21 October
2005 Thought for the Week: |
KEEPING THE FLAME OF LIBERTY ALIGHTby James ReedSome of my colleagues and acquaintances believe I waste my time worrying about the issues that I do. They think the time spent doing my little bit to fight against the destruction of Western civilisation is wasted. Instead, I should work longer hours so that I have more money than I now have to spend on "things". Let the world burn so long as mindless consumerism flourishes. What is wrong with the work, work and consume for tomorrow we die philosophy? Everything is - it is the philosophy of the dung beetle, not that of a free man. It is contrary to the ideals of nobility, honour and dignity which once characterised our race. And finally, this philosophy is the problem. It is commitment to the same philosophical ideals of our enemy that enables these elites to rule us so easily. Even if our fate is to lose this battle - and I don't believe that this will be so - that is no reason to be a mere consumer slug. That hedonistic self-gratification will soon end and the little pink pigs will need to face the reality that awaits them. One has no choice but to strive to keep the flame of liberty alight because ultimately it is the only way of keeping oneself from becoming a mindless zombie. |
SO IT IS TRUE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT JOHN HOWARDby James Reed |
AUSTRALIA/AMERICA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT AND TELSTRA"Trade negotiation is a grubby process of political trade-offs forged between political elites and large corporate interests."Hands up those activists who have received a letter from their loyal, patriotic, trustworthy, Commonwealth politician saying the sale of Telstra is not part of the Australia/America Free Trade Agreement? Let's quote from an article by John Spoehr, Executive Director of the Centre for Labour Research, University of Adelaide which appeared in the Adelaide Review March 2004: "Past experience of FTAs struck between the US and other nations and regions suggest there is good reason to fear that Australia will be the loser from an FTA with the US. This is particularly so given the subservient relationship the Howard Government has with the Bush Administration. The Howard Government is very likely to have given far too much ground to the Bush Administration on such key issues as investment policy, access to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS), local content in broadcast media and competition policy. Already a side agreement has been struck as part of the FTA committing to the sale of the remainder of Telstra "What can Australia learn from previous free-trade agreements involving the US, like the North American FTA and the US/Singapore FTA? The lessons are sobering. One of the most perverse impacts of FTAs is the way in which they can place downward pressure on the wages and conditions of working people. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has done just this, resulting in a flight of capital from the US and Canada to the sweat shops of Mexico. This has left thousands out of work in the US and Canada while rewarding the low-wage and environmentally hazardous industrial landscape of Mexico. "Increasingly FTAs are being used to lock nations into the sale of public assets or to prevent them from nationalising assets. The FTA struck by the US and Singapore in 2003 contained a commitment to the sale of SingTel and ST Telemedia. No doubt this was the inspiration for attaching the sale of Telstra to the US/Australian FTA. Governments normally have the capacity to acquire private assets to meet public interest objectives. This practice barred by NAFTA. If a similar clause is in the US/Australian FTA, failed outsourcing and privatisation projects could never be reversed. The sovereign right of elected governments to act in the public interest would be undermined." Sources: 1. Garnaut, Ross (2002) "An Australian United States free trade agreement", Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 56, No 1. 2. Madeley, John (2000) "Hungry for Trade," Zed Books, London. Is there still a slim chance to stop the sale of Telstra going through? More on this matter next week. |
WTO TELECOMS DEAL WILL RING IN THE CHANGES ON 5 FEBRUARY 1998The push for the sale of our assets is not a recent thing. The following 1998 document from the World Trade Organisation's website is republished in full for our readers' interest.PRESS '87, 26 January 1998 The WTO agreement to liberalize international trade in basic telecommunications services will come into effect on 5 February 1998. The 72 WTO member governments, which have agreed to open their domestic markets to foreign companies, account for nearly 93 per cent of the total domestic and international revenue of US$600 billion generated in this sector annually. Examples of the services covered by this agreement include voice telephony, data transmission, telex, telegraph, facsimile, private leased circuit services (i.e. the sale or lease of transmission capacity), fixed and mobile satellite systems and services, cellular telephony, mobile data services, paging and personal communications systems. Since the agreement was concluded among 69 countries See footnote 1 in February 1997 (see WTO Press Release No: 67), two of these countries - Pakistan and Switzerland - have further improved their liberalization commitments, and three additional countries have agreed to open up their domestic markets in this sector - Barbados, Cyprus and Suriname. Note to Editors Only the schedules themselves can provide authoritative and complete information on the detailed scope of the commitments. The following is a brief overview: - On voice telephone service, 47 of the schedules (covering 61 governments) commit to competitive supply (defined here as permitting two or more suppliers). Most of the commitments permit the supply of public voice services, either immediate or phased-in, in at least one market segment: 41 schedules (55 governments) committed on local service, 37 schedules (51 governments) on domestic long distance, and 42 schedules (56 governments) on international service. Resale of public voice telephone is included in 28 schedules (42 governments) or more than 70 per cent of the 59 governments permitting a degree of competition in public voice service. - In commitments on other services: 49 schedules (63 governments) include commitments on data transmission services; 46 schedules (60 governments) grant access for cellular/mobile telephone markets: 41 schedules (55 governments) commit to competition in leased circuit services (the supply of transmission capacity); 45 schedules (59 governments) include commitments on other types of mobile services (such as PCs. mobile data or paging). For satellite-related communications, 37 schedules (51 governments) committed on some or all types of mobile satellite services or transport capacity and 36 schedules (50 governments) commit on fixed satellite services or transport capacity. In addition, 8 governments schedules some commitments on value-added telecommunications services (e.g. e-mail, on-line data processing or data base retrieval). - The formal entry into force of the commitments is 5 February 1998. But where a government's s commitments for particular services are to be phased in, the actual implementation would take place on the date specified in the schedule. About 40 per cent, or 25 of the 61 governments making offers on voice telephone services, subject these commitments to phase-in. - Most governments (63 of the 69) included commitments on regulatory disciplines. Of these, 57 committed to the Reference Paper in whole or with few modifications. These commitments relate to such matters as competition safeguards, interconnection guarantees, licensing and independence of regulators. Footnote:1 The end of the negotiations on 15 February 1997 resulted in 55 schedules of commitments, covering 69 countries (counting individually the 15 member states covered in the single EC schedule). The 55 schedules are from: Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina. Australia, Bangladesh. Belize. Bolivia, Brazil. Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria. Canada. Chile, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire. Czech Republic, Dominica. Dominican Republic, Ecuador. El Salvador. EC & its member states. Ghana. Grenada. Guatemala, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Iceland, India. Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius. Mexico. Morocco, New Zealand. Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines. Poland. Romania. Senegal. Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Slovak Republic. South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago. Tunisia. Turkey, United States and Venezuela." End of press release. |
'FREE' TRADE IT IS NOT! IN ANY REAL SENSEby Victor BridgerTaken from a social credit discussion group email: There is no doubt that immigrants are taking over jobs. In fact the trend now is not so much that immigrants are taking over jobs on less pay than locals but the work is being outsourced to cheaper labour countries. This does no good for the domestic situation and at the same time is not assisting those in third world countries who are working for a pittance. Social credit differentiates real cost from financial cost: From the social credit perspective, the real cost of an hour's labour is an hour's labour, generally speaking, so that an hour's labour in China is equal to an hour's labour in Australia, or America, or in New Zealand. But in financial terms the cost to the Chinese manufacturer for example for Chinese labour might be 20 cents per hour at the exchange rate, whereas the cost to the Australian, American or New Zealand manufacturer might be $10 per hour for similar work. The figures are purely illustrative and should not be taken literally. Not a 'free' market but parasitical exploitatio The point is that due to the monetary factor alone, trade across national borders cannot be free trade in any real sense. China or any other country which have greatly reduced labour rates have substantially 'externalized' the cost of labour so that it is not priced into the goods shipped to countries on higher labour rates. For most things, the 'productivity' in terms of labour utilized per unit outputted is higher in Australia, etc., than in China, so from a 'real' standpoint, Australian, etc., goods should cost less than Chinese goods in the Australian, American or New Zealand market. Yet the Chinese goods are 'priced' lower. This is not a free market in any real sense, but parasitical exploitation - of the Chinese workers and those of third world countries who are enslaved - of the Australian, American or New Zealand workers who are impoverished. It is not a matter of being selfish but a matter of pragmatic truth. It is not a matter of having the right to work and earn a living because that is a belief in a false policy. Everyone has the right in their own country to obtain the benefits of the productive system and that does not include the "right to work", because much of the benefits are the results of a productive system which does not rely on employment. |
THE NEW BLACK AUSTRALIANSby James ReedOne of my favourite freedom movement writers, Gareth Kimberley in his "Fact File" column in The Strategy (September 2005) has tackled the issue of African immigration. The importation of black "refugees" is done, he rightly notes, "as a source of cheap labour as part of its plan to globalise Australia to make it more competitive against the cheap labour of our Asian neighbours". He continues: "Already the Government has brought in 16,000 Sudanese immigrants almost all of whom have settled in western Sydney. [Gareth, that is but a drop in a very black ocean]. Being unskilled rural workers and with the government destroying our farming industries, these black immigrants have nowhere to go other than to cling together in our largest cities [and now even small towns] and support each other by creating their own "communities". In our pathetic attempts to slavishly follow the Americans, it seems we now have to have our own version of the highly visible and much celebrated African American - a black African Australian". |
SHEIK, RATTLE AND ROLLby Brian Simpson:Melbourne Cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah Association has questioned whether a plane crashed into the Pentagon and whether planes did hit the World Trade Centre Twin Towers, as portrayed in the consensus 9/11 Story. The Sheik has also questioned whether the London bombings really were carried out by Muslims. As "icing" on the cake he has proclaimed that Osama bin Laden is a "good man". These claims and others circulate with the Mecca News which is printed in Melbourne. |
THE ULTIMATE CONTEMPTby Brian SimpsonAfter helping to make Australia a dumping ground for the world's surplus population, former PM Bob Hawke now proposes that Australia should be a nuclear waste dump for the world. Can I suggest that if Bob Hawke likes nuclear waste so much that the first dump be placed in his backyard. Oh - and that Bob not be permitted to "migrate" elsewhere when the "glowing" starts. |
GLOBAL WARMING CYCLICAL SAYS CLIMATE EXPERTThe following
article appeared in The Age 13 June of this year. To understand
climate change, it was necessary to look at the longer record, he said. Through
an examination of material taken from deep below the ocean floor, marine geologists
could study layers of earth's history similar to the way a tree's age could be
determined by tree rings. |
AN OUTSTANDING NATIONAL WEEKENDWe can report the National Weekend proved to be a great success. A number of League folk could not make the trip for various reasons and they were missed. For the first time in 59 years Eric Dudley Butler did not attend, but his son Phillip was in attendance. Our dear friend Jeremy Lee was also absent this year.The spirit and fellowship was all that we could have wished for and the speakers were well received. Pastor Danny Nalliah is a dynamic entertaining speaker with a ton of guts. Australians will hear more of him and his fellow pastor Daniel Scott as they appeal the 'guilty' decision of having breached the Victorian Racial and Religious Tolerance Act. Paul Fromm made us realise just what a parlous state the nation of Canada is in. He gave us news of Ernst Zundel and a background to his plight. How would you like to be subjected to 'sensitivity training' should you fall foul of the politically correct establishment? It happens in Canada! Betty Luks spoke of "Christian Tools of Thought" and the importance of the body of knowledge C.H. Douglas left us. A new system of recording was tried for the weekend and it will be announced in the journals when the audio tapes and CDs are available. Edited texts of the three papers will be published in November's The New Times Survey. |
LETTERSThe Editor, The Age, Spencer Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000Former Family Court Judge, Alistair Nicholson, makes some excellent comments (The Age, 12/10) denouncing the so-called "anti-terror" laws as a hoax, warning that the government and their agencies will use these oppressive laws for abuse of power, which is precisely what many civil liberties' organisations, including this one, have said again and again. It provides a danger, not only to Muslims, but to the community in general, because of the wide-ranging application of these laws, and the way they can be abused for political control, precisely as intended. It will create a Terrorist State under the guide of "fighting terrorism". Geoff. Muirden, Research Officer, Australian Civil Liberties Union, PO Box 1137, Carlton. To the Editor, The Australian, 5th October 2005. There is a long history of misrepresentation, in Australia and other Western countries, of opponents of racial egalitarianism and Professor Andrew Markus ('We're all chosen people', 5/10) continues that tradition. His model of 'racial thought' is a caricature with distinct Nazi overtones, and it is unfair to associate it with men like Eric Butler (a Christian, first and foremost), Graeme Campbell and Professor Andrew Fraser. The reference to Butler's 1946 book 'The International Jew' is misleading. It should be noted that communist Ken Gott told outright lies about that book in his pamphlet 'Voices of Hate' and that more recently academic John McLaren praised Gott's critical acumen in the pamphlet - evidently having never compared Butler's text with Gott's claims. Commenting that the academic studies of men such as Arthur Jensen and Kevin MacDonald 'are far from gaining acceptance' is disparagement, not reasoned rebuttal. It is perfectly possible to accept Charles Murray's point that variation within racial and ethnic groups is greater than the variation between those groups, and still hold that relative racial homogeneity strengthens peoples and nations and protects them from ideological and financial imperialisms - or takeover by other racial groups. Thus Professor Markus has failed to invalidate Professor Fraser's thesis. Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic To: Mr. Russell Broadbent M.P, Warragul, Victoria. I have just been watching John Howard on the news tonight, once again portraying himself as a caring concerned politician weeping tears of blood over the latest outbreak of violence in Bali. I enclose a copy of a statement sent to leaders of the Christian Church in the hope they will see the part our political leaders are playing in the politics of violence. If we return to the part he and Peter Costello played in Indonesia during the later part of President Suharto's reign of government, when both used every means of persuasion to convince Suharto he should transfer Indonesia's financial power into the hands of the IMF. Suharto conceded. Immediately the IMF, the front runner in the politics of violence, destroyed the basic economy of Indonesia which subsidised the cost of food, fuel and power the less fortunate members of Indonesian society relied on to obtain even a modicum of economic justice. The immediate result was mass rioting, burning, looting, pillaging and mayhem of every description. From that moment the terrorist element went rampant. The role that Howard and Costello played in that tragedy has never been sheeted home to them, for the salient and tragic reason that the tame back bench of parliament consists of members who have sold their souls to the executioners of political violence in the executive. At this point in time we do not have any representatives capable of defending our nation from leaders like Howard, Costello and Beazley who are actively promoting politics of violence leading to terrorism, which Howard tells us almost ever time he appears on television must shortly become our lot. Tonight I also witnessed Tony Abbot in Bali expressing great sorrow for what had happened. Only a few weeks ago I received a letter from him justifying increased centralisation of political, economic and financial power, the very principle which leads to the politics of violence. I can only repeat again, there is a sickness unto death within the Coalition parties which is destroying the heart of this great nation. Within a very short time there must eventuate rebellion from the grass roots of the Australian populace against this treachery. I personally hope it comes through the revival of the Christian Church, for if that should happen it would have lasting substance, but I must admit it is very difficult to see any real light shining through the darkness from that source. I write to you because you are my representative, appointed to give honest representation, responsible to your own conscience first, which makes you responsible to God, which will then make you responsible to those God expects you to defend from evil. I pray you will share this letter around in an effort to prick the conscience of those betraying Australia. Yours faithfully, Edward Rock, Cape Patterson, Victoria. |
OUTSTANDING NEW BOOKS"The
Radical Prince," by David Lorimer. |