THE BUDGET?

by Betty Luks:
Best summed up by someone from Anglicare in Adelaide: "Trinkets for the poor, gold bricks for the rich." Where was relief for the drought-ridden farmer and relief from his huge debt burden? Where was access to finance for this year's crop?

Where were the policies to safeguard our own assets and resources and regenerate our own industries, thus making way for our own young to work and plan for their own homes and raise their own families in future years? I say it still - a pox on both their parties!

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE OBAMA-RUDD TEAM

by James Reed
The neo-con time of Bush and Howard is ending to be replaced by the new guard of Obama-Rudd, or maybe even Hillary Clinton-Rudd. Black presidential hopeful Barack Obama seems to be pulling in more $$$s than Hill Clinton, but Hill is backed by big abortion, gay activists and the porn industry - in the form of endorsement from Playboy Enterprise's Hugh Hefner.

Barak Obama and Clinton have both said that they do not think homosexuality is immoral, in response to a comment which General Peter Pace, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made about homosexuality.

Cooks galore and Hairdressers aplenty for Kev:
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Kev Rudd has indicated that he will be moving full steam ahead with the Asianisation of Australia. Skilled migration (Asian migration) will be "faster" (The Australian 24/4/07 p.5).

According to an article by Bob Birrell (et al) in People and Place the onshore skilled overseas student visa categories are a major part of Australia's skilled migration programme but most of the growth in courses are in cooking and hairdressing with a small number of visas granted for trades. (People and Place, vol.15, no.1, 2007). What is going on?

My interpretation is that it is just another scam to rapidly Asianise the country by bringing in more Asian migrants! Alan Ramsey, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald (quoted The Australian 30/4/07 p.9) says that Kev Rudd has a dark side, a glass jaw, a quick temper and a foul tongue.
As a Chinese language speaker (Mandarin), Rudd will no doubt be able to swear at us dumb Aussies in Chinese and we won't even know the difference.

A SCAB IS A SCAB IS A SCAB

Source: Alan Jones on Radio 2GB, Sydney. 10/5/2007.
"A professional man has written to me about Kevin Rudd's unfair dismissal laws, asking can anything be more unfair than the sacking of loyal party members with so-called high profile candidates replacing them.
He talks in his letter to me about the duplicitous hypocrisy of Kevin Rudd and his union mates: that he champions the unfair dismissal legislation but exempts himself from having to comply with it. Loyal Labor Parliamentarians and members are unfairly dismissed or overlooked, to be replaced by a supposedly high profile candidate, with or without political experience.

My correspondent says "This unfair dismissal-exemption for Rudd policy is not only condoned but encouraged by union officials who are prepared themselves to benefit personally from Rudd disloyalty.

"The beneficiaries of the Rudd process of candidate selection are no less than scabs on fellow candidates. And let's face it, a scab is anathema to the unions." What a good point. From an 81 year old doctor. And it certainly is happening everywhere."

Editor's comment: Of course, what else would you expect? In Kevin Rudd's 'Animal Farm Land' all men are equal… but some are more so!

THE KNIFE AT SOUTH AFRICA'S THROAT

by Brian Simpson
UHURU ("Night of the Long Knives") is a movement within South Africa's ANC government that plans to kill as many Whites as possible on the day of the death of Nelson Mandela. The property of the dead White will be taken over by the Blacks. The plan also goes by other names such as Operation Vula, Operation White Clean Up, Operation White Eagle and Red October Campaign.

The idea is to make the present farm murders or plaasmoorde (in Afrikaans) look like a Sunday school picnic. (Most of the attacks, by the way, are on Sunday, and most White farmers are killed by ambush after returning from church.)

The same liberals that forced South Africa into the hands of the communist ANC also allows the genocide to continue without criticism. The Western media is silent about this State sanctioned genocide and will also be silent if and when the "Night of the Long Knives" occurs.

Various internet sites say that there are plans for 70,000 armed Blacks to be transported to the Johannesburg city centre within an hour of Mandela's death to slaughter Whites. A google search "Night of the Long Knives" South Africa, comes up with thousands of sites detailing the grim details of this. These sites may be wrong but I doubt it.

I sent an email to firearms writer John Steele about what should be done if all this is true. He replied that in the past Afrikaans folk have been vastly outnumbered but have still survived the day. Maybe they will start watching paths on the way back from church when Nelson Mandela dies. At least they have been warned.

SETTING THE JAMESTOWN STORY STRAIGHT

by Betty Luks
When I read the news reports of the Queen's visit to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, my mind went immediately to the 'The Myth of the Mayflower' chapter in Anthony Cooney's booklet "Social Credit: Aspects".

Mr. Cooney demolishes some popular myths that have arisen out of early American history. As now publicly admitted - although many Americans still believe the first English settlement was when "The Pilgrim Fathers" settled in Plymouth - although the so-called "Pilgrim Fathers" arrived 13 years later than the settlers to Jamestown.

The myth-making is now explained away thus: "Historians in the 19th century were looking for a more noble beginning and opted for The Pilgrim Fathers," [historian] Bly Straube explained.
"They landed in Plymouth in 1620. They had their women and children, and were determined to forge a new life with religious freedom in a new England."
That read much better than the story of the commercially driven Virginia company with its slaves and tobacco in the background, and reports of violence and cannibalism."
(Source: http://news.bbc.c o.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/ 6616037.stm)

But Anthony Cooney insists the "Pilgrim Fathers" were not the peace-loving gentle folk of popular myth, they didn't come from England but from Holland, and they did aim for Jamestown intending to join their co-religionists there, but were blown off course, and had to settle for Massachusetts.

The popular impression is given they were peaceful folk like the Quakers and are still depicted as dressed in Quaker dress, whereas in fact, they were Calvinist Puritans. George Fox founder of the Society of Friends (known to history as the Quakers…ed) was not born till four years after the Mayflower voyage.

There is much more to this part of America's history that can be found in Anthony Cooney's booklet, "Social Credit: Aspects," along with Eric D. Butler's revelation about the origins of the Puritans (Pilgrim Fathers) in "The Enemy Within the Empire".

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY? THE BEES DON'T THINK SO

From the U.K.:
Town rejects mast to save bees after Independent on Sunday Council chiefs are rethinking plans for mobile telephone masts because of fears that their radiation may be causing bees to disappear.
Eastbourne's planning committee has refused permission for a new mast unless and until it is convinced there is no danger to the insects, and Bolton council has launched an investigation into the threat.

Last month, The Independent on Sunday reported exclusively that exploratory research at Germany's Landau University suggested the radiation interferes with bees' navigation systems. The German scientists, whose work has won two international awards, found that bees failed to return to their hives when "cordless DECT mobile phones" were placed in the masts.
The research was designed to indicate the effect mobile phone radiation and other "electrosmog" may have on human brains. But it may also provide a clue to the reasons behind "Colony Collapse Disorder", when hives suddenly empty, which has hit half of all US states and is spreading in continental Europe.

This was supported yesterday by Ferdinand Ruzicka, emeritus professor at the University of Vienna. He revealed that two-thirds of the beekeepers he surveyed who had a mobile phone mast within 300m had suffered "unexplained colony collapse".
Professor Ruzicka believes the radiation may increase the insects' vulnerability to disease.

At the end of April, Eastbourne's planning committee overturned its officers' advice and refused permission for T-Mobile to erect a 14.7m mast on a roundabout. Officially, the committee rejected it for aesthetic reasons, the only grounds open to it under planning law. But Councillor Barry Taylor, the chairman, said the threat to bees was "an important issue" and permission for masts should be refused unless they could be "proved" to be safe for the insects.

Bolton council has asked its planning working party to investigate the issue. Last month, one London beekeeper reported that 23 of his 40 hives had been abruptly abandoned; there are reports of similar collapses in Scotland and the North-west.
The British Beekeepers' Association says the situation is "under scrutiny". Source: http://news.independent.co.uk report:

MALCOLM'S JUNK SCIENCE POLICY

by Betty Luks
Hands up those who heard the Minister for the Environment Malcolm Turnbull lauding the present government's 'clean green' plan to switch from the incandescent light bulbs to the compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in the near future?

When this family first read of the potential hazards of the soon to be compulsory CFLs we phoned the local supermarket about them. No, the manager hadn't heard they were a potential environmental hazard so he followed up the matter and reported back to us. Yes, it was correct they were a known hazard, but no, government wasn't going to do anything about the matter till the old bulbs were being phased out.

Now read on: "Junk Science: Light Bulb Lunacy," by Steven Milloy, 29/4/07(US spelling).
How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labour - unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about $2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health. Sound crazy? Perhaps no more than the stampede to ban the incandescent light bulb in favour of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) - a move already either adopted or being considered in California, Canada, the European Union and Australia.

According to an April 12 article in The Ellsworth American, Bridges had the misfortune of breaking a CFL during installation in her daughter's bedroom: It dropped and shattered on the carpeted floor. Aware that CFLs contain potentially hazardous substances, Bridges called her local Home Depot for advice.
The store told her that the CFL contained mercury and that she should call the Poison Control hotline, which in turn directed her to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP):

The DEP sent a specialist to Bridges' house to test for mercury contamination. The specialist found mercury levels in the bedroom in excess of six times the state's "safe" level for mercury contamination of 300 billionths of a gram per cubic meter.
The DEP specialist recommended that Bridges call an environmental cleanup firm, which reportedly gave her a "low-ball" estimate of $2,000 to clean up the room. The room then was sealed off with plastic and Bridges began "gathering finances" to pay for the $2,000 cleaning.

Reportedly, her insurance company wouldn't cover the cleanup costs because mercury is a pollutant. Given that the replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs in the average U.S. household is touted as saving as much as $180 annually in energy costs - and assuming that Bridges doesn't break any more CFLs - it will take her more than 11 years to recoup the cleanup costs in the form of energy savings.

Even if you don't go for the full-scale panic of the $2,000 cleanup, the do-it-yourself approach is still somewhat intense, if not downright alarming. Consider the procedure offered by the Maine DEP's Web page entitled, "What if I accidentally break a fluorescent bulb in my home?"
§ Don't vacuum bulb debris because a standard vacuum will spread mercury-containing dust throughout the area and contaminate the vacuum. Ventilate the area and reduce the temperature. Wear protective equipment like goggles, coveralls and a dust mask.
§ Collect the waste material into an airtight container. Pat the area with the sticky side of tape. Wipe with a damp cloth. Finally, check with local authorities to see where hazardous waste may be properly disposed.

The only step the Maine DEP left off was the final one:
Hope that you did a good enough cleanup so that you, your family and pets aren't poisoned by any mercury inadvertently dispersed or missed. This, of course, assumes that people are even aware that breaking CFLs entails special cleanup procedures.

Wal-Mart stores: (In Australia, Coles and Woolworths stores)
The potentially hazardous CFL is being pushed by companies such as Wal-Mart, which wants to sell 100 million CFLs at five times the cost of incandescent bulbs during 2007, and, surprisingly, environmentalists. It's quite odd that environmentalists have embraced the CFL, which cannot now and will not in the foreseeable future be made without mercury. Given that there are about 4 billion lightbulb sockets in American households, we're looking at the possibility of creating billions of hazardous waste sites such as the Bridges' bedroom. Usually, environmentalists want hazardous materials out of, not in, our homes.

These are the same people who go berserk at the thought of mercury being emitted from power plants and the presence of mercury in seafood. Environmentalists have whipped up so much fear of mercury among the public that many local governments have even launched mercury thermometer exchange programs. Environmental Defense:
As the activist group Environmental Defense urges us to buy CFLs, it defines mercury on a separate part of its Web site as a "highly toxic heavy metal that can cause brain damage and learning disabilities in foetuses and children" and as "one of the most poisonous forms of pollution."

Greenpeace, China and India:
Greenpeace also recommends CFLs while simultaneously bemoaning contamination caused by a mercury thermometer factory in India. But where are mercury-containing CFLs made? Not in the U.S., under strict environmental regulation. CFLs are made in India and China, where environmental standards are virtually non-existent.

The EPA regulatory programme:
And let's not forget about the regulatory nightmare known as the Superfund law, the EPA regulatory program best known for requiring expensive but often needless cleanup of toxic waste sites, along with endless litigation over such cleanups.

We'll eventually be disposing billions and billions of CFL mercury bombs. Much of the mercury from discarded and/or broken CFLs is bound to make its way into the environment and give rise to Superfund liability, which in the past has needlessly disrupted many lives, cost tens of billions of dollars and sent many businesses into bankruptcy.

The real costs of CFLs:
As each CFL contains 5 milligrams of mercury, at the Maine "safety" standard of 300 nanograms per cubic meter, it would take 16,667 cubic meters of soil to "safely" contain all the mercury in a single CFL. While CFL vendors and environmentalists tout the energy cost savings of CFLs, they conveniently omit the personal and societal costs of CFL disposal. Not only are CFLs much more expensive than incandescent bulbs and emit light that many regard as inferior to incandescent bulbs, they pose a nightmare if they break and require special disposal procedures.

Should government (egged on by environmentalists and the Wal-Marts of the world) impose on us such higher costs, denial of lighting choice, disposal hassles and breakage risks in the name of saving a few dollars every year on the electric bill?

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268747,00.html Steven Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and CSRWatch.com. He is a junk science expert, and advocate of free enterprise and an adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

ROYAL APPLAUSE

THE BIG IDEA: AND MONETARY REFORM

by James Reed
Richard Cook, speaking at the USBIG Network Annual Conference in New York, 23/2/07, strongly put the case for a basic income guarantee (NTS April 2007). He did so from a US perspective where the welfare, not as we know it in Australia, really doesn't exist, and where health care is all a question of who can pay.

By 2030, he said robots will take over fifty per cent of the jobs in the US economy. The result will be a social disaster without basic income guarantee (BIG).
As Cook says:
"The right to income security must be viewed as an absolute. This right, I believe without apology, is ultimately based on a spiritual value that every human being who comes to life on the planet has a right to a minimally secure existence, which governments exist to ensure. I believe that income security is what people must first have to express their rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Major Douglas would have agreed. The idea of a national dividend, based upon the productive capacity of a Society, was to supply at a minimum, basic income security. Even here in Australia we have moved far away from a commitment to income security. The dole and work for the dole scheme in Australia has become a means of supplying cheap labour to corporations at a high social cost. It would be more efficient to eliminate the vast network, amounting to a highly oppressive State bureaucracy around the dole and let work-displaced people live in peace. There is hardly any incentive for the rest of the worker ants to down tools if this is done because they believe in consumerism. For those who did not make this economic hell - let them live in peace on the dole. That is my idea of Stage 1 of the B.I.G. idea.

Anthony Cooney in his booklet "Social Credit: Politics" put the philosophy behind such thinking quite clearly in this passage:
"Christ said that He came that men might have life, and have it more abundantly. He did not make this more abundant life conditional upon being fully employed as a reward meted out by the productive system."
"Social credit views the industrial and financial systems purely as a service at the disposal of a consumers' democracy, providing - in the material sphere - a more abundant life than heretofore. And that after all, is the meaning and purpose of the industrial arts."

Introductory reading: "Introducing Social Credit: Part 2, Economics: Three Allied Activities and Part 4, Distinguishing Between Means and Ends. Each booklet $6.00 posted. Available from all Heritage Book Services.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 'REFORM' BEATTIE STYLE

Folk from other States will be quite familiar with the tactics used by both sides of politics to 'reform' their local councils. Community consultation was once the 'in-thing'.
Of course by the end of the consultation process the reigning political party still went ahead with their plans for centralisation and change in local councils - no matter what the local people wanted.

Premier Beattie wants change for Queensland's local councils, but he isn't going to put up with even a pretence of 'consultation processes'.

We have received the following report on the matter:
There are 157 councils in Queensland servicing 4.1 million Queenslanders. Under the Local Government Act 1993, any decision to amalgamate councils required a referendum to be held of the local communities.

This democratic provision has been summarily removed by Premier Beattie and his government. Decisions regarding the amalgamation of council and boundary changes will be decided by seven commissioners - with the new shape of local government to be presented to parliament in August.

Local government elections will be held on the 15th March 2008 when Queenslanders will get to vote on who will represent them on these new councils. Brisbane City Council is the only council that has been excluded from the reform, the remaining 156 councils are under the gun.

"Involving citizens in government planning and decision making is crucial to the legitimacy and responsiveness of government, the quality of public policies and programs, and the effectiveness of services"
(Queensland Government, Department of Communities, Engaging Queenslanders: An introduction to community engagement, pg3, August 2005.)