Miscellaneous comments from 23 March 2012

Sat, 2012-03-24 18:04 by admin

If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed by other articles, please add your comments here.

Comments made on previous "Miscellaneous comments" page from 3 December 2011 can be found here.

Comments on the next "Miscellaneous comments" page from 20 April 2012 can be made here.

Topic:

Comments

Sheila Newman

Fri, 2012-03-23 23:06

Jenny Warfe writes: "As we’ve known since Blue Wedges first looked at export/import data back in 2004, our biggest export is empty containers, and has been for many years. All of a sudden The Weekly Times has fallen upon the information, and made it front page news this week: http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/03/21/458861_latest-news.html And, no surprise really- Baillieu might be considering selling the PoM for a mere $2.4 billion, just a little over twice what we have just spent on digging deeper channels to “prepare for the PoM future”. And, that’s only one quarter of the $10 billion he intends to spend “developing” Hastings: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/baillieu-flags-state-asset-sales-20120322-1vmzf.html

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2012-04-15 19:19

Aussie Beer Drinkers Strike - Boycott Foreign Owned Brewers!

The purchase of Fosters Brewing by South African based company SABMiller, continues the buyout of Australian breweries by globalist corporations, and stoking further the foreign takeover of our community wealth. More foreign investment to make us all rich as liberal/labor politicians parrot, or only making it harder for Aussies to earn a decent living!

For Australians, beer drinking is a cultural and social tradition of leisure, and our brewers have competed for business through taste and style. Beer is the foremost responsible usage of alcohol. Our heritage includes the enterprising efforts of Master Brewers to establish breweries across the continent to cater to our pioneering working people. With the foreign monopolising of our brewing businesses, return on investment is now the primary aim, and beer excellence can only follow as a poor second.

Beer drinkers want more than just the boozing that foreign investors require for their returns - Australians want ownership of our own breweries and the resultant monetary and social wealth from production returned to us.

Beer brands that now make money for foreigners:-
NSW: Tooheys Beer - Lion Nathan - Japanese TAS: Boags Beer - Lion Nathan - Japanese
TAS: Cascade Beer - SABMiller - Sth African QLD: XXXX - Lion Nathan - Japanese
W A: Swan Beer - Lion Nathan - Japanese VIC: Carlton Draft Beer - SABMiller - Sth African
VIC: Victoria Bitter Beer - SABMiller - Sth African NSW: Hahn Beers - Lion Nathan - Japanese
S A: Westend Draft Beer - Lion Nathan - Japanese

Overseas control of our beer brewing is an insult to our traditions, our self respect, and contributes to the undermining of Aussies economic independence.

With foreign ownership near complete over major breweries in Australia, little now stands in the way of these profit driven conglomerates, which true to form will further see Australian beer drinker interests relegated to the $$$$ swill trough. Reducing stubbie size from 375ml to the piddly 330ml of overseas beers [same price of course], expanded chemical induced brewing practices, reductions in Aussie brewery worker conditions, tax free money flow out of Australia [feeling richer yet?], local output cut back to favour promoted imports, overseas sourced ingredients, cheap labour/recycled water usage in Asia, all on the agenda? Yuk to it all.

Australia First says it’s time for Aussies to :-

STRIKE AGAINST
FOREIGN OWNED BREWERIES

Australia First supports Australian brewery ownership, and naturally brewed high quality beers at readily affordable prices to enhance our leisure and lifestyle.

The profits from Australian productions should be kept in Australia and be shared amongst Aussies.

The Australia First Party as the champion of Identity, Independence and Freedom for our Australia People, calls on all beer drinkers to join in this strike as an achievable, personal action against being ripped off by globalist brewing conglomerates.

Spread the word:-

BUY BEER ONLY FROM AUSSIE OWNED BREWERIES.

BREWERIES TO SUPPORT IN THE STRIKE

The Coopers Brewery from South Australia tops the Australian owned list. This family company [founded 1862] exemplifies the Australian Spirit, continually producing an exemplary quality range of beers to traditional standards and Aussie taste. The Coopers family have tenaciously defended Aussie ownership and their independence, against globalist pariahs including the Japanese. The Coopers Family Brewers stand out as an example for us all!

Australian Craft or “boutique “ style beers, and Pub Breweries offer quality beers and should also be supported. Encouragement of our traditional 375ml size stubbies is recommended.

Aussie family pubs and liquor stores should not be subject to the strike pending their securing of adequate beer supplies from Australian owned brewers.

Australia First supports I] curtailing the excise tax on beer [now near 50% of the price] for Aussie owned brewers, reducing beer prices to realistic levels, and ii] ensuring the best quality beers to compliment a healthy cultural and leisure lifestyle, and iii] booting foreign brewery owners out of Australia!

And to our traitor class of big business money changers and their paid politicians who have orchestrated this globalist pillaging of our industries and productive wealth, we promise redress, appropriation and retribution! These are the same toads who are undermining our

National Identity and community through their swarm level

immigration, and Australia-hating multicultism agendas.

SUPPORT THE AUSTRALIA FIRST
STRIKE AGAINST
FOREIGN OWNED BREWERIES
IF YOU DON’T FIGHT - YOU LOSE!
photocopy and pass on -

Australia First Party
PO Box 593 Rockdale 2216 PO Box 103 Crows Nest 4355
PO Box 223 Croydon 3136 PO Box 129 Collie 6225 PO Box 110 Holden Hill 5088
Web Sitewww.australiafirst.net National Contact Line 02 8587 0014 email: ausfirst [AT] hotmail.com
Voting for other than Australia First Party is just a waste of time

Candobetter Ed. We are happy to receive this article protesting foreign ownership. We have commented out some words from the last paragraph because this site, whilst deploring high immigration for its impact on population growth and democracy, does not promote opinion on ethnic preferences.

Sheila Newman

Fri, 2012-03-23 23:09

Bob Carr discusses his attitude to a Big Australia and his continued role as SPA Patron on Lateline 22-03-2012 See http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3461709.htm?site=&source=rss Here's the guts of it: Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 22/03/2012 Reporter: Tony Jones New Foreign Minister Bob Carr discusses relations with Indonesia, China's place in the world, his committment to addressing climate change, the risk of war between Israel and Iran, and his favourite American president. Transcript TONY JONES, PRESENTER: Tonight's guest is the Foreign Minister, Bob Carr. ... ... CARR: ... Yet we are the largest emitters of carbon pollution per head of population. And I can't talk as I did yesterday to ambassadors from poor countries, from Africa, from the Caribbean, from the South Pacific and urge them to take action on climate change unless I can point to Australia's record as a rich country taking serious action. With the passage of this legislation under the Gillard Government we've now got that and we've got iron-clad credibility when we talk about climate. TONY JONES: Let me ask you this: as Foreign Minister have you been forced to put aside your fundamental objections to the idea of a big Australia? BOB CARR: I will stay patron of sustainable population Australia. I believe in the cause of linking population growth to our key environmental indicators. TONY JONES: Won't that be in conflict with Government policy which is to increase immigration exponentially? BOB CARR: No, I remind you of what Prime Minister Gillard said when she took her office. She moved Australia away from what I see as an old-fashioned notion of simply force-feeding population growth. We've got a different economy from the one we had in the 1950s and 1960s when you had car plants in just about every Australian city, when we were - we needed more and more blue-collar workers. We haven't got that old kind of old-fashioned manufacturing economy today. We've got a smarter economy and we need a different approach to population growth and we've got to respect the environmental limits of this strange and fragile continent. We've got to respect its environmental limits and population policy has got to be tailored to that. Sent by Mark O'C

Bandicoot

Tue, 2012-03-27 18:28

VicForests successfully "won" the case against a not-for-profit environmental group MyEnvironment in the Supreme Court. MyEnvironment Inc Justice Osborn has announced his decision on costs in My Environment -v- VicForests. He has awarded costs against My Environment, but not on the higher scale (indemnity). We don't yet know how much this will be but can safely say it is a very substantial amount of money. In announcing his decision, Justice Osborn made a number of observations, mostly in regard to his reasons for not awarding VicForests the higher scale. * The proceedings were brought in good faith for the purpose of seeking to protect and conserve the habitat of an endangered species, the Leadbeater's Possum. * The Proceedings are fairly characterised as having been pursued in the public interest. * The case brought about a material refinement of Vicforests' timber harvesting proposal with respect to Gun Barrel [coupe]. * The case raises questions of the construction of subsidiary legislation intended to protect the LBP, which apply not only to the three coupes in question but to the timber harvesting of regrowth montane ash forests within the Central Highlands generally. * On the question of whether the words 'mature and senescing' should be construed cumulatively or as alternatives, My Environment was successful. * My Environment has no motive of private gain. * The interpretation of the provisions at issue has particular practical significance, and is of general public importance, because of the destruction and damage to large parts of the montane ash forests in the Central Highlands by the 2009 Black Saturday Fires. * The construction of the legislation is not free from difficulty and falls to be interpreted within a series of overlapping complex and labyrinthine controls. Given all the above you may wonder why he awarded costs against My Environment. In short, the reasons were that VicForests was overwhelmingly successful in its defence and that its offer of settlement (27th January 2012) was entirely reasonable. Finally, Justice Osborn removed the interlocutory injunction but granted a further limited restraint of timber harvesting within Gun Barrel for 14 days, in order to protect such appeal rights as My Environment may have. Regards to all, For our increasingly fragile forests, Steve NB: Despite being a not-for-profit group, acting in the interests of the forests, endangered species and public interests, our State government's logging industry agency will be paid damages for the court hearing. The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act has not got the power to overturn the logging industry's interests in the habitat's of Leadbeater's Possums, our Victorian native emblem. As such, their extinction will be "managed". Leadbeater's possum faces "managed extinction" without action Australian National University ecologist Professor David Lindenmayer has written to federal Environment Minister Tony Burke this week, requesting the possum's conservation status be upgraded urgently from endangered to critically endangered under federal biodiversity protection laws. They will be in a corner of a natural science museum, stuffed in the recent extinction section, thanks to Victoria's permeable "protected" status for even highly threatened species.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2012-03-28 22:53

France's national rail service, the SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français) has been held legally responsible for untimely service. A woman lost her job due to repeatedly coming late to work. She sued the SNCF because she was late due to their tardy service. A Parisian tribunal found that there existed a contract between the train traveller and the railway service to deliver her to her destination on schedule. The SNCF had failed to perform in that contract with a member of the public. The woman was compensated for the loss of her job. Source: J.T., France2, 27 March 2012, 2000h.

Geoffrey Taylor

Thu, 2012-03-29 23:51

I posted the following to a friend after I had watched on SBS's "On Demand Service", part 1 of Korea: The Forgotten War In Colour which was broadcast on SBS Television last Friday 23 March. The on-line broadcast expires in 9 days, so it won't be possible to see it on the Internet after Saturday 7 April. Part 2 is to be broadcast at 9.35 PM on Friday 30 March, tomorrow night.

The documentary has value, but, amongst other omissions, omits
evidence that the Korean War was the continuation of the brutal
suppression of a popular liberation struggle by the US which began in 1945 at the end of the Second World War. The Southern regime was largely comprised of Koreans who had collaborated with the Japanese occupiers.

This is shown in Korea - The Unknown War of 1988 by Jon Halliday and Bruce Cumings. It is 224 pages in total and largely consists of photos The introduction says that the claims made in the book are fully verified in a larger earlier book by the same authors, The Fire in Korea.

Looking on the Internet, it seems that The Fire in Korea is unobtainable. I found a note from a librarian in New South Wales dated 1992 which stated that she could not find a copy in any NSW library.

You can, however, find some traces of this book around the internet. Here is one useful source: "Selections from Jon Halliday and Bruce Cumings, Korea: The Unknown War (London: Viking; New York: Penguin, 1988)."

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2012-03-31 20:06

The Australian Immigration Department is struggling to deal with visas to import Middle East teen brides. Two hundred 17 year old girls were granted prospective spouse visas over the past 5 years. They have been brought to Australia to get married under a government visa program. The majority of the teenagers were from the Middle East or South East Asian countries. There have been hundreds of 18 - 20 year olds sponsored by older men. Some girls have been badly treated and have found themselves in difficult situations as Muslims. Under the visa's conditions the girls must marry their sponsor within 9 months. Australian laws only allow minors to be married in strictly - controlled circumstances, with court approval. Child safety campaigners are appalled at the extent of this situation and the Australian Childhood Foundation has called for an urgent inquiry stating a thorough audit needs to be done to ensure the safety of these children. This is a result of encouraging "diversity" and multiculturalism! There are a series of proposals seeking to advance the cause of Islam in our national capital, Canberra. From a proposal to build a 1,000 person mosque, to plans for establishment of an Islamic Museum which would promote the claimed Islamic history of our nation, pre European settlement, through to the establishment of a seat of Islamic teaching to promote multi faith acceptance in Australia, it can be seen that Islamic leaders are currently targeting the heart of our nation.

Friend of Prote... (not verified)

Mon, 2012-04-02 17:49

Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc members and friends Melbourne Leader is doing an article on the EW Link and the impact on Royal Park. Please come to a group photograph in the Park on the expanse of grassland south of the State Netball and Hockey Centre. (According to Eddington's plans this area will be an open quarry - the site of the junction of the tunnels.One branch goes south under Flemington Road and North Melbourne and Kensington to the Port and the other north west through Royal Park to CitiLink.) Please gather on Brens Drive opposite the Royal Park Urban Camp. Melways 29 D 12 at 1:15 pm for 1:30 pm on Tuesday 3 April. If driving you will need to drive to the end of Brens Drive (off Elliot Avenue) and park in the SNHC carpark then walk back. If coming by tram from the city take the No 55 North Coburg line from Elizabeth Street opposite Flinders Street station, it goes through North Melbourne and get off at Tram Stop 23 just near the spot where the tram line crosses Elliot Avenue at the south west corner of the Zoo and walk west across the Park to Brens Drive and the Urban Camp.

Maddigan (not verified)

Sun, 2012-04-08 00:49

Not only is Australia's natural environment being destroyed by wilful overpopulation, but our democracy is being eroded by the implantation of various imported populations, so as to break up our institutions, workplace democracy and change voting trends. Much blame for this should be laid at the feet of the Catholic church which, seeing people lose interest in its ridiculous message, has stooped to importing more and more people from overseas. The Catholic Church engages in land-speculation, renting, buying and selling. It also relies on income from schools. Australian Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office www.acmro.catholic.org.au/Cached - Similar You +1'd this publicly. Undo Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office. ... Refugee and Migrant Sunday · Education · Refugee Information · Links ... Thinking Migration - find out more. + Show map of 383 Albert Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002
  • Roman Catholicism in Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_AustraliaCached - Similar You +1'd this publicly. Undo Prior to the Second World War, the majority of immigrants to Australia had come from the United Kingdom - though most of Australia's Catholic immigrants had ... Demographics and structure - History - Social and political engagement
  • Catholic Australia - Migrants and Refugees www.catholicaustralia.com.au/page.php?pg=issues-current1Cached - Similar You +1'd this publicly. Undo On the website of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, under Latest News, ... several more statements at the page of the Bishops Committee for Migrants ...
  • Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office - dow.org.au www.dow.org.au/services/group/acbc/.../australian-catholic-migrantCached You +1'd this publicly. Undo Seeking more from life? Want to ... Wanting to become more involved? ... The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office is dedicated to the acceptance and ...
  • Belonging: the case of immigrants and the Australian Catholic Church dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp101.../index.htmlCached - Similar You +1'd this publicly. Undo by M Noseda - 2006 - Cited by 1 - Related articlesTitle, Belonging: the case of immigrants and the Australian Catholic Church ... Immigrant Catholics participated more in devotional activities, they reported a ...
  • New wave of conservatism as migrants bolster Catholic Church ... www.theaustralian.com.au/...migrants...catholic.../story-e6frg6zo-... You +1'd this publicly. Undo 28 May 2011 – ... McGillion authored a book on the Australian Catholic Church called A ... it is more than the tyranny of distance that separates the Australian ...
  • Immigrants to replace Australia's Anglo-Celtic Catholic core ... www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=4895Cached - Similar You +1'd this publicly. Undo 6 Nov 2007 – Immigrants to replace Australia's Anglo-Celtic Catholic core. ... “Australia itself and the Catholic Church are becoming more diversified,” he said.
  • Catholic Church kept vital, thanks to migrants www.theage.com.au/.../catholic-church-kept-vital-thanks-to-migrants... You +1'd this publicly. Undo 7 Dec 2009 – MIGRANTS are keeping the Catholic Church in Australia vital and energetic, and also making church a more enjoyable place for Australian ...
  • Migrant and Refugees - Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne: Church ... www.cam.org.au/migrant-and-refugees/Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo In light of the current debate in Australia concerning migrants and refugees, the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) recently held a ...
  • [PDF]  Towards an Australian Chinese Catholic Spirituality aejt.com.au/__.../Towards_an_Australian_Chinese_Catholic_Spiritual... You +1'd this publicly. Undo File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View2 Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Graced by Migration: Implementing ... Matteo Ricci (Li Ma Dou) was arguably the most famous missionary in Chinese ...

    • John Marlowe

    Sun, 2012-04-08 20:20

    You talk about "wilful overpopulation".

    You ain't seen nothing!

    Read the exponential immigrant invite and hormone pumped website of Sarah Hanson-Young:
    "http://www.openaustralia.org/

    No-one, but no-one can advocate human breeding more than this chick!
    She is the main reason why The Greens mean anything but 'Green'. She should run her campaigns from a maternity ward.
    Her extremist political agenda is all about people, more people, breeding faster, childcare, human rights, rights for young people wanting to breed, open door immigration, maximising human footprint on the planet and human fucking.

    John Marlowe

    James Sinnamon

    Mon, 2012-04-09 15:51

    John,

    Could you please cite content of this site which advocates open-door immigration?

    Whilst I agree that the Greens have been, at best, ambivalent on the issue of population growth and immigration, I have not been able to find any promotion of open borders from my perusal of openaustralia.org.

    Rather, it seems to me that the main purpose of that site is for the Australian Federal Government through Parliament to be made more open and accountable, which we would all surely agree with.

    If anything that site would make open borders, high immigration and population growth less likely whatever the intentions of Sarah Hanson-Young and other Greens.

    John Marlowe

    Mon, 2012-04-09 20:22

    Quite right, Open Australia is a deliberately obscure website. Try to find its aim, goals, objectives? Sarah Hanson-Young and OpenAustralia.org are advocating open door imigration in its Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009, which would amend the Migration Act 1958 .."to remove the liability for immigration detention and related costs for certain persons and liable parties and extinguish all outstanding immigration detention debts; and ensure regulations can no longer prescribe sponsorship undertakings or obligations that include payments to the Commonwealth in relation to the cost of a person’s immigration detention." Hanson-Young as a Greens Senator advocates Greens policies such as the elimination of the policies of mandatory detention, and other forms of harsh, punitive or discriminatory treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, asylum seekers who arrive without a valid visa to have their claims for asylum assessed while living in the community. Judith Adams (WA, Liberal Party): "We have Senator Hanson-Young saying that she feels every refugee who arrives on a boat should be given the privilege of coming to Australia and being let out into the community, that it is their right and that they have had a terrible time, are all very hard done by and should not be locked up until they have had their credentials certified. Under that circumstance we would not know who is coming into Australia. That is the Greens—things change all the time." [Source: http://www.openaustralia.org/senate/?id=2011-11-07.180.2&s=immigration%2C+hanson#g184.1] John Marlowe

    Anonymous (not verified)

    Tue, 2012-04-10 14:18

    John, James and others, The following comment, which I posted one month ago on the page "Private Prison Companies Fund Anti–Immigrant Legislation" (http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/5-private-prison-com...), may be of interest: Abandonment of border control would be disastrous for the US, most of all for the poor, and would do nothing to the hundreds of millions of others in the Third World who could never hope to immigrate to the US. A very simple solution would be to process all applications for asylum in the country from which the would-be immigrant wished to migrate. In place of detention centers within the US, accommodation for intending immigrants could be set up outside the US embassy or outside some other office administered by the embassy. With the agreement of the host country, protection could be provided by the US embassy staff to any intending asylum seeker until such time as either he/she is found to have grounds to fear for his/her safety in that country and is granted asylum or is found not to have grounds for fear and refused asylum. Refugee rights advocates could ensure that every intending asylum seeker is given a fair hearing. Patrick Gilmore

    John Marlowe

    Tue, 2012-04-10 22:17

    Patrick, Take a step back to the cause of the asylum seeking, which is what the UN is ignoring. The Asylum Seeker Problem is a UN handball to burden others. The problem needs to be solved at source. Consider what Turkey is currently taking on as a consequence of Syria mass murder. The cause was who supplied Syria with the arms, political support and financial support? The UN fails to deal with civil war because it is complicit it fuelling it - Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Chechnya, Georgia, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya. John Marlowe

    Geoffrey Taylor

    Tue, 2012-04-10 23:48

    John Marlow wrote:

    Consider what Turkey is currently taking on as a consequence of Syria mass murder

    ???!!!

    This appears to echo the lies from the mass media about Syria. I trust that that was not your intention, John

    I have read extensively about the claims of mass murder by the Syrian Government and found them to be no less bare-faced lies so than the lies used to justify the bombing of and invasion of Libya last year, the lie of WMDs used as a pretext to invade Iraq, the lie of 9/11 used as a pretext to invade Afghanistan in 2001, the lie of incubator babies used to justify the war against Iraq in 1991 and the subsequent economic sanctions that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children prior to the invasion of 2003. Anybody, who had taken the minimal amount of effort necessary to become familiar with the facts of the conflict in Syria (e.g. on Global Research and even here on candobetter), would know that it is the result of an armed insurgency by terrorist thug hirelings of the criminal NATO alliance powers, including Turkey, and not cold-blooded killings of defenceless protesters as has been deceitfully claimed by the mainstream newsmedia and at least one phony socialist newspaper.

    Further evidence that CNN and Al-Jazeera have lied about the Syrian conflict can be seen in the YouTube broadcast, embedded below:

    Broadcast is embedded from YouTube. It has also been embedded on Global Research TV and Press TV

    John Marlowe

    Wed, 2012-04-11 10:16

    Is Geoffrey Taylor suggesting that there is no conflict in Syria?
    Perhaps he also watched Capricorn One too many times and believes Apollo 11 never took off either, or that the Nazi Holocaust never happened?

    Perhaps Geoffrey Taylor turns the TV off when Kofi Annan describes the mass slaughter going on in Syria?
    Perhaps Geoffrey Taylor choses to ignore the presence of growing refugee camps of Syrians in Turkey?
    'Syrian forces injure three Turkish refugee camp' [UK Guardian, 9th April 2012]

    I re-state: consider what Turkey is currently taking on as a consequence of Syria mass murder'.

    'Syria Assad: Army massacres 'scores' in city of Homs' [BBC News, 4th February 2012]

    'Turkey seeks UN help as waves of Syrian refugees cross the border' [The Age, 4th April 2012]

    It is bad enough that truth is distorted out of the Syrian Civil War without fabricators/conspiracy theorists propaganding denial of the slaughter.
    Lies and mistruths are dangerous.
    Travel to Homs, Geoffery Taylor, and do some live streaming back to us - if you make it!

    I am not supporting any foreign invasion, so your subtext is a fabrication also.
    Your source is You Tube - what credibility is that?
    At least my sources are the credible BBC News, UK Guardian, and The Age newspaper.

    Here's a report from the United Nations itself..

    "The Syrian authorities remain fully accountable for grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. These must stop at once," Mr. Ban said.
    The UN estimates that more than 8,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, and tens of thousands have been displaced since the protests in Syria – part of the broader Arab Spring movement across North Africa and the Middle East – began in March last year."

    'UN chief condemns latest escalation of violence in Syria'

    Perhaps Geoffrey Taylor considers this also to be a fabrication of the ongoing mass murder reality in Syria.

    John Marlowe

    Geoffrey Taylor

    Wed, 2012-04-11 15:55

    John,

    I note that my point about the 1991 incubator babies lie as well as the 2003 lie of Iraqi WMDs appears to have gone right over your head. Either you are profoundly ignorant about events of recent years or you believe that for the first time in decades the US and the mass media is telling the truth about a conflict that the US government intends to enter.

    Just so you will at least be able to learn the truth about the incubator babies lie used to justify the 1991 war against Iraq in which 130,00 Iraqis were killed and after which an estimated 1,000,000 Iraqis civilians starved during the next 10 years in which sanctions were imposed, I include an embedded broadcast by Canadian Malthusian and truth activist Barrie Zwicker. (Barrie Zwicker narrated "The End of Suburbia"):

    The rest of your post again repeats the lies of the mass newsmedia and claims the lying BBC, Guardian and Al-Jazeera (which commenced as the Arab language version of the BBC) to be more credible sources than the embedded YouTube/Global Research TV/Press TV broadcast and is not worthy of a further response in my view.

    However, it concerns me that in response to what I consider my previous calm and polite post backed up by evidence and logic, I am likened to a "Nazi holocaust denier". If you truly believe that then you must also believe that you have shown very poor judgement about who you choose to associate with on the WWW.

    Jay Douglas (not verified)

    Wed, 2012-04-11 17:52

    Geoffrey, Remember the other fake atrocities of recent times, "Viagra Rape Squads" in Libya , the Bosnian "Rape Camps", the "Immigrant Beheadings" in Ukraine and Saddam's "Human shredding machine" as described in parliament by John Howard? You might remember also the fake atrocity stories/ propaganda about the "Hun" raping nuns and killing babies in Belgium in 1914, then the stories about them boiling the fat off corpses in 1918, the problem with these lies is that they get thousands of people killed, rarely though does it claim the life of a single propagandist. It's always amusing to me that rebutting or refuting lies is portrayed as a threat to Holocaust Remembrance but promoting lies and fake atrocity stories is seen as supporting it. What's worse in your view, using the Holocaust as a justification for killing Syrians, Iraqis and Iranians or using the Holocaust as an admonition against perpetuating falsehoods and relying on propaganda? You will also be aware of another "conspiracy" in which people are employed specifically to target Anti War websites and disrupt them, troll, cause fights and spread misinformation.

    John Marlowe

    Wed, 2012-04-11 21:51

    To reply to an ignorant extremist, refusing to listen "not worthy of further response in my view", who only spews his Trotsky bigotry, distracts with conspiracy red herrings, how to respond?

    Mmm, burn the incubators!

    John Marlowe
    Freedom of Association with the Great Unwashed

    admin

    Thu, 2012-04-12 23:28

    Candobetter welcomes the posting of any comment, whether supportive or critical, as long as it adds to the discussion and contains nothing libellous or illegal. Although I have no recollection of a post, other than spam, ever having been censored, the course of discussion on this page has caused me to reconsider that policy. From now on ad hominem attacks will be removed. We will endeavour to retain any substantive content in such posts, but will not expect other contributors to have to endure personal attacks on these pages.

    Counter-growth-lobby (not verified)

    Sun, 2012-04-15 16:18

    Tony Recsei's paper, "Alternative Growth Paths for Sydney: A New Report and its Implications", has just been published on Newgeography's web site.

    It provides an overview of the current planning regime for Sydney, and points out how undemocratic it is in the way that it allows the state government to override local objections to high density development.

    It also provides a damning critique of the recently published report (pdf - 2.4 MB, 188pp) by the Centre for International Economics. This sets out a scenario for even higher density, backed by the flimsiest of evidence, which Tony demolishes.

    It's clearly written, succinct, and should be a useful resource.

    See: Alternative Growth Paths for Sydney: A New Report and its Implications at http://www.newgeography.com/content/002771-alternative-growth-paths-sydney-a-new-report-and-its-implications

    Geoffrey Taylor

    Mon, 2012-04-16 01:00

    Thanks for posting this article. The section of that article, "Other Costs", which I have reproduced below, I trust with Tony Recsei's approval, shows how costs of high-rise living are so much greater, economically and socially and environmentally, than its proponents have led many of us to believe.

    Still, Tony Recsei's article shares a weakness with the report of which it is rightly critical in that it seems to accept that population growth must continue, when it has been imposed undemocratically by the parasitic growth lobby which profits from population growth at the expense of the whole Australian community. The standard of living of each member of the Australian community can only decline on average as more and more people are crowded together into this country where there is little potential for the real wealth-producing economy -- as opposed to the economy in which paper or electronic bits are pushed -- to grow.[1] Native Australian residents, without their own secure housing, pay even more for population growth, usually in the form of rent and mortgages. Housing prices have been driven up to line the pockets of the immigration pushers to levels that would have been considered extortionate one generation ago and daylight robbery two generations ago.

    Tony Recsei's proposed solution, that is, the release of more land for housing, has its own environmental, economic and social cost: More and more vegetation would have to be cleared, as he implicitly acknowledges, and people would be forced to drive ever longer distances along ever more crowded roads[2] in order to reach work, shops, education and other amenities.

    If population growth does not end we will find ourselves caught between a rock an a hard place

    Other Costs

    This section is reproduced from Tony Recsei's article

    The report alleges that electricity consumption is greater in houses than it is in apartments. This is incorrect. Studies show that consumption per capita is greater in apartments. It appears that the data the report relies on does not take into account the consumption of electricity common to the whole apartment block such as lifts and lighting common areas such as foyers and car spaces.

    The report also does not take into account costs to existing residents arising from forcing high-density into communities originally designed for low-density. These include:

    • The impact on a single-residential property that has high-rise built next to it. This can involve theft of amenity: new in-fill residents look over gardens of existing residents while the latter have to look onto unsightly structures, and suffer lack of privacy and overshadowing.
    • Congestion. Existing residents have to suffer from increasingly congested streets and shortage of street parking.
    • Shortage of recreational facilities. As more vacant land is built upon in a community originally designed for low-density, it becomes difficult to secure new open areas to service the needs of the additional population at a reasonable standard.
    • Reduction in housing choice, particularly for families. Most infill development consists of apartments which are not suitable for bringing up young children. Indeed the majority of those currently living in apartments do not do so by choice. A survey indicates multi-story apartments are not even acceptable to most people wishing to downsize, if they have other choices such as smaller single residential houses or villas.
    • Reduction in biodiversity. When gardens and open space are replaced with unit blocks this has a severe effect on urban plant and animal life.
    • Heritage items valued by the community such as traditional period architect designed housing are often lost.
    • Atmospheric pollution. There is a local effect on residents of atmospheric pollution in high-density areas. This is due to higher traffic densities and to less volume of air being available for the dilution and dispersion of pollutants.

    If these considerations had been quantified into the report’s calculations, they would have changed its overall findings.

    End of section reproduced from Tony Recsei's article.

    Foootnote(s)

    [1] This has been made even made worse by the undemocratic imposition of economic neo-liberalism in 1983 by the then Federal 'Labor' Treasurer Paul Keating. Economic neo-liberal dogma largely prevents sovereign communities (aka 'government') -- as opposed to private corporations -- at the local state and federal levels, from owning wealth-producing assets and providing services to community members.

    [2] In part, the additional commuting distances are the consequence of abysmal 'free market' town planning.. Roadways are more and more often becoming privately owned tollways.

    Val Yule (not verified)

    Mon, 2012-04-16 11:47

    The interest in the centenary of the Titanic is timely. We are on a Titanic ourselves. The lights shine, our luxuries are beyond previous generations' imaginations, we believe ourselves safe because technology and science protect us, and the rich and poor are segregated. The iceberg and darkness loom.

    nimby

    Tue, 2012-04-17 10:28

    Australia's eight million homes are responsible for approximately 13 per cent of Australia's energy use and 10 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions. The Baillieu government wants to abandon 6-star thermal efficiency requirements for houses. Rather than cutting government “red tape”, it's actually about abandoning any responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and denial of climate change. All the "red" or "green" tape is to protect our environment, not to stifle and give extra unnecessary work to government bureaucrats. Before elections the Opposition criticized the Brumby government for not lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and now they have abandoned all promises to lower emissions and create more efficient housing. The Coalition has dumped the greenhouse target a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 despite Australia's national cap on emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, and a carbon pollution cap on emissions under the carbon pricing scheme. Australian Building Codes Board, September 2009 Analysis found that by 2020, the updated building code will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 600,000 tonnes each year with a minimal impact on the cost of new homes. In the middle of all the controversy and pressure, Baillieu has done a quick backflip! Hours after The Age yesterday revealed a proposal by Treasurer Kim Wells to ditch the 6-star thermal efficiency rules in favour of a voluntary code, Mr Baillieu vowed to retain the existing system. The Association of Building Sustainability Assessors described the move away from 6-star as ridiculous. "Six star is not 'green tape' but a consumer protection measure which stops people being locked into the pain and cost of having to heat and cool an inefficient home,'' said acting chief executive, Rodger Hills. The concept of reducing carbon footprints to address climate change, especially in the Western world, has received some attention in the media and in politics. But a reduction from about 20 tonnes of CO2 per person per year to 15 tonnes (a big enough task in itself), would be totally negated by a 50 percent population increase. And an increase in population is not only predicted, but encouraged, at least in Australia where policies exist to grow population through both immigration and domestic births. An economy based on growth and consumption is not conducive to reversing mitigating the outputs of industrialization and population growth - energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Why we are bothering with the expense of a carbon tax when the rest of Australia will be doing all the savings in greenhouse gas emissions, and Victoria will continue "business as usual" with energy inefficient housing, and ongoing investments in coal mining and property developments?

    Sheila Newman

    Wed, 2012-04-18 01:38

    I know we are all overwhelmed and overbusy, but please can you be sure to write a few lines to Minister Burke re listing koalas before April 30? Our last shot ... menkit [email protected] Dear Mr Burke I write today to implore you to URGENTLY list the koalas as threatened nationally. Here in Tweed Shire our coastal koalas are likely to become extinct in 5 to 10 years due to huge housing developments. Why do developments always take precedence over a species' survival? Why does Australia have the world's worst record for mammal extinctions? BECAUSE THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ITS NATIVE FAUNA. Nor do they appear to have the slightest idea about the importance of Biodiversity, in spite of Australia being a party to the Convention on Biodiversity. It is so utterly frustrating to be a citizen in this country and know that your government doesn't care and refuses to act when it is plain as day what is going on. The Australian Koala Foundation has been sounding the alarm for 20 years but governments are not listening. Thousands of hours and many more dollars have gone into trying to understand the threats and to remedy them all to no avail. We are down to the wire. Come April 30th, will you do the right thing, Mr Burke? Or will your name go down in history as the one man who could have made a difference for our precious koalas, but didn't? Koalas are much loved by international tourists, who spend $1 billion every year to see them. They are worth saving. Developers, on the other hand, are not likely to become extinct (unfortunately) so therefore koalas are more important. At the end of the day we cannot eat money and so we must realise that there are other things more important than money. If only bureaucrats such as yourself understood and had a heart for species other than humans. Sincerely, On behalf of all the koalas who have no voice .... Menkit Prince

    nimby

    Thu, 2012-04-19 14:34

    Federal Minister for the Environment Tony Burke Dear Minister, Koala disease is most commonly brought on by stress. The most common cause of stress of urban and bushland koalas is loss of habitat. Stress can also result from threats to safety and disturbance to their normal routes and activities, and threats from animals such as dogs, roads and human activities. During times of stress, koalas are prone to outbreaks of the disease Chlamydia. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection which affects almost all koalas in South East Queensland. The disease weakens the immune system and causes various problems, including blindness and female infertility. In severe cases, it can cause death. Infertility from Chlamydia is a contributing factor to the current decline in koala numbers. The recent Australian Senate Inquiry into the status, health and sustainability of Australia’s koala population accepted evidence that not only had the Southeast Queensland Koala populations declined to the extent that they met the IUCN criteria for listing as 'Critically Endangered', but also Western and Central Queensland Koalas had experienced catastrophic collapses of even greater magnitude. One of the biggest threats to koalas is loss of habitat. South-east Queensland is one of the fastest growing areas in Australia. To make way for our homes, shopping centres, schools, parks and roads often means vegetation has to be removed. As urban expansion continues, koalas face ever-increasing threats to their survival. The greatest threat facing koala populations today is destruction of suitable habitat. In South East Queensland, the human population is increasing by more than 1,000 people a week. This rapid population growth and increased need for houses is placing considerable pressure on the limited remaining koala habitat. Many individual populations, including Victoria's Phillip Island's, are are under threat from habitat loss, dog attacks, and cars. The lack of genetic variation between and within koala populations is also a matter of concern. Since being found in Australia for the first time two years ago, myrtle rust has spread from New South Wales to north Queensland, and only last month it was detected in Victoria. It attacks the myrtaceae family of trees. The Federal Opposition's agriculture spokesman, John Cobb, says the fungal disease now threatens the livelihood of an Australian icon - koala populations. Where's the safety-net for wild koalas? The Queensland State Government has declared 6413ha of Bellmere, Wamuran and Rocksberg as a master planned area that could eventually house up to 70,000 people. This is a potential environmental disaster, and even more so for the koala populations. DERM's koala habitat mapping shows several pockets of medium value koala bushland, and a handful of medium and low value bushland in the Caboolture West Master Planned Area. As Federal Minister for the Environment, you are expected by the end of this month to pronounce his verdict on whether the koala will be listed a threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC). the koala has been listed under Queensland law as vulnerable in the south-east bioregion since 2003. However, powerful residential industry lobbyists, the Property Council of Australia and the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), argue national listing will encourage a flood of objections to developments, potentially paralysing projects during the process of commonwealth environmental scrutiny. Developers however are not an endangered or threatened species, and are over-protected. As Minister for Sustainable Population, when are you going to stop being mute? Just what is your number for a "sustainable" population? Surely when iconic wildlife such as koalas and kangaroos, animals that are famous world wide as representing Australia, face extinction for developers, causing land clearing and urban sprawl, we are over what should be considered "sustainable". Humans are supposed to be moral, ethical creatures, with higher intelligence, not just planetary predators and destroyers! High immigration is causing havoc on our cities, and environment. It's turning people into a plague on the nation. We desperately need some leadership on population, but all we get is growth, growth and more growth, and obstructive silence. Koalas urgently need protection: We need to stop the destruction, and see some common-sense and compassion from our politicians.

    Bandicoot

    Wed, 2012-04-18 16:14

    Getup are campaigning to save the Tarkine from fast-tracked mining. Getup! Don't Mine the Tarkine Venture Minerals are proposing to mine in the Tarkine Wilderness, Tasmania under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The two mines are proposed in areas that have been assessed by the Australian Heritage Council as being worthy of National Heritage listing. The National Heritage listing should urgently be reinstated and these projects should be assessed against that criteria and processes. As part of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement the independent expert who was engaged on behalf of the Tasmanian State Government and the Federal Government found, after extensive research, that the Tarkine was of high conservation value (HCV) and worthy of World Heritage Status. The two iron ore mines proposed would only operate for two years. But in that time the values of the Tarkine could be irreversibly damaged. Call on the Federal Government under the National Heritage to list the Tarkine and give these mine proposals the most thorough assessments and not allow them to be fast-tracked and assessed by the Tasmanian State Government. Economic growth - the catch-cry for almost all levels of government now - is not always desirable, in our interests, cost-less, and usually detrimental. There are no new frontiers to conquer, and no new lands to explore. The environment is continually under threat for more wealth-creation and greed. Economic growth means plundering forests and ecosystems for natural resources, disfiguring them, polluting them, destroying their integrity and causing more species extinctions. There are places that are sacred, of indigenous significance, and of high environmental value. Cathedrals, mosques and other religious sites can't be plundered for the gold and timber, and neither should Nature's natural holy areas of great intrinsic value be plundered. Economic growth is destructive on a finite planet that is facing enormous pressure from a burgeoning human population ready to dig and drill for the planet's minerals, fuels and precious metals. Go to Tony Burke's website form: Contact Minister Tony Burke Or click the GetUp site above.

    NIMBY (not verified)

    Thu, 2012-04-19 11:49

    “I think the Titanic disaster has parallels today. The closest think I can think of is the silicon chip... We're all kind of bowing to this computer god, thinking it's going to fix everything and we're geniuses for inventing this. And, you know, I just think we should pay attention to disasters of the past.” Billy Zane quote The achievements of technology and industry today are running headlong in conflict with the forces of Nature. There is utmost worship of progress, of size and human achievement, and little recognition of the limitations imposed by Nature, and its dynamic and unpredictable forces. The new "unsinkable" Titanic of 1912 was pushed to its upper speeds, with great confidence in it's designers, assembly skills and strength. We should pay attention to the disasters of the past. Despite the luxury facade, there were unseen design flaws, and short-cuts in material quality. The Titanic did not sink because it was overpopulated with too many passengers and crew. The high death rate was due to over-confidence in a man-made vessel, the underestimation of the power of Nature, and the lack of life-boats. Infrastructure was inadequate. The Titanic carried only 16 lifeboats, plus 4 Engelhardt folding lifeboats, less than half the number required for her passenger and crew capacity of 3000. And even with all our technology, we still have shipwrecks, in reference to the January incident when the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy. Today we see accelerating 'symptoms' that we are heading towards disaster, with water and food shortages, species extinction rates, energy crises, climate destabilization, ocean dead zones, and loss of ecosystems. We find ourselves passengers within a civilization that parallels the metaphor of the Titanic. As such, like Captain Smith should have done, we should be slowing down our economy, our human impacts on our already damaged and finite planet, and slow down our population growth. We are heading straight towards the Iceberg, assuming that growth can continue forever, and that our impacts will be absorbed by Nature - but this can't and didn't happen 100 years ago. There are clear parallels today - that we should learn from. There are limits to growth, to speeds, and we should remain within the safety-net of our planet's ecological sustainability. The "god" of technology is being considered the genius that will "fix" everything! Comments on the next "Miscellaneous comments" page from 20 April 2012 can be made here.