Thompsons Update – looking for work in the US, and pursuing DEC legally in Australia

Matt Thompson was asked for an update from a local reporter in West Australia, and sent this today:

Thank you for your enquiry. We believe that we were treated extremely unfairly by DEC. Through draconian licence restrictions, they made it impossible for us to continue operating Narrogin Beef Producers, after we had received all the required permissions and gone through all the proper processes before and during operation of the feedlot.

We were also in a dispute with NAB over their involvement in destroying our company. About a month ago, we reached a settlement with the NAB which included giving them possession of Narrogin Beef Producers’ physical assets. We still retain the right to sue the State over the destruction of our business, which we are still pursuing. This is our only means of attempting to repay unsecured creditors.

We are interested to see who ends up in possession of our former assets, as these assets would have no value unless the new owners are treated differently by DEC than we were. We remain deeply saddened by the destruction (including abattoirs) of the beef industry in WA, which showed such promise a few years ago. This senseless economic destruction has ruined many people’s lives and was caused by some very ruthless people.

We send our kind regards and sincere appreciation to the many good people of Western Australia who worked with us and for us on our project and who traded with us. We remain determined to fight for justice in this matter for them and for us.

Kind Regards,

Matt Thompson

Matt W. and Janet H. Thompson
San Angelo, Texas

Matt and Janet are in Texas and looking for work, and willing to move. If anyone knows a business looking for someone of the utmost honesty and integrity, with initiative and an impeccable work ethic, either of them would be an absolute asset. (I’m thinking: management, policy, agriculture, business). They are people who get-things-done, sensible, smart, personable, likeable, and easy to work with. Knowing this couple well, I can vouch in full for their upstanding trustworthiness and jack-of-all-trades capability. Ask me for more details: (joanne AT joannenova.com.au), or email Matt at  mattjanet AT suddenlink.net.) Somewhere out there in the US is a business, institute, or organisation that really needs a quality employee…

For those who wonder why we keep track of these excellent people, read all about how they were running a business so profitable they were turning away customers until they spoke out against carbon legislation. I would not have believed what happened to them could occur in Australia. Their determination to get justice and stoic good humour are inspiring.

9.5 out of 10 based on 70 ratings

45 comments to Thompsons Update – looking for work in the US, and pursuing DEC legally in Australia

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    Bulldust

    Best wishes to Matt & Janet. They are salt of the earth people, and despite the grim economic prospects in the US right now, I am sure they will be snapped up by some savvy business or other before long.

    Thanks for the update … every now and then I catch myself wondering if justice has been served, but unfortunately it is still in limbo.

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    Popeye

    Jo,

    It is almost inconceivable that a government department could act in this manner and DESTROY the livelihood of these poor people.

    I do hope that in the end true justice prevails but it will NEVER compensate for the pain and hurt that Matt & Janet have suffered.

    These “snout in the trough” government a…holes think they can run roughshod over anyone.

    IMHO the “REVOLUTION” gets closer & closer with every instance of this injustice enacted upon innocent Australians.

    Cheers,

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      Bulldust

      Don’t forget that some of us gov employees are the good guys 🙂

      I am certainly not in DEC, but I have met good folks from there as well – in fact I know one that was connected with the Thompsons whom they indicated was apparently trying to do the right thing by them (if memory serves) before he moved on to another portfolio. From my knowledge of him, he is a good operator and very genuine.

      From my limited expposure to the events (mainly as told here) it appears as if certain players, perhaps both inside and outside government, gamed the system to stuff up the Thompsons’ licence. Clearly there was no way they could adhere to the 30-odd conditions that were stipulated, especially the ridiculous one relating to smells outside the property boundary. I don’t think anything short of a full-blown inquiry would get to the bottom of the story, and perhaps not even then.

      Here’s hoping the court actions get some justice.

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    unhappy constituent

    I find it hard to understand how this travesty could have been continued under a Conservitive Government,surely the appropriate Minister should have stepped in, this doesn’t bode well for our Country.

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      memoryvault

      .
      And which “conservative” government would that be, exactly?

      Here’s “conservative” Greg Hunt, the “conservative” spokesman on Environment in our “conservative” Federal Opposition, selling us out to Kyoto 2 before it has even been written.

      http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/coalition-ready-to-back-kyoto-2-20120815-24938.html#ixzz23gm0cbsa

      .
      Somebody remind me again how voting for Abbott and the Liberals is going to change any of this CAGW madness.

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        Juliar

        Well the Galileo Movement have just received an email from Mr Hunt confirming that the Coalition will not be signing Kyoto.

        https://twitter.com/GalileoMovement/status/236004728553762816

        I, like many others, do not just vote for a Party just based on CAGW.

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          memoryvault

          .
          Good.

          At 8.30pm Thursday August 16, 2012, a google search on “Greg Hunt support Kyoto” returns 281,000 hits.

          On the other hand a quick perusal of the Galileo Movement’s website reveals no mention of any email from Greg Hunt, let alone a reprint of any such email.

          That means tomorrow I should be able to read untold stories in the blogosphere about Greg Hunt demanding a written retraction from these 281,000 sources of a lie, or

          tomorrow I should be able to read untold stories in the MSM about Greg Hunt accusing the Galileo Movement misquoting him, or

          I will find I am presented with yet another example of a mealy-mouthed, snout-in-the-trough, lying politician caught out saying one thing to the MSM to satisfy what he perceives as “public opinion” and saying a completely different thing to a pressure group he sees as possibly having some influence on votes.

          .
          Gee, I wonder which one it will be?

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          handjive

          Juliar, much respect for you, and power to you for voting on more than climate fraud.

          Me, the fraud & the billions of tax payer funds wasted is enough for me to make it the only issue.

          Everything comes a long second in issues I will (non) vote on.

          Any politician who tows the UN line to steal un-democratically & re-distribute other peoples money is an enemy & traitor.

          The ‘climate change/cO2 is to blame-action is necessary’ meme is fraud. Perpetrators belong in goal.

          My vote will be informal at the next election, as I wont allow my preferences be given to any money wasting traitor of Australia, what ever their political colour.

          Good luck with the out come of your vote.

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        KeithH

        I fear you are right MV. Just a brief journey round the internet reveals the trillions of dollars riding on the CAGW scam being maintained. The viability of many Pension Funds alone, representing the savings of thousands if not millions of people, absolutely depend on the scam succeeding. If it collapses I don’t think it’s too strong to say that countless businesses, financial institutions and even governments could collapse with it. In short, I fear an absolute juggernaut has been created and has become an unstoppable monster!. There is little doubt history will deem it not only the greatest scam ever perpetrated but also the most successful for those behind it. I may not be around to see it and in a way I’m glad but I can’t help but feel extremely sorry for those who will have to suffer from the consequences, particularly the many gullible but well-meaning young people who have been so grossly deceived.

        Back to the present, you’re surely not suggesting people vote this disastrous rabble back in? Or the Greens? Or more Independents? What do you suggest voters should do?

        Cheers. K

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          memoryvault

          .
          KeithH,

          Starting with the threads on the “Convoy of No Confidence” and working forwards I have reposted five times the only course of action available now to conservatives hoping to return Australian politics to some level of sanity.

          The course of action outlined was based on the original success of Don Chip’s National Democrats, and more recently the power accrued by Brownshirt Bob’s Australian Greens. Since all five posts were studiously ignored by all and sundry (not even a “thumbs down”) there doesn’t seem much point in repeating the information again.

          However, to those earlier posts I will add the following two salient points:

          1) – The recent bye-election for the seat of Melbourne produced what I believe to be the highest non-voter turnout in the history of politics in this country. That is, a huge percentage of the electorate expressed their utter disgust with the current offerings of the major political parties by simply not voting.

          2) – In the same election the Australian Sex Party scored 7% of the primary vote, even without campaigning. That is, they scored a smidgeon short of a Senate quota in a full Senate Election, simply by offering themselves as an alternative “protest vote”.

          I believe there are lessons to be learned from the above two points for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, especially for those who understand why and how Din Chip’s Democrats were initially so successful, and how and why the Greens became so powerful.

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            KeithH

            Thanks for that MV. I agree that under Australia’s current system, Don Chipp and The Greens chose well to gain political clout far in excess of what would be expected from their numerically small supporter bases. Long term, for any new party it would definitely be the way to start. Unfortunately that doesn’t help us out of our current dilemma.
            In regard to the Melbourne by-election you make some good points and though you don’t specifically mention it, IMO in the current political climate the Liberals made a major mistake in choosing not to contest the seat. As State matters were perhaps more of a consideration, they would not have won it but they lost the opportunity to gain a foothold and “blood” a new candidate for the future. Also, their preferences could have influenced the result but they did not give voters that choice. I’m sure voter turnout would have been much higher had the Libs contested. In the big picture, when swings are on, even the most “unwinnable” seat can be won.

            I will try again to find your previous efforts, but had forgotten how many posts the Convoy of No Confidence attracted!

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            memoryvault

            .
            KeithH

            Yes I think the Liberals sent a very bad message to the people of Melbourne; “we can’t be bothered if we are not going to win – you people aren’t worth the time, money or effort”.

            Then, come the general state or federal election they will run a candidate and stuff everybody’s letterboxes with pamphlets saying how much they care and all the wonderful things they are going to do, and then wonder why nobody takes them seriously.

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            Juliar

            They never had a chance in hell of winning that by-election imo. Melbourne is a seat full of uni students and public servants. These types of people are not the Coalition’s support base. It would have been a waste of money. I do believe that Victorian Liberal need a change of leadership. They need someone a bit more like Jeff Kennett. He can make the hard decisions, is quite smart and can actually defend and sell his policies. Baillieu is really struggling with that and I fear that we may be heading back to the dark old days of Labor in Victoria.

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        unhappy constituent

        I was referring to the WA Government Memoryvault not the Feds.

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          memoryvault

          .
          I appreciate that UC.

          I was making the point back that we just don’t seem to actually HAVE any “conservative” government alternative in Australia today, starting from the federal level down.

          The item I posted about Greg Hunt was just one example, as was Colin Barnett’s inexcusable failure to take action in the Thompson affair. We could add to that The NSW O’Farrell government’s plans to ban regular unleaded petrol to “promote biofuel and save the planet”, or any one of a number of failures by Timid Ted down in Victoria to do anything much about anything at all.

          True, Campbell Newman has been making a lot of “conservative” noises here in QLD, but so, far that’s all it’s been – a lot of noise and very little meaningful action.

          Which is about par for the course for Can-Do Campbell – that and digging tunnels to nowhere.

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            Mark

            Hey, mv.

            What about Anna Bligh’s hubby getting a plumb job in the NSW Arts Ministry. Seems they may have both relocated to NSW.

            The relevant Minister (Tsouris) is running around disclaiming any responsibility, of course.

            Thick as thieves, the whole bloody lot of ’em.

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    pat

    good luck to the thompsons.

    the Coalition’s former Minister for the Environment and Minister for Defense in a very, very depressing talkfest at the Natl Press Club. plenty of new bodies to be set up to keep the CAGW scam alive:

    15 Aug: ABC: National Press Club: Robert Hill
    Robert Hill, the Chairman of the CRC for Low Carbon Living at the Univerity of NSW and former Minister in the Howard government addresses the National Press Club to discuss carbon pricing and the alternatives.
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-15/national-press-club-robert-hill/4200562

    Wikipedia: Robert Hill
    Following his return to Australia in 2009, Hill accepted an appointment as Adjunct Professor in Sustainability at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney[4] where he was involved in the development of the $2 million Dow Sustainability Program, funded by the US-based Dow Chemical Company Foundation, to bring together academic and policy experts from Australia and the US to develop action-oriented solutions to a range of sustainability challenges concerning energy, water, food and biodiversity that are technologically innovative, commercially scalable and politically viable.
    In July 2009, Hill was appointed by the Australian Government to head the Australian Carbon Trust…
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hill_(Australian_politician)

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    pat

    further to the Robert Hill comment:

    remember Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the UEA, and who was sent to Australia in 2010:

    Nov 2010: ABC The World Today: Admiral links climate change to security
    Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti is the Climate and Energy Security Envoy for the UK Ministry of Defence. Until last year he was the UK’s Maritime Commander and the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) High Readiness Force Commander.
    He has been meeting Australian political leaders and military chiefs in Canberra this week to talk in part about the UK’s latest Defence Review, which puts a greater focus on challenges like climate change and cyber security…
    http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s3074048.htm

    remember he did the rounds in the US too, see various links here:

    Wilson Center: Articles/Video on Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, the United Kingdom’s Climate Security Envoy
    http://www.wilsoncenter.org/search/site/neil%20morisetti

    it is only when we understand CAGW is not a party political scam, and not a scientific concern, that we will come together to fight this almighty power grab.

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    pat

    16 Aug: Australian Rugby: ARU welcome Carbon Trade Exchange as new partner
    Australian Rugby Union today announced the Carbon Trade Exchange would become an official partner of the Gold Coast Sevens – Fever Pitch tournament in October and would also assist in offsetting the upcoming Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney this weekend.
    The new partnership follows ARU and the Carbon Trade Exchange working together with ARU partners Qantas and Lexus last year to offset the Qantas Wallabies campaign in New Zealand…
    ARU Managing Director and CEO, John O’Neill AO, welcomed the new partnership and said he was pleased Carbon Trade Exchange chose to increase its association with Rugby.
    “Last year was the first time ARU and the Carbon Trade Exchange had worked together and I am glad they have decided to build on the environmentally friendly outcomes delivered last year,” Mr O’Neill said.
    “The partnership, which is predominantly focussed around the highly anticipated Gold Coast Sevens – Fever Pitch event, will help build the profile of Carbon Trade Exchange…
    Carbon Trade Exchange founder and Chairman, Wayne Sharpe, said the organisation was proud to working with ARU on this fantastic green initiative.
    “We have provided the ARU and the Qantas Wallabies with the tools for tackling climate change through direct voluntary action and they’ve run with it,” Mr Sharpe said.
    “The team will be trading on our platform and purchasing carbon credits which will offset their carbon footprint for the opening Bledisloe Cup Test and the Bledisloe Cup Trophy tour, part o the inaugural Bledisloe Cup Festival.
    “However, we hope people realise this is not just a job for the professionals; Government, business and the community all need to take action on climate change…
    http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1699/ArticleID/7422/Default.aspx

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      Geoff Sherrington

      Just imagine that the structure of employment in Australia had to be altered in response to a crisis. Being devilishly novel, we’ll say that there is a need to reduce CO2 emissions in Mebourne, where I live. How would we do it?

      Remember, someone will be hurt because reductions are like that – you lose something. So, who do we nominate to be hurt? The least productive sector of society would be a reasonable guideline, leaving aside the disabled, ill, new Mums, etc.

      Melbourne people are half mental about sport. Each week in the AFL playing season, hundreds of thousands of cultured onlookers impress the carbon footprints of their transport to assemble in huge arenas, there to eat cold pies and drink warm beer, while occassionaly causing a melee. Then they go home to yell at the children or get really drunk, sometimes having a road accident beforehand. Or afterwards.

      It seems to me that the case of the Thompsons needs to be contrasted with this subsidised lawlesness of bulk sport. The Thompsons are trying to give more than they take, while the AFL gives hospitals truckloads of needless injuries, some needing treatment for a year, paid by us all via Medicare. Sure, sport has a place in keeping participants fit, but I’m talking about onlookers who could otherwise be doing something useful. The AFL even assumes law-like powers to withhold information from authorities when illegal use of drugs is detected, i.e. it’s on a course to become a quasi government, unelected and unrepresentative.

      That’s how I think of the plight of the Thompsons. Victims of wrong priorities in the application of legislation and regulation, while others get away with far worse – with formal government encouragement and hours of TV time at 8 cents a day, ad nauseam.

      One day at work we received a letter where the ATO advised that some earlier advice they had given us had been reconsidered and we owed them $50 million in back taxes. It hurts when it happens in a company, it must hurt a lot more when it becomes family personal. No sermon is needed here, the remedies are bleeding obvious.

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        Graeme No.3

        The SA Labor Government has the State heavily in debt (again) but is spending lavishly ($500 million plus) on “up-grading” Adelaide oval to allow AFL football to be played there.

        Why? Because not enough people assemble in the current arena (not enough to fill it), there to eat cold pies and drink warm beer etc.

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          Juliar

          I do agree that Labor has been spending a fair bit in South Australia but to completely abandon all forms of entertainment because some people are struggling I don’t think is the ideal thing to do.

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            Geoff Sherrington

            So Jiliar, If you were in charge of GHG reduction as in the scenario and had to make a big, symbolic start, what would YOU do?

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    pat

    16 Aug: Bloomberg: Alessandro Vitelli & Mathew Carr: June Carbon Premium Widens to Record After ICE Installs Deadline
    The premium for June European Union carbon permits over those for March widened to a record after the ICE Futures Europe exchange said it would not accept Phase 2 allowances for delivery into futures contracts after April.
    “Phase 2 EUAs will not be acceptable for delivery into the May 2013 and subsequent futures contracts,” the London-based exchange said in a statement posted on its website today…
    The premium for June 2013 permits over those for March widened as much as 21 percent to a record 29 euro cents ($0.36) a metric ton on ICE and closed at a 27 cents. The December 2012 contract, the benchmark, dropped 2.2 percent today to 7.49 euros a ton, more than reversing yesterday’s 2.1 percent advance…
    United Nations Certified Emission Reduction credits for December dropped 5.6 percent today to close at 2.85 euros.
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-15/ice-to-stop-eu-phase-2-carbon-futures-deliveries-in-april-1-.html

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    pat

    you can say anything u like in the MSM’s face-free zone:

    15 Aug: Bloomberg: Editorial: Carbon Taxes Cut Debt, Cool Planet
    Absent some profound shift in our penchant for burning coal, oil and gas, the Earth is expected to warm as much as 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years, causing more weather-related destruction…
    The U.S., which accounts for about 19 percent of global emissions today, should take the lead in doing so as part of broader tax reform.
    The benefits of such a tax are clear: It would raise immediate revenue for a strapped nation, curtail the use of fossil fuels and, as a result, drastically lower emissions. A carbon tax of $15 a ton that rises at 4 percent above inflation annually would raise $310 billion by 2050 and cut emissions 34 percent (or 2.5 billion metric tons), according to a recent report by the Brookings Institution…
    The basic concept of a carbon tax enjoys support from a majority of Americans, including many Republicans. Former Representative Bob Inglis, a South Carolina Republican, recently started a think tank to build support for a carbon tax, and the conservative American Enterprise Institute has joined Brookings and the International Monetary Fund in an initiative to explore one. Greg Mankiw of Harvard University and Glenn Hubbard of Columbia University, two top economic advisers to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, have been vocal proponents, along with Arthur Laffer, a former economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan…
    There’s no longer any doubt that rising carbon-dioxide levels are tied to temperature increases. Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased roughly 35 percent, and the Earth and ocean surface have warmed accordingly. Even climate skeptics recently confirmed a solid link between carbon emissions and a warmer climate. And just last week, an analysis of worldwide temperatures over the past 60 years found that the growing warmth is responsible for extreme heat waves like those in Texas and Oklahoma last year…
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-14/carbon-taxes-cut-debt-cool-planet.html

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      Well initially the extra tax revenue may decrease debt, then as the economy shrinks there will be less GDP, lower tax take and increased debt as welfare spending increases.
      What planet do these people come from?

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    pat

    carbon cowboys, one and all:

    13 Aug: Reuters: Creditors line up as recycled CER seller goes bust
    Reporting by Michael Szabo; additional reporting by Silvia Antonioli
    Total Global Steel has been forced into liquidation by creditors after a UK court ruled in May that the London-based trading house must pay Deutsche Bank 4.2 million euros ($5.1 million) in damages for selling the German bank recycled carbon credits…
    A source working in the shabby grey building in central London that used to house TGS’ metals, power and carbon trading operations said, on request of anonymity, the company had vacated in March after “packing up and leaving in the middle of the night”…
    The court’s verdict found TGS in breach of contract when in March 2010 it delivered to Deutsche Bank 492,000 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) that had already been used by Hungarian companies to meet CO2 caps under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
    The case revealed Deutsche Bank signed agreed four separate deals to buy the CERs from TGS between March 10-12 at a total cost of 5.7 million euros, or 11.66 euros per credit.
    It was also disclosed that TGS sold a further 301,000 recycled CERs to MF Global Energy that same week, but it is not clear if TGS was forced to replace the units or compensate the now-defunct broker.
    Deutsche Bank then sold some of the recycled CERs it unwittingly bought to other companies through French CO2 exchange BlueNext.
    Shortly after, ten companies reported that their newly-acquired credits were tarnished, sending panic through the market and forcing several emissions exchanges to halt trade as participants combed through their holdings in search of the effectively worthless credits…
    TGS, which according to its website also specializes in physical metal trading, in the past month has had its membership at the London Metal Exchange restricted.
    It has also been expelled from the Balancing and Settlement Code, the mechanism that manages settlement in the UK’s electricity trading market, for failing to pay fees.
    The firm remains a member of ICE Futures Europe, the world’s largest marketplace for CO2 trading, the bourse’s website showed.
    TGS was also linked to 88,000 carbon credits stolen from paper manufacturer Drewsen Spezialpapiere in 2010 after lawyers acting on behalf of the German firm said the units were traced to an account held at the UK emissions registry and registered in Lonergan’s name…
    In October 2010, Lonergan said in an interview that TGS was expanding its operations in China, originating carbon offsets from forestry projects and partnering with the Beijing Environmental Exchange to launch a carbon footprint evaluation service.
    He said TGS was also invited to join China’s official delegation to the 2010 U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico and shortly after attend a meeting in Washington at the White House.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/13/us-cer-idUSBRE87C0BQ20120813

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    John Kannarr

    One was not supposed to speak about the men who, having been refused, sold their bonds for one-third of the value to other men who possessed needs which, miraculously, made thirty-three frozen cents melt into a whole dollar; or about a new profession practiced by bright young boys just out of college, who called themselves “defreezers” and offered their services “to help you draft your application in the proper modern terms.” The boys had friends in Washington.

    – Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, 1957

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    Tony Windsor (from the UK)

    Dear Jo
    Many thanks for the update on the Thomsons. I have been following this saga since the details first appeared here and have watched with horror the manner in which these good folk have been treated.
    They will remain on my prayer list for as long as necessary
    Tony Windsor

    PS I do have a son (Charles) but do not have any relatives that I know of living in that big house at the bottom of the Mall

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    Mad Hatter

    The Thompsons, if they are going to persist with the legal avenue, might find that(quietly) contacting Winston Shrout would, at a minimum, give them an insight into an alternative approach which may pay very interesting dividends…

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    gai

    Here is an interesting article

    What the Last Roman Emperor Would Tell President Obama Today

    Cara praeses Obama, (Dear President Obama)

    …I oversaw the dying days of what you know as the Classic Western Roman Empire. My fall in September 476 marked the end of centuries of greatness and the fall of ancient Rome.

    Some historians consider my departure as the beginning of the Middle Ages. I understand the nature of collapse: how it begins, how it progresses, and where it all ends.

    …Your country will cross a dangerous line once the voters figure out they can entitle themselves…

    Our citizens changed fundamentally as the reliance on public spending and debt became more pervasive. Our society grew lazy when it became more profitable to merely accept handouts than to engage in hard work. Our labor concentrated itself as did our profits.

    Nowhere was this more clear than the latifundia – that’s what we called our large estates.

    Typically owned by wealthy individuals, the latifundia effectively put small farmers and other businessmen out of work because they could not compete with the lower prices and efficiencies, nor the economies of scale.

    Over time, this resulted in a collapse of morals from one generation to the next and a loss in work ethic.

    The reliance on big operations also resulted in higher unemployment, particularly in our larger cities where people congregated because they had nowhere else to go….

    And so history repeats…

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      KinkyKeith

      Nice item Gai.

      We are now heading from the science of climate change and getting closer to the real target,

      the abuse of power by “Elected” elites and those controlling them.

      The two great catastrophes of Western society in the last decade are “Global Warming” and The Great Financial Collapse or “GFC”.

      Both involved misinformation and outright THEFT on grand scales and this is all now becoming public.

      The next decade in Western Politics is going to be very interesting to see if we can get ourselves into a better place socially and perhaps even bring the perpetrators of these two scams to justice.

      As MV would say, don’t hold your breath waiting for justice!

      KK 🙂

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    Jim Barker

    Happy to see the Thompsons are doing well. Thanks for the update.

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    KeithH

    Update on the Thompsons very much appreciated Jo and I wish them well. They are a painful example of what can happen to decent people as those pushing the UN Agenda 21 gain more power. Getting Greens onto local councils and other local committees is a big part of it. Yarra Valley Council in Victoria is a classic example of the types of stupid regulations that can be imposed on citizens as, under the guise of “saving the planet”, these environmentalist “elites” strive for greater control over everything we say or do. The examples are world-wide. Just look at what has grown from the ravings of one man, James Hansen. Those forces behing the AGW scam chose well. Hansen has a pathological hatred of fossil fuels, coal in particular. Add the resources he was able to access through NASA and the profile he was able to attain. Add a relatively simple and insignificant graph in parts per million of a trace “greenhouse gas”, albeit one essential for all life, but which could be shown to rise “alarmingly” even if only in correlation with a not unprecedented rise in global temperature. Add the fact it could be linked to the use of fossil fuels and other activities of Man; add some computer models and those willing to program them with the “right” input and bingo, we have the ingredients necessary to scare the pants off gullible people all over the world and convince them they have “to do something” about “climate change” “to save the planet”. An investors, rorters and scammers smorgasbord with enormous spin-off schemes like “carbon credits” and so it has proved! The sad thing is that I think Hansen still as actually believes his own drivel as do many of those pushing Agenda 21.

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    Janet

    Hey, thanks for the post, Jo, and for the ongoing support from all readers. As we’ve said more than once, one of the positives to come from our situation is the solid friendships we’ve gained. Had a great telephone conversation with a great guy this morning who we probably would never have spoken to were it not for this post and all that preceded it.

    We’re lucky. We’re rich in things that money cannot buy.

    Thanks again for all the help you all have rendered. Big virtual hugs to you all!

    Cheers,
    Janet

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    Juliar

    Carbon, IR driving away global firms: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/carbon-ir-driving-away-global-firms/story-fn59niix-1226450485181

    I really do fear where Australia is heading in the next 5 to 10 years economically 🙁 . Mining Boom on the decline, introduction of a Carbon Tax or a Direct Action Plan (either way we lose), an MRRT, manufacturing dying, retail dying and it will get worse.

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    dizzy

    Meanwhile, back in Narrogin —

    Narrogin feedlot a winner
    KATE POLLARD, Narrogin Observer Updated January 18, 2013,
    http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/regional/great-southern/a/-/news/15862378/narrogin-feedlot-a-winner/

    When Perth-based live export company Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) bought Narrogin Beef Producers it was a chance to set up an export depot in the south of the State.
    Instead of running a fattening program for cattle, where cattle are on feed for between 60 and 90 days, the exporter is using the 10,000-head capacity facility to background export cattle.
    LSS spokesman Scott Jewell said it meant cattle would be there for 10 to 12 days, depending on export protocols.
    In the past, the feedlot was plagued by odour issues but Mr Jewell said diet would play a big role in reducing the problem. “Instead of being fed grain, cattle coming into the feedlot will be on hay and pellet rations which will help to reduce odour,” he said.
    The number of cattle in the feedlot will also help keep odour issues in check. Although the feedlot capacity is 10,000 head, licence conditions allow only 6000.
    The first consignment of cattle at the feedlot in November was even less – 5000 head.
    They were fed about 10 tonnes of hay and 40 tonnes of pellets a day.
    Having fewer cattle at the feedlot also means they will be penned lighter.
    “We are also cleaning the pens regularly and the muck will be composted and then used to help fertilise paddocks around the feedlot,” Mr Jewell said.
    […]
    LSS’ main export markets are in the Middle East.
    It’s parent company, Hijazi and Ghosheh Group, based in Jordan, supplies markets in Turkey, Israel, Libya and Egypt.
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    Gone AND forgotten, apparently. At least they aren’t sending the beef to Texas.

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