Tuesday, November 30, 2004
NEWS.com.au | Kazaa can track downloads, court hears (November 30, 2004)
NEWS.com.au | Kazaa can track downloads, court hears (November 30, 2004)
Better start down loading fast before Kazaa is no more.
Bogs Doddy.
Better start down loading fast before Kazaa is no more.
Bogs Doddy.
NEWS.com.au | Seven dead in Black Hawk disaster (November 30, 2004)
NEWS.com.au | Seven dead in Black Hawk disaster (November 30, 2004)
Bad enough been killed fighting in Iraq than at home praticing.
God Bless them.
Bogs Doddy
Seven dead in Black Hawk disaster
From correspondents in Bruceville-Eddy, Texas
November 30, 2004
A US Army helicopter crashed and burned today in Texas after hitting a TV transmission-tower wire in fog.
Wreck ... the crew had no chance as the chopper went down / AP
All seven soldiers aboard were killed, military officials confirmed.
The tower had not been spotted because its warning lights were not working, a TV station official said.
The UH-60 Black Hawk, bound for the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, went down in a field about 48km north-east of Fort Hood, where the soldiers were based.
The fog was so thick when emergency crews arrived that they could not see more than halfway up the tower, authorities said.
Everyone aboard was killed, said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Withington, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood. Their names were not immediately released.
Rock Eicke, who lives about 400 metres from the crash site just south of Waco, said he was getting ready for work about 7am (1am AEDT) when he was startled by a loud metallic rattling sound. He said he looked out his window and saw the helicopter hitting the ground.
"All of the sudden I just saw a big ball of fire erupt from the ground and then boom, an explosion," Mr Eicke said.
Mr Eicke called emergency services and then accompanied a deputy sheriff who needed directions to the crash site.
The main part of the fuselage went down in a field about 200 metres from the tower, McLennan County constable Ken Brown said.
Mr Eicke and Con Brown said charred and smouldering pieces of the helicopter were scattered for hundreds of meters. Two of the bodies were seen inside the helicopter; others were lying in the field.
An investigation team was sent to the scene to determine the cause of the crash.
Lt Col Withington said the team's priority now was "to secure the scene and recover the bodies".
He said other Black Hawk helicopters from Fort Hood would pick up the bodies and return them to the post.
The helicopter hit several of 21 wires stabilising the 540-metre tower, said Jerry Pursley, general manager of Waco-Temple-Killeen station KXXV, which owns the tower. The tower itself was not hit, he said.
The tower's lights stopped working early last week after strong storms hit the area, Pursley said. He said the station notified the Federal Aviation Administration.
FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said the agency sent a notice to a computer database checked by pilots before they fly for information on potential hazards.
Hundreds of such notices are issued every week around the country, and they typically stay posted for 15 days, he said.
The crash occurred at the highest point in McLennan County, with 30 different towers within an 8km radius of where the helicopter went down, Sheriff's Deputy Shannon Mitchell said.
The Black Hawk, which the military began using in 1979, is the Army's main troop transport helicopter. It can carry 15 people and usually is flown by a crew of four.
In November 2003, 17 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Iraq, apparently as a result of enemy fire.
The Associated Press
Bad enough been killed fighting in Iraq than at home praticing.
God Bless them.
Bogs Doddy
Seven dead in Black Hawk disaster
From correspondents in Bruceville-Eddy, Texas
November 30, 2004
A US Army helicopter crashed and burned today in Texas after hitting a TV transmission-tower wire in fog.
Wreck ... the crew had no chance as the chopper went down / AP
All seven soldiers aboard were killed, military officials confirmed.
The tower had not been spotted because its warning lights were not working, a TV station official said.
The UH-60 Black Hawk, bound for the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, went down in a field about 48km north-east of Fort Hood, where the soldiers were based.
The fog was so thick when emergency crews arrived that they could not see more than halfway up the tower, authorities said.
Everyone aboard was killed, said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Withington, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood. Their names were not immediately released.
Rock Eicke, who lives about 400 metres from the crash site just south of Waco, said he was getting ready for work about 7am (1am AEDT) when he was startled by a loud metallic rattling sound. He said he looked out his window and saw the helicopter hitting the ground.
"All of the sudden I just saw a big ball of fire erupt from the ground and then boom, an explosion," Mr Eicke said.
Mr Eicke called emergency services and then accompanied a deputy sheriff who needed directions to the crash site.
The main part of the fuselage went down in a field about 200 metres from the tower, McLennan County constable Ken Brown said.
Mr Eicke and Con Brown said charred and smouldering pieces of the helicopter were scattered for hundreds of meters. Two of the bodies were seen inside the helicopter; others were lying in the field.
An investigation team was sent to the scene to determine the cause of the crash.
Lt Col Withington said the team's priority now was "to secure the scene and recover the bodies".
He said other Black Hawk helicopters from Fort Hood would pick up the bodies and return them to the post.
The helicopter hit several of 21 wires stabilising the 540-metre tower, said Jerry Pursley, general manager of Waco-Temple-Killeen station KXXV, which owns the tower. The tower itself was not hit, he said.
The tower's lights stopped working early last week after strong storms hit the area, Pursley said. He said the station notified the Federal Aviation Administration.
FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said the agency sent a notice to a computer database checked by pilots before they fly for information on potential hazards.
Hundreds of such notices are issued every week around the country, and they typically stay posted for 15 days, he said.
The crash occurred at the highest point in McLennan County, with 30 different towers within an 8km radius of where the helicopter went down, Sheriff's Deputy Shannon Mitchell said.
The Black Hawk, which the military began using in 1979, is the Army's main troop transport helicopter. It can carry 15 people and usually is flown by a crew of four.
In November 2003, 17 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Iraq, apparently as a result of enemy fire.
The Associated Press
NEWS.com.au | Keelty says strike here 'inevitable' (November 30, 2004)
NEWS.com.au | Keelty says strike here 'inevitable' (November 30, 2004)
If the muslim "community leaders" in Sydney are correct that at most 10% of the islamic population of Sydney are a threat to non muslim Australians then we only have to worry about 30,000 mad islamic Terrorist's hell bent on killing as many Australians as they can, now dont you feel better ?
Or if you like 28 million in Indonesia or world wide 100 million mad champing at the bit loons wanting to implement the "Religion of Peace" by hacking off your head or blowing you to a million pieces.
These above numbers put alah's "army" into perspective.
Bogs Doddy.
Keelty says strike here 'inevitable'
November 30, 2004
AUSTRALIAN Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty believes it's only a matter of time before there's a terror strike on Australia.
In an interview published in The Bulletin magazine tomorrow, Mr Keelty said he believed such an attack was inevitable.
"Yeah I do," he said.
"I mean commonsense tells you there's absolutely nothing that will make us immune from terrorism and that an attack is inevitable because the objective of the terrorists we are currently dealing with is to break down our western, democratic and liberal values."
Mr Keelty said some terrorists could be arrested or killed.
"But for the long-term effect you must look at ways to turn the thinking around of the individuals who would otherwise embrace this as their philosophy or their ideology," he said.
In the article, friends of Mr Keelty say he was deeply wounded by the row earlier this year in which he said the terrorist bombing in Madrid was more likely to have been linked to Spain's support for the US in the Iraq war.
That was taken as implying Australia was at greater risk of terror attack because of involvement in Iraq, and prompted strong responses from Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
Mr Keelty issued a retraction and considered quitting - a move a senior law enforcement source quoted in The Bulletin said would have been a complete disaster for counter-terrorism efforts.
The attack that hurt most apparently came from defence force chief General Peter Cosgrove. The Bulletin said Mr Howard and Mr Downer had since given him what could be construed as apologies.
Asked about his Madrid comments, Mr Keelty said: "Well I think and I did say this in the statement I made at the time, Iraq's but one part of a whole series of things that we've been involved in that makes us a target, not the least being east Timor."
AAP
If the muslim "community leaders" in Sydney are correct that at most 10% of the islamic population of Sydney are a threat to non muslim Australians then we only have to worry about 30,000 mad islamic Terrorist's hell bent on killing as many Australians as they can, now dont you feel better ?
Or if you like 28 million in Indonesia or world wide 100 million mad champing at the bit loons wanting to implement the "Religion of Peace" by hacking off your head or blowing you to a million pieces.
These above numbers put alah's "army" into perspective.
Bogs Doddy.
Keelty says strike here 'inevitable'
November 30, 2004
AUSTRALIAN Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty believes it's only a matter of time before there's a terror strike on Australia.
In an interview published in The Bulletin magazine tomorrow, Mr Keelty said he believed such an attack was inevitable.
"Yeah I do," he said.
"I mean commonsense tells you there's absolutely nothing that will make us immune from terrorism and that an attack is inevitable because the objective of the terrorists we are currently dealing with is to break down our western, democratic and liberal values."
Mr Keelty said some terrorists could be arrested or killed.
"But for the long-term effect you must look at ways to turn the thinking around of the individuals who would otherwise embrace this as their philosophy or their ideology," he said.
In the article, friends of Mr Keelty say he was deeply wounded by the row earlier this year in which he said the terrorist bombing in Madrid was more likely to have been linked to Spain's support for the US in the Iraq war.
That was taken as implying Australia was at greater risk of terror attack because of involvement in Iraq, and prompted strong responses from Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
Mr Keelty issued a retraction and considered quitting - a move a senior law enforcement source quoted in The Bulletin said would have been a complete disaster for counter-terrorism efforts.
The attack that hurt most apparently came from defence force chief General Peter Cosgrove. The Bulletin said Mr Howard and Mr Downer had since given him what could be construed as apologies.
Asked about his Madrid comments, Mr Keelty said: "Well I think and I did say this in the statement I made at the time, Iraq's but one part of a whole series of things that we've been involved in that makes us a target, not the least being east Timor."
AAP
NEWS.com.au | Student 'isolated' after telling of rape (November 30, 2004)
NEWS.com.au | Student 'isolated' after telling of rape (November 30, 2004)
Student 'isolated' after telling of rape
November 30, 2004
A TEENAGE girl today told a court how an exclusive Sydney school made her feel alone and isolated after she was gang raped on a school trip to Italy.
Suing ... the girl with her father outside court.
The girl, now 18, is suing Tara Anglican Girls School for breaching its duty of care over the incident in 2001.
The teenager, who can only be identified as "N", claims Tara failed to supervise her properly during the trip or offer adequate treatment and counselling after the alleged rape.
She told the NSW District Court that being raped by four men on the bonnet of a car in the Italian town of Sorrento was the worst experience of her life, but the teachers chaperoning her offered no emotional support after she told them what happened.
Instead, they persuaded her to accept blame for the incident and sign a statement saying the sex was consensual.
The teachers also pressured her to tell her father and school principal Carol Bowern – who was in court for today's proceedings – that she had agreed to the sex.
"They wanted me to tell (them) it had been consensual, which was not the truth," she said.
Having been told by a teacher "to go and pack my bags and be ready to go the next day", N flew home – and was given a bill for her cab fare and the morning-after pill at the airport.
Tara denies liability and sought to protect its identity, but Judge Allan Hughes today lifted a court order suppressing its name.
Counsel for Tara, Ian Harrison SC, said N had written a statement soon after the incident saying the sex was consensual.
But N told the court she wrote it because "I just wanted it to go away, pretend it didn't happen".
"The teachers were telling me how traumatic it would be to go through with the rape charges," she said.
She was told that if she said the sex was consensual, the trip would continue and her parents need not know of the incident.
The court was told the girl did not return to classes at Tara after the trip, and sat her School Certificate alone in a room next to the principal's office.
"Mrs Bowern organised for me to be in that room so I wouldn't be with the other students," N said.
"It was awful being alone, being isolated."
She had already planned to change schools at the end of Year 10 because her parents were moving, but Mrs Bowern offered to have her transferred early.
The court also heard the principal had asked her to sign a statement saying she would not return to the school, but was "still welcome to be a Tara old girl".
N said she told the truth when Mrs Bowern asked what had happened in Sorrento, but the principal stopped her when she said the men had pinned her down on the car bonnet.
"From then on she continued to talk about how I must apologise to the teachers for what I had done on the trip ... for breaking the school rules."
N told the court she still felt guilty about the incident, and broke down in the witness box during cross-examination by Mr Harrison.
N agreed she had a condom in her wallet in Italy, but said a classmate had given it to her some time before the trip and she didn't expect to use it.
Mr Harrison also produced recent photographs of N dressed in a skirt and sitting on a bar stool, suggesting it would take confidence to wear such a short skirt in a pub.
But N said she just wanted to dress like her peers.
Judge Hughes adjourned the case until tomorrow.
AAP
Student 'isolated' after telling of rape
November 30, 2004
A TEENAGE girl today told a court how an exclusive Sydney school made her feel alone and isolated after she was gang raped on a school trip to Italy.
Suing ... the girl with her father outside court.
The girl, now 18, is suing Tara Anglican Girls School for breaching its duty of care over the incident in 2001.
The teenager, who can only be identified as "N", claims Tara failed to supervise her properly during the trip or offer adequate treatment and counselling after the alleged rape.
She told the NSW District Court that being raped by four men on the bonnet of a car in the Italian town of Sorrento was the worst experience of her life, but the teachers chaperoning her offered no emotional support after she told them what happened.
Instead, they persuaded her to accept blame for the incident and sign a statement saying the sex was consensual.
The teachers also pressured her to tell her father and school principal Carol Bowern – who was in court for today's proceedings – that she had agreed to the sex.
"They wanted me to tell (them) it had been consensual, which was not the truth," she said.
Having been told by a teacher "to go and pack my bags and be ready to go the next day", N flew home – and was given a bill for her cab fare and the morning-after pill at the airport.
Tara denies liability and sought to protect its identity, but Judge Allan Hughes today lifted a court order suppressing its name.
Counsel for Tara, Ian Harrison SC, said N had written a statement soon after the incident saying the sex was consensual.
But N told the court she wrote it because "I just wanted it to go away, pretend it didn't happen".
"The teachers were telling me how traumatic it would be to go through with the rape charges," she said.
She was told that if she said the sex was consensual, the trip would continue and her parents need not know of the incident.
The court was told the girl did not return to classes at Tara after the trip, and sat her School Certificate alone in a room next to the principal's office.
"Mrs Bowern organised for me to be in that room so I wouldn't be with the other students," N said.
"It was awful being alone, being isolated."
She had already planned to change schools at the end of Year 10 because her parents were moving, but Mrs Bowern offered to have her transferred early.
The court also heard the principal had asked her to sign a statement saying she would not return to the school, but was "still welcome to be a Tara old girl".
N said she told the truth when Mrs Bowern asked what had happened in Sorrento, but the principal stopped her when she said the men had pinned her down on the car bonnet.
"From then on she continued to talk about how I must apologise to the teachers for what I had done on the trip ... for breaking the school rules."
N told the court she still felt guilty about the incident, and broke down in the witness box during cross-examination by Mr Harrison.
N agreed she had a condom in her wallet in Italy, but said a classmate had given it to her some time before the trip and she didn't expect to use it.
Mr Harrison also produced recent photographs of N dressed in a skirt and sitting on a bar stool, suggesting it would take confidence to wear such a short skirt in a pub.
But N said she just wanted to dress like her peers.
Judge Hughes adjourned the case until tomorrow.
AAP
NEWS.com.au | Great White stalks city (November 30, 2004)
NEWS.com.au | Great White stalks city (November 30, 2004): "Great White stalks city
By Matt Williams
November 30, 2004
Great White stalks city
By Matt Williams
November 30, 2004
A FIVE-METRE Great White shark is stalking Adelaide's coastline in search of food.
Menace ... the Great White caught on camera.
The underwater menace circled two men fishing 12km off North Haven on Sunday before moving slowly down the city's coastline where it was sighted four times, as close as 200m from the shoreline of busy Henley beach.
It is believed the shark is cruising up and down coastal waters following food sources such as dolphins, seals, snapper and stingrays.
Fishermen Darren Edwards, 37, and Noel Flounders, 40, were fishing 12km off North Haven when the shark circled their five-metre fishing boat for more than 20 minutes on Sunday.
"I noticed this big shadow and then suddenly I saw it coming toward the boat," Mr Edwards said yesterday.
"It was a terrifying but amazing sight."
The men's sighting of the shark came on the same day swimmers were evacuated from suburban beaches after the sightings of a Great White near Grange and Henley beaches.
Shark expert Andrew Fox said the sightings could "absolutely" be of the same shark.
"There is no doubt that this shark could be the same one that everyone has reported in the past couple of days," Mr Fox said.
"The shark is likely to be following food sources such as dolphins, seals, snapper and stingrays."
Mr Fox said it was possible for the Great White species to follow food sources into shallow waters.
"They go anywhere they like and can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres in a short space of time," he said.
It was possible a Great White could travel up to 100km a day.
Mr Fox said Great White sightings were common off the Adelaide coast but he was not sure how many could be in local waters.
"All we know is that about 200 Great Whites are killed by fishermen across Australia each year, so there could be anywhere up to 2000 swimming in Australian waters," he said.
On Saturday about noon, two men fishing 10km offshore from St Kilda had their boat nudged by a Great White.
On Sunday, Great White sightings were reported 500m off the Grange jetty at 8.45am, 200m off the Henley Beach jetty at 11am, 1km off of Grange at 12.30pm and 500m off the Henley Beach jetty at 12.45pm. Mr Edwards said the Great White appeared near his boat about 7.30am on Sunday while he was fishing for bronze whaler sharks.
"It grabbed part of the prop on the motor and came up and down three or four times for about 15 minutes," he said.
"Then it cruised off for a while and came back. It must have been curious."
Mr Flounders said he was "shell-shocked" when he saw the shark. "It was very scary because we had no idea what the shark was going to do," he said.
"It was the first one I have seen out on the boat and I hope it'll be the last."
Mr Edwards said it was important for fishermen not to panic if they saw a Great White near their boat. "It's best to just leave it alone and not do anything."
Despite the recent Great White sightings, Surf Lifesaving SA lifesaving services manager Shane Daw said swimmers should not be "too alarmed".
"All is we ask is that people swim at beaches which are patrolled by lifesavers and make sure they are alert at all times," Mr Daw said.
"From what we've been told there appears there isn't any immediate threat to anyone."
Anyone who sees a Great White shark should report it to Fishwatch SA on 1800 065 522.
The Advertiser
By Matt Williams
November 30, 2004
Great White stalks city
By Matt Williams
November 30, 2004
A FIVE-METRE Great White shark is stalking Adelaide's coastline in search of food.
Menace ... the Great White caught on camera.
The underwater menace circled two men fishing 12km off North Haven on Sunday before moving slowly down the city's coastline where it was sighted four times, as close as 200m from the shoreline of busy Henley beach.
It is believed the shark is cruising up and down coastal waters following food sources such as dolphins, seals, snapper and stingrays.
Fishermen Darren Edwards, 37, and Noel Flounders, 40, were fishing 12km off North Haven when the shark circled their five-metre fishing boat for more than 20 minutes on Sunday.
"I noticed this big shadow and then suddenly I saw it coming toward the boat," Mr Edwards said yesterday.
"It was a terrifying but amazing sight."
The men's sighting of the shark came on the same day swimmers were evacuated from suburban beaches after the sightings of a Great White near Grange and Henley beaches.
Shark expert Andrew Fox said the sightings could "absolutely" be of the same shark.
"There is no doubt that this shark could be the same one that everyone has reported in the past couple of days," Mr Fox said.
"The shark is likely to be following food sources such as dolphins, seals, snapper and stingrays."
Mr Fox said it was possible for the Great White species to follow food sources into shallow waters.
"They go anywhere they like and can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres in a short space of time," he said.
It was possible a Great White could travel up to 100km a day.
Mr Fox said Great White sightings were common off the Adelaide coast but he was not sure how many could be in local waters.
"All we know is that about 200 Great Whites are killed by fishermen across Australia each year, so there could be anywhere up to 2000 swimming in Australian waters," he said.
On Saturday about noon, two men fishing 10km offshore from St Kilda had their boat nudged by a Great White.
On Sunday, Great White sightings were reported 500m off the Grange jetty at 8.45am, 200m off the Henley Beach jetty at 11am, 1km off of Grange at 12.30pm and 500m off the Henley Beach jetty at 12.45pm. Mr Edwards said the Great White appeared near his boat about 7.30am on Sunday while he was fishing for bronze whaler sharks.
"It grabbed part of the prop on the motor and came up and down three or four times for about 15 minutes," he said.
"Then it cruised off for a while and came back. It must have been curious."
Mr Flounders said he was "shell-shocked" when he saw the shark. "It was very scary because we had no idea what the shark was going to do," he said.
"It was the first one I have seen out on the boat and I hope it'll be the last."
Mr Edwards said it was important for fishermen not to panic if they saw a Great White near their boat. "It's best to just leave it alone and not do anything."
Despite the recent Great White sightings, Surf Lifesaving SA lifesaving services manager Shane Daw said swimmers should not be "too alarmed".
"All is we ask is that people swim at beaches which are patrolled by lifesavers and make sure they are alert at all times," Mr Daw said.
"From what we've been told there appears there isn't any immediate threat to anyone."
Anyone who sees a Great White shark should report it to Fishwatch SA on 1800 065 522.
The Advertiser
The Daily Telegraph | School in rape claim named
The Daily Telegraph | School in rape claim named
If this Girls allegations are true, can you think of a bigger bunch of bastards than her Teachers and School Principal ?
I cant.
Bogs Doddy.
If this Girls allegations are true, can you think of a bigger bunch of bastards than her Teachers and School Principal ?
I cant.
Bogs Doddy.
The law adjourns and rapists win - Paul Sheehan - www.smh.com.au
The law adjourns and rapists win - Paul Sheehan - www.smh.com.au
So just WHERE is the Sisterhood when she/it is REALLY needed ? too busy writing affirmative action manuals for the UN I guess
Bogs Doddy.
So just WHERE is the Sisterhood when she/it is REALLY needed ? too busy writing affirmative action manuals for the UN I guess
Bogs Doddy.
Michael Darby
Michael Darby
Green Hoax
KYOTO NONSENSE
This letter (The Australian, 31 May 03) is even more valuable in the light of an announcement on 5 June 2003 by the ignoramus who masquerades as the Premier of Victoria, calling on the Prime Minister to “sign the Kyoto accords”. This was breathlessly reported around 6.30am by the ABC Radio PNN announcer, who warned “Victorian temperatures will double in the next hundred years”.
Global unWarming
From:
The Lavoisier Group Inc.
A0039775B ABN 42 347 055 724
President: Hon Peter Walsh AO PO Box 424
Board: Harold Clough AO Collins Street West
Ray Evans Melbourne
Bob Foster Vic. 8007
Bruce Kean AM www.lavoisier.com.au
Peter Murray AOM
Ian Webber AO
An Open Letter to the Prime Minister
The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister
Canberra
Dear Prime Minister,
On 5 June 2002, in answering a question without notice in Parliament you said: “It is not in Australia’s interests to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. . . the Protocol would cost us jobs and damage our economy. That is why the Australian government will continue to oppose ratification.”
The Leader of the Opposition, Simon Crean, then interjected, and you responded to him with these words “It amazes me that a Labor Party that claims, from time to time, to represent the interests f the working men and women of this country would sign an arrangement that would hurt this country. . . The Australian national interest does not lie in ratifying Kyoto: that is why we are opposed to it.”
In stating these obvious truths you dealt a blow to the hopes of some elements of the Canberra bureaucracy, whose career aspirations had been transformed at the prospect of Australia becoming part of an international bureaucracy, with extraordinary powers of inspection and control over the domestic economies of the member states of the Kyoto Protocol.
On 5 June 2002, you ensured that Australia retained its sovereignty with respect to policies on decarbonisation. However, the debate on global warming, de-carbonisation, and Australia’s future as a growing, prosperous and influential nation continues within the government, within the bureaucracy, and within the community at large. It is indeed unfortunate that because of the ready access to substantial public funds which the global warming protagonists enjoy, it has been a one-sided debate.
It is understood that cabinet has recently been asked to approve expenditures which will allow the Australian Greenhouse Office and their colleagues in other departments to conduct economic research into the consequences for Australia of
(a) the introduction of a carbon tax; or alternatively,
(b) the introduction of an emissions trading scheme whereby consumers of fossil fuels such as brown and black coal, diesel and other liquid fuels, and natural gas will be required to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (This is a carbon tax under another name, but the difference here is that traders will make money by buying and selling these government-issued permits, just as brokers earn a percentage in buying and selling taxi-cab licences.)
If the Australian government should adopt either of these proposals, our energy costs will rise. In particular, electricity costs could increase by as much as 50 percent (depending on the severity of the carbon tax). Our international competitiveness, which is based in large measure on low-cost energy, would be seriously affected.
The Europeans who have championed the Kyoto Protocol and the regime of de-carbonisation which is the essence of the Protocol, together with their supporters in Australia, would have us believe that by reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by an almost imperceptible amount (through the establishment and enforcement of an international treaty), we can influence the world’s climate. This notion is, quite simply, a fantasy. W R Kininmonth, former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre, has said: “Any suggestion that implementation of the Kyoto Protocol will avoid future damage from weather and climate extremes is a grand delusion.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body established to give advice on prospective carbon dioxide emissions and their alleged impact on the world’s climate, has ignored the abundance of scientific evidence and advice which is contrary to the message of human guilt and climatic punishment which it wishes to convey. In particular the IPCC cannot bring itself to acknowledge that there has been substantial natural variability in the world’s climate. The IPCC has gone to extraordinary lengths to seek to deny the significance of the Mediaeval Warming Period, (900 to 1300 AD) and the Little Ice Age, (1300 to 1900 AD) which were climatic events of great importance in world history.
Astro-physicists now argue that these events were driven by solar perturbations, arguments ignored by the IPCC. The IPCC has also assumed almost unimaginable rates of economic growth in the developing world, in order to artificially boost their astonishing predictions of world growth in anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide during the next century.
Solar perturbations will continue to have a long-term influence, perhaps dominant influence, on our climate and there is nothing that we can do about that. We should, of course, continue our research into all of the factors, direct and indirect solar influences, oceanic heat transportation, atmospheric energy transfers, and others, which can influence climate change. But the admission, by the most committed greenhouse protagonists, that even if the Kyoto Protocol were to come into full effect, it would have no discernible effect on climate, should not be swept aside.
For example, on the ABC’s 7:30 Report on 13 November 2000, Dr Graham Pearman AO, then Head of the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research, referring to atmospheric CO2 concentrations and their impact on global climate said, “The reality of the Protocol as it is at the moment is that even if all of the nations were able to achieve those targets it would hardly make any difference.”
Australia’s contribution, then, would make no difference, at all, to this already indiscernible result. Why should Australia, having joined the US in refusing to be party to a Treaty based on scientific and economic arguments which are strenuously contested by a growing number of eminent scientists and economists, continue to consider measures which will make us much less competitive than our trading partners; particularly when such measures would impact heavily on the poorer sections of Australian society?
Prime Minister, your response on 5 June 2002 was based on sound judgment, and on a concern for Australian workers and Australian industries which depend on low-cost energy for their competitiveness. We urge you to back your judgement and your concerns with a directive to the bureaucrats who seek to undermine your policy to cease and desist.
Yours sincerely
Peter Walsh
(President)
Green Hoax
KYOTO NONSENSE
This letter (The Australian, 31 May 03) is even more valuable in the light of an announcement on 5 June 2003 by the ignoramus who masquerades as the Premier of Victoria, calling on the Prime Minister to “sign the Kyoto accords”. This was breathlessly reported around 6.30am by the ABC Radio PNN announcer, who warned “Victorian temperatures will double in the next hundred years”.
Global unWarming
From:
The Lavoisier Group Inc.
A0039775B ABN 42 347 055 724
President: Hon Peter Walsh AO PO Box 424
Board: Harold Clough AO Collins Street West
Ray Evans Melbourne
Bob Foster Vic. 8007
Bruce Kean AM www.lavoisier.com.au
Peter Murray AOM
Ian Webber AO
An Open Letter to the Prime Minister
The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister
Canberra
Dear Prime Minister,
On 5 June 2002, in answering a question without notice in Parliament you said: “It is not in Australia’s interests to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. . . the Protocol would cost us jobs and damage our economy. That is why the Australian government will continue to oppose ratification.”
The Leader of the Opposition, Simon Crean, then interjected, and you responded to him with these words “It amazes me that a Labor Party that claims, from time to time, to represent the interests f the working men and women of this country would sign an arrangement that would hurt this country. . . The Australian national interest does not lie in ratifying Kyoto: that is why we are opposed to it.”
In stating these obvious truths you dealt a blow to the hopes of some elements of the Canberra bureaucracy, whose career aspirations had been transformed at the prospect of Australia becoming part of an international bureaucracy, with extraordinary powers of inspection and control over the domestic economies of the member states of the Kyoto Protocol.
On 5 June 2002, you ensured that Australia retained its sovereignty with respect to policies on decarbonisation. However, the debate on global warming, de-carbonisation, and Australia’s future as a growing, prosperous and influential nation continues within the government, within the bureaucracy, and within the community at large. It is indeed unfortunate that because of the ready access to substantial public funds which the global warming protagonists enjoy, it has been a one-sided debate.
It is understood that cabinet has recently been asked to approve expenditures which will allow the Australian Greenhouse Office and their colleagues in other departments to conduct economic research into the consequences for Australia of
(a) the introduction of a carbon tax; or alternatively,
(b) the introduction of an emissions trading scheme whereby consumers of fossil fuels such as brown and black coal, diesel and other liquid fuels, and natural gas will be required to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (This is a carbon tax under another name, but the difference here is that traders will make money by buying and selling these government-issued permits, just as brokers earn a percentage in buying and selling taxi-cab licences.)
If the Australian government should adopt either of these proposals, our energy costs will rise. In particular, electricity costs could increase by as much as 50 percent (depending on the severity of the carbon tax). Our international competitiveness, which is based in large measure on low-cost energy, would be seriously affected.
The Europeans who have championed the Kyoto Protocol and the regime of de-carbonisation which is the essence of the Protocol, together with their supporters in Australia, would have us believe that by reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by an almost imperceptible amount (through the establishment and enforcement of an international treaty), we can influence the world’s climate. This notion is, quite simply, a fantasy. W R Kininmonth, former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre, has said: “Any suggestion that implementation of the Kyoto Protocol will avoid future damage from weather and climate extremes is a grand delusion.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body established to give advice on prospective carbon dioxide emissions and their alleged impact on the world’s climate, has ignored the abundance of scientific evidence and advice which is contrary to the message of human guilt and climatic punishment which it wishes to convey. In particular the IPCC cannot bring itself to acknowledge that there has been substantial natural variability in the world’s climate. The IPCC has gone to extraordinary lengths to seek to deny the significance of the Mediaeval Warming Period, (900 to 1300 AD) and the Little Ice Age, (1300 to 1900 AD) which were climatic events of great importance in world history.
Astro-physicists now argue that these events were driven by solar perturbations, arguments ignored by the IPCC. The IPCC has also assumed almost unimaginable rates of economic growth in the developing world, in order to artificially boost their astonishing predictions of world growth in anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide during the next century.
Solar perturbations will continue to have a long-term influence, perhaps dominant influence, on our climate and there is nothing that we can do about that. We should, of course, continue our research into all of the factors, direct and indirect solar influences, oceanic heat transportation, atmospheric energy transfers, and others, which can influence climate change. But the admission, by the most committed greenhouse protagonists, that even if the Kyoto Protocol were to come into full effect, it would have no discernible effect on climate, should not be swept aside.
For example, on the ABC’s 7:30 Report on 13 November 2000, Dr Graham Pearman AO, then Head of the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research, referring to atmospheric CO2 concentrations and their impact on global climate said, “The reality of the Protocol as it is at the moment is that even if all of the nations were able to achieve those targets it would hardly make any difference.”
Australia’s contribution, then, would make no difference, at all, to this already indiscernible result. Why should Australia, having joined the US in refusing to be party to a Treaty based on scientific and economic arguments which are strenuously contested by a growing number of eminent scientists and economists, continue to consider measures which will make us much less competitive than our trading partners; particularly when such measures would impact heavily on the poorer sections of Australian society?
Prime Minister, your response on 5 June 2002 was based on sound judgment, and on a concern for Australian workers and Australian industries which depend on low-cost energy for their competitiveness. We urge you to back your judgement and your concerns with a directive to the bureaucrats who seek to undermine your policy to cease and desist.
Yours sincerely
Peter Walsh
(President)
Monday, November 29, 2004
The Daily Telegraph | Riot warning if Block bulldozed
The Daily Telegraph | Riot warning if Block bulldozed
Demolishing this blight on humanity is an obvious reaction to the squalor and filth that IS the block for all but the "community spokespersons" and Aboriginal "elders"
With the present mindset and leadership that has overseen this debacle for the last 30 years you could give them the Sydney Opera house and it would be in the same condition as the Block in a week.
Change the mindset of the residents and get rid of "Community leaders" and they will soon start cleaning up their own filth just like those wicked taxpaying white folkes have to.
Bogs Doddy.
Demolishing this blight on humanity is an obvious reaction to the squalor and filth that IS the block for all but the "community spokespersons" and Aboriginal "elders"
With the present mindset and leadership that has overseen this debacle for the last 30 years you could give them the Sydney Opera house and it would be in the same condition as the Block in a week.
Change the mindset of the residents and get rid of "Community leaders" and they will soon start cleaning up their own filth just like those wicked taxpaying white folkes have to.
Bogs Doddy.
The Daily Telegraph | ASEAN divided as Howard jets in
The Daily Telegraph | ASEAN divided as Howard jets in
ASEAN divided as Howard jets in
By Rob Taylor in Vientiane
November 29, 2004
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=2308055
SOUTH-EAST Asian nations are divided over whether Australia should have a place at annual trade and security talks as their leaders discussed forming a trade bloc to rival Europe and the United States.
As Prime Minister John Howard jetted into Laos for the first ever talks between the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations and Australia, the Philippines became the latest country to cast doubt on whether Canberra would be welcomed back in Malaysia next year.
A senior Filipino diplomat said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would also add to pressure on Australia to join ASEAN's non-aggression pact as Mr Howard denied that his refusal to sign up would scuttle free trade links with the fast-growing region.
"We think Australia should sign on to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and that's something all the ASEAN leaders will talk about," Sylvia Marasigan said.
She said Mrs Arroyo would raise the issue tomorrow. Thailand's chief foreign spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow also said it was "high time" Australia agreed to sign on to the pact given that other nations like India, China, and South Korea had agreed.
Russia was expected to sign on tonight.
Mr Howard said his refusal to sign would not affect the prime mission of his trip to Vientiane - setting up a lucrative free trade pact with ASEAN.
"They're two unrelated issues and in the end it's the substance of the relationship that we have with individual countries that really matters," he said in Sydney before leaving.
Mr Howard, along with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, is attending the Laos summit as an ASEAN guest this year.
But there seems to be little enthusiasm among its 10 members to fulfill Australian hopes of an annual meeting with Australia and New Zealand.
Indonesian officials have pointedly called the summit invitation a one-off.
The Philippines, a close US ally in the war on terror, also said Australia's guest status reflected only this year's 30th anniversary of relations with ASEAN.
Foreign Minister Alberto G Romulo had "already decided that from our perspective this would be a commemorative summit and would not be repeated", Ms Marasigan said.
Thailand, however, appeared more open to the idea.
"We see the need for more meetings, but whether it is annual is still a question," Phuangketkeow said.
Meanwhile, at a news conference today an ASEAN spokesman announced plans for an East Asian summit in Kuala Lumpur next year.
Phuangketkeow indicated that it was unclear whether Australian would be invited or in the longer term would be accepted as a member of the proposed new grouping.
The possibility of yearly talks with ASEAN took on more importance as ASEAN completed an accord with China to create the world's biggest tariff- free market of nearly two billion people.
Similar free trade areas were planned with Japan, South Korea - and a blueprint for economic cooperation with India was to be signed before the end of the two-day summit tomorrow.
Phuangketkeow said it was still under discussion whether Australia would ever fit into plans for an evolving "east Asia community".
"We don't rule out participation by other countries like New Zealand and Australia," he said.
But accession to the TAC by Australia would not be used as a bargaining chip for trade access, he said.
Australia's decision to not sign the TAC follows irritation among some Asian nations over past comments by Howard that Canberra reserves the right to launch pre-emptive strikes against terrorists in other countries if they threaten Australia or its citizens.
Labor has expressed concern that Mr Howard's refusal to sign the treaty might jeopardise Australia's chances of locking its economy into a market of more than 500 million people.
Ms Clark has said New Zealand, which also wants free trade links, is open to the idea of signing like several other major economic partners of ASEAN.
Seventeen nations have signed the treaty, including all of ASEAN's members - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Security was tight as ASEAN leaders, foreign ministers and delegates arrived at the new Lao International Trade, Exhibition and Convention Centre for their meeting.
Hundreds of young Laotian men and women in colourful traditional clothes lined up along the driveway to the centre.
They waved the flags of ASEAN countries and guest nations such as Australia in a grand welcome parade.
AAP
ASEAN divided as Howard jets in
By Rob Taylor in Vientiane
November 29, 2004
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=2308055
SOUTH-EAST Asian nations are divided over whether Australia should have a place at annual trade and security talks as their leaders discussed forming a trade bloc to rival Europe and the United States.
As Prime Minister John Howard jetted into Laos for the first ever talks between the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations and Australia, the Philippines became the latest country to cast doubt on whether Canberra would be welcomed back in Malaysia next year.
A senior Filipino diplomat said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would also add to pressure on Australia to join ASEAN's non-aggression pact as Mr Howard denied that his refusal to sign up would scuttle free trade links with the fast-growing region.
"We think Australia should sign on to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and that's something all the ASEAN leaders will talk about," Sylvia Marasigan said.
She said Mrs Arroyo would raise the issue tomorrow. Thailand's chief foreign spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow also said it was "high time" Australia agreed to sign on to the pact given that other nations like India, China, and South Korea had agreed.
Russia was expected to sign on tonight.
Mr Howard said his refusal to sign would not affect the prime mission of his trip to Vientiane - setting up a lucrative free trade pact with ASEAN.
"They're two unrelated issues and in the end it's the substance of the relationship that we have with individual countries that really matters," he said in Sydney before leaving.
Mr Howard, along with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, is attending the Laos summit as an ASEAN guest this year.
But there seems to be little enthusiasm among its 10 members to fulfill Australian hopes of an annual meeting with Australia and New Zealand.
Indonesian officials have pointedly called the summit invitation a one-off.
The Philippines, a close US ally in the war on terror, also said Australia's guest status reflected only this year's 30th anniversary of relations with ASEAN.
Foreign Minister Alberto G Romulo had "already decided that from our perspective this would be a commemorative summit and would not be repeated", Ms Marasigan said.
Thailand, however, appeared more open to the idea.
"We see the need for more meetings, but whether it is annual is still a question," Phuangketkeow said.
Meanwhile, at a news conference today an ASEAN spokesman announced plans for an East Asian summit in Kuala Lumpur next year.
Phuangketkeow indicated that it was unclear whether Australian would be invited or in the longer term would be accepted as a member of the proposed new grouping.
The possibility of yearly talks with ASEAN took on more importance as ASEAN completed an accord with China to create the world's biggest tariff- free market of nearly two billion people.
Similar free trade areas were planned with Japan, South Korea - and a blueprint for economic cooperation with India was to be signed before the end of the two-day summit tomorrow.
Phuangketkeow said it was still under discussion whether Australia would ever fit into plans for an evolving "east Asia community".
"We don't rule out participation by other countries like New Zealand and Australia," he said.
But accession to the TAC by Australia would not be used as a bargaining chip for trade access, he said.
Australia's decision to not sign the TAC follows irritation among some Asian nations over past comments by Howard that Canberra reserves the right to launch pre-emptive strikes against terrorists in other countries if they threaten Australia or its citizens.
Labor has expressed concern that Mr Howard's refusal to sign the treaty might jeopardise Australia's chances of locking its economy into a market of more than 500 million people.
Ms Clark has said New Zealand, which also wants free trade links, is open to the idea of signing like several other major economic partners of ASEAN.
Seventeen nations have signed the treaty, including all of ASEAN's members - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Security was tight as ASEAN leaders, foreign ministers and delegates arrived at the new Lao International Trade, Exhibition and Convention Centre for their meeting.
Hundreds of young Laotian men and women in colourful traditional clothes lined up along the driveway to the centre.
They waved the flags of ASEAN countries and guest nations such as Australia in a grand welcome parade.
AAP
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