The silliest debate I've seen all year

I was shocked to read on Online Opinion, an article titled Anti-Populationists - the New Imperialists by Malcolm King.

It was the most uncompelling argument I've seen within this forum. Honestly, it is easier to argue with a religious fundamentalist on the existence of God, than to deal with any of the red herrings, straw men, pseudo-facts and nonsensical diatribe espoused by Malcolm.

I'm no fan of the extremist environmentalist movement that would have us reduce to a population of 500 million and survive on a completely vegan lifestyle reminiscent of our ancestral cave-dwellers. But Malcolm has illogically and stupidly tied this mindset to the entire population debate.

Malcolm has stuck his fingers in his ears, plunged his ostrich head in the sand and is singing "la la la - population isn't an issue".

I enjoyed reading his Feb 09 article "We have nothing to fear but hype itself" and suggest that Malcolm has taken this to the extreme by choosing to ignore any sign of any problem anywhere in the world, particularly if it means having to take some personal responsibility for one's over-consuming western lifestyle.

Malcolm claims some superiority without actually providing any evidence to support his argument or disprove the "anti-populationist" view. He appears to have a disliking for Sandra Kanck (and as both he and I are ex-Democrats I can totally understand that feeling *smirk*) but this feeling, rather than logic, seems to be driving his argument.

I particularly like this attack:

The anti-pops use a curious form of syllogism in their arguments which have been used by cults since time immemorial. It goes like this:

a. population is killing the environment;
b. we can save the environment;
c. help us rid the earth of population.

Given that Malcolm also referenced carbon emissions, I presume that he is a believer in man made climate change, so I put the same argument back at him as my proof that climate change is NOT an issue to be concerned about:

The climate-changeists use a curious form of syllogism in their arguments which have been used by cults since time immemorial. It goes like this:

a. CO2 is killing the environment;
b. we can save the environment;
c. help us rid the earth of CO2.

Whoops, Malcolm!

The reality is that the rise or fall in population of any species is known to have dramatic and measurable effects upon any local environment. We've seen it with fish, rabbits, cane toads, locusts, and thousands of others in modern history. Ecosystems while being generally robust and hardy are also delicately trying to maintain balance.

Humans are one of the few, if not the only, global species pervading and having a major effect on the local and global environments. To think otherwise is pure insanity.

Best Swine Flu Advice

The Credit Crunch Explained

Another layman's explanation of the financial crisis has been forwarded to me by my good friend, Adam.

Please refer any further questions, anger, verbal abuse, vigilante justice, death threats and physical torment directly to your bank's senior management, as well as those rogue financial planners, parasitic mortgage brokers and investment con artists :-)


The Credit Crunch Explained

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers, most of whom are unemployed alcoholics, to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of unemployed alcoholics flood into Heidi's bar.
Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most popular drinks. Her sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items because (insert here the name of your financial advisor) recommended them as a good investment.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager of the bank, (subsequently of course fired due to his negativity), decides that the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. But of course they cannot pay back the debts.

Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy.

DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95 %. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80 %.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment due dates, and having invested in the securities, are faced with a new situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.

The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.

Nearly 1 billion starving worldwide

I've blogged, facebooked and tweeted about the impending global food crisis. Now here's further testimony.

Atheo News: Nearly 1 billion starving worldwide

Still don't think you will be affected?

Think again!

The great food crisis - are you prepared?

No doubt you've heard various reports about the usefulness, toxicity and plausible conspiracies behind flouride, aspartame, genetically modified organisms (GMO) and many such things. Some of you may even be aware of the impending food crisis that is about to hit us. We have already seen it with the crisis in grains around the world, large scale price hikes in food costs, and mass populations of bees dying from unknown causes - a major concern for food production.

You may have already formed an opinion about these things and wish to stop reading here. Fine - I can understand. But don't! Your life may depend on it.

What I have seen, read and heard recently has me concerned. More than concerned - it has me mortified and angry. You should be too, because it will directly affect you and your family, yet there is NOTHING you can do to stop it.

That's right - there's nothing you can do to prevent it from happening.

I'm not here to plead for your action, to write letters to your government representatives, or to gather all your friends for a protest march. Believe me when I tell you, that nothing you do will prevent the coming food crisis - it is inevitable and you MUST prepare for it, or suffer its consequences.

The only advice I can offer is to buy some arable land big enough to grow your own fruit trees, vegetables and basic crops, perhaps even to run some livestock or a dam for fish if you enjoy meat - a couple of hectares should do it. Make sure you own the land outright, no peppercorn leases or mortgages, so that no-one can easily take it from you when the financial system crashes completely.

Build a modest house that isn't reliant on electricity, where you can live a sustainable life away from the rest of modern civilisation. If you can do this you may be one of the few billion people to survive. Sounds like it's a return to an arduous life of subsistence - it is. But the alternative is going to be tougher.

The future reality will see us rationed on highly regulated GMO and manufactured foods that are deliberately deficient of essential vitamins and minerals (and all supplements become illegal) to ensure a passive and compliant population.

Do your own research on real topics that are present in reputable news sources and from government agencies - it will verify what you read on all those conspiracy websites about food and population control. Search terms such as:

Agenda 21
codex alimentarius

And for the real life conspiracy behind it all watch the video below. The whole thing will be an eye opener for many, but the key points about food and population control begin at the 37 minute mark. If you don't have 2 hrs to devote for the whole thing, start there.



I will point out, that I disagree with some of the views presented in this movie, particularly relating to pantheism and gun control. Take some extrem views with the grain of salt they deserve, but certainly look at the facts presented.

The Billion Dollar Messiah

An obscene amount of dollars was raised and spent to "elect" the leader of the world's most "free" country. And all during a time of massive financial crisis that is likely to lead to the downfall of the greatest empire since Rome.

It is simply beyond irony.

ALP drowning in internal backlash

News headlines are often harshly, even brutally, blunt. Perhaps it is more to do with the necessity of brevity rather than the need for newspaper sale sand ratings. Even so, today's conglomeration of one-liners must be giving Mark Latham and the ALP a mild headache, if not a gut-wrenching migraine.

Latham's incredible shrinking front bench

More than the rest, Tanner's retreat rattles insiders

Latham confident despite resignations

Fresh blow to Latham as MP joins exodus

Latham's front bench in turmoil

Chaos in ranks threatens leadership crisis

The exodus from the front bench of the ALP's shadow ministry started with John Faulkner (Senate Leader, State, Public Administration and Accountability), Kim Beazley (Defence, and former leader), Annette Ellis (Ageing, Seniors & Disabilities), Craig Emmerson (Workplace Relations, Public Service), Bob McMullan (Finance, Small Business), and now Lindsay Tanner (Communications, Community Relationships) have all taken a seat on the back benches.

Classic lines from the Sydney Morning Herald include:

First Mark Latham lost the election. Now he is losing his front bench.

Mark Latham is putting a brave face on the ever-increasing numbers of experienced people who are deciding against serving in his front bench.


Labor's leader always wanted to rejuvenate it and promote new faces. Now he has to.

"This is now a problem," one senior operator said last night - as if all that had happened in the previous week was not.

Even ... the former prime minister Gough Whitlam, has conceded that the party realistically needs two terms to win.

Although at this stage there is no realistic threat to Latham's leadership, the party is edgy, unhappy and unsure.

Meanwhile the rest of Australia is either underwhelmed or under sedation!

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What to do with nuclear waste?

href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1208387.htm">Claims
have resurfaced that the Federal
Government has a secret list of up to 22 sites for a nuclear waste
dump.

NO KIDDING?

Honestly, what do people expect the government to do about nuclear waste?
With disposal methods href="http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=nuclear+waste+disposa
l+sun+rocket&btnG=Goo gle+Search&meta=">(like sending it off to the sun)
currently too expensive it has to be stored somewhere!

The href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/campaigns/intro?campaign_id
=3940">debate about whether we should be producing nuclear waste in the
first place is an entirely different matter and not applicable to this
issue. The facts are that we DO utilise href="http://www.iaea.or.at/">nuclear energy, medicine and related
research. Australia's Lucas Heights
reactor is a real and necessary part of our lives and href="http://www.brendannelson.com.au/">Brendon Nelson is spot on
(that's a rare thing) when he says:

Federal Education, Science and Training href="http://www.dest.gov.au/ministers/index1_cp.htm">Minister Brendan
Nelson told Sky News that the states would have to find their own sites to
store waste and that the Federal Government was still looking for a site.

Clearly there needs to be more thought put into HOW and WHERE nuclear waste
should be stored. And not just for Australia, but the entire world.

Contrary to my fellow Greens and href="http://www.democrats.org.au">Democrats I support the establishment
of a world class href="http://www.uic.com.au/Pangea-TOPSEAL99.htm">facility based in
Australia to handle domestic and international nuclear waste. I firmly
believe that producers of nuclear waste should be required under
international law to ensure the highest standards for safely (as much as is
technically possible when we are taking half-lives of thousands of years)
and securely storing (disposing is not feasible) of the material.

IMHO the best opportunity lies in Australia.

• we are unique in having a stable democratic government for the last two
  centuries


• our nation is geologically stable with few earthquakes and no live
  volcanoes to present a danger to an underground facility


• Australia has an expansive area of desolate and remote land that is
  relatively easy to secure


• we have the resources and the ability to receive international support
  for the concept

On top of all this is the financial rewards that will flow from charging
the international community for the safest and most secure solution the
world has yet seen. We are talking billions of dollars a year in revenue!
That would easily give us a world class health and education system and
partially solve our growing welfare crisis.

Food for thought, my fellow homo sapiens!

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The Wrong Leader

Letter sent to the Australian & West Australian newspapers:

Under the national constitution there is only one Australian capable of sending our country into war. As yet we have not heard from him on the deepening crisis with Iraq.

We have only heard from Prime Minister John Howard, a hawkish lap dog of the USA. His deference to public will and international law is blatant and arrogant, yet he does not have the authority to send our troops to battle.

Our Commander in Chief is Governor General Peter Hollingsworth. He is also the only person with the authority to act on the will of the people and prevent Australia becoming embroiled in a war we do not want, cannot justify and from which we will not benefit.

Unfortunately the GG appears as a bumbling fool trying to keep his head down in times of trouble. He will never adequately compare with the grace, astuteness and empathy of his predecessor, Sir William Deane.

A true leader leads with the support of their people, not by dragging them kicking and screaming for their lives. What we need is a modern day Sir John Kerr, but don't look toward Yarralumla with any great hope as the Queen's representative has relegated military rule to the President of the USA.

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World Crisis

An email to a relative in New Zealnd

So pleased that you share the same views as I do. I wish my parents could see it the same way. It is horrifying to see the anger and calls for revenge especially when the US is governed by the son of a cowboy. Who knows what junior is about to do? The USA has never won a war, except against the Japanese - and we know how that ended.

I feel immense sorrow for those people trying to flee Afghanistan and other oppressive regimes and am therefore also saddened by the way our Australian government is (mis)handling the refugee "crisis".

Australia, amongst many nations in the world, is rapidly losing its humanity. Almost 75% of Australians currently support our conservative government in ignoring the needs of genuine refugees.

Meanwhile, Muslim women are being harassed on our streets and a Muslim mosque was fire bombed in the last week. This is a sickening reaction to a dreadful and delicate situation.

It pains me to see my Muslim friends in fear while at the same time joining with 99.9% of other citizens of Earth in condemning the events that shattered New York and Washington.

Two weeks ago I arrived home from a night at the movies and caught an announcement on the radio about the attacks. For the next few hours I watched the events unfurl "live" on the television, thinking to myself that I was watching some bizarre "reality TV" show and that the credits would roll any minute.

I didn't sleep that night or the next day, instead staying glued to the TV and switching emotions as often as the channels. Anger, shock, sadness, fear, panic, and even joy when the few survivors were rescued.

I've spent a lot of time since that day contemplating, writing and talking with other people. One of the most helpful exercises for me was to put pen to paper and I'd like to share some of that effort with you.

Take care of yourself and each other. Give my love to everyone. It is moments like this that I really notice how isolated we are from the rest of the family.

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