The reason for fluoride is to dumb us down and make us less resistant to authority. This tactic was used by the Nazis in concentration camps and in Soviet Russia to stop rebellions. True, look it up.
Comments
Vortex Engine can convey moisture inland from Coast
By using warm seawater to power Atmospheric Vortex Ventilators, these devices act are made to act as "super-trees", increasing humidity in the air around and high above them. Some of the humidity is transported inland where it may condense in highland areas (e.g. Murray-Darling watershed).
By strategically building many of them on the coast, followed by others farther inland, the process of desertification can be "artificially" reversed.
Ref: vortexengine.ca
Abundance Complacency - a harbinger for extinction
Popular culture tells us that the iconic kangaroo, emu and koala are abundant and so killing a few won't matter.
Early colonists had this view with Australian fauna that now are threatened with extinction, because of government-sanctioned culling for hunting entertainment, culling to cocoon unsustainable farming from 'vermin' or otherwise from broadscale deforestation and feral predation. Charles Darwin in 1836 shot one of many platipuses in the Cox's River west of the Blue Mountains in NSW to take home as a souvenir.
The tragedy is that neo-colonisation perpetuates in 2009 head long with the same abundance complacency to Australia's unique wildlife. Australia has no feral control programme, bushfire agencies deliberately set fire to thousands of hectares of valuable bushland and forest every year without any concern for native wildlife survival needs. She'll be right...
Victorian Labor's "sustainable" principles are thin and shallow
In 2006 the Labor Party pledged to "protect remaining significant stands of old growth forest currently available for timber harvesting by including them in the National Parks and reserves system". This promise was blatantly broken.
The trees on of Brown Mountain have not burned for 200 years despite repeated fire threats. The resistance of these old forests to bushfire is evident. This area is also the home of several highly endangered native species.
Clear felling of old growth forests has continued despite their critical role in storing carbon and providing water for the depleted Snowy River catchment.
The Victorian government states that 90% of our forests are preserved. However, only 16% of Victoria is protected, and over 80 percent of what is logged in East Gippsland ends up as mere woodchips!
Clearing 10% of our forests is plainly too much considering that Victoria remains the most cleared and damaged State of Australia.
Our Brumby government is guilty of serious eco-destruction and policy violation, and any claims of "sustainable" principles are demonstrated to be thin and shallow.
Ecological Genocide
The term "genocide" was coined by Raphael Lemkin (1900–1959), a Polish-Jewish legal scholar, in 1944, firstly from the Latin "gens, gentis," meaning "birth, race, stock, kind" or the Greek root génos (?????) (same meaning); secondly from Latin -cidium (cutting, killing) via French -cide.[3][4]
[SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide]
In Australia, the Eucalyptus genus has been targeted for cuttng down and burning since colonists invaded in 1788. Most Eucalypt forests across eastern Australia have been killed off for land exploitation, so in sheer number terms, by definition the Eucalypt in Australia has been and continues to be the victim of ecological genocide.
When in March 2008, ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope released a report from the Environment Commissioner recommending culling kangaroos by lethal injection, the justifications were:
* To ensure no further damage is done to the grassland ecosystem at the Belconnen Naval Transmission Station.
* Because they threaten the future of three endangered species.
* Because an expert panel advised against relocating the animals because of the trauma involved.
So government got in an ecologist and two veterinarians to supervise the humane destruction of kangaroos at the infamous Belconnen Kangaroo Cull.
[SOURCE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/06/2182629.htm]
The cull was not seen as genocide because there are so many kangaroos.
The early 1900s became the ultimate watershed for fauna in the Blue Mountains. Most hotels in the area maintained hunting lodges for the entertainment of their guests. In January 1902, the visiting English cricket team was treated to a shoot in Kanimbla Valley, which turned out to be the ‘last great wallaby drive.’ Shooting parties from Richmond and Windsor shot at anything and everything. [Smith 1990 citing Kinghorn 1924]. These days Brush Tailed Rock Wallabies are found in only a small number of pockets in NSW and Victoria, and experts believe less than 1000 of them remain in the wild.
Perceptions of abundance are often clouded by socio-political motives rather than informed by biological and ecological factors.
Bunkers a last bastion liability risk
Bunkers in the event of most bushfire intensities probably may evolve to being overkill, but the chance of recurring false alarms and low intensity fires risks human complacency...so that in the 1 in X year firestorm may bite savagely from behind.
After public realisation of the unlivable pizza oven conditions created by the Victorian Bushfires and yet the rubbery decision making inherent in the 'go or stay' policy, as an at risk resident, the last resort refuge option of a bunker is justifiable.
But to make these available has liability risks and opens a can of worms of issues associated with design standards, location, equipment, emergency procedures, etc.
Welcome to one aspect of the complexity of the subject of bushfire management, then realise that government investment in this issue is woeful.
KANGAROOS NEED OUR HELP FAST
AUSTRALIA SHOULD STOP AND REALLY TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO KANGAROOS. 16 MILLON A YEAR GET TREATED VERY BADLY, SO BADLY THEY'RE RUNING INTO THE FACE OF EXTINCTION.
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN THE ONLY KANGAROOS LEFT WILL BE IN ZOOS? AUSTRALIA WE NEED TO ACT FAST. WE NEED TO STOP THIS MURDER BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.
IF KIDS WERE TREATED AS BADLY AS KANGAROOS OUR PEOPLE AND THE GOVERMENT WOULD BE STEAMING WITH ANGER. BUT IT'S NOT KIDS, IT'S ROOS AND AUSTRALIA SAYS YES TO CULLING. AUSTRALIA SHOULD SAY NO TO SLAUGHTERING OF KANGAROOS.
TO HELP DO NOT BUY ANY KANGAROO FOOD PRODUCTS BECAUSE WHEN YOU PICK UP A PACKET OF KANGAROO MINCE YOU'RE MAKING EXTINCTION CLOSER.
REMEMBER WE CAN STOP IT WITH PEOPLE POWER.
Fire bunkers
Hi,
I live in the state forest east of Gembrook and experienced both the latest fire as well as Ash Wednesday.
There were several old fire dugouts in our local area but now all have been filled in, they were along the forestry roads near Beenak.
After the Ash Wednesday fires in 83 a number of these bunkers came on the scene, some were similar to the one mentioned earlier others are still available today however they are now classed as wine cellars owing to an unfavorable verdict from CFA/DSE.
All fire refuges which were in existence after the Ash Wednesday fires were all phase out by councils over 9 years ago due to public liability fears and the same occurred with the old fire bunkers which were in a lot of the older hills towns
I hope there will be change after these catastrophic events.
Fire bunkers do have a place but they need to meet safety standards,
Sack the Victorian Director of Water
A piece is needed to seek the sacking of the Director of Water as manifestly incompetent.
I do not have the piece in Saturday's Age with me, but he was claiming that people must stop
regarding water as an essential service and realise that it is only a commodity.
If water is not an essential service, what is?
He is not serving the public but some other interests
VY
Residents, wildlife to bear brunt of World Rally Championship
Imagine thinking it is a good idea to run a high speed motor sort event such as the World Rally Championship along a koala corridor and through the habitat of a various threatened species.
These are a few of the Sargents Road koalas that will be subjected to the dust, noise and danger of the WRC. We wait to see if Repco Rally Australia will be so bold as to draw their finish line for this stage amonst the trees of Major Tom and Stevie the blind koala. Stevie will not even see the cars coming and could well become seriously disorientated by all the noise, I think that might be the same for all of us too.
Here is some feedback
I think your draft article is quite impressive, although I didn't get right to the end.
It really canvasses a lot of aspects and doesn't lay down the law. Seems open and truly enquiring.
I recommend it to readers seeking more info.
Keep at it and produce it at the Enquiry.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Fire Bunkers
After the Victorian Bushfires i have researched, specifically designed and Patent a new Flat Pack Fire Bunker. I’m a Structural Engineer with a PHD. Have a look at our site www.flatpackfirebunkers.com.au
Environment power needs to be local
Same problem everywhere. Short-termism of government and poor education of most people based on the childish values promoted by the corporate press. It seems that the care of forests and local surroundings simply has to be taken away from State or federal governments and returned to the most local and bioregional levels, where people can see, at least if they look, what they have, what they could have, and what they need to do for the long term.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Careful harvesting - by whom, when?
Hi Stew,
You're right about how Japan's forests came to be in their present sad state. If the Japanese were really serious about remedial measures they would probably want to implement your 1-4 as well. Depending on the world energy situation they might also want to do a lot more. However, I predict they will do nothing of the sort until the country is in deep crisis.
1. You seem to live in Japan since you have Japanese vocabulary that people don't usually acquire from reading books. So you may know how Japanese schools are heated. Generally a kerosene heater in each room. Perhaps in the cities (where I do not have much experience) they are using electric air conditioning, or there may be schools which actually have a central heating boiler system. Never seen one. It would be nice to switch all the schools to biomass boilers, but I don't think Japan's bureaucracy is up to a project of that scale...
2. Far, far too pro-active for Japanese bureaucracy. You seem to be assuming that Japan is some kind of Western country (gasp!).
3. I love it! But it won't happen. Why? Because working with trees in the mountains is 'dangerous' and neither school administrations nor parents will allow any of this kind of activity to happen. Have you seen what happens when ordinary adults go for a "forest care" day trip to the mountains? They do about an hour's work because the rest of the time is taken up with kitting up and lectures on how dangerous the equipment and the trees are. And they only do a little grass clearing in fairly sparse forests. Also, the students are generally not where the trees are. There are millions of students in cities. They need to be bussed out and housed for a two-week work stint in forests if they are to do what you suggest. Not free. By the way, my daughter has been working in one of the last remaining wooden junior high schools in this area - beautiful building constructed right after WWII. The school now has 54 students because the area has been very depressed following the liberalization of timber that you mentioned - the area should be thriving from the sustainable timber industry that should be possible here. However, 54 students for two weeks in about 500 sq km of degraded forest... Hmmm. Try asking them, but don't blame me if they look at you as if you've just arrived from Mars.
4. Yes. But not now. After the crash. After the crash and the dieback and whatever else is going to happen has already happened we will, perhaps, be ready to live happily ever after.
I do not mean to offend you in any way and I do not think I am being unfairly sarcastic. Please read the above as a kind of joke, but one that seriously tries to capture the realities of current Japanese society towards the wonderful, wonderful forests that they should have and can have if they woke up to see what is there and had the determination to rectify the problems. But very few people do. The country is now gripped in fear of a North Korean rocket/missile flying over Akita and Iwate. The whole of Japan's officialdom appears to have directed its complete attention on this 5-minute happening for about the past week. This is the kind of thing they like to play to - not the centuries-long project of rehabilitating the forests. The people who live out here where I do and see the forests every day know that they are pretty helpless unless the government, at least the prefecture government, gets behind some initiative for the forests. The vast majority of people, who live in the conurbations and never see the forests except through the tv screen, don't know what they're looking at, don't know what the problems are, don't really know what's there - they see green and assume that things are OK.
Sorry to have to say that your fantasy is a fantasy. Feel free to write again. Basically you are totally right - something has to be done. But who's going to do it, and when?
More French employer-hostage situations
Am sure there must be some news about this in the English language press. The text below from the Radio Canada site, basically says that some workers in France, fed up with the increasing number of layoffs everywhere in the
country, have resorted to kidnapping or locking up their employers. One of the richest men in France, a certain François Pinault (reminiscent of François Pignon, a stock character in French comedies, a fool) had to be freed from his captors by the police, as a group of enraged protesters had surrounded his car and taken him following a restructuring plan with 1200 layoffs. And in Grenoble, 500 employees of Caterpillar kept four company officers locked in their offices for 24 hours. The liberations happened after a night of "negotiations". In addition, some executives of a 3M factory, and a Sony subsidiary were also taken for several hours by their employees.
www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/economie-affaires/2009/03/31/006-france-sequestration.shtml
Devant l'augmentation continuelle du nombre de mises à pied un peu partout au pays, le mouvement ouvrier français se radicalise de plus en plus et n'hésite plus à user de la violence pour exprimer sa colère.
Ainsi, mardi, deux groupes de salariés ont séquestré leurs patrons respectifs à Paris et Grenoble.
Il a d'ailleurs fallu l'intervention de la police pour libérer, toujours mardi, l'un des hommes les plus riches de France, François Pinault, président du groupe de distribution de produits de luxe PPR.
La voiture dans laquelle se trouvait M. Pinault avait été encerclée une heure plus tôt par une cinquantaine d'employés en colère qui manifestaient contre un « plan d'économie » de PPR devant se traduire par 1200 mises à pied.
À Grenoble, ce sont quelque 500 employés d'une usine locale de la multinationale américaine Caterpillar qui ont séquestré dans son bureau le directeur et quatre autres cadres pendant 24 heures.
Après une nuit de négociations, les manifestants ont accepté, mercredi matin, de libérer leurs victimes. « Les négociations vont se poursuivre à la Direction départementale du Travail (DDT) avec l'intervention du siège
européen du groupe à Genève, de l'État français et du siège américain du groupe », a déclaré aux salariés Pierre Piccarreta, délégué CGT.
Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy a par ailleurs accepté de rencontrer ces salariés.
Les salariés, excédés par l'annonce de 733 licenciements dans cette entreprise qui compte 2800 personnes à Grenoble, exigent de meilleures conditions de licenciement.
Et plus tôt ce mois-ci, les patrons d'une usine de la multinationale américaine 3M et de la filiale française du groupe japonais Sony ont, eux aussi, été séquestrés pendant plusieurs heures par leurs employés.
Radio-Canada.ca avec Agence France Presse et Reuters
you can vote who can do
you can vote who can do better at candobetter.com
State governments not innocent victims of imposed immigration
Tigerquoll, this is a fantastic idea.
However your words,
"(The federal Government) just issues the visas, savours its sense of international cred, but handballs the consequential problems to states, who don't know what's hit em"
... may unintentionally imply that state Governments, particularly Queensland and Victoria do not, themselves, actively clamour for immigrants in spite of the serious problems that immigration causes as you have pointed out.
Peter Beattie, Queensland Premier until 2008 and Anna Bligh his successor have been playing a game with the Queensland public of bringing about Queensland's population growth, but avoiding the political consequences of having done so. This is partially explored in my article "Exposing Queensland Government population growth duplicity" of 1 Apr 09.
One way, Beattie achieved this was to publicly take a number of different, and mutually contradictory, stances on population growth. On some occasions he would simply say that population growth was nothing but wonderful (see, for example, Queensland Government advertisement of 8 Dec 05).
On other occasions he would act like a a kind of welcoming good-natured host for Queensland's of interstate arrivals, although one working his hardest to stay ahead of the challenges that he had not sought himself.
On yet other occasions, he would attempt to evade political responsibility for long hospital waiting lists, under-resourced schools, traffic congestion, electricity blackouts, the water crisis by correctly (up to a point) pointing outing out that they were caused by population growth. (In reality his own astonishingly inept handling of his responsibilities seriously compounded the problems caused by population growth. Ex-Labor MP Cate Molloy has provided evidence of his complete failure to do anything about the looming water crisis until it was almost too late as just one example.)
So, in fact, state governments are not the wholly innocent victims of Rudd's reckless program of high immigration.
Many in the third world have better served by corrupt dictators than the people of Australia are now being served by its state and federal leaders.
That's 10% too much of our remaining forests logged!
"90 per cent of Victoria’s forests are not available for timber production"! Considering that only 16% of Victoria is protected by State of National parks, and that not all of this area is forests, there are not many native or old-growth forests anyway! 90% of what is left is protected? That's 10% too much of it logged! Victoria is the most cleared and damaged State, and the most compromised environmentally. Logging Brown Mountain was eco-terrorism and a betrayal of a promise to protect what we had left! There was no need to destroy any trees, but greed for money and votes from the logging industry. So much greenwashing happens today by our Brumby government.
Mackay Population Infrastructure Model
This comment became the article "Australia's Immigration Policy could learn from a Mackay Regional Model" of 2 Apr 09.
See also comment to that article which further describes Peter Beattie's evasions on the issue of population growth.
Australian media is about local news because it's cheap
Minimalist coverage of international news has cocooned Australians into a mindest that, like imposed on Americans, local news is sold as more newsworthy. By consequence, the public are herded into a mindset that what our local leaders in Australia say is the best headline of available leadership.
Media companies make money because the advertising revenue exceeds the cost of news and programming. News reach, news quality and newsworthy prioritisation is irrelevant to profit, so our media doesn't go there and the government provides no incentive for Australian media to do so. TV sheep are fed cheap grass, grass is cheap and media advertisers get their coverage, so the industry profits. The migration of TV from news to 'info-tainment' is because the infotainment can be targeted to a known demographic which sells better to advertisers.
So while the negatives of globalisation impact us, our media denies us access to the benefits of globalisation - lessons from overseas. Local myopia feeds local myopia.
Bring on internet TV so I can watch France 2 and even Al Jazeera.
SBS is still juvenile and Australia's media spin various versions each night of the same home grown tabloid sensationalism - as if Bikie Gangs, AFL scores and misbehaving sportsmen matter?
Check these serious news sites, except but you won't find local junk food and Harvey Norman adverts, sorry!
http://info.france2.fr/economie/53022779-fr.php
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Latest on Caterpillar-France situation
Four executives, including Nicolas Polutnik, Director of Caterpillar-France, have spent Tuesday through Wednesday nights held by their employees in the offices of their factory in Grenoble. About 50 employees relayed each other all night outside the executive offices on the first floor of the factory, then brought the four executives breakfast of croissants and chocolate bread. “We are humane,” one of the representatives of the union federation explained. Negotiations on a redundancy plan (PME - Plan Licenciement Economique ) should recommence on Wednesday morning at 9 am, with the elected members of the Committee of Enterprise (CE) and union representatives.
Source: « Caterpillar: l'intersyndicale lance un appel à Nicolas Sarkozy »
AP | 01.04.2009 | 07:54
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Response from Victorian government response to Brown Mountain
Level 7, 473 Bourke Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
GPO Box 191 Melbourne 3001
Telephone: (03) 9608 9500
Facsimile: (03) 9608 9566
www.vicforests.com.au
Timber Harvesting at Brown Mountain
I am responding to your email to the Premier of Victoria John Brumby on 28 Jan 2009.
In your email, you allege several serious breaches of the Code of Practice for Timber Production
2007 (the Code) which occurred during recent timber harvesting undertaken by VicForests in a
Brown Mountain coupe. This letter will address these alleged breaches and other matters which
you have raised.
• “You are allowing and supporting the Clearfelling of old growth forest as ‘business as usual’
despite these forest’s critical role in storing carbon (over 1000 tonnes per hectare) and
providing water for the depleted Snowy River catchment.”
90 per cent of Victoria’s forests are not available for timber production and are already in formal
and informal reserves. VicForests only harvests and regenerates a very small proportion of the
available forest every year. All areas harvested by VicForests are regrown with seed from local
sources. According to Government mapping there is 117,909 ha of forest modelled as old growth
in East Gippsland. Only 25% of this old growth is classified as available for harvesting with the
remaining forest being in National Park or reserves. Old growth forest is one of the most highly
represented forest types in the reserve system and is in no immediate danger of disappearing.
Forests and wood products can effectively reduce the process of climate change in several ways.
Although regeneration burns release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, growing trees absorb the
carbon dioxide back. Forestry overall is a carbon positive industry because there is no net increase
in the release of carbon dioxide over the life of a forest (carbon is released and then absorbed
again). Trees store carbon so efficiently that about half the dry weight of a tree is carbon. This
carbon remains locked up in the wood even when we use it for building products or furniture. Also,
the production of wood products uses less energy (usually from finite fossil fuels) compared with
some other building materials.
It is true that clearfall harvesting in water catchments reduces water yield but by a much smaller
amount than often reported in the media. The Victorian Government has conducted research into
this amount and the science can be found on the Internet here:
http://www.ourwater.vic.gov.au/environment/harvesting-in-catchments/rese...
Major wildfires are by far the biggest risk to reduced water quality and reduced water yields.
Forestry activity ensures there is adequate road networks and machinery available to fight wildfires
when they occur.
2
• “These forests also provide habitat for threatened species.”
VicForests considers the presence of threatened species during the planning process and ensures
any special values are managed appropriately. Prior to the initial field inventory, VicForests’ staff
conduct a desktop assessment of the coupe to review existing spatial information related to the
potential coupe area. This process is known as the ‘overlay’ analysis. The purpose of this overlay
is to flag potential forest management issues with a proposed coupe to ensure all critical values
(such as biodiversity values) are identified and managed appropriately.
DSE provides VicForests with GIS information showing the geographic areas where threatened
and endangered species are known to occur. VicForests then produce a ‘Coupe Data Summary
Report’ which lists possible values for the region with a yes / no result. All issues are checked
‘within the coupe boundary’ and ‘within a 500 m radius’ of the coupe boundary. To ensure that all
biodiversity values are picked up prior to any harvesting commencing, VicForests conducts a field
reconnaissance in each coupe by transecting the forest and recording stand type, watercourses,
changes in slope, rainforest and other natural values. It is also important to ground truth the results
of the overlay analysis as data sets may not be accurate on the ground. This means confirming
the presence or absence of each value to then manage the coupe accordingly.
• “Locals had recently constructed East Gippsland’s first old growth forest walk in these forests,
which the Department of Sustainability and Environment knows about. Recent logging has now
destroyed much of this walk. It will soon be obliterated.”
The forest area where the proposed walk was planned by environmental groups had no approval
by the land management agency responsible ie the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
While the 2006 ALP election policy did include a proposal for new walking trails in East Gippsland,
the location of this particular walking trail was outside the new reserve areas proposed.
• “Mixed rainforest along Brown Mountain Creek has been bulldozed in readiness to start
Clearfelling the adjoining stand of ancient forest.”
Rainforest is a protected community under the Code of Practices for Timber Production 2007 and
has not been harvested by VicForests. VicForests hires professional foresters which have studied
from between 3 and 5 years. Staff are trained to identify rainforest species and to apply buffers to
protect rainforest and other protected communities. VicForests is currently engaged in a research
project to determine if the current buffer prescription is adequate in protecting rainforest. EPA
Forests Audits have been regularly conducted in Victoria since 2002/03. The methodology has
changed very little in that time and consistently found improvements in both DSE and VicForests’
compliance with harvesting regulatory documents. These audits are independently undertaken by
EPA approved environmental auditors, and not managed by Government. Audit reports are
publicly available on the EPA website.
• “A logging contractor is being investigated for theft of burls.”
VicForests has thoroughly investigated this claim using our Corrective Action and Incident
Reporting system. The issue was investigated in January 2009 and found it to be unwarranted
(closed on the 23 January).
• “A huge old tree has been felled outside the coupe boundary. This is illegal logging and must be
prosecuted.”
VicForests’ staff have investigated this claim and found it to be untrue. A visual buffer of old trees
is present along Errinundra Road and one tree has been felled from this buffer into the coupe.
However, the buffer is within the coupe boundary and was available to be selectively harvested at
the contractor’s discretion. No boundary incursions have occurred at the Brown Mountain coupe in
question (840-502-0020).
3
• “Used oil filters from bulldozers have been discarded on the ground which will contaminate soil
and eventually water courses.”
VicForests’ staff complete regular formal coupe monitoring forms on all active harvesting coupes.
At the conclusion of a harvesting operation, this form is completed and a contractor only allowed to
leave once all items have been assessed satisfactorily. This form includes a specific question
about the presence of rubbish across the coupe that must be answered. To the best of the
supervisor’s knowledge in question, all oil filters had been picked up by the contractor by the
conclusion of the harvesting operation.
• “VicForests has prohibited access to the nearby Errinundra National Park via the tourist road for
the past 3 months of summer holidays – with no alternative route offered.”
Errinundra National Park has many points of entry (being a large National Park). In the vicinity of
coupe 840-502-0020, there was an alternative entry point via a short detour on Gap Road /
Gunmark Road. This is clearly evident on maps of Errinundra National Park.
Yours faithfully
Cameron MacDonald
Director - Strategy and Corporate Affairs
[email protected]
CC:
Janine Haddow
Executive Director
Natural Resources Division
Department of Sustainability and Environment
8 Nicholson Street
East Melbourne
Victoria 3002
Careful harvesting would help Japanese forests, sustainability
I read that Japanese forests are suffering from a near-fatal one-two punch delivered in the post war period. If anyone knows better, please feel free to correct.
Blow number one was the introduction of kerosene and natural gas into Japan in the 1950s. This development basically wiped out the demand for firewood and charcoal. The first electric rice cookers also appeared around this time. As people turned to other forms of energy for hot water, cooking and heating, the income from mixed forests (zatsubokurin) evaporated. I saw a graph that said charcoal production peaked in 1956. Its down to about 1.6% of that figure now. It'll just be the smokeless stuff you burn indoors (bincho tan).
The second and better accounted blow was the liberalization of the timber market in the 1960s. This greatly affected demand for domestic timber, mainly the sugi, hinoki (cypress), karamatsu (larch) and akamatsu (red pine) conifers planted post-war, sometimes with subsidies. What was especially important was that the imported timber removed the expected revenue stream that was supposed to start with the first thinning of the forests planted post-war. Instead of providing income, owners found thinning would actually cost them money. So they didn't do it, resulting in overcrowding and the trees growing ever higher to grab a piece of light. Since the canopy is unbroken, the forest is dark and berries and herbacious plants are unable to re-establish themselves. All we've ended up with loads of spindly trees, many of which are bent and worthless. In the case of sugi, this defies its original naming from "massugu" or "straight". Aside from construction, sugi is great for doors and windows and especially shoji screens. Its strong enough and super light.
In short, wood for heat got taken out first, and that lead to even more planting of softwood whose value would disappear soon after. A modern tragedy.
My little fantasy first remedial step would be:
1. Switch all schools to biomass boilers. Softwood's okay in boilers.
2. Thin, by tax-based force if necessary, all planted forests. Seize anything registered in a dead person's name (highly common for tax evasion)
3. Ban club activities in all schools at least fourteen days a year and get the kids to gather all the thinned wood and carry it to the nearest road. Most of it is too uneconomical to collect otherwise. You need free labour. Fourteen days' less baseball won't kill anyone. Do the same for bamboo too. There are many unkempt groves that only see people at takenoko time.
4. Encourage rewilding or plant productive species. And live happily ever after!
Hey Kev, Sydney needs a London infrastructure to cope!
The forever nice guy and popularist, Kevin 747, while on overseas junkets invites one and all to come to Oz, the land of plenty!
So many take up his invite from all over and end up in Sydney Town, mainly because they've heard of and seen on TV: Sydney Harbour, the Bridge, the Opera House, Bondi Beach, re-runs of Neighbours and, thanks to Tourism Australia, it all looks bloody fab!
So they arrive with expectations of family to follow in tow. Fair enough one may say, except big number one problem Kev has overlooked is the population infrastructure needed for 130,000 net arrivals every year and has not budgeted for the NSW government to cope. Woops!
So Kev's noble gesture has snowballed into NSW Premier Nathan Rees' nightmare in proportions akin to trying to house overflowing prisoners on the Thames in London back in pre-Colonial days of the 18th Century. Now Sydney is drowning in Kevs' migration pressures, flooding housing, roads, public transport, health, schools, childcare, you name it.
But typically, big bully Kev blames newcomer Nat for NSW mismanagement.
And they're both quick to blame the global economic crisis (GEC), or the banks or Wall Street or someone else far enough away on the other side of the world.
How bloody convenient?
Meanwhile, back home Sydney's Railcorp has already promoted 'crush load' as the new 150% train capacity standard on Sydney's unairconditioned trains (so what's your problem?). Now we can expect Calcutta's forth class initiative to better utilise the underutilised train roof as the new commuting standard.
Kevin 747, your dreams belong in heaven.
Australian governments' systemic abuse of volunteer goodwill
The Victorian bushfires centred around 14-Feb-09 have seen a tragic irreplaceable loss of life, property and heritage - family members, pets, livestock, wildlife, homes, native habitat, memories, local history, local livelihoods and local values.
Human deaths number about 173, which is tragic but Wildlife Victoria reports of millions of wildlife killed in the fires.
[SOURCE: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6851576]
The reasons why the multiple fires were uncontrolled will be considered by the Victorian Royal Commission, however the root causes are unlikely to be revealed because Brumby's political commission has narrowed the political terms of reference and the commissioner won't bite the hand that feeds them.
Once again, we witness absolute dependence by government in times of a state of emergency upon volunteers to lead emergency effort and relief. Once again the goodwill of the public is being tapped for donations, effectively outsourcing funding from public compassion to the victims. Government social conditioning works everytime despite our massive taxes. So hundreds of millions from the public pour in and save the government..
Government spin doctors quickly claim that it did all it could in what it labels an "unprecedented natural disaster" (that should do the trick), it stages a well publicised commemorative service by PM Kev on camera (all at the cost of a return first class flight from Canberra) and encourages generous public donations. More millions pour in from a community losing jobs and struggling with bills, rents, mortgages. Costs mitigated QED!
But isn't government responsible for the bushfire prone house designs, for sustainable bushfre protection, for providing the state of the art systems to detect fire ignitions that still don't exist in Australia, for the co-ordinated standby airborne response that didn't occur, for the rapid military speed suppression of small fires before they got out of control, for protecting life property and important habitat from damage to which it failed, for fire fighting services that actually put fire out? Strangely, we have become conditioned to a fire fighting force that lights fires in the bush in case the bush burns at inconvenient moments.
And so standard government practice in times of a state of emergency falls back to the Australian culture of volunteer goodwill to meet the challenge. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, all churches and the Country Womens Association to take up the challenge.
If a responsible government were to prepare in resources and capability to fund and resource such a state of emergency, its budget would fall short of being able to fund the annual Melbourne Grand Prix and in NSW the new Homebush V8 Supercar racing circuit.
Thank God for volunteers to save government from its ethical responsibility! Such volunteers are cheap labour hoodwinked. If human victims are treated with such contempt by government, the prospects for wildlife are extinction.
Changed 1980 to 1880
Thanks.
Changed 1980 to 1880.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Injustice rules the forests
About time this shameful situation got coverage. I would like to see a story for EVERY charge against conservationists on candobetter.
It is quite true, as you say, that the Victorian Government frequently breaks the law in its forest activities. In fact it has practically torn up its own rule book.
Keep fighting.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Australia's government should learn from the Nanking Massacre
Imperial Japan invaded China and committed atrocities in Chinese Nanking in 1937. China recovered but never forgave. Japan boomed in post-WWII. China has boomed since the 1990s, while Japan has continued to suffer a depression.
Neo-imperial commercial Japan seeks exploitation of Australia's natural forest resources while neo-capitalist China seeks control of Australia's natural mining resources. Australia's conditional fixation on profiteering has blinded it to the value and pride of its internationally-valued natural resources.
Both Japan and China have proud traditions that extend back many centuries. Australia is a relatively new nation. Australia's cultural pride needs to grow up recognise the future economic benefits of our assets and influence, and not sell off the farm.
Laptop Governments are following Easter Island
Blackdog's comments hit the mark.
I go futher: Laptop governments supporting destructionist loggers while publicly advocating environmental protection in another department is gross hypocracy, a conflict of interest and so internationally corrupt.
I worry also that as more clever HSC graduates take on degrees in 'Communications', which so frequently entices them into well paid jobs in government and corporate spin machines, that pure ethics is neglected at both senior school and at most university courses.
By denying our children skills and wisdom in worldly ethics, our children are being denied their rights to cope with ethical decisions. A degree without a base in ethics is a degree in propaganda, and don't our lapdog governments lap them up?
Take the following example and ask why in our education system and supposed independent journalism, that Australians are more aware of the extremely rich celebrities than the natural and indigenous exploitation and neglect condoned by governmenst in Australia's World region?
"Since 1982, forest fires on a large scale in Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java have come with the onset of each dry season. A fire in Kalimantan in 1983, reportedly the largest in human history, destroyed 3.7 million hectares of rainforest, an area the size of the Netherlands.
In 1987, 2 million hectares, 1.4 million of primary rainforest, were destroyed in Kalimantan, Sumatra, East Timor, Sulawesi and mountain regions of Java.
In 1991 smoke and ash from fires blanketed Singapore, Malaysia and the Straits of Malacca, forcing Indonesia to call for international help.
Forest fires of this magnitude coincide with a rapid increase in logging and plantation activities which began in the early 1980s. In 1966, 82% of Indonesia's land mass was covered by primary forest. By 1982 this had shrunk to 68%, and recent satellite photographs indicate that forest cover - including timber plantations - is now down to about 55%.
In late 1996, the Indonesian minister of forests said that 20 million hectares of forest were in a critical state and warned that this was increasing rapidly. The World Bank estimates 800,000 hectares of forest are lost each year.
Around 64 million hectares - one-third of Indonesia's land mass - is devoted to commercial logging. In 1996 Indonesia became the world's largest plywood exporter.
...
On September 9, Suharto reissued a 1995 ban on burning forest and called on the military to help enforce it. Companies were given until October 3 to prove they were not the culprits.
Laws allow up to 10 years' imprisonment and a 100 million rupiah fine for polluters. Not one company, however, has ever been convicted. Even the environment minister, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, admitted to Reuters on September 22 that environmental laws are not policed properly.
Soon after Suharto's announcement, the number of fires increased, as companies rushed to clear as much land as possible before the deadline. Even if the deadline was strictly adhered to, it would only let companies finish clearing land at a time the normal rainy season would have forced them to do so.
...
But it is not just the greed of Suharto and the logging and plantation firms which has created this disaster.
Government investment and development policies which have promoted destructive land clearing practices are spurred on by market forces and capitalism's endless drive for profit. Many of the projects were championed by and funded by institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, which pressure countries such as Indonesia to increase exports."
In 2009, we must learn from Easter Island's ancient community and its unsustainable culture of nature exploitation which ended up condemning its civilization to extinction. Else, despite our iPods, in 2009 we risk the same fate.
Woodchip mafia has Brumby well trained
The Brumby government is truly the lapdog to the loggers. The woodchip mafia has him well trained. The rule book says the threatened species have to be saved. He destroys them and their habitat. The promise back in 2006 was to save the old growth - but all he's done is cover for the increased targetting of prime areas.
Yep - no different to Indonesia or the Amazon. Only Brumby employs better media spin experts. Pity the public don't wear it.
Japan must be pleased
About two thirds of Japan is covered by forests, which they consider sacred. They must be very happy that Australia is willing to chop up our forests, even old-growth ones, for cheap woodchips! We fail to appreciate our natural assets - even in a dry country like ours. They can then sell their paper back to Australia. We are becoming a natural resource for Japan.
Earth's population has skyrocketed
"The Earth's population has skyrocketed from 1 billion in 1880, to 2 billion in 1930, and now to 6.6 billion."
Just might want to fix this up, looks a little embarrasing :P
Where were environmentalists during wildife cull?
Title was 'Co-Existence' - JS
I read this with fascination, the interaction between Enviromentalist and possibly some who is involved or has been involved with the logging process, it is an interesting read. I am a local resident in the area and find it hard to comprehend that this area has world wide significance and there is outrage over a legitimate business that is trying to work within parameters, and other things go unnoticed. You talk about the protection of the Swift Parrot and other species living in the area and that is the reason for it coming to notice. Can I tell you that some years ago a local resident shot and trapped a number of parrots because they were attacking that resident's fruit trees, thirty parrots approximately died. More recently tree plantations have been planted locally from Triabunna to Buckland, in one area alone earlier this year, because poisoning was condemned, shooters were called in to eradicate the wallaby and o'possum eating the young trees. In one night it was estimated that over 1,000 wallabies were shot. No estimate or numbers of o'possum killed. Some were not a clean kill and were left to die, wandering onto local properties of residents. Can you imagine an older person or any one of compassion finding a wounded and dying animal at their back door? Young wallabies with no hope of survival were left without the protection of their mothers also wandering aimlessly onto people's back lawns, where were the environmentalists then? Where is the outcry of enough is enough? This was done over two - three months and no-one protested, no-one cared, can you imagine the number of animals that died if, as was said by a person who presumably knew what he was talking about, up to 1,700 was an average cull per night. I'm not anti-environment and I'm not anti-logging, both should be able to co-exist surely, and in saying this I seem to think that plantations have their place in the modern logging industry, better than removing some lovely old grown rainforest wouldn't you agree? BUT and I say BUT the wholesale slaughter that took place to ensure the trees survive was definitely a disgrace and a waste of time, as a drought has existed here for well over 2 years and most of the trees planted died due to lack of water. I am a gun owner and I do go hunting but the cull was abhorrent in the extreme.
Saving forests is one thing but if there is no wildlife to inhabit it, is it worth all the fuss. We need to do something about the slaughter.
Poor families eking a living from threatened habitat
I notice an awful lot of the anonymous lot talk generically about the portions of Wielangta Forest that could be saved so long as a pockets of defect logs and dunnage are left for future degeneration.
“Do not be very upright in your dealings for you would see by going to the forest that straight trees are cut down while crooked ones are left standing.”
- Chanakya
Logging in Tasmania
Why log any of the forests where endangered species are dying out, just to provide raw materials for the Japanese? Not only is it ecologically unsustainable, it is at best economically unsound. Just because the Tasmanian government (and the Minister for threatening species, David Llewellyn) is happy to consign endangered animals - and in particular in this case birds; the swift parrot, does not mean all Tasmanian are.
The last Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) died in misery in a cage in a zoo, and the Tasmanian devil is fast becoming more and more endangered (due in no small part to the government's proposed road through the Tarkine forest).
For the record, I have been to the Wielangta (and other) state forests. If Tasmania wants to maintain its "clean, green" image, and encourage tourism, this is not the way to go about it. Wake up, "Anonymous" - short term greed and destruction has a long term price to be paid.
Tasmania for Tasmanians
While reading some of the comments posted here I noticed that an awful lot of you seem to talk generically about Wielangta Forest. Have any of you ACTUALLY been there? Do you even live in Tasmania? Why do you talk about glossy paper, land-clearing greenhouse emissions etc? This so TOTALLY reminds me of the Franklin Dam issue. More than half the protesters in that debacle where not Tasmanians and not one of them even came to, or if they made one trip, ever returned to Tasmania. Do we go into your backyard and tell you what to do? No, so why not leave Tasmania to Tasmanians to deal with as we see fit. Our State or decisions, leave us alone! By the way the decision of some of the protesters in the Franklin Dam issue now say that they feel it was the wrong decision to stop the dam going ahead. Don't believe me? Check the Mercury Letters to the Editor Archives for the last twelve months and you will read some regrets for that big mistake.
We DON'T want to log all of Wielangta Forest as has been stated before just a portion of it, same as the Styx Valley. There are fantastic pockets of that forest that will be preserved for the future, large pockets I might add, same for Wielangta.
DSE's prom effort was opportunistic prescribed burning
Callum (above comment) claims the remote fire on Wilsons Promontory could not be put out.
The evidence is that on 13th March 2009 it was almost out due to rain, according to a timely online NASA satellite photograph. A fire truck approach for remote ignitions is obviously not going to work. It's a bit like trying to connect up to the nearest fire hydrant in the bush. Such an urban fire fighting approach to remote ignitions is clearly flawed. The fact is that the Victorian government grossly under-resources remote fire fighting. This results in stuff all effective ignition detection (delegated volunteers rely on a goodwilled member of the public to ring 000 before fire trucks roll) and stuff all in effective response and suppression - if the truck hoses can't reach the remote ignition, let's sit and wait -it's only bush. The resourcing of serious standby airborne Canadairs and Aircranes is beyond Brumby's mindset, the let the bush burn culture is stuffed.
Questions to Callum, assuming he is duly informed about the actual fire response operation:
1. Why did the "water bomber" not make making a difference to controlling the fire - especially on or before the 13th, before the wind speed picked up?
2. Why were not extra water bombers including dedicated aircranes deployed immediately?
3. Why weren't the strike teams allowed to stay on the fire front and extra strike teams deployed, if necessary from interstate?
4. Why did DSE have to wait until the fire got to where they could attack it?
5. Why doesn't DSE have an effective response strategy to remote fires?
(This was one ignition in favourable weaher conditions leading up to the 13th March).
6. Was not most of the northern Prom burnt consistent with the 2009-11 fire plan of the Yarram Fire District?
7. A lot of Victoria has thick bushland and very high country, moreso than the comparatively accessible (by air) coastal landscape of The Prom.
8. How is DSE measured on its performance - by the minimal amount of area burnt due to fast and effective suppression? If so it has failed Victorians and their forests big time.
If DSE can be demonstrated to not have used every resource possible to quell this fire, the the presumption of opportunistic prscribed burning remains and the organisation deserves to be disbanded.
What's the bet that Brumby's Royal Commission ignores the Prom and the plight of ground dwelling fauna?
Fire authorities are killing wildlife faster than anyone
If you think the Victorian bushfires are bad, take a read of the annual fire plans of the DSE in Victoria and RFS in NSW. Most of both states natural areas are targeted for burning. Ground dwelling mammals in particular have no chance.
This is State-sanctioned arson and indeed on such a broadscale involving aerial incendiaries being dropped by helicopter in remote wilderness miles from houses - this practice is Australia's greatest threatening process contributig to local extinctions.
Check out the plan to burn East Gippsland (pdf 256K).
Hey there are current fires burning there already check out DSE site (how convenient - let's let em burn saves the petrol).
Another Green Revolution?
Another Green Revolution? Heaven forbid!
I worked at one of the CGIR group institutes (ICRISAT) for four years in the eighties. I am an Anthropologist. I simply could not believe how many of my fellow scientists saw the Green Revolution as a great success story. I think they just hired a few token Anthropologists at these institutes to appease the funding agencies who were getting flack over the negative social consequences (increased social stratification, creation of a landless class that created vast slums near urban areas). The economists at the institute clearly regarded me with no great favor and it was mysterious to me just what they were actually trying to find out. They used words that did not mean what I thought they did.
Gradually a staggering realization burst upon me: all of these people, the entire collection of scientists, viewed all the indigenous subsistence economies within the semi-arid tropics, as unsatisfactory and in need of "improvement" so they could generate numbers to bring up the GNP of the nation state in which they found themselves.
And it was all top down. Nobody questioned that the scientists at these various institutes were daily striving to produce more high yielding varieties of sorghum and millet than anything the farmers had. No one questioned that the scientists could dream up much more suitable more economically advantageous seeding, agronomic, and cropping practices. The fact that this meant that a couple of Indian plant geneticists were sitting at a research station in the middle of the Sahel working through their trials of shorter sorghum and millet. the first thing I learned when I went to the villages was that there the sorghum plants were at least ten feet tall. They wanted them that tall, since they wanted to be able to feed their livestock as the rainy season past and other grazing became scarce, by having them browse through the fields, nibbling off all but the top leaves and the grain.
The second thing I learned was that each village had at least one farmer with a green thumb who was always seeking out new varieties to experiment with. One man had actually ridden his bicycle all the way over to a village in Mali to get a single head of millet for his plant breeding experiments. No one at the research station was even aware of this and when I told them about it they dismissed the potential of work done by ignorant farmers.
I think that there are perfectly good local subsistence economies out there that have been chugging along meeting the needs of the people well enough for reproduction and stability. the infant mortality was a bit high by western standards, but it resulted in very modest population increases which were usually curtailed by occasional droughts. They knew this and took it into account in their targets for food production. Many, many of the farmers were proud to show me granaries filled with grain from up to five previous harvests. This was especially the case when the farmer was also a head of a family lineage. In that kind of social position they needed to plan ahead not only for their own household but also the households of sons, younger brothers and cousins, nephews and even grandsons' families. The popular misconception is that all of Africa is filled with people whose economies are failing them. This is simply untrue.
Killing native animals is wrong
According to the World Wildlife Fund, more half the mammals that have become extinct globally in the last 200 years have been Australian species. WWF Australia has announced the top ten Aussie Battlers of 2008!
This list of strugglers includes the red-tailed black cockatoo, our 2006 Commonwealth Games mascot, the swift parrot that breeds only in Tasmania but is threatened by the timber industry, and the cassowary.
Protecting the Earth's endangered inhabitants is an overwhelming task, and losing any is tragic and unforgivable. Forests, waterways and other habitat are being destroyed, over-utilised and polluted.
Australia, kangaroos, have been devalued as "renewable resources" to hunt and kill on an industrial scale for their little meat, and skins, and now they are being accused of threatening native species! Excessive encroachments on native habitat are making our own species a "pest"!
Duck shooting is labelled "sustainable" even though there few of them to be seen in Victoria!
All species depend on a healthy ecosystem, and that means maintaining a viable biodiversity. Native animals such as kangaroos are a perfectly adapted Australian species, not an environmental threat. We continue to be world-class exterminators of wildlife, and ACT's lethal kangaroo "management" plans smell more like bureaucratic incompetance, public-opinion engineering, and ignorance.
Is there a petition we can sign?
Yes, I agree too. Is there a petition we can sign? Is there anything more we can do?
Immediate moratorium on native animal killing
I totally agree, there should be an immediate moratorium on killing of native animals. While their struggle for survival has been compounded by the Victorian bushfires, humans had already set the ball rolling in regards to endangerment and extinction. Clearing native animal habitats (NOT HUMANS), for their own selfish needs/wants, killing animals because they are in the way.
Australia as a nation should be ashamed of itself - I know I am. Being a vegan, this topic is even closer to my heart, as I cannot understand how "smart" humans can be so trigger-happy.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you on this, and thank you for caring.
If they mine in Felton ...
Originally postet 21 March, but overlooked. My apologies, - JS
How would mining in the Felton Valley differ from killing me outright? What else would I have left to live for?
Why should I be expected to take this lying down?
Vic DSE's handling of Wilson's Promontory fire defended
you people have no idea what dse try to do to get that fire out as so as they could!! where it was burn is very thick bushland and very high country you couldn't get fire trucks in there. they tried droppin strike teams in but with the water bomber not make making a difference there was no point keep it going to without the water bomber the strike teams weren't allow to stay on the fire front. so they had to wait until the fire got to where they could attack it. so before you start having a go at dse get the facts right. because the dse did a great of protecting as much of the prom as they could. if they wanted the whole thing to burn they would have sat at the enterance to the prom and watched it burn!!! (Abuse removed - JS)
Feedback on article on Fire Bunkers sought
I am in the process of writing a large article on fire bunkers.
It can be viewed at
home.iprimus.com.au/ianpullar/firebunkers.htm
Feedback welcomed.
Cheers - Ian
Update on Kuwaiti livestock ships
As of yesterday, the 25 year old "Al Shuwaikh" has returned to Australia. It spent yesterday off Fremantle, and we suspect that it has been inspected and passed by AMSA to load animals, because it is currently heading towards Adelaide and/or Portland. Has AMSA inspected the old heap? Has it issued all appropriate certificates of compliance?
Its partner in crime, the "Al Messilah", remains off the coast of Western Australia.
Sustainable Development
If you support Sustainable Development, you are no different from all of the main political parties. Agenda 21 was adopted by Australian governments at all levels through our "representative" at UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Earth Summit) in 1992. All of the parties - ALP, LNP and of course the Greens - do support this agenda. All their policy statements defer to it.
www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/austral/inst.htm
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE:1001:pc=PC_1870
http://www.travelsmart.gov.au
They didn't have to adopt it for show, since most people in Australian don't know anything about Sustainable Development. Most people I mention it to haven't even heard of it. again, it came from the UN, not from the Australian people. Our governments adopted it because they wanted to. It's implementation is not being delayed because of opposing interests in the government, but because if they told the people what it is and implemented it all at once, there would be wide opposition form the people. They are going slowly so as not to startle the herd. Softly, softly catch the monkey.
Sutainable Development can't be against the interests of government or big business, because it is about massive government control, ownership and intervention in every area of life, which is what all of those "sustainability" and "social equity" issues are mere pretexts for. That control will not be exercised against big business. It will be exercised against smaller businesses and individuals in the interests or big business, which is who government always has exercised control in the interests of. They say that the government must manage any individual activity which impacts the environment, which just happens to be all activity. For example, how many things can you do which don't involve creating greenhouse emissions? You can't even throw a ball, since emissions were generated in manufacturing it.
The necessary infrastructure and services for implementing and running Sustainable Development will be built and provided through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Because the scale of these projects and services, being run by the state, will be so large, the biggest companies will be given the contracts - and the money - to perform them. We are not talking about partnerships between the government and Joe's Auto Shop at Moorooka.
There is another system which imposes heavy regulation of the middle and working classes and involves partnership between the government and big corporations for the running of industry: Fascism. Under Communism, the state takes ownership of industry (and does business with foreign corporations). Under Fascism, the government directs big corporations in the running of industry. There is no difference - ownership is merely the recognition of the right of control. Whoever controls effectively owns. If one nominally owns but does not control, one does not effectively own.
You are helping the elites you claim (and probably think) you are fighting, because of a reverse psychology tactic. The elites cannot just say to us that they wish to take control of our government and ourselves to give themselves monopolistic and political control in their own interests. Nor can they say to us that they wish to take control of our government and ourselves in our (the people's) interests, sine being under their control would clearly not be in our interests and is not necessary. They need some pretext for doing so, some emergency which requires management at the state level.
You've got my vote...
Hi James,
I found your website after doing some research into my choices for the upcoming election (shock and horror, there are still some of us out here who actually put some thought into choosing our representatives rather than simply buying whatever ad campaign pushes the right buttons). I'm heartened to find that there's someone out here who's actually putting forward some actual rationales behind their platform, instead of towing a party line that seems to exist for historical or populist reasons. I, too, am quite fed up with party politics and the lack of representation it actually means for the average punter.
I back you wholeheartedly on privatization and housing affordability (even though I am a home-owner!). Any sale of government assets takes those assets out of the ownership of the whole community and turns them over to the portion of the community that can afford to buy it.
On the other hand, I vehemently oppose your stance on coal - the developing economies of the world aren't going to shut down their existing coal-fuelled infrastructure simply because Queensland isn't selling. Queensland is the world leader in clean-coal technology, and while I acknowledge it's not there yet, we're the people to deliver it to the world.
But at least I know you're going to put some thought into the issues, which is more than I can expect from the Greens (who I fear try too hard to appease the hippie left who often oppose good policy out of a luddite-like fear of technology), Labor (who get into power on the backs of 'the little guys' and then rort the system for all its worth, time and time again) or the LNP (who are descendants of Joh, and it shows).
Selecting my preferences myself on the weekend,
-Mitch
Federal Immigration Policy burdens the States
Read any newspaper of Sydney any day and any week and be aware of the overstretched pressures of the NSW Government to cope with escalating infrastructure needs of a swelling population - public transport, roads, healthcare, childcare, schools, universities, water reservoirs, housing, aged care, community services, etc.
What federal pledge to maximising immigration justifies its delegating unsustainable economic, social and environmental cost burdens upon the States, without compensatory funding? It's akin to the 18th Century British Goverment bombastially expecting Sydney's convict colony to take a flood of unwanted prisoners.
Open door migration without comensurate massive funding is reckless social policy. As in Europe, unsustainable immigration flooding has proven the key driver for overwhelming public services and infrastructure, exhausting available housing and employment, creating transport congestion, and exascerbating inequality and marginalising amongst the local disadvantaged (not to mention the ignored immigrant disadvantaged which the Federal government expects to magically fend for themselves).
"Slash" to immigration?
Considering we are facing a historically high immigration rate, a reduction of just 14% is tokenism! Post war immigration meant that we were to "populate OR perish", and now it is "populate AND perish"! Global population growth is the major driver of climate change and on-going environmental deterioration. Our planet is dying, and it seems that we want to choke it and rattle it to death and shake out what we can from it before it expires! Our government's addiction to immigration and growth is all about greed, and providing customers for businesses, than logic! There will be no economy on a moribund landscape - as much of Australia is becoming! Our Government's departments should start communicating with each other so they stop their contradictory policies!
We are over-populated!
It is very clear that we are over-populationg Australia with people. Victoria and SA are suffering from a 12 year drought due to increased water usage and irrigation demands, plus climate change. Victoria used to be covered in wetlands, but now there are only a few. We can't deny a human-caused climate change. We are one of the world's biggest exterminators of wildlife. Our ecological record is totally bleak! Australia is particularly threatened by climate change. At the rate we are reproducing, we are becoming worse the cane-toads!
How Moreton Bay buy-back fails to reduce commercial harvest
James,
My understanding and from what I have been told from those in the know is that the larger commercial fishermen sell their licence to the govt - the govt pay a stack of money for them because these fishermen catch most of the fish and the government believe by buying the licences from the larger commercial fishermen the volume of fish being caught will be reduced. However, these large commercial fishermen are then able to buy licences from the government that have been handed in by the smaller fishermen. So effectively the larger commercial fishermen are buying out the smaller fishermen via the government without any great reduction in volume of fish caught. Most of the smaller fishermen are generally those who only go out occasionally / part-time and have very small catches anyway, so the volume of fish caught is remaining constant.
The purpose of the buy back scheme was to encourage the commercial fishermen to hand in their licences and not go back fishing so that the volume caught is reduced - but with the loop hole the volume is remaining the same - the only ones benefitting are the larger commercial fishermen who were already making good money.
And yet the government keep blaming recreational fishermen for the problems - there is yet to be any announcement on reducing or controlling jet skiiers more effectively who roar around the waterways creating wakes which wash up against the banks causing damage.
Australia not overpopulated
Subject was: Population and Deforestation
Are you having a laugh!! This country does not need to reduce its population, if anything, it should be encouraging an increase in population. You can still manage the environment sensibly while increasing the population. If you compare the density of population to many other countries, you will see that Australia is one of the least populated areas, with Queensland not being an excessive amount I must say. To reduce the population is ridiculous, quite absurd.
Need further explanation of failure of buy-back scheme
Could you may need to explain this to me a little further?
Surely if the Government buys back a fishing license for $500,000, that's one less fishing license in the overall pool of fishing licenses?
Are you saying that they then let that same fisherman buy another license from the government, or do they buy that license from other fishermen?
If they can buy another license from the Government, then the system is completely balmy.
In the latter case, are the fishermen effectively buying other licenses that are not being used, or licenses which are being used?
In the former case, the overall level of fishing would be constant at least until such time as all unused licenses are bought up. In the latter case, surely the overall amount of fishing would decrease to some extent, even if there were the undesirable side effect of smaller fishermen being bought out?
Moreton Bay fishing Green Zones problematic
Hi James,
While I agree we need to protect the environment to ensure our childrens children will also benefit from it - the implementation of the new zones has to be questioned. I am reliably informed by a member of the public (and holder of a Bachelor of enviromental science) who was present during many of the meetings regarding the new Green Zones before they were implemented by the Govt, the report the government has relied upon to implement these zones was based on a thesis prepared by a govt employee - and no-one is able to get a full copy of the thesis or the results - so no-one know how scientific it is and it's certainly not independent. Some of the new green zones are in areas that will have no effect on fish numbers because they're in areas that fish to not breed or eat.
The govt introduced a buy-back scheme allowing commercial fishermen to sell their licences to the govt - great in theory - however, there's a loop hole. Commercial fishermen can sell their licence and get for eg $500,000 for it and then turn around and buy another licence that has been handed back for eg $100,000 - the fishermen pocket the difference and return back to the bay to catch the same large quantity they previously were - effectively the larger commercial fishermen are buying out the smaller ones and there's no decrease to the numbers of fish being caught. That needs to be fixed.
There needs to be a recreational fishing permit introduced but only if the fees go to Fisheries and not consolidated revenue so Fisheries then have funds to improve boat ramps, educate fisherman and boaties and perform more patrols.
The bag limits need to be readdressed again - for example, why is 1 fisherman allowed to catch 30 bream in one outing - who is going to eat that many fish? It's extremely excessive.
So with a review of the green zones, fixing the buy back schemes, introducing permits and reviewing bag limits we should be able to get a better balance.
Heather
Independent for Redlands
Children
Hi James,
Yes you're right sexual cruelty is not the only concern regarding children and I do not consider child abuse / neglect to be any less important, in fact it is just as important. I am only one person and am trying to address the issue of child protection on a topic by topic basis. I want to get one topic addressed, improved and supported by government before I move on to the next one. If I try to have all the issues addressed at once each issue will get limited attention and I want the most attention for each topic as I can get and the only way I can get that is by doing it topic by topic.
What has Labor or Ms Spence done to improve child safety since July 2008 - as far as I am aware - Nothing. So it is only a matter of time before it happens all over again. What is it with Government and their need to protect offenders first and foremost before victims?
What is most frustrating is that Kevin Rudd came out in support of the public knowing where sex offenders live, so I contacted him for support in getting a Megan's Law type register implemented in Aust - he didn't even respond but got one of his offsiders to reply pretty much saying they won't touch the topic. Once again, everyone is all talk and no action.
Protection of endangered marine environment must be paramount
Also, please don't hold back on Green Zones, Please feel welcome to express your views here.
My own view is that protection of our environment should be paramount. Given the Queensland Government's irresponsible encouragement of population growth, it was practically inevitable that the demands on our marine environment would increase to the point where restrictions would be necessary. To what extent restrictions have to be applied and against whom (e.g. the commercial fishing industry or recreational anglers) are vexed questions.
I would certainly also be interested, also, in having input from environmental groups from the area.
Sexual abuse not the only form of child cruelty
Thanks, Heather.
And thank you for calling for people to vote for other independents.
Clearly, it is essential ensure that children are sufficiently protected and, if you are correct then a good deal more needs to be done.
However, I would still be interested to know how Police Minister Judy Spence defends her handling of Dennis Ferguson.
I also think we need to take a broader view. It is practically inevitable given the sort of society that we have become in the last three decades that abuse of children will occur even if far more stringent measures are taken against people like Dennis Ferguson.
Tonight, I met a mother who previously worked, but has now been unemployed for a year. Because of skyrocketing rents, she is now forced to actually share not only the same room in a boarding house, with another woman she had not known until three months ago, but the same bed! Fortunately, they get on and are good friends.
For one room, without even their own bathroom, toilet and laundry they have to pay $270 per week!
She has two children, but, she is understandably unwilling to allow her two children to live in such circumstances and so has had to have her ex look after them.
So, cruelty to children does not just entail sexual cruelty.
Depriving them materially by taking away their parents' livelihoods and putting the cost of housing completely beyond their means is also a form of sadism towards children of which both the state and federal Governments are guilty.
Independent argues monitoring of sex offenders insufficient
Hi James,
The problem with the Ferguson issue and others like him is that I don't believe the measures in place are sufficient and/or effective. He managed to get a job selling products to a school of all places when he is not supposed to have such close contact with children - so it is not working. While he is now a free man and again posing a danger to children, he never should have been - the Labor Govt had the opportunity to ensure this man and others like him were/are never released but did nothing/have done nothing about it. He was allowed to leave prison without even undertaking any form of counselling and/or rehabilitation - that's just not good enough. That's one of the reasons I decided to run - because something has to be done (and I fish but don't get me started on the Green Zones that were put in place based on an EPA employee's thesis)
The Labor Govt had the ability to protect children and prevent sex offenders like him from living in communities in extremely close proximity to children but they did nothing about it and still have done nothing about it so unfortunately we are going to end up with another Carbrook / Ipswich etc situation. For example, at Carbrook he was within 10kms of 20+ schools and daycares not including family daycares. The option is there for the Govt to require them to reside on properties that are under surveillance or away from populated communities but have chosen not too - that's what myself and many, many others are upset.
The Labor Govt is more concerned with protecting sex offenders than children - and that's a very sad situation.
Judy Spence, at the Carbrook Rally, told people the best thing they could do is educate their children. I had the opportunity to speak to Ms Spence at her public meeting in Redlands and put to her my proposal that all children in all classrooms across the State be educated on protecting themselves from sex offenders. Her response 'I wouldn't want my children to be educated on it'. Education is one of our best defences especially when the Govt won't do anything to help.
Sex offenders have been interviewed in USA and revealed that they target vulnerable children who do not have the confidence to speak out about things. We need to build children's confidence and teach them that when someone makes them feel uncomfortable they need to tell someone, when someone touches them they need to tell someone, it's not a secret and they won't get into trouble. But the Labor Govt has no interest in doing this - so it's left up to people like myself and Bravehearts to do all the work.
Let's not let another innocent child fall victim to these offenders - we need to speak out and speak out loud to the government that child protection is more important then offenders rights.
Am I passionate on the issue? - yes. Am I going to stop even after the election is finished? - no, Govt be warned, I am not going away.
It's time Queenslanders got a bigger voice in how the State is run and that can only be achieved by people voting for the likes of us Independents. So people, Vote 1 for your local Independent.
The "New Class" and water and soil
Perhaps now the "New Class" that has shushed protests about our water and soil security with silly accusations of 'Racism' and equally irresponsible accusations sof "pessimism" will realise that they too are responsible.
Speaking of "New Class" activists, I notice that the former senator and notorious immigrationist Andrew Bartlett is still peddling the same old nonsense over at the Online Opinion forums.
Mankind's continued moral regression in the name of 'progress'.
This treatment of such thoughtful and sensitive creatures is further evidence that humankind is not 'progressing' but regressing, as the emphasis on technological advancement at the expense of moral decency continues unabated. Many have been duped into believing that it is all justified becuase it is all for the benefit of humans in one way or another. Human beings as a race are losing, or have never developed, the ability to fully empathise with other living beings, save for selected members of their own species, and cannot grasp that we are all part of the same system of life. If these apes are thoughtlessnessly treated this way, what hope for the billions of animals deemed even 'lower' which suffer every day at the hands of those too dull to question their right to cruelly dominate others? As we are finding through the growing signs of environmental catastrophe, this total lack of insight is coming back to bite us and we will be put in our place in the end.
Growth is about serving businesses and investors
Growth is about serving the business class, and being accountable to investors. Policies are being made to gain their support, at all expense. "Sustainable" is just a green-washing term, and is being used to justify growth that is contrary to any "sustainability" principles. Population growth implies economic growth, and a continuing demand for goods and services. "Skills shortages" and an "ageing population" are smoke-screens! We could easily make more TAFE and university courses, but they are being taken up by foreign students, many of whom plan to stay here! As for the "ageing population", it is very hard for "older" people (over 40) to get jobs due to ageism!
The Western district in Victoria is turning into a dust bowl, a desert! No growth is sustainable! The canaries in the mine are dying and dead, as shown by our wildlife eliminations! So much for what was once the "Garden State". It will become like Dubai, with desalination plants along the coast, and imported food.
Electricity up 21.5% in quasi privatised NSW
NSW electricity prices to rise 20%
AAP
Electricity prices for domestic consumers are likely to rise by as much as 21.5 per cent in NSW from July, under a new price determination.
The draft determination by the independent pricing and regulatory tribunal (IPART) is for an increase of 21.5 per cent for customers of Energy Australia, 18.9 per cent for customers of Integral Energy and 18.5 per cent for Country Energy customers.
IPART says this would increase the bill for a typical residential consumer by about $3.45 a week.
"The proposed price increases are substantial and have the potential to significantly impact on households, especially low-income households," IPART says in a statement issued on Thursday.
IPART's final report is due on May 20.
Long coal wagon going nowhere
The proposed CHALCO aluminium refinery, under current production predictions of 2.1Mtpa alumina, will be producing 4.6 million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide. That is 6.6% of the emissions from the whole manufacturing sector. These figures do not include emissions from the mining and transportation of bauxite.
Just some of the pollutants to come from alumina refineries are arsenic, fluoride, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. These emissions contribute to the formation of acid rain. Yet here in the Bowen and Burdekin region, we are situated in the largest vegetable growing region of Australia. It will be a sad day when our mangoes, capsicums, beans, corn, tomatoes can no longer be grown because our once productive and fertile lands are destroyed by ACID RAIN.
The export of 50Mtpa of coal from Abbot Point and upwards to 110Mtpa then may be 240Mtpa shows that the Queensland Government is hitched to the long coal wagon going nowhere.
With daily gloomy forecasts with the current global economic crisis and mining jobs becoming more uncertain everyday, this is a perfect opportunity for all levels of Government to aggressively invest in the job intensive and exciting technological industries with clean renewable energy systems.
Our Great Barrier Reef does not need any more stressors. It is now well and truly the canary in the coal mine and we need to do something about it.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel withstood fire, yet WTC 7 collapsed
There was a more recent fire in a tall building; the fire that engulfed the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Shanghai in February this year. That fire was far more intense and engulfed the entire structure but that structure did not collapse. The building was similar size and construction to the WTC7 building which allegedly collapsed from a much smaller fire. There was surprisingly little coverage in the world media about this tragedy, perhaps this lack of coverage was deliberate to avoid people drawing this comparison and questioning the WTC 'collapse theory'.
www.archdaily.com/13801/mandarin-hotel-in-beijing-by-oma-on-fire/
Good luck with your sub
Good luck with your sub through the EPBC process, but that law is intrinsically flawed - a sign of our corrupt government, which is now dancing almost entirely to the tune of the growth lobby.
Have a look at our front page today where protesters picketed the Property Council of Australia.
That is what needs to be done with the companies seeking to trample communities in Queensland.
Placards should also point out that the Government is their stooge and has forgotten that its only validity is that which is given it by voters.
I suggest that you also look to connect with others who are perturbed by the prospect of these huge open coal-mines.
I think that the workers should take over the mines and then work them as slowly as possible to provide only enough coal for Australians and income for coal-miners to tide us all over the petroleum peak whilst allowing our population to shrink to levels sustainable by flow energies.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Inefficiencies of privatisation
This situation makes me very angry.
I would like to read more about this.
Also, can you get the Premier to debate this?
Can we have the names of the companies and individuals who are profiting from what the rest of us seem to be paying for in higher rates and worse service and more unreliable electricity>?
Why isn't the Courier Mail investigating and reporting on this?
Is it somehow in on the deal?
And what about the ABC?
Not a word. Silent.
demonstration
This looks to have been quite successful, well done all involved. The protest is indeed a fantastic tool.
Thanks Sheila
Hi Sheila,
Thank you very much for your comments and support. And we will certainly try to keep you updated with happenings at Bimblebox and the results of some of our own thoughts and research on this broad topic. We would agree that this ridiculous proposal for a massive open-cut coal mine is only a symptom of some very deep problems in our consumption addictions that is seriously jeopardising Earth's future.
We have recently made a submission to the EPBC process, and will try to put at least some extracts from that up soon.
Thanks again.
Sonya, on behalf of the Bimblebox team
Great to see use of protest weapon again
Great to see our side finally using that crucial weapon, the demonstration. It is one of the best ways to express indignation and to shame the bad guys.
-- MOC
German Passivhaus building standard ideal for Australia
This comment was posted through the contact form - JS
In the rebuilding effort has any suggestion been made to introduce the
German Passivhaus building standard into the new building requirements?
This standard, rapidly gaining momentum across Europe and the US would be ideal for consideration here and now.
Coal-mining on scary scale
Thank you, Bimblebox, for your well-written and informative article on this massive problem.
I am an Australian, but not a resident of Queensland, and I discover that the e-petition facility to the Queensland Government is not open to people outside Queensland. Yet people all over the world are probably appalled at this situation.
From my own speciality I can see that the mass media and the government have been working together to drive our population and our consumption up in order to make it so much harder to resist the push for unsustainable open-cut mining on levels which the world has never seen before and which no-one in their right minds would ever wish to see.
I surmise that most politicians have very little idea of what they are letting us all in for here.
I can only try to gather support for you by recommending this article to others and asking that you keep us informed.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Anna Bligh's New Year present
I received this e-mail just now. - JS
I used to have troubles with stomach (such as food poisonings) in some places overseas, sometimes, due to low standards of food and water there.
I have never had any problems like that in Australia, which had high standards of food and water.
Not until December 2008.
Then one evening (I think it was around 20th December), I felt the pain in the right side of the stomach.
(Maybe that's the gallbladder, I don't know.)
I couldn't sleep the whole night. The pain was persistent.
In the morning, to my horror, I noticed the water in the glass was white. (I didn't pay attention the last night.)
I knew it was a high concentration of some chemical additive, like chloride or something else.
Then I got the local newspapers (Gold Coast Sun), with an article about the water plant doing "testing" for the adding fluoride,
... which was going to be permanently added from the 1st of January.
Obviously, they started with high levels and then brought them down, as water was getting less white during the following days.
My brain protested by coming up with the song about "white water".
Really bad New Year present for me.
From whom?
Then I did Internet research and found about Anna's "scientific" "executive decision".
"There will be no referendum, no discussions, no debate - the Gold Coast will have fluoride introduced into its water supply from next year."
Bligh; "It is time to stop being superstitious and to look at the science. It is compelling evidence that fluoride works. All of the nonsense about fluoride making you glow in the dark belongs to the Queensland of the last century.
This is a modern state, this a state based on science, this is a state where we are going to put children first."
From www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2007/12/06/5714_gold-coast-top-story.html
The nonsense?
I have felt permanent pain in the same area of my stomach since December 2008.
Is that the nonsense?
I sense it very well.
I started buying bottled water, but it seems that I cannot escape the fluoride one, which is in all juice drinks, cans, etc.
I cannot measure how smart Anna's state is. And how "scientific" it is.
But my stomach made its "executive decision"; her smart state is not going to be my state.
I am not superstitious at all.
Fluoride "worked" for me - not by making me glow, but by giving me a permanent stomach pain.
From her "nonsense" language I realised; that person was not capable of running a primary school class (-
it's a hard job, I know).
Let alone something bigger.
She's rather blind than bligh, to be in any position of making significant decisions.
And she's in the position to make despotic decisions of forcing a poison onto millions of people.
A wonder how she got there.
(I suspect that Peter got carried away with her personal charm.)
So I changed the 'white water' song into "Made by Anna Blind" and changed 'white water' phrase into 'dry
water',
to make it more interesting and funny, and more of a general appeal.
I see that many people are protesting about the water, as well as about other signs of her incompetency and
despotism
(such as a forced redrawing of councils).
I thought that one sweet funny song (with the tough angry tail) could be an effective contribution.
Something people would like to hear (and could easily absorb), possibly more than to read bitter rational
arguments.
It's easy for Anna to access the masses and put her view in their heads; she has all ways to make her story
heard - all media attention, web teams, huge advertising panels on main roads, etc.
But from the bottom, it is hard to be heard.
So I appeal to you, and others whom you know, to spread the songs in these few days left.
(Both songs, as one was made for those who prefer a sweeeeet sound, and the other for those who prefer a
tough sound.)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROCIwdVdtWA>
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CttX2UHT8Is
Thank you
NeNo
Vale to voiceless citizens at ADI site
I received this sad email from Geoff Brown of the ADI Resident's Group. I also note that a bushfire beat-up may have been used to overshadow the issues of democracy, public land and cruelty and extinction of animals. This defeat must increase our understanding of the reality of threats represented by government support of development corporations over democracy. And therefore increase our resistance and solidarity, for there is no-where to run from the growth-lobby.
"Dear friends
Penrith Council last night voted in support of recommendations to adopt the development plans of Delfin Lend Lease. So we have the approval of two more suburbs, 3420 dwellings within 362 ha of land containing vast areas of endangered bushland. Last nights decision becomes official at the next Council meeting once the minutes of last nights meeting are confirmed. So only a recission motion can save the day.
Now that the Precinct Plans are approved it will be a death by a thousand cuts as DA after DA get lodged and rubber stamped. Council has lost its chance now to go back to the Planning Minister in order to get the many problems identified with the plans sorted out.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a story about the bushfire risk at the site.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/adi-site-plan-approval-likely-despite-objections-20090309-8tcv.html
Thanks for all your support over the years
Regards,
Geoff Brown on behalf of the ADI Residents Action Group"
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Repco's Own Words
"motor sport is dangerous and that accidents causing harm can and do happen and may happen to you."
This is #IndemnityForm">what Repco Rally Australia ask their guests to sign before they pay to join up for the show. What of the residents who have no choice?
Accidents causing harm can and do happen and may happen to you
Thanks Repco Rally Australia, but NO thanks.
(Made by) Anna Blind
Dear good friends of Anna's,
One sweet song for you.
If you like it, please send it around.
The music can be heard at:
profile.myspace.com/blindanna
... or view:
YouTube broadcast
---------------------------------------------------------------
(MADE BY) ANNA BLIND
Have you heard the story about Anna Blind?
Are you really sorry, is she on your mind?
Are you really sorry, is she on your mind?
One day, she got a wonderful thought;
drinking water that is dry gonna make us fly,
drinking water that is dry gonna make us fly.
Smile, people, smile, tomorrow we fly,
with dry kind of water, made by Anna Blind,
with dry kind of water, made by Anna Blind.
Have you heard of Johkky Cash? Oh, Anna's made him cry.
The poor fellow rather died than drank something dry,
The poor fellow rather died than drunk something dry.
Anna used to sail with Luxembourg's fleet.
Now she can fly all on her feet.
Now she can fly all on her feet.
Smile, people, smile, tomorrow we fly,
with dry kind of water, made by Anna Blind,
with dry kind of water, made by Anna Blind.
Her mouse, dog and dress are bright, she wants to paint bright night!
Her heart feels so light, she Thinks she's a kite.
Her heart feels so light, she Thinks she's a kite.
As busy as a queen bee, she likes to see the honey.
Her sight is all right, her mind is on rewind,
Her sight is all right, her mind is going blind.
Smile, people, smile, tomorrow we fly,
with dry kind of water, made by Anna Blind,
with dry kind of water, made by Anna Blind.
Made by Anna Blind !
PS
Anna Blind,
gee, what she can find!
Anna Blind,
oh, what's on her mind?
----
Performer: NeNo
Words, Music, Arrangement, Sound Recording:
Copyright NeNo 2009
Prof Short long on population & environment sense
Roger Short is one of the very few making sense of the close link
between population growth and growth in emissions of GHG.
See:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25150829-11949,00.html
No time to do him more justice than the faint-hearted Murdoch press
Ban live exports to reduce cruelty and keep jobs in Australia
This was posted to me through the contact form. - JS
I am asking myself the question, why is our current and our past Governments, so concerned with sending Aussie livestock live export. Do they have an investment in the dollars generated? Mr Rudd can go to Church
every Sunday and say as much as he likes that he does not abide cruelty to animals. Talk is cheap. Action is the key. Once a year we hear from the RSPCA on banning live export. That seems to dwindle away after a few months. With the Aussie economy so desperate for a boost, why are we not keeping Aussie livestock in this country and doing the processing here, as we always used to do. Millions of tonnes of chilled meat goes overseas every year to many countries. Keep jobs in Australia. Saying a prayer and facing an animal towards Mecca, and slaughtering without pre-stunning is hypocritical. Hundreds, thousands of years ago, I do recognise things were a lot different then. Also the lambs and calves that were killed, with the knife only, were not monstrous beasts bred through constant human manipulation. The animals were generally lambs or very young calves, which died much more quickly when slaughtered.The Koran specifies an animal must be clean, an animal must not have undergone any cruelty, the animals must not see the knife, the animal must not see another animal either being killed or dead on the floor. The whole Halal slaughter requirement is so stupid. I have no problems with the ethics of the Halal slaughter if it is carried out correctly. Our modern day facilities, only take this requirement further by using the pre-stunning. It is so STUPID not to recognise this. Australian meat standards are very high. Farmers also have a very high standard to comply with in preventing livestock from having or carrying any disease. Once the livestock is loaded onto a truck bound for the ports, the stress, the lack of food and water, is the beginning of disease. All mentioned in a previous comment on this forum. All this goes against the "Halal" slaughter requirements. Meat processed in Australia complies with and goes beyond the Halal requirement, not only because it is law, but because of the Animal Advocates in this country that constantly fight for a better "fair go" for Aussie Livestock. Ban live export, do the processing in our own country, good old Aus.
Peter Garrett is the Clayton's Environment Minister
Peter Garrett is the Environment Minister when you don't really have one! He is the "yes" man to give environmental crudentials to developments and businesses such as Gunns and the logging industries. Koala's don't have a price tag. Our governments would be quite happy to see our native animals in reserves or sactuaries, and have their habitats dotted by road and housing estates! He has done nothing for whales either! He totally lacks dimension and integrity, and has sold-out as an activist and environmentalist to secure a parliamentary salary!
What could be gained?
What "research" results or benefits could possibly be gained from miserable, suffering and tortured animals? Does this company represent the human race, monsters whose "health" depends on the suppression and exploitation of non-humans - almost-cousins? There are those in the Christian church who propose that human life is "sacred" and animals are utensils to propagate their existence! Planet Earth has between four and five thousands of species of mammals, and to suppress, kill, confine, mutilate and torture for the benefit of one species, humans, albeit the most technically advanced, is purely evil and puts them on a pedestal of almost "god" like status! (Is this the "Image of God"?) It is shameful to be part of the human race, and this "research" is a good reason to take on an ethical vegan diet to avoid most Western diseases, and avoid conventional medicine.
Live Export Shame Tasmania
Live Export Shame Tasmania and StopTAC have revealed that the three foreign-flagged (Kuwaiti) livestock carriers have been barred from loading livestock in Australian ports.
Following a decision in the Federal Court on February 10, 2009, the Kuwaiti-flagged “Al Messilah”, “Al Kuwait” and “Al Shuwaikh” AMSA advises that the three are barred from loading Australian animals because they fail to comply with Australian and international Maritime Regulations regarding pollution control Marine Orders Pt 43, MARPOL regulations). They have had a phase-in period of years to make their ships compliant.
All three old ships are apparently waiting idle at sea, and have amongst the largest capacities of all livestock vessels.
Live Export Shame Tasmania and StopTAC spokesperson Suzanne Cass said:-
“RETWA and KLTT appear to believe that they are above Australian law. The “Al Messilah” was subject to an order by AMSA (the Australian Maritime Safety Authority) last October prohibiting it from proceeding from Fremantle to Portland to load 72,000 sheep. RETWA (Rural Export Trading WA) and KLTT (Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading) challenged the order, claiming that AMSA was discriminating against foreign-flagged livestock vessels. There are no Australian flagged livestock vessels, but Judge Siopsis found against AMSA.
“AMSA challenged this decision in the Federal Court, finding, amongst other things, that foreign-flagged ships, in entering the waters of other countries, subject themselves to the laws and regulations of that country. It was revealed that the “Al Messilah” does not comply with MARPOL Annex IV which related to sewage pollution. The ship only carries sufficient pollution control equipment for the 50 crew it carries, and nothing to control the effluent from livestock.
“AMSA has since revealed that the two other Kuwaiti ships, the “Al Kuwait” and the “Al Shuwaikh” are similarly non-compliant, and advises that “no further loadings of livestock in Australian ports will be permitted unless the vessels are in full compliance with Marine Orders Part 43. We are advised that the vessels will not return to Australia until this is the case”.
The three ships are used extensively by RETWA and Emanuel Exports, which has seen some significant defeats in the Australian legal system in recent times. Emanuels, and two of its directors, Graham Daws and Michael Stanton, were found to have breached WA’s Animal Welfare Act last year, and Mr Daws failed in an attempt in the AAT to block a FOI application by Animals Australia to access the mortality report into a voyage of the “Al Kuwait” in 2005.
“Australians should rightly be concerned, firstly by these people placing themselves above international and Australian Maritime law, and certainly by the possible effects of these “dirty” ships being in Australian waters, discharging animal effluent, and remains of dead animals (which possibly contain any number of chemicals such as antibiotics and dioxins) which pollute our beaches and marine environment”, concluded Ms Cass.
Making forests less fire prone
Consider, however, the proposition of protecting forests from fire, assisting them to conserve moisture, and giving them a chance to select back in the trees that prefer moist forests and don't survive or need fires. So that the aim would not be to preserve forests as they are now - if they are fire prone and use fire for reproduction - but to foster change in the forests, whilst conserving, consolidating and enlarging them.
If you keep burning forests, well, nothing will survive in the end except those trees that can survive fire and like it. They you have a tinder-box.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Mountain Ash
"Some species of eucalyptus, like Mountain Ash are sensitive to fire and often die in hot fires."
Absolutely true!
However it is also true that mountain ash have a limited life span and if they fail to successfully reproduce before they perish then the mountain ash forest can disappear entirely due to the loss of seed producing adult plants.
Mountain ash seedlings require a fire and removal of the parent plants in order for them to germinate and grow.
So fire is just as much an essential part of mountain ash wet sclerophyll forest ecology as it is of dry scelrophyll forests, albeit once every 100 years or so.
More ABC bias on burning-off
In today's news, we heard of the Brumby government prescribing on new fire-resistant building standards for homes and then a spokesperson for the construction industry came on saying that his group would be demanding that land-owners have more control over the vegetation on their properties, with bigger fire-breaks and more burning off!
So, the ABC, continues to propagandise, using my taxes and yours, for the construction, logging and development industry - for continued drying of our State - for bigger and worse bushfires.
Hooks and cement sheeting to potect windows from fire
I think your idea of the hooks and cement sheeting to protect the windows is a GREAT idea!
For existing dwellings, this sort of logical thinking it what we need.
I remember when we had that gas shortage a few years ago, everyone came up with clever little ideas for having a hot shower.
We should be thinking along the same ways with fire safety.
However, we have been discussing the ways to RE-build houses that have been destroyed.
I'm sold on a bunker/basement also.
Boycott Midnight Oil - Garrett lets koalas die
Sounds like a protest should be mounted outside the Midnight Oil performance, calling on people to boycott the band and handing out this article. Consider also singing the "Jump" song chorus and drowning the creep out.
Did Garrett ever care about the environment, or was it just a brand to make his career with?
He deserves to be shunned and left in total obscurity - which will probably be his fate in the Labor Party.
Why so much focus on
Why so much focus on building and with so many restrictions eg. window size.
Most of the housing in the bush is existing so new standards are irrelevent to them. It doesn't seemt o matter a huge hill of beans whether you have wood or steel frames, they both tend to burn down anyway. Double brick may be a bit better but is more expensive, not currently offered by volume builders and not going to help in existing homes.
Seems to me that a few modifications to existing homes will give far more bang for your buck. Eg. I went out and brought $300 worth of cement board and some dynabolt hooks. This allowed me to cover my windows. This will not stop all the heat reaching the windows but may reduce the radiant heat getting into the house. Spray and misting systems while not perfect, are potentially relatively cheap way of reducing spotting on the outside while cooling the structure somewhat.
I would like to see a ceiling space intrusion detection system linked to a fire suppressant system (foam or CO2 (tho CO2 would need to be deactivated in non fire danger periods for safety)). Fire fighting hoses and pumps together with protective clothing would complete this picture.
Finally an underground fire shelter as a last line of protection could be standard and easily retrofitted especially if a decent sized rebate was available from the government. Bunker buried under 65cm of soil with an access tube would provide assurance that the hatch can be opened even with fallen trees across the opening. Fire proof rated door in the bunker and a piece of cement board that can be dragged across the top opening to reduce radiant heat on the fire proof door. Shelter should be sealed and compressed air and CO2 scrubbing unit just in case exit is delayed or larger number of occupants than planned. Basics like water, radia, light, burns, EPIRB etc ket in shelter. Shelter would be lockable from outside but overideable from inside.
Use of something like Barricade ( http://www.barricade.com.au/1250250/barricade-fire-blocking-gel-home.htm ) on nearby foilage would also have the potential to reduce or eliminate the amount of heat directed at the home.
With all these defenses and a bit of common sense, we can have homes with less compromise and still be safe. Reducing window sizes and cutting down trees is a primitive reaction and ill thought out given that most people live in the bush to be able to have large beautiful views and magnificent trees nearby. We are clearly not out of options to retrofit existing homes and keep the benefits of bush living.
Is DSE helping developers get at the Prom??
I would go further.
Are the developers that are driving this country to ruin actually after the Prom???
Does DSE, which is removing all rights from citizens to object to development, purposefully causing extinctions through burning so that soon it will be able to say, "Oh, all that land is degraded, it may as well be developed"?
I would put NOTHING past this government.
It should not be allowed to get away with what it has already done to Wilson's PRom.
DSE is really just an old wood-feller's hang-out. It should be closed down and something that cares about animals put in its place.
Crackpots and fluoridation
For years I thought that the anti-fluoridation campaigners were crackpots.
Why?
Because I believed Australian governments which seemed to be quoting incontrovertible authorities.
Now, somewhat older and wiser, I have much less faith in government and finally read the contrary literature.
I now have the attitude that almost anything that Australian governments say is probably a lie, and usually to make someone money - whilst costing the rest of us, not just money, but maybe our teeth, maybe our lives.
I don't know what is behind this push to fluoridate Queensland water, but I do know that it is unnecessary, resisted, and probably dangerous.
Sometimes I wish there was a safe country to flee to from the corrupt, callous and cruel place my country has become.
WiserNow
Our government cares nothing for whales
Despite having a so-called "anti-whaling" government, it must be apparent that they care nothing for these magnificent animals. Kevin Rudd made some sweeping promises about "tough" action to stop Japan, and a "fresh new approach" to saving them from exploitation, and extending their protection. This was just a ploy, empty promises, to get votes! Our Labor government has done LESS than our previous government! At least they didn't harass their only source of law-enforcement! They have wasted so many resources and dollars on futile "diplomatic" pressure, all useless. However, with the AFP raid on Sea Shepherd, they haven't been given the benefit of "diplomatic" pressure but were actively searched and questioned, on behalf of Japan! Whose side of the whaling wars is our government really on?
Fight to save ADI not necessarly over, Bob Carr
I have one bone of contention with this article. Of course,realistically it would be a a difficult fight to win from this point on, the fight to save the ADI Parklands should never be declared over until the bulldozers have completed their terrible work. In past decades, protests have succeeded in stopping such environmental vandalism.
Whether or not these precious parklands are saved,those responsible for this must be held to account for their actions.
BTW, I was present at that protest back in 2004, when I lived in Sydney for a few short months. Although I can't recognise myself in that photo, I can recognise others.
The fact that Bob Carr was such miserable coward on that day by refusing to come out to talk to the protestors is one of many reasons why I have such a low regard for the man and question his avowed commitment to the environment.
The only way I can explain Carr's utterances in favour of the environment on other occasions and his occasional actions which were truly beneficial to the environment are as cynical ploys to provide the necessary fig leaf of environmentalism that would bring onside a constituency that would otherwise have been hostile to his Government.
Whatever may be the true explanation for Bob Carr's starkly contradictory behaviour as Premier of NSW, it will be extremely difficult to ever learn the truth, because of the way Bob Carr carefully avoids ever putting himself in situations where he would have to justify his actions to either the media or the broader public. .
Growthmania
Substitute the name of any state in the USA for Australia and the article applies.
The US Rockefeller Commission report in 1972 stated, “After two years of concentrated effort, we have concluded that, in the long run, no substantial benefits will result from further growth of the Nation’s population, rather that the gradual stabilization of our population through voluntary means would contribute significantly to the Nation’s ability to solve its problems. We have looked for, and have not found, any convincing economic argument for continued population growth. The health of our country does not depend on it, nor does the vitality of business nor the welfare of the average person.”
Did any subsequent government listen to this observation? No, instead they turned on the immigration spigot to "save" Social Security. Over 2/3 of today's annual growth of 3 million people is due to immigration.
We feel your pain.
The following has been added from a subsequent e-mail to me from Wolfger. - JS, 4 Mar 09
Our recent State Task Force on the Future of Development In Maryland had nothing on limits in their report although several citizens had expressed their concerns at public "listening sessions". I suppose they were just listening - thank you.
We've gotten the attention of several legislators and will try to introduce legislation for next year's session to establish a task force on limits. One of our neighboring counties in the State of Virginia is doing something similar right now: www.stopgrowthasap.org.
Brick walls can collapse before timber frames in fires
"Most of the houses that burnt in the recent fires were not built for fire safety, which is the reason we are having this discussion. I've seen many images of single brick and double brick construction, some standing, more not. The single bricks normally fall over because the brick is only vaneer and when the rest collapses, so do the bricks. If the frame doesn't collapse then the bricks don't either."
The only brick walls I've seen still standing were double bricks, and I'm afraid you are wrong about the bricks falling down after the frame burns, it's the other way around. I've seen this in ordinary fires, let alone the much hotter bushfires. It's the mortar that fails, literally exploding in the heat. The bricks then just collapse.
Mike
A pessimist is a well informed optimist
CSIRO, Division of Building Research,
• steel wall frames, with gypsum board linings* for further protection;
• concrete slab floor;
• the elimination of timber** in the roof;
• brick veneer external cladding.
REALLY? How old is this information? I agree with the slab floor and eliminating timber in roofs (ESPECIALLY the gang nailed trusses), but brick veneer? Are they SERIOUS? Every brick veneer house I saw on TV had just fallen down.... The mortar explodes, and the bricks colla[se, after which it doesn't matter what your frame's made of, you can kiss your house (and your life) goodbye.
If I had my way, I would BAN tile roofs altogether and close all the factories down, as they are totally and absolutely inappropriate for Australian conditions. Thermally, for bushfire protection, in cyclones, in hail storms, you name it, they are a disaster. I once observed a really serious storm at my parents' place and the ONLY roofs to blow away were tiled, and each tile turns into a deadly missile.
If I were to build in Victoria, it would have to be bermed construction, or Hebel with steel roof. There is no way I would build a conventional house anywhere near a bushfire prone area.
A pessimist is a well informed optimist
Article about metal recycle informative (but long)
I found your post to be extremely informative. A little long but that's fine with me. I didn't know that metal stealing was such a popular trend!
One more thing....
The CSIRO tend to agree with me in this regard also.
Please note, this has been taken from the NASH buyers guide to steel framing.
"
FIRE SAFETY
• Building materials for a high fire-resistant home
• Steel frames top CSIRO recommended list
• Design and floor plan suggestions
• Tips to prevent accidents and limit damage
No home can be completely fire safe but there are a number of steps you can take to plan for a house which has a high resistance to fire.
Your choice of building materials is one way to improve your chances of establishing a fire-resistant home. This can influence how quickly and how seriously your house is affected by a fire, and whether your home could be repaired or would need to be completely rebuilt.
CSIRO, Division of Building Research, Victoria, produced a paper1 outlining the features of a high fireresistant house. Major considerations include:
• steel wall frames, with gypsum board linings* for further protection;
• concrete slab floor;
• the elimination of timber** in the roof;
• brick veneer external cladding.
*Although steel is not combustible, it will eventually lose strength at temperatures in the 400-500 degrees Celsius range. Gypsum linings with reliable resistance to fire will protect the steel frame.
**The elimination of timber in the roof is a most important feature because, when a roof catches fire, the burning rafters fall down the space between the walls, which acts as a chimney, producing an intense local fire. (White pine ignites at 280°C)
In the event of an external fire threatening the house, a bushfire for example, the main focus is to prevent sparks from gaining access to the building, principally through the space above the ceiling and from the space below the floor.
A steel roof (Corrugated Iron) simply cannot burn. In addition, the long lengths and tight overlaps prevent the entry of fire even when burning embers fall on the roof. Coverplates or closure strips seal off the small openings at the end of steel roofing profiles.
The space below the floor can be eliminated by building on a slab of concrete laid directly on the ground.
Steel House Frames for Fire Resistance.
Steel does not melt or buckle in a house fire until the fire reaches a consistant 700 degrees of transferred heat.
It would be a rare occurance that a steel framed house would have enough timber and combustible material inside it to be able to transfer that level of heat.
After speaking to many MFB and CFA people in Melbourne, they are of the opinion that a steel framed house is considerably safer than a timber framed house in this situation.
One of the reasons is that during the last 15 year or so, many more houses with timber frames have the trusses manufactured using "Gang Nails" which are the plates with many small (10mm long) 'nails' punched out of them, which in a fire are extremely dangerous, and they are pine.
The old method of 'pitching' a roof, and normally in Hard Wood, was to make the trusses on site using long nails and correct techniques, but these days 'pitching' is almost non-existant. The Gang Nail connection fails because the little nails heat, and bend/melt/seperate much quicker than the old thick nails and the roof collapses insted of slowly burning out. MFB wont go into a burning house in a new estate for that very reason, they are simply too dangerous.
Your stating that the house wont collapse until the studs fail is also incorrect, as the roof trusses, carrying 60kg/m of clay tiles fail long before the timber studs have burnt out, thus collapsing the roof into the house.
Sealing the house and proteting it from the ember attack is the most important thing. The Aluminium winder frames only melted because they were subject to the heat of a house burning to the ground, not just the fireball.
Most of the houses that burnt in the recent fires were not built for fire safety, which is the reason we are having this discussion. I've seen many images of single brick and double brick construction, some standing, more not. The single bricks normally fall over because the brick is only vaneer and when the rest collapses, so do the bricks. If the frame doesn't collapse then the bricks don't either.
There was also a brief interview with a family who had a conder block shed that they hid in whilst the fire ball came through and they exited afterwards and saved their house from the fires that remained. This is the key. Endure the fireball in a safe location, fight the fire that will burn down your house.
Pete.
window and door shutters.
Mike - I agree with what you say and very interested in your ideas for window and glass door SHUTTERS. We would like to make our own lightweight fire shutters - I was thinking a frame with some highly R rated insulation in it that we could fix over our double glazed windows etc on TFB threatening days. It will make it very dark and we would leave couple of doors/windows uncovered for light etc until necessary. comments please??
Carole
Overstocking - Economics and politics
Farmers have been conned into overstocking and overproducing so that the middlemen can on-sell product to retailers at bargain prices. Retailers then resell at top prices. Soil suffer, sheep suffer, farmers suffer ... and only a few get rich.
The industrial system, the distant market ... all remove power from the agricultural producer.
Relocalisation of production and political power will also provide much greater choice over the living conditions of animals whose lives we touch.
I realise that there are more fundamental arguments about the rights of living creatures, but having a controllable economic system would help us all.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Evidence for claim that flouride is to dumb us down, etc, needed