Speaking at the 8 June 2017 Planning Backlash Rally to Restore Residents' Rights, Clifford Hayes describes how Mr Wynn, Minister for Planning, has removed the protection given by residential zones that were put in by Matthew Guy, the preceding Planning Minister. Hayes says he has to give some credit to the previous government for having had the guts to introduce those zones, which were at least the result of some consultation with the residents. Minister Wynn, however, he observes, refuses to meet with resident planning groups, only listening to the developers, the planners. (A voice calls out in the background, "They're both the same!" and Clifford Hayes agrees.) The Planning Backlash Rally, organised by Mary Drost on the steps of Victorian Parliament on 8 June 2017. was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through economic immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country and the political parties. Hayes describes fighting high-rise development as Mayor and Councillor in Brighton against successive governments. He has also run as a candidate for the Sustainable Australia Party, which tries to educate the public about the need to fight against bi-partisan plans for massive population growth in Australia.
[Illustration from screen print of Prof Justin O'Connor's slide presentation.]The population and development behemoth is so multi-faceted that many of us feel like blind people trying to describe an elephant. Far richer than the bewildering 'policy porn' we are constantly subjected to by planners and growth merchants, the videos from this wonderful symposium provide vital clues to how we have been ambushed and sidelined by the nightmarish infrastructure juggernaut. "The ‘Creative City’ attempts to mobilise culture and creativity for city branding, urban regeneration and cultural industries growth, which also point to new forms of urban planning and governance. It has been closely associated with the “creative class” and the creative- entrepreneurial city in ways that have frequently become divisive and exclusionary, focusing on arts flagships, photogenic CBDs, and real estate profits. So too, cultural production has been reformatted under the rubric of the ‘creative industries’ in ways that foreground their contribution to economic growth. Increasingly calls have been for social justice, citizenship and the rights to the city, with a return of community and activist-focused arts activities, as well as new forms of ‘post-capitalist’ production communities." Source: 
Seemingly, as a pychologically understandable response to the smearing of Russia by the corporate presstitute media, and now US President Donald Trump, many otherwise well-informed and insightful alternative journalists, who oppose the corporate newsmedia, find it necessary to defend the conduct of the dictator Josef Stalin (1878-1953) with spurious rationalisations.
Some extracts: "What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination? [...] Moloch whose buildings are judgment! Moloch the vast stone of war! Moloch the stunned governments! Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb! Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows! Moloch whose skyscrapers stand in the long streets like endless Jehovahs! Moloch whose factories dream and croak in the fog! Moloch whose smoke-stacks and antennae crown the cities! Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the Mind!" This is from "Howl" by Gregory Corso (1926-1997) was written in 1984. Full poem plus background at 
I like watching movies a lot. Syria has become topical (to say the least) and there have been a number of subtle mentions of Syria in new Hollywood movies, not to mention in the TV series Ancient Aliens. Some of these interpretations almost rival the creativity of 'reports' in the mainstream news on Syria. Westerners might also be interested to hear that Syrian TV interprets western events and has its own version of Game of Thrones. [Candobetter.net editor: New title replaces the old title which was "How Hollywood and Ancient Aliens do Syria and Syrian TV does Trump".]
Paul Joseph Watson asserts that "We are being indoctrinated to accept ugliness as a form of beauty." This is what is proposed for Melbourne and for most cities in Australia: oppressive tower blocks and architecture that dwarfs individual humans. It is a trend that began after the first world war and accelerated after the second world war. 
“The big issues we feel are job security, housing affordability, planning in our suburbs and our environment. And all of those major indicators are going backwards with this onslaught of rapid population growth. So, it’s changing our daily lives. It’s gone beyond some big number into the future. It’s actually hitting us in the face when we drive out of our driveway in the morning and we try and get to work. Or when we try to look up a job when we try to get our next opportunity. Or when we look at our green space in our suburb that’s disappearing. Or looking at our urban heritage… that’s just being bulldozed for this highrise development”. (William Bourke, Sustainable Australia Party, speaking on 3AW to Neil Mitchell) 
This song is sung in Bengali, which is a language from Bangladesh. It was a theme song for World Population Day 2013. I liked the tune and found the singers appealing. I wondered what the words were and obtained a translation through a friend in India. See inside.
Press Statement Lays Groundwork for US Attack. Raising speculation that the US is about to attack Syria again, the White House has issued a statement late this evening accusing the Assad government in Syria of conducting “potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack,” claiming that such an attack
The godless in Australia say enough is enough. After today’s release of Census data showing that non-believers make up 30.1% of the population – easily overtaking the previously-highest response “Catholic” for the first time in Census history – the Atheist Foundation of Australia says it is time to stop pandering to religious minorities and take religion out of politics. [Ed. This article also notifies of a 2018 Atheist convention in Australia featuring Salmon Rushdie.]
For the record: Anthony Searles of Boronia speaks at 'Restore Residents' Rights', a Planning Backlash Rally organised by Mary Drost on the steps of Victorian Parliament on 8 June 2017. This rally was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through economic immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country and the political parties. (This report and video have been uploaded out of sequence with the other speeches made on the 8 June and published on candobetter.net, owing to an editorial oversight. Apologies from candobetter.net editors.)
Cdb Ed Update: Broken link to source of this article has been fixed. Vladimir Putin has backed the idea of expanding a program that offers citizens a free hectare of land in Russia’s Far East to all of the country’s regions. The Russian president made the comment during one of his annual Q&A sessions on Thursday. Source: 
John Pilger and Vanessa Beeley talk about the amazing growth in mass-media supported war propaganda in our times, including the grotesque fantasies manufactured about Russian intervention in US elections and the creation of a false cold war. Vanessa Beeley describes how, when she was in Aleppo, she was witness to the absolute fabrication of what was happening there. And now, the almost complete silence on what seems like American ethnic cleansing of Arabs in Raqqua - where the US is using depleted uranium, phosporos weapons and not providing any humanitarian corridors.
The regional and international standoff headed by Saudi Arabia against Qatar is not going to be resolved anytime soon. What does the simmering crisis mean? And why has Donald Trump taken the Saudi side? CrossTalking with Sharmine Narwani, Mohammed Cherkaoui, and Foad Izadi.
Some anti-virus software on browsers has begun to behave like viruses themselves. Rather than submit to this irritating and sometimes devastating highjacking of your browser, computer and wallet, you can simply use on-line anti-viruses. You copy the URL (e.g. https://candobetter.net) of the site you want to visit and you then paste it into an online anti-virus program, such as Norton Safe Web: 
Beans on Toast wrote the song and allowed this mash-up for his song. Nina Paley did the animation. It was posted in observance of World Population Day, July 11. This song and video offer the simple truth. The world is overpopulated, and we human beings are still adding over a million a week to the planet, contributing to - if not creating - every crisis the world faces. It's a good song but it doesn't mention immigration, which is how Australia's population is growing faster than any other country in the OECD's.
Do you ever wonder what our society would look like if everyday people were calling the shots? If everyday people had more influence rather than a few privileged rich and large corporations? Would we have sold our public utilities? Would the centre of Melbourne look less like Manhattan; have less poorly constructed and dangerous residential towers? Would citizens be forced into selling off the backyards of family homes to pay their outrageous mortgages? Would we ever have allowed negative gearing and its looming financial tsunami?
Congratulations to Mary Drost, Planning Backlash Convenor, for pulling this event together to signify residents' disgust at Victoria's government steamrolling property and civil rights. The turn out of groups was huge, since everyone understood how wrong the government plans are. The event was held on the steps of Parliament House. These steps had been booked in advance but, on the evening before, Planning Backlash discovered that the steps had been double-booked for the same hour. An increasingly absurd scenario loomed as the double-booked World Oceans Day plastic bag protest planned to float a giant whale and to simulate the roll of the ocean with a constant drumbeat. Eventually it was agreed between the two rallies to face in different directions and occupy only half of the steps. A very good rented PR system meant that Planning Backlash speakers could be heard most of the time, except right at the end when the batteries gave out. Jack Roach, of Boroondara Residents Action Group (BRAG) who had introduced all the speakers, rounded up the event without benefit of any amplification. Mr Roach talked about the 
Brad Marsh of Alphington speaking for Yarra Residents' Coalition Brian Walsh of Kew Cottages Coalition, speaks at 'Restore Residents' Rights', a Planning Backlash Rally organised by Mary Drost on the steps of Victorian Parliament, 8 June 2017. This rally was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country. Read more here: 
Ms B. McNicholas, of Save St Kilda Road, speaks about the removal of heritage listed trees by the state at dead of night from St Kilda Road. [St Kilda Road is Melbourne's Champs Elysees. Distinguished by its avenue of large old trees, botanical gardens and war memorials, it dates back to early Melbourne.] The removal of the trees was done under a police guard without notifying citizens or residents. See also this website on the problem: 
Mary Drost, Convenor of Planning Backlash, speaks to the protesters at 'Restore Residents' Rights', a Planning Backlash Rally she convened on the steps of Victorian Parliament, Australia, 8 June 2017. This rally was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through immigration, mostly through immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country.
"For more than a decade, the Productivity Commission has debunked the common myth that immigration can overcome population ageing. [...] If Australia was truly a ‘clever’ country like Japan, it would manage population ageing by: 1) better utilising existing workers, given there is significant spare capacity in the labour market; and 2) where required resort to technological solutions. The last thing that Australia should be doing is running a mass immigration program which, as noted many times by the PC, cannot provide a long-term solution to ageing, lowers wages, and places increasing strains on infrastructure, housing and the natural environment." This article first published at 
I have just come back from 2 weeks in my old home Jakarta. When we went there to live there were 3 million people and it was easy to get around and very manageable. Those were the good days. The Governor, Ali Sadikin, closed the city to more incomers on advice from UN city planning experts as they said the bigger a city gets the harder it is to manage and the mega cities are beyond human management. Immigration was reduced down to those who had work permits. (Immigrants in this case refers to people coming to the city from the countryside). The Governor himself told me the story that the President eventually forced him to open the city to immigration. Population is now maybe 10 million and growing. The city is a total polluted gridlocked nightmare.
Michael Buxton, Professor of Environment and Planning, RMIT University, speaks at 'Restore Residents' Rights', a Planning Backlash Rally organised by Mary Drost on the steps of Victorian Parliament, 8 June 2017. This rally was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country. The impact of this undemocratic policy is the architectural rape of our natural and built surroundings. Professor Buxton gives many examples of planning outrages, present and threatened in a strong and lucid speech.
David Davis, Liberal Shadow Minister for Planning 2017, makes many promises to reverse the Victorian Andrews Labor Government's destructive planning initiatives at 'Restore Residents' Rights', a Planning Backlash Rally organised by Mary Drost on the steps of Victorian Parliament on 8 June 2017. This rally was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through economic immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country and the political parties.
Jack Roach, of Boroondara Residents Action Group (BRAG) speaks at 'Restore Residents' Rights', a Planning Backlash Rally organised by Mary Drost on the steps of Victorian Parliament on 8 June 2017. This rally was a huge protest by many residents' and ratepayer groups against the Victorian Government's despotic plan to privatise the planning system in order to provide for an increase in Victoria's population from approx 6m to 10m by 2050, mostly through economic immigration, in order to satiate the greed of developers who have taken over this country and the political parties.
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