'LOADED' PROPOSED CITIZENSHIP TEST

by Betty Luks
The Coalition government is to set up a citizenship test for immigrants wanting to take up Australian citizenship. They have been busy little beavers drafting questions they deem worthy to be included in the Test.

ACM's David Flint wrote in his Opinion Column
"On 18 May 2007 News Limited newspapers reported that they had obtained some of the questions which will be used in the test, the answers to which seem capable of being marked by a computer.
A particular weakness of this test is that only one answer to each question is deemed to be correct. This is of course in order where the question is factual e.g., the name of the first Australian prime minister.
But this approach is wrong when we enter areas which are the subject of continuing debate, for example, the question about the Australian head of state…"

Question No. 15 is: Australia's values are based on the ...
e. Teachings of the Koran
f. The Judaeo-Christian tradition
g. Catholicism
h. Secularism

David Flint wrote:
"The correct answer, for the test, is the Judaeo-Christian tradition. I happen to agree with this, but learning just this rote answer could lead to the ludicrous conclusion that the Judaeo-Christian tradition and Catholicism are diametrically opposed, which of course is untrue. A citizenship test made up of only multiple choice questions, unsupported by other measures, may not achieve the objectives of the exercise. It could become a memory test."

Mr. Flint makes a very important point here:
"Learning just this rote answer could lead to the ludicrous conclusion that the Judaeo-Christian tradition and Catholicism are diametrically opposed, which of course is untrue."

Maybe a little paranoid?
I must be a little paranoid but I sense what could be a more sinister intent in that framed question and multiple-choice answer. The idea implanted in the minds of many will be that not only are Judaeo-Christian tradition and Catholicism diametrically opposed, but that the two thousand years of western Anglo-Catholic Christian history and heritage are not relevant to Australia today.

It is time some of these politicians traced, in more detail, the genuine roots of Australia's history and heritage.
Readers could start educating their friends with Archbishop John Hepworth's DVD and/or Video "The Contribution of Greek Thought to Western Christian Civilisation."

WE SHOULD BECOME AS CHILDREN

by John Brett
The Toowoomba Branch of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy conduct an annual Essay Competition to encourage the young to look seriously at their system of government.
On the question dealing with the Governor-General's reserve powers, it was noted one of the Essay entrants in her research had come across something of fundamental importance.

The title for this year's senior Essay competition is, "Describe the role of the referee in sport and then compare this with the role of the Governor-General in the Government of Australia".

The young lady researched the "Referee Associations" and discovered they have reserve powers the same as the Governor-General. To quote her entry:
"The referee can postpone, stop, suspend or call off a match if there are weather or crowd problems. In the midst of conflict, particularly with parents and coaches who want to win, a referee is expected to maintain calm and impartiality".

Well try codifying those circumstances and you have another disaster. This is all the more interesting as a game is essentially a conflict over a prescribed period of time with a limit to the duration of the conflict, differing from the political conflict which is continuous. But both conflicts will ever have unforeseen circumstances.
We must become as children, particularly when we have forgotten where it all started!"

CARBON CREDITS & MALCOLM'S JUNK SCIENCE

by Ted Paterson
On Target Vol 43, No.19, reported on the mercury poisoning dangers in Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'clean green' plan to switch from the incandescent light bulbs to the compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in the near future.
And you reported a phone call to the local supermarket went on to confirm what was reported. "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." Well this is what has happened up here in NSW.

The NSW government has legislated that the producers of energy in NSW must decrease their output of carbons or 'buy' carbon credits. Their method of buying carbon credits is to pay the cost of providing CFL globes at no cost in exchange for signatures from householders certifying that the CFLs have been received. They are being given out willy-nilly and also when the man comes to change our bulbs he brings his own, consequently, we have enough CFLs to last the next ten years. They come in almost plain packets with no warning re mercury!

The signed forms are then returned to the electricity concern as proof that they have done that amount to cut down electricity consumption and the company handing out these CFLs willy-nilly then becomes entitled to Carbon Credit brownie points thus satisfying the NSW legislation.

It is agreed by 'all concerned' that the cost of electricity will rise because of this vast expenditure, but as it is all part of saving the planet the costs are justified. And don't forget the rational is 'as electricity becomes more expensive the people will use less'.

What a really brilliant scheme! Perhaps if we are serious about 'saving the planet' we should revert to kerosene lamps. Oops, they pollute also. Okay then, we'll all go to bed at sundown, or, perhaps we may be able to get a little light by sitting really close to our electric radiator?

Only a fraction of the bulbs distributed will actually be used; when something is free people tend to collect as many as are available, the actual amount of electricity saved will not relate to the immediate saving in the same ratio of bulbs distributed.

As mentioned earlier, we have [been given] enough CFLs to last for about ten years or more. We are told they have a much longer life than the incandescent light bulb.
Bearing in mind the information in your article - re the great dangers posed by broken bulbs - it will be surprising if there are not many claims for compensation over the next few years.

The environmental officer mentioned above, also told me that a special disposal unit will be established, I think by the Shire Council, to deal with old CFLs as replacements are required.
He was not sure but guessed that the Shire would have to pay for the facility (that means you ratepayer)!

OUR DISGRACEFUL UNIVERSITIES

by James Reed
A rapid decline in the Australian higher education sector began with the dismantling of the old CAE system by Labor Party Education Minister John Dawkins. The CAEs were practical and successful decentralised training institutions. Dawkins made them into universities, while also levelling what remained of the "liberal university" in the existing universities.

Centralised universities run on market principles are incompatible with a culture of intellectual freedom and questioning. Consequently, from the end of the 1980s, the universities - if that is possible - became even worse than they had been. Dissenters are not tolerated and there are few remaining dissenters, if any. Thus there are no immigration critics, critics in any comprehensive sense, of immigration and multiculturalism on any Australian campus. That says it all.

The federal government is now going to use "controversial" constitutional powers to remove the States' power over the universities and centralise them some more. Howard's gang is crowing about the High Court of Australia's recent centralist decision on workplace relations and is confident that this Court will perform true to form. This of course will ultimately finish off the universities but at this late stage of decay we should welcome the death throes of these horrible politically correct institutions of intellectual toxic sludge.

At this late stage our ailing culture would be better off if the liberal economic rationalists did finally destroy them. Then we can plan to build anew.

BALD OPPORTUNITY

by James Reed
Peter Garrett, Opposition environment spokesman, was once the lead singer of the rock band Midnight Oil. This group sang ultra-leftist songs against the US, uranium mining, Aboriginal land rights and the whole package of leftist tricks. The government claims that Garrett has "torn up his convictions and was prepared to say whatever it took to convince people that Labor valued the US alliance."

Garrett in the past had campaigned strongly against the US presence of US bases in Australia and now must deal with Australia's agreement to host a further US joint communications facility. Well, what's wrong with that?

Garrett after all is a politician now, no different from the rest of them. In the past he may have danced like a robot on stage - now he really is one.

RACE AND COSMETICS

by Brian Simpson
A court in France, where a decision is expected any day is raising thorny racial issues. The case is against L'Oreal, a producer of beauty products who has been accused of instructing an employment agency to hire only "BBR" types - "blue, white and red" (in French: "Bleu, Blanc Rouge" - the colours of the French flag.

Prosecutors have argued that "BBR" is a code for excluding Arab, Asian and African people. I detest cosmetic ads because of the false images of beauty given to women. As an ageing, sensitive satirist, I look forward to ads with corpulent women (not slim ones) of all different hues and colours, selling cosmetics. I heard one lady tell another at the university the other day: bring it on girl friend!

ASSAULT ON USS LIBERTY - 'DOWN THE MEMORY HOLE'

by Stephen M. St. John, Founding Associate Member, USS Liberty Veterans Association:

"June 8th marks forty years since the Israeli assault on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six Day War. Survivors will gather at Arlington National Cemetery to honour their fallen shipmates and, at a weekend reunion including a ceremony at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, they will renew their resolve to preserve historical truth and pursue justice.

This day also marks two years since the USS Liberty Veterans Association formally presented its report War Crimes Committed Against U. S. Military Personnel, June 8, 1967 to the Secretary of the Army in his capacity as Executive Agent for the Secretary of Defense. (See https://www.ussliberty.org) Thus far there has been no reply to this administrative gambit; even so, the LVA continues to hope that the US Congress will eventually do the right thing and, according to its mandate "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations," conduct a full and impartial investigation to settle the matter once and for all.

Too 'hot a potato' for AIPAC-driven politicians?
The hasty US Navy Court of Inquiry had been "an entirely shipboard investigation" according to its president, the late Admiral Isaac Kidd. The Liberty's doctor, Captain Richard Kiepfer, said of this ex-parte investigation, "Never before in the history of the United States Navy has a Navy Board of Inquiry ignored the testimony of American military eye-witnesses and taken, on faith, the word of their attackers."

When US Bankruptcy Court Judge A. Jay Cristol's 2002 book "The Liberty Incident," denigrated the Liberty survivors and their petitions for redress of their grievances, the legal counsel of the Court of Inquiry felt compelled to break his decades-long silence and formally repudiated the court's falsified findings as well as the judge and his book. Captain Ward Boston also alleged that President Johnson ordered the cover-up, and that this immoral command was carried out by Admiral John McCain, the father of the senator from Arizona. Senator McCain endorsed the judge's book.

The USS Liberty incident and cover-up constitute a hot political potato especially for AIPAC-driven politicians who shun petitions to take up the cause of the Liberty survivors. One wonders how any member of Congress could give a cold shoulder to the Liberty crew and still be fit for the duty of care of our twenty year olds in far-flung places like Iraq and the Persian Gulf. After all, Zionist Neoconservatives maintain that aircraft carriers are old fashioned and expendable and a costly drag in their quest for world domination. Is this why carriers have been placed within range of Iran's supersonic anti-ship missiles? Is this how warmongers break eggs for their omelettes?

Public Relations trumping over Truth
The old paradigm of public relations trumping truth and justice prevents the asking of many questions from which vitally important lessons can be learned.
For example:
§ Why the distribution problems with the 1980 book Assault on the Liberty, written by survivor Lieutenant Commander James M. Ennes?
§ Why did Menachem Begin call the Six Day War a "war of choice" and not of necessity?
§ Why did the CIA predict a "turkey shoot"?
§ Why did former President Carter point to the "peculiar confluence of Syrian and Israeli interests"?
§ Why would Israel find it necessary to attack a ship of an important ally? The short answer is: land.

The USS Liberty was a state-of-the-art electromagnetic surveillance ("spy") ship that could not only overhear all electronic signals in the airwaves but also record them for the National Security Agency.
The attack occurred on the fourth day of the war, when the only remaining objective point of the IDF was Syria's Golan Heights.

Unlike the current crisis in the Persian Gulf region, Israel felt no need for formal help from the USA…"
See website: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4wbps

THE VIKINGS VERSUS MUHAMMAD

by Ian Wilson LL.B:
On September 2005 a Danish newspaper, Jyllends-Posten, published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. This event led to widespread street demonstrations and flag-burnings in the Middle East. A world-wide boycott of Danish goods was conducted by Muslims. The newspaper, predictably enough, apologised, for all the good that it would do. What started as self-proclaimed battle for freedom of speech, ended it was thought in defeat. However the cartoons were republished on other websites. The Arab world retaliated in anger. The Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen refused to apologise, in a rare display of Viking strength.

Of course in refusing to "influence the media" he also added a condemnation of attempts to "demonise people because of religious beliefs." The boycotts of Danish goods and the closing by various Arab nations of their embassies in Copenhagen continued. On 3 February 2006, 150 Muslims stormed the Danish Embassy in Jakarta, burning the Danish flag. Malaysian Muslims chanted "destroy our enemies" outside the Danish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The cartoons were published in Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands so the controversy spread across Europe.

The Australian of 1/2/06 p.9 published a photograph of the "offending cartoons." A Muslim, armed with a magnifying glass would be sure to be offended. Technically under the Victorian Race and Religious Tolerance Act a complaint could be made on just this issue, although I think that the newspaper could launch a successful public interest defence.

Muslim militants, including Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hezbollah groups have threatened to murder Western citizens in retaliation. Palestinian gunmen searched Gaza hotels for citizens of the countries where the newspapers had published the cartoons - to murder. The Editorial of The Weekend Australian of 4-5/2/06 p.16 defended the cartoon-publishing on freedom of speech grounds: "the right to offend within the law is fundamental to free speech." Tell that to David Irving or Ernst Zundel.

The elites have themselves supported race hate laws which have eroded our freedom of speech. In the name of "tolerance" and "multiracialism" people who are incompatible with our cultural mix have been brought in as political pawns, to ethnically dilute us. Then, when the inevitable racial conflict erupts, the elites hide behind "Enlightenment values".

Let it be the elites who face the wrath of Islam the fruits of their own creation - multiculturalism. The banner of the intellectual's hatred for the West is now carried forward by their cultural agents.

'SCOOTER' LIBBY CONVICTED AND SENTENCED

Readers will remember Lewis 'Scooter' Libby was brought before the Court for 'blowing the cover' of CIA agent Valerie Plame. The news is U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Iraq war architect I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby to two and one-half years imprisonment along with a hefty fine.

It has been suggested George Bush could pardon Libby before his term of office as President finishes. Joseph C. Wilson IV, Valerie Plame's husband, said a pardon by President Bush would be improper.
"My view of this is that given the supervisory-subordinate relationship that existed between Cheney, the president and Libby, they should recuse themselves," he said. "It's Ethics 101."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

There have been a number of letters in response to James Reed's article on Bob Santamaria and Archbishop Mannix - for and against. I have taken points of interest from a few of the letters and made comments.

No. 1.
"Mr. Reed also suggests he is no longer a Catholic because men like Archbishop Mannix and Bob Santamaria rejected Parliamentary Democracy."
Response:
James Reed objected to centralised government per se whether of the Church or the State. He was in fact agreeing with Lord Acton who warned us: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Whether in the hands of a saint or a sinner - a Priest or a King!

No. 2.
"Some of us oldies had concerns about the leadership of Bob Santamaria too, but not because he rejected "The White Australia Policy". After all, colour should not be the deciding factor in immigration, but rather culture."
Response:
James objected to the multiracial policy of both Santamaria and Archbishop Mannix.
In On Target vol.33, no.2, January 1997 Eric Butler wrote:
"The forced programme of multiculturalism, particularly at a time when there is large scale unemployment and economic tensions, is a guaranteed recipe for ethnic conflict." Eric called for two steps to be implemented to minimise and resolve this type of conflict: A drastic reduction in the immigration rate and the end of the policy of multiculturalism.
Ethnic: The word 'ethnic' contains the meaning of race and/or cultural ties.

No. 3.
"I could not care a damn for either Santamaria or Mannix, but in fairness you should blame Al Grassby and Gough Whitlam."
Response:
We do.

No. 4.
Didn't our Lord say "Go forth and teach all nations."
Response:
To "teach all nations" is not the same thing as "to mix all races". I noted in a recent church magazine a newly appointed Bishop in Papua New Guinea insisted he wanted the same church in Australia to treat them as brothers in Christ - and not to treat them paternalistically. That Bishop has a firm appreciation of his own race, his own people in this modern world.

ABC AND THE GLOBAL WARMING DEBATE

The ABC's recorded message is that it will be announced very shortly when the BBC's "Great Global Warming Swindle" programme goes to air. You are advised to watch your local TV Guide for announcements.

Those who have already watched the DVD know the BBC programme charges 'climate change' is a natural phenomenon and it is the sun that affects the earth's climate rather than mankind's puny activities. The Global Warming Swindle has a political agenda behind it. Of course!