Comments

A response to the comment from Milly entitled "Stoning of Women in Iran" is now an article, "Origins of modern Iranian fundamentalist government," by Geoffrey Taylor.

Media scrunity is democratically healthy. Constant media criticism and the holding to account of those who supposedly represent us, is far better than the alternative - State controlled media who don't and can't.

When I watch ABC's 'MediaWatch' or 'Four Corners' or 'Stateline' or even listen to the odd shock jock irrespective of any personal bias, I reflect that aren't we lucky to be able to challenge those in power without journalists being arrested, disappearing or being shot like in so many other countries? Just type 'journalist shot dead' in Google's search engine and note the number of hits - Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, Rwanda, Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, Colombia, Mexico....

But some politicians, especially factionally installed puppets operating outside their ability and spending our taxes outside their electoral mandate, deserve more scrutiny than others.

1. A video suggesting muslims have sex with goats
2. A doctored photo showing President Obama urinating on a US flag
3. Claims that Obama's mother was involved in pornography
4. Claims that Obama was involved with a "crack whore" in his youth
5. Suggestions that Obama is the "lovechild" of Malcolm X

1. Islam is an evil religion
2. Blacks are the most murderous of people

RE: 'Why the hatred? Such is raw human nature' (comment by Vivienne Ortega above, 8th November 2010)

My answer is that a small portion of humans are backward either intellectually or conditioned through misguided parenting, or both, such that they derive warped pleasure from cruel acts to other living beings. In psychology and sociology, this is termed a form of deviant behaviour. An instructive text to better understand this subject is one by Delos H. Kelly 'Deviant Behaviour: A Text-Reader in the Sociology of Deviance' (1989, St Martins Press, New York).

Childhood precursors of deviant behaviour are psychopathic tendencies that can sometimes be recognized in childhood or early adolescence. A good read of psychopathy is illuminating [Read Wikipedia as a valuable introduction].

Certain demographics have such types more prevalent. Certain cultures encourage such cruel attitudes and behaviour. Poorly socialised upbringings, (especially the lack of paternal moral guidance) can harbour delinquency and permit such cruel attitudes and behaviour. Institutional processing such as that of prison systems. William Golding's classic and disturbing 1954 novel, 'Lord of the Flies' is an analysis of the defects of human nature and a recommended read.

The only positive outcome of religion that I can identify is that it has isolated the moral concepts of good and evil. Moral evil is intentionally causing harm or destruction.

Holistic, pantheistic, and panentheistic spiritual traditions regard humanity as existing within a universal natural order and assign human "evil" as the result of ignorance of one's place with Mother Nature.

Cruelty is evil, like the Indonesians torturing West Papuan man, Tunaliwor Kiwo, on 30th May 2010; like individuals being cruel to animals. Shooting a baby Koala in southeast Queensland, and shooting a female joey then inflicting a blow to its head at Jimna are evil acts of cruelty.

Solution: Cruelty caused to any sentient being needs to be ultimately recognised as a crime under the Crimes Act. Penalty needs to be treated in the same vein as other deviant behaviour like pedophilia and those convicted listed on a national police deviant register. The parents and the primary school(s) where the convicted deviant attended should be identified for special investigation for the presence of cruelty cultures being inculcated.

1. Because Australia has long ago exceeded its optimum population, additional numbers cannot create additional wealth, contrary to what many economists pretend. It can only make each existing inhabitant poorer on average because there are more people to divide the national wealth amongst.
2. The growing scarcity of shelter forces those who have to buy it or rent it from others to pay for it an even larger proportion of their income.
3. The land speculation and renting 'industries' and most of the banking 'industry' that create no wealth whatsoever, whilst consuming a good deal of our nation's economic resources.

It is instructive to realise that the same heroic, courageous and principled person that stopped President Reagan launching nuclear war against the Soviet Union in the 1980's, tried to stop the 1992 and 2003 wars against Iraq, tried to stop the war against Afghanistan, and spoke out about the false flag terrorist atrocities of 11September2001 , also opposes unlimited immigration into the United States.

Perhaps it takes the same courage to stand up to the politically correct.

Below is what former Lieutenant Colonel Bowman has published on his web-site www.thepatriots.us:

www.thepatriots.us/pg_02_issues.html
http://www.thepatriots.us/pg_02_issues.html#MM

Immigration: "Immigration is a complex issue which cuts across party lines. Those in favor of “amnesty” or a “guest worker program” include pro-corporate Republicans, elements of the Roman Catholic Church seeking new congregants to replace millions of alienated and excommunicated parishioners, a few Union leaders hoping for new dues-paying members, and liberal Democrats driven by compassion for poor illegal immigrants seeking a better life. Those opposing the “guest worker program” include a few racist Republicans and a lot of disgruntled taxpayers who don't want to subsidize social services for illegals. None of the above groups sees the critical problem with illegal immigration (or indeed with uncontrolled legal immigration). The problem is that large numbers of immigrants willing to work for peanuts depresses the wages for all working Americans, including what's left of the middle class."

In Australia, the same political groups that stridently support mass immigration are publicly silent on the excuse for the current war against Afghanistan, despite raging controversy surrounding Jon Faine's attempt to start a witch hunt against Kevin Bracken.

Whilst Green Left is publicly silent on the 9/11 controversy, individual members of the 'Democratic' 'Socialist' Party, who distribute Green Left Weekly will take you aside to push something very similar to the official US government story about 9/11.

Anglophones need to take what they read about Venezuela in the Anglophone press with an entire shaker of salt. I agree with James that Chavez is wrong to prevent Arizonians from taking democratic control of their territory to prevent flooding of the labour-market and to prevent exacerbation of ecological degradation by overpopulation, but his remarks could be made in the context of an ongoing propaganda war between the US and Latin America, where the US has for many years sponsored and marketed privatisation and exploitation. I went into this with an open mind when I researched the article which I cite below for a book of energy articles in 2008. I cannot see how things could possibly have been described as 'better' - except for the corrupt elites - before Hugo Chavez won power.

Venezuela before Chavez:

“In 1998, or 168 years after independence, a tiny wealthy elite was separated by a vast chasm from the rest of the people, of whom one quarter were unemployed. This seems disgusting when you realize that Venezuela was then the second biggest [oil] exporter in the world and had received around 300 billion dollars in oil sales – or the equivalent of 20 Marshall Plans - over the preceding 25 years. It was in this context that Hugo Chávez and his social plan won the elections of 6 December 1998 with 56.24% of the votes.” (Nicolas Lehoucq, Paris Institute for International Studies).

Why and how Chavez won government of Venezuela:

"From the 15th C the indigenous long-term stable clan and tribal populations of Chávez’s people were ravaged by invasion, immigration, disease, dispossession and slavery. The original peoples nearly died out, then, completely disorganized, ballooned in circumstances where child labour was the only source of additional income for low-wage landless people. What is now called Venezuela contained a stable population estimated at around 400,000 Amerindians in 1498. (Now the population is around 27 million.) In the early 16th C King Charles Martel V granted Welsers German banking firm rights to exploit the people and resources of Venezuela in payment of a debt. The colony returned to the Spanish Crown within 20 years and hereditary land grants were made to conquistadores for a time, but later declared illegal. Meanwhile the Amerindians fought back until smallpox overwhelmed most of them in 1580. Not until 1821 did Simón Bolívar win the long indigenous struggle for independence.

In 1921 the discovery of oil permitted agricultural and industrial development. At the start of the Second World War Venezuela’s oil production was only exceeded by that of the United States. Much of the oil concession development involved attracted US, British, and Dutch companies. Venezuela became a democracy in 1958 and founded OPEC in 1960.

The historic inequities of colonial land distribution guaranteed a large population of impoverished rural labourers. As oil prices waxed and waned, productive agricultural holdings were neglected and waves of poor people left the country regions to look for work in the city, creating the slum of Caracas. Between 1959 and 1964 the government redistributed rural land to 150,000 families but many resold the land to speculators, it is said, because they had little education about farming and no ready market for their product. Other wealth redistribution and educative policies were carried out but these programs failed to establish themselves against a background of depressed commodity prices and political schism. The then Democratic Action (DA) government was aligned with the USA but many Venezuelans were sympathetic to the Castro regime in Cuba, which was charged with supplying arms to guerrillas in 1963. The state became increasingly repressive in the context of continued political unrest. In 1968 the Social Christians (SC) won government and remained in power until 1973.

In the wave of nationalizations following the first oil-shock, the DA Government created the State-run oil and natural gas company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) in 1975-1976. PdVSA is Venezuela’s largest employer and provides 80 per cent of export earnings but, reflecting later trends to privatization, government revenue declined from 70.6 per cent in 1981 to 38 per cent in 2000.

The oil countershock of 1979 culminated in currency devaluation by one third and a change to an SC government, which remained in power until 1983, when AD was returned under Jaime Lusinchi. Despite promises to diversify the economy and deliver on housing, public health and education, the situation continued to deteriorate. In 1988 another AD president, Carlos Andrés Pérez, introduced an austerity regime, removing subsidies on gasoline as well as on a number of important consumables, culminating in hunger riots in Caracas, with a death toll of thousands.

Two attempted military coups took place against a background of continued repression in 1992 and Hugo Chávez led one of them. President Pérez later went to prison for 28 months with the government limping along under another recycled leader, Caldera, whose foreign policy was very USA friendly. In 1995, 103 per cent inflation hit the Venezuelan middle class. In 1997 doctors, university professors, and national telephone company workers went on strike. In December 1998 Hugo Chávez won the Presidency.

On 30 December 1999 Venezuela’s 26th constitution was approved by 71 per cent of votes. The Senate was replaced by a single chamber National Assembly, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela came into being, named after the National hero. Presidential terms increased from five to six years and limitations on presidents serving a second consecutive term were lifted, but it became possible for the public to sack a president through a publicly initiated referendum. Privatisation of the oil industry, social security, health care and other major state-owned sectors was outlawed." (The above was an excerpt from the following book-chapter: Sheila Newman,"Venezuela, Chavez and Latin-American Oil on the World Stage,"Chapter 10 in The Final Energy Crisis - 2nd Edition, Pluto Press, UK, 2008.)