MCDONALD’S-MUNCHING SLAVES OF MAMMON

by Betty Luks
Last week, as Thought for the Week, we used part of a letter by Iranian Darius Guppy, originally published in UK newspaper The Independent. I have to say I was pleased others now see that Mammon rules the West – why won’t our politicians publicly admit it? My thoughts were on this matter when reading two media releases by Opposition leader Tony Abbott and the National’s Senator Barnaby Joyce. Both were trying to point score over their Labor ‘opponents’(?) while the truth of the matter is, their parties are just as responsible for the present chaotic state of the nation as are all other political parties. The Australian people were sold out to Mammon long ago – and by our political and establishment ‘leaders’ at that.

Darius Guppy observed:
“Perhaps too, those in Iran and elsewhere, who look with cynicism at your democratic utopias are not quite as wet behind the ears as your own citizens. This was the meaning of my reference to "McDonald's-munching slaves" – not, as one commentator put it, an expression of snobbery directed at the working class who cannot afford a meal at the Bullingdon, but a highlighting of who it is that actually runs the show in your democracies and enslaves your population through a culture of consumerism.

Western democracy’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’
For McDonald's is the ultimate symbol of the bourgeois, corporate interests that hold the real reins of power in your countries… The truth is that many in Iran and in the Muslim world in general have grasped Western democracy's dirty little secret: that your leaders have no real power. And if your representatives are as ineffectual as their electorate before the Dictatorship of Money, then what meaning have your votes and your democracy?” Quite so Mr. Guppy!

I have been looking deeper into the Derivatives Ponzi scam – and a blatant fraudulent scam it was! It was an outright fraud, a deliberate criminal scheme, and yet, to my knowledge, not one banker or employee - other than the Englishman Nick Leeson for his role in the collapse of Barings Bank years ago - has been gaoled for his/her involvement and the ill-gotten gains from it. How can this be so? Why aren’t the banksters who devised the Ponzi scam languishing in rotten prisons? And what of the politicians who 'propped them up’ with our taxes when the scheme came tumbling down (deliberately planned?) around them. I have read that the debts remaining, after the scam imploded, are 200-300 times greater than the world’s annual gross domestic product and ‘probably, in order of magnitude, the biggest fraud in history’.

Carbon Emissions Scheme another Ponzi?
And in their shadowy world, the same banksters are pushing for governments to set up ‘carbon emissions’ trading schemes, (also known as cap ’n trade). No wonder Mr. Guppy referred to Westerners as wetter behind the ears than are the Iranian people and Muslims in general.

HOW DID THEY DO IT?
An email from the US summed it up this way - Scam Central
• "The Financial Services Modernization Act.'
• "The Commodity Futures Modernization Act."
• Goldman Sachs wrote them...
• Clinton teed them up and Bush & Co. knocked them down the fairway.
• Now Goldman owns the new president too.
• The bankrupting of America (and the world) on the behalf of a handful of New York investment bankers.

Kleptocracy is - government of the thieves, by the thieves, for the thieves.

DVD “FALL OF THE REPUBLIC”
- explains in detail how it happened and names some of the banksters (and their political toadies) who not only originated the scam but reaped fabulous riches from it.
The same people who devised the fraudulent scams were then put in charge of ‘the bailouts’! In 2004 the FBI warned of an “epidemic of mortgage fraud”. These people were not selling shares in producing companies, such as the Ford Motor Company, for example, the derivatives scam was simply “paper based on paper”.
Follow the trail back to its origins and there you find - nothing of substance was traded – and yet the American people are left with a quadrillion dollar ‘black hole’ of debt!
Isn’t it time those ‘wet behind the ears’ Australians woke up. Don’t think that ‘those in the know’ in Australia were not up to their rotting-corrupting necks in it as well as the US banks.
William Black Associate Professor in Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City is one of the speakers on the DVD.
Order your copy today from Heritage Book Services, P.O. Box 27, Happy Valley 5159. $12.00 posted.

“Apocalypse No!” also a ‘must’ featuring Lord Christopher Monckton who exposes the ‘climategate’ scam and push for world government. $10.00 posted.

TO LIE TO CHEAT TO STEAL IS OKAY - ‘FOR THE CAUSE’

We should thank Lord Monckton for the brilliant job he did in exposing the real intent and agenda behind the Copenhagen Conference ‘street theatre’. But do take note of how these people work. They have an agenda to push through and that agenda has nothing to do with truth or facts.

Those who have some idea of Marxist/Communist philosophy know that to lie, to cheat, to steal is ‘moral’ as long as it promotes Marxism/Communism. The ‘disciples of global warming’ have an agenda and that is what matters. Interestingly, Lord Monckton referred to the large numbers of Communist flags displayed by many ‘environmentalists’ at Copenhagen.   

SON OF CLIMATEGATE - ANOTHER SCAM?

The new climate change scandal by Anil Dawar, Daily Express, 18 January 2010. Source: https://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/152422/

The-new-climate-change-scandal “Fresh doubts were cast over controversial global warming theories yesterday after a major climate change argument was discredited. The International Panel on Climate Change was forced to admit its key claim that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 was lifted from a 1999 magazine article. The report was based on an interview with a little-known Indian scientist who has since said his views were “speculation” and not backed up by research.

Former railway engineer with PhD in economics – and a huge vested interest!
It was also revealed that the IPCC’s controversial chairman, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, described as “the world’s top climate scientist”, is a former railway engineer with a PhD in economics and no formal climate science qualifications.
Dr Pachauri was yesterday accused of a conflict of interest after it emerged he has a network of business interests that attract millions of pounds in funding thanks to IPCC policies.
One of them, The Energy Research Institute, has a London office and is set to receive up to £10million from British taxpayers over the next five years in the form of grants from the Department for International Development. Dr Pachauri denies any conflict of interest arising from his various roles.

A multi-million pound ‘industry’
Yesterday, critics accused the IPCC of boosting the man-made global warming theory to protect a multi-million pound industry. Climate scientist Peter Taylor said:
“I am not surprised by this news. A vast bureaucracy and industry has been built up around this theory. There is too much money in it for the IPCC to let it wither.”
Professor Julian Dowdeswell, a glacier specialist at Cambridge University, said: “The average glacier is 1,000ft thick so to melt one even at 15ft a year would take 60 years.
That is a lot faster than anything we are seeing now so the idea of losing it all by 2035 is unrealistically high.”…

Yesterday, Professor Murari Lal who oversaw the chapter on glaciers in the IPCC report, said: “If Hasnain says officially that he never asserted this, or that it is a wrong presumption, then I will recommend that the assertion about Himalayan glaciers be removed from future IPCC assessments.”
Last year the Indian government issued its own scientific research rejecting the notion that glaciers were melting so rapidly. Before the weakness in the IPCC’s research was exposed, Dr Pachauri dismissed the Indian government report as “voodoo science”...”  

CENTRALISATION OF POWER IS MORE LIKE IT!

by Betty Luks
In a media release, Geoff Lake, President, Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) enthuses that he “welcomes” the news that “four potential constitutional changes” are currently being examined by the Federal Government.

He refers to an article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) 21/1/2010, where the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, confirms “the inclusion of local government in the Constitution is one of the four proposals currently being worked on by the Government. The other three relate to a republic, recognition of indigenous people and cooperative federalism. The Attorney also indicated that the Government is looking to pursue these changes in the next parliamentary term.”

Mr. Lake sees this as positive news and writes
“This… responds to ALGA's efforts and negotiations on behalf of the sector over the past 12 months with the Government, the Opposition, state and territory governments and minor parties to build momentum on constitutional reform.”

There you have it fellow Australian – but don’t you also ‘smell a rat’ as I do?
The same government that ‘bailed out’ failed banks in Australia, but did not compensate all those who lost their life savings and superannuation funds in the fraudulent, criminal derivatives scheme, is the same government that has taken away our farmers’ property rights, and now wants to alter the Commonwealth Constitution – for our own good of course.

But nowhere do I see mention of bringing the criminal banks to account! Nowhere do I read that the corrupt financial system will be ‘reformed’. To be forewarned is to be forearmed!  

POLITICAL REFORMS IN LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS

Business SA has called for political reforms in State and Local Government. The plan to replace present Councils with Regional or Super Councils tends to occur quite frequently. In the SE, it would mean closing the seven Councils in favour of a single body, probably like SELGA based in Mount Gambier. Such a move would completely remove the concept of ‘local’ from what we call Local Government.

To operate such a large area, there would need to be several levels of administration beneath the Super Council to manage the to and fro of community requests. This administration would be unelected and more costly than having Councillors.
Any potential savings would be lost to increased bureaucracies. Many ratepayers are still searching for the predicted financial gains, forecast at the 1997 round of amalgamations. Residents generally agree that they can have an impact on their Council but their chance of impact on the State Parliament is much less. Their chance of influencing the Federal Parliament is considered to be slight.

If Local Government is the easiest to control, I ask why would anyone wish to replace it with a more remote, centralist structure? I support Business SA in their suggestion that adequate funding accompany all responsibilities transferred from the State to Councils. The State realises that we can administer the services for less cost and so encourage the transfer. However, failure to continue the funding past a couple of years leaves the ratepayer having to shoulder the burden.

Nominations for the position of Mayor and Councillors for the next Council will close in September for a November poll. I urge members of the community to consider nominating and all will be welcome to sit in the gallery to experience Council procedure if they desire.

- - Ken Grundy, Naracoorte South Australia.  

PETER SPENCER’S HUNGER STRIKE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

It’s okay to ‘bail out’ the corrupt banksters with government ‘handouts’ but it is not okay to compensate Australia’s farmers who have had their property rights taken away from them by the same governments. John Roskam and Alan Moran of the Institute of Public Affairs brought this matter to the attention of its readership.

“New research released today by the IPA highlights that in New South Wales alone there are at least a dozen state government statutes and regulations that take away land owners’ rights to use their property. These total at least 700 pages.
The hunger strike of NSW farmer Peter Spencer, who is demanding compensation for the reduction in the value of his farming land by government regulations, highlights this significant issue,” said John Roskam, Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.

“State governments are violating the basic right to property of thousands of landowners across the country. Private property rights are human rights just as much as freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” said Mr Roskam.

“It is a fundamental principle that property owners should be compensated when they are stopped from using their land as they choose.

“The reported comments of Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner that ‘the commonwealth would face massive expense if it compensated farmers’ reveals the potential billions of dollars of property value which has been appropriated by these laws,” said Mr Roskam. (emphasis added...ed)

The statues and regulations that take away rural landowners’ rights to use their property in NSW are:
• Native Vegetation Act 2003
• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
• Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999
• National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974
• Forestry Act 1916
• Forestry and National Park Estate Act 1998
• Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995
• Environmental Planning and Assessment 1979
• Tree Preservation Orders
• State environmental planning policies:
• SEPP 14 - Coastal Wetlands
• SEPP 19 - Bushland in Urban Areas
• SEPP 26 - Littoral Rainforests
• SEPP 44 - Koala Habitat Protection

Property confiscation by state governments is not confined to rural areas. For more than sixty years the IPA has been monitoring the many laws which intrude on property rights. In urban areas, heritage laws and planning restrictions prevent property owners from using their property as they choose.
The IPA has previously argued state governments must provide compensation whenever they appropriate property rights. State constitutions should be amended to guarantee such a right.”
Source: www.ipa.org.au  

WHO SAID A MAN’S HOME IS HIS CASTLE?

"With the building works nearly over, Julian and Samantha Mosedale and their three children were looking forward to moving back into the home of their dreams. But their hopes have turned into a nightmare because a group of Romanians occupied the property over Christmas.
To add insult to injury, police told them that they were being 'racist' for questioning the squatters' right to live in Britain on benefits.

The unwanted guests have changed the locks at the three-bedroom terrace house and moved in their own furniture. Mr Mosedale, an illustrator, and his wife, a catalogue manager, both 45, had moved out of the house in Tottenham, North London, in July 2007 for extensive structural and renovation work. They rented another property and regularly visited the £285,000 house to oversee progress. But, after spending Christmas visiting relatives in Essex, they returned to the house on January 3 to find the squatters installed.
They now fear they could soon be homeless because they can only afford to foot the cost of rent and mortgage payments until March. Mrs Mosedale, whose three sons are ten, eight, and five, said: 'We called the police as soon as we found out they were in there. An officer suggested I was racist when I asked if they were Romanians, and did they have a legal right to be in this country.

'We are hard-working citizens yet get treated like criminals when our home is stolen. This whole thing is making me feel constantly sick. All we want to do is get on with our lives.
'We feel let down by the law, by government, and by the police, in fact all the authorities that one would expect to protect society. The house had builders in it while the renovations were being done. It was only in the last couple of months that it was left completely empty. Our lawyers don't know how long it will take us to get them out and the stress is really getting to the whole family’ she said…

When the family questioned the squatters' right to be in Britain, police told them that they were being 'racist'. Yesterday, the couple obtained a county court order giving the squatters 24 hours - until 2.15pm today - to leave. But Mr Mosedale fears they will not give in easily.
He said: 'When the papers were served on them they tore them up and threw them back at the guy who'd taken them round.'

He and his wife are also worried that a drawn-out battle would exhaust their savings. They had planned to move back into the house in March. Mrs Mosedale said: 'We were in the process of creating our dream home and it has been ruined.
At the moment there are at least four women, four children and one man living in our home, but neighbours said they have seen many more people going in and out. In the meantime we face the prospect of becoming homeless ourselves, since we had only budgeted to pay both rent and our mortgage until mid March.'…"  

FROM HAITI – ‘THE NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS’

As readers will know, the internet came into its own before and during the Copenhagen Conference. News was presented from various angles and the mainline media could not censor it. If you have internet access and want to get news of what is happening in Haiti from another source go to:
/ Leggi l'articolo completo: https://www.uruknet.de/?p=62355

Look at Video: Haiti Report by TeleSur's Reed Lindsay, Now Translated to English, 19, January 2010.
The following is the text comment accompanying the videos posted on that website.
“Mediahacker: Many thanks to 2010 School of Authentic Journalism scholar Joaquín Nezua Herrera, who put up the subtitles so that English speakers can get this unique ground level view of post-earthquake Port au Prince...

Update: In contrast, CNN and the English language networks have largely been doing a dreadful job covering the crisis and recovery in Haiti. Ansel Herz offers an informed critique via his blog, Mediahacker: “Tell CNN to Stop Hyping Fears of Violence in Haiti” and shows an example of yellow journalism being practiced by CNN this week.

“It occurred to me this morning that this is the first time since the dawn of cable news that during a big international story that I don't have CNN or the other TV news networks turned on as I go about my day. The shift has already happened in which the Internet reporting has surpassed what poses as journalism on the big networks, and any video clip they broadcast that does turn out to add to the story quickly gets posted to the Internet anyway.
TV news - at least in English - is now officially dead. And unless it radically changes its way of doing things, it is only a matter of time before the public reaches the same conclusion. Rest in pixels.”

Google: Update II:
Here is an audio-visual presentation by BrownManThinkingHard, courtesy of Baratunde Thurston: It tells the back-story of Haiti's history and its relationship with US history.
Did you know, for example, that the Haitian revolution that won independence from France directly led to the Louisiana Purchase and expansion of US territory?
That, and other important context to understand current events in Haiti can be seen and heard on this site.  

LETTER TO THE PRESS

The Editor, The Advertiser 18 January 2010:
Rex Jory (Jan 18) expresses his regret that ABC programmes tend to overlook events in South Australia since the controllers of the television content are based on the more populated eastern seaboard. He is so correct.
In regional SA we are very fortunate to have local Television and radio stations which do provide local interest items.
An event in Naracoorte is likely to be broadcast all over the South East whereas a similar event, in say Yankalilla, would be unlikely to be aired on Adelaide stations, let alone a national programme.
The example made by Rex highlights the outcome of centralisation. The decisions are no longer made at the grass roots level.
This example should be noted by those including Business SA, who promote the concept of fewer Councils or others who seek the abolition of the States.
The outcome of any of these examples can be predicted to be the same as the ABC case quoted by Rex Jory.. The decisions will be made at a higher level and individual influence will diminish. Thank you Rex, your example is very timely.

- - Ken Grundy, Naracoorte SA 5271