Miscellaneous comments from 24 July 2014

The symbolic 100 millionth Filipino alive has been born, but the government reiterates its commitment to fight poverty. Baby Chonalyn was born at the Dr. Jose Fabella Hospital in Manila at 12:35 am, officially pushing the population of the country to the historic milestone that highlights the challenge of providing for more people in the already-impoverished nation. Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said, "Even if the Philippine population is growing, what's important is that we must be able to tailor fit our programs to help the fifth quintile of the population to be able to get out of that demographic." It's going to be hard to lift the nation out of poverty while populations boom! Already about 25% of the people are living in poverty. It's about riding a wave of contradictions. Efforts to control the Philippines’ population growth have long been hampered by the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which counts about 80 percent of Filipinos as followers and which disapproves of all forms of artificial birth control. The population of the Philippines has been steadily growing for many years. In 2014, it is the 12th most populated country in the world, between Mexico and Ethiopia, and continues to grow at a rate of 1.89% per year. Today around 80% of the country’s citizens are Roman Catholic Christians. Of the remaining people, 10% are from other Christian denominations and around 5% are Muslim, mainly based in the South West in the country. Advocates of the new health and reproductive law say it will help slow the country's population growth of more than 2% annually by providing people more access to contraceptives. However, opponents say the law violates the Philippine Constitution by promoting contraceptives, imposing population control and violating religious beliefs. A survey that showed 84% of Filipinos agreed that "the government should provide free supply or service to the poor who wish to use any family planning method," such as condoms and contraceptive pills. It also found that 68% of respondents were aware of the law and 72% favored it. Access to contraceptives should be available to all those who need it, and it should not "violate religious beliefs" - the welfare of the nation as a whole is more important than the parts!

A man 79, is accused of killing 51-year-old NSW Environment Department compliance and regulation officer Glen Turner at Croppa Creek, 55 kilometres north of Moree in northern New South Wales. The land was being inspected for illegal clearing and environmental assessment. There had been a long running dispute with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, and the 79 year old had a criminal history.

Such is the value and pressure on land that we are becoming like third world nations, where the death toll for environmental activists is horrendous. The anti-environmental movement is more cashed-up and powerful than the altruistic environmentalist protecting the integrity of Nature, because of it's natural values and non-human benefits.

According to a report released by the London-based NGO Global Witness, at least 908 environmental activists have been killed over the last decade. That number is comparable to the 913 journalists killed in the course of their work in the same period and is likely on the low side—reporting is inconsistent in many countries, and full data for 2013 hasn’t yet been collected. 2012 was deadliest year ever for environmentalists, with 147 killed.

Not only do activists and rangers get threatened and murdered, but corruption allows "environment" ministers to cave into the enemies – and their economic powers can't be resisted! There is a money trail to the Government from big banks, and mining and infrastructure corporations that increasingly have more clout than the public, or grass-roots opinions. Investments and money have swayed decision-making and moulded so-called independent political decisions to suit the big money spinners at the cost of integrity and long term interests in the environment – even the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef! Greed is the "god" of today, and as natural resources become more expensive and lucrative to own it means more destructive and invasive techniques to obtain energy and power.

See also: Man, 79, charged with murdering environment officer after alleged shooting at Moree, NSW (30/7/14) ABC News, Moree shooting: Croppa Creek unites for Glen Turner's family (30/7/14) The Northern Daily LEADER, Government environmental worker shot dead after serving notice to man illegally clearing vegetation at Croppa Creek (30/7/14) Daily Telegraph, Tragic end to disputes over illegal land clearing (30/7/14) Glen Innes Examiner, Land clearing linked to NSW farm killing (30/7/14) Yahoo News.

Almost 700 people in West Africa have died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record. There is currently no vaccine, and due to its fast onset and horrific symptoms it has become one of the world's most feared diseases. Ebola virus takes advantage of the climate of peace and globalization effect in West Africa: the best transport and no wars (compared to the former Zaire) explain the case of Liberian died at age 42 soon after arrival at the airport in Lagos, the Nigerian metropolis of 20 million inhabitants. Ebola is a zoonotic disease. The bushmeat trade (the catching and eating of wild animals, including primates such as gorillas and chimpanzees), is thought to play a role in outbreaks of the disease. Ssevere EVD outbreaks in macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) farmed in Philippines and was detected in monkeys imported into the USA in 1989, 1990 and 1996, and in monkeys imported to Italy from Philippines in 1992. Mis-use and abuse of animals has bad karma! It would be ironic that animals used for laboratories become the reason for the distribution of one of the world's most untreatable and infectious diseases! Pig farms in Africa can play a role in the amplification of infection because of the presence of fruit bats on these farms. The World Health Organisation has specifically noted traditional healing and burial practices in rural regions as a factor in the spread of the disease. Since March, there have been 1201 cases of Ebola and 672 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The largest Ebola outbreak on record, which took place in Uganda between September 2000 and February 2001. Four hundred and twenty five people developed clinical symptoms in three geographically distinct parts of the country (Gulu, Masindi, and Mbarara), of whom 224 (53%) died. One person in Britain has been tested for ebola, the Department of Health (DoH) ministry confirmed, but the tests proved negative. Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced. Nigerian health authorities are racing to stop the spread of the flesh-eating Ebola virus after a man sick with one of the world’s deadliest diseases carried it by plane to Lagos, Africa’s largest city with 21 million people. Your immune system, completely out of control, attacks every organ in your body. Tiny blood vessels burst everywhere and you begin slowly to bleed to death. In the globalised world with huge amounts of merchandise and millions of people transported by air from one part of the planet to another, the ‘traffic’ of microbes and the diseases they cause are facilitated to such an extent that infectious agents, previously confined to limited ecological niches, are now capable of spreading rapidly to every corner of the earth.

No wonder Japan is not taking our win at the International Court of Justice seriously! Tony Abbott didn't even mention the issue of their illegal whaling during the recent talks about free trade agreements with Japan! So much hypocrisy comes from Australia, and kangaroos are meant to be "protected" native species - just like the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. A small group of activists gathered outside the Legislative Assembly on Friday afternoon, leaving flowers and a gravestone for the animals, killed as part of controversial efforts to protect native grasslands and woodland sites which the government says are threatened by overgrazing from eastern grey kangaroos. Canberra Times: More than 1500 kangaroos shot during ACT government cull It assumes that native grasslands and woodlands are threatened by native kangaroos! It's totally ignorant and based on unfounded fears of over population of these native grazers that actually benefit the environment. It's like killing whales or other top ocean predators to protect the prey - when they actually co-exist naturally and part of the food chain! There will be an attempt to "move" bushland out of the Bush Capital to create opportunities for property developers! In an attempt to balance urban expansion with the ongoing loss of threatened species in the Bush Capital, the ACT government proposes that impacts from development on threatened species in the ACT must be offset by restoring equivalent biodiversity elsewhere, including in NSW. SMH: The Bush Capital threatens biodiversity The translocation of kangaroos was considered too risky, so they were shot! Now, it's assumed that biodiversity will automatically be moved along with these "off sets". How can threatened species be protected and also simply moved? Biodiversity offsets have attracted criticism from scientists and public interest groups around the world as a “licence to trash” biodiversity. It's simply land-clearing and declaring another existing piece of land it's replacement! It's tokenism and pure deadly economics that puts housing growth ahead of the environment. How do you "off set" a 300 year old native tree, or grasslands that have been endemic to Australia for thousands of years? Native animals and plants have taken millions of years to co-exist and be co-dependant, and it's expected magically that they will just shove-off for urban expansion. Australia's rapid human population growth should be stemmed, not that of low-impact native kangaroos!

The humpback dolphin, which dwells in the waters of northern Australia and New Guinea, joins a group of close relatives in the genus Sousa: the Atlantic humpback dolphin (S. teuszii), the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (S. chinensis), and the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (S. plumbea). Australian Geographic Identifying it has not been easy as it has many similarities with it's close relatives. The Australian humpback dolphin has a low dorsal fin with no hump, and a distinct skull shape and number of teeth; it also bears a darker 'cape' on its back, compared to its closest relative, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. Australia is famous for mammal extinctions, and for mega-diversity threatened by climate change and expanding human activities, so it's rare to be honoured by a "new" species of dolphins - all of our own!

Australia's Great Barrier Reef remains under threat despite efforts to rein in major sources of damage to the World Heritage-listed icon, the government said on Tuesday. A tourism operator from the Great Barrier Reef has come halfway around the world in a last-ditch attempt to save his business. They're hoping to convince European banks not to fund a coal terminal expansion on his doorstep. Green groups and marine tourist operators are aiming to stop a planned coal port expansion that would require millions of cubic metres of sand to be dredged up and dumped near the reef. Our "environment" minister, despite his title, gave permit for the GBR dredging! It's the home to threatened species, including the dugong and large green turtle, the World Heritage list says. Our natural wealth, even our world "heritage" listed assets, are all considered collateral damage, unavoidable, in the pursuit of endless economic growth, and corporate profits. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation is concerned o ver the proposed coastal developments, and has asked Australia to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of the reef.

CBA's team of media, investor and government relations advisers have spent recent weeks and days polishing messages and preparing Mr Narev and chief financial officer David Craig for the inevitably tricky questions on how they plan to defuse the fallout from their investment financial planning "advice" scandal. Another record result of $8.63 billion posted today will not be enough to deflect the glare. Analysts expected the bank to report a cash profit of around $8.7 billion, an increase of around 11% over last year’s results. CBA, the nation’s largest home loan provider, has dismissed suggestions of a housing bubble, claiming recent investor interest in housing was “a rational response to the low interest rate environment created by the central banks”. Of course, they are a powerful lobby groups inflating the housing bubble, with swelling coffers from the housing market. Borrowers have taken advantage of the low interest rates to pay down their debts which has resulted in record low bad debt charges. Australian dwelling prices have jumped more than 10 per cent over the year to March 2014. In Sydney and Melbourne, which make up 55 per cent of the metropolitan population, home values leapt by 15 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively. Yet disposable incomes per capita only rose by 1.7 per cent over 2013. A growing population means demand is still kept high. First home buyers are virtually out of the market, so foreign investors are needed to keep the housing bubble inflated. It means draining the salaries from workers and filling the banks with easy profits. At the heart of the problem are Australia’s unique mix of tax concessions, such as negative gearing, a constipated supply system, and major banks that use internal risk models that make mortgage lending their most profitable business, but at a cost of chocked up productivity. Productivity growth is the key to national prosperity, never more so than in Australia right now as we struggle with failing competitiveness after the mining boom. Housing is not an export industry, and merely props up the lending institutions without contributing to our growing infrastructure debt, welfare and productivity.

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) are sweeping across Iraq with frightening speed. More than 150 Australians and dual-national Australians flew to Syria to take part in the vicious civil war, and an unknown number joined the terrorist group that has been seen as the most brutal of all anti-government militias. Former Sydney residents Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar have joined the ISIS movement in the Middle East, and they are using the megaphone of social media to spread jihadist statements and take on their detractors. Convicted terrorist Sharrouf was born in Australia and lived in Sydney’s west until he fled the country on his brother Mustafa’s passport in December. Around 14 Australians have died in the region including suicide bombers. The Prime Minister has signed off on a $32.7 million multi-agency group to focus on the investigation, prosecution and disruption of foreign fighters and their supporters. There are also concerns about radical groups in Brisbane and Perth that may be involved in the recruitment and funding of jihadist tourism. For years now One Nation has implored the Australian government to address the invasion of extremist Islam, via the so-called “refugee pipeline” that has been successful in smuggling thousands of muslims into our country. Foreign minister Ms Bishop said she had cancelled numerous Australian passports belonging to suspected extremists and Australian intelligence agencies were working with regional partners to counter the threat posed by the fighters’ return. The involvement of Australia in terror overseas has occurred despite Australian government counter-measures that include criminal charges, passport confiscations, bank account restrictions and coercive questioning, as well as public messaging (PDF) and community engagement initiatives. Nobody has questioned our liberal immigration policies, and blindness to certain religious/social and political groups growing in Australia. As Andrew Bolt says, "many Australians would be asking, is it smart, in these circumstances, to take so many immigrants from Muslim countries? Why expose us to this danger?....You can't screen the children of immigrants coming in, and it's the second generation that seems to be particularly more militant than their parents who come here. That's why I think, you know, perhaps the issue of immigration for Muslim countries should be considered as a potential problem". Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's bland answer was: " this country, as an immigration country, is that, those who come to Australia to work, not to go on welfare, to make a contribution, go right across the spectrum. That's why we focus our immigration programme on people who have skills. We keep our immigration programme at more than two-thirds skills based and we're very tough when it looks at the other parts of the programme, to ensure that those matters have integrity. But when you focus on skills, then social cohesion follows, because people come for the right reasons, and that's we want. People coming here for the right reasons, and that's what our programme is focused on". (What skills do we need with record unemployment, limited scope for training, apprenticeships and tertiary education?) Morrison continues with:" Now, that's important, in terms of the broader settlement process for refugees, or for immigrants more broadly, it's about making sure people can speak English and get a job, and not go on welfare. That's the best way to make sure that people integrate, is make sure they're involved in the economy, involved in the society, and not idle or able to be in a position where they can be compromised by people who intend to do us harm". Get a job when they are almost non-existent and actually "integrate"? Surely that's at odds with our Multicultural policy? Australia naively holds the position that we must have porous borders, and that any "discrimination" would be negative, and it's better to ignore it with political spin - and just deal with it in hindsight when threats and criminal actions occur, not take the obvious initiative and shut our borders of filter out any threats! All politicians should be force to emerge from their isolated comfort zones at least once a week, and talk to the public! They are living in their bubbles, insulated from reality. http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/sm/2014/sm215656.htm

National Press Club: Dick Smith and Graham Turner High profile businessman and philanthropist Dick Smith and Flight Centre founder Graham Turner spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, warning Australia’s annual population growth of 400,000 people was unsustainable. Dick Smith and Graham Turner, of Flight Deck, are both keen environmentalists, and patriotic millionaires. He was a "free-range" kid from the north shore of Sydney, living in a home with a sizeable back yard. His father was a salesman, and his mother was a stay at home mum! Now, with Sydney's population set to soar to 8 million, and Melbourne's too, kids are expected to live in 80 storey apartments and quality of life is falling. Dick Smith made a film, and a book, but he was surprised that he got little interest from journalists. He's a great supporter of politician, Kelvin Thomson, who "gets away with speaking" on population because the press ignore him, and most people agree with him! The economic system we've had since the second world war is one that that requires compound population growth and endless resources of energy. It's clearly not sustainable as it's a finite world. We've come to the end of easy growth, to now what he calls extreme capitalism. Managers at Coles and Woolworths now say they don't enjoy their jobs any more because you have to be so ruthless because shareholders insist on never ending profit increases. He read Prince Charles' book "Harmony" saying you have to live in balance but he gets virtually no coverage in the media. He produced a book of "Forbidden Ideas" that journalist won't cover - free range kids, limits to growth, and extreme capitalism - is it good? He got thousands and thousands of emails and letters of support, for his common sense. Strangely the biggest growth-pushers was the ABC, and it's not from profit pressures! When he launched is Wilberforce Award, he had $1 million in cash and 5 "blond bomb-shells", like Richard Branston always does, but it made no difference. ABC journalists asked 3 questions of racism- and he said this is a world problem with nothing to do with race,creed or skin. The issue wasn't linked to racism, so nothing appeared in the press. Q&A ran nothing on population, but they had the head of the international monetary fund on the show. There were twitter feeds on growth, but the discussion didn't touch the subject. The lady spruiked growth as if it could be endless, and no more twitters! Smith says that we need a capitalistic plan, but with a different form of growth. Growth in quality and efficiency, but not in population and endless resources of energy. Similar to Japan, their lifestyles are improving and they don't have to spend in high rise buildings and infrastructure. Our grandchildren can have a great future if we live in balance, and harmony, with resources. Our system must become sustainable. Graham Turner grew up on an apple orchard, and often went into the bush. He used to shoot rabbits, and understood early the potential for the environment. Ralph Nader wrote on Zero Population Growth in the 1970s, and predicted world food shortages. Most of what he said will be applicable in the near future. Sir David Attenborough is in his 80s and his views are very well known. In Australia 90% of native temperate vegetation has gone, and 50% of Australia's rainforests have gone. Turner worked as a vet in Yorkshire. There was a traffic jam in the middle of the Yorkshire dales, and took about 20 minutes to get out of it. His family settled in the 1800s in WA. For our ancestors, who've done lot of damage, they had an excuse. We have no excuses and must take action in our lifetime. 21% of all known mammals are at risk of extinctions. Australia's mammals have 40% gone- and it's not a record to be proud of. Japan's population is shrinking, but their economy is growing reasonable well. GDP and population growth are not linked, and shouldn't be linked. The loss of quality if life is not just for us, but our grandchildren. We should be looking at a 100 year, or thousand year plan, for Australia. By 3000, Queensland alone will have 1.2 billion people! Immigration is not the answer to an ageing population and the retirement of workers. It's just delaying the issue. Australia has had 25% population growth in just 14 years. This means that in 25 years we will need 25% more roads, hospitals, and it's just not possible. Galaxy poll showed that 70% of people do not want "big Australia". 50% don't want population growth at all, the other 50% don't want the consequences of population growth. A lot of the immigrants now are from India and China, and we're taking the smartest and brightest - exactly what they need. Flight Centre have a bilateral program with skills sharing between Australia, Canada and the UK. One has to replace the other. Even an immigration rate of 75,000 per year would be high by world standards, but it would allow us to stabilize our population. “If you've got a 5000-acre farm there is a very clear limit to how much you can grow. “If you've got 500 head of breeders (cattle) on there now you can't just grow that limitlessly; you've got to work in with what you've got for it. We need a plan, and doubling our population by 2050 can't be maintained. Standards of living will decline, and quality of life. We need to talk on population, and also do something about it. As Attenborough said, only flat-earthers deny population growth as a problem! Ag resources are finite warns Smith Humans are meant to be intelligent, and of "higher" order than animals. The Earth's limits are obvious, and there's over-confidence in technology and science to overcome the constraints of Nature. Farmers know there's a carrying-capacity of their land, and overshoot means hunger and land degradation! Humans must control their assumed rights to reproduce, and governments must rein in their quest for never-ending perpetual economic growth -and stop meddling with our demographics! Politicians are cocooned in their privileges and wealth, and their addiction for endless growth is fatalistic. Dick Smith wants a discussion, and while he's only a "car radio installer", there are better qualified people to implement it. Turner is a former vet, and it's clear we need to cut immigration to about 70,000 per year. We won't solve the problem of an ageing population with a Ponzi scheme. Something that requires perpetual growth is not sustainable. You are just pushing the problem out further. We have a huge bank of potential workers in Australia. Economists are letting us down, and continual growth can't be supported mathematically. Productivity gains make more "stuff", and not necessary. A plan for the future would be to make less stuff, and work less hours. Less working and and less stuff we don't need. Only economists and cancer cells promote endless growth, and cancer cells actually kill their hosts! Australia's growth is largely political policy, through immigration, while most of the world's growth is natural - and living standards are falling. We do control our immigration, our borders. It's government policy changing our population. 40% of the world lives on less than $2 a day.

Missing US journalist James Wright Foley goes unflinching to his death as ISIS behead him in horrific video, as a warning to Obama. Foley, has been missing since November, 2012, after being taken hostage while reporting from Taftanaz, in northern Syria, for the agency, GlobalPost. ISIS posted the extremely graphic video to social media as proof of their barbaric actions late on Tuesday afternoon. The video features text saying “Obama authorizes military operations against the Islamic State effectively placing America upon a slippery slope towards a new war front against Muslims.” Before Foley was killed, he was forced to give an anti-American speech. His killer, a knife-wielding black masked jihadist speaks with a British accent while threatening the U.S., including threatening death to a man who is identified as American journalist Steven Sotloff. American airstrikes began earlier this month in an attempt to help thousands of people—members of the Yazidi, an ethnic minority in the region—who were trapped on a mountain range by fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). He last tweeted on August 3, 2013. Soltoff went missing on August 4, 2013 outside of Aleppo, Syria. There was a time not so long ago when the Vietnam War was widely viewed as the biggest misstep in American military history. 60 percent in the latest polls in America now show that they never should have been a country in the first place, so trying to make democracy work there is likely to be a thankless task. The war's faulty premise that Iraq was stockpiling deadly weapons of mass destruction continues to make the decision to invade difficult to justify. The price tag for the war, according to nonpartisan congressional researchers, was at least $806 billion, and 4480 deaths of soldiers, more than 100,000 Iraq civilians. Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq's domestic oil industry was fully nationalized and closed to Western oil companies. A decade of war later, it is largely privatized and utterly dominated by foreign firms. Armed intervention by external actors into ongoing conflicts in the Middle East will likely add fuel to the fire. The solution must be financial, not through conflict.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has warned that if the government's proposed budget spending cuts are not passed, "the only alternative to balance the books is to increase taxes". Universities and tertiary students will be held at ransom for their lifeblood funding, and unaffordable educational fees, unless the "reforms" are passed. "We have laid out our plan to reduce the unsustainable spending growth trajectory Labor left behind," he said. This sounds typically like political double-talk, and is contradictory. Our whole economic model is based on economic growth, and typically the Abbott government is blaming the previous government for over-spending. Mr Pyne said that without reform, Australian universities would "slide into mediocrity" and that "rather than presiding over the slow decline of the manufacturing sector, I'll be presiding over the slow decline of the higher education sector. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann refuses to rule out tax increases at http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/finance-ministe... On the contrary, tertiary education is already sliding downhill, and universities have adopted a business model largely based on overseas students, and courses that maximise profits. The National Accounts show Australia's economy grew by a better-than-expected 1.1 per cent in the March quarter. Over the year to March, the Bureau of Statistics figures show the economy also outperformed expectations, growing by 3.5 per cent. However, this abstract "growth" is failing to deliver budgets that are sufficient to provide basic services and welfare. In an address to the National Press Club recently, businessman Dick Smith said endless population and economic growth was like a “religious faith” for graduates of university degrees in economics and questioning whether these two things were beneficial for Australians was something of a taboo in public discussion. Left unchecked, our population would surge to 80 to 100 million by the end of the century, and he said that kind of perpetual growth would only serve wealthy Australians, while the majority of the population would suffer a decline in living conditions and be worse off. Read more: Dick Smith challenges 'faith' in benefits of population and economic growth at http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/dick-smith-challen...

VICTORIA Police is invest­igating a decision to shoot dead four of its longest serving police horses. The four horses, Rubicon, Goldie, Mambo and Hear That Bell were destroyed with a single shot to the head on June 2 at the mounted branch property at ­Attwood. This is what they get for their long service to the Victorian Police - a bullet through the head! The shootings have divided the mounted branch, one of Victoria Police’s most popular units whose horses lead the grand final, Melbourne Cup and Anzac Day parades as well as help keep order at street protests. They could have been rehomed, but the Police would rather the quick and easy way to end the lives of their former members, apparently! It's a fate shared by race horses, and those who no long bring profits and monetary. The cruel irony is that the horses survived demonstrations, crowds and criminals, but they end up being "destroyed" by the very people who should be defending them! When it comes to Victoria's economy and values, there's very little left for those who don't work or contribute anymore, and horses, people are discarded as trash! http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/no-need-...

August 30, 2014: The world is facing one of the worst refugee crises in history - as conflict forces millions of people from their homelands. Most migrants are from Africa, risking their lives trying to get into Britain, and are causing major problems in many countries, including France.

Refugee crisis grips France as migrants flee wars and conflict

Somehow, the West is meant to voluntarily absorb the human overflow, from overpopulation and all the conflicts it causes?

According to UNHCR, there are 250,000 South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, making them the largest refugee population in the country, followed by Somalis and Eritreans. Over the last seven months, nearly 15,000 Eritreans and more than 3,000 Somalis have also arrived in Ethiopia.

According to the Tunisian foreign ministry, Ras Jedir post receives between 5,000 and 6,000 refugees a day. "We just can't take in hundreds of thousands of refugees to be added to more than 2 million Libyans now living in Tunisia. Our economy can't bear more than that, and if our national interests require us to close the Libya border, we will close it," he said.

"We just can't take in hundreds of thousands of refugees to be added to more than 2 million Libyans now living in Tunisia. Our economy can't bear more than that, and if our national interests require us to close the Libya border, we will close it," he said.

An unprecedented three million people have fled the war in Syria, in what the UN is calling "the greatest humanitarian emergency of our era".

A further 6.5 million are internally displaced, which means over half of all Syrians have been forced out of their homes due to the conflict, according to the latest figures from the UN Refugee Agency.

Syrian refugee crisis: over three million forced to flee

The Italian navy is running to save asylum seekers from drowning on the dangerous voyage in open boats from North Africa to Italy. The Italian navy is actually increasing Italy’s problem as the first port of call for over half the undocumented immigrants entering the European Union. The migrants don't really want to stay in Italy, which is going through a prolonged economic crisis and has very high unemployment. They would rather move on to more prosperous EU countries further north.

Net overseas migration to Australia is forecast to reach 246,300 by the end of September, a rise of 4.5%, and will continue to increase until 2016. The extension of streamlined student visa will allow the processing to low-immigration-risk providers registered to deliver advanced diploma courses. The forecasts for the permanent entrant categories are given as 39,500 for skilled workers, 35,200 for family visas, 14,500 for humanitarian visas and other permanent visas at 4,800. The need for skilled migration, on a background of high unemployment, can't be justified. Why do we need more immigration? The skills shortages reason is illogical and can't be supported. This is a no-brainer way of increasing the size of our economy, the GDP, without productivity or industries. It's more about promoting the housing industry, and expecting the public to pay the downstream costs of infrastructure, and increasing costs of living. There needs to be a public debate on immigration, and a target population size for Australia. With increasing global scarcities, food security issues and climate change, we should be aiming for sustainability and preparing for the future, not in the "growth" stage! http://www.australiaforum.com/information/immigration/overseas-migration...

This Sunday 7 September is National Threatened Species Day. This date was chosen in remembrance of the day the last Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger), Benjamin, died in Hobart Zoo in 1936. Australia has a tragic extinction rate and there are some species in real trouble like the Tasmanian devil, purebred dingo, Mountain pygmy possum and Southern Cassowary. The Australian Government has deemed over 1,600 species and ecological communities threatened and many more are listed under state legislation. The current International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List records that 99 Australian animals are critically endangered — they have at least a 50% chance of extinction within 10 years. Species loss is undoubtedly one of the major biodiversity conservation issues affecting Australia. There are currently 24 aquatic species listed as threatened in NSW from both our marine and freshwater environments. Rights of Nature recognize the Earth and all its ecosystems as a living being with inalienable rights: to exist, to live free of cruel treatment, to maintain vital processes necessary for the harmonious balance that supports all life. The rights of nature are now enshrined in two constitutions, those of Bolivia and Ecuador. Nature, or Pachamama – an indigenous word for all life, has been legally acknowledged as having rights by the Ecuadorian people in their new constitution. Ecuador is the first country to incorporate rights of nature in their constitution. Bolivia has been pilloried by the US and Britain in the UN climate talks for demanding steep carbon emission cuts, will establish 11 new rights for nature. They include: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. Australia is one of the few mega-diverse "hot spots" on the planet, yet it's been treated as a blank canvas for commodities for mining, logging, agriculture and urbanisation. Australia is already in human overshoot with regards to fresh water, and local food supplies, and there's no population plan. It means that flora and fauna habitats will continue to be under pressure to supply economic benefits for an ever expanding population - and anthropocentric greed!

Animal abusers users are brazenly posting images of their shocking attacks on social media, with violence against animals rising dramatically in Victoria. The dystopia in Victoria is breaking up families, increasing crime rates, filling our prisons and the violence is spilling out to innocent and hapless animals! There is too much uncertainty in Victoria, poor politics, a weak economy and the constant stresses on families for the costs of living, unemployment, traffic gridlocks, homelessness, and fragmented families. Wildlife are being attacked, and no doubt pets are in the firing line too! According to Ms Jalbert, of the RSPCA, there was nearly a 15 per cent increase in complaints reported to the RSPCA over the last year. "We're getting complaints and videos of beatings and stabbings ... these are happening in Victoria," she said. Our suburbs are changing, from close knit communities to transient residents living in towers and multi-unit apartments. Rapid population growth means anonymity, and stresses on existing amenities and infrastructure. The weakest link in the chain of abuse is the animals we share our lives with - animals - and sadists have easy access to defenceless animals. 3aw Blog: animal cruelty rising in Victoria

Animal welfare groups are furious federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce is seeking to exempt Saudi Arabia from Australia's animal welfare laws, allowing live exports with the country to resume. RSPCA Australia said it strongly urged Mr Joyce to change his mind, saying his planned move would endanger Australian animals. Animals Australia, RSPCA and Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie have slammed the federal government’s reported moves. Saudi Arabia imported $811 million in agricultural commodities from Australia in 2012-13, mostly comprising barley, wheat, beef and sheep meat. Saudi Arabia will not accept the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS), which places responsibility for the welfare of livestock on the exporter, right up to the point of slaughter. Without even minimal standards of "animal welfare" and accountability, we'll see horrific visions of undercover reports of barbarity and sadistic slow torture of hapless animals. This is un-consciousable and inexcusable. Money doesn't justify destroying or abandoning animals to grotesque treatment and deaths. Barnaby Joyce should be expelled as being irresponsible and contrary to the concerns of animal rights groups.

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed it executed British aid worker David Haines, in retaliation for British leader David Cameron entering a coalition with the United States against the militants. At the end of the video, another hostage was shown and the masked man said he would be killed if Cameron continues to support the fight against Islamic State.

David Haines, 44, is shown in the latest video reciting an Islamic State script.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This is a despicable and appalling murder of an innocent aid worker. It is an act of pure evil. Obama is now calling for a coalition of Western and Middle Eastern countries to fight Islamic State and has said the U.S. intends to bomb Islamic State positions in Syria.

In 2003, ostensibly but misguidedly as part of his global war on terror, the younger Mr Bush invaded Iraq, rid the country of Saddam but then got bloodily stuck. Now Barack Obama, having extricated American forces in 2011, has announced a new campaign to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the jihadists who burst out of Syria and reached the gates of Baghdad.

The US and supporting aligned countries have opened up a pandora's box of evil, greed and violence - the result of greed and deception in the first place!

Editorial comment: If we recall the staged terrorist attacks of 7/7 (see article by Tony Gosling_{#fnIsis1" id="txtIsis1">1}), 9/11, the 2002 Bali bombings, the 1967 USS Liberty incident, the staged attack on Basra by British SAS troops dressed as Arabs, etc, etc, it should be clear that much of what goes on in the world today is not what appears to be happening. A good article about the current conflict in Iraq and Syria, is Washington menaces America with its ISIS Creation (11/9/14) by Tony Cartalucci (aka Land Destroyer). This article explains as well as any other article I can recall the seemingly perplexing conflict which straddles the borders of Syria and Iraq. Please see also OPCW, Julie Bishop set up Syrian government for invasion by the United States? (14/9/14) by James Sinnamon. - Ed

Footnote[s]

#fnIsis1" id="fnIsis1">1. #txtIsis1">↑ Another article by Tony Gosling UK Labour's surrender monkeys dare not criticize Britain's conscript economy (16/8/13), first published on RT, has been republished on candobetter.

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