"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
Edmund Burke
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1 August 2003. Thought for the Week:
"Out of the remnants of the Roman slave state, the Church
proposed to build a social order based on the idea (1) that
the humblest human being had been touched by a magic wand
when God became human, so that the humblest human being was
no mere draught animal but, on the contrary, akin to God and
(2) that the same God being the Creator of the natural world,
every human being was akin to the natural world in a new way;
and (3) she proclaimed the rule of the servant, that is, the
artisan, the domestic, the tiller of the soil, those dedicated
to practical industry. Because it was a social revolution
over against the Old Order, the medieval Church was schizophrenic…
she "gestated the soul of the West in the womb of the
East" and proclaimed liberty in the language of slaves
- hence the dark side of her history, which there is no need
to minimize."
"Human Ecology & Social Credit: The Legacy of Tom Robertson." by Michael Lane, 2002. |
AFTER CALIFORNIA - WHO?by Jeremy Lee Although California's budget deficit
($US38.2 billion) is larger than all the other State deficits
combined, a host of other States are in deep trouble. 46 out
of the 50 States have crippling budget deficits and are attempting
desperately to find ways to cut back. But California is shutting
down many essential services. Legislators and the Governor
have had their pay suspended. Educational establishments and
other essential services have either been cut to the bone
or shut down altogether. Queensland's Courier-Mail
commented: Only one American State that we are aware
of - Alaska, the 49th - is not in immediate trouble. Since
1976 it has been squirreling part of its oil royalties away
in The Alaska Permanent Fund for such a rainy day. Without
State income taxes or sales taxes, the Alaska Permanent Fund
now has assets worth over $US27 billion, which, for a state
population of 620,000 is not too bad!. But over the period
the Fund has also paid an annual dividend to Alaskan citizens
over the age of six months averaging some $US2,000 per head
each twelve month. |
HOW DO STATES GO BROKE?The July New Times Survey contains a lengthier article on the Californian debt crisis, set within the context of the overall consolidated debt crisis now facing the United States. The combination of all debts in the US now exceeds $US49 trillion, - a sum incapable of repayment. The much anticipated but totally illusory 'recovery' which all the pundits are praying will arrive within the next 12 months, can only be achieved by American exports large enough to repay debt and interest. With the largest Current Account Deficit
in US history with the rest of the world this year - $US500
billion - and an increase in unemployment of 2.1 million in
the last 12 months - PLUS a rapacious and bottomless military
budget as George Bush tries to be the world's policeman -
the Ides do not look auspicious for America in the period
ahead. One thing we can be sure of; the money-lenders will be gathering, as they do with ever-increasing frequency, and going through California's remaining assets to see what they can seize or acquire. They might even call in the International Monetary Fund, as they have done in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. If that doesn't wake Americans, and especially Californians, to the whole question of usury and debt finance, nothing ever will. |
WINNING BY A NOSEThe Bulletin - Australia's oldest and best-known current affairs weekly - in its issue for July 1 depicted the "coalition of the willing", Bush, Blair and Howard, in profile, each with a Pinocchio's nose about a foot long, and the heading "DID THEY LIE?" It says much that the facts published by small independent newsletters such as On Target are now appearing in the mainstream media. If we had a truly independent media these stories should have appeared much earlier. Journalists like Robert Fisk, Felicity Arbuthnot and John Pilger, while not necessarily always correct, have been much closer to real events than the editorial staff members in head offices who decide what is proper for their readers to be told. The media has much to answer for. But we should be thankful that all sorts of unsavoury but essential information is beginning to reach the public. A joint-parliamentary committee, against the wishes of Prime Minister Howard, is now due to report in September on the whole mess surrounding the intelligence and the selectively biased process by which Australia went to war. Normally, such a committee, even when government and opposition are included, can be expected to be fairly tame in its findings. But the same process in Britain and America will goad them into a much deeper investigation than usual. Polls show a growing number in each country who believe they were deceived on the arguments for war. Meanwhile, the truth about Iraq, in contrast
to any idea that the war is over and rebuilding advanced and
under way, is appearing daily. Even diplomacy is all but impossible.
The Australian (212/7/03) told us: Now George Bush, who so contemptuously dismissed the UN in the prelude to war, is asking with his tail between his legs for UN intervention. Obviously, this will entail the agreement of nations such as France and Germany, who were so rudely treated and insulted by Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. The cost of the American occupation is about $US4 billion a month - money which states like California will be eyeing enviously as they go bankrupt themselves. Errol Simper, in his column in the Media
section of The Australian July 17-23, 2003) said what
more and more are thinking: Howard has described the planned parliamentary inquiry into pre-invasion intelligence as "purely political". He could well be right. Equally, some of Iraq's maimed and homeless might regard war as a shade political. It's a strange thing, given the massive disenchantment in Australia over the planned invasion, that Howard's reasons for the war haven't - until the past few days - been a bigger issue. The mainstream media has never really developed it into the kind of all-consuming topic as was - say -the unforgiving onslaught on the former governor-general, Peter Hollingworth, or the focus on the Simon Crean-Kim Beazley leadership fracas…… The ease with which Howard dumped the whole thing can tempt you to believe politics in this country is easy. You pledge you'll "never-ever" introduce a GST, then introduce one. You encourage the belief that would-be refugees throw their children into the sea, then simply concede they didn't. You tell the nation Saddam Hussein has the capability to threaten the entire globe, then move on to referendum proposals to dent the power of the Senate! Nice work if you can get it. …." I never thought I'd see such accurate
and penetrating comments in the national media. |
WHY DID WE PUT OUR TRUST IN THESE WICKED & RUTHLESS MEN?Such was the introductory headline to
Peter Hitchens' scathing attack on the U.K.'s Fabian Socialist
Labour Government. U.K. Mail No.522. And therein lies the problem |
FABIAN SOCIETY IN U.K. WANTS TO DECIDE MONARCHY'S FUTUREA 50,000 word document, "Future of the Monarchy," the product of a year's work by a ten-strong commission set up by the Fabian Society in the U.K. has been released to the affiliated Blair Labour Party.The report calls for two major new laws to enact the reforms they want: A Succession Act to amend the Royal Marriages Act and a Constitution Act, removing the Queen's (and future Monarch's) right to dissolve or summon Parliament, the Royal Assent over legislation, and, the right to choose a Prime Minister in the event of a hung Parliament. This Act would also strip the sovereign of the Royal Prerogative , which for instance, allows the Prime Minister to go to war without Parliamentary approval. This is a battle the British people will have to fight to retain their Constitutional Monarchy, Australians have also got their own battles to contend with. |
THEY'RE AT IT - AGAIN - OVER HERE TOO!Report from Phillip Benwell, National Chairman, Australian Monarchist League. "Despite spending millions on the
issue of a republic over the last decade resulting in the
rejection of the 1999 Referendum, the Australian Parliament
is again proposing to spend the taxpayer's money on an "Inquiry
into an Australian Republic", possibly to coincide with
what is termed a 'Democratic Audit of Australia' funded by
the Government and conducted by the Australian National University
in Canberra!"
MEMBERS & PARTICIPATING SENATORS: |
SOUTH AUSTRALIA'S CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONDr. Pamela Ryan, managing director of Issues Deliberation Australia, is organizing the selection of delegates to the Constitutional Convention. She says the people are "clamouring" to take part. Dr. Ryan will also be responsible for running the 'deliberative polls' to be held as part of the convention which will run from 8th-10th of August, 2003. (Australian 4th July 2003)More than 1000 people have been randomly selected and are currently being interviewed to reduce the number to about 300. An unprecedented 70 per cent acceptance rate of those phoned has confirmed the people of South Australia want to take part in the Convention. Dr.Ryan said it was clear the people were committed and enthusiastic about having their say on the future of governance in South Australia. The three-day convention will discuss five main topics - citizen initiated referendums, the number of MPs, government accountability, the role of each House of Parliament and the role of the political parties in the Legislative Council. |
WHAT DO DAVID HICKS AND ERNST ZUNDEL HAVE IN COMMON?They are both being subjected to the
New Despotism. The Lord Chief Justice of England wrote of
this New Despotism in 1929. "The British tradition of the rule of law means (1) "no man can be punished, or can be lawfully made to suffer either in his body or in his goods, except for a distinct breach of law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary Courts"; (2) "every man, whatever his rank or condition may be, is subject to the ordinary law of the land and the jurisdiction of the ordinary Courts"; and (3) "the general principles of our Constitution are mainly the result of judicial decisions determining the rights of private persons in particular cases brought before the Courts".
Note that item (1) is a negative definition of rights. It
says that what is forbidden is specified in law, all else
being permitted. The rights of man are in number as the stars.
A positive declaration of rights has the disadvantage that
it compromises all rights not mentioned in the declaration.
The ordinary Courts deliver justice based on four principles:
(1) the judge is known and personally responsible for his
decisions, (2) the case is conducted in public, (3) the result
is based on known and established principles uniformly applied
(due process), and (4) all parties are fully and fairly heard."
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SIXTEEN AFGHAN PRISONERS RETURN FROM GUANTANAMO BAYIt won't give David Hicks nor Ernst Zundel any joy to learn that several groups of Guantanomo Bay prisoners, whom George Bush classified as "illegal combatants," have already been released and sent home.According to a report in the Pakistan Daily Times, 20th July 2003, an Afghan police official announced "sixteen Afghans detained by the American military at Guantanamo Bay were freed here Saturday following their return from Cuba three days earlier." "Sixteen Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay arrived Thursday night by plane at the Bagram Air Base (40 kilometres north of Kabul)," said police official Mohammad Khalil Aminzada. "They were handed over immediately to the Afghan police and brought that evening to Kabul," he said. The sixteen were interrogated for two days by the police and then freed late Saturday afternoon and handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. A Pentagon official said Friday that about 30 detainees, some from Pakistan and Afghanistan, had left Guantanamo Bay to be repatriated to their countries. The released Afghan prisoners were not allowed to talk to journalists. About 680 alleged members of the deposed Taliban regime and suspected al-Qaeda terrorists are imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. Originating from 42 countries, they have been held and interrogated by the United States for up to 18 months at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Classified as "illegal combatants" by President George W. Bush, their fate is uncertain. But several groups have already been returned to their countries of origin, where the local authorities decide if they are to be released." |
BASIC FUNDThanks to the on-going contributions of League supporters the Basic Fund's figure has reached $43,785.50. The end of August is the 'cut off' date for this financial year's appeal. Please don't let us down. The target is $60,000; please give generously and help us fill the fund. |
WEST AUSTRALIAN STATE WEEKENDThe West Australian State Weekend will be held Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th August 2003.The venue for the Seminar and Dinner is the Goodearth Hotel (formerly The Terrace), 195 Adelaide Terrace, Perth. The seminar commences at 1.45pm, with an introduction by Mr. Murray Pope, State Director of the League. The theme for the seminar is summed up in its title: "Insanity Fair!" Guest speakers will be Mr. Tom Lawson, speaking on crime and punishment in Western Australia - "The Injustice of Justice". Tom Lawson has been concerned about the breakdown of law and order for a number of years and wrote about the underlying problems in "Justice on the Edge". The second speaker is Mr. Geoff Muirden, who will deal with the dismantling of our ancient rights and freedoms, "Where To From Here? - Iraq and Beyond". For further information: 08 9574 6042 |
SYDNEY CONSERVATIVE SPEAKERS' CLUBThe next gathering of the SCSC will take place on Thursday 31st July commencing at 7.30pm. The venue is the Lithuanian Club, 10 East Terrace, Bankstown and it is situated only 600 metres from the Bankstown Railway Station.Guest speaker is Mr. David Hooper and his subject is: "Britain, the United States, the U.N. Org. and Palestine". As a previous speaker to the Club, members will appreciate another talk by this gifted speaker. Books will be available for sale and while the cost of attendance is $4, bring a friend for the first time and attendance is free. Date for your diary: 28th August is the Annual General Meeting, followed by two brief talks. To celebrate the 30th year of the SCSC, Roy Gustard will present a short history of the Club followed by Maurice Shaya on Afghanistan. |
UNITED SETTLERS ASSOCIATION (UKSA)The 3rd Annual Dinner of the UKSA will be held on Friday 22nd August and the retiring president of the Victorian RSL, Bruce Ruxton, will be the guest of honour. The Dinner will celebrate the Coronation Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll. League folk will remember the memorable occasion when Bruce presented our own Eric Butler with his war service medals. It is hoped Eric and Elma Butler will be at the dinner. Venue is English Speaking Union House, 146 West Toorak Road, South Yarra - 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start.Cost is $38 per person for a 3-course meal and welcoming cocktails. For further details phone Lena Philby, Office: 9866 1722 or Home: 9859 5901. |
WEBSITE - www.bankwatch.infoOne of the latest initiatives of the League is the website, www.bankwatch.info. It was named after the movement set up by activists Bill Carey and Jim Cronin from the west coast of South Australia. In the late 1980s at an 18th Birthday celebration, an idea started to ferment and led Jim Cronin and Bill Carey to attempt the impossible -- to get some desperate farmers out of trouble with the banks. The story of what happened after that was set out in detail in a book "Operation Bankwatch". The book is the first introduction to the visitor to the site.An audio copy of their address to the Conservative Speakers' Club is available from the:- Mayo Tape Library, P.O. Box 6, Hahndorf, S.A. Speakers: Mr. Jim Cronin & Mr. Bill Carey of "Bankwatch". The title of their joint address is "An Update on Bankwatch". |