "crack down" on the system of putting imported workers before Australians in job queues, but at the same time expanding and relaxing the student visa system!

In response, Immigration Minister Brendan O'Conner's spokesperson said- "There is no guarantee that sub-class 485 visa holders will find a job at the expense of an Australian student". How out of touch with reality are these pollies - in their lofty towers away from the real world!

She said the government would monitor the use of the visas and "make changes in response to economic and employment circumstances". Australians should be first in the educational, training priorities, and job queues, not be apologies for international students who are being promoted at our expense!

admin

Sun, 2015-05-17 20:20

My Free-to-air TV guide advises that this will be on 60 Minutes on Channel 9 at 8:33PM (GMT+10hours) tonight, Sunday 17 March 2015:

Exclusive: Deep inside Ukraine, we track the murderers who shot down flight MH17, killing 38 Australians.

It seems that his will be the first of 3 stories covered in the one hour program. Let's hope that 60 Minutes gives some justice to the 38 Australians, amongst the 298 victims of the Poroshenko regime's botched act of false flag terrorism.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2015-05-17 09:34

Somewhere between 6,000 and 20,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are drifting in the Andaman Sea while neighbouring countries take turns to deny them entry. Along Myanmar’s crescent-shaped western coast, Buddhist communities fear their dominance is under siege. As in parts of Europe — such as The Netherlands and France — Myanmar’s riled-up patriots warn of a population time bomb: A demographic explosion of Muslims 'breeding' them into oblivion. Authorities in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state have introduced a local regulation setting a two-child limit on Rohingya families in a bid to restrict population growth among the Muslim minority group. The 2012 two-child limit only applies to Rohingyas, a stateless group widely considered in Myanmar to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh even though they have lived in the country for generations. The measures were being implemented to curb Rohingyas’ high population growth. Muslims in a province of Burma have been ordered not to have more than two children in an attempt by the government to stop Buddhist attacks on Muslims. The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine Buddhists), and overpopulation is one of the causes of tension. The bill, which introduces the practice of “birth spacing” or a three-year interval for women between child births, is expected to be signed by President Thein Sein in the near future. Reflecting this concern with population growth, Rakhine State spokesperson Win Myaing told media last year that “overpopulation is one of the causes of tension.” He added, “The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine [Buddhists].’’ Myanmar- the worsening plight of the Rohinga UNHCR has to expect more peoples fleeing from impoverished Bangladesh. Southern part of Bangladesh was sinking into sea because the country was built on very low lying area. It has effect 20 millions peoples’ lives who living on Southern part of Bangladesh. They have to move from their land in next decade. Overpopulation causes conflicts, poverty, displacement, tension, stresses on finite natural resources, intolerance, and thus migration! The reality is that our world is "shrinking" from the explosion of human numbers, and there are fewer nations in the world that have excess resources to share, and compassion will inevitably become thinned out!

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2015-05-16 18:56

Message from Environment East Gippsland (http://www.eastgippsland.net.au/This is the latest:

The logging industry lobbyists have been telling everyone including politicians (they can be so naïve!) that tossing native forests into electricity furnaces is really ‘renewable energy’ because it would only be using the ‘waste’ – y’know – branches, leaves and those messy leftovers.

These claims were made 40 years ago to justify massive woodchipping of about 6 million tonnes a year, for decades. Untold deaths and horrific injuries of wildlife all being part of this.

Labor leader Bill Shorten will not be drawn on whether he will or won’t agree to this. Logging lobby group AFPA congratulated him. His environment minister, Mark Butler is saying ‘no way José. Is this playing good-cop bad-cop?

Join us to kill off this insane idea
What is needed is for Labor and the Independents to propose an amendment that defines ‘waste’, in such a way that it includes plantation and agricultural waste, even building waste, but clearly excludes native forest derived wood.
Unless this definition is unambiguously embedded in the RET legislation, it could raise its ugly head again as a regulation later down the track – and that could be worse.

Please – a couple of minutes of your day could make a lot of difference…
In order of importance, please call on Monday (it's more influential than emailing), the office of these politicians and leave a message for them.
And email or tweet them now…

Bill Shorten
(02) 6277 4022 or (03) 9326 1300
[email protected] @billshortenmp

Emphasise the need for an amendment to define 'waste' that excludes native forests from RETs
Mark Butler
(02) 6277 4089
[email protected] @mark_butler_mp

Emphasise the need for an amendment to define 'waste' that excludes native forests from RETs
Ricky Muir
(03) 5144 3639
[email protected] @Ricky_Muir

Emphasise that it won’t be just off-cuts but will be whole logs ! It will also rob limited assistance for genuine renewables like solar.
Zhenya Wang
(02) 6277 3843,
[email protected] @SenatorZWang

Ask that he supports an amendment to the RET Bill that defines extcludes native forest material from the ‘waste’ category and that there are more jobs in genuine renewables.
Nick Xenophon
(08) 8232 1144
[email protected] @Nick_Xenophon

Emphasise that including biomass in the RET will rob valuable assistance/credits from the solar industry.
Glenn Lazarus
(07) 3001 8940
[email protected] @SenatorLazarus

Emphasise that including biomass in the RET will rob valuable assistance/credits from the solar industry.
Clive Palmer
(07) 547 92800 or (02) 627 74372
[email protected] @CliveFPalmer

Explain that including biomass in the RET will rob Renewable Energy Credits and assistance/investment in genuine renewable energy like solar.

EEG LEGAL CHALLENGE FOR THE OWLS -
This wednesday 20th, EEG will be in mediation with both DELWP and VicForests over their obligation to properly protect our threatened owls. We'll keep you posted on that as well.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-16 18:28

The DEPI should not be in charge of these abused and neglected horses! They are not a "primary industry", and even if they were livestock, this display of deprivation and starvation would not be acceptable. They are being treated as merchandize, as goods to be traded for $$ rather than sentient creatures with particular needs for food, water, space, and care.

The DEPI also manages policies on puppy farms, despite the fact that they are producing pets, not livestock!
If cars were to be for sale in car yards, they would have cleaners and detailers making sure they were shiny and sparkling, to their best advantage. Horses, that brought civilization and development to humanity, as transport means, war horses, vehicles for migration and travel, and machinery for ploughing fields for food, are just being treated as commodities - with no intrinsic value.

To contact DEPI online:
DEPI - contact us

admin

Sat, 2015-05-16 16:29

This was posted to the ongoing discusion on JohnQuiggin.com. The first two paragraphs below were accidentally omitted from that post.

Megan at May 16th, 2015 at 14:52 | #96 :

Thank you for drawing to our attention the dubious value of one source for that Wikipedia page. Given the complete failure of that Wikipedia article to even mention the Syrian Presidential elections held only last year on 4 June 2014, as I mentioned above, how could anyone consider anything from that Wikipedia page 1  as authoritative?

Megan wrote:

But, I would say "authoritarian" is probably an apt description.

The government of any country faced with an invasion by tens of thousands of sociopathic islamist 'converts' from every corner of the globe, armed and paid for by the medieval kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the dictatorship of Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, France, the United States and other allies, would have to resort to fairly harsh measures to defend its people, so I would not wish to quibble at length about whether or not the Syrian government should be labelled 'authoritarian'.

The critical point is whether or not the Syrian government represents the Syrian people and enjoys their support.

All the evidence of which I am aware, some of which I have posted above, shows that the Syrian government enjoys the overwhelming support of Syrians. This includes the article Syria's press conference the United Nations doesn't want you to see? It is about the UN Press conference of observers at the Syrian elections on 19 June last year?

Megan, could I suggest that you read that article and watch the embedded video? If you were find anything that you believe to be untrue in that article, certainly feel welcome to let me know here (or there – anyone is welcome to post to my site).

The war in Syria is not just a war against the Syrian government, it is a genocidal war against the Syrian people, including Christian Arabs, Armenians, a small minority of Judaic Syrians and Syrians of the Islamic faith, be they Alawite, Shiite or Sunni.

Footnote[s]

1. ↑  In contrast to the abovementioned Wikipedia page about President Bashar al-Assad, the Wikipedia page about Syria remains a helpful resource as of 16 June 2015.

Dennis K

Sat, 2015-05-16 14:11

It's a capitalistic market, of pumping up prices and ignoring the discarded. We are NOT creating sustainable, stable communities. The market isn't just Capitalist, it's a crony, scam market. Investors aren't Capitalists, they are rent seekers who are given a sheltered workshop style investing environment by the government. The government pulls out all efforts, tax payer funded, not just living tax payers, but those yet to be born, to ensure that the real estate market gets the outcomes it believes it deserves. Capitalism is a harsh system, but it's made even worse by the fact that those with lobbying power are given exemptions from the harsh culling and reality that they would otherwise face. Capital Gains Tax concessions, Negative Gearing, First Home Owners grants, high immigration despite the lack of need, selective release and development of land and so on are all measures to make these specuvestors AVOID Capitalism. The LAST thing the real estate market wants, is true supply/demand Capitalism and a free market without intervention. They are reliant in intervention, on welfare and wealth redistribution to keep this false economy going.

limits to growth (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-16 13:31

Wheler Centre Population Growth talk - 13 May 2015 Wednesday 13 May 2015, 6.15pm-7.15pm there was a Q&A session at The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne. The session was mainly based on questions from the public, for a strict limit of one hour. There was concern that our cities were growing, and outstripping infrastructure. It was pointed out that Melbourne at 8 million is being compared to some of the massive mega-cities in Asia, but in actual fact it would be the second largest city if compared to those in Europe. There were questions of migration, and basic human rights to feel safe, and free from persecution. Someone suggested the idea of open borders and globalization. It was boo-ed as being unsustainable. We would quickly be inundated by masses, and nothing could be planned or sustained. Our planet is already in overshoot, and it's a reality that all the world cannot live like we do in Australia, Europe or the USA. The UN is urging us to take more refugees from war-torn, poor countries. Our population is 23 million. If we were to accept a million refugees a year, it would destroy our economy and social structure, without making any difference to an annual world population increase of 83 million. If everyone lived like we do, though there are huge extremes, we would need 3 planets to sustain us. Our lifestyles were once the envy of the world, but now we are seeing third world living on our streets, and a polarization of wealth to the elites. Prof Ian Lowe pointed out the our immigration is far to high, and that with high unemployment, we don't need skilled immigration. We could accommodate more refugees and concentrate of family reunions. If we had NO immigration, we could stabilize our population within 2 decades. With lower immigration, zero net immigration, we could stabilize by mid century. Keynesian economics is an economic theory named after John Maynard Keynes, a British economist who lived from 1883 to 1946. Keynesian economics further concludes that there is a pragmatic reason for the massive redistribution of wealth: if the poorer segments of society are given sums of money, they will likely spend it, rather than save it, thus promoting economic growth. It means a free rein to the economy, and few regulations and restrictions. Thus, people are either "leaners" or "lifters", taxpayers and economic units instead of people with needs. Of course, population growth is "good" for the economy, but not good for people. Already our environment is suffering and declining, and houses around Melbourne are being built on fertile soils - and we can't eat houses.

James Sinnamon

Sat, 2015-05-16 12:08

This is to be posted to a forum discussion on JohnQuiggin.com.

Ikonoklast wrote on May 16th, 2015 at 07:32 :

I note that Wikipedia and Amnesty International both I note that Wikipedia and Amnesty International both characterise the Syrian regime as authoritarian ...

I could not find where Wikipedia 1  "characterise[d] the Syrian regime as authoritarian and Bashar al-Assad as guilty of crimes against humanity including atrocities and war crimes." Could you please show where this claim was made?

Ikonoklast continued:

I see no reason to doubt these sources.

Amnesty's record on impartiality suffered a fatal blow when they stated in 1991 that Iraqi soldiers had torn babies from their incubators in Kuwait and left them to die on the floor of the hospital's neo-natal unit. Arguably this sealed the 1991 onslaught on Iraq. The story that the Kuwaiti government rewarded Amnesty with $500,000 for endorsing this pack of lies has not gone away – and as far as I am aware, to date, has not been denied. 2 

As a consequence of the fraudulent "incubator babies" story, sanctions were imposed on Iraq for nearly two decades and Iraq was bombed extensively in 1991 and invaded in 2003. According to former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clarke as many as 3.3 million Iraqis, including 750,000 children died. 3 

Ikonoclast wrote:

I wonder why people always assume that every conflict is a good guy vs. bad guy conflict? Actually, that is rare. Most conflicts are bad guy vs. bad guy conflicts. ...

I could ask: Why do ostensible humanitarians, rather than addressing the evidence presented to them, so often resort to the tired old "curse on both your houses" refrain?

As I have shown above, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has, on a number of occasions, subjected himself to close scrutiny by critical journalists, some who were openly unsympathetic. Show me where in any one of those interviews, even one of the allegations against him has not been refuted?

Bashar al-Jaafari, the current Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, has on a number of occasions, held lengthy press conferences at the United Nations in recent years. Show me where, even once, the claims made by the mainstream and 'alternate' newsmedia of Syrian government crimes against humanity have ever even been put to him by journalists from the those same media outlets at those press conferences?

Footnotes

1. ↑  Incidentally, in its Syrian Demographics section, Wikipedia states :

According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Syria hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 1,852,300. The vast majority of this population was from Iraq (1,300,000), ...

As one participant in those illegal wars and sanctions against Iraq from which all those Iraqis fled, Australia clearly owes Syria many millions of dollars in compensation for the trouble and expense that Syria has been put to as a consequence.

2. ↑  Amnesty International: An Instrument of War Propaganda? (8/8/15) by Felicity Arbuthnot- Global Research.

3. ↑  Former US Attorney General: US (and Australian) sanctions against Iraq are genocidal (8/8/15) by Felicity Arbuthnot- Candobetter.net, Breaking the Set YouTube Channel.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-16 11:22

Thousands of foreigners are believed by intelligence services to have traveled from across the planet to fight in extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. They are like predators buzzing around dying prey! The flood of young men and women from all corners of the globe to join the Islamic State (IS) and other groups operating in the power vacuums of northern Iraq and Syria has prompted concerns among security agencies in their home countries over the potential threat they represent if and when they return.

Often they recent converts to Islam and sometimes, are scarcely able to articulate the reasons behind their decision to join the fight. These recruits are from a generation that came of age using social media, and their tweets and postings.

Secular moderates are almost gone -- and the Syrian war has become anything but Syrian. President Bashar Assad is often said to be "brutal", by a mass-media that uses tired and refuted 'evidence' of this, but now regional sectarian ties have turned Syria into an international battleground rife with fighters, funding and weapons from around the world.

Iranian's support into Assad’s forces began in late 2012, when the Free Syrian Army was making major gains, thanks to U.S. military advisers.

Hijra is an Arabic word meaning “emigration”, evoking the prophet Muhammad’s historic escape from Mecca, where assassins were plotting to kill him, to Medina. For most Islamic extremists today, the concepts of hijra and jihad are intimately linked.

Overpopulation, and immigration, has irrevocably been a force in the spread of Islam.

According to research conducted by Peter Neumann of King’s College London, along with Atran and others, the particular goal of establishing a state under Islamic law has shifted noticeably to establishing sharia law and supporting the institution of the caliphate, regardless of the wishes of the local Syrian population.

The United States has begun a long-awaited program to train Syrian fighters to go into combat against Islamic State, the Pentagon said on Thursday, deepening America’s role in Syria’s civil war after eight months of airstrikes against the Sunni militants.

U.S. military starts training Syrian fighters to combat Islamic State (7/5/15) | The Globe and Mail

Critics say that theoretical limitation is unlikely to withstand the realities of Syria’s messy civil war. The civil war has killed 220,000 people and displaced millions since 2011, despite repeated diplomatic efforts to resolve it.
Should Assad's government crumble, Syria could face greater instability and control by extremist groups, U.S. security officials are warning. The U.S. is watching closely to see if Iran and Russia step in to bolster Assad with weapons and supplies as they have in the past.

Remarkably, some media outlets reported that Assad told his visitors, "Some European countries are committing a grave mistake by allying with countries supporting terrorism."

The members of a Belgium delegation were reported as saying, "Syria constitutes the first line of defense in the face of extremism and terrorism. It is the only country fighting terrorism on the ground. If this line is defeated, terrorism will largely reach European countries. This is why we have to support Syria in this war." According to reports, the parliamentarians continued, "Many Western parties and officials now believe in this." This quote has been confirmed by former Lebanese Minister Wiam Wahhab, who told Al-Monitor he heard the Belgian delegation say it more than once.

Read more: Belgian delegation expresses support for Assad (17/5/15) | Lebanon Pulse

Any struggling nation, especially a secular one, could now follow this model of migration, extremism and military intervention.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2015-05-16 09:04

The numbers of those sleeping rough in Sydney’s gritty inner streets is at a five-year high, a staggering 23 per cent increase since last August, and the beds that could rest them in emergency hostels and affordable housing are full. The numbers of those sleeping rough in Sydney’s gritty inner streets is at a five-year high, a staggering 23 per cent increase since last August, and the beds that could rest them in emergency hostels and affordable housing are full. The same story is in Melbourne, with people sleeping in our city's streets, and begging. Daily Telegraph- Homeless people in Sydney grow in number as figures hit five year peak Australia - the newest third world nation- caused by greed and an economy heavily reliant on population growth and the real estate market. It's not hard to recognise a Ponzi scheme when it's seen, and that's what our housing industry is! It keeps flourishing on new participants, investing more and more money, and discards the vulnerable and those who can't keep adding their wages and incomes! Governments are ignoring the impact of unaffordable housing prices, while the investors and wealthy (including foreigners) are accumulating wealth. It's a capitalistic market, of pumping up prices and ignoring the discarded. We are NOT creating sustainable, stable communities. It's easy to pinpoint family problems, alcohol abuse, drugs, mental illness, unemployment and domestic violence, but they are all stemming from the same cause - we are NOT creating unified, cohesive, sustainable, and stable family-orientated communities. They are being broken apart and twisted by high population growth, the real estate industry's interests in maximum profits, and a neo-liberal policy from governments of giving market forces a free hand, without any impediments of control, regulation, concern for human welfare or social justice. What future do these young people have?

James Sinnamon

Fri, 2015-05-15 22:56

This was posted to a forum discussion on JohnQuiggin.com

Alfred Venison on May 15th, 2015 at 08:10 | #73

Thank you for your interest and support.

The history of Syria in the last years is, on one level, a vast tragedy, and on another level it gives hope and inspiration to the rest of humanity.

What other country, which has lost more than 220,000 lives out of a population of 17,952,000, that is 1.2% of the population, caused by an invasion of terrorist jihadists from almost every corner of the globe – armed and paid for by the United States, Saudi Arabia and their allies – since March 2011, could have not only endured, but maintained a vibrant cultural life? Check out the pages of the English language version of the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) to see what I mean.

Unlike the 'leaders' of Australia, the United States, Britain, France, Israel and their allies, President Bashar al-Assad, so demonised in the lying mainstream Australian newsmedia, runs a truly popular and transparent government. He was elected by an overwhelming majority in elections on 4 June 2014. The validity of these elections was testified to by international observers at a United Nations press conference on 19 June 2014.

His government supplies more than what the Whitlam Labor government succeeded in giving by 1975. Every Syrian has the right to free education all the way up to tertiary level if they wish and medical care and other social services are provided free by the government.

On numerous occasions, President al-Assad has granted lengthy interviews even to journalists who are clearly not sympathetic to him and his government, including, for example 60 Minutes in January 2015. (Sixty Minutes only showed a fraction of that interview. You can find the link to the full unedited version of that interview here.) If only a fraction of the lies peddled about him were true, you would expect him to have been cut to ribbons in such interviews, but he never is. In every interview I have watched he has refuted the allegations made against his government with evidence and logic and put his government's case convincingly.

If Abbott, Bishop, Obama, Kerry, Hollande, Merkel, Poroshenko or Cameron allowed themselves to be subjected to such close scrutiny, they would be torn to shreds.

david macilwain

Thu, 2015-05-14 22:57

Would it be better or worse than a 'barrel bomb' dropped on a group of insurgents firing mortars at residential areas of Aleppo? If worse, then why did SBS choose this stupid story which is so obviously false? Currently Al Nusra forces, backed aggressively by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are attacking Aleppo, which had more or less come under the control and safety of the Syrian army. They are also expanding southwards near the border with Turkey, and a couple of days ago launched a massive truck bomb attack against Jisr al Shoghour National hospital, where 200 odd Syrian soldiers and civilians are resisting assault, the terrorists having taken over the nearby city. This video gives us an idea what a truck bomb explosion looks like, if we missed the one that Al Nusra previously used to blow up Al Kindi hospital in Aleppo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyQy7ELT9Rc It seems that SBS is doing more than just 'poor' reporting - their recent Dateline program, which glorified and sanitised an AN terrorist on his way to Aleppo was one of many Western media productions to facilitate the new offensive against Syria's government and people.

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2015-05-14 19:30

SBS has failed to make any response to my formal complaint about their biased reporting on MH17, sent on 13 December 2014. (See above at /comment/reply/4223/152568#comment-152568.) Today, 14 May 2015, SBS again showed extreme bias in a report on war in Syria where there is US/NATO interference. Tonight they reported again that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was using 'barrel bombs and poisonous gas'. See Chemical weapons and Was there a Chlorine Attack against Civilians in Syria or is it War Propaganda? Article by Susan Dirgham where you will also find discussion of so-called 'barrel bombs'. SBS used footage of a US spokesperson making these allegations, which continue to be ill-supported by very vague details that never succeed in proving their case against the Syrian government. Further the SBS commentator tonight suggested that the choice between the Syrian Government and ISIS was not much of a choice. On top of this they suggested that the Syrian Government had little success fighting ISIS and implied that the government was about to fail. It is as if, with the US/NATO/ISIS triangle unable to destroy Syria through arms alone, the mass media has determined to totally demoralise and artificially stigmatise the Syrian government and its people. This seems like a grotesque act of sadism, equivalent in moral and cultural terms to the brutality of ISIS. SBS never balances these highly biased reports with relevant provable information, such as the fact that Bashar al-Assad was legally elected by a huge majority last year. This majority included many expatriates and was monitored by independent international visitors, who reported no abnormalities and whose testimony is available to all via UN broadcast. "/node/3888 How can SBS continue to ignore what the Syrian people want? What motivates SBS to comfort ISIS and serve the disorganising and brutal war activities of the United States and NATO? SBS should be ashamed to thus has given comfort to US/NATO aggressors and ISIS. How could SBS be so naive - or corrupt - as to report as if it were fact, the propaganda that comes from the United States, despite the US's shameful record of starting wars in the Middle East on made-up stories, including 'incubator babies' and 'weapons of mass destruction'. The US is a candidate for international war crimes trials, for heavens sake! SBS's biased reporting could spell the death of millions of Syrians who might otherwise survive if the rest of the world would get behind the Government and the Syrian army and allow them to defend Syria from its multiple attackers. It is extremely distressing to witness such poor reporting by SBS, and to imagine the utterly disastrous consequences of this kind of reporting from SBS and other outlets in the West.

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 2015-05-13 10:27

"These (bandicoot) diggings increase soil turnover, alter plant community composition and structure, trap rainwater for better water infiltration, capture bio-mater for nutrient cycling, and add to fungal and seed dispersal". We need more of Nature's natural gardeners in our bush and forests. Our land is drying out, and thus governments in turn burn more and more landscapes for human safety. It's a destructive cycle of mammal extinctions, land clearing, declining water, and loss of fungus and bacteria that promote the fuel decomposition. We have Nature's little gardeners, and other, disappearing off our land, and it's becoming drier, and more hostile to life.

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2015-05-12 12:14

Unstable food security and the recent international food price spikes were certainly one of their many grievances and was likely the factor that sparked the initial unrest, yet the level of unrest greatly varied in intensity throughout the Arab region. Behind the epidemic of global violence is a cascade of food price spikes linked to worsening resource constraints - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/food-scarcity-fanning-flames-war-te... Of the 17 countries identified as being most at risk of food riots, 14 are Muslim-majority countries, and at least 10 are subject to ongoing US-led counterterrorism operations. "Terror" is more than a conflict of ideals, and political instability. The peer-reviewed study, published last month in the journal Sustainability, builds on growing evidence that a lack of “access to critical resources, including food, energy and water, can, in certain circumstances, lead to violent demonstrations”. “What we know is that the countries that actually experienced food riots were very fragile and hence there were underlying conditions that escalated the crisis.” Some of these conditions have been exacerbated by climate change and energy depletion. In Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Egypt, all of which have experienced internal violence, intensifying water scarcity due to global warming has dramatically undermined domestic agriculture, while the depletion of conventional oil and transition to more expensive unconventional fossil fuels has reduced state revenues from oil exports. The Middle East takes $8 billion worth of Australian exports, and the Federal Government has announced it wants to grow that. The Middle East's population is forecast to grow to 430 million people by 2020. Some countries in the Gulf rely on 90 per cent imports for their food. It leaves fragile communities to rely on supply chains of food, subject to political conditions and global trade prices. So, while Australia sends troops to Iraq to fight IS terror, it's also trading with countries in the Middle East. The Middle East and North Africa on the whole is highly vulnerable to food insecurity and its resulting unrest. The Arab Spring was primarily a protest against governments calling for more political and civil liberties, and was fueled by long-held resentment stemming from a sense of moral outrage and injustice. Afghanistan has had a long-time food security issue. The desert regions of the Middle East struggle with food production, and many of the countries of the Arab Spring are big importers of their main food staple, which made them very vulnerable to price spikes. For Saudi Arabic, relying on desalination plants, water has become more valuable than oil. It is not economically feasible to run desalination plants and provide water for farming or even parched cities. Besides the demand for water has increased while the supply has become scarce and unreliable.

Katie (not verified)

Tue, 2015-05-12 08:32

It seems, through listening to the media commentary on the budget, especially with respect to child care that our society has lost focus on what should be life's purpose and pleasures. If we analysed from current discourse what is envisioned as our (Australians') purpose in life,what would emerge? Going to work seems to be right up there. Raising your own children which I would have thought to be a combination of one of life's great pleasures and great responsibilities, is very marginalised. Early childhood is a brief period with very rapid learning taking place. Would the majority, forced by economic necessity to hand over their 2 year olds to others for most of the day still do so if they had the choice? I heard a caller yesterday on radio with a plea for adequate funds for child care reminding the radio audience that those who care for children are "raising the next generation of taxpayers". Had they just been people I guess she thought her comment would not have carried the same import. Also, yesterday in the parental leave context I heard someone pipe in, as though a piece of mammalian biology would be forgotten in the economic modal, that mothers should be allowed to breast feed their infants for 6 months because of the health benefits. That's nice, even dairy cows are allowed to feed their calves for a few days aren't they?

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2015-05-11 23:52

The government and the opposition seem to want to entirely replace natural increase with economic immigration and for the Australian population to stop reproducing, work until they die, turn more of their superannuation over to the state, and reverse mortgage all their property so that the banks can resell it to the newcomers. The reason we 'can't afford' housing, children, wages, and that small businesses cannot survive is because the cost of land, housing, water, power etc are all spiralling up due to population growth. If we lower demand (by lowering population growth, i.e. immigration) we will lower the cost of living, the cost of doing business, pressure on wages, and make ourselves globally competitive and small business would thrive. You would not need two incomes just to survive, so you would not need lots of professional child care, rent supplements, constant employment, productivity increases (i.e. working more for less) etc. But I have said this before, and better. One gets tired of repeating the obvious, since most people are conditioned to pay more attention to what they are told by the 'authorities' than what they see and experience personally.

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2015-05-11 23:40

I agree generally with what you are saying, and I didn't mean to imply that universities were scientific, nor that scientists were necessarily scientific. Science is a great thing but it can be worn like a cloak to dignify anything you say, just as priests may use religious clothing. The same abuse happens with media and government anointed authorities, be they scientific, religious, showbiz or the very wealthy. Academia often doesn't support the scientific process and neither do the 'think tanks'. Money distorts everything, especially where locals and people on the ground are sidelined for 'authorities'.

Dennis K

Mon, 2015-05-11 21:08

The Liberals supposedly represent traditional values and conservatism. I didn't realise pushing women back to work while children were farmed out away from family to communal day care was a conservative value. These child care subsidies just distort the economy, by creating a fake appearance that it is a viable economic proposition. It isn't. If the subsidies were removed, and the true cost was borne by people, many more children would be staying at home. We are essentially paying for votes, and to create this mirage that somehow we can both raise our children and work by not raising them at the same time...

Dennis K

Mon, 2015-05-11 21:04

This may have been the comment that was deleted. There probably are enough neo-con think tanks and such. Academia has to set an example, and follow the scientific process though. Caving in to vocal pressure is not how science works. In doing this, they prove to people that the AGW position is politically motivated and enforced by censure and lobbying. This in my opinion, harms the ability for people to objectively assess the issue. It is counter productive and harms the goals of those who wish to see the issue addressed. And it isn't just Lomborg. Any time someone who the establishment opposes wishes to speak, there is pressure and threats. This occurs more frequently than it should at uni, but pressure is also put on private businesses this way too. Want to hear a European politician who challenges the EU superstructure speak? If vocal political activists have an issue with them, your chances are diminished, as these people will "put pressure" on the hosting establishment, forcing them to abandon hosting, for their own safety, of course... I also believe that many think scientists are somehow less biases, and that money only affects the scepticist side. I disagree. There is a lot of money that goes into climate change, and anyone who for a living studies something which is funded by government, or funded by anyone, is under pressure. Even to graduate, to get a professorship, this means one has to meet the requirements of someone else, who is biased. People seem to think that scientists are somehow, unlike any other profession, completely objective, that scientific truth is held by scientists, rather than discovered by the scientific process.

admin

Mon, 2015-05-11 10:51

Dear contributors and guests,

I fear I may have just now, whilst removing forum spam, deleted a legitimate comment.

The post I deleted was from someone logged in from vic.optusnet.com.au .

I apologise for my carelessness.

If you have posted a comment this morning (or very late last night) Australian Eastern Standard Time and it has not appeared, could you please consider re-posting it?

I also recommend that each contributor always keep his/her own copy of their contribution, in case further mishaps such as this occur in future.

Thank you.

Sally P. (not verified)

Mon, 2015-05-11 10:36

I have been listening to the budget foreshadowings- re child care subsidies. The thrust is that they want to get women out to work and it seems- if I got the gist right that stay-at-home mothers will lose out to 2 parent working families.

All these child care subsidies must compensate families for the fact that 2 people have to work to service the mortgage or pay rent when one pay packet used to be enough. The tax payer pays for this in taxes and society as a whole pays in services not provided (as the money is diverted into child care) Children lose out as each becomes one of a crowd in a child care centre instead of having the individual attention of his/her mother. This is a really heavy price we are paying for population growth and foreign investment.

I discussed this with a friend yesterday. My point was that I thought adult to child ratios were too low generally in these outsourced arrangements when child care facilities were involved. My friend is sort of the expert as she used such facilities as a single mother in the 1990s. She said that the rule for young children was a ratio of ¼. I said I thought that was to too many kids for each adult . She said –“Well my mother did it.” I said “But you were not a set a quads.” She acquiesced. (Her mother had 4 in just under 5 years.)

But these are the rules:

My interest in this was sparked by the child who was left in a car outside a child care centre in Kyneton for several hours and died. It said to me – “Too many young children for the number of adults.” My friend protested that it was his mother who had left him there. I said that this is not the point. In the transfer or whatever was happening, someone lost track and no-one checked. That’s what happens when people have too much to take care of.

Child Care ratios and qualifications for child care

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