(We) can do better

Ottawa, (SANA) - Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib said that the international media is involved in hiding the facts and incidents taking place in Syria such as sending mercenaries and Takfiri gunmen to fight beside the armed terrorist groups.

Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) is delighted to announce that Bindi Irwin has accepted its invitation to be its Youth Ambassador. Bindi is the daughter of the original Wildlife Warrior and conservationist Steve Irwin. Bindi, 15, who has inherited her father’s love of animals, is an actress and television presenter who calls the Sunshine Coast’s iconic Australia Zoo home.

Jill Quirk of Sustainable Population Australia (SPA), Victorian and Tasmanian Branch, writes about the many problems of Plan Melbourne. Indeed there are so many problems that it is crazy to go ahead. But most of us realize that the Planners and Ministers behind Plan Melbourne intend to just go on driving bulldozers until something bigger stops them or they run out of oil. There is no plan B and so no room to listen to comment. This is a real problem for the rest of us because we live here.

Welcome. I always worried about population but I believed the demographers who said it would take care of itself. They were wrong, so I stopped listening to them. I kicked off a national debate about this issue in 2009. The points I made were about endangered species, climate change, traffic, housing, and the cost of living and the problems of Australia at 36 million. In 2010 there was movement - from the Greens, the Liberals, Kevin Rudd at Easter establishing a Population Minister, and Julia Gillard renouncing Big Australia. The election came and went, but there was no action. I don't know why Julia never delivered on this - I personally think she might still be PM today if she had.

"Populate and reap rewards," was Monday's editorial (2 December 2013) in the Australian Financial Review. Its flimsy self-serving logic provides a curious contrast to Kelvin Thomson's superb speech on the same topic to a full auditorium of concerned citizens on Sunday. (The speech is embedded in this article.) Where Thomson has reacted to the news that population growth is completely out of control by attempting to help people to organise against the growth pushing forces who seek to benefit financially from overpopulation, the editorial in the Financial Review is cynical in its enjoinder to exploit those problems for elite gain.

Victoria First is a new organisation to promote democratic empowerment over the size of Victoria's population. It was launched today by Kelvin Thomson, Labor MP for the Wills electorate in Victoria. Victoria is a state in Australia that is at the center of the elite push for a huge population, which is projected to go from 17m in 1994 to 37.5 million by 2050, and possibly 70 million by 2100. Currently immigration contributes 60% + to annual population growth in Australia. Membership forms for Victoria First inside.

By Brian McGavin, UK-based writer and analyst. 2013

Burning the candle at both ends
Today there is a ‘Silent Crisis’ in our midst. The crisis, still largely unrecognised, is potentially greater than all the other problems that transfix our policy makers.

For many decades now there has been a wilful blindness in recognising that relentless human population growth is one of the pre-eminent problems we face. A problem that is driving the astonishing growth of fossil fuel use and its depletion, climate warming, bio-diversity loss, the growing shortage of fresh water to meet human needs - and as a consequence of these changes - the prospect that agriculture will be unable to produce enough food to feed us.

The media’s treatment of the recent tragedy of migrants drowning off the Italian island of Lampedusa was predictable. Whenever a local population—whether it be in Greece, Italy, or elsewhere—is inundated with a flood of refugees, a standard news template is applied.

The formula is to convert a broad social calamity into a heart-rending human-interest story that will provoke an emotional response trumping any sober analysis. The intended message is clear. Any number of refugees have an unreserved right to be accommodated by the host society, at whatever the cost.

Please help spread the word on this Animal Liberation petition.
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/bing-lee-stop-the-offer-of-a-free-turk
ey-with-fridge-or-freezer-purchase. It relates to Animal Liberation's expose earlier this year at an Inghams turkey slaughterhouse where turkeys were beaten repeatedly.

Blackfish tells the heartbreaking and shocking story of Tilikum, an orca who was torn from his family in the wild and imprisoned in a concrete bathtub at SeaWorld, where he made headlines after killing trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. After more than 30 years in captivity, he lashed out in frustrated rage, drawing worldwide attention to SeaWorld’s practice of imprisoning sensitive, intelligent marine mammals and denying them everything that is natural and important to them.

Screaming orca fated for SeaWorld urges public to watch Blackfish

New projections released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics have revised upwards the growth estimates that triggered the Big Australia debate in 2009 and 2010. At that time it was estimated that Australia was heading for 35 or 36 million by 2050. Now according to the ABS central projection we are tracking for 37.5 million by 2050, and possibly 70 million by 2100.

SYDNEY: Just a week after another fatal shark attack in Australia, University of Sydney PhD candidate and shark policy expert Christopher Neff is leading a world-first project to help reduce the public’s fear of sharks.

Geoff at Aussiebushtreks writes, "This is very urgent. Please watch Corine Fisher's video. [Inside article]" Then Email upper house pollies without delay. There is still a chance to stop O`Farrells dreadful destructive Planning Law. If you go to http://betterplanningnetwork.good.do/nsw/email-upper-house-mps/ your email will automatically go to Upper House Parliamentarians. Don't dilly dally!

What have Penrith Council done to address wild dog problem at the old ADI Site, where environmentalists attempted to resist Lend Lease clearing of wildlife rich, rare Cumberland Woodlands for years? Kangaroos killed by wild dogs metres from new houses at Jordan Springs. Lend Lease have been licenced by the NSW Environment Minister to manage the remnant Kangaroo population which is now contained within the proposed 900 ha Wianamatta Regional Park.

Bled dry - the fate of greyhound racing's 'wastage'
7.30 recently exposed widespread doping in the greyhound racing industry, and since then they've had a huge response.

Greyhound racing is an industry that a lot of people enjoy, but behind it lies a terrible toll on the dogs. There's a massive toll of injured animals. Many exhibit crate and muzzle sores, and stress from high speed chases. Australia's greyhound industry is the third biggest in the world, and each year Australians wager about $3 billion on the sport.

"I, and every other post-war baby boomer, can count myself incredibly lucky to be born when I was, because our children do not have the opportunities my generation had—job and career opportunities, housing opportunities and free education. For all the hype about growth and progress and development building a better world, it is not. It is tougher for our kids than it ever was for us." (Kelvin Thomson Thursday, 14 November 2013, House of Reps Chamber Speech)