Comments

quark

Thu, 2019-06-13 22:45

I have recently read a US psychology article about the greatly increased numbers of young people who are assessed as depressed, testing covering the last 50 to 70 years! In brief the article relates how the increases in depression are not about external circumstances or threats but about the degree to which subjects feel they have control over their lives. There has also been a shift over time in the sort of goals young people have for their lives from goals formulated by self to imposed goals, like material wealth and achievements that will be approved of socially. The author puts forward the hypothesis that there is a causal link between the increased "extrinsic" goal setting and a decrease in opportunities for free play (where children work out problems for themselves in an unstructured situation) since they have coincided. I have certainly noticed in Australia, an increase in parental supervision of children's out of school time with organised activities and organised sports or after school care. A year or so ago I saw a television documentary where they were able to show that neural brain networks were differently organised in children who played freely, unsupervised by adults and children whose out of school time was more organised and adult-directed. This brings me to the conclusion that the free play issue is also an issue of space- space in which to play. There must be a wealth of research about this as the implications are profound. It looks as though in the US and in Australia (as i think we have the same problems) we are sabotaging the well being of our children and that they will take their troubles into adult life.
Here is a quote from the article:

"The standard measure of sense of control is a questionnaire developed by Julien Rotter in the late 1950s called the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. The questionnaire consists of 23 pairs of statements. One statement in each pair represents belief in an Internal locus of control (control by the person) and the other represents belief in an External locus of control (control by circumstances outside of the person). The person taking the test must decide which statement in each pair is more true. One pair, for example, is the following:

(a) I have found that what is going to happen will happen.
(b) Trusting to fate has never turned out as well for me as making a decision to take a definite course of action.
In this case, choice (a) represents an External locus of control and (b) represents an Internal locus of control.

Many studies over the years have shown that people who score toward the Internal end of Rotter's scale fare better in life than do those who score toward the External end.[2] They are more likely to get good jobs that they enjoy, take care of their health, and play active roles in their communities—and they are less likely to become anxious or depressed.

In a research study published a few years ago, Twenge and her colleagues analyzed the results of many previous studies that used Rotter's Scale with young people from 1960 through 2002.[3] They found that over this period average scores shifted dramatically—for children aged 9 to 14 as well as for college students—away from the Internal toward the External end of the scale. In fact, the shift was so great that the average young person in 2002 was more External than were 80% of young people in the 1960s. The rise in Externality on Rotter's scale over the 42-year period showed the same linear trend as did the rise in depression and anxiety."

Below is the link to the article

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/freedom-learn/201001/the-decline-play-and-rise-in-childrens-mental-disorders?fbclid=IwAR3pQq5pm786v9OkbumddLhF1uCRpcL2KnzUQzK9JE0Iyqjlboqe9okSUPE"

James Sinnamon

Thu, 2019-06-13 00:49

By Nina Cross at 12st Century Wire

Judge Taylor gave Assange effectively a year in Belmarsh Category A prison for skipping bail in 2012. Assange was required to prove he had good reason to skip bail:

Under s. 6(3) of the Bail Act 1976, it is for the defendant to prove that he had a reasonable cause for failing to surrender.

Taylor dismissed Assange’s mitigating reasons for jumping bail, citing the previous judges’ rejection. This is a collective dismissal of what has been a very public aggression towards Assange by the US government and its allies. Examples of threats to Assange, which appeared in his statement, are seen here, here, here and here. The question we must ask in the case of Assange is what type of mitigating proof (threats of assassination, torture and abuse aside) would have stood up in Taylor’s court? Had Assange had a note from Mike Pompeo threatening capital punishment or a life sentence without parole in a high security prison for exposing US war crimes, signed prior to June 2012, would that have got Assange into a B Category prison for 6 months instead?

Taylor dismissed Assange’s fear of persecution by the US, sentencing him to 50 weeks in Belmarsh prison, where his condition, already identified as deteriorating, has worsened to the extent he is now in the prison health ward. Her reason was that Assange had a choice:

“Whilst you may have had fears as to what may happen to you, nonetheless you had a choice…”

This may be technically true. An individual chased by their attacker may have the choice of hiding, if they can, to avoid being attacked; if their attacker hangs around they can choose to come out and risk being hurt or stay out of sight. This ‘choice’ has been presented as an illusion of freedom, and in turn, an illusion of due process.

This reality of the ‘choice’ facing Assange has been summed up by Melzer in a response to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s denial of UK abuse on Twitter:

…

James Sinnamon

Thu, 2019-05-30 21:17

The following is from Australian government, Labor opposition silent on espionage charges against Assange (28/5/19) by Oscar Grenfell | World Socialist Web Site:

By their silence, the Liberal-National government and Labor are signalling their support for the US-led persecution of Assange, over his role in the exposure of US war crimes, mass surveillance and diplomatic conspiracies around the world.

The political establishment is making clear that nothing will be done to prevent Assange's extradition from Britain to the US, where he would face a show-trial that would establish a precedent for the suppression of freedom of the press and free speech.

…

The refusal to defend Assange on the part of the official parties is in line with their collaboration in the US-led vendetta against him since 2010.

Successive Labor and Coalition governments have refused to exercise their legal discretion and diplomatic powers to protect Assange. Instead they have joined in the chorus of denunciations and aided the US intelligence agencies in their efforts to destroy WikiLeaks.

…

The refusal to defend Assange on the part of the official parties is in line with their collaboration in the US-led vendetta against him since 2010.

Successive Labor and Coalition governments have refused to exercise their legal discretion and diplomatic powers to protect Assange. Instead they have joined in the chorus of denunciations and aided the US intelligence agencies in their efforts to destroy WikiLeaks.

…

Labor and Coalition MPs made mealy-mouthed statements that they would provide him with unspecified consular assistance, committing them to nothing. With the assistance of the Greens, the unions and the pseudo-left, they buried the issue of Assange's plight throughout the official federal election campaign that began just hours after his detention by British police.

Now, senior political figures are voicing concerns that the government's abandonment of Assange may provoke widespread opposition from workers, students and young people, who rightly view him as a heroic figure who is being attacked for revealing the truth.

On Friday, former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr told the Guardian that the additional charges against Assange “change the game” and could “test the patience” of US allies, including Australia. He noted that the length of the maximum sentence against Assange made the charges against him almost as severe as those which attract capital punishment.

Carr issued a warning to the Coalition government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison that its Foreign Minister Marise Payne “needs to protect herself from the charge that she's failed in her duty to protect the life of an Australian citizen.”

Carr stated that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would likely provide Payne with “talking points” for discussions with her US, British and Swedish counterparts. Sweden has revived a sexual misconduct investigation into Assange, aimed at blackening his name and creating an alternate route for his extradition to the US.

“Not to do so would leave the minister exposed to withering criticism that they did not take all appropriate action that might have made a difference, mainly before the British court makes a decision,” he warned.

(The article goes on to goes on to point out Bob Carr's previous role as an effective agent for the U.S. government within the Australian Labor Party and questions the motives for his apparent support for Julian Assange. Whilst Bob Carr's previous record of support for the U.S. should not be overlooked, I think that it would be more helpful to Julian Assange to take Bob Carr's words at face value. We should ask Bob Carr to raise his voice more loudly for Julian Assange including on his own blog. A search "Julian Assange site:bobcarrblog.wordpress.com" found nothing!)

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2019-05-27 22:12

Independent and Peaceful Australia Network(IPAN)

REMINDER: NEXT MEETING OF IPAN-Victoria

A speaker and discussion on the current situation in Syria, Iran and the Middle East - all welcome.

Wednesday 29 May
6pm
Level 4
Trades Hall
corner Lygon and Victoria streets
cream building at the back
Call 0417456001 if you can't find the building.

Agenda

1. Elections and US-Australia military alliance

2. IPAN National Conference in Darwin 2 - 4 August (new flyer below and attached)

- Joint military exercises in Queensland

3. Organising 4 July Forum in Melbourne. Richard Tanter and Fiona McCandless confirmed speakers to date.

4. Speaker and discussion on the situation in Syria and Iran - half an hour for speaker and discussion (or longer if time allows).

Also attached IPAN's most recent Media Release on Iran - US Fire on Iran Could Burn us all

5. Other business

National IPAN Conference in Darwin 2-4 August 2019
"Australia at the Crossroads: time for an independent foreign policy"

Mary (not verified)

Sun, 2019-05-26 15:06

Keeping the citizen informed:- Autumn 2019
Mass immigration past use-by date for Australian Workers!

Real unemployment is at 18.5% according to Roy Morgan polling. Participation rate for men is at 65.7%, whereas in the late 1960’s it was at 96%, indicating 30% of men are now out of the workforce, and with over 5% underemployment, a 1/3rd. of men now don’t have a job!

Interest rates (cash rate) are at an all time low of 1.5% and are forecast likely to drop. This is proof the economy is in a very bad state. Having high migration at this point is madness and an attack upon the working people of Australia.

When Countries are hit by economic crisis’s some workers go to other countries looking for jobs. This shows the lie that migration stimulates economies. All the richest countries have small increases in population. In some African countries they have a 4% annual increase in population which causes their economies to head towards collapse.

The stagnation of wage growth can be attributed to excessive migration policies. Employers are not having to pay good wages for good workers.

The banks have recklessly made loans until our level of debt to the retail banks is around 180% of GDP, strangling the economy. If there was any good times it is coming to an end.

The concept of a rapidly growing population being a bad thing for the workers was first outlined by Thomas Malthus in 1798. Then it was reiterated by Karl Marx 150 years later. More recently historians looking at the effects of the Bubonic plague in 1347 where population was reduced by around 50%, saw that rather than society collapsing, the peasants could demand higher wages - much to the disgust of the then ruling class.

Population growth by migration has more of an effect upon the working class. White collar workers have mechanisms that exclude migrants from taking their jobs such as professional associations doing all they can to not recognise migrants qualifications. The other thing is just not employing migrants.

More often than not migrants and refugees are conflated. Both sides of the political spectrum mix both up for their own purposes, so as at times people don’t know the difference.

It is concerning about the number of refugees in the world today but there is little criticism of the politicians sending our defence forces around the world to engage in conflicts creating more of them. The resultant psychological effects on our service personnel of course never rates a mention!

Another cause of refugees is the IMF imposing free market policies on third world countries. There has been data around for 20 years that these actions destroy economies and even worse they lead to a fall into civil war.

Looking at countries on a GDP/capita basis, the 18 top countries have small populations of under 8 million. On comparing the 2 largest countries, India and China, the one with the smaller population growth, China, has nearly 5 times the wealth.

One of the most compelling arguments for curtailing migration is the onset of automation of work, now and in the future. Predictions that in the future automation will take up to 50% of the jobs seem a bit over the top, but with current unemployment, under employment and the working poor, it seems an absurdity and foolish to push high migration.

Skills shortage is also a stated reason for migration, yet it hasn’t been a problem for the last 200 years. One of the strongest reasons to limit migration are environmental concerns which whilst not in the scope of this discussion, are acknowledged as essential to ensure for future generations.

Migration is an attack upon the working people of Australia.
Migration is now well past use by date for Australia - It all must end!
AUSTRALIA FIRST PARTY
www.australiafirsparty.net [email protected] National Contact Line 02 8587 0014
If you don't fight - you lose: Join the Australia First Movement

AFP Political Theory - Economics: National Self-Sufficiency with Steady State economic objectives, under free enterprise community directions, and with Job Guarantee Programme.

James Sinnamon

Wed, 2019-05-15 01:31

On 13 May Paul Craig Roberts published The Lies About World War II in which he put new and controversial views about the Second World War argued by British Historian, David Irving in his books Hitler's War and Churchill’s War: The Struggle for Power.

Paul Craig Roberts and David Irving correctly agree with Hitler's denunciation of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles where Germany was dismembered and made to pay ruinous reparations to the countries of the victorious Entente. However, he goes on to argue that Britain, France, and their allies, and not Nazi Germany were the aggressors when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 Septemper 1939.

Superficially, many of Paul Craig Roberts' arguments seem correct. The Polish government's refusal to negotiate with Nazi Germany over its territorial claims for regions of Poland, including Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) inhabited by millions of Germans, seems to make Nazi Germany's subsequent war against Poland seem somewhat justified. For their part, by guaranteeing military support to "the Polish military dictatorship" against Germany's claims, Britain and France are also held to be to blame for the outbreak of war.

Paul Craig Roberts' rightly denounces subsequent war crimes of the western powers during the war, including the deliberate killing of more than 305,000 Germans by the aerial bombardment of cities. He also accuses US President Roosevelt (FDR) of unconscionable conduct towards Britain, including financial extortion, in its time of vulnerability. I am not in a position to confirm or refute such allegations. Nonetheless, it still seems to me that humanity still had a vital stake in Britain's and America's war against Nazi Germany. As I will be posting to Paul Craig Roberts:

Whilst I think you are the single most insightful and informative of all bloggers of which I have become aware in recent years, I think your recent article about the Second World War is way off the mark and I intend to show you how in the near future.

For all of Churchill's glaring faults, humanity is clearly indebted to Churchill's Britain for refusing to make peace with the Third Reich after France surrendered in June 1940. Humanity is also indebted to FDR for backing Britain, even if he had to do so clandestinely prior to 1942.

Contrary to what is said by many who now rightly defend Russia against the war plans of the US, I believe the Soviet Union would have been defeated without support from Britain and the US. I believe the Red Army would have lost largely thanks to Stalin's purge of the best Red Army officers in 1938. [1]

Had he won, Hitler would have ethnically cleansed Eastern Europe and Russia in order to create lebensraum for the German "master race." The Third Reich would have had access to all the natural resources of Russia and the other Soviet republics. The world would have been ruled for decades by Nazi Germany, Japan and the notorious 'isolationist' President Charles Lindbergh's United States.

The real secret of the Second World War is that those who contributed the most to the defeat of Japan and the Third Reich were betrayed by Churchill and FDR's successor, Truman, most notably in Greece and Korea (in both these countries former collaborators were rearmed by the British or American 'liberators' and turned on resistance fighters).

Another hidden secret of the Second World War was that it was needlessly prolonged. One of many examples is the reconquest of Italy by Germany in September 1943 after the Italians had liberated themselves from Mussolini on 25 July 1943. Even though America and Britain had air superiority, they allowed Nazi Germany forces to reconquer almost all of Italy. Nicola Bellomo, one of the very few Italian generals who tried to resist the German invasion was subsequently tried and executed on 11 September 1945 for the "war crime" that two British prisoners were killed trying to escape from a prisoner-of-war camp that he was in command of at the time.

Had Britain and the US both made, and remained at, peace with Nazi Germay after 1940, history since 1945 would have been even more terrible than it was.

Footnotes

[1] Two other reasons why the Nazi invasion might have succeeded are: 1. The Red Army was needlessly surprised on the morning of 22 June 1941, because Stalin ignored warnings of Nazi Germany's invasion plans from Britain, the US and even from his own agent, Richard Sorge, in the German Tokyo embassy; and 2. After the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in August 1938, Stalin supplied Nazi Germany with vast quantities of the raw materiels necessary for the Wehrmacht to prepare for its invasion of the Soviet Union as well as to continue to wage war against the western European democracies and Britain.

James Sinnamon

Tue, 2019-05-14 01:28

Thank you Matthew,

The above article has received a positive response on Twitter. As a consequence, I was shown a press release of 12 April 2019 from Greens Senator Richard Di Natale, "Use the 'special relationship' to stop Assange extradition". It has been republished here. Further information about Richard di Natale and other candidates who support Julian Assange will be posted here.

Hopefully, we will hear more from Senator Richard di Natale in support of Julian Assange over the remaining few days of the election campaign. Hopefully, other candidates will be inspired by the above article to also "Stand up for Julian Assange".

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2019-05-11 19:02

I somehow think they will be hitting the imported old folk with big fees. I wonder if the native-born old folk would get this kind of respect if they also paid 'survivor' fees. Not that whatever windfall the Treasury and the various hangers-ons might get from old-folk entry fees could possibly make up for the impact on the environment. It's the toll-gate mentality.

quark

Sat, 2019-05-11 09:21

The idea of allowing elderly parents of migrants to stay long- term in Australia in a series of family reunions is an odd mixture of completely forgetting that one of the excuses used by the "growth lobby" for high immigration is the ageing of the Australian population and on the other hand a rare acknowledgement that older people are of value to society. (usual denigrated by pro- growthers as a cost to society) If they are valuable enough to actually import from other countries, then why worry about the ageing of the Australian population in the first place?

quark

Thu, 2019-05-09 11:45

Artists are, of course all different in their sources of inspiration and their points of interest but I think few would not be energised by a natural landscape and some uninterrupted peace, whether they choose to depict it or not. Some artists use the urban environment in their work maybe to draw attention to its intrusiveness. A classic example is Jeffrey Smart who makes much of buildings, motorways , train carriages , containers dominating his canvasses in bright pure colours. Is he saying "these things are taking over!"? Rick Amor is another, who incorporates the built -up environment into natural spaces . He actually seems to be drawn to the introduced aspects of the Australian landscape with his well known use of the iconic cypresses on the Mornington Peninsular. These trees used to seem eerie to me when I was a child yet are compelling and fascinating in Amor's work. Young artist, Harley Manifold, as well as painting pure landscape also draws on the most unlikely subjects, the sorts of glimpses you get whilst travelling 100kms/hr on one of the state highways in Victoria or a momentary exchange seen from a car or passing by on foot. His reminds me of the work of Edward Hopper who tried to get out there in the country in his car on weekends and would manage to get a "gas" station into the picture. I see a certain sadness in what Amor and Manifold show in their work. Likewise a sort of loneliness in some of Jeffrey Smart's work. The Cahill Expressway painting , devoid of nature except for the sky with one lost figure to the side, dwarfed by what is now called "infrastructure". My impression is not that these artists see the dominance of man- made things in the environment as beautiful but that they are challenged by them and rising to the challenge. each in their own way.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2019-05-08 18:47

"Compared with Edward Snowden, a whistleblower and former US National Security Agency agent, who was granted asylum by Russia, the experience of Assange is tragic and shows that those who expose the ugly side of Western governments cannot get political asylum in any Western country. Wikileaks' exposé highlights the hypocrisy of the West when it comes to internet freedom. In particular, since the US controls 11 of the 13 root servers in the world and the other two servers are situated in its ally countries, there is a big question mark on internet freedom. Even if internet freedom exists, it is under surveillance of the US. The US is known to force other countries to open their internet networks in exchange for deepening or improving trade relations. And with the China-US trade negotiation reaching a critical point, it would be interesting to see whether the US uses the same ploy against China and asks it to open its cyberspace." Article by Li Qingsi | China Daily | Updated: 2019-05-07 07:35 Read more here.

Mary (not verified)

Sun, 2019-05-05 19:50

Vote 1 Susan Jakobi - Lalor Electorate I will stop plague level immigration and overpopulation chaos Clogged roads, home invasions, crowded schools/hospitals/public facilities, pollution, waste, eco system/environmental decline, house price/rent madness, wages falling, poor living conditions - Aussies now strangers in the street! Australia First Party Population has increased by 30% in 13 years - 70% being alien immigrants/ foreign students, and 457 Visa workers- The Conservation Foundation holds to 14 Million People as the Sustainable Population for Australia:- I pledge i] to introduce a Peoples’ Commission for Population, with paid delegates from community and environmental groups to oversee sustainable population directions for our Native Land and Australian civilisation. ii] The Commission to be authorised under the Citizenship Act, to direct Legislators for closing down the Lib/Lab/Greens destructive Immigration Programme. iii] The Commission to oversee orderly repatriation of alien immigrant excess, to pursue a population level in accord with the Conservation Foundation optimum for our Australia. iv] Repatriation [for some] [find details on the site]. v] A Public Educative programme to expose the extensive overpopulation effects to our Ancient Continent and its Ecological Order, Australian Heritage, and cause for economic decline. END ALL IMMIGRATION! VOTE 1- SUSAN JAKOBI Bringing Redemption to Australians email: [email protected] - australiafirstparty.net. Mobile 0408 670239 IF YOU DON’T FIGHT - YOU LOSE - JOIN THE AF MOVEMENT! Authorised/printed by R Blythe Warburton Hway Wesburn 3799 [Edited by candobetter.net prior to publication to avoid infringing certain publication laws. Published in the spirit of non-censorship and political alternatives.]

Sue (not verified)

Tue, 2019-04-30 08:59

This is a very direct message which shows the urgency of the situation Australia is in. The author /candidate obviously understands the way Australia of today operates better than many twice, three times his age. This communication could well cut through better than the softer approach which because of pro- growth propaganda in which we are saturated has been forced on those who oppose it.

Mary (not verified)

Sun, 2019-04-28 17:16

Australia First Party Vote 1 - Susan Jacobi for Lalor I WILL END THE DRUG CATASTROPHE ON AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES My Drugs Abuse Eradication Programme:- i] Introduce Parental Authority for compulsory detoxification of addicts under a Peoples Commission for Drug Addiction. ii] The Drug Eradication Programme to be funded from monies reallocated from Foreign Aid in the Federal Budget. - Australians First! iii] The Peoples Commission to be Authorised under the Department of Defence, with paid delegates from Family and Community Organisations, and representatives from Public Service Departments. iv] The Peoples Commission to set the agenda of the programme, for Legislators to undertake via Public Service Departments. v] The Peoples Commission to develop facilities for physical and psychological health recovery services for addicts; to extend into medical, residential, employment, and lifestyle under ongoing supervision. vi] Recovered addicts to be guaranteed continuing, productive full employment in a Public Work Service Corps, securing independence, integrity and self esteem. vii] Australian Traditional Culture and Heritage Values to be reinstated to regain self responsibility in a purposeful, bonded and inclusive society. Destructive multicultism/plague immigration agendas to be cancelled. viii] Drug Syndicates will continue at their own peril. BRINGING REDEMPTION TO AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES Vote 1 - SUSAN JAKOBI Australia First Party Contact - Mobile 0408 670239 email: [email protected] - australiafirstparty.net. IF YOU DON’T FIGHT - YOU LOSE - JOIN THE AF MOVEMENT! Authorised/printed by R Blythe Warburton Hway Wesburn 3799

Sue (not verified)

Mon, 2019-04-22 08:08

That war crime footage is truly shocking. Under what cultural doctrine were these soldiers trained?

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2019-04-16 09:33

Richard Wakelin, a founder of Wakelin Property Advisory, writes in the Financial Review that the news for property developers, regarding the federal elections 2019 is "unreservedly good because, surprisingly, there isn’t really any news." Although both big parties are pretending that they are going to cut down on mass immigration, he has no doubt that they have no intention of actually doing this. "The Budget papers' outlook for net overseas migration for the next four years sits at an annual increase of between 259,000 and 272,000 every year until 2022. These are numbers as good as or better than net overseas migration levels of the past decade." (Good for property developers and investors, he means.) He thinks, correctly, that the government (and the opposition) mean to continue to inflate property demand via non-permanent traffic - i.e. temporary visas that then convert to permanent. He speculates that there might be a rise in arrivals from New Zealand. Indeed, much of the traffic from New Zealand, which requires no visa, is actually of permanent migrants to New Zealand from all over the world. They get their New Zealand citizenship, then catch a plane to Australia, without needing a visa. This creates a totally false impression of New Zealand immigration numbers and origins. See Richard Wakelin, "Focus for property investors should be population growth." (Financial Review, 15 April 2019.)

admin

Tue, 2019-04-16 06:18

I had thought that "Veterans Today" was a credible alternate news service, in part, because some of its staff, including Gordon Duff and Jim W. Dean have, on a number of occasions been interviewed on the Iranian PressTV (See Appendix below). "Veterans Today" appears to be outspoken against current U.S. government wars and proxy wars.

However, for some time, I have noticed that "Veterans Today" has been hostile to Julian Assange(!?) and even John Pilger! Examples include:

The Assange War on Ecuador: Is Assange an Agent of the Deep State? (14/4/2019) by Gordon Duff, NEO- Assange and Russia’s Dance with the Devil (8/10/2016) by Jim W. Dean, Pilger and Assange, Theatre of the Absurd (redux) (20/11/2014) by Gordon Duff.

Having looked at these articles, I see few examples to support the sweeping allegations made against Julian Assange and John Pilger, including that Julian Assange is a Mossad agent. There are no citations.

So, in this regard, "Veterans Today" seems little better than the corporate newsmedia.

Appendix: Examples of PressTV articles with videos featuring Gordon Duff, Senior Editor of "Veterans Today"

(Includes 2:33 minute video that I was unable to embed in this comment.)

Ivanka Trump may succeed Nikki Haley as US ambassador to UN: Pundit

Ivanka Trump might be nominated as the successor to outgoing United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, according to American political pundit Gordon Duff.

…

Israel wants allied Syrian forces out of Arab country: Political commentator

(Includes 1:24 minute video that I was unable to embed in this comment.)

Political commentator Gordon Duff believes that by attacking Syria Israel wants to get forces allied to Damascus out of the Arab country

admin

Tue, 2019-04-16 04:42

Just now, I attempted (at 1:51pm on Thursday 11 Apr 2019) to post, beneath an article about the announcement of the commencement of the federal election campaign, some excerpts from the above article, with a link back to this page. In spite of my post being obviously relevant to the content of the article, it has vanished. I subsequently posted to Twitter about this apparent censorship:

I am still waiting to see what I posted about "Policies that should be put to voters at the forthcoming Australian Federal elections" at /taxonomy/term/9835 to appear on https://nofibs.com.au/ausvotes-2019-day-1-election-date-called-for-may-18-qldaah-qldpol/ - not the first time I have had such problems with this purported "Citizen Journalism"

Margo Kingston @margokingston1 59m
The indispensable @Qldaah has begun his @NoFibs #ausvotes19 blog - Day 1 to date up now, he will add to it till this day is over.

The article, to which I attempted to make the above post, is #Ausvotes 2019 Day 1 – Election date called for May 18: @qldaah #qldpol (11/4/19) | No Fibs. The No Fibs web site is run by Margo Kingston

Maybe others could try to post to 'nofibs' about policies on this page with a link back to here. If you do, please keep your own copy and post it here. A (less politically incorrect) example could be:

"Does anyone else here think that the old Commonwealth Service should be re-established? See: /2019_FederalElectionPolicies#commonwealthEmploymentService

Sheila Newman

Sun, 2019-04-14 13:18

And that's without counting the temporary entries. It's an invasion, coordinated by our 'leaders'. "Australia's immigration rate has surged to a new record high with more than 115,000 permanent arrivals in just one month. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released new immigration figures on Thursday, hours after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called an election for May 18. The overseas arrivals data showed 115,100 new people declared Australia as their new home in February, as annual immigration soared by a record 844,800." Read more at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6910447/Australias-annual-immigration-rate-soars-new-record-high-844-800.html

admin

Thu, 2019-04-11 22:35

A protest has been called for tomorrow outside the Victorian State Library to demand that the Australian Government act now to bring Julian Assange back to Australia. Bring yourself, friends, placards and any literature you may have to inform members of the public of why they need to act to help prevent the deportation to the United States, of Julian Assange, who is not even a United States citizen and has never been there!

Bring yourself, friends, placards and any literature you may have, to inform members of the public why they need to act now to help Julian Assange.

Another protest is to be called soon in Sydney.

Sue (not verified)

Thu, 2019-04-11 10:32

This afternoon I visited friends visiting Melbourne from Tasmania to look after grandchildren during the school holidays. Towards the end of my visit I mentioned that I had heard of the University of Tasmania buying buildings in the Hobart CBD for student accommodation. "Oh yes" they said, "The uni has bought a large hardware store and motels for this purpose." Stuart (the grandfather) remarked that it was a pity as the University in Sandy Bay set in its beautiful grounds was a great place of learning. I asked what they are doing with grounds. He said "Oh, they're keeping most of them for sports grounds but some are being turned over to accommodation." I told them what I thought - that the place was being ruined for overseas students. Jen (the grandmother) said, "We can't express an opinion on this or similar matters to or in front of our grandchildren (in Tasmania) because they are taught something else at school. We might say something and they will say -'you are wrong!'" Stuart added "but we know we are right!" Jen said that they can't go any further with particular discussions because they would contradict something they have learned to believe at school. This just horrifies me - it creates a gulf between grandchildren and grandparents because the children are taught things as doctrine - that is clear. Discussion is obviously discouraged. I say this because, to say someone is "wrong" creates a dead end in a discussion. What a way to teach children! Discussion of issues with grandparents is valuable especially in a time of rapid change as is being thrust on Tasmanians. If teachers are teaching dogma as I suspect they are, they need to stop and question what they are doing, whether it is under orders or not. I am particularly concerned about this brief report as this couple, the grandparents, are not the protesting kind. They are fairly docile people who do not generally make waves or look for trouble. This would not be an isolated situation. It's probably repeated many thousand-fold all over Australia. I have a terrible sense of brain washing.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2019-04-10 16:50

Hi Tony, Thank you for your comment. You will see that I changed it slightly. Please feel free to write about your research and Prof Pettigrew's to give us some historical perspective. If you send it as a comment, headed, "Article on whatever subject", we'll probably publish it. What do I think? I agree that there is much repetition and opinions only change if the lobbies concerned agree for them to change. It seems to be a bit like pop songs; no need for any new ones; just recycle the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s ones to upcoming generations. They won't know the difference. Of course the problems for wildlife are worsening and new generations need new songs to describe the problems and the hopes.

Tony Ryan (not verified)

Wed, 2019-04-10 12:23

This story lacks historical perspective and ethics. I recorded the impact of dingoes on feral cats in Kakadu National Park, around 1993, which linked me to a Professor Pettigrew of Brisbane who had conducted impressive and definitive research for some years ahead of me. UNSW and other unis now seem often to repeat other peoples work, but never acknowledge this. Sheila, what's your thoughts on this situation? Kindest regards Tony (website is http://www.oziz4oziz.com/)

admin

Sun, 2019-04-07 06:25

From UN Special Rapporteur: US extradition of Assange would be violation of international law (6/4/2019) | WSWS:

Following WikiLeaks’ warning yesterday that Julian Assange faced imminent eviction from Ecuador’s London embassy, widespread opposition has emerged to the illegal plans to terminate his political asylum.

Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, issued a statement calling upon the Ecuadorian government of President Lenín Moreno to "abstain from expelling Mr. Assange … or from otherwise ceasing or suspending his political asylum."

Melzer warned that if Assange was removed from the embassy, he was "likely to be arrested by British authorities and extradited to the United States," adding, "Such a response could expose him to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

…

Sheila Newman

Fri, 2019-04-05 11:57

Frankston Music Festival

Frankston Beach Association is sponsoring the Peninsula Folk Club’s performance at the Frankston Music Festival on Sunday 28th April. FBA would love to see you at their event. Book online here
Details:

Fantastic performances by Green Fieldz, Harmonics, Just for Fun plus much more
Sunday 28th April
1 pm Life Saving Club
1 Long Island Drive Frankston

Cost $10 Please book online here.

While you are there, take in the exhibition of Marine life photographer Freddie Leong’s spectacular work.

Freddie is well known for his artistic and dramatic underwater images from Port Phillip Bay and many other locations. Some of his work is held by the National Library of Australia. It is well worth the visit to see Freddie’s amazing images. See more of his images here.

(For more information on FBA’s event contact Eva Welch [email protected] 0407 323282)

David Z Hughes (not verified)

Sat, 2019-03-30 10:34

Further to Alan Tudge having no idea what population numbers will be in the future. And the 60 minutes piece. If we have reached 25-million 32 years early, it defies reason that will slow to 37-mil by 2050 as long predicted. What demographer, Peter McDonald, says is pretty guarded, sanitised, and I suspect the answer he gives to most politicians. That its very hard to guess WHEN Aust will reach 50 and 100-mil, doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

quark

Wed, 2019-03-27 14:50

He doesn't know and he doesn't care where his policies are taking us and as for asking him about "ultimately" Alan Tudge and co don't see an end point, an "ultimately". Tudge just has to bear in mind the mantra that "it all depends on how growth is managed". It's recklessness.

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2019-03-26 00:16

REMINDER - IPAN-Victoria Meeting Wednesday 27 March 6pm Level 4, Trades Hall, corner Lygon and Victoria Streets, Carlton Cream building at the back of the main building Entrance either via Victoria street or boom gates on Lygon street. (if you get lost please phone 0417456001) Main Agenda items so far - 4 July, America's Independence Day, Activities and Forum - US marines in Darwin and Australia's independence and sovereignty. Lead up to Darwin Conference IPAN National Conference in Darwin 2-4 August IPAN Lawyers' Working Group - Report from inaugural meeting Peace and Justice are Union Business Working Group Affiliates' Reports and Announcements

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2019-03-25 13:33

The forum comment site was only functional for about 24 hours, with long breaks, despite what they said. There were very few comments in the end, although lots of people attempted to comment. The picture of myself and Mr Bracks, taken at the ABC studio to be made available on Jon Faine's population forum site was never put there. The comments function seems to have been removed entirely, although you can still listen to the audio (although I don't know that it reflects all the phoned and texted comments) here: http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2010/04/19/2876868.htm When I went to the link Simon put in his comment above, I got this message today: Gone The requested resource /victoria/2010/04/jon-faines-population-forum.html is no longer available on this server and there is no forwarding address. Please remove all references to this resource. Additionally, a 410 Gone error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Daisy U. (not verified)

Mon, 2019-03-25 12:31

That man seems typical of his class of mainstream corporate news-jocks. A couple of weeks ago he promoted an energy storage scheme for the Snowy River as if it worked by perpetual motion. I nearly fell out of my chair! Someone with a modicum of thermodynamic knowledge rang in to gently correct him. Unusually Faine didn't try to bluster this one out - since Faine is anything but scientific. He actually sounded embarassed - an emotion I thought beyond him. He said something like, "I must have missed that lesson at school." Well, he sure did! A heap of lessons. He should go back to school. But consider it, the 'authorities' so many people listen to on radio and tv usually have a grasp of science or themodynamics about equivalent to someone in the Old Testament. They are 'savages', to all intents and purposes. Maybe that's why they just don't question war.

Aunt Kittie (not verified)

Mon, 2019-03-25 12:18

Someone rang in begging to differ, saying that such remarks confirm his view that the ABC should be ditched. JF talked all over him bringing in Ukraine. The caller stuck to his guns, saying that had it not been for Russia that the Assad regime would have been annihilated, tho they did it for self interest… At this Jon Faine exclaimed, "Ah , well there you go …" This is the problem with publicly officially annointed 'authoritites'. They think they can say anything. They think they know everything. Faine knows absolutely nothing about foreign affairs and wars, never criticises our role in these, yet he thinks he has the right to reiterate the government's easily proven lies with impunity. It is no wonder, with this kind of official disinformation, that Australians who rely on the mainstream just don't have a clue.

Olaf (not verified)

Fri, 2019-03-22 13:15

IMHO the United States are the biggest terrorists in the region, in fact, all over the world. The secretary of state is obviously a psychopath. So was Hillary (We came, we saw, he died.) You can expect psychopaths to lie. Maybe it is some instinctive obedience to authority that makes people so blind to the obviousl

James Sinnamon

Fri, 2019-03-22 13:00

I posted this comment in respose to Syrian War Report – March 21, 2019: ISIS Influence Is Still Strong In US-controlled Part Of Syria (21/3/19) | South Front. At the memoment it has been 'marked as spam' and not published. In my past experience, other posts in which I have included links have also been marked as spam. Hopefully this will be shortly fixed by the South Front administrators.

This is yet another article which fails to reconcile the different explanations of ISIS and the illegal United States' intervention in Syria.

For most of the Syrian conflict since March 2011, it seemed to me that ISIS/Al Quaeda/Al Nusra Front/Syrian 'Democratic' Front (SDF)/... were allies [1] of the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia against the popular elected President of Syria (Syria's press conference the United Nations doesn't want you to see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnFQd4wBXnk). This criminal war, mostly done by proxies of the U.S. has cost (by one outdated estimate) the lives of 400,000 Syrians, including 80,000 Syrian soldiers.

Now we find that the U.S. is, in fact, (illegally) in Syria to fight against the same terrorists they I thought they had previously supported!?

So, is the United States now is a force for GOOD in Syria? So, why aren't they cooperating with the Syrian government (and Russia, Iran and Hezbollah) against the terrorists? Any reporting of the Syrian conflict which fails to at least acknowledge these apparent contradictions is deficient in my view.

Footnote[s]

[1] Part of the cover story for Western support of those terrorists was that, as bad as they were, they were not as brutal as the 'regime' of President Bashar al-Assad, so clearly Syrians would be better off if Western aid to ISIS resulted in their victory.

ZPG (not verified)

Fri, 2019-03-22 12:40

It is impossible to discuss or criticise any aspect of immigration (Time for discussions over migration and needs of job market, CT 22/3). As a teenager in 1969 I helped build Melbourne's Westgate Bridge. Four lanes each way, now narrowed to five lanes each way. Its impossible to drive a B-double across without crossing white lines. Fully loaded shipping containers cannot now, be carried across. When I complained about traffic gridlock on the bridge, a famous multicultural journalist called me a "racist xenophobe". David Z Hughes

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2019-03-19 11:18

IPAN-Victoria Meeting Wednesday 27 March 6pm Level 4, Trades Hall, corner Lygon and Victoria Streets, Carlton Cream building behind the main building Entrance either via Victoria street or boom gates on Lygon street. (if you get lost please phone 0417456001) Main Agenda items so far - 4 July, America's Independence Day, Activities and Forum - US marines in Darwin and Australia's independence and sovereignty. Lead up to Darwin Conference IPAN National Conference in Darwin 2-4 August IPAN Lawyers' Working Group - Report from inaugural meeting Peace and Justice are Union Business Working Group Affiliates' Reports and Announcements

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2019-03-18 00:11

Australian attitudes to immigration: A love-hate relationship

If you're thinking of going to that event, note there is a discount offer at the end of this article.

The article argues that different surveys come up with different results. But the only one suggesting majority support for current immigration is the Scanlon Foundation "mapping social cohesion" survey, which carefully avoids reference to the quantity of immigration, making it hard for people to answer against the question without seeming to hate all immigrants.

Australian attitudes to immigration: A love-hate relationship | The New Daily
thenewdaily.com.au

Sheila Newman

Sun, 2019-03-17 22:52

The next General Meeting of Royal Park Protection Group will be held on Saturday March 23rd. We are delighted to have Jim Szonyi, Park Ranger to speak to us. The Junior Ranger program is a great favorite with children either through school programs or holiday events. Jim will share details of this program as well as the many other activities that rangers undertake in Royal Park. Do come along. Catch up on park news and enjoy afternoon tea afterwards Date: Saturday March 23rd Time: 2pm Where: Walmsley House* - 161 Gatehouse Street, Parkville *Just down from the corner of Gatehouse St and Royal Parade at first entrance to Native Garden

admin

Sat, 2019-03-16 17:07

Thank you for your comment. The article was written by two different people who wish to remain anonymous. It was wrong to imply that state and national marches are useless, but without follow-up, they are not much use. Currently governments at all levels and most of the population are technologically and scientifically too incompetent on the subjects of energy and material resources to deal with the problems they raise. Here's how local action could work at the national level. It would not be your traditional 'grassroots' action. It would be school populations in combination with their teachers. That would mean sizable groups of people with multiple connections within the local and wider communities. The school set-up allows for learning, and has significant technical resources. Hopefully science teachers and others would become inspired enough by the challenge they have set themselves of alternative energy and carbon emission mitigation to actually model and test these things. Given the apparent committment of school children to the issue of mitigating climate change, they would constitute a generation with plenty of youthful energy and large numbers (locally and in combination, at state and national levels with international links to other schoolchildren.) Councils and individual citizens, even residents' groups, have little power to influence the state through traditional methods of protest, voting or media attention. However school populations could have the numbers and enthusiasm, communication and cohesion, to submit demands directly to councils and apply pressure, which would then have to submit these, in one form or another, to state and federal governments. If many schools approached many councils, this would constitute a national movement, which could be reinforced by student media. One assumes continuing international promotion of climate change mitigation as an imperative and therefore that school children, who feel that their entire futures are imperilled, would not back down, and would have to learn a lot about technology until they became experts and innovators in subjects like energy and material resources, logistics and capacity, with associated skills of leadership, administration and organisation. Such a social transformation would tend to make the rest of the community more informed, including the council and state and federal political actors, who currently feed us motherhood statements. Student demands would presumably mostly also start off as motherhood statements, but climate change mitigation is a movement that seems capable of binding much of our youth and their mentors, to a point where it may not be possible to distract or dumb them all down. The traditional voting system, given a more informed scientific base in the population and among politicians, might offer more solutions and recognition of problems than it does now. A school student movement also has the cachet of youth and the ability to lead trends in values, which adult institutions will be influenced by for fear of irrelevance. Ultimately new expertise in school populations could lead to new local economies and education systems and political engagement currently not even imagined in our local communities, or our local councils, or our state and national governments, or our mass media. With regard to Whitlam and Dunstan in the 1970s, the establishment political and corporate machine now controls the media and the curriculum. The community has been infilled by population and development growth, made passive by the mass media and its promotion of authority figures, and divided by identity politics. In my opinion, only a widely perceived crisis can unite against the manufactured consent. It so happens that school children, normally expected to passively absorb data, have been mobilised world-wide about climate change mitigation, which requires enormous technical and scientific knowledge, for which curiosity and action are required, rather than passivity. ADDITION: I just realised that I failed to respond to James Sinnamon's question as to how bad international politics of supporting interventions or wars on Venezuela, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. If you are ignorant of the concepts of thermodynamics and energy and material resources and the history of their acquisition and exploitation through war and slavery, then you won't be able to related our support for criminal interventions. If, however, you become engaged in finding alternative energy resources for practical needs in your local environment, you then have to ask questions about where energy and materials were sourced previously. If for instance, you want to produce solar panels, you will be confronted with the need to mine metals, and then with the need to provide energy for machines to do the mining and transport and processing and production of the final product. I think that much of the current Australian population has a big problem of induced passivity, which prevents it from inquiring and drawing its own conclusions on problems, due to a learned idea that only 'authorities' can work these things out. When it is given ridiculous accounts of our government's motivations for supporting wars, it assume that it is just too dumb to understand, rather than considering that the corporate media is handing out nonsensical explanations, which should be countered in a new media. Every time I look at Q&A, or attend a public rally, I see the same ridiculous format, where the 'audience' may only listen then ask 'questions' of the 'expert' speakers or panel. Yet very often the 'experts' are not really expert, and many of the participants, deemed audiences, have more expertise.

James Sinnamon

Sat, 2019-03-16 16:20

The author, a schoolteacher, writes:

“as an adult who has tried to stop over-population, over-development and habitat destruction in this city and this country, I know that the government and the press are entirely capable of ignoring indignation on the steps of parliament from multiple residents' action groups.”

From this he argues that today's march in the city was a waste of time:

“Our schools should not be marching in the city. ”

Instead, they should be marching to their local councils to demand that they act:

“marching, if we are going to march, to our respective local councils, with carefully thought out lists of demands.”

He argues that all the problems that today's student marchers wanted our state and federal governments to fix, could, instead, be fixed by local governments, schools, teachers and local communities.

Whilst, of course, we cannot hope to fix the environment without action by individuals, grass roots action and local councils, no amount of work on this front can hope to overcome the effects of state and federal governments acting to serve the interests of corporations against the interests of ordinary people and the environment. In particular, how can just local governments and local grassroots action hope to counteract the effects of high immigration encouraged by our state governments and our federal government?

Furthermore, how can only such local grass-roots action hope to stop our Federal Government from siding with the U.S. Empire against the people of Venezuela, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen and the even worse environmental destruction, not to mention human suffering, that that has caused?

Those, who harm our environment, can be held to account at elections …

Whilst we still live in a formal democracy, can vote and even stand for office, I think it is still possible to hold to account at election time those politicians who have served us so poorly. If done effectively, a good many, who had previously voted for them will be looking for other candidates to vote for.

Of all other candidates other candidates seeking our vote, they must be must be asked what they plan to do for the environment if they win office. In this way the profile of such candidates could be raised to the point where they should gain, at the very least, a good first preference vote. With effective grass-roots political campaigning we should even be able to hope to get such candidates elected to parliament.

… and replaced with elected members who serve us and look after the environment

The profile of such standing members of parliament would certainly make the local grass-roots action advocated above more effective. From this we can hope to move forward to them being able to form governments that properly represent us.

If this seems overly ambitious, this has already happened on at least two past occasions in Australia : the Federal Labor Government of Gough Whitlam from 1972 until 1975 and the South Australian State Labor Governemnt of Don Dunstan from 1970 until 1979.

If it has already happened in Australia, why can't we hope again to get such governments elected to power, but, next time, make sure that they remain in office?

But, again, I don't see how we can hope to achieve this though just grass-roots action at the local level.

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2019-03-16 16:04

Good points, Menkit, although I think they cite stats on rising drug use. 5G looks as if it could be a greater problem in so many ways and almost no-one asks what do we need this massive increase in data transmission? It will be for 'smart cities' where individuals have no democratic input, robots that spy on people, and huge amounts of advertising. There will be no choice about opting out, except maybe in the country (which will probably all be owned by corporations). Glad I'm not just starting out life.

Menkit Prince

Sat, 2019-03-16 14:57

Mindgardens has lost track by not investigating the most likely cause of increasing brain disease i.e. RFR (radiofrequency radiation from mobile phones). Learn more at http://www.ecsfr.com.au https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=yEfFkF1OHsY (Charlie Yeo) Also check out their videos on Barrie Trower and Devra Davis showing how mobile phone use definitely negatively impacts the brain and neurological systems. There are ways to mitigate damage e.g. using an air tube and never leaving a phone in your pocket near your body etc. Best way is to avoid use altogether.

Menkit Prince

Sat, 2019-03-16 14:42

Disgusting state of affairs. So much for 'All Creatures Great and Small'. Where is the RSPCA when you need them? Pocketing donations from gullible people who genuinely believe this organisations actually helps animals.

Menkit Prince

Sat, 2019-03-16 14:38

Thanks Quark. Unfortunately Australians seem to think that native animals are all 'pests' and in the way of development. This attitude is fostered by the government who approves the world's largest slaughter of land-based wildlife - i.e. kangaroos. Abject cruelty to kangaroos or koalas committed by individuals is punished with a mere slap on the wrist and rarely is the full penalty imposed. What chance do our native animals have with such an apathetic government and populace? I just wish more people had compassion and woke up to the big picture.

Menkit Prince

Sat, 2019-03-16 14:30

Great response from the teacher. I would add that there needs to be an awareness of how much the livestock industry adds to GHG (over 51%) and an implementation of intent to act in the form of adopting a plant-based diet. Also none of these environmental groups talk about how critically important the ocean is in regulating our weather (by uptaking 50% Co2 of our atmosphere and producing 70-80% of our oxygen - far more than trees produce). So why aren't the environmental groups talking about diet? Instead they sit around at meetings eating dairy (at the very least) and fish, hypocritically spouting on about what to do. Yes we need to protect every tree, yes we need to stop coal mines, yes we definitely need to limit population and immigration. But no political party dares to talk about the impact of chemtrails on our weather. Why not? Are we totally asleep at the wheel? If these children marching for the climate read my book 'Arktel, the Planet Only Children Could Change' they would get more practical ideas of how they can make a better future for themselves and why it's up to them. I sincerely hope they do. See http://www.planetarktel.com

Renee Neubauer (not verified)

Fri, 2019-03-15 09:42

After contacting RSPCA over a week ago about sending out their onsite vet truck to assist they said that they are “waiting to deploy it once they have been advised to engage , we do have it ready y to go.” What are they waiting for now, it’s not like the area is unsafe as most of the animals are on private property being treated by private people and volunteers. Why do you RSPCA have to wait to be asked ? You should’ve been there as it unfolded. Derelict state of affairs in your case. Thank goodness for the public to step in and help these suffering animals.

ZPG (not verified)

Sat, 2019-03-09 18:04

Good luck with fighting the next election on WAGES ("Bill Shorten grasps the most powerful issue yet", CT 9/3). Beyond the Canberra Bubble, out on the hot, dry, western plains, the huge refrigerated warehouses of Laverton distribute food to the rest of Melbourne. I've driven trucks from there, on and off for the last seven years. 95% of all new truck driver hires are Indian and Pakistani international students, most graduates with business or accountancy degrees. They get their start promising to work five days for four days pay. And for all I know, might still be working 5 for 4 through labour hire companies. Before that, I worked at the then brand-new multistory Bunnings in Hawthorn. 155 out of a total staff of 165 were international students. Big business loves them because they're docile, keen and computer literate. A job means permanent residence. Alas they knew zilch about hardware. And now in Melbourne's inner south, insects might be decimated, but we have a plague of bike food delivery drivers for Uberfood, Deliveroo and such. They admit to earning $5 an hour and having to provide their own scooter. 100% international students. Mass migration makes all our social problems worse. Wages are the least of it.

admin

Sat, 2019-03-09 10:41

From RT : US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been taken into custody for contempt of court after refusing to testify in front of a grand jury in what’s believed to be the case against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange.

Manning received a subpoena from the US District Court in January.

She appeared before a grand jury on Wednesday and invoked her First, Fourth and Sixth Amendment rights. She said the questions pertained to her 2010 disclosures of the American military’s misconduct, and she had answered those extensively during her 2013 court-martial.

...

Renee N (not verified)

Mon, 2019-03-04 23:27

I have sent a message also to RSPCA stating similar comments as well as if they’re coordinating offers of help . I had said that I can offer experienced temporary housing of horses with numerous facilities. Agree that they need to be there now. This was part of the frustration at Black Saturday that I personally experienced.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2019-02-27 09:45

Tucker Carlson is an unusual US journalist, because he is able to talk against the propaganda and really seems to care. He writes in the American Conservative: One thing that every late-stage ruling clas has in common is high tolerance for mediocrity. Standards decline, the edges fray, but nobody in charge seems to notice. They're happy in their sinecures and getting richer. In a culture like this, there's no penalty for being wrong. The talentless prosper, rising inexorably toward positions of greater power, and breaking things along the way. It happened to the Ottoman empire. Max Booy is living proff that it's happening in America. Read more here.

admin

Tue, 2019-02-26 20:08

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted a new passport by his native Australia, marking what could be the clearing of a significant hurdle in his quest to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and return home.

After lengthy discussions over whether Assange was subject to an arrest warrant for a “serious foreign offence,” Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed: “Mr Assange does have an Australian passport.”

Confirmation was given at a Senate hearing on Thursday that Assange’s 2018 application for a new passport had been accepted. The WikiLeaks chief received his Australian passport in September 2018, news of which has only now been reported.

Assange had been without a passport after his previous one expired a few years ago. The new passport issued to him makes it possible for him to return to Australia if he were ever able to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy without UK prosecution.

Assange has been there since he sought asylum in 2012, after Swedish authorities requested his extradition as a suspect in a rape case.

He was granted Ecuadorian citizenship in December 2017 in a bid to protect him from being extradited to the US, where he fears he would face secret charges for publishing US government cables and thousands of classified documents relating to activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2017, Swedish prosecutors announced that they had closed the rape investigation.

Original source of this post is https://www.rt.com/news/452159-assange-australia-passport-granted/

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2019-02-26 13:47


‘Sick & twisted’: US Senator Rubio tweets picture of Gaddafi’s murder as a threat to Maduro


‘Sick & twisted’: US Senator Rubio tweets picture of Gaddafi’s murder as a threat to Maduro

US Senator Marco Rubio has posted a picture of the brutal murder of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a less-than-subtle threat to Venezuela’s Maduro. Twitter blasted Rubio as a manic warmonger… who has extremely poor taste.

It is remarkable to watch the sociopathy of the US administration unfold publicly, as if the political actors have injuries to their frontal lobes and no longer sense danger or that people are watching. What is this dementia that seems to afflict John Bolton, Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, and now, like mad cow disease, wannabe president Marco Rubio? Hilary had it too because she was the one who cackled in triumph as Gaddafi was killed in the most horrible way.

When Mike Pompeo addressed threats to the Venezuelan Army, you can see him fatly snuggling against himself in his suit with delight, eyes shining, at the idea of all the harm he might do. John Bolton, whose hair and moustache make him look like a cartoon character made out of a toilet brush, with his scrawled "5000 troops to Columbia" and "All options are on the table," seems to be the straight-man of the murderous alliance, making insane threats as if he were handing down detentions at school.

And Trump: "You can choose to accept President Guaido's generous offer of amnesty to live your life in peace with your families and your countrymen or you can choose the second path, continuing to support Maduro. If you choose this path, you will find no safe harbour, no easy exit, and no way out. You will lose everything."

And then, like icing on a cow pat, Virgin Blue's owner, Richard Branson, strutting round amongst the poverty and drug barons on the border of Columbia (itself a fine product of US intervention), promoting his "Live Aid concert". He said he talked several times to Juan Guaido - but he didn't talk to Maduro! What motivated him? The desire of a little man to be a part of the US big boys' psychopathic game? All he inspired in me was disgust and indignation - to be so rich and to be so stupid, and to be willing to do such harm, seemingly just to grandstand.

quark

Mon, 2019-02-25 14:37

Many years ago I decided not to drive in the country at night and at dusk and dawn unless absolutely unavoidable. Those times are when more animals are on the road. It seems that many drivers think that continuing at a constant speed towards an animal or bird constitutes good driving. People are instructed that they should disregard wildlife and crash into them in the interests of safety. I was once admonished by my passenger whilst driving towards the surf coast for braking to avoid a huge bird which would have hit my windscreen. I used to drive near Buxton at night where the speed limit is 80kms per hour. 80kms is too fast at night as wombats abound but if you drive at 80 or slower you are tailgated and bullied from behind. I think new drivers need education as do the older ones that it is not OK to plough not wildlife but for the latter it is probably too late.

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2019-02-18 13:46

The next General Meeting of Royal Park Protection Group will be held on Saturday March 23rd. We are delighted to have Jim Szonyi, Park Ranger to speak to us. The Junior Ranger program is a great favorite with children either through school programs or holiday events. Jim will share details of this program as well as the many other activities that rangers undertake in Royal Park. Do come along. Catch up on park news and enjoy afternoon tea afterwards. Date: Saturday March 23rd, Time: 2pm,
Where: Walmsley House* - 161 Gatehouse Street, Parkville. *Just down from the corner of Gatehouse St and Royal Parade at first entrance to Native Garden

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2019-02-18 12:38

It seems to be a corporate media tactic to make things so confusing that people who still have faith in government and media authority assume that the subjects described are complexly above their heads and just absorb the general air of disapproval and the implied conspiracies.

quark

Thu, 2019-02-14 13:41

This sounds like a prudent move by the Russian Government. It did not come across like this in an ABC segment I heard last night in fact the reasons behind it seemed obscure or as though more to censor or contain. This is just my impression.

David Z Hughes (not verified)

Tue, 2019-02-12 10:23

Our major banks and their executives have adopted the culture of swashbuckling, get-rich-quick cowboys. No surprise there. Their major customers are swashbuckling property speculators - both mums and dads and investors. And all of those borrowers have, along with the banks, made a motza over the last 30 years. In 1988 and 1989 the Hawke Government doubled the immigration intake and increased child endowment. Its been gang-busters ever since. Adding a new Canberra of 400,000 new people every year, makes some people very rich. Its made Domain very rich (60% owned by Fairfax Media). Elizabeth Knight writes for many of us wanting greedy banks to change ("Addicted to profits, can banks change their culture?" age.com.au 9/2). But its cause and effect. The cause is torrential population floods. We might reach 50-million in 2050 and 100-million in 2082. Or we could stabilise our numbers and re-create conservative, respected bankers. Pigs might fly.

David Z Hughes (not verified)

Sat, 2019-02-09 18:01

Canberra Times Letters to the Editor have been running hot with concerns about trees. In 1st February letter, Warwick Davis, Jenny Nairn and David Jenkins articulate different shades. Beautiful glossy garden books call trees "The link between the earth and sky". I think of them as a link between the human race and global warming. What about making tree planting part of the naturalisation ceremony for New Australians? Its much more fun to "do something" than listening to boring speeches, and wait around for a piece of paper. One new citizen, one new tree. Local councils can continue to give out the honours, as local councils will know best which streets, parks and farms need tree-juvenation. And as spring and autumn in most parts of Australia are best for tree planting, citizenship ceremonies won't be held on mid-summer Australia Day. One tree will perhaps absorb one tenth of the carbon dioxide created by the expiration and consumption of each new citizen. David Z Hughes

Margit (not verified)

Wed, 2019-01-30 12:12

Last night at 7.30 Leigh Sales interviewing ScoMo talked about that too. I hate it when journalists make these sweeping claims without elaborating on them. Where exactly are these jobs created? Are they permanent full time jobs? Skilled or unskilled? Who are the migrants?

admin

Wed, 2019-01-30 12:09

ABC claims higher immigration = more jobs?

Yesterday morning on RN Breakfast Fran Kelly repeatedly claimed, during an interview (can’t remember with whom) that a reduction in immigration would result in reduction of new jobs (this is in response to Morrison’s claim to be creating million or more new jobs).

This morning (Wed 30 January), ABC economic reporter Jane Norman made exactly the same claim in an interview on ABC News radio at about 6:25 am.

The claim is that higher immigration = more jobs.

I would have thought it is more complicated than this? For example there is the matter of absolute increase in total number employed (which may well occur if total population is increased) and relative changes in rate of unemployment? What about effects on wages? Basic laws of supply and demand for labour?

quark

Sat, 2019-01-26 11:52

Heard on the news the other night that a someone was killed and another injured in a car collision with a "safety barrier". This news was delivered with absolutely no sense of irony at all!

Tim M. (not verified)

Wed, 2019-01-16 12:56

Mainstream environmentalists perpetually call for environmental impact assessments of major development and construction projects, and rightly so. And they are particularly adamant that any border barrier be subjected to such a process. But what they have not done, and will not do, is call for an environmental assessment of proposed immigration intakes. The primary question that any credible environmentalist or conservationist in this controversy should ask is two fold: "What are the environmental costs of building a border wall?" and "What are the environmental costs of NOT building a border wall." But to pose such questions would assume that environmentalists understood that human population levels impact wildlife and wildlife habitat. It is apparent that most of them don't. And corporate-funded Green NGOs have a lot to do with that.

Aunt Kittie (not verified)

Tue, 2019-01-15 13:42

Amazing that the ANU home of growthist demographers like Peter McDonald, runs a poll that admits this. I suppose the Age is just publishing this so that they can then launch Liz Allen to overwhelm us all again with more pro-growth nonsense in the towering intellectual tradition of the advertising jingle. Australians do not want any more migrants: ANU poll Article by Shane Wright, The Age15 January 2019 View all comments (You have to click on the article). "Support among Australians for a growing population is crumbling amid fears of overcrowded cities and homes priced out of the reach of ordinary people, a new survey by the Australian National University has revealed. As both the Morrison government and Shorten opposition consider their own approaches to population policy in the run-up to this year's election, the ANU poll found just three out of 10 Australians believe the nation needs more people." But most have no clue of what to do about it, since the Lib/Lab/Greens dominate policy and they are all growthists. Vote for Sustainable Australia Party! They need company in parliament.

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2019-01-15 11:18

The election of a SAP candidate to the Upper House, and Kelvin's decision to resign from the ALP and put his shoulder to helping Clifford Hayes gives us some reason to hope for a break in Australia's bipartisan and undemocratic growthist policy. The tension grows, however, because as people begin to act politically against this, (and I include non-ecological reactions such as P. Hanson's party) the size of the population develops its own inertia. The greatest harm to Australians comes from politicians and demographers who utterly avoid admitting that they have no plans at all for stopping growth beyond their short term projections. A new democracy would imprison politicians and demographers who have allowed their words to be used to condemn us to loss of self-determination via loss of control over our numbers.

Sue (not verified)

Mon, 2019-01-14 12:01

I heard on the ABC radio news at 11.00a.m today that Kelvin Thomson, former ALP Federal MP has resigned from the Labor party, joined Sustainable Australia Party and will be an advisor to Clifford Hayes, newly elected to the Victorian Parliament Upper House. This would seem to be a great combination of wisdom and political expertise.

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2019-01-12 14:59

Thought I would let readers know that, when I tried to 'boost' this article on facebook (a form of advertising) it was knocked back because they thought it was political advertising. Yet it is just a discussion! So this is another example of why it is a very bad thing to rely on facebook for anything important. Actually I did get it through initially when I boosted it to Australia, but I cancelled that one and made my catchment the United States. Obviously this site is not advertising, but it does publish opinions.

Dave Macilwain (not verified)

Sat, 2018-12-29 17:23

Anything you can do to put Russia and Syria’s viewpoint is welcome Sheila. If you read the centre spread about “Where to now for Syria?” in the Melbourne Age, which was taken directly from the NYT, you might have apoplexy! It would be hard to find one sentence in the whole long article which represents the reality of the eight year US campaign to destroy the country’s spirit and independence, which is still set to continue from over the border in Iraq. One quote: “Defying the Syrian government’s historic secularism, Iran and Hezbollah have infused parts of the country with a strikingly religious tint.” Considering the seven year campaign to balkanise Syria on Sectarian lines and dominate its multi ethnic society with fundamentalist Islam, and the constant false portrayal of the government as “Alawite”, this description is beneath contempt. There is one point I’d make on your editorial, which is that the Arab populations of NE Syria were not necessarily a minority – it was my understanding, in Raqqa for instance, that the US moved Kurds in there as part of a land grab for their future ethnically defined “caliphate”....

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2018-12-20 10:20

By Missy Ryan
December 19 at 9:11 AM

The Trump administration has decided to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria, a defense official said on Wednesday.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that has not yet been announced, said the decision would include the entire force of more than 2,000 U.S. service members. It was made on Tuesday, the official said.
President Trump has long promised to conclude the campaign against the Islamic State and has questioned the value of costly and dangerous military missions overseas.

The decision comes as tensions increase with NATO ally Turkey, which has promised to launch a military offensive against Syrian Kurdish forces, which are partnered with the United States against the Islamic State, in U.S.-controlled territory in Syria.

The withdrawal is expected to occur as quickly as possible, the official said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wednesday that U.S. troops would be withdrawn from northeast Syria.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-plans-to-pull-us-troops-from-syria-immediately-defense-official-says/2018/12/19/4fcf188e-0397-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.72efa398f3bd

Matthew Mitchell

Wed, 2018-12-12 16:28

This is extracted from a reply I made to email discussions about how this proposal might work: "I think we are firmly committed to the principles of Permaculture (unlike many movements, Permaculture has been built on established principles). I personally do not see this as an attempt to place ourselves within the frame of popularism, but to shift people to the frame of Permaculture - Mal expressed it thus: "Permaculture is a mindset". It is a mindset that is diametrically opposed to much of modern thinking and the materialist world. It is about a "permanent culture" - caring for each other and nature, and living simply, but well. It is about abundance (of certain things) - and it is this sense of a world in which we and our labour and crafts are valued, what we create is valued, our time with others is valued, it is about working together to produce an abundance of the basics of life and experiencing joy whilst creating and sharing these things - it is all this which we need to bring others to appreciate, see and understand and ultimately experience. Thus it does require strong links with Permaculture theory, practice, and especially the people involved with Permaculture, as it is these people who will not only carry the message but embody and demonstrate all these things - as they have been doing in hidden ways for decades now. This not a populist movement or party (as I see it). It is a about a way of evangalising a view of life, the world and relationships more than policies. There may well be room for co-operatives etc, but as I see it they would be subsidiary outcomes or vehicles for people to explore how to work together. In that sense I am not sure how prescriptive we want to be about specifics. Many desirable outcomes could be added, and if they eventuate would be - I imagine - side effects of the changes of perspective that we hope will take place, not specific outcomes to aim for. At least that is how I see it. Others may disagree." Matt

Matthew Mitchell

Wed, 2018-12-12 14:55

We have an interest in a property at Stanley - a creek runs through the property, until the last drought there was no record or living memory of it every going dry, any time of year (and they have long memories, many families have been there well over 100 years). It did go dry in summer during the last drought (2004 - 2010 approx). Normally since then in winter there is a largish wetland on the property, with the creek going dry in Summer. But this last winter, the creek had been dry all winter and all spring - with water levels under ground below what they normally are at the end of Summer (we see the levels because the animals dig down to get to it). And in this in an area ranked among the highest rainfall areas in Victoria. I fear it will be a dangerous summer. A local once commented that in all European history of the area there have only been two fires - and both of those happened in the last 18 years. Matt

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2018-12-12 13:01

John, thanks for your comment. We have to be very careful to get details from people close to what is happening with regard to the fires, not believe the corporate and state press. They are hopeless reporters on fires and forests.

I have heard from someone affected that the rainforest belt stopped the bushfires, at least those along the Kings Bore track in Kaloola National Park, where there is a big belt of rainforest. He is a bushwalker and environmentalist with local government knowledge, who was informed by a fire fighter.

That is what you would expect and I would also expect to be misinformed by the corporate press, who all want to clear land by pretending rainforests are flammable like the rest. I heard what you heard, that the rainforest was burning, and that was really alarming, but I would need much better info than we get from the state or corporate press.

Maybe some other readers can give us more info.

There were of course many other fires. One was in the Tinninburra State Forest, which is full of [highly flammable] pines, not natural forest. Apparently it has also has a high rate of housing inside, leaving it both cleared, flammable and at risk of loss of infrastructure and human life - which are not big risks in rainforests.

There is another factor that must be considered with regard to disaster reporting. From the 1980s insurance companies have been predicting higher and higher financial and human costs from natural disasters. Not because they expected more natural disasters, but because humans were now building in high risk areas and populating them very densely. An example of this in Australia was the Brisbane Floods, where the PM and the Lord Mayor had allowed and encourage building on floodplains. This is widespread practice by our dollar crazy elites.

With regard to climate change and rates of natural disasters, independent of settlement patterns, I think that science has to show caution. Time will reveal the role of climate change.

Obviously if we build in high risk areas, on coasts and in river beds, if we clear rainforest barriers to fire, if we plant forests of pine with no barriers of rainforest, if we clear the land and increase the Albedo effect, and build heat islands everywhere, there will be local climate change to add to the effects of global climate change.

I agree with you that we don't have much time, but permaculture is a way of surviving as we go down. The Yellow Jacket manifesto would also be a good basis for encouraging localisation.

quark

Wed, 2018-12-12 12:33

The following are the number/s of seats per party in the Upper House of the Victorian Parliament - ALP- 18, Lib/ Nat-10/1, Green -1, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party - 3, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers -1,Liberal Democrats-2, Animal Justice Party -1, Fiona Patten's Reason Party-1, Sustainable Australia Party- 1, Transport Matters Party -1. It will be interesting to note when the name of the party is mentioned on the television MSM. So far I have not heard it named.

b. mason (not verified)

Wed, 2018-12-12 12:11

Hooray! Many congratulations to Clifford and all at SAP.

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2018-12-11 19:10

We did it!

Today the Victorian Electoral Commission confirmed that our Southern Metropolitan Upper House candidate Clifford Hayes was elected to the Victorian Parliament.

Read The Age article here.

Clifford and I enjoyed a quiet celebration today in Brighton...

I offered my personal congratulations and thanks to Clifford, who first stood for the party as a Senate candidate in the 2013 federal election. Five years later he's proud to be our first elected Member of Parliament!

You may wish to leave a message of congratulations here on Facebook.

It was a huge team effort. Thank you to everyone involved - including our National and Victorian committees, 27 Victorian candidates and many members and volunteers! There have also been many people right across Australia that have helped (and stuck by) us over the years on this challenging journey. I hope this gives you great satisfaction and new hope.

Next stop is the NSW State election in March...

We now need our NSW members and supporters to help us to double up! If you live in NSW, stay tuned for information on how you can get involved.

Onward and upward!

Kind regards

William

William Bourke
Sustainable Australia Party

John Bentley

Tue, 2018-12-11 09:27

Thanks for article Matthew, however, I think the most critical parameter in the face of climate change is TIME. I believe that we only have 2 or 3 years to take affirmative action on climate change before it becomes irreversible. I also don't believe that we're being told the truth or at least all the facts regarding global warming. Below is an email I sent to Will Steffen of the Climate Council. Professor Will Steffen, Thanks for your email, however, I believe that climate change has us by the short and curlies. It is high time we started calling a spade a spade and instead of calling a drought a drought we call it climate change. We receive report after report of extreme temperatures, wild weather and raging bushfires, but we still call them freak events and make excuses for their occurrence. The latest has been the Deepwater National Park blaze where rain forest (which is not supposed to burn) went up in smoke. This was treated by governments, their bureaucracies and the mainstream media as a freak event! There was no science attached to the cause of the fire to proliferate whatsoever! An example of this was realised this week when the Bureau of Meteorology (BoMb) released an information bulletin regarding the existence of an Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event taking place off the Western Australian coast. JAMSTEC (the Japanese weather bureau) heralded the arrival of a Positive IOD back in June saying that it would be moderate to severe and would last from July until the New Year. The Indian Ocean Dipole has a dramatic effect on the weather of south eastern Australia, a Positive IOD will render drier than normal conditions while a Negative IOD will realise higher than average rainfall. In the 13 years of the Big Dry, 6 of those years (1997, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008-9) were Positive IOD with only 2 years of El Nino. While we splashed around in puddles from 2010-12 all 3 years were both Negative IOD and La Nina. Further to this JAMSTEC identified in October another influence manifesting itself on the WA coast, that of Ningaloo Nina. In 2016 JAMSTEC identified a Ningaloo Nino in the same area. I’m yet to scrub up on the latest phenomenon, but it has coincided with some wild weather in northern Victoria. From what I understand it was the wild westerly winds (Barra) that did the damage in Queensland feeding hot dry air onto the usually moist north Queensland coast at the end of the dry season that exacerbated the fires. This was just another freak event for the MSM who in another shark feeding frenzy saw it for all it was worth. There was no science behind why rain forest went up in smoke like it did, there was no science from the BoMb. It was just a freak event! We talk about climate change as if we have light years before it arrives, but I believe that we don’t have light years, we probably only have 2 or 3 years before we need some kind of affirmative action. Unfortunately, I, like Professor Steve Keen, can’t see anything happening until the penny drops that the shit has hit the fan and: what do we do?? The Paris Agreement is just a dream especially while we’ve climate deniers left, right and centre and one of them the President of the US. Leadership is leadership and the only other world leader capable of grasping the reins is Xi Jinping. Where are the China bashers now?? John Bentley

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2018-12-08 23:06

Actually,I don't think it is facebook page. I've just copied and pasted and posted what was on the page - i.e. a statement of support from university colleagues. Our universities really are stuffed, stuffed shirts and stuffed in terms of worthless and useless corporate and politically corrupt. Scary, because most people still take them seriously.

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2018-12-08 23:02

"Statement from University of Sydney staff in opposition to the suspension pending dismissal of Dr Tim Anderson The suspension of Dr Tim Anderson pending the termination of his employment is an unacceptable act of censorship and a body-blow to academic freedom at the University of Sydney. Academic freedom is meaningless if it is suspended when its exercise is deemed offensive. Academics’ continuing employment cannot be conditional on their scholarly activities remaining within the bounds of ‘civility’, ‘respect’, or any other contested and intrinsically indefinable constraint. There can be no better-known or more banal occurrence in intellectual history than the suppression of ideas on the grounds of their offensiveness to powerful interests. In instilling a fear of arbitrary reprisal, this suppression stifles the very freedom of debate and of thought that education requires. Whether an idea is ultimately accepted by the scholarly community is irrelevant: to censor it, and thereby to prevent it being seriously entertained – and, where necessary, rejected – is fatally to hamstring the open conduct of scholarly enquiry. By expressing our unconditional opposition to Dr Anderson’s dismissal, we endorse neither the specific parallel of Israel and Nazi Germany, nor any of Dr Anderson’s other political or intellectual positions. But we insist that the drawing of historical comparisons between the actions of states is essential to intellectual and educational work, and must not be subject to a priori constraints. Dr Anderson’s dismissal would be a dangerous, unjustifiable and intolerable attack on the basic conditions necessary for the university to function as an intellectual and educational institution. If it goes ahead, the precedent it will establish will vitiate any claim the university might make to respect the open pursuit of ideas. We call on the university’s management to reinstate Dr Anderson immediately. Dr Nick Riemer (English and Linguistics) Dr David Brophy (History) Professor Linda Connor (Anthropology) Professor Colin Wight (Government and International Relations) Dr Rebecca Pearse (Political Economy) Dr Bruce Gardiner (English) Dr Michael Beggs (Political Economy) Professor John Frow (English) Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees (Peace and Conflict Studies) Dr Benjamin Miller (Writing Studies) Dr Bill Dunn (Political Economy) Dr Robert Austin (History) Dr Gareth Bryant (Political Economy) Associate Professor Charlotte Epstein (Government and International Relations) Dr Thomas Adams (History) Associate Professor Jake Lynch (Peace and Conflict Studies) Emeritus Professor Frank Stilwell (Political Economy) Professor James Martin (Linguistics) Professor Michael McDonnell (History) Dr Stephen Whiteman (Art History) Dr Louise Marshall (Art History) Dr Coel Kirkby (Sydney Law School) Associate Professor Bronwyn Winter (European Studies) Honorary Associate Professor Stuart Rosewarne (Political Economy) Professor Adam Morton (Political Economy) Dr Martin Kear (Government and International Relations) Dr Evan Jones (Political Economy) Dr Joe Collins (Political Economy) Associate Professor John Grumley (Philosophy) Associate Professor Ahmar Mahboob (Linguistics) Dr Mark Post (Linguistics) Dr Sebastian Job (Anthropology) Dr Jadran Mimica (Anthropology) Dr Leah Lui-Chivizhe (History) Dr Stewart Jackson (Government and International Relations) Dr Luis Angosto Ferrandez (Anthropology) Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson (History) Dr Christopher Hartney (Studies in Religion) Associate Professor Dilip Dutta (Economics) Dr Sonja Van Wichelen (Sociology) Dr Beth Yahp (English) Dr Gaynor Macdonald (Anthropology) Dr. Anastasia Burkovskaya (Economics) Ms Isabella Dabaja (Work and Organisational Studies) Mr Llewellyn Williams-Brooks (Political Economy)" Source: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdk-ejNiWkhvtN8xVn3ZZTZNLThn9XiLXnbOI0oQ6LR8XPErA/viewform

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2018-12-08 22:59

Crispin Hull has written a perceptive article about too high immigration and the Scanlon Foundation's immigration propaganda:

A SURVEY on immigration published this week seems to fly in the face of all other indications showing that more Australians are objecting to high immigration.

This week’s survey reports that 52 per cent of respondents think Australia’s immigration intake is about right or too low. That seems to run counter to other polls and broader political concern that immigration is too high, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying that he had heard “loud and clear” that “Australians in our biggest cities are concerned about population. Read more/

Matt (not verified)

Fri, 2018-12-07 09:20

In summary feminism of the 70's seemed to be: - Women should be presented OR treated as sex objects. Feminism of the 2000's: - Women should be able to present themselves as sex objects BUT not be treated as sex objects (or least be able to choose when they can be and can not be, and who by). Thus the modern version is built on an-unresolvable contradictory demands. And I would say the modern version seeks to exploit male desire as it see's fit, and also is about rights and NO responsibilities. Perhaps that manipulation and un-winnable game being played with them as pawns is why some men seem so angry.

Matthew Mitchell

Fri, 2018-12-07 08:13

Yes, definitely we are fighting each other rather than the forces that are manipulating us in various ways. But to be honest Sheila, I do not understand modern feminism. I always thought that one major aspect of feminism was the objectification of women (i.e them being presented as sex objects rather than people). But now that seems to have not only dropped off the agenda - but completely reversed - women who objectify themselves are regarded as heros - see Madonna and Lady Gaga etc - and instead of fighting against the presentation of women as objects the fight is (or so it seems) to allow women to be appear as sex objects, but men are not see them that way. So men are supposed to ignore the appearance of women, and if they complain about this crazy contradiction they are accused of 'slut shaming'. It puts us in a very awkward situation, of having to look away even as the dress of some girls gets more and more 'expressive', and we risk being accused of 'inappropriate' staring, even if not engaged in such. I have experienced this. The truth is your appearance does matter. and yes, you can dress how you want, and you will be treated accordingly. The idea that anyone should be able to dress how they like and be treated with respect means that I should (in feminist theory) even as a man be able to get up and give a lecture wearing just lingerie and still be treated seriously by the audience (not going to happen!). So men are caught in a world where women's sexuality is flaunted at them left right and centre - in fact pushed on them by advertisers and pop stars - who are all happy to make money and fame out of men's inclinations, but then if someone like Geoffrey Rush makes groping gestures above a girl (disgusting I admit) it is treated like a major criminal offence (if he even did it). As I say - the hypocracy of the movement makes it unaccepted to me. And it seems to me that everyone is allowed to exploit men's desire, and they can be stimulated left right and centre, but if they act on that they are demonised. I am not saying sexual harassment is good - but even behaviours that are not technically harassment (it requires a power element, which a street wolf whistler does not have) - are treated as major offences. While the major offense to me is to have to put up with all the tartiness around us - as such I avoid much of TV. But that is not seen as an issue, and to raise it marks me as part of 'an oppressive patriarchy'.

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