Comments

Good letter, Geoff.
What appalls me is that we import “skilled”, trained migrants from third-world countries – let these poor countries bear the burden of training – and a the same time we strangle Australian training institutions such as TAFE.
Yet another example of siphoning money from the poor to the rich.
George

There a deeply ingrained ideology that the Left must advocate for an open-door policy and that nations that restrict entry to anyone is "racist". To accept that Australia's population growth rate is unsustainable, and inherently connected with the environment and demands on natural resources, would be a contradiction in terms for the Greens. So, they must greenwash away any thought of limiting population as the route to sustainability. Where humans are concerned, their rights are paramount, over the environment. It troubling and inconsistent of the Greens and they are caught in their own trap. No wonder they are stuck as a protest party, and never seem to really bloom. To many contradictions.

[Comment republished from Geoff's email correspondence - Ed. Candobetter.net]

Hi Geoff,

Pretty ridiculous how they think a reduction in immigration will lead to a population reduction, when clearly all it will do is slow the increase.

In fact that entire paragraph is quite pointed. She refers to integration of cultures, but I’ll bet you she claims to be in favour of multiculturalism. Conflating the two terms is something the pro-immigration lobby all do. Yet the difference could not be more stark: under multiculturalism, whether a country has a consensus culture the people can rely on (such as a default language) becomes entirely dependent on which culture has the greater numbers. Whole suburbs become effectively excluded from incumbent Australians as a dominant culture takes over.

They also all love to invoke nostalgia surrounding the Snowy Mountains Scheme (which is what she mainly refers to in “recovery post World War II”). Not that there ever was a post-war depression in Australia in the first place. In fact war always provides opportunities for industrial nations not deeply involved in the conflict to supply one side or the other with weapons and other equipment, as well as rebuild afterwards. War was not something this country needed to “recover” from. “Recovery” here is a term economic rationalists like to use, because they believe economic growth is the single highest ideal Man can strive for. “It lifts all boats” they say, when really it’s been shown time and time again that in the long term it does little more than increase the divide between rich and poor and degrade the environment - making us all poorer. The Snowy Mountains scheme itself by the way, may have engendered a lot of nationalistic pride, but it didn’t meet expectations for power production, has left the Snowy River a mere trickle, and severely impacted that watershed and its ecology. It’s not something to celebrate. What’s more the post-war influx of immigration also created Sydney’s first urban sprawl.

The other bit of nostalgia the immigration lobby love to use is reminiscing about the “cultural diversity” immigration has brought us. Sure, we now have cuisine we didn’t have before, but those effects are a one-off. Bringing in more migrants from those same cultures isn’t going to introduce more novel delights. Instead we have what has been referred to as the “MacDonalds-isation” of culture: the same everywhere you go. True diversity is what the Aborigines had: countless tribes with over 1000 different languages, each with a different culture necessitated by the different environments in which they lived. Yet it was immigration that snuffed all that out.

This leads to a very profound question regarding the nature of community. Communities are relatively small groups, functionally (often geographically) separated from the surrounding population. You don’t get a sense of community when people are crowded together. Instead Homo sapiens natural response is to become competitive, rather than cooperative. This is why there is so much social decay in this country; our population policies have created an “every man for himself” mentality.

The Greens believe in what has been termed “decoupled” economic growth. That is, growth in production without the attendant “throughput” of pollution and increased use of finite resources. The truth is, the larger the population, the harder it is to accomplish such a task. Renewable energy can only achieve so much. Ultimately it is self defeating, particularly when you consider that economic growth is inseparable from consumerism.

This is why I’m disillusioned with the Greens. If they’re the most progressive, forward-thinking option we’ve got, we’re doomed.

Regards, Peter.

People interested in Syria should look at this link to a Democracy Now episode from 10 years ago. A journalist, Reese Erlich, interviewed Assad. DN played the video, and then interviewed Erlich, plus British journalist, Patrick Seale.

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/7/18/u_s_exclusive_syrian_president_bashar

The story shows that the U.S. was threatening war against Syria 10 years ago; that Assad was trying to explain to the U.S. about the stabilizing role Syria played in the region, and how "destabilizing Syria (...) is going to destabilize the region."

The detail is really fascinating and predictive. Assad refers obliquely to rendition programs as helping the US after 9-11. Then he says how he felt that the US was not acting to prevent terrorism. Etc.

U.S. EXCLUSIVE: Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad on U.S. Foreign Policy, the Resistance in Iraq, Syrian-Lebanese Relations and More (July 18, 2006)

In a Democracy Now U.S. broadcast exclusive, we air an interview with Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad. He spoke with independent journalist Reese Erlich last month in Damascus in a wide-ranging interview on United States foreign policy, resistance to the occupation of Iraq, Syrian relations with Lebanon and much more. [includes rush transcript]

As the bombardment of Lebanon continues, the United States and Israel have been calling on Syria to pressure Hezbollah to back down and release the two captured Israeli soldiers.

On Monday President Bush was caught on tape speaking privately to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. On the tape, he curses and blames Syria for the current crisis. Meanwhile, former CIA Director James Woolsey, appeared on Fox yesterday to call for US air strikes against Syria.

Damascus has warned that it will respond in a "unlimited" manner to any Israeli attacks on the country. Meanwhile, a massive pro-Hezbollah rally was held in Damascus yesterday.

Today, a Democracy Now U.S. broadcast exclusive: An interview with Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad. Last month, he gave a wide-ranging interview to independent journalist Reese Erlich in Damascus. Erlich is a freelance foreign correspondent who reports regularly for CBC, ABC Australia, Radio Deutche Welle and National Public Radio. He also co-author of the book "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You"

In the interview, Asad discusses United States foreign policy, resistance to the occupation of Iraq, Syrian relations with Lebanon and much more.

Bashar Al-Asad, president of Syria interviewed by freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich on June 14, 2006.

We get response on Bashar Al-Asad’s comments from British journalist Patrick Seale, a British journalist who has covered the Middle East for over 30 years. He is the author of the definitive biography of Bashar Al-Asad’s father Hafez, titled "Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East"

Patrick Seale, British journalist who has covered the Middle East for over 30 years. He is the author of "Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East"

TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: On Monday, President Bush was caught on tape at the G8 summit speaking privately to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. On the tape, he curses and blames Syria for the current crisis.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s*** and it’s over.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, former CIA director, James Woolsey, appeared on FOX yesterday to call for U.S. air strikes against Syria. Damascus has warned that it will respond in a "unlimited manner" to any Israeli attacks on the country. Meanwhile, a massive pro-Hezbollah rally was held in Damascus yesterday.

Today we bring you a Democracy Now! U.S. broadcast exclusive, an interview with Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad. Last month he gave a wide-ranging interview to independent journalist, Reese Erlich, in Damascus. Erlich’s a freelance foreign correspondent, reports regularly for CBC, ABC Australia, Radio Deutsche Welle, National Public Radio. Reese Erlich is also co-author of the book Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You, and he now joins us from San Francisco. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Reese.

REESE ERLICH: Thanks very much, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about this interview that we’re about to play? What were the circumstances of it? Where did you interview the President of Syria?

REESE ERLICH: I interviewed him at the presidential palace, up on a hill above Damascus, where he has his formal meetings. It’s a very impressive place. You go in, and you have about eight miles of red carpet and huge doors, and it’s quite an impressive entrance. And then, out of a little room comes the President of Syria and welcomes you in and shakes your hand. He’s a very friendly guy. I’ve had an opportunity to interview presidents from a number of different countries, and most of them are rather stiff and formal. He was very informal, easy to talk to, was forthcoming in the interview. And we talked about a whole range of issues, from Iran and Syria and U.S. relations and terrorism down to issues of democratic rights inside Syria.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to the first part of that interview right now, where, Reese Erlich, you started by asking President Bashar Al-Asad if he was concerned the United States might also be considering Syria as a target for military action. Mind you, this is before the current conflict. You asked him if the U.S. might also consider Syria as a target. This is the President of Syria answering.

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Actually, Syria has a history of 5,000 years, and it made its history, it makes its presence, and it will make its future. The people in Syria will decide who’s going to be in charge, who’s going on the helm and who’s not. But the most important thing, whoever think about destabilizing Syria, he should know that he’s going to destabilize the region. We are the safety valve in the region.

REESE ERLICH: The safety valve?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Yeah, safety valve in the region.

REESE ERLICH: What way? How?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: In a geopolitical way. Geopolitical way. The history of Syria, the road of the Syria and the region, the link between Syria and our neighbors, social links, ideological links, and the interest links with the region. So the whole region is connected with each other.

REESE ERLICH: You mentioned that in the past Syria has helped provide intelligence about terrorist groups, al-Qaeda and so on. Explain that. And when did that cooperation end?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Actually, we started cooperating with the United States — we took the initiative to cooperate with the United States intelligence after 11th of September. And we succeeded in preventing more than seven plots made by al-Qaeda against the United States. The cooperation stopped last March 2005, because of mistakes were made by the United States, first; second, because of their political position or stand against Syria.

REESE ERLICH: What were the mistakes made by the United States?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Technical mistakes that led to losing many opportunities to go forward in fighting terrorism in the region.

REESE ERLICH: That was also around the time in which the U.S. was pressuring Lebanon to demand the return of Syrian troops and the charges about Hariri, and so on and so forth. So, did that, in general, sour the political atmosphere?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Definitely, definitely.

REESE ERLICH: Do you think the Bush administration will militarily attack Iran, using the issue of nuclear weapons development, supposedly, that Iran is involved in? Do you think that’s likely?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Anyway, it’s a hypothetical question, but if we want to talk about logic and the interest of the region and of the United States and the rest of the world, it’s not to do such a thing, because the whole world would pay a very expensive price.

REESE ERLICH: What would be the consequences if the U.S. did either try to impose sanctions or even a military strike on Iran?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Sanctions won’t do anything, from the experience in Iraq, in many different countries. Sanctions won’t do anything. But the consequences of destabilizing the region by sanctions, by military actions, by any kind of means, will lead to destabilizing the whole Middle East.

REESE ERLICH: Iran has a number of options, should something like that happen. For example, it can work with its supporters in Iraq to attack U.S. forces, when they’re not doing that now. It has influence with Hezbollah, and it could inflame the situation there. Do you think those would be some of the examples of the destabilization?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: I think the question should be, as to the Iranian, I mean, both, they’re going to do. But for me, the consequences are much deeper, if you look at Iraq as an example. You cannot talk about factions or parties or groups. It’s much more deeper than this. It’s chaos. It’s going to be a total chaos.

AMY GOODMAN: Reese Erlich interviewing the President of Syria. We’re going to go back to that interview, joined by Reese Erlich in studio in San Francisco and Patrick Seale, British journalist who’s covered the Middle East for over 30 years, who wrote the biography of Asad called Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East.

Patrick Seale, I wanted to go to you in France right now to give us a little background on Asad, on the President of Syria, and to also your response to this first part of the interview.

PATRICK SEALE: Well, as you know, he’s been in power for about six years now. He took over from his father, when his father died in June 2000. He is an eye doctor, trained as an eye doctor in Britain and in Syria. He wasn’t really prepared for power, so he’s had a rather hard innings, particularly, of course, since the attack on Iraq by the United States, which is probably go down in history as a monumental blunder. Nevertheless, he has proved a very tough defender of Syrian interests, and it’s striking that he should make this claim, that whoever — that to destabilize Syria is to destabilize the whole region. I think that’s really, in a way, one of his key remarks. He points to his concern and his attempt to persuade the world that Syria has an important regional role and continues to have that role.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you give us more on the background, Patrick Seale, of how Bashar Al-Asad rose to power? And then, also, if you could talk about the reference to Rafik Hariri, the Lebanese leader who was assassinated last year.

PATRICK SEALE: Well, he rose to power — in a way, it was a sort of joint decision of the political elite in Damascus after his father died. He seemed a natural candidate, and in fact his father had, I think, to some extent, prepared him for this task in the six years since his elder brother, Basil, died in a car crash. His elder brother, Basil, was the acknowledged heir. When he died, then they recalled Dr. Bashar from London, where he was studying ophthalmology, and he was then trained to succeed his father. As I said, it’s not been an easy problem.

Now, the Lebanon is vitally important for Syria’s security. Syria cannot tolerate a hostile power in the Lebanon, and this, I think, lies at the root of much of Syria’s policy. If you may recall that in 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, killing about 17,000 Lebanese and Palestinians and attempting to bring Lebanon into its orbit with the help of the United States. George Shultz, at the time, the American Secretary of State, tried to broker a separate peace between Israel and Lebanon, which would have put Lebanon in Israel’s sphere of influence, and the Israelis were anxious to install a puppet government in Beirut, which would do their bidding.

Now, the Syrians managed to overturn that accord and bring Lebanon back into their sphere of influence, which, as I said, is necessary for their security, but is also a reflection of the numerous ties between the two countries. They are tied, intimately tied, by the family ties, trade ties, financial ties and, of course, historical ties. So for all these reasons, Syria has a very strong interest in the Lebanon.

Now, we don’t know whether or not Syria killed the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri. The investigation into that matter is still continuing, and indeed into the murders which followed. Many people have pointed the finger at Syria and have argued that Rafik Hariri wanted to change the relationship between the two countries. But, as I say, it remains unproven to this day.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to talk to you about the cooperation between Syria and the United States, but first, we’re going to go back to the interview. Again, this is an interview done before the current conflict. Independent reporter Reese Erlich in this Democracy Now! U.S. broadcast exclusive, speaking to the President of Syria, Bashar Al-Asad.

REESE ERLICH: Does Syria plan to demarcate its borders with Lebanon — and then, a second related question — or open embassies between the two?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: The first part about the borders, we had a letter, formal letter, from the Lebanese prime minister, and we sent him a reply, formal reply, that we are ready to demarcate the borders. We don’t have any problem, because we had such a problem with Jordan a few years ago, and we solved it.

About the embassies, as a concept, we cannot say we don’t want to have an embassy in another country, as a concept, but that needs normal relation. Now, we don’t have this normal relation with the Lebanese, so it needs better relation to discuss this issue.

REESE ERLICH: What kinds of issues would have to be resolved in order to have a normal relation?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: First of all, not to have a government that works against your country. This is first of all. And second of all, you need the Syrians to feel that they have real neighbors, not cradle for or not a hub for terrorists to come and do such terrorist acts in Syria.

REESE ERLICH: One last question, what would it take to improve relations between the United States and Syria now? Are there any steps that could be taken that would improve them?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Definitely by the United States, not by Syria, because we did a lot, and we couldn’t get any result, because they don’t have the will. So first of all, they should know and they should understand the situation in the region. They should appreciate the role of Syria in the region. They should know that we have common interests that they don’t see. And I think they should be neutral in dealing with our causes. That’s how we can get back our relation to normal.

REESE ERLICH: So, do you want to be any more specific about your causes and [inaudible]?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Yeah, definitely. The most important thing, our occupied land, Golan Heights. The United States should take into consideration that we see everything in Syria through our occupied land. Without talking about peace process, in order to get this land back, what the benefit of this relation?

REESE ERLICH: Anything else you would like to add, in a message to the American people?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: I think after the 11th of September, which was a very tough lesson, not to the United States people, to everybody in this world, first of all, you should learn more about what’s going on behind the ocean, all over the world. You should send more people, more delegations to meet with other cultures to discuss with them, to know the facts, not to be isolated away from the rest of the world.

AMY GOODMAN: Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad. When we come back from break, he will talk about the war in Iraq, and we’ll continue with our conversation with Patrick Seale, who wrote the biography of Asad, called Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East. And we’ll also speak with Reese Erlich, who did the interview with the Syrian president in Damascus.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: We’ll continue our interview that we’re bringing you in this U.S. broadcast exclusive. Independent journalist Reese Erlich was in Damascus last month and interviewed the President of Syria, Bashar Al-Asad. We’re also joined on the telephone by Patrick Seale from France, who wrote the biography of Asad’s father. It’s called Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East. Patrick Seale, as you listen to this interview and hear Bashar Al-Asad talk about the United States, can you comment on the relationship that Asad has had with the United States, as well as Lebanon?

PATRICK SEALE: Well, Syria has — there’s a terrible noise on this line. Can you hear it?

AMY GOODMAN: We can hear the sound, but we can also hear — we can hear you.

PATRICK SEALE: Can you hear me?

AMY GOODMAN: Yes, I hear you fine.

PATRICK SEALE: Well, it’s incredible noise. One second, please.

AMY GOODMAN: We can hear you, if you can try to ignore the sound. We can hear you fine.

PATRICK SEALE: Well, Syria has always sought better relations with the United States. Now, it’s suffered very much from what it considers America’s alignment on Israel. Indeed, it’s striking that President Bashar should urge the United States to be more even-handed, more neutral in its approach to the Middle East, not only, of course, on the Palestinian question, but also on the subject very dear to Syrian hearts, the occupied Golan. Now, as you know, Israel occupied the Golan in 1967, and the United States, in spite of Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, has allowed that occupation to stand, as it has allowed the occupation of Palestinian territories to stand for the last 39 years. The United States allowed Israel to occupy Lebanon, Southern Lebanon, for 22 years, and occupy the Palestinian territories for 39 years. Now, these are the reasons why many, many Arabs are very disgruntled, very hostile to the United States. Now, the United States believes that Israel can use force to protect its own supremacy in the region, but this is increasingly contested.

And so, in terms of President Bashar Al-Asad, he made very clear that Syria cannot tolerate the use of Lebanon to mount hostile operations against Syria. That’s when he was answering the question about why not restore — have an exchange of embassies, have diplomatic relations with Lebanon. He said, 'Well, we could do that once we have normal relations and once we have a Lebanese government in Beirut which doesn't work against Syria or cooperate with its enemies.’ So he was very clear on all those issues, and his appeal to the United States was to understand the region better, understand that there are other countries in the region, apart from Israel, with whom the United States has common interests, and should recognize those interests.

AMY GOODMAN: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh detailed several years ago how the Bush administration destroyed U.S.-Syrian relations by attacking a convoy of cars inside Syria in an attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein. It turned out the convoy was made up of cars that were smuggling goods out of Iraq, and Syria has since stopped cooperating with the United States.

PATRICK SEALE: Well, that’s true. It wasn’t just that. I mean, Syria, like many other countries in the world, like France, like Germany, was very much opposed to the attack on Iraq. The Syrians had no love for Saddam Hussein, but the idea that the United States should attack — I mean, an unprovoked attack against a major Arab country — and smash it and kill tens of thousands of people, and then accuse Syria, of all countries, of interfering or Iran of interfering, when the United States, which previously had opposed, over the horizon, of keeping away from the heartland of the Middle East, suddenly makes this qualitative leap of attacking a major Arab state, this has caused consternation in the region.

And, of course, the Syrians feel threatened. They feel that they may be next. At least they felt that in the earlier stages of the attack. Now, I think they feel a bit more confident, because of the quagmire in which the United States finds itself. I mean, it looks very much as if the neo-cons, the pro-Israeli neo-cons, in influential positions in the U.S. administration took the United States for a ride. They involved it in this attack on Iraq, no doubt believing this would improve Israel’s strategic environment. But this has proved to be a catastrophe for the United States, extremely costly in men and treasure.

AMY GOODMAN: Patrick Seale, we’re going to go back to the interview that independent journalist Reese Erlich did with the President of Syria, Bashar Al-Asad, last month, again, before the current conflict.

REESE ERLICH: President Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad today, or yesterday and today. Zarqawi was killed. Do you think that — the Bush administration is trying to say that they’re making progress now in Iraq. Do you think — well, first of all, do you think that’s accurate, or do you think the U.S. in some ways has actually already lost the war?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Lost the war and making progress are linked together, so have to ask about the goal first. So you have goal, democracy, the answer is very clear: the situation is much worse than before, even during Saddam’s, that we don’t defend in Syria. If they talk about better living standards, the situation much, much worse than before. If they are talking about development, about infrastructure, about anything, so everything is worse. So that depends on what the goal of the war.

You cannot talk about occupation. I mean, occupation is not the goal of the war. This is the mean, occupation. But if we talk about the military side of the war, killing Americans every day in Iraq, and, of course, killing Iraqis, tens of Iraqis every week, is that the goal of the war from the military point of view? I don’t think so. The answer is very clear for us.

REESE ERLICH: But even in a military sense, the U.S. no longer controls certain areas of Iraq. It’s very unstable, even in the south, in the Basra area. It would seem that even from a strictly military standpoint, the situation has gotten worse from the U.S. Do you think that’s true?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: It’s self-evident. No power, no military power in the world, even the United States, can control a small country militarily. You can only control a country if the people wants you to control it. When the people are against you — and this is very normal to have the people against the occupation in Iraq and in any other country — you are going to have resistance, and you will not control anything. This is normal.

REESE ERLICH: What do you think the outcome is going to be, if you said a few years from now, what do you think the situation will look like in Iraq?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: That depends on the constitution, first of all. You need consensus. If you want to talk about the future of Iraq, we should talk about a consensus about something, and normally the future of Iraq is going to be inside the constitution. So far, according to what we hear from many Iraqi factions, some factions think they are oppressed, so this needs to be re-evaluated. I think this is at the core of the future. If there’s no consensus about the constitution, you will have conflict or maybe a civil war. This is the core, not having a new government or having some relation. This is good, we support in Syria. We support the political process, but this is not enough. This is for the short term, it’s okay. For the long term, no, it’s not enough.

REESE ERLICH: Sources have told me you’ve been involved in promoting some negotiations between the Sunni resistance and the government. Is that accurate?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Actually, what we tried to promote is the unified Iraq. This is the only thing. We tried to see what’s in common between the whole Iraqis, and we tried to make some negotiations, some marketing, some ideas that the Iraqi would think it helps unifying Iraq or keep it unified, so far. And this is how we put our role as, in general.

REESE ERLICH: But, specifically, have you helped facilitate some talks between the resistance, the people opposed, fighting the United States, and the Iraqi government?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Actually, there’s a delegation that comes to Syria. We don’t know if they are resistance or not. They are Iraqis. And they don’t know — nobody knows who are the resistance. Only the Iraqis. So don’t believe if anyone tells you that he knows what the resistance? So, but definitely, most of them, most of the Iraqis that we meet, they are supporting the resistance, at least politically.

REESE ERLICH: And are you trying to facilitate the political supporters to hold negotiations with the government?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Yeah, we always say that we are ready to help in any way, but definitely Syria is open for this, and we tried to. Yeah, we did some effort.

REESE ERLICH: There’s been recent deaths on the beach in Gaza. Hamas has ended its ceasefire with Israel. What is your — it seems like a very great struggle is re-emerging now in Palestine. What is your prediction for the next short-term period in Palestine?

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: You mean the Palestinian-Palestinan relation or Palestinian —

REESE ERLICH: Palestinian-Israeli relations, yeah.

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASAD: Of course, when you have conflict between the Palestinians, you won’t have a peace talk in the near future. So I’m talking about — I’m talking from the West’s point of view now. From our point of view, it’s something — between the Palestinians, it’s something humanitarian, that we consider them as brothers.

But I think the Palestinians are paying the price of Oslo, treaty in 1993, and this is first. Second, they paid the price of the paralyzed peace process, especially after the 2000 negotiation at Camp David and the deadlock that they reached between the Palestinian and the Israeli and the negligence of the American administration of the peace process, in general.

AMY GOODMAN: The President of Syria, Bashar Al-Asad, speaking with independent journalist, Reese Erlich. We’re going to go to him in a minute, but I wanted to ask Patrick Seale quickly, in France, about how much control you think Syria has over Hezbollah in Lebanon now.

PATRICK SEALE: Hezbollah is, of course, its ally, as it is the ally of Iran. This doesn’t mean that it has full control over Hezbollah. Hezbollah has become an autonomous player, particularly ever since it managed to expel the Israelis from Lebanon, from most of Lebanon, in the year 2000. Of course, Israel continues to occupy a small area known as the Shebaa Farms on the pretext that they actually belong to Syria, rather than Lebanon. Syria says, no, these are Lebanese. But nevertheless, the Israelis maintain their occupation there and, of course, are holding a lot of prisoners. Now, both the Hamas attack, in which was captured an Israeli soldier, and Hezbollah’s attack, which captured two Israeli soldiers, these were intended to act — to serve as bargaining quarters to force Israel to release some of the many, many prisoners it holds. It holds about 10,000.

AMY GOODMAN: Patrick Seale, we’re going to leave it there for today. We’re going to play more of the interview tomorrow. Reese Erlich, we have 30 seconds. Your final comment today on this part of the interview you did with the Syrian president.

REESE ERLICH: Well, I think it’s clear that he has accurately portrayed the difficulties the U.S. faces in Iraq. It’s an unwinnable war. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing Iraq to live in Syria, including 18,000 Christian Iraqis, who have fled as a result of their churches being attacked and their communities being attacked, something that even Saddam Hussein never dared to do.

AMY GOODMAN: Reese Erlich, I want to thank you for sharing this interview. We’ll play more of it tomorrow. Reese Erlich, independent journalist, recently back from Syria. And Patrick Seale, author of Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East. Tomorrow, again, part two of the interview.

Syrian Perspective has also just announced that Al Bab Aleppo has fallen, ISIS fled to Raqqa
http://syrianperspective.com/2016/01/isis-flees-al-baab-in-aleppo-withdraws-completely-to-al-raqqa-army-to-enter-city-any-minute.html

Al-Baab: It had to happen sooner or later. The terrorists belonging to ISIS were warned in the city of Al-Baab that they would be exterminated along with their stinking families if they did not leave. Turk terrorist handlers were overheard telling the rodents to abandon Al-Baab for the city for Al-Raqqa, specifically in the town of Tabaqa, where, conveniently, American Special Operations commandos are located to help them readjust. The vermin collected their families and set out sporadically in a disjointed convoy designed to prevent casualties. There were 20 cars and 1 large bus which conveyed the stinking rodents. The SAA and PDC are only 5 kilometers away from the southern entrance to the city. It is expected that the army will occupy Al-Baab over the next 4 hours. Al-Baab is 35kms from Aleppo City and only 13kms from the Turk border.

It had become obvious to the Turks that the SAA was going to overrun Al-Baab after Syrian government forces liberated southern satellite villages such as Al-Multaffa, Al-‘Abboodiyya, Al-‘Aajooziyya, Rasm Sirhaan and Sirhaan Farms.
In the West, the SAAF and RuAF have been pulverizing Nusra and Jaysh Al-Fathpositions at Hardatnayn, Hayyaan, Bayaanoon, Tal Rif’aat. At the first town, the SAAF destroyed 2 HQs belonging to Nusra/Alqaeda.

This letter will be effective because it has been published and also sent all over the place by email and facebook. The author obviously knows that writing to a Minister is like putting messages in a bottle and sending them out to sea, but publishing them all over the place might just alert people. Here is a great article about the need to abandon process prescribed by the enemy:

Give up hope, its the best chance we have to save everything we love.

If you heard the reports this morning on the ABC, you would at least conclude that the ABC is one source you definitely CAN’T trust! A report by Sophie McNeill from Istanbul, referred to the IS ‘threat to Turkey’, as if she had no idea that Turkey is IS main sponsor, Oil trader and arms supplier, nor the Erdogan is a pathological liar and war criminal. She then echoed his demented words by saying that ‘3 Russian nationals has been arrested in SE Turkey in connection with the bombing.’ Given that the Army of Conquest, the Saudi-Turkish mercenary force in Syria is purportedly composed of mostly Turkish Turkmen and Chechens, there are quite a few thousand of those ‘Russian nationals’ currently fighting for Turkey in Syria, whether there or with ‘IS’ – which may just be a label or generic name for all the takfiri fighters. The ABC then compounded the story by telling us – and it was a big shock to me – that Australian army members are now part of the UAE armed forces fighting against the Houthis in Yemen – or rather assisting the Saudi coalition’s insane and illegal bombing campaign against the Yemeni resistance and national independence movement of which the Houthis are part. And the ABC says – this is OK because our forces in Iraq operate out of an air base in the UAE and the Emirates are a part of the coalition fighting Islamic State.

There were "credible reports of people dying from starvation" in Madaya, including a 53-year-old man who reportedly died. Two videos emerged today, filmed by a doctor with the Syrian American Medical Society, which has been working with residents of the besieged town of Madaya. In the pictures shown, a severely malnourished little boy is asked by the doctor what he would most like to eat. Western and Arab media used earlier taken unrelated photos, images of skin and bone bodies, widely circulating, falsely claiming they reflect Madaya starvation, wrongfully blaming Damascus for imposing siege conditions. It cited phony reports of Madaya residents "living on grass and leaves, and seeing family members dying of hunger or killed by (Syrian and Hezbollah) snipers..." "Actually, there was no starvation in Madaya,” Bashar Ja’afari (Syrian Ambassador to the UN) told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, where the UN Security Council met to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Syria. He said false information about starvation deaths in the Syrian town are aimed at “demonizing” Damascus and “torpedoing” peace negotiations due in the Swiss city of Geneva on January 25. While there are crises all over Syria and well-documented suffering that has produced millions of refugees, one would think there would not be a need to manufacture phony stories surrounding recycled pictures.

Title was: "I dont think he is innocent". - Ed

I don't think he is innocent but we don't know the full truth either because his mother said he had aspergers autism and I don't think that's true. People with aspergers do have a problem with their tempers but if Martin maybe she only said it to help him out because I've never heard of anyone else with it killing anyone and I don't believe the government had anything to do with it either I just think we don't know enough about what kind of problem he had that is what we should focus on.

Editor's response: I suggest you take the time to read the facts in this article and Was Martin Bryant the Port Arthur killer? (3/4/14). Should you decide that you still think he is guilty, then I suggest you explain what claims made by the authors are wrong and why.

Martin Bryant never faced a jury trial for allegedly killing 35 people at Port Arthur on 28 April 1996. Any competent juror would have easily been able to see the 'case' against Martin Bryant for the fabrication it was and he would have quickly been found not guilty. However, instead of facing trial, Martin Bryant was held in isolation for months and put under intense pressure to confess. It is claimed that at one point he confessed. After he 'confessed', the trial was called off and he was locked away. Martin Bryant's supposed defence attorney colluded in this frame-up.

Thanks for the timely reminder of the folly or should that be land grab by our elected representatives. Bob Gosford had an even more timely article, Good money after bad. The NT Government and the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (13/2/14) in the Land Rights News (Northern Edition) back in 2014 and can be found at: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2014/02/13/good-money-after-bad-the-nt-government-and-the-ord-river-irrigation-scheme/ (not http://blogs.crickey.com.au/northern/2014/02/13/good-money-after-bad-the-nt-government-and-the-ord-river-irrigation-scheme/ - Ed)

Not only is this throwing good money after bad, they made many of the same mistakes up north as they have in the Murray Darling Basin plus they have invented a few more to boot. I wonder whether the Food Bowl Modernisation Scheme can have the same disastrous effects up there as they did down here??

The Federal Liberal Government has released its mid-year economic review. Health cuts announced involve slashing workforce programs including education and training across the nation by $595 million over four years and bulk-billing changes to the tune of $650 million that will shift the cost back onto patients and the public hospital system. Queensland's health minister has heavily criticised the federal government over new health cuts he says will hit the state hard. Cameron Dick said the slashing of health funding will shift the cost back onto patients and the public hospital system. The population boom will mean less health care for each person. Independent Parliamentary Budget Office modelling confirms a 15% GST on everything will make all Australians pay: At least $10 billion every year more for fresh food, At least $7.4 billion every year more for school fees and education, and At least $9.6 billion every year more for healthcare; visiting the doctor. The cuts include: another $650m cut from Medicare by slashing bulk billing for diagnostic imaging and pathology services – services on which cancer patients rely; axing radiation and oncology programs; slashing $420m in aged care support for seniors with complex needs; and cuts to child care before the government’s reforms have even started. Medicare is being dismantled, piece by piece. There's no precedent for endless "economic growth". Instead of wallowing in increasing wealth, Australians are facing more austerity and cut-backs to meet budgetary short-falls. Despite the stringency, hardship, and increasing costs of health, education and welfare, our population growth is not being adjusted to match. We are still on a growth projectory, and "big Australia" is still on the horizon. There will be more of us in the future, but less spending on each individual.

There is a law under consideration in New York State to make support
for BDS and, actually, any public dissent against Israel, a
crime.     This is ridiculous, but it sets a terrible precedent and
everyone should sign the petition against it and forward widely. 
There is a link to the actual bills on the website

Say
No to Anti BDS Legislation in NY

The legislation would create “A LIST OF PERSONS IT DETERMINES
BOYCOTTS ISRAEL,” and defines boycotting Israel  as

“ENGAGING IN ACTIONS THAT ARE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED AND ARE
INTENDED TO PENALIZE, INFLICT ECONOMIC HARM ON, OR OTHERWISE
LIMIT COMMERCIAL  RELATIONS  WITH THE  STATE  OF  ISRAEL  OR
 COMPANIES BASED IN THE STATE OF ISRAEL OR IN TERRITORIES
CONTROLLED BY THE STATE OF ISRAEL.”

Who will it affect?

• Individuals or Community groups that support
  Palestinian human rights by supporting a boycott of Israel.
• Contractors and other businesses seeking partnerships
  with New York State.
• Non-profit organizations that receive New York State
  grants.

Say
No to Anti BDS Legislation in NY

Regarding Salt's pronouncement that "Mum's at work" and kids are in after-school activities, I would have thought the first would be the cause of the second. It's also a cyclic argument, that there are no back yards because kids don't have time to play in them, and parents are enslaved to paying off mortgages and costs of living. The demand for housing, and the crushing of our suburbs with high density housing, is manipulated by high population growth. Our lifestyles are being manipulated too, and robbing kids of the lifestyles of past generations. It's being twisted by Salt as if it's our own choice, and more "efficient" living! Back yards provide valuable play space for kids, and room to move. It's a place for pets, veggie patches, fruit trees, family gatherings, and part of our Australian culture. The only beneficiaries of the loss of amenities and back yards are the capitalistic owners/investors in property, and real estate industry. The big con is that we are better off, and more prosperous? Our living standards are being made more streamlined, and efficient, by having to do nothing but work, eat and survive. We are seen as no more than rats in a maze, trained to obey orders and forced to fit into a model imposed on us, and not unlike pigs in factory farm, with designer lives from birthing crates to the abattoir- streamlined to the fatal END.

As a late '49er I was born into a large family and raised in Kew with a small backyard and no room to have a kick of the footy. Our place backed onto the local council yard which became "ours" for footy, cricket or whatever. We later moved into a brick veneer at Lower Templestowe (don't know if A. V. Jennings was the builder) on a corner block with a large back yard, no incinerator. Backyards are wondrous places whether big, small or otherwise. As a kid I remember different things about both of them, they were both mystical and banal, they kept your secrets (I had a strong imagination, still have) and you could play for hours with or without your siblings and/or friends. Then as we grow up we discover that the backyard isn't big enough and we annex the community. There are those who are still growing up and want to annex anything and everything, but that's another story. Memories of growing up in the backyard are treasures I'll take to the grave, the good and the bad alike some were defining moments in my life, some painful others total rapture. "Leaner, cleaner more efficient way of living"?? I think Bernard should relax his grip as nothing could be further from the truth. Leaner - obesity is increasing rapidly, our bloated society; cleaner - definitely not, never has the world been more polluted; more efficient way of living - only if we make the effort but most of us don't and there's too many of us to boot. As the article states Salt is writing for Murdoch (he could also be writing for Fairfax) both companies are pro-growth, pro-big population, products of capitalistic absolutism, its what he gets paid to do although his scruples are in the sewer.

Ref: UEV-20151214-51249-USA Situation Update No. 1 On 2015-12-24 at 12:09:02 [UTC] Event: Non-categorized event Location: USA State of California Los Angeles County Situation A court ordered SoCal Gas Company to provide temporary housing for thousands of Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, residents made sick from fumes from a massive gas leak. An infrared camera captured the size of the gas plume that\'s been leaking for two months. The court order issued on Wednesday will come as a relief to more than 2,500 families in Porter Ranch, a northwest San Fernando Valley community, who have been waiting to be relocated by SoCal Gas since the leak began spewing methane into their homes and schools on October 23. As of Tuesday, the company had paid for temporary housing for more than 2,000 other households, according to the Los Angeles Times. There are 30,000 residents who live in Porter Ranch, an upscale bedroom community of gated developments where the average 4,000-square-foot home is sold for $1 million. Judge Emilie Elias directed the gas company to relocate the remaining residents within 24 to 72 hours. The court order follows a restraining order sought by the Los Angeles city attorney that would have required the company to relocate residents within 48 hours of their request, and called for a \"special master\" to oversee the moves. The gas company is having increasing difficulty finding alternative housing nearby, because most of the available hotel, motel rooms and rental homes have already been snapped up by relocated Porter Ranch families. The shortage is also sending home rental prices as high as $8,500 a month as landlords, who prefer leases of a year or longer, seek compensation for renting properties for much shorter terms than the three to four months SoCalGas said it needs to cap the damaged well.\r\n\r\nNew aerial footage of the leak was also released on Wednesday by the Environmental Defense Fund, which captured the intensity of the leak by infrared camera. The video footage shows a steady, thick plume pouring into the air over a densely packed residential area. It is hard to judge the width of the plume from the video, but EDF said it is pumping out 62 million cubic feet of methane into the atmosphere each day. Methane packs 80 times the 20-year warming power of carbon dioxide. "What you can\'t see is easy to ignore. That's why communities that suffer from pollution from oil and gas development are often dismissed by industry and regulators," said Earthworks spokesman Alan Septoff in a statement. "Making invisible pollution visible shows the world what people in Porter Ranch have been living with every day for months." Trouble began at SoCal gas' Aliso Canyon, a gas storage field, on October 23, when gas company employees noticed a leak out of the ground near a well called SS-25. Efforts to fix the leak were unsuccessful as gas billowed downhill into Porter Ranch, and customers a mile away began to complain about the smell. Since then, thousands of complaints of headaches, nausea and nosebleeds have been made to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. LA Weekly reported that the well was drilled in 1953 and was designed with a sub-surface safety valve 8,451 feet underground. That valve broke and was removed in 1979, but was never replaced. The company says it will take until March for them to drill a relief well to resolve the problem and cap the current well. "I hate seeing SoCalGas' pollution billowing over my home and community. Knowing this gas leak has been polluting us since October and won't stop until March, if then, makes it clear there's only one way to keep us healthy and safe now and in the future," said Matt Pakucko, president of Save Porter Ranch in a statement. "[California] Governor [Jerry] Brown needs to shut down the Aliso Canyon facility." The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the LA city attorney sued SoCalGas, alleging that the utility failed to prevent the leak and then exacerbated \"the effects of that failure by allowing the acute odor and health problems faced by the community to persist for more than one month, to say nothing about the indefinite time it will persist into the future," according to court papers. Gas officials could be deposed in that case as soon as January 7, according to the city attorney. The city wants to determine the cause of the leak, the amount of gas released, and the effectiveness of the air infiltration systems being provided by the company, the newspaper reported. "Events of this size are rare, but major leakage across the oil and gas supply chain is not. There are plenty of mini-Aliso Canyons that add up to a big climate problem - not just in California, but across the country," said Tim O'Connor, director of Environmental Defense Fund\'s California Oil and Gas Program in a statement. "Regardless of what the future holds for the Aliso Canyon storage field, this is one reason why strong rules are needed to require that oil and gas companies closely monitor for and manage methane leaks." RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service (EDIS)

We are always taking this arrogant stance that women have more rights here (in the US, say) than anywhere else and somehow this is an outgrowth of our democratic and capitalist society. This is hogwash. Two specific situations came to mind when I read your comments here. First, when I was a single mother with a toddler working odd jobs to get by, I knew other single mothers who, unlike myself, had gone through a divorce from a man who now had a new family, often living in a comfortable suburban home with a new family while these women were living with their children in the city and leaving them alone to go to work because they didn't have money for a babysitter. On a lighter (?) note, when I was in Boston on a business trip a few years ago I visited the Mary Baker Eddy house and museum. The museum was mostly feminist news from the first decade of the 20th century. One article that stayed with me was titled "Does a Woman Own Her Own Clothes?". The title was meant to be facetious, I suppose. But in fact, a married woman in the US at that time often didn't own anything at all except through her husband. By making constant war on the more secular and open minded governments in the Middle East, we guarantee that those women will not be in a position to assess and then develop their rights. War privileges men in a society, as you say. Christianity is no more innately open minded than Islam. Peace, prosperity and education allow societies to open up and become more supportive of the rights of individuals so both women and men benefit. The fact that the nations targeted are specifically the ones that have these characteristics is telling. These wars are undermining our freedoms just as surely as they are destroying the targeted nations.

Thanks for these fine articles on Homs. Have you noticed the pseudo dialogue between the US and Turkey?

'We want them to do more' – US defense secretary asks Turkey to seal Syria border (15/12/15) | RT

Publicly the USA pretends to be 100% opposed to ISIL and is shocked that Turkey is not helping out enough to defeat it. Privately, USA policy involves helping and nurturing ISIL. In this case the US calls Turkey to task for not doing enough. Of course, the ISIL/TURKEY oil smuggling was actually brokered by the CIA. But the USA can't admit that ...

By asking Turkey to 'control' the Syrian- Turkey border, the US is thinking it can maintain control over ingress of weapons and fighters and egress of wounded or retreating fighters.

If Syria and Russia were able to jointly pull off sealing the border, well, then most of the current duplicitous game would be over.

VicForests seem to think they are a law unto themselves, and because they are a company set up by the Victorian government, they can do what they like, when they like - with State government endorsement! Like the Japanese illegal whalers, they think they are above the laws of the country, and can shift the goal posts to do what they want - to make their destruction "legal". The forests of Victoria belong to all Victorians, and our future generations. They are not just sterile trees, or natural resources, that can be plundered and somehow not make a difference. They are focuses of myriad ecological systems, and the homes to so many species. It's like extracting the heart of a city, or demolishing a significant building full of workers/public, and wondering why people are shocked and complain? Our Victorian government is meant to be the custodians of our wildlife, our unique environment, and our natural heritage. Instead, they are violating it, for short-term $$ from logging! Who do they think they are?

It was good to see Aunty doing a bit more Syria bashing last night. The lies and innuendo that the ABC now indulges in is sickening. Not only is it sickening, it is also absolutely pointless. As a public broadcaster, it has failed its charter. As a medium for the accurate depiction of fact, it is a failure. The integrity of the ABC has made the quantum leap from the gutter into the sewer with startling aplomb and joined the rest of the spineless pack otherwise known as the mainstream media.

As Jenny Warfe writes, Melbourne on current trends is headed towards being a city of 20 million by the end of the century. I really hate to imagine the quality of life at this point for its inhabitants. The level of hygiene would have to plummet for lack of adequate water to drink, to wash in and for sewerage. Australians seen once by Europeans as people fanatical about showering every day would be long forgotten. When I try to illustrate to my friends the problem we have in Melbourne with our massive population growth, I do so with a picture of Melbourne as a city of 20 million. At this point, nearly everyone says, "Well, I'll be dead by then." It seems that they just give up contemplating the issue when the numbers get too great and the anticipated future is beyond their lifetimes even if they have children or grandchildren who may still be around. How do you get this message across? Does it need to be demonstrated in full technicolor and in 3D? How do we make it real for Environment Victoria and everyone else?

The obvious solution for water supply, in the face of increasing exponential population growth, is more desal plants! The desalination plant was commissioned at the height of the drought by the Bracks Labor government in 2007, and the final construction milestone was achieved later than scheduled in October 2013. Victoria needs a desalination plant because of the population growth, climate change and drought. The desalination plant is being put in place to guarantee the reliability of our future water supply. Of course the parameter of population growth is assumed to be fixed, with no debate or democratic input. It's part of our economy, with population needed to keep up our GDP and economic growth model. The Victorian desalination plant, southeast of Melbourne, will have cost water users $1.2bn by the November 29 state election, rising to $2bn by the end of the next financial year. The real problem is our government's addiction to population growth, for the benefit of business elite and property investors, but the real costs are passed onto the people of Victoria. What retailer would survive such an arrangement with massive fixed costs and only a small amount for what we are supposed to be paying for - the actual water? It is expensive overshooting our ecological limitations. Access to water and housing are basic human rights, not privileges, but both rights are being violated by our Brumby government. The cost has soared, despite no water having been drawn from the facility since its opening in 2012. The desalination plant, built to guarantee the state’s water supplies amid the population ponzi. Of course, population keeps being "projected"! If Melbourne’s population had remained stable at 1995 levels, there would have been no need for desalination. Our "ageing population" needs fresh, young migrants, to stop it's assumed decline! This growth mania capitalizes on our inherent fear of personally ageing, and that ageing population must be bad, crippling, arthritic, and disease-prone - leading to "death" of our economy! So, we need to spend $BILLIONs to secure that growth will continue, despite climate change! The fetish for endless growth is seen as the path to future wealth, but it's about chasing the pot gold at the end of the elusive rainbow. Demographically we'll be confined to the a retirement village, or nursing home, waiting for our economy to shrivel up and die, unless we keep up the growth mantra - and pay out for whatever this monster demands! Growth is good, but being what's called "stagnant", a stable population, will attract microbes, bacteria, fungii and amoeba!

A mob of kangaroos have lost their home Melbourne’s north as works begin on Mernda South Primary School. Picture: William Sharp THE Education Department has locked out distressed kangaroos from proposed new school sites in Mernda. Mernda residents have described upsetting scenes of roos crashing into wire fences erected around a site earmarked for Mernda South Primary School as they try to get back into a paddock they’ve grazed on for years. In a carefully worded statement, Department of Education senior media adviser Diana Robertson wrote: “There are no kangaroos located on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) schools sites in Mernda”. Ms Robertson confirmed the Mernda South Primary School site had been recently fenced but did not answer whether the department would consider relocating the mob. “Environmental management planning is undertaken for each school site to ensure that the Department complies with all applicable environmental legislation and regulations,” she said. But that’s little consolation for residents who see the loveable marsupials bounding through their streets at night. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/department-of-education-banishes-homesick-roos-from-mernda-paddock/news-story/219f2222eb274e94f33313023d76fe27

If Middle East strongmen Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi were still in this world, it would have been a better place, because what came instead is much worse, US presidential candidate Donald Trump said.

Both Hussein and Gaddafi were dictatorial leaders who ruled with a strong hand. Hussein was ousted by a US-led coalition that acted with no mandate on a pretext that he had a clandestine program of weapons of mass destruction. The accusation was later proven to be false. He was tried and executed by the post-invasion authorities.

World would be a better place with Saddam, Gaddafi still in power – Trump (26/10/15) | RT

So was the "regime-change" theory of the war wrong from the start, or is it still possible that the theory was right and the execution incompetent?

Trump mentioned the countries in comparison to current efforts to drive Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out of power.

"You can make the case, if you look at Libya, look at what we did there, it's a mess," Trump said on NBC.

Middle East would be more stable if Saddam, Gaddafi still in power: Trump (4/10/15) | Reuters

Trump said last week Assad might be replaced by someone worse if he were ousted.

According to the findings of a recent survey by local rights NGOs, women were treated better during the Saddam Hussein era – and their rights were more respected – than they are now. According to the survey, women's basic rights under the Hussein regime were guaranteed in the constitution and – more importantly – respected, with women often occupying important government positions.

What Iraq needs is a strong leader, a man who can keep a violent, bloodthirsty argumentative Iraqi population all under total control. Iraq has always been violent, that's how Iraqis are.

I've just watched a lecture by Kevin Anderson which takes us behind the scenes and bullshit of the climate change debate. The main thrust of the lecture was prepare yourselves for 4 degrees celsius of global warming if not 6 rather than 2 degrees. The lecture can be found at:

Kevin Anderson — Frustrated In Flatland

... A must for all who wish to prevent the destruction of the anthropocene.

Most people i speak to on the subject of immigration or population growth have virtually no idea of the numbers. The sorts of things they seem to worry about are the spate of perfectly good houses being bought and bulldozed and replaced with high density dwellings of some description or a monster house reaching boundary to boundary, traffic jams, high rise in their area, and parking problems. On the whole they cannot or will not see what is causing these things. A friend I was with yesterday insisted to me that immigration had nothing to do with the ever increasing traffic even though she had just spent 90 minutes driving through the city of Melbourne at around 4.00pm.Her explanation of increased traffic is that we are all much better off than we used be and now we all have cars and have "children" who drive cars. Her solution (half tongue in cheek) is that older people need to get off the roads. I argued that very large numbers from overseas are coming into the country and that most of them will drive cars. She insisted that other drivers she sees on the roads are not migrants. I asked how she could tell and she said she could tell by looking at them in their cars! What are migrants supposed to look like in her estimation? Are they all supposed to be in full national costume to be thus classified? This is a particularly zany example but typical in my experience of the level of confusion.

'do you not think that they will be derided by the major parties and the mainstream media Australia wide'. I agree with you John but I do believe that if the Greens were to frame the issue properly, they would win the empathy of the vast majority of people who do not wish to see a big Australia. The media I believe would continue to try to avoid the population issue precisely because their arguments for large scale migration do not hold up to scrutiny. If anything the media would fail to report the issue and wait for the topic to pass as they did over the reaction to Kevin Rudd's Big Australia "gaffe". Matthew Guy has even raised the population issue in the past few days (though I am suspicious of his motivations) but it is an indication that the issue of population is becoming less politically dangerous. This can only be a good thing.

I would recommend voting for the Sustainable Australia Party at the next election - votesustainable.org.au

They are running a candidate at the by-election in Joe Hockey's old electorate in north Sydney - the candidate is William Bourke. I think at the by-election the party will still have to use their original name 'the Sustainable Population Party'. They are the only political party that recognises the devastation caused by overpopulation, and have actual policies to address the problem. The Greens are too busy loving all the humans on earth (all seven billion of them) to actively address the issue, in fact I don't believe the majority of Greens members or supporters even comprehend the impact of overpopulation on our environment (or human societies).

Mark while I don't disagree with you that the Greens (and even if the independents are in accord) need to challenge both the Coalition and Labor over their growth fetish, do you not think that they will be derided by the major parties and the mainstream media Australia wide. It would be an honourable and it would a courageous exercise on their part, but, unfortunately, they would be outvoted and therefore it will not be enough.

We, the electorate, had our chance 12 months ago and we weren't up to the task. We caved in to the false prophets who espoused more of the same bullshit we've been dieting on since we got Jeffed!! Why?? Because we're shit scared of having to forgo a couple of creature comforts, of having to get our hands dirty, terrified of having to put our values on the line, petrified of the unknown.

WE ... got ourselves into this mess and WE have to get ourselves out of it.

I earlier suggested that the ballot box would be the way forward which it will be, however, if more prompt action is required, WE must extract the digit and become more verbose about our thoughts and actions. WE must show both Labour and the Coalition that we don't want more of the same. WE must demonstrate that Melbourne's/Victoria's burgeoning population is a noose around our necks. We want to be able to live in peace and harmony into our old age with our kids and grandkids. But first we must demonstrate and demonstrate hard and long until they give in. There is no other way!!

With the preferential voting system, it is possible a voter to give her/his first second and voting preferences to small party or independent candidates who stand for policies that the major parties won't. Before you vote at any election, find out which of the candidates in your electorate commits himself/herself to opposing 'growth' and allocate your voting preferences accordingly.

Other policies of candidates I would vote for are listed in the article Issues that should be decided at the 29 November Victorian State elections of 14 Oct 2014. - Ed

There are times when I totally despair for our wildlife, there are people who have the courage of their convictions and take action to bring Governments comply with the wishes of the majority. Not an easy task, people need cause and motivation to do this and they need strong leaders to make Governments realise that they are given a Mandate by the people to govern on their behalf. Unfortunately in the genre of wildlife there is massive complacency and too many armchair wildlife warriors who have a lot to say on social media but are mute when it comes to taking action to write or lobby Governments about their concerns. When was the last demonstration about the plight of our wildlife? When was the last demonstration about urban sprawl? When has a comprehensive petition been presented to the Victorian Government dealing with wildlife the urban sprawl or over population? Nothing will change until we force the Victorian Government or the Federal Government take our dissatisfaction seriously. If we want change we have to get out there, spread the word and confront the government.