to THE AGE
As an Australian of British ethnicity, I object to the defamatory statements about the British made by Margaret Shaw (20/7). There was no collective intention to exterminate the Aboriginal people at any stage of history and the British arrival, on balance, has brought more of benefit to our present Aboriginal citizens than it took away. Even before Captain Arthur Phillip sailed with the First Fleet, British authorities had insisted that the natives were to be fairly treated; and most British Australians have abided by that ideal.
NJ, Belgrave, Victoria
to THE AUSTRALIAN
Rosalind Dixon suggests (‘Strong and clear: let’s support a voice for indigenous people on legislation that affects them’, 20/7) that ‘the main criticism that can be levelled’ at the Referendum Council’s proposal is that ‘it leaves too much to Parliament.’ Not so: the main criticisms against that and all other models of ‘constitutional recognition’ are threefold. They are unjust; they endanger national unity and security; and they will lead to more and more demands against the interests of most other Australians.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic
The cholera outbreak in Yemen is the latest outcome of the United States’ initiation of the “Arab” spring during the Obama/Clinton administration. It began with the destruction of Libya, the richest country in Africa, by the CIA with European assistance, and has rolled through the Middle East with cyclonic force, bringing regime change in Egypt next. The Egyptian regime installed with the aid of US influence has cooperated with Israel to make Gaza into a living hell.
The Saudi support of Isis and other anti-government forces in Syria, reducing that country to years of death and chaos, and its consistent bombing in Yemen which has reduced it to a living hell, has its prime cause in United States policy also.
Saudi Arabia is nothing but a client state of the USA. At the first discovery of oil in the Persian Gulf, British and American companies divided their spheres of influence. The British took the eastern side of the gulf being mainly Iran, and the Americans took the western side being Saudi Arabia.
The truth about Saudi Arabia is that it is run by a single family who know that they have no hope of maintaining their privileges in the face of a hostile America. They have agreed to hold their stupendous financial assets in the United States where they are subject to seizure if the family displeases the Golden Internationale. If any US administration directed the Saudis to stop bombing the Yemen and supporting the anti-government forces in Syria it would stop forthwith and immediately. So who has the responsibility here?
Just six months after the arrival of the First Fleet in Botany Bay in 1788, one event in particular demonstrates just how important the concept of the rule of law was to the British founders of the colony of New South Wales. This is the remarkable story of two convicts, a ship’s captain and a missing package.
Malcolm Turnbull is backing the idea, recommended by the Referendum Council, which dismissed “minimalist” models of constitutional reform, of a special advisory board to the parliament, because, as one defender puts it "First Peoples have the right to be consulted on policies that affect them”: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/indigenous-voice-to-parliament-a-unifying-idea/news-story/2bc0391c2389a39efcc1d62b3b06a9d7. To this it should be replied, that they already have this, and there is no need for constitutional change. All people have the right to be consulted on policies that affect them, but one does not need constitutional change to do this. So, what’s the agenda?
Constitutional change in this direction will set up a new super-parliament and throw the Australian system out of kilter. But, it is good that at long last the elites have come out with their proposal.
It will be an easy target to destroy. The difficulty will be that the new class will support anything that brings down traditional Australia, and they have the resources. But, we have the righteous anger, and now is the time to really start grassroots protests. I will be delighted to see them lose this one, just like they lost the Republic referendum, just like they lost the US 2016 election and Brexit. Make their defeat a most bitter one for them.
According to The Australian, July17, 2017, p. 1, demographer Peter McDonald has argued at the Economic and Social Outlook Conference that migrants are not taking jobs away from the Australian-born population. Between 2011 and 2016, employment grew by 730,000 people, and 600,000 of this was migrants who came in the same period. The migrants, mainly young are not in the same labour market as the unemployed, because the unemployed are unskilled, but the migrants, mainly Asians are skilled.
On the contrary, what this means is that positions that could have gone to an Australian-born unemployed, through retraining, will just go to a migrant. We should live in a country where Australian-born get the cream of the jobs, not the crumbs falling from the migrants’ tables. The Australian population is thus becoming deskilled, with migration being taken as a magic solution for the capitalists to get short-term profits, at the expense of nation building. In other words, while McDonald may be from one perspective technically correct, his entire approach begs the question in favour of migration.
I have just read, Judith Sloan, “Let’s Test the Bombastic Claims of Multiculturalism,” The Australian, July 18, 2017, p. 12; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/judith-sloan/lets-test-the-bombastic-claims-of-multiculturalism/news-story/50dbc65dbbceb7f9936ac9bcb6f8984c.
I must admit, I was surprised to find a criticism of immigration made in this paper, so as much as I hate to say it, this is welcome. Here are some punchy bits, if you didn’t read it:
Billionaire globalist, George Soros, who must be close to 4,000 years of age, is working on eliminating paper money as part of his plot to create a single world government: http://www.wuc-news.com/2017/07/soros-ill-eliminate-cash-for-new-world.html.
This comes, allegedly from a Soros-insider, who has said that young handsome George wants to end the use of anonymous cash and have all payments monitored by the state. Wouldn’t be nice for our side to have even one person with his infinite energy and abilities?
This does seem to fit the picture. The Indians, in the first New World Order trial run, withdrew 86 percent of the cash in circulation and put a cap on cash transactions, as has been done in France. The European Union is moving towards eliminating cash altogether: https://www.infowars.com/soros-insider-banks-ending-cash-to-establish-world-government/.
Whenever there is a shooting, the gun controllers call for guns to be banned. Well, let me help them out here, by extending the “logic’ of their argument to the tragic US Minneapolis shooting case of White Australian Justine Damond (Ruszczky?), by Black officer Mohamed Noor: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/shooting-death-of-justine-damond-in-minneapolis-sparks-calls-for-federal-investigation/news-story/2d2486888c0c6d8fa1ca3d8f4bc7df91?utm_source=The%20Advertiser&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial.
Official information is scanty at this time, but one line of thought has it, that this is a homicide, probably due to the officer thinking that her mobile phone was a gun. He shot first and asked questions later, much later. In due course we may know the grim details, or the story will just slip from news interest, as, after all, it is just an Australian, and conveniently, the police camera was off: The Australian, July, 18, 2017, p. 1
Say, just imagine if the victim was Black… how many race riots would have occurred by now? But, White lives don’t matter, so there will be no protests about this.
My main point is that the gun controllers should now be demanding that police hand over their guns. It would be an excellent example to the wider community. If guns kill, then so do police guns.
to THE AUSTRALIAN
There is a simple answer to a question asked in your editorial (‘Indigenous recognition steps outside Constitution’, 19/7) as to whether the Referendum Council’s first proposal (for a constitutionally entrenched Aboriginal advisory body) ‘would presage continued agitation for a treaty?’ Of course it would. Overseas experience in several countries shows that once the descendants of former native peoples are constitutionally privileged, their claims just multiply.
You state that Parliament should ‘take advice from indigenous citizens’. That would include all of us who were born here and have no other citizenship. Moreover, as most of those identifying as Aboriginal have mixed blood, it is hard to see why they deserve any more rights than the rest of us. Concern for Aboriginal welfare is admirable; but privileging them in any way constitutionally would be a big mistake.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic
As a former Catholic, I have taken the liberty of criticising the mother church here over the years, predicting that it will be destroyed by political correctness, let alone its many scandals.
I note that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, has said at the funeral mass of his friend Cardinal Joachim Meisner recently, that the Catholic church is like a boat “on the verge of capsizing.” http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/07/16/emeritus-pope-benedict-xvi-church-is-on-the-verge-of-capsizing/. The key sentence is “that the Lord does not abandon His Church, even when the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing.”
One can, but hope and pray.
The US establishment, frustrated that a war with Russia has not occurred, which was the game plan under Hillary Clinton, have been rigorously pursuing the mania that Trump stole the election because Russia released dirt about Clinton and others on the team. Never mind the elephant in the room that they conveniently overlook, about the actual dirt about her. For some magical reason, that can be ignored. All that matters is the technical procedural matters of whether interference occurred.
What a joke! The US has not only interfered with the elections of most countries on earth, but has used force to topple governments that had interests contrary to its own. We need not go to Left sources here; consider this piece from the mainstream US media: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/10/13/the-long-history-of-the-u-s-interfering-with-elections-elsewhere/?utm_term=.810b405ceee8, and one from the less mainstream: http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/07/17/cnns-smerconish-fair-point-u-s-doesnt-entirely-clean-hands-influencing-elections/.
While surfing the net in my woollen underwear and wet suit, I by accident came across this great quote about the decentralised world:
"This is what we humans call Planet Earth. A big, blue-green mass of globular rotation with a surface of around 510 million km².
Now, as you will observe, it is shown without borders or boundaries. Not because we National-Anarchists believe in the abolition of borders and boundaries, of course, the more the merrier, but due to the fact that we do not recognise the existing territories governed by the various nation-states or imperialist empires. We have turned our backs on their territorial designs and believe that fresh micronations must come into being; i.e. those formed by ordinary tribes, families and individuals.
to THE AUSTRALIAN
Mark Leibler too easily dismisses the case against constitutional recognition (‘Indigenous voice to Parliament: a unifying idea’, 18/7). The deep concerns that have been expressed by many articulate and responsible commentators that any such recognition would be fundamentally unjust and a danger to our national unity and security cannot fairly be summed up as ‘cynicism and mean-spiritedness’. Nor is the stereotyping of men like Keith Windschuttle, John Roskam, Greg Sheridan and Gary Johns as ‘naysayers and scaremongers’ the least bit credible.
As for the Referendum Council’s two recommendations, an advisory body of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders can be set up without any tampering with the Constitution; and the ‘declaration of recognition’ is simply redundant.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic
to THE AGE
The two recommendations of the Referendum Council for constitutional change should be rejected (‘One idea touted, but it leaves PM unsure’, 18/7). An advisory body for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders can be established without any need to tamper with our founding document; and the ‘declaration of recognition’ would be redundant.
The recommendations are being presented as minimalist, but the fact that the Leader of the Opposition acknowledges ‘a process for treaty and agreement making’ shows that they are really seen by their promoters as the thin end of the wedge. It will not be a ‘heroic failure’ if Australians reject them at a referendum, but just national good sense.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic
A Women’s March in the US against the National Rifle Association and gun rights, no doubt because these are well-known phallic symbols that require symbolic castration, fell to paradox: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/07/16/womens-march-surrounded-armed-guards-protest-nra-gun-rights/.
The women were surrounded by armed guards, men, gasp, men! with those horrible phallic symbols, guns! One of the protest themes was, “Real Men Don’t Need Guns.” OK, so the feminists are not real men, did anyone ever say that they were? Just “unreal” men, or womyn or whatever. And, the power elite, working to take away the guns of ordinary people, while being heavily protected by their men with guns, is nothing new. This would not be a good conspiracy if there was consistent values and standards employed. Of course, the elites are not going to openly say yet that the agenda is to disarm the ordinary people while they remain protected, and able to oppress the ordinary people by having access to weapons. Maybe, just maybe, the plebs might get a wee bit angry about that, but probably not. In a little while it will all be too late for these sleepy folk, and then the cats can be let out of the bag. Pretty cruel though, to keep cats, even metaphorical ones, in bags, but, there you go.
Moving right along, French president Macron has said anti-Zionism is a reinvented Form of anti-Semitism, speaking at a ceremony commemorating the victims of the mass roundup of Jews in Paris in WWII: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.801574. Such a critique would indeed raise problems for those of the Left arguing as follows:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/05/israel-accused-war-crimes-gaza--amnesty-international;
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/07/justice-victims-war-crimes-gaza-conflict/;
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/israel/palestine.
Elon Musk, has joined with Stephen Hawking and claimed that AI is an existential threat to human beings, capable of eliminating all jobs, and sparking a war: The Australian, July 17, 2017, p. 22. I did not find any more details about the war, but it could be a Luddite revolt of the people versus the machines, as popularised in the Big Arnie Terminator movies. It is possible, if people get hungry enough that they could actually do this, but I tend to view that they might just as easily meekly starve to death in some isolated corner. Time will tell.
The Musk solution is regulation for the safe development of AI. That could prevent the Terminator scenario, but I am not sure. Once computers reach self-awareness, and infinitely expanding intelligence, which is what our “let’s do it” Dr. Frankenstein scientists are all on about, regulations will not count for much.
A US bride has called off her US $30,000 wedding, for reasons that she is keeping to herself. She had pre-booked a swanky reception, and was left with the dilemma of what to do with the food. So, good soul that she is, she invited in homeless people: The Australian, July 17, 2017, p. 9.
Now, as you would know, if you knew me, homeless people like me, are not the best at personal hygiene and we tend to roll in the mud and grime a bit. However, local businesses donated suits and dresses, and somewhere my US brothers and sister got in a shower. And, then it was, dive in, to boubon-glaxed meat balls, whatever that is, but it sounds meaty, goat cheese, roasted garlic bruschetta, chicken breasts with artichokes, Chardonnay cream sauce, and a great slab of wedding cake. After that, it was back to starving, so I hope the lads and lasses of the mean streets tanked up.
The kind lady says that she does not know what to do with the wedding dress, but I am sure the homeless would know what to do. Uncle Len is not too proud, or gender challenged, to wear such an outfit while dumpster diving, or collecting hard rubbish, or bottles and cans for sale. After six months of bin action, I am sure that the ghosts of the wedding-not-to-be would be purged by the grey ooze of survival on the streets
Dr Paul McHugh, who is a distinguished Service Professor at John Hopkins University and former psychiatrist-in-chief for John Hopkins Hospital, has treated transgendered people for 40 years: http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/johns-hopkins-psychiatrist-transgendered-men-dont-become-women-they-become. He has made news headlines in the US for arguing that in his professional opinion, “transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men.” He has formulated his argument in a piece published at http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/06/15145/, and the title of the paper is: “Transgenderism: A Pathogenic meme,” which does not pull any punches.
McHugh says: “first, though, let us address the basic assumption of the contemporary parade: the idea that exchange of one’s sex is possible. It, like the storied Emperor, is stark nakedly false. Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. All (including Bruce Jenner) become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they “identify.” In that lies their problematic future.
This article goes back to a little snip that I took from The Australian, way back on May 5, 2012, p. 69, about blonde-hair found among the dark-skinned people of the Solomon Islands. I returned to find the article, which I put aside, when one of my students from the Solomon Islands, a really nice lad, said that there were a lot of people with dark skin and blonde hair. He said that while some of them claimed to have European ancestors, he dismissed this and put the blondness down to diet. It seems that most of the lighter haired people often acted in a superior way, which deeply annoyed my student. More probing revealed that his girlfriend had gone off with one of these blonde types and he did not like them.
Researching this I found the scientific article, E. Kenny (et al.), “Melanesian Blond Hair is Caused by an Amino Acid change in TYRp1,” Science, vol. 336, p. 554. It seems, to cut the complexities, that the blonde hair is the product of a genetic mutation in gene TYRP1, and that’s that. But since then, I have run into a biologist from the Solomon’s who had blonde hair and dark skin, and said that as a child he sang songs about his European ancestors. Even though he was a biologist, who knew much more science than me, he reacted aggressively to the mutation claim, and said that this line of thought was undermining his heritage. Now there is a pretty pickle for you!
Who says that the exploration of racial differences is not fascinating, revealing the complexity and genuine diversity of the human species, with all the politics thrown in for good measure.
