Re this article: Do people think it might be racism that stops middle-class Australians from realising they are being treated like a developing country? As in they think this only happens to black people?
Comments
Dog kills swan at Albert Park
Just heard that a man allowed his dog to kill a black swan at Albert Park. The more the population of Melbourne grows , the more stupid , cruel and insensitive people there are around. Stands to reason, i guess. The trouble is that it takes only one person to commit a vandalistic act and the rest of us lose out.
Immigrants bring their own power stations to Australia
Maths is in the air. Eight million permanent migrants will arrive here in the UN Paris Emission years 2005-2030. Using one kilowatt each (personal consumption plus Telstra, traffic lights & streets, hospitals, schools, public transport, water & sewerage pumping) these proud new citizens will need five new 1600MW Hazlewood power stations running flat-out 24/7.
Demography Professor Peter McDonald (Future generations would pay for heavy cuts to immigration, researcher warns. CT Online 9/10) ignores yet another benefit of mass migration: each immigrant brings bits of power stations in their luggage. Bits of solar cells, bits of windmills. Bits of Ikea kit-form coal and hydro stations. Bits of batteries. Bits of transformers. Bits of poles & wires.
Once here, multi-cultural magic assembles all these electrical kits, and Voila! 8,000MW of new dispatchable electricity. At NO COST to the public purse. At NO COST to existing electricity consumers. At NO COST to greenhouse save aircraft emissions.
The permanent intake must be doubled. The temporary intake must be tripled. The illegal and refugee intake must be quadrupled.
David Hughes
(Copy of letter sent to Canberra Times)
Disclosure: I own AGL, Origin, APA gas, Genex, HepburnWind, OSH, NHC, WPL, etc, shares in my Super a/c.
Rising property prices drive up costs and wages to pay them
The stupid and antisocial real estate agent showed the open and shut case of how increased demand (from globalising the German market) leads to rising property prices and then higher wages and higher costs of doing business. Of course business fights back against wage rises, and a lot of people lose out. Small and medium businesses close because they cannot compete internationally in face of costs and big business, transnationals, replace them and pay rotten wages - as we see, for instance in Amazon.com which finally has agreed to pay desperate workers $15 per hour in America where said workers were forced to get food stamps etc. Land speculation is driven by population growth and it is the root of all evil.
population fuelled property frenzy and the powerless people
On the French news program on SBS television, Friday 5th October ( originally aired on France 2, 8pm Thursday 4th October 2018 in France ) they showed a good piece about the rampant foreign investment in Berlin real estate. A young american sales agent talked proudly about investors from all over the world buying off plan before apartments had been constructed. When the sales agent was asked about diminishing rental (and buying?) affordability, being a consequence of the property grab by investors, she replied by saying that the affected people just needed to ask their employer for a wage rise.
One elderly man who lived in an older apartment block was told by the investment firm who now owned the building that he was very lucky to have the opportunity to buy the apartment which he was renting. He, of course, couldn't afford to buy it, so now his situation is as precarious as the many tenants who had already been pushed out of the building, since the acquisition.
This story is, in my opinion, representative of what is happening in this country also.
774 helping property investors over people who need shelter
Today they are talking about the property market as they often do - with Monique Wakelin who is a …real estate agent as far as I understand.
A woman rang in just then to say she wanted to remind them that not everyone has a"property portfolio" and that housing is actually shelter. She said it often sounds (from the program) as though we live in an economy but actually we live in a society. As she spoke Wakelin was repeating "yes, yes" as though dying for her to finish. She then cut the woman off, saying she totally endorsed what the woman said, but now the program is rolling on as though housing is an investment, just as it always does ..
It's a self indulgent program.
Economic Approach to Modelling Migration
Studies of labor migration currently abound in economics, both in the more theoretical branches of the discipline and in empirical re-search. Economists have always had an interest in analyzing labor mobility and the determinants and consequences of location choices. In recent decades, labor migration has become a central feature of many macroeconomic models. It has also been studied in great detail in applied microeconomics analyses. key themes Traditionally, migration research in economics has centered on four key themes. First, the determinants of migration have been the focus of studies that analyze migration decision-making processes and secular trends and fluctuations in migration flows.
Mainstream Media dumbing down the Electorate
Take 2! And thankyou Aunt Kittie for your analysis of the appalling state of the mainstream media. If you dare raise a subject that is (in their eyes) anyway contentious and if you don't support their point of view, you shall incur their wrath in spades.
The question may be asked: Why do our governments, the majority of big business and the mainstream media support rampant population growth?? Even Boy Wonder knows the answer to this one. This is greed and denialism of the worst kind and unfortunately the poor, those with disabilities, the young and the old are the first affected by it.
Mankind is facing a confluence of tragedies as overpopulation is driving climate change, social upheaval and war leading to mass migration and an economic armageddon where water, food, jobs, housing, health and education for the rich will prevail.
The Australian way of life, the land of a fair go, will become a memory, a figment of our imagination. As of August 31 19% of our workforce were looking for work or more work according to Roy Morgan Research*. That equates to 2.547 million Australians that are struggling to make ends meet, life for them ain't easy and it won't get any better under the current political regime. Added to that miserable figure is the fact that around 20% of our youth (18-24yrs) are looking for a job. And this is on the so-called upside of the economic cycle.
Little wonder that violence and drugs are continually making the news. Idle hands and minds are a fertile breeding grounds for criminal activity. Then we have reactive governments buying votes by being tough on crime, waging a war on drugs and losing both! Why don't our so-called elected representatives do something constructive and stop importing humans, provide jobs by building the infrastructure to accommodate all Australians and begin to address climate change before it engulfs the planet. But then again it we who elect these so-called representatives, so why don't we do something about it??
* - Roy Morgan Research - http://www.roymorgan.com/morganpoll/unemployment
and the bad news is ...
More bad news is that Jay Weatherall broke his leg whilst bushwalking in June this year. Hope it is has mended and that he is back in action.
Comment from Phaedra
Comment from Phaedra was accidentally deleted!! Can you please re-post?
Jon Faine needs remedial arithmetic and to curb his aggro
Around 11.20 today, Friday 18 September 2018, on ABC radio Jon Faine show.
I heard an elderly man on the phone trying to explain Al Bartlett's population doubling to JF.. The man quoted Al Bartlett that the downfall of humanity was the inability to understand the exponential function. JF's retort was "What are you going to do Joe (or whatever his name was ), have a one child policy or compulsory euthanasia at 80? " the man said that he did not have the answer and that he did not think JF's suggestion was a goer.
JF very aggressively tried to pin the man down and told the man not to be patronising in calling him "Jon" (the guy was saying "Jon, Jon , I'm trying to explain something. I don't have the answer. I'm pointing out the problem!")
JF finally cut the man off saying he gave up on trying to get an answer from him. He then turned to his very plausible female co presenter or guest for a conclusion and the woman said something like "I think we have to manage growth in the best way possible"……… (no specifics!)
With people like Jf dominating the air waves - what hope is there for sensible discussion?
Quark nails it again
Well summed up, Quark. You have an amazing ability to correctly simplify apparently complex policy processes.
"Thought bubble"
It's pretty tragic when a group of poorly informed people can advocate or facilitate a time bomb such as contemplated- the increase of immigration levels in receiving countries by a multiple 10. The consequences are simply too dire to write this off as a mere "thought bubble' even though that's about the right status of the brainstorming that came up with it.
Q&A and what passes officially for politics in Australia
Watched Q and A and then news and then heard more news on radio and the discussion did not get further than who is treating who unfairly and who is being nasty to whom. It is really just juvenile schoolyard stuff dressed up in grown up voices.
There was the token African female guest on Q and A who at first sounded quite grown up and intelligent but pretty soon got around to herself as a black + woman.
To me Germaine Greer sounded as tho she was so used to whining that every time a question went to her she just turned it on but strayed from the point very quickly. Then they started on the cartoon of Serena Williams at the recent US tennis open where she behaved badly -anyway the cartoon is supposedly racist because it makes her look like an African woman-which she is ! The Greer said that not only was the cartoon racist but also sexist but Greer could not pin point in what way it was actually sexist. She said something like it was a picture of a woman having lost her temper - (but she did!)
Anyway - all the Lib female federal parliamentarians are leaving in droves -the latest one today complains of branch stacking in the NSW branch of the Libs and sort of elbowing her out. She probably has every right to object but it makes for news of the parliament all about how they are treating one another - as tho it is all about them. It's introspective and so is the climate of Q and A.
It is utterly pathetic! They cannot get over themselves!
Bob Carr: Politicians out of step with Australians on population
*Speakers: Philip Adams (P), Male (M), Bob Carr (B)
*Program: Late Night Live, ABC Radio National
*Date: 11 September 2018
M: How can we better manage population in Australia?
B: I’m a minority of one in Australian politics. The most heretical thing you could say in Australia apart from advocating – which I don’t – neutrality, that is, getting out of the US Alliance – the most heretical thing short of that you could say in Australia is that, is to question the notion that we need to remorselessly pump up our population, because our national civic faith encompasses this idea. It’s the most powerful part of Australia’s civic religion. It’s built in all of us because what happened, Singapore, February 1942, is part of Australia’s DNA, the notion that we’re a huge continent, we’ve got a small, mainly European-derived population and that there are Asiatic empires itching to take it off us is very real in how Australia sees the world and the fear of abandonment. Hence populate or perish. I just question it, on planning grounds, on ecological grounds, on economic grounds. I’ve been urging Australians to think twice about this, and to keep this naturally separate from arguments about the composition of the migrant intake or any cultural or social considerations. In other words, it’s about the numbers, stupid, that’s the only debate I want to have on this subject.
And I actually find I can talk to Australians anywhere and they understand instinctively what this is about and that includes migrants, that includes Australians born overseas. Australians more and more are questioning whether a continent that resembles North Africa – narrow, fertile coastal strip – more than it resembles North America – sprawling continent, Rocky Mountain range, rivers flowing down on both sides, irrigating the whole continent. We’re more like North Africa. Australians get it, Australians get it and they’re just beginning to ask – I think there is a tilt here, a shift in the understanding – they’re just beginning to ask their leaders do we really need to turn our big cities into forests of high-rise and make the other compromises designed to fulfil Canberra’s dream that we should have the most ambitious population growth rates, the most ambitious immigration targets of any of the world’s developed countries?
Youth suicide, mental health, unemployment, etc
Good article which ties in with some of the findings by Roy Morgan into the welfare of younger Australians. http://www.roymorgan.com/search-results?text=youth+unemployment&searchco...
Youtube removes Syrian gov and Syrian Arab News Agency channels
Reported on RT News on 11 September 2018. A reason given was that the channels were earning money and that this was illegal according to US sanctions. The removal of these channels means that the world has very little chance of hearing the other side in the Syria-NATO wars. As a result of this ban, all the videos we have of speeches by President Bashar al Assad have suddenly disappeared. This is utterly tragic; an erasing of hugely important historical documents. A crime against us all. Perhaps this will send people back to blogs and news sites like https://candobetter.net, in search of different points of view and complex information. In the meantime, there is danger that regime changes could again take place with no news reporting, as they did before the non-western world had access to electronic media in many languages.
Australia's role as US war machine handmaiden
Hi David. I meant to mention Australia's shameful role in this terrible saga, but ran out of time before I could get it in. So thank you for adding this. We have of course published your complaints about this, and mine.
Australia's involvement in Syria
Thanks Sheila - good analysis. I'd only add one thing, which is the covert role that Australia is playing in supporting the attack on Syria, and in putting out a stream of propaganda that suits the West's false narrative. You'd think they would outplay their hand, with yet more shots of WH running, child in arms to the ambulance, and in streets apparently devoid of all living things, even other White Helmets. It's hard to know exactly how you would use chem weapons on this lot and actually achieve anything, though given the sort of murderous barbarians they are, one could hardly blame the SAA for trying anything that would kill them without hurting too many civilians, or risking too many Syrian soldiers' lives.
We just wait now for the proverbial s**t to hit the fan, while noting the presence of CW coordinator for the Syrian resistance in Melbourne today - Hamish de Bretton Gordon.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/australia-warned-...
Fatal laws?
Taking drugs is an example of risk taking behaviour and of course can lead to death, therefore could be seen as a form of suicide. It would be interesting to look at the figures for deaths from car accidents, (often involving risk-taking behaviour)in young men over the same period. Isn't it a pity that these trends are only seen in retrospect and very belatedly associated with an external factor - in this case labour laws and the effect on the lives of young men? Looks as though deregulation of labour markets could actually have been fatal to some.
Twitter thought-police suspended Syrian First Lady's account
The following was posted as a comment beneath the article Twitter buckles to elitist madness, BANS Alex Jones and InfoWars (7/9/2018) by Seraphim Hamish | The Duran.
I don't accept the contention that Twitter has 'buckled' to elite pressure. The proprietors of Twitter have clearly been part of the elite for years.
As just one example: Years ago they suspended the account of Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad. Putting https://twitter.com/asmaalassad in your browser URL field will get you https://twitter.com/account/suspended. This page 'informs' us:
"This account has been suspended. Learn more (https://support.twitter.com/articles/15790 - redirected to https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/suspended-twitter-accounts?lang=browser) about why Twitter suspends accounts, or return to your timeline."
The supposed rules that Asma al-Assad violated are to be found at https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules .
I don't know when Twitter suspended this account, but I seem to recall finding that her account was suspended at least two years ago.
Asma has, for years, been driving around Syria to visit the widows and families of Syrian martyrs killed by the terrorist proxies of the US, Israel and thgeir allies. In spite of this, Asma professes to be non-political (unfortunately, IMHO) and I have yet to see anything she has said or written that contradicts this.
Still, in spite of her lack of interest in politics, it seems that even stories about how the West's proxy war has affected ordinary Syrians visited by Asma al-Assad have been deemed thought crimes by the administrators of Twitter.
I think decent honest Internet users and publishers such as those who publish The Duran can make ourselves much more powerful and effective than the liars who run Twitter, Fakebook, Google, YouTube, Instagram etc. I think one way we can overcome them is to republish each other's articles or link to them and use our blogs to blow the whistle on the censorship by the social media and the lies emanating from them and their corporate media allies.
Maybe we could start writing open letters to the managers of Twitter etc. and also republish them or link to them.
My own web-site is https://candobetter.net.
Native Australian Awards - Order Of The Wattle Blossom
AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY
PRESS RELEASE
Native Australian Awards Announced National Wattle Day 1st September 2018
A Celebration Of Australian Culture
- The Order Of The Wattle Blossom -
Nancy Yukuwal McDinny
For advancing the preservation of the ecological quality and biosphere
heritage of our Native Land, as the primary element for generational equity
Fraser Anning
For commitment as a Federal Legislator, to the re-empowerment of the People
to reclaim Australia's European-derived Identity, Culture and Heritage
Julian Assange
For exemplary courage, and determination to secure the release of
information contributing to truth and freedom in the public domain
Fr Eleftherios Tatsis
For advancing and defending traditional marriage as the essence
for a High Culture Society for Australia
AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY
P.O. Box 223 Croydon 3136
www.australiafirstparty.net [email protected]
National Contact Line 02 8587 0014
(New Population minister) Tudge blarney on population N
"Alan Tudge told the Australia/UK Leadership Forum overnight, where he floated the idea of a “values” test to fend off “segregation”.
Tudge told his London audience “our ship is slightly veering towards a European separatist multicultural model and we want to pull it back to be firmly on the Australian integrated path”.
“Some of the challenges to social cohesion that we are facing today are similar to ones that the UK is facing – such as ethnic segregation and liberal values being challenged.”
From News.com.au:
While Australia prepared to hit its milestone, Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge yesterday [August 7, Colin] gave a speech to the Business Council of Australia forum in Melbourne, in which he said population growth needs to be distributed more evenly.
“Population growth is not a one-dimensional issue,” he said in the speech. “Rather, it involves size and distribution.
“If the population was distributed more evenly, there would not be the congestion pressures that we have today in Melbourne and Sydney. Nor would there be if the infrastructure was built ahead of demand.”
“Designated Area Migration Agreement” — a migration and settlement policy which would include visas conditional on settling in cities outside of Sydney and Melbourne.
---- He noted other parts of the country where there aren’t enough foreign skilled workers to meet the demand, including roles too specific to be on a national skills shortage list.
“In Far North Queensland, for example, there is a desperate shortage of Chinese-speaking scuba diving instructors to cater for the booming number of Chinese tourists coming to Australia.” -----
“If migration is not managed carefully, it can lead to social fragmentation and heightened security issues,” he said. “It is important for business leaders to understand these other factors as much as the benefits which skilled migration brings.
“Faster population growth may help their bottom line, but it is the broader community that pays for much of the congestion and pressures on social cohesion.
“Some senior business leaders have expressed concern that the only message that they say is heard internationally is that we are closed for migrants. We are absolutely closed for the people-smuggling business but we remain open to orderly skilled migration. These two things are not at odds; to the contrary, strong borders support skilled migration.”
“There are many regions in Australia that are now facing skilled labour shortages and we are working with regional leaders and businesses to find solutions,” he told news.com.au.
“Many migrants are sponsored for permanent residence on the basis of an intent to live and work in regional Australia but don’t stay long in the region once they have their permanent visa. This is obviously not ideal and contributes to the labour shortages.”-----] "
Oz: New ministry of Population, Cities & Urban Infrastructure
Australia's new primeminister, Mr Morrison has announced that Alan Tudge will have population added to his Cities and Urban Infrastructure portfolio. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-26/scott-morrison-announces-new-cabinet-after-julie-bishop-quits/10166300.
New embedded Asma interview replaces deleted Youtube video
The original video embedded in this article has been deleted by YouTube. Just possibly the new YouTube video below covers the same intrerview as the deleted video.
Marketisation of Energy & Communications in Australia
Thanks Sheila for the video of Steve Keen on RT's Boom Bust. I wonder how many Australians realise that we have the most expensive energy and telecommunications in the world especially the OECD! We have more natural energy resources than we can poke a stick at, yet we are paying through the nose for it.
This situation has developed through extremely poor governance, even worse policy, ignorance, and pig-headed stupidity from successive governments federal and state. The rot started with the advent of neoliberalism under the Hawke and Keating governments at federal level and the Kennett government at state level. Little Johnny made sure those less well off got what was coming to them when he gave our natural gas away for peanuts and Malcolm gave them what for when he wrecked the NBN.
On top of that every Tom, Dick and Harry backed the dig and build caper which was based on the premise of a big Australia and coal was 'good for humanity'! It didn't take long for the Royal Commission into the financial sector to uncover endemic fraud and corruption from top to bottom. Imagine what any Royal Commissions into the energy, communications and property sectors would uncover!!
We are being ripped off!! It is as simple as that. Steve is right, the Australian economy is a house of cards which at any moment could fall over. Consider the fact that we only have 2 weeks supply of fuel in front of us at any time. If this situation ever arose, Australia would grind to a halt, there would be chaos, social upheaval, civil unrest, &c. We would revert to a third world country very quickly.
Furthermore, I believe Steve is right when we take into context the confluence of problems facing the world. Overpopulation, climate change, civil unrest, war and more will all come to head sooner rather than later and only then will we be prepared to sacrifice what we now have and put ourselves on a war footing similar to that of WW2 remembering that there is now 7.7 billion people on the planet as opposed to 2.2 billion in 1940.
SBS disrespect for homeless woman's informed comment
I just watched the discussion panel for the SBS series "Filthy Rich and Homeless". (15 Aug 2018)
A 71 year old homeless woman, when asked by Chris Taylor (The Chaser) about her feelings about the homelessness issue, answered that it was grim because of the population pressures in Sydney.
Chris Taylor quickly dismissed the woman as pessimistic and allowed the next person to speak at length. I just expect SBS and ABC to shun the subject, but to dismiss a homeless audience guest like that is as low as it gets.
Homelessness program SBS August 16 2018 avoids demand side
Clear message coming through is that rising homelessness is due to declining rental affordability and supply shortage. Increased demand not mentioned.
40,000 Australia-wide under 25 who are homeless
Lesley Butt - Salvation Army- need more care givers , more accommodation
FINLAND solved homeless problem - [but their population growth is about 0.3% pa.]
Finland - guest, Juha Kaakinen says Provide homes. Need bipartisanship to provide affordable social housing. ["Either we all live in a decent world or nobody does." ]
Then they asked the homeless if they thought problem could be solved and how -
AT LAST ..POPULATION gets a mention
"Robyn" [older homeless woman] said - homelessness can't be solved because population growth in Sydney is out of control. Interviewer [I think it was Julian Morrow } did not ask her to elaborate but skipped to next person saying "so you are quite pessimistic…"
That was the last mention of the demand side of the housing problem.
Over all confusion was that the problem is not a matter of rocket science but of providing housing.
Water discussion Environment Victoria’s Frankston hub 23 Aug 6pm
Dear friends
We need to talk about water! With a growing population and increasing demand, there is growing competition for an increasingly scarce resource and ever more pressure on our rivers and aquifers.
What can we do? You’re invited to come and join the conversation at Environment Victoria’s Frankston hub, for an evening with me and Yarra Riverkeeper Andrew Kelly. We’ll be exploring ideas, potential solutions and upcoming opportunities to get involved and have your say.
What: Water@theHub, a conversation about our water future
When: 6.00-7.30 pm. Thursday 23 August, nibbles provided
Where: Environment Victoria Frankston hub, 130 Young Street, Frankston
With: Environment Victoria Healthy Rivers campaigner Juliet Le Feuvre and Yarra Riverkeeper Andrew Kelly
I know these issues are important to you because you came to our last Frankston water workshop 18 months ago. Now it’s time to dig deeper and start the hard conversations about what we really need to do.
Please pass this invitation on to others who you think may be interested, and RSVP to me to let me know if you can come.
Hope to see you all at the Hub next week!
Regards
Juliet
Juliet Le Feuvre
Healthy Rivers Campaign Manager
Environment Victoria
Work days: Monday and Tuesday.
DIRECT: (03) 9341 8106 MOBILE: 0428 770 019
RECEPTION: (03) 9341 8100
Beaumaris Bay Fossil Exhibition & Event Sunday 26 Aug 2018
This is an announcement for the Inaugural BESSI & MESAC Fossil Exposition.
(Bayside Earth Sciences Society Inc and Marine Education Science and Community Centre)
Have you ever been intrigued by fossils ... and the fact that we have them on our doorstep at Ricketts Point? Would you like to meet the experts?
You are invited to the Beaumaris Yacht Club, Beach Road, Beaumaris, VIC, 3193.
Sunday 26th August 2018, from 9.30 am to 2.30pm.
Bring along any fossils you have that you would like identified.
This is a free event, but please book at www.trybooking.com/XEZA
9.30 AM Public viewing of fossils and Q&A
10.00 AM Talk by Richard Casley - "A Collector's Experiences."
10.30 AM Fossils video
11.30 AM Public bring fossils to be identified by expert Professor John Buckeridge
1.30 PM Talk by Ben Francischelli - Beaumaris Fossils and Melbourne Museum
2.30 PM Event concludes
UN Global Compact for Migration-letter to Australian MP
"I am horrified by what I have read regarding Australia's apparent readiness to sign the UN Compact for Migration. Australia already has disastrously high immigration from overseas and consequent pressures in large cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. The infrastructure costs are enormous, the cost to our environment is vast. There are so many arguments against Australia's current 3rd world rate of population growth and none which offer benefit to average Australians.
I strongly urge you to persuade your colleagues not to sign up to this agreement as it will spell disaster for our quality of life and our democracy. I can hardly believe that a government supposedly working for its constituency would even consider this step. Please tell me it is not happening!
Sincerely,
................."
People who had the courage to question the 'White Helmets' fraud
From a tweet by Eva Bartlett:
People with the courage to question the entity known as the White Helmets: -Peter Hitchens -Roger Waters -John Pilger -Peter Ford (former ambassador to Syria) -Gareth Porter -George Galloway -Caitlin Johnstone -Vanessa Beeley -Cory Morningstar -Kevork Almassian -myself …more
Wattle Day 1st September
AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY
PRESS RELEASE
National Wattle Day
1st September 2018
Nominations for the Native Australian Award
"THE ORDER OF THE WATTLE BLOSSOM"
are invited from Fairdinkum Australians
GENERAL CRITERIA.
Persons nominated should have displayed a commitment to Australia's heritage and culture, our national values, our native soil, or any other suitable aspect that has contributed to the advancement of our European derived civilisation.
Nominations may be either Native Australians, members of our Sacred Aborigine Races, or any
[word edited out - Ed *] immigrant who has particularly exhibited having taken up the Australian Spirit.
Please forward particulars, including the following information to the address below before 25th August 2018.
Name and address of nomination; suggested award citation.
Include your own name and address.
In keeping with past tradition, up to five awards can be granted.
AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY
www.australiafirstparty.net email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 223 Croydon 3136 National Contact Line 02 8587 0014
I've fought it through the world since then, I wrote for her, I fought for her,
And seen the best and worst, And when at last I lie,
But always in the lands of men Then who, to wear the wattle, has
I held Australia first. A better right than I? Henry Lawson Identity - Freedom - Independence
FOOTNOTE[S]
* Wored edited out for legal reasons - Candobetter Editor
Protest against imminent eviction of Julian Assange
From Protests being organised against imminent eviction of Julian Assange from Ecuador’s London embassy (21/7/18) by James Cogan | World Socialist Wevb Site
Protests are being organised in London and internationally in response to credible sources claiming that the Ecuadorian government is on the verge of reneging on the political asylum it granted to WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange and handing him to British police.
Anonymous Scandinavia, a twitter account believed to be closely linked with WikiLeaks, has published a video announcing a “Condition Red” and stating that the “situation is critical.”
This follows a July 20 tweet by Russia Today editor Margarita Simonyan, which stated: “My sources say that Assange will be handed over to UK authorities in the coming weeks or even days…”
In a lengthy article published in the Intercept on July 21, journalist Glenn Greenwald reported that he also had a source “close to the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry and the President’s office” who had confirmed that Julian Assange will be evicted from Ecuador’s London embassy “as early as this week.”
The protest in London will be taking place at 10am at the Ecuadorian embassy. Protests in other cities have been called at US embassies and consulates to take place the day after Assange was evicted. Rallies are organised so far in Melbourne, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; Paris; and Los Angeles. Click here for details.
Julian Assange could be surrendered to British govt any day now!
From Assange Will be Handed Over to UK 'In Coming Days, According to my Sources' - Head of RT, Margarita Simonyan (21/7/18) by Michael Quinn | Russia Insider:
Let's hope her "sources" are wrong.
This is ominous because Simonyan has incredibly good sources, i.e. high level people in Russia with access to good quality intel.
She is also close to Assange.
Her tweet reads:
"My sources say that Assange will be handed over to UK authorities in the coming weeks or even days. I hope with all my heart that my sources are mistaken."
Comment: It is long past time that the Australian government should have exercised its duty of care towards Australian citizen Julian Assange who has been found twice by the United Nations to have been arbitrarily detained for no valid reason. This whole crisis could be ended in a matter of hours were the Auustralian government to dispatch urgently to London a contingent of Federal Police to London to escort Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy and back home.
Syria’s victors defying airbrushed US narrative
From op-ed piece ‘Dehumanized, discounted, marginalized’: Syria’s victors defying airbrushed US narrative (4/7/18) by Vanessa Beeley | RT:
The war in Syria has lasted more than seven years, bringing with it a devastation and bloodshed which has thrown a prosperous and stable Middle Eastern nation into chaos and uncertainty.
In the West we are used to reading a history of such conflicts written by the victor. The imperialist narrative is the dominant one. History is distorted to preserve the perceived moral prowess of the conqueror.
The reality is this: A proud nation is brought to its knees by sanctions, hostile media attention and the inevitable military campaign waged directly or indirectly via proxy forces chosen from viable opposition elements. Power is multiplied by the US and her partners in the UK and France with assorted NATO-member vassal states hanging onto their coat tails.
Crimes against humanity are glorified in Hollywood. The dirty underbelly of these lawless, vigilante military campaigns is concealed beneath the mantra of “democracy.” What does it matter if Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi was sodomized and murdered, publicly torn apart, if it was done to make the world a “better place”?
History will omit the fact that Libya is now a den of iniquity, a failed state battling slavery, mass migration, prostitution, drug cartels and the inevitable sectarian, extremist warlords who rule mafia-style over the vanquished nation. Hell, this is “Democracy”!
Comment: An example of airbrushing and fake news is Assad on the cusp of victory in Syria (12/7/18) on the ABC Radio National's "Between The Lines" program. [1]
Presenter Tom Switzer interviewed Professor Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma and author and publisher of the blog Syria Comment. (The URL is https://www.joshualandis.com/blog.) [2]
In the interview both Tom Switzer push many of the familiar lies about Syria conflict from the presstititute nesmedia. These lies include:
1. That the popularly elected President of Syria Bashar al-Assad is a dicator;and
2. That only the intervention of Russia in 2016 saved the 'Syrian dicatator' ,ignoring the huge contribution and sacrifice of sodiers from the Syrian Arab Army and their Hezbollah allies.
3. They made a half-baked attempt to distinguish between the 'moderate' terrorists and ISIS. However, they did claim, plausibly, that because the 'moderate' terrorists would not separate themselves from ISIS as was demanded by the Russians, the United States, ostensibly in Syria to fight ISIS, was forced to abandon the 'moderate' terrorists.
Bizarrely, at the end both Switzer and Landis asserted that the United States, which has caused so much death and destruction in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere in Africa, Ukraine, Yemen, Viernam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Chile, El Salvador, Argentina, Guatemala, ... has some right to have influence in the Middle East.
Footnote[s]
[1] The 10 megabyte mp3 file can be downloaded directly from the URL http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2018/07/btl_20180712_1330.mp3.
[2] Paradoxically, Joshua Landis' blog seems surprisingly informative. From an initial perusal of the articles in this blog, I could not see any articles that were obviously pushing the disinformation that the blog's author Joshua Landis and Tom Switzer were pushing in the interview. I will have to peruse the blog more thoroughly some time soon.
Europeans amidst refugee flood also victims of war against Syria
The following was also posted to the article America bombs, Europe gets the refugees (9/7/18) by Eric Zuesse | The Duran.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also opposed to the scheme, cooked up by the likes of George Soros, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Erdogan, to flood Europe with refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Now that the war has been almost won in Syria, the best of the former Syrian refugees are now returning with their skills to help re-build Syria.
The terrible experiences of ordinary Swedes, Germans, French and British, faced with this sudden huge influx of refugees/Immigrants since 2015, show that they are also victims of the criminal wars by their rulers against Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen and elsewhere. (See also articles on this site linked to in comment above)
Palestinian resistance can't be likened to open border advocacy
The following is to be posted as a comment to the opinion article Did Israel Inspire Trump's Family Separation Policy? (27/6/2018) by Ramzy Baroud | Telesur (English Edition).
The Israeli Defence Force's (IDF) treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza, where it has, so far, in 2018, killed well over 100 unarmed Palestinians and injured thousands, is a crime against humanity. The continuing resistance by the Palestinians in the face of these atrocities is heroic.
However, I still think it's unfortunate that the otherwise informative and insightful Telesur is taking the side of would-be illegal aliens, people smugglers and ostensibly 'bleeding-heart' refugee-rights activists, many of whom are under the pay of George Soros or his co-thinkers in North America. If you want to see how open borders will affect America and Canada, just look at the chaos that mass immigration has brought to Europe, in particular to Germany, Sweden France and Britain, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel suddenly announced (on 24 August 2015(?)) that all refugees would be welcome in Germany.
Unlike Soros, Merkel and all the "refugees welcome" crowds, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opposed the fleeing from Syria of so many who had skills necessary to run, maintain and repair Syria's infrastructure. Now that the war seems to be ending, large numbers of refugees are returning to Syria.
See, also, here, on candobetter : Ignorance and evasion in Europe’s migration crisis (7/5/16) by Brian McGavin, Germany is exploiting refugee suffering to recruit slaves via mass immigration - Marine Le Pen (7/9/15), Male-skewed immigration to Europe and sexist violence: Oksana Boyko interviews Prof Hudson (22/1/16) , Our Wars in the Middle East drive migration and refugees to the West (20/5/15) by Sheila Newman, The Refugee Crisis will be the demise of Europe (5/11/15) - previously published anonymously (3/11/15) on Russia Insider.
Callous betrayal of a people who so heroically fought Hitler
... and thank you, John for having taken the effort to watch the video. Like myself, you can see that was well worth the 1 hour and 42 minutes you took to watch this video. For my part, I am so grateful that this much of the story has been captured on film.
Quite possibly, no other country did as much, in proportion to the size of its population, to defeat Hitler as did Greece. Whilst it has been disputed elsewhere on candobetter - I will try to find the posts - it seems to me that by defeating the attempted invasion by Italy, which started on 21 October 1940, the Greeks may well have stopped Hitler from defeating the Red Army later that year, and hence winning the war. (See also Was Barbarossa derailed by the Balkans Campaign? (1/4/2018) by Nigel Davies and 3:07 minute Youtube video How Greece saved Europe in world war 2(12/5/14).)
The setback suffered by Italy, whose armies were driven back into Albania, losing a third of that country's territory, caused Hitler to delay the launch of Operation Bararossa from mid-May until 22 June 1941, in order to conquer first conquer Yugoslavia and Greece. The delay helped prevent the capture of Moscow before the freezing Russian winter ensued.
The subsequent resistance by the ELAS partisans, seems to me to have been the most effective of all the efforts by resistance movements in Europe. Much of the effectiveness of the partisans was due to the brilliant and insightful leadership of the their Kapetanios, particularly Aris Velouchiotis. (Apparently the term 'Kapetanios' can be both singular and plural.)
By October 1944, when the British landed in Athens, most of the Greek countryside had been liberated by ELAS partisans. They also controlled most of the mountains overlooking the roads out of Greece, but they been ordered by British, through the Central Committee of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), to not interfere with the retreating Germans. Had the partisans resisted, very few Germans would have been able to escape. The subsequent use, elsewhere, of these escaped German soldiers against other resistance movements and the Red Army would have needlessly added to the already terrible cost paid to defeat Hitler.
As I have written elsewhere, the ELAS partisans, with the collusion of the Central Committee of the KKE were also tricked, or coerced, into disarming, whilst Greeks 'under arrest' by the British for having collaborated with the the former German and Italian occupiers, were secretly re-armed. The former collaborators were to be subsequently unleashed on the disarmed ELAS fighters.
In January 1945 ELAS surrendered partially in return for a promise by the British to disarm former collaborators. That promise was never honoured.
In 1946, former ELAS partisans, as the Democratic Army, restarted the struggle against the Greek dictatorship and their American advisors, who had replaced the British. However, again, they were hamstrung by the KKE Central Committee and defeated by 1949, despite the heroism of the Democratic Army fighters.
In recent years, many who consider themselves, part of the global resistance against United States hegemony, for example, those, who resist the Ukraine regime in Donetsk and Lugansk, perversely, display placards of Stalin alongside Lenin (who, unlike Stalin, almost certainly would have helped ELAS rather than betray it, were he still alive in 1944).
Also, please have a look at About the Greek Civil War 1944-1949 (6/4/2015) by myself. I think you should also consider ordering a copy of "The Kapetanios" by Frenchman Dominique Eudes. It was first published in 1970. The English translation was first published in 1972. It can be ordered from The Monthly Review Press (the listed price excluding postage is US$20.00), "Alibris, or Amazon
Greece
Thanks James. The footage really does lay down the betrayal of the Greek Partisans during and after WW2. My Dad didn't talk about the war much at all especially the Greek campaign although he did talk about the Partisans with some admiration. I think the Greek saga and the subsequent retreat to Crete where he lost his best mate were highly traumatic times for him. I'll show the video to my sister Liz who'll quite interested.
United States sould remove its forces now illegally in Syria
The following is adapted from a post to the discussion in response to Trump And Putin May Discuss US Withdrawal From Al-Tanaf During Upcoming Summit (5/7/18) | South Front :
Unlike Iran, Russia and the Lebanese Hezbollah, the United States was never invited into Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam by those country's legitimate governments. The consequent death tolls in those countries range from the thousands, tens of thousands, right up to the millions.
Recently, Obama has publicly admitted that the United States has provided aid to the terrorists in Syria. Hence, by Obama's own admission, the United States is culpable for probably most of the deaths suffered there since March 2011. By one estimate the death toll is 400,000, including 80,000 Syrian Army soldiers. How many more would have perished without the help that Syria got from Iran, Russia and Hezbollah?
President Vladimir Putin should politely tell President Donald Trump to butt out and remove those U.S. forces illegally located near al-Tanf and elsewhere in Syria.
Suffocating Sydneysiders rise up against overdevelopment
This Sydney Morning Herald article by Aidan Anderson (5 July 2018) describes how Sydneysiders, like Melburnians, are joining Residents' Action groups because democracy doesn't seem to be working:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/suffocating-sydneysiders-rise-up-against-overdevelopment-20180704-p4zphi.html
"Look around Sydney and you’ll see battles being waged in nearly every suburb between residents’ action groups and the state government. From Penrith to Bondi the warzones are green spaces, heritage buildings and community facilities. The terms of conflict are consistent: the government is attempting to override local opposition to overdevelopment in underserviced suburbs.
A conflux of changes has contributed to the explosion of residents’ action groups. The immediate factors are the back-to-back victories of a business first (people second) Baird/Berejiklian government, which decided in 2016 to forcibly merge councils and appoint administrators to oversee decision-making. Stripped of local representation, residents were forced to self-organise to oppose reckless developments."
Read more here ....
Dangers of privatisation
Private operators will want to minimise costs, thus the push to 'automate' as many transactions as possible - look forward to sitting on the phone for hours waiting for a human, not to mention the problems with fraud, stealing of online information etc, as already is happening:
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/a-simple-cut-and-paste-let-...
This whole thing should be seen as a massive risk - where is the data to be stored? Off shore? What is stop someone hacking into the system and removing your title rights electronically? What could you do about it? What Minister could you write to - he would just refer you to the private provider. This is an extremely dangerous and stupid idea.
Petition to save the Bluestone toilets
With the help of the Seaford Community Committee (particularly Noel) and others we have put together a petition to save the toilets. There is an online version, if you want to help collect signatures with that:
and:
Please sign only one or other so we don't get duplicate names. You can also sign at the Community Stall at Seaford Farmer's market.
Only a US planning invasion need fear North Korean nukes
The following was posted to Forget War: Containment is the Best Way to Deal With North Korea (27/6/2018) |The American conservative and is awaiting moderation.
Anyone who thinks about the issue for more than two minutes would realise that, unless the leadership of North Korea is suicidally insane, their nuclear weapons could not possibly pose a threat to the United States.
Given that the United States and its allies have vastly more nuclear and conventional weapons than does North Korea, any preemptive launch of nuclear weapons by North Korea would almost certainly cause their country to be devastated even more than it was between 1950 and 1953 (when, according to United States Air Force General Curtis Le May, 25% of North Korea's population died).
The only time the United States or its allies within South Korea need ever fear North Korean nuclear weapons would be during the course of an attack launched by them against North Korea.
Trotsky's assassin 'heroic' according to Russia Insider
The following has been posted as a comment in reeponse to "A Heroic Spanish Secret Agent Assassinated Trotsky - His Amazing Story" (23/6/18) | Russia Insider
This article is bizarre, confusing and self-contradictory. From the headline, Erin Blakemore evidently believes that Ramon Mercader is a hero. Mercador's murder, in August 1940, of Leon Trotsky, the man who led the insurrection of 1917 and who founded the Red Army, was 'heroic'. Does Erin Blakemore also think that those who murdered or imprisoned, all of the Bolshevik Central Committee of October 1917, except for Stalin and two others, were heroic? Does Erin Blakemore also think it was heroic for Stalin to have ignored warnings from Richard Sorge, the Communist in Germany's Tokyo embassy, that Nazi Germany was preparing to attack the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941? Does she think that those who murdered the Red Army's best officers in the 1938 purges, as Hitler was preparing to attack the Soviet Union, were heroic?On every geopolitical conflict of 2018 that I can think of, Russia Insider is a a very useful source to counter the disinformation from the global corporate newsmedia. However, Russia Insider's articles about the Russian Revolution and the events leading up to it, including the First World War, the supposed "war to end all wars" invariably take this side of the criminal rulers of Russia, who together with the rulers of all the other European powers, caused the needless deaths of 18 million people and against those in Russia, including Lenin and Trotsky, who tried to stop that war.
Greetings on World Humanist Day
Belated greetings for yesterday sent by Andrew Rawlings of the Progressive Atheists (progressiveatheists.org)
Promotion of Global rallies on Tuesday for Julian Assange
The following is from Support global rallies today to demand freedom for Julian Assange (19/6/16) by Mike Head | World Socialist Web Site:
Vigils and demonstrations are being held in many cities around the world today in defence of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange, who remains effectively jailed inside Ecuador’s London embassy, and in grave danger of being handed over to British and US authorities.
As the result of a deepening international campaign for Assange’s freedom, rallies are being held in London, outside the Ecuadorian embassy, and globally, from New Zealand and Australia, to Sri Lanka and India, across Europe and in many US cities, including Washington DC.
This follows a rally in Sydney on Sunday, organised by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) (Australia), to demand that the Australian government intervene to protect Assange, an Australian citizen, and guarantee his right to return home and his freedom from being extradited to the US.
...
Apologies for getting James Cogan's name wrong, now corrected
Sorry that, in my haste yesterday, I failed to get James Cogan, Secretary of the Social Equity Party's name right. I have fixed this.
Thanks for the transcipt
Thanks for posting the full transcript for those who couldn't make it.
Matt
Thankyou John
Thankyou John Pilger for a stirring and forthright speech addressing not only Julian Assange, but, furthermore, laying bare Australia's soul. I recently described Australia as a neoliberal pariah, John has taken this further by describing a nation that has no scruples, is hypnotised by the neoconservative deep state and controlled by transnationals and the mainstream media.
In 2007 Kevin Rudd described climate change as the greatest moral challenge of our time. Today that moral challenge is about Australia being honest, benevolent, understanding, courageous, intelligent and above all, forgiving. Until we can be any and all of the above, we as a nation, cannot move forward.
Speeches should have been confined to supporting Assange
Whilst I agree with James that the Socialist Equity Party has done a great job in orgnising this campaign, I think that all the talk of class struggle their speakers' speeches was not appropriate for this rally. Whilst I may often feel sympathetic to trade unions, a good many Australians, whom this campaign seeks to reach may not, and may have been dissuaded from listening to the rest of those speeches.
It's unfortunate that they didn't confine their speeches to the issues at hand as John Pilger did
SEP has made possible an effective campaign for Julian Assange
I think 'Ex-socialist-party' may have confused the Socialist Equity Party (SEP), which we should thank for getting this campaign started, with other groups in Australia claiming to be 'socialist'. These other groups include 'Green' 'Left', the Links '"international journal of socialist renewal" and the Socialist Alliance.Not one of the web-sites of these three 'socialist' groups, in Julian Assange's hour of desperate need, has bothered to publish anything about Julian Assange on its front cover.
The most recent article in Links, that I could find, is dated 16 August 2012.
Whilst I recall Julian Assange once spoke favourably of Green Left, the last Green Left article favourable to Julian Assange that I could find is dated 10 March 2017. Subsequently. on 25 March 2017 "Julian Assange: 'I won Trump the election'", which is critical of Julian Assange appeared.
The last time that Assange got a favourable reference on Socialist Alliance was briefly buried in "Socialist Alliance Perspectives" on 12 November 2012. Subsequently, on 1 May 2018, long after the Swedish government dropped its fraudulent allegations of sexual misconduct against Julian Assange, these words appeared in "Addressing sexual assault and harassment: What can we do better?" :
"Many more allegations of sexual assault and harassment have come to the surface since then. High profile controversies include those around Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, and the Greens."(my emphasis)
Unlike the sorry examples shown above, Socialist Equity Party has worked hard to build this public campaign in support of Julian Assange. I think 'Ex-socialist-party' is unfair to bundle the Socialist Equity Party in with the other groups listed above.
Socialists used Assange as an advertisement
Pity this was left up to the 'socialists'. There is a danger that people will believe that Julian's cause is a socialist cause and dismiss him for this reason. Many people know the Socialists in Australia as head kickers for governments, with a history of taking over organisations and leading youth down the garden path. They have tried to stifle the cause of stopping overpopulation. I don't think that Julian would agree with them on this.
Independents
I agree with your sentiments James, I have been voting for independents and minor parties for many years (I live in a blue ribbon conservative area otherwise known as the bush) for many years. I admire their resolve and resourcefulness in standing, however, I fear the electorate is yet to realise that they are being conned by the majors and so the status quo prevails. It won't be until the electorate is removed from their comfort zone, that they will start looking for an alternative to that.
Assange rallies correction: 17 June Sydney, 19 June elsewhere
Apologies. This article previously gave the erroneous impression that all the rallies for Julian Assange were to occur on the same day. In fact, only the Sydney Rally is to occur on Sunday at 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Sydney Town, whilst the rallies in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perh are to occur elsewhere. This has also been noted at the top of the article.
Independent candidates can help hold big parties to account
John Bentley wrote, "The worst part it is that a change of government won't change the situation ..."
At least we have an opportunity at election time to point this out to electors at election time. If there is no good candidate independent or small party candidate standing, then why stand yourself as I did in the 2009 Queensland election < a href="/node/1159">of 21 March 2009?
I stood in order to force all the candidates to debate privatisation and population growth. Labor Premier Anna Bligh dodged questions I put to her about whether she intended to privatise assets belonging to the people of Queensland. Shortly after the election Premier Anna Bligh suddenly 'discovered' that she could only possibly balance the budget by flogging off much of Queensland's infrastructure. This caused a huge amount of public uproar. In the subsequent 2012 state election, Anna Bligh's government lost 42 seats and had only 11 members left in the state parliament.
Whilst I did not get a high vote in the 2009 elections I almost certainly would have got a much higher vote in the 2012 election had I not been disabled by a traffic accident in May 2010.
If all the people in your electorate, who are as fed up as you are with the major parties, got together, then there is every reason to expect that you could organise an effective campaign and, at least get a substantial vote, if not beat both major party candidates and win.
Dear Tim......
"........astute conservative politicians like Australia's Malcom Turnbull and John Howard.." (The correct quote is "Smart Conservatives like Howard, Turnbull and Rempel make a clever calculation" - Ed) Call the firies I think we're in trouble. The latter embraced neoliberlism with a vengeance and ran with it plunging Australia into a morass of greed and self-adulation only Menzies could have dreamed of. The former is a spineless fizgig trying to emulate the latter.
Migrants are migrants whether they be refugees or otherwise. Migrants come in all shapes and sizes, some come through the front door some through the back. Some have beards and no hair, blue eyes or brown, African, Asian it doesn't matter, they are migrants The only thing that Oz has in its favour over Canada is, in Australia, migrants can't walk here!
You speak of the differences between Liberals and Conservatives which is tantamount to being the same as they are both/all neoliberal, it's just the flavour that is different. They both/all have the same ideals and immigration is high on their list. Immigration in Canada like Australia produces economic growth one of the bedrocks of neoliberlasim. Economic rationalists crow loud and long when the GDP figures come out in their favour, just ask SlowMo!!
However, there is a catch that these economic rationalists don't and won't talk about. Every migrant that enters your country costs the taxpayer money. While each migrant may increase GDP and while they may bring skills to the table, infrastructure must be provided to them by the state. If that infrastructure construct cannot keep pace with the rate of immigration then we can expect rising house prices, queues to access health and education facilities, rising pollution and environmental degradation. The same position that Australia is in and, by the sounds of it, Canada is facing.
The worst part it is that a change of government won't change the situation, tougher border controls will only render your country a pariah, aka Australia! The only thing that may help to stop the flow of refugees/migrants is the shrug off the cloak of neoliberalism that has shackled the world. Greece tried to and failed, Italy is currently going through this process and the outcome will be interesting indeed! (apologies for the 19 hour delay in approving this comment - Ed)
Pink Floyd's Fletcher Memorial Home would do developers
The Fletcher Memorial Home by Pink Floyd was about politicians, but the Australian growth lobby personnel are very similar in their addiction to the limelight and their sociopathic attitudes. And they are running our political system. Great song:
Developer's world - needs more
I think you need to add wads of cash to make the simulation more satisfying for them. Also you would need some politicians (or convincing actors as you suggest) to invite them to 'exclusive' forums where they can feel special, powerful, influential and admired.
To really complete the picture though, add some big banners on buildings and in newspapers all lauding how wonderful it all was, and how hip, sustainable and cosmopolitian everyone in the theme park is as per:
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/ugg-boot-factory-to-become-...
And then they can each try and build taller and taller buildings - perhaps reaching to the moon itself! Oh, the ecstasy of making a statement like that!! The pure egotistical pleasure of it!!
https://www.domain.com.au/news/first-residents-move-in-to-australia-108-...
Developers' World
Developers' World should be a THEME PARK, created for these growthists. They can have towers reaching to the sky, into the clouds, and people hemmed in cheek to jowl and face to face - all paid actors. They can experience the crush of standing in queues waiting for already overloaded public transport, and the stresses of congestion. They can watch crowds flowing in, and crushing the lanes and roads of the city, all pushing up real estate prices in a simulated game. This would alleviate the pressure of their dreams being imposed onto the public. They can have their "fix" of endless growth, and city-cramming, so suburbs in Melbourne can be safe from their desires, their malignancy and addiction. There are e-cigarettes for smoking addicts, AA for alcoholics, safe drug-rooms, so why not a safe place for growth addicts such as property developers, where they can have their addictions alleviated and treated?
Paul Craig Roberts promotes Australian rally for Julian Assange
From The Case of Julian Assange (10/6/18) by Paul Craig Roberts :
Julian Assange is a journalist, not a spy. Because he published leaked material that proved the duplicity and criminality of the US Government, Washington has had him locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 and is now negotiating with the new president of Ecuador to revoke his asylum and turn him over to the US. Conspiracy Builds to Force Assange Out of Ecuadorian Embassy (8/6/18) by James Cogan |Information Clearing House.
Assange's fellow Australians are organising a rally in his defense in Sydney on June 17. See /node/5518 (this page - JS). People throughout the Western world need to rally to the support of this man who has worked to provide truthful information in place of elite-controlled explanations.
We should not have to lobby about what's obvious. We
Yes, this is like our mass immigration policy! The public have no choice, no input and no way to address these political decisions. They are all for the benefit of filthy lucre, the big Dollar and big business. What's "good for the economy" needs to be agreed upon as being beneficial for humans, animals and how we live in the future. How many more demonstrations, petitions, rallies, and exposes are needed for politicians to get off their seats of power and act humanely? Where's there moral compass, their empathy and common sense? We should not have to go to all these extremes for what's common decency and obvious.
Australian “foreign interference” bills to criminalise dissent?
From Australian "foreign interference" bills seek to protect "US secrets" (9/6/18) | WSWS
In a radio interview yesterday, Andrew Hastie, who chairs the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, pointed to the real driving forces behind a new bipartisan push for the rapid passage of proposed "foreign interference" laws.
Hastie, a member of the Liberal-National Coalition government and former SAS officer, said Australia's role in the US-led Five Eyes intelligence alliance made the country a "soft underbelly" for authoritarian regimes "seeking to get secrets from the United States."
The Five Eyes network links Australia’s spy and electronic surveillance agencies to the US National Security Agency and its counterparts in Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
Hastie told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio: "We should consider ourselves a target and it's really important we build resilience into our political system … It's really important we have these laws passed, enacted and operational."
On Thursday, Hastie's committee handed down a report, with the unanimous support of its opposition Labor Party members, strongly endorsing the Espionage and Foreign Interference (EFI) Bill, a key part of the legislative package. The report suggested 59 amendments, essentially designed to reinforce the bill's focus on criminalising alleged "Chinese influence" and many forms of political dissent, especially anti-war opposition.
Julian Assange helped thwart US plans for war against Syria, ...
The following has also been posted to Syria News, the Syrian Free Press and The Rabbit Hole (aka sarahabed.com) :
Australian journalist Julian Assange has been illegally detained in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012, as found twice in rulings by the United Nations.
It is largely thanks to Julian Assange and Wikileaks that the world is much more aware of the criminality of actions, by theUnited States and is allies, towards Syria, particularly since March 2011.
Julian Assange and Wikileaks have also revealed the truth about their conduct in Iraq, Yemen, Aghanistan, Korea, Ukraine, Lebnon, Libya, Palestine, …
Why Melbourne's Syria protest was not reported
I attended this event with a digital camcorder, but it broke down. I took photographs using a phone and obtained some from another attendee, but never reported on the event. The reason was protracted illness in the family which recently concluded in death and all the reorganising of household, effects, and emotions that follows. Unfortunately, this long awaited Melbourne protest on behalf of Syria thus failed to be covered. I am very sorry.
Great show of support for Syria by Melburnians on 30 April
The rally was large and effective. I think I counted more than 100 participants. Most passers-by were interested and many showed support. Sadly none of us brought along any leaflets. Had we handed out leaflets with:
1. An outline of the most basic facts about Syria and the conflict;
2. Information about resources about Syria on the Internet; and
3. Details of how interested people could contact us;
...we could have had a much more lasting impact on the people of Melbourne.
Another great online resource about Syria is https://sarahabed.com/ aka "The rabit Hole". It's most recent article is "Syria: Music Therapy Heals War Wounds" (24/5/18) at https://sarahabed.com/2018/05/24/syria-music-therapy-heals-war-wounds/comment-page-1/ . Sarah Abed's aritcles have also been published on http://globalrsearch.ca .
NBN + Voice
Thanks quark, it's interesting to hear the number of stories from people who have been shafted by telecommunications companies. Without a doubt one company stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to customer dis-satisfaction - Telstra!!
When the community of Tongala instituted a Community Bank (Bendigo Adelaide Bank) 17 years ago, I switched to Bendigo Bank Telco. Since then I've had extremely good service and the transition to broadband was easy and the service levels are better still at a cheaper rate than before.
I believe after hearing many stories on the matter, that many of the problems experienced by people are solely due the service provider. The NBN which was gutted by the COALition to a relic of what it was intended will never be a first class service. In the interim the NBN has become a classic Games of Mates scenario with "contractors" dipping into the golden pool to get their share of the loot.
Similar to the Home Insulation Scheme scam, the NBN scam knows no bounds as people are left with a 3rd rate telecommunications system or none at all! With the obligatory promise of "We'll get back to you ............."!! It is my belief that as soon as the Financial Sector Royal Commission is wound up (may be a while), an RC into the utilities sector should be instituted!!
Phones have a life of their own these days
Those poor old people, who would have been used to the reliable Telecom era state phones, and now have been cast adrift by the new matrix. My mother went into mental decline a few years ago and was quickly cut off from all her friends because she could not operate the rather temperamental push button cordless phones my father took a fancy to. You had to press a button to answer them, but she used to hold them upside down in bewilderment. They also have that bad habit of falling off their perches if someone opens a door somewhere in the house, then they lie on the ground bleeding from their batteries and my father cannot find them either. Recently my father has become impossible to contact too because the phone has suddenly been taken over by a sarcastic American voice that tells people from the first ring that it is sorry but there is no-one there to take your call. No-one knows how to fix it. Telstra said they would, but he had the impression that they were not really taking in what he said the problem was. Eventually neither mum nor dad will be there, but will anyone notice?
19 June Washington rally outside White House for Julian Assange
Julian Assange's free speech is our free speech#FreeAssange! 11am Rally opposite the White House, Lafayette Park
Land lines KO'd when NBN installed
I have been trying to contact by phone people who live about one hour's drive away from me for about 2 months. Have tried at least 20 times and have never been able to get through. I get the message that the number has "been disconnected". They have no Internet. Their son tells me they have been trying to get the phone restored all this time with no luck. He has heard of many other people in the area with the same problem since the NBN was installed and believes thousands could be thus affected. These people are elderly as many would be who rely on a land line. It is utterly unacceptable to leave them in this situation!
Homeless peoples plight as Property Council occupies town hall
Thank you, Sue, for this insight into a homeless family's predicament in Melbourne (https://liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au/, courtesy the Andrews Government.) You set a good example. We should all ask homeless Australians for their story, and record it. The information about how Australian workers at Southern Cross Station are instructed to treat their fellow citizens is a testimony to the rottenness that has installed itself in Australian society, at the same time as we have somehow finished up with the Chair of the Property Council of Australia, as Mayor of Melbourne. A jumped up venal elite extols high housing prices in the context of forced mass immigration on this and other Australian cities, sacrificing the benefits of citizenship and solidarity with our co-Australians. It would be good if we could form a national heritage organisation where Australians without children passed their homes on to other Australians who have little chance of otherwise attaining one.
Homeless woman tells how it came about
Today I came up on a woman sitting on the pavement in my local strip shopping area in a well to do "middle ring" Melbourne suburb. She held in front of her a sign saying that she was homeless and needed money for accommodation I put $2.00 into a plastic container and then started asking her about her story. She told me that she and her husband and 5 children had been evicted from rental accommodation some years ago and as the previous landlord would not give the family a reference, they had not been able to rent anywhere. She said that her husband begged a few metres up the road outside Coles but that it was a tough gig. My contribution was a major one for this woman who said she needed 90 dollars to pay for 4 nights accommodation somewhere. Meantime they would sleep at Southern Cross Station where sleep is constantly interrupted by being kicked by staff under instructions not to let them lie down.
Rally to demand freedom for Julian Assange Sydney, 17 June
From the Australian students support June 17 Sydney rally demanding freedom for Julian Assange (1/6/18) | World Socialist Web Site:
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality held campaigns at universities across New South Wales (NSW) this week to promote the June 17 demonstration at Sydney Town Hall Square, called by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in defence of Julian Assange.
Students enthusiastically supported the SEP’s demand that the Australian government act immediately to secure the WikiLeaks editor’s freedom, with a guarantee against extradition to the United States. They spoke about the impact that WikiLeaks has had on their political knowledge and understanding, through its exposure of wars and diplomatic intrigues.
...
Victorian rates to rise as China no longer accepts our recycling
From Victorian councils expected to raise rates as China recycling crisis takes hold (21/4/18) ABC News :
Victorian homeowners will ultimately bear the brunt of China's decision to ban foreign waste, with the state's peak local government body estimating ratepayers will be stung an extra $60 a year to cover recycling costs.
The Municipal Association of Victoria is expecting ratepayers across the state to fork out an extra $1 a week to keep up their kerbside recycling services.
…
Comment: From the above, it seems that Victorian ratepayers are now expected to bear more of the cost for the disposal of non-reusable containers in which food and beverage producers store their products
.
Property values a pretext to charge for population growth costs
Back in 2007, [1] then Prime Minister John Howard proclaimed that Australian home owners should welcome high immigration driving up the property value of their homes. In saying this, Howard seemed indifferent to the plight of other Australians who had to pay much higher rent or who faced the struggle to pay off even higher mortgages in order to have a roff their head.
Now, in 2018, those Australians who supposedly gained from housing inflation, have now found their property rates, based on the valuation of their homes, are expected to climb an extra $100 per year which is above the supposed Victorian state government rate cap of 2.25% per annum as reported (behind a paywall) in the Herald Sun. [2]
Whilst property values increases are the excuse for the imposition of rate increases, the real reason is the ongoing increase in costs per capita to maintain existing services - footpaths, roads, power, garbage disposal, transport - for a population that has long since exceeded its optimum size.
So, not only is our quality of life being eroded through greater traffic congestion, loss of open spaces, native fauna and flora and loss fo social cohesion as a consequence of imposed population growth, but we also are losing in hard economic terms.
Much of the supposed economic prosperity is because services we did not need at all before population growth, or if we did, we needed much less of, creates opportunies for the provision of those services.
Footnote[s]
[1] I am not certain if this was said in 2007 or as early as 2005, but I did have this confirmed in a copy of the Age of Victoria
[2] See Rising property values to push rates above 2.25 per cent cap (3/6/16) (or "Rates about to rise" in the printed version) | Herald Sunby Ian Royall.
The Coca-Cola Corporation killed our recycling scheme in 1967
Whilst this is a great initiative by all the mainland states of Australia except for Daniel Andrews' Victoria, a deposit of 10c is nowhere near enough. Back around the middle of the 1960's, I recall getting 3c or 5c deposit for reach returned soft-drink bottle. [1] I think the deposit for each bottle in 2018 should be at least 50c, given that the Australian dollar has depreciated to roughly 1/10 of its 1966 value. I also think that such an amount would more accurately reflect the actual cost of manufacturing a good quality re-usable beverage container. [2]
The deposit scheme, which allowed myself and other kids to get extra pocket money by collecting discarded soft-drink bottles, came to an end after 1966 or 1967 (from my recollection), when, suddenly, the Coca-Cola corporation stridently announced on a large-scale television promotion that:
"Hey, do you know that you can now get Coke in Cans!"
I somehow doubt that other soft drink consumers shared the excitement of the Coca-Cola Corporation at this new initiative. My own heart sank, seeing an end to my additional earnings from refunded soft-drink bottles. So, instead of beverage containers being returned and reused, they were, from then on, to be added to our landfill, urban environment, parklands, bush and oceans, whilst an ever greater quantity of raw materials were to be extracted from the earth to replace the discarded cans and bottles.
Footnotes
[1] Soft-drinks, which contain sugar, are a major health hazard. They are particularly harmful to diabetics and could cause a non-diabetic to become diabetic. If people drink soft drinks, they should be of a variety which contain no sugar. One product with artificial sweetener and no other additives is Waterfords mineral waters.
[2] Back in the mid-90's, I think, somebody put forward a proposal that all beverages be stored in standardised refundable beverage containers. If all beverage producers were able to use the same container to store a given volume of beverage, then the cost of producing that beverage would be substantially reduced. Whilst, by my recollection, this proposal received some prominence in the national newsmedia for a while, it seems to have been quitely dropped and forgotten. I would greatly appreciate if If anyone else could confirm this and other recollections of mine and, possibly, provide greater detail.
My letter sent to MPs re this public housing developer grab
I consider the Andrews Government's policies on public housing to be a scam to facilitate developer grabs of public land and an egregious form of theft from citizens. Coupled with its utterly unconsultative population engineering through mass immigration (called for via its site https://liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au/ in collusion with the Federal Government) its program amounts to a government sponsored program of housing inflation for the benefit of a few organised beneficiaries at cost of dispossession of growing numbers of Australian citizens.
Unfortunately the Andrews Government is carrying on an ugly tradition established by Menzies, and pumped up into a balloon by Kennett. Our governments have institutionalised land-speculation and homelessness. We have not had a government or opposition fit to inhabit the houses of parliament for a long time, speaking of public housing.
Developers have declared war on citizens
How can adults be so gullible, and how can they not realise that they have to fight the developers. This is war by bulldozers instead of tanks, but it is war.
Expect massive development in Elsternwick
A caller on Jon Faine's show this morning, speaking out for Elsternwick complained that - all the car yards along the Nepean Hwy will be replaced with 12 storey apartment blocks but that this represents only 30% of what they are about to do - the rest will be demolitions - (Do people do a direct swap of house to apartment? Someone I know did this - a run down house and garden for a townhouse on much smaller land! Jon Faine asked the caller "Are you against anything being built?" The man replied "No I'd be happy with 6 storeys," and Jon Faine then filled in the rest -"with lower rise going back from the highway." How reasonable they both are! The 12 storeys several deep is probably an ambit proposal from developers and with 6 storeys being their fall back position!
Fukuoka's farming theory
I've read the book. It's excellent. Very interesting story and perspective. Nice story about mixing ducks with rice growing, so that they remove the insects that prey on the rice.
Sheila N
Pathetic response
What a pathetic response! Then again in this sort of situation one cannot expect logic or reason. The decision is no doubt already made.
Naturally
Thanks Matthew. I had a squizz at the video, really good stuff and when I get a chance I'll chase up the book. I've also read Farmers for Forty Centuries and Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu. It's all a matter of working with the land, not against it as industrial farmers do. Cheers.
Natural Farming/Natural Food
Have a look at Masanoba Fukuoka,
He was a Japanese ag scientist who after years of working in that research field stated that 'for every problem we solve we create 3 more' - then he went to his family farm and spent 25 years growing food - equalling the output of his industrial neighbours but he used no chemicals, no added fertilizers, no machines, no fuel. He did not plough his fields, nor flood them when growing rice.
See the following short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSKSxLHMv9k
Charles Massy etc, are just catching on to this approach to farming. It just shows how beholden we are to those who want to sell chemicals, fuel, tractors etc - all of which is making us sick.
If you want to know healthy we could be, look up the Hunza people, and the studies done in the 1930's (in short: zero illness, even in the very old, apart from some cataracts - probably no longer true now though, as they live like all modern people):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W01u-p9pxLE
See: G. T. Wrench, 1938, The Wheel of Health C.W Daniel Company (Lond.) (if you can find it now),
Will the Australian govt act to save Assange from CIA torture?
The following was posted as a comment to the article Australian workers and youth defend Julian Assange (21/5/2018) | World Socialist Web Site:
The Australian government surely has a duty of care to any one of its citizens under threat of detention and torture. Each Australian citizen who shares our concern for Julian Assange should ask of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and his/her local member of Parliament what has she/he done since 2012 to end Julian Assange's illegal detention and what is he/she prepared to do now to prevent Assange from falling into the hands of Gina Haspell and her torturers?
It is not too late even now for the Australia to act. They should immediatey send to London a contingent of Federal Police to escort Julian Assange to Heathrow Airport and back to Australia.
Natural food not industrial food
Further to my previous comments on this subject, I recently read Tim Spector's book "The Diet Myth - The Real Science Behind What We Eat" which covers a lot of ground in this field. He argues that many of the problems behind our eating disorders stem from Industrial Food.
He goes on further to argue that we should be eating more natural or traditional (organic is close) food. Today's industrial food is grown in dead soil using copious amounts of chemicals - fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, etc - while the finished product may look similar to the real thing, it isn't. Because the food is grown in unhealthy soils, most of the phyto-nutrients are missing thus the consumer isn't the full bang for their buck.
Only by growing food in healthy, natural soils will be get the full benefit of what we eat. The eating of industrial foods has also been linked to the increase in dementia and Alzheimers, cancers, diabetes, stress, anxiety, &c.
Tim suggests that to overcome vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies we should eat traditional yoghurts and cheeses noting that traditional Greek yoghurt is the best. I'm currently reading Charles Massy's "Call of the Reed Warbler" a book on regenerative farming about growing clean and green food in healthy soils with less water and NO chemicals!
Thanks Don
Thanks Don for exposing 'mainstream economists' for what they are, charlatans! As The Great Man, John Maynard Keynes exposed these quacks for what they were before, during and after the Great Depression, we need to apply the blowtorch to them today.
Classical economics or neoliberalism as it is now known today is based on a series of assumptions that we are all rational human beings. The truth of the matter is that we are not all rational and assumptions are exactly that, assumptions!
My, like Steve Keen's, preferred method of combating such rubbish is to ridicule them for what they are, charlatans. Unfortunately, these charlatans have the eyes, ears and noses of most of the world's governments, bureaucracies and big business including the banks.
Although there is some hope as the Bank of England and Germany's Bundesbank have renounced such policies and I believe the World Bank and the OECD may be on the verge of doing so. Let's hope they do!
B12
More about vitamin B12 for vegan readers: https://cruelty-free-lifestyle.org/%EF%BB%BFvitamin-b12-for-vegans/
Editor: Thanks for this Herc. The link you have given acknowledges the problems with Vit B12, but it does suggest that nutritional yeast is a good source. However, on looking this up, it appears that the B12 is added to 'fortified' yeast and may not be present in unfortified yeast. As a non-vegan whose whole family suffers from difficulties in absorbing Vit B 12 (due to pernicious anaemia etc) - even on a high animal product diet, I would not take chances, because the consequences are terrible. My mother has considerable brain injury from doctors' failure to even look at her blood levels and symptoms. My father had severe peripheral neuritis, probably for the same reason. There are high dose sublingual lozenges of Vit B12. We take 5000iu daily. Because vitamin products are not well regulated if at all, make sure that your supplement is reflected in your blood levels, through testing. Ours are all at the top of the range and our symptoms have improved (where permanent) or disappeared. Note also that vegans and vegetarians are probably more at risk due to their consumption or bread, because of the addition of Folic acid to bread (and some other) products. This can apparently inhibit the absorption of B12 in certain combinations. I have forgotten the mechanism, but will try to get back to this soon. Local doctors where I live have anecdotally reported to me a rise in B12 deficiency (after they missed it in our whole family) and a maternity nurse told me that this is particularly so in new mothers recently. My source for folic acid interaction with B12 was the film of the book in the above article, Could it be B12, now available in its entirety on youtube. Highly recommend watching it:
. Actually I just added it to the article.
There is no "clean energy"
There is no "clean energy" when is is on the massive scale that human population numbers and big business demand.
Gunnamatta
My humble apologies Gunnamatta. Thanks for the excellent article!
Article by Gunnamatta, not Sheila N
Oh Dear, I have changed the poster to 'admin', but the article is by Gunnamatta from Macrobusiness.com, not me. I republished it with his or her permission. The confusion arises because, if candobetter.net republishes something by someone from another blog or whatever, it has the choice of registering that person as an inhouse author or of putting "by such and such" in the title, with more precisions near the intro. So, quite a lot gets posted by Admin or someone else (depending on the work done, such as an intro or illustration) but, if you look, there is another author.
We tend to register as an inhouse author people who tell us not to ask permission to republish or who have said it's okay to give them an account (as an inhouse author).
So this excellent article was by Gunnamatta. :-)
Bull Shit
Thanks Sheila for an excellent article. The amount of bull shit that is currently circulating in the mainstream media that is passed off as news has become alarming. The amount of comment in today's Age re the reduction of funding for the ABC with people ringing their hands in total mortification of their once mighty Aunty!
Well low and behold, when you flick over to Aunty - what do you get - bull shit!! Here we have several scribes in a little piece "You decide Australia's population, we'll show you how it looks......." Using the highly qualified statistics and advice from Dr Tom Wilson from Charles Darwin University, yes that's the same Tom Wilson who's in bed with property developers, the federal and state governments, Dr Tom outlines how Australia is about to become a nation of geriatrics by 2100. Obviously Dr Tom, no relation to Dr Bob, hasn't factored that there are a couple of belligerent countries wandering the planet or climate change caused by overpopulation!!
Russia wants Iran (and Israel) to show restraint in Syria?!
The following was posted in response to Russia wants Israel, Iran to show restraint in Syria (11/5/18) | Al Masdar News:
These utterances by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are most bizarre:
"In our contacts with the Iranian leadership and the leadership of Israel ... we emphasized the need for avoiding any mutually provoking moves," Lavrov said.
These words run counter to the Russian military actions against the terrorists since 2016, for which Syria, and all of humanity, still owes Russia an enormous debt of gratitude.
This statement seems to equate Israel's repeated acts of aggression against Syria in recent years with the military aid given to Syria by Iran. Would Lavrov have preferred Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah to have abandoned the Syrian people? By one estimate from many months ago, 400,000 Syrians including 80,00 from the army have been killed by the terrorists? How many more Syrians does Lavrov think should have died?
Israel fraudulently claims to be indifferent to the terrorist war in neighbouring Syria (See, for example, this interview with Israeli Lieutenant-colonel Reuven Ben-Shalom by Oksana Boyko at https://www.rt.com/shows/worlds-apart-oksana-boyko/424190-chemical-attack-syria-israel/). Israel claims only to be concerned by the presence of Iranians whom it spuriously claims are there to attack Israel. In fact, Iran is in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government, to fight the terrorists. Whilst thus feigning indifference to the war in neighbouring Syria, Israel has also been aiding the Takfiris in Syria, for example, by giving medical aid to wounded terrorists in the occupied Golan Heights. [1]
If Israel does not cease its attacks on Syria, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah they may be left with no choice but to fight Israel to end the war.
FOOTNOTE[S]
[1] I believe there were also Israelis, as well as British and French amongst the terrorists in Aleppo. How they managed to escape capture and being put on trial is a mystery to me. Did the Syrian government release them of their own free will, or did Russia persuade Syria to release them?
On the money
Thanks quark, you're definitely on the money with your comments regarding the wire barriers being installed on all Victorian highways. I'll contend that these barriers will not improve conditions for motorists, but could make them diabolically worse. If a vehicle runs off the road (which is bad enough in its own right), but to have it slingshot back onto the road could result in a multiple pile-up of omnific proportions. As you say infrastructure for infrastructure's sake and a waste of money, time and resources!
Wire barriers on side of roads
When I first saw these wire barriers being put up along the Hume Highway between Albury and Melbourne (holding up traffic for ages in the process) I was furious. I couldn't see how they could help prevent injury and death and could possibly make things worse. It looked to me that a car could collide with the wire fence and be catapulted back into the path of another car. A collision into a piece of wire is still a collision and closer to the road than it would be if the car were allowed to go further off the road into a fence further on in which case the car would have possibly slowed down. Infrastructure for infrastructure's sake!
A union is not a political party
I am thinking that a union of environmental, civic and other groups - along with individuals - could work more like the the trade union movement used to - that is it can come up with its own policies democratically and throw support behind one or the other political party. Thus the union might choose to back Sustainable Australia, and help support and promote it, without being involved directly in politics itself. This might be an appropriate pathway, as environmentalists, civic groups, etc are usually busy enough saving what they can of the environment, seeing people are getting meals, etc, and don't necessarily want to (or have time to) be involved as politicians.
Matt
Great letter - well done Peter
I look forward to seeing the response.
Sustainable Australia Party
Thanks Observer - yes, that party seems ok. It advertises that Dick Smith just joined. The policies - at a quick glance - seem quite reasonable. So perhaps the best we can do is encourage people to support this party?. No point in re-inventing the wheel, or fracturing the sector into smaller, and perhaps less effective, parts.
Vilified Bolshevik leaders tried to prevent repeat of WW1
I posted the comment below beneath the article The Jewish Role in the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia's Early Soviet Regime - Assessing the Grim Legacy of Soviet Communism (1/7/1994) by Mark Weber -even though the article was first published 24 years ago, it now features on the front page of the Unz Review.
Thank you Israel Shamir, for speaking up for the Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution was humanity's best hope for ending the criminal slaughter of 1914-1918 in which 18 million died and for preventing of the even more terrible Second World War in which, according to Wikipedia, between 70,000,000 and 85,000,000 died. [1]
It seems to have become fashionable on otherwise informative websites such as this website - the Unz Review, Veterans Today, The Duran, Russia Insider and others, to condemn the Russian Revolution and its leaders, [2] whilst omitting mention of the criminal actions by the rulers of Russia and its Western allies - France, The United Kingdom and Australia, that helped start the First World War. [3] Had the Russian Revolution spread to Germany, as it almost did between November 1918 and October 1923, Hitler's seizure of power and all the terrible consequences would have been prevented. See:
"Buried history: How the spread of the Russian Revolution to Germany could have stopped Hitler" (7/11/2017) at /node/5323 (the article above)
… where I will also be posting this comment.
Footnotes
[1] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#Total_deaths . I had previously thought that the figure was 60,000,000, which is horrific enough.
[2] As examples of the vilification of the Russian Revolution, see https://russia-insider.com/en/bolsheviks-robbed-russia-what-would-have-been-russian-century/ri24416 https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/untold-history-murder-last-tsar-and-his-family-which-media-have-been-hiding-you/ri24181 https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/07/18/the-brutal-murder-of-tsar-nicholas-ii-and-his-family https://russia-insider.com/en/history/100-years-ago-jewish-communists-slaughtered-tsar-his-wife-children-relatives-and-servants https://theduran.com/lenin-updated-turn-the-globalist-war-into-a-race-war/ . I could have included more, but I feared that the comment management software might prevent this.
[3] See "The Darkest Days - the Truth behind Britain's Rush to War, 1914" (2014) "Hell-Bent - Australia's leap into the Great War" (2014) both by Douglas Newton.