Maurice Newman: conservatives outsmarted — they apologise where they should demand apologies

A wake up call from Maurice Newman. The gravy train of bigger and bigger government is grinding to its inevitable halt, and Greece is the destination the Western Express is headed for. Those who promised that big-government could solve everything have bought votes, while using schools and universities to train a generation to hate free market competition. Young people were raised to blame the system and demand the handout, rather than take responsibility. The soft-west has gone too far left. The weak right has rolled over and tries to be a mini-left, settling for being the team B of “progressivism”. Newman’s best line is that the conservatives apologize where they should demand apologies. So true.

To illustrate dismal standards in science and the media, Newman cites joannenova.com.au (thanks Maurice), and thousands more Australians find out a small part of the scandalous failure of academia (specifically, Lewandowsky at UWA) and the ABC. The stories he refers too are: “Lewandowsky peer reviewed study includes someone 32,757 years old” and the “ABC got it wrong, BOM not concerned with Australian public being misinformed“. Ken Stewart at Kenskingdom deserves credit for catching out the ABC and BOM. Readers, when you want to throw your shoe at the ABC (or BBC or CBC), find the quote, and send it in (likewise for Fairfax and CNN etc). It is worth writing to these organizations and journalists, if only to expose how pathetic their answers are. Have confidence, we are getting to them. They still believe they are pro-science and real journalists. It pains them every time we expose their anti-science philosophy and catch them pandering to false-god “experts”.

Would-be journalists don’t want to wear the Useful Idiot badge — a real journalist would hate to think they were mere puppets of corrupt officialdom and crony capitalism. It hurts for them to hear the truth. We need to focus not on the answers they get in interviews, but more so — the questions they didn’t ask. And we need to remind them — at every step — that the opposite of skeptical is gullible.

The Australian  “The Left’s gravy train derailing “

Maurice Newman

IN the battle for ideas it is now clear the Left controls the commanding heights. In everything from the economy to sport, the prevailing direction is left. After decades of stereotyping, indoctrination and the clever use of language, Western voters have been conditioned to accept the beneficence of the state.

Politically this has set the stage for governments to see “market failure” in everything. It has become an excuse for an avalanche of regulations and regulators and allowed leftist intellectuals to incessantly bash the very essence of “capitalism”.

They have successfully implanted the notion that free market capitalism is synonymous with profiteering, greed, unequal wealth distribution and, the entrenchment of privilege which must be restrained.

Yet there is no competition commissioner to control the predatory actions of the state, or regulator to rein in reckless central bankers.

Voter acquiescence has been bought by both sides of politics, but conservatives everywhere have been politically outsmarted. They are apologetic when they should demand apologies.

Rather than be true to their values, they have too easily rolled over and allowed the Left to set the agenda on economics and social issues, incapable of arguing an internally consistent position. Quite often conservative policies are indistinguishable from their progressive counterparts.

 This is a systematic problem, not a grand conspiracy:

It isn’t necessary to engage in conspiracy theory to see how the Left has successfully infiltrated Western political thinking.

It starts with the fertile hearts and minds of the young. Teachers’ colleges, teachers’ unions and education bureaucrats have colluded over time in curriculums setting, gradually shifting the emphasis away from maths and hard science to the softer social sciences and leftist ideology.

 The failure of academia and the soft left media:

Multiple examples of the abandonment of scientific rigour and ethics in the interests of political propaganda continue to come to light. Blogger Joanne Nova, (joannenova.com.au) highlights a peer-reviewed leftist paper by psychology professor Stephan Lewandowsky (University of Western Australia), et al, which caused researcher Jose Duarte to be “flummoxed … why a paper so weak was written, but more so why it was ever published …” Yet while demonstrated as containing serious errors, the paper has not been withdrawn. Such is the audacity of the Left.

In similar vein Nova exposes the ABC for telling us that the Bureau of Meteorology claims Queensland has experienced “its worst drought in 80 years”, yet according to the BoM’s own website, the current drought is the worst in only nine years. But a compliant media would rather an inconvenient truth remain untold than spoil the left’s narrative.

Maurice Newman is the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. These views are his own.

The Australian

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177 comments to Maurice Newman: conservatives outsmarted — they apologise where they should demand apologies

  • #
    Peter C

    Maurice Newman is the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council.

    Pity that Tony Abbott does not listen to Maurice Newman a bit more. He seems to favour appeasement as a political strategy.

    Conservatives are in dispair. A Liberal Goverment was elected with a clear mandate to;
    stop the boats and
    repeal the carbon tax and
    fix the budget.

    They achieved the first and second but have made a complete of the third. Now they cannot even agree on what must be done. Some political courage is needed, but Tony Abbott seems not to have it.

    Governements should be a lot more willing to pull the double disolution trigger. That would clean out the Senate every now and then, which would be a very good thing. Senators get it far too easy.

    400

    • #
      James

      And repeal 18C which got my attention, to date no joy there either.

      420

      • #
        Safetyguy66

        And oh the irony in the wake of Paris. Those most poorly educated in politics and history cry in the streets for free speech, while displaying monumental cognitive dissonance by also railing against the removal of 18c. The irony is so delicious I think I need a second helping.

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      • #
        Alice Thermopolis

        James

        Repeal of 18C ‘offence’ clause probably will come eventually, but (ironically) not in current environment and only after a tsunami of civil disobedience.

        Meanwhile, expect an increase in attempts to re-introduce blasphemy laws after recent comments by Pope Francis.

        Alice

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        • #
          Winston

          Gives new meaning to the phrase Papal Bull, doesn’t it.

          241

          • #
            Winston

            As an ex Roman Catholic, I’m going straight to hell for that one.

            131

            • #
              the Griss

              Remember.. all those greenies and lefties think they are going to heaven because of their high moral stands…

              If that’s upwards, I’m heading the other way, by choice. !!

              At least I know I’ll have some good company ! 😉

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            • #
              Annie

              As another one I’ll be joining you as I thought that was very funny!

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              • #
                mike restin

                Remember, the man said,
                “You go to heaven for the climate, you go to hell for the company.”
                See you there!

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            • #
              Winston

              I’d like to know why His Eminence feels justified in pontificating on matter climatological. Oh wait…………..

              As some sort of redemption for the saving of my mortal soul, to the strains of G&S, something I just knocked up in the last 1/2 hour-

              I am the very model of a Pontiff ecumenical,
              I’ve information intellectual, emotional, and spiritual,
              I know the twelve apostles, and I quote scriptures canonical
              From Nicea to the Vatican, in order theological;
              I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters ecclesiastical,
              I understand perversions, both the sinful and heretical,

              About climate theorem I’m alarming allegorical,
              With many cheerful facts from the sophist called “The Goracle”,
              I’m very good at integral and differential calculus;
              I know the scientific names, Boltzmann and Arrhenius:
              In short, in matters intellectual, emotional, and spiritual,
              I am the very model of a Pontiff ecumenical.

              I know our mythic history, Saint Peter and Ignatius,
              I believe in climate models, I’ve a pretty taste for paradox,
              I quote in elegiacs all the works of Mann and Marcott,
              And in ice cores I can quote the peculiarities of Vostok;
              Then I can write an encyclical in Latin script and form,
              And tell you ev’ry detail of Carbon’s sinful terraform:
              In short, in matters intellectual, emotional, and spiritual,
              I am the very model of a Pontiff ecumenical.

              400

              • #
                KinkyKeith

                Poeticus Climaticus!

                Poeticus Hystericus!

                110

              • #
                Winston

                Mods,
                The line “I’ve a pretty taste for paradox” should actually read:

                “I’ve a taste for the erroneous”. Too hasty with the post button, it scans better and the rhyme is restored. My bad.

                130

              • #
                OriginalSteve

                ..and something about polishing up the handles on the big brass door?

                10

            • #
              Climate Heretic

              I’m sorry, you are not going to ‘Hell’, because there is no ‘Hell’ 🙂

              Regards
              Climate Heretic

              42

              • #
                llew Jones

                That’s disappointing Climate Heretic as I was going to ask Winston to say hello to the present Pope when he gets there.

                My great fear is that Tony Abbott may recant of his AGW skepticism on the orders of the Pope. Come on there must be a hell for that sort of recantation (and Pope).

                30

          • #
            Glen Michel

            Holy Roman Empire !

            90

            • #

              In bible visions empires are refered to as beasts. The predecessor to that one (like the first beast of Rev 13 had no “holy” so was not worshiped). The numbers of this beasts name did not have a symbol for 1000. The numerals of his name add up to 666. 666 the numerals of the beast empire.
              Sunday and holy day trading laws prevent those without the mark of the beast (observance of his days) which was given to the second beast who was worshiped (holy) from being able to buy and sell on those enforced public (holy)days.
              The rival mark of God and the assosiated trading laws (no mention of a carbon tax) are explained around places like exodus 13:9 “This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead….”

              30

              • #

                Adding up the Roman numerals.
                “Let him who hath understanding calculate the number of the beast”
                D = 500
                C = 100
                L = 50
                X = 10
                V = 5
                I = 1
                So D+C+L+X+V+I make the numerals of the beast empires name (Roman numerals) 666.
                M for 1000 is not counted because it had no clear single Roman symbol.

                40

        • #
          Barry

          Australians do not engage in civil disobedience. We have been cowed.

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          • #
            Safetyguy66

            Nail on the head Barry. When we got disarmed it was all over. Now the criminals have all the guns.

            110

            • #
              Ron Cook

              Barry, Safetyguy66,

              Ditto to your comments. To some extent I agree with the US of A on their stance on firearm ownership.

              What if someone in the recent Sydney siege had had a concealed hand gun. The outcome could have been quite different. Notice too, more murders these days are stabbings – knives much easier to conceal.

              R-COO- K+

              60

        • #
          Craig Taylor

          Can’t help thinking that maybe the pope should be blaming God for the weather and not co2 and getting us all to pray or doesn’t he believe in that kind of thing. Although the church has always latched on to worthy fundraising causes in the past in case there’s anything in it for them

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          • #
            Ron Cook

            i’m a christian of the protestant none RC variety and I’m absolutley amazed at the number of my co-christian ‘friends’ who believe the CAGW rot. The church in Australia at least has been kidnapped by leftist thinking – too many ‘do-gooders’ even wanting to allow potential terrorist ‘refugees’ in AND provide them with state funded handouts.

            Jo, I will be using your Blog’s URL as part of my email signature from now on if that’s OK.

            R-COO- K+

            70

            • #
              CameronH

              It is indeed the case that most Christian Churches have remade Jesus in the image of Karl Marx and are at present remaking God in the image of Gaia. No wonder nobody goes to Church anymore.

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          • #
            OriginalSteve

            Ron, I think people these days have been trained not to think, period.

            As to why people dont go to church, its mostly because PC has tried to emaciate biblical teaching by making it effectively illegal ( e.g. the Bibles’ teaching on homosexuality is very clear, but not popular ).

            People wonder if there is a God and or a devil – well I would offer the reality that morally the planet has gone to pot and people seem to love it. A love of evil wont get you anywhere, and its only by having high moral standards that a society survives. Right now, people have embraced the darkness, rejected God ( who authored the Bible ) and gone head first into hedonism. I have seen so many million-to-1 things happen in my life that onl I and God knew about, it makes the probability of God existing 1.00

            People also like to embrace victimism – its always someone elses fault, and they wont take responsibility for their actions – this is the devils work. God however says very clealry you are respsonsible for what youve done ( or not done ).

            Ergo, society is clearly devil inspired and driven, even in many churches. Marxism has made large inroads into churches and must be rejected as its un-Godly. Communism of course embraces athiesm and nihilism.

            As such, people would embrace CAGW as its topic that marxists love and the church has embraced as a “good” for society. If most churches actually were spot audited by their adherence to Gods word, the bible ( which is their only true reference ) by Jesus tomorrow, most would fail……

            20

        • #
          Glen Michel

          Not if a certain powerful lobby has its way.Oh the irony!

          20

      • #
        Dariusz

        After escaping from the lack of freedom (communism) I find myself again in the same situation. I find Australia suffocating, people scared to express their views both officially and even more worryingly privately. People that died for freedom of this country and continue to die would be disgusted for how we gave away what is supposed to be so dear to us.
        I say it again, it is not me that will die on the barricades of the last gasp of free society, but it will be my son and a few that still know what freedom means. I am ashamed feeling powerless to stop it.
        There is nowhere to run now for me.
        It is time to stand the ground. Tony Abbott do the honourable thing. Admit that you abounded our freedom and RESIGN. Give your position to better people like Morrison and try to save this country before the next labor gov. converts this country to the banana republic soaked with multicultural poison.
        Yes I am the first generation immigrant and I am against multiculturalism. Assimilate or if u don,t like it, get out.

        400

        • #
          Greg Cavanagh

          When PC first appeared on the air waves, it quickly took a strangle hold on everybody. I was first of all surprised at this new term “political correctness”, I was next surprised at just how strong a hold it had over every conversation both public and private.

          I still can’t explain how two words encaptulate an idea and control a private conversation so powerfuly. It feels like someone is standing behind me.

          70

        • #
          AntiMC

          Dariusz,

          I have someone very close to me in the same situation ie escaping from communism in Europe. His father, an acedemic profeesor, was tortured by the communists. He is now in the AFP helping to keep Australia free. He too is anti-multiculturism.

          50

    • #
      el gordo

      ‘Governments should be a lot more willing to pull the double dissolution trigger.’

      Too late, they would probably lose the election, with disastrous consequences.

      120

      • #
        Peter C

        Yes they might loose a double dissolution.

        However, I am not sure that it would be a worse disaster than the one we are heading toward right now.

        There could be a lot of positive outcomes;
        Firstly we would get a whole new senate. No more Jaquie Lambie and others. The only one I might miss would be senator david leyonhjelm. Also house of reps and senate terms would be aligned again, which is long overdue.
        Secondly the Libs would have to choose an issue to fight the double dissolution, and then make a forceful case for,it in the public arena. That would be a great change for the better in our politics,
        Thirdly I would rather see them go down fighting than meakly giving way. They owe it to us to try to change things for the better. It would lead to a better Liberal party In the end, reinvigorated and with a clearer set of principals.

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    • #
      William

      Peter:
      The problem is that we elected a bunch of self serving rent seekers. In other words, we elected Labor Light.
      During the election, they promised us everything we needed; and promised to do what needed to be done.
      Who could forget Tony Abbott’s promise that he would call a double dissolution within six months of being elected if his program was obstructed?
      Where is that double dissolution? Do we hear Tony even mention it anymore?
      It went the same way as the repeal of 18C.
      The sound of crickets is deafening.
      Given the choice of a guaranteed pay check for the next couple of years, or facing another election, the Liberal rabble chose the pay check.
      I have usually voted Liberal; after watching this self serving, spineless, rent seeking rabble, not again.
      As I have stated elsewhere: I will get my revenge by voting for Clive next time.

      29

      • #
        Dariusz

        Clive is the biggest (not just physically)of them all, a self serving Buffon. He is responsible for unstable characters like jackie lambie and other non-entities. Pathological liar, thief with no eating self control and all driven by low self confidence as he has to be surrounded by people that he perceives to be of lesser value than him.
        Tell me again how is that your revenge?

        260

        • #

          “Tell me again how is that your revenge?”

          Exactly Dariusz.
          Isn’t it amazing how some people think they will thwart the terrorists by slitting their own throats first?
          Yeah! Vote for Clive, vote for Labor, vote for Greens, or just don’t vote at all. That’ll learn ’em.

          160

      • #
        William

        Unfortunately, those who have responded negatively to my post, or down voted it, seem to have missed the point entirely.
        It seems that we all agree that the current Liberal government is pathetically incompetent.
        The only difference between Labor and the Liberals is that Labor is corrupt, while Liberals are pathologically stupid.
        That being the case, to continue to vote for the Liberals is an act of mindless tribalism; it is not an intelligent or rational decision.
        Voting for Liberals under these circumstances only serves to send them the erroneous message that they have the support of those that vote for them. Therefore, they are likely to continue on their disastrous trajectory.
        On the other hand, voting for an extreme like Clive delivers the message that none of the established parties are acceptable.
        So if we are presented with the choice of voting for either incompetents or criminals, we might as well vote for someone who doesn’t pretend to be anything other than that.
        So, since we are all screwed, at least we can enjoy the bread and circuses as we go down.

        31

      • #
        William

        Unfortunately, those who have responded negatively to my post, or down voted it, seem to have missed the point entirely.
        It seems that we all agree that the current Liberal government is pathetically incompetent.
        The only difference between Labor and the Liberals is that Labor is corrupt, while Liberals are pathologically stupid.
        That being the case, to continue to vote for the Liberals is an act of mindless tribalism; it is not an intelligent or rational decision.
        Voting for Liberals under these circumstances only serves to send them the erroneous message that they have the support of those that vote for them. Therefore, they are likely to continue on their disastrous trajectory.
        On the other hand, voting for an extreme like Clive delivers the message that none of the established parties are acceptable.
        So if we are presented with the choice of voting for either incompetents or criminals, we might as well vote for someone who doesn’t pretend to be anything other than that.
        So, since we are all screwed, at least we can enjoy the bread and circuses as we go down.

        11

    • #
      William

      Peter:
      The problem is that we elected a bunch of self serving rent seekers. In other words, we elected Labor Light.
      During the election, they promised us everything we needed; and promised to do what needed to be done.
      Who could forget Tony Abbott’s promise that he would call a double dissolution within six months of being elected if his program was obstructed?
      Where is that double dissolution? Do we hear Tony even mention it anymore?
      It went the same way as the repeal of 18C.
      The sound of crickets is deafening.
      Given the choice of a guaranteed pay check for the next couple of years, or facing another election, the Liberal rabble chose the pay check.
      I have usually voted Liberal; after watching this self serving, spineless, rent seeking rabble, not again.
      As I have stated elsewhere: I will get my revenge by voting for Clive next time.

      78

      • #
        PeterPetrum

        Apart from feeling that you have struck a blow for selfrightousnous, what good would voting for that buffoon do. Get real!

        60

        • #
          William

          PeterPetrum:
          I can ask the same question: In having voted for Tony Abbot and his merry band of incompetents, what good has that done?
          In voting for the buffoon Clive, I will get some emotional satisfaction. That is more than I have got for having voted for the Liberals.

          01

    • #
      Barry

      It’s great, but it has all been said before, so why hasn’t anything been done about it?

      Take the national curriculum, for example. A quick Bing does not show anything newer than January last year. Looks like the Liberals have been shouted down AGAIN. And, as Newman said, the gall of the Left! They blatantly and overtly politicise the curriculum and then shout ‘politicisation’ when the Liberals even suggest they might reform it.

      It is the same with the courts. Labor unashamedly stacks the courts, but when the Liberals appoint one of their own the shouts of ‘bias’ from the Left are deafening.

      There are a few bright lights in the Liberal ranks – Bernardi, Jensen and Dean Smith come to mind – but most of the remainder are pretty much useless.

      And, PLEASE, don’t give me any of this drivel about Scott Morrison. ‘Stopping the boats’ – big deal. A child could do it. More to the point why hasn’t he moved to renounce our ratification of the outdated, WWW2-era refugee convention. More telling is this comment in Can Do’s Christmas mailout:

      Natasha Bita now reveals how frustrated Minister Scott Morrison in his attempts to deport violent criminals.
      The Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal , a gift to the people of Australia from the Whitlam government, has overruled the minister on 10 occasions in the past year.

      Really, frustated? How do you think we feel. They had their chance to do something about this when they were first elected, but now they are too much on the nose. And, by the way, why is it that tribunals and courts can overrule an elected government. Isn’t the function of a review body simply to decide if the case was handled according to the law, and refer it back if it were not? I don’t have time to look into the legislation and administrative law, but another reader might know off the top of their head how it is that courts and tribunals have acquired the powers of executive government.

      Many people still think there is hope, but I have given up. The Left control the institutions of the country and there is no-one to stop them. Any new political movement would be suffocated by the leftist media unless they had $50 million or so to splash around. The only – and I emphasise ONLY – hope is for well-connected, influential people to run a campaign to have coalition voters sign up to withhold their votes in marginal coalition seats unless the coalition agrees to adopt a specified set of policies. It would have to be run by someone well-connected and with an extensive network to protect them. Dare I remind you what happened to the last person who went up against the established parties on her own. And you would need to be mindful of the Langer case when suggesting that a vote be ‘withheld’. The law is whatever those with power say it is.

      Good luck to you if you think it is worth a try. I’m past caring. And this Australia Day, when millions of fools will be duped by the political class into a state of mass hysteria as they all stop at midday to sing the national anthem, I’ll be singing my own version of it:

      Australians all let us lament,
      For we are not so free;
      We had it all then lefitsts spoiled;
      That led to 18C;
      Our land abounds in violent gits
      Conservatives just don’t care;
      In history’s page, let every stage
      Lament Australia’s Fare.
      In saddened strains then let us say,
      Lament Australia’s Fare.

      190

      • #
        Dariusz

        How true. The only way from this morass is the financial collapse of Australia which, with the US going bankrupt, is inevitable. Low petrol price is not just a reflection of weak economy, but the economy that has gone beyond rebound as there is no free capitalism anymore and hence there won,t be any recovery.
        Do I want to live in this increasingly depressing country where you can,t even talk about the weather or risk revolution and restart?
        Judging from the history restarts are usually not good, but at least it will snuff out all this “lefty give me something for nothing” attitude. It won,t be the reason or us convicting them. They will run of our money and that is how the global climate rage will end.

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    • #
      Ted O'Brien.

      First TonyAbbott has to get his legislation past Clive Palmer and Al Gore. Al was only there for a few minutes, but his shadow still stands at the door of our parliament.

      Don’t imagine that anybody else will do any better. Do, however, insist of Tony Abbott that he stand up and fight.

      200

    • #
      Sean McHugh

      Pity that Tony Abbott does not listen to Maurice Newman a bit more. He seems to favour appeasement as a political strategy.

      Which says he listens to the left, not to Maurice Newman or the exasperated conservatives who voted for him.

      60

      • #
        scaper...

        Had a chat to a couple of back benchers on the weekend. They are not happy and the momentum is building.

        40

        • #
          Sean McHugh

          I genuinely don’t like saying (or admitting) this, but something has to change and I don’t think TA will.

          On the bright side, this is where the conservatives are different to the left. We really are more honest. Can anyone recall the left blog gallery suggesting that Rudd had to go or that Gillard had to go – even when the party knew they had to? To apologists for the left, it didn’t matter how bad their leaders’ train wrecks were. The side was all that mattered.

          80

    • #
      Craig Thomas

      So Newman’s on a very nice gravy train then.

      13

    • #
      OriginalSteve

      Well the last bozo who said “Peace in our time” lived to regret it….

      Apeasement only means you throw meat at the wolf to delay it eating you. You should be reaching ( metaphorically ) for your 30-06 instead…..

      20

  • #

    If Newman hadn’t been born we would have had to invent him :-). Keep up the good fight Maurice – I’ll buy you a beer if you’re ever in Hervey Bay.

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    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      Eric,
      If Maurice ever comes to the “dry side” of the Great State of Washington – I’ll buy him 2 beers. Of course that goes for you, also. And for Joanne. Or if you prefer wine, I have a friend that owns a small vineyard and winery. Jo has our e-mail address.
      Tim Blair came within a few miles a year ago but blew right on by. Darn.

      170

  • #
    Robber

    I shudder every time I read the Beliefs of the Liberal Party as described in their website. We Believe (it says):
    In the inalienable rights and freedoms of all peoples; and we work towards a lean government that minimises interference in our daily lives; and maximises individual and private sector initiative
    In government that nurtures and encourages its citizens through incentive, rather than putting limits on people through the punishing disincentives of burdensome taxes and the stifling structures of Labor’s corporate state and bureaucratic red tape.
    In those most basic freedoms of parliamentary democracy – the freedom of thought, worship, speech and association.
    In a just and humane society in which the importance of the family and the role of law and justice is maintained.
    In equal opportunity for all Australians; and the encouragement and facilitation of wealth so that all may enjoy the highest possible standards of living, health, education and social justice.
    That, wherever possible, government should not compete with an efficient private sector; and that businesses and individuals – not government – are the true creators of wealth and employment.
    In preserving Australia’s natural beauty and the environment for future generations.
    That our nation has a constructive role to play in maintaining world peace and democracy through alliance with other free nations.
    In short, we simply believe in individual freedom and free enterprise; and if you share this belief, then ours is the Party for you.

    I share those beliefs, but I don’t recognize them in the way Liberal Governments operate.

    Lean government; government not competing with private sector; encourage through incentives, not red tape; freedom of speech; just and humane society; preserving the environment; individual freedom and free enterprise. Now that’s what I’d like to see! If they lived up to their beliefs, we could see the size of governments halved.

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    • #
      handjive

      Belief:In those most basic freedoms of parliamentary democracy – the freedom of thought, worship, speech and association.
      ~ ~ ~
      So, what to make of this Abbott Govt.au (taxpayer funded) website:

      Responses to Professor Ian Plimer’s 101 climate questions

      “In late 2011, Professor Ian Plimer—a geology professor and expert mineralogist with no background in climate science—released his latest book: How to get expelled from school: a guide to climate change for pupils, parents and punters.

      In response to Professor Ian Plimer’s 101 questions on climate change science, the department provides the document: Accurate Answers. The answers and comments provided are intended to give clear and accurate responses to Professor Plimer’s questions. The answers are based on up-to-date peer-reviewed science and have been reviewed by a number of Australian climate scientists.”
      ~ ~ ~
      For the benefit of “those most basic freedoms of parliamentary democracy – the freedom of thought, worship, speech and association,” and for no charge, here is a re-wording of the above:

      > In late 2006, Al Gore, an ex-vice president of the USA with no background in climate science – released his latest movie and book:
      An Inconvenient Truth.

      In response to Al Gore’s UN-IPCC failed science, the department provides the document, in the best tradition of the scientific method:
      101 questions on climate change.
      The questions, based on documented observations contrary to failed modelled projections, are intended to elicit clear and accurate responses from Mr Gore.
      The questions are based on up-to-date observations and have been reviewed by independent Australian scientists from a variety of disciplines.
      . . .
      Abbott should cross out that belief above, and a couple of others.

      I spit in your general (“B” team progressive) direction.

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      • #
        KinkyKeith

        Like it.

        I thought TA would have shown more guts!

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          the Griss

          We over-estimated him..

          unfortunate 🙁

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            handjive

            Griss,
            The target is very clear & defined.

            It always has been.

            It is the climate science quackery of 97% UN-IPCC Doomsday Global Warming.

            Knowing this, the Abbott LNP suddenly swapped sides; chose their enemies and bought their friends ($200M>UN-IPCC Bob Brown International Bank – 18c).

            They opened up another front to fight on, turning already disillusioned partisans into enemies, whilst winning no friends from caving in to progressive doomsday global warming cult.

            Quite so, it is unfortunate after the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd calamity.

            We all hoped for something, anything, better.

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        handjive

        PS:
        Who is next on the Abbott government’s ‘denier’ hitlist?

        Joannenova? Ken’s Kingdom? Warwick Hughes? TonyfromOz?

        Conservative my arse.

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        TdeF

        This amazingly silly and pretentious science free response from the Department of the Environment is a statement of their policy, not fact. It shows why BOM data is intentionally edited and modified to reinforce warming. The new government will take a generation to bring sense to the ABC, SBS, BOM and such departments, populated by Green activists., up to 60%.

        Politically even the Left in Australia have gone extreme left. The once great Labor party is collapsing as the Unions collapse to 12% of the workforce while in the public service it remains over 42%. I have read 60% at the ABC.

        There are only 8 Federal Labor seats won without Green preferences, so Labor policy is set by sworn communists like Adam Bandt and Lee Rhiannon. Around the world the opportunistic capture of Greenpeace by communists has created an extreme left force posing as the caring party.

        Worse, Labor now chase every fringe element, including the 20% muslim vote in Western Sydney, supporting Jew hating extremists which includes the Greens. So the caring Left have gone Extreme Left, which is why public service departments spout Green/Left party policy like Global Warming as science when it is nonsense.

        However you cannot govern from opposition, so Tony Abbott is forced to give ground. In fact Islamic terrorism may finally give him the public support he needs to tackle the extreme left.

        The fastest way out is to sell the ABC, SBS and even the BOM. As with the Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, the Post Office, Trains, Buses, Roads, Medibank. Bring these people into the real world where they cannot just use their democratic vote to demand more money and power while inside government and using government resources like the BOM to support Left policy and faux science.

        The $800,000 salary of the ABCs Mark Scott is a public scandal when he is not accountable to anyone but his left masters, his staff. The extreme Left has metastatized inside the Public Service in Australia, especially the media. Urgent action is needed. The cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo have struck a real blow as martyrs for freedom of speech. The people who murdered them are openly supported by the caring Greens and our ABC.

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        Rod Stuart

        “You can live as free people, but if you choose not to, your society will surely die.”

        Those words from Mark Steyn sum up exactly how I and thousands of other IPA members feel.

        Mark is right. We have to make some choices about how we are to live. If we are to live in a free society we must have freedom of speech. The freedom to speak and to think and to argue about politics, culture – and yes, religion – is what makes us as individuals free, and what makes our society free.

        That’s why I’m delighted to announce to you that Mark has accepted an invitation from the Institute of Public Affairs to come to Australia in 2015.
        John Roskam

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    Leonard Lane

    Jo, I love this paragraph. If OK I intend to send it along with a link to your site to some friends of mine who have a huge email network. This way the message should be delivered to a few hundred or so people who in turn will send it along …

    “A wake up call from Maurice Newman. The gravy train of bigger and bigger government is grinding to its inevitable halt, and Greece is the destination the Western Express is headed for. Those who promised that big-government could solve everything have bought votes, while using schools and universities to train a generation to hate free market competition. Young people were raised to blame the system and demand the handout, rather than take responsibility. The soft-west has gone too far left. The weak right has rolled over and tries to be a mini-left, settling for being the team B of “progressivism”. Newman’s best line is that the conservatives apologize where they should demand apologies. So true.”

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      Please do. Thanks for spreading the word. It helps.

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      M Newman says the left opinion “In everything from the economy to sport” Notice the ABC now promoting soccer which already wasted tax payer money on a failed bid for the ” so called World cup” and wastes money with European replays on the low rating SBS. Sport is now professional and should be on Fox where people pay to watch or a commercial TV which are paid by advertisers relying on ratings. Maybe soccer is the in thing because so many teams in UK and Europe are owned by rich “middle east persons” and of course the World cup will be Qatar. The left seem to favour one religion and dislike some others particularly the majority religion of the only democratic country in the middle east (they allow other religions and a differing political opinions).

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        Ted O'Brien.

        The Scriptures of “The Left” were written by Marx and Marxists.

        Marx decried religion, but Marxism has most of the hallmarks of religion.

        When you look at the product of their policies, you have to suspect that a lot of the scriptures of “The Right” were written by Marxists too.

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      Andrew McRae

      Jo says:

      Greece is the destination the Western Express is headed for

      With a brief stopover in Cypress, if the G20’s plans are any indicator.

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    John F. Hultquist

    The Left’s solution to what they call “inequality” is to make everyone poorer rather than make everyone richer. The government takes, spends, grows, and wastes. This is called progressivism.
    In the USA, Obama is going about this with new taxes being sold to aid the middle class. The aid would come through a larger government. Who didn’t see this coming?

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      All's right...

      The threat of new taxes is only an effort to bait the Republicans. Obama knows that new taxes have no chance in a Rep. controlled congress, as too his minor-league efforts to mention free community college. What these talking points do is create the impression that the Republicans are obstructionist; that they are anti-reform, anti-growth and anti-American. It’s just a political scam to establish some differentiation prior to the next electoral campaign, which is just getting ramped up this year.

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    manalive

    ‘Uncertainty surrounding the renewable energy target (RET) has made the large-scale sector of the industry in Australia “uninvestable”, a clean energy analyst says …’ (ABC News 12 Jan 2015).
    So called renewable energy costs multiples of the cost of black and brown coal that constitutes most of Australia’s energy supply, coal is our second largest export earner.
    “There are endless opportunities presented by investing in and developing renewable energy and Australia is ideally placed to take advantage of these opportunities … We have the knowledge base as well as abundant sun, wind and wave energy …” (Mark Butler, shadow minister for environment). We also have abundant coal, gas and uranium.

    The RET is an insane policy for this country, Abbott, must know that.

    And yet all Ian MacFarlane, Minister for Industry and Science could come up with was: “… [the Government was] acutely aware that the renewable energy industry is facing uncertainty … this is because the current RET scheme is not operating the way it was intended … a recalibrated RET will better reflect market realities, which will in turn create a more stable environment for long-term investments.”
    But ‘… the government’s position was to “keep the renewable energy target in place” ‘ (Mathias Cormann Aug 2014).
    They should have dumped the idiotic policy months ago, alleged sovereign risk not withstanding.

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    ExWarmist

    Would-be journalists don’t want to wear the Useful Idiot badge — a real journalist would hate to think they were mere puppets of corrupt officialdom and crony capitalism.

    Nailed it – the average progressive lefter is oblivious to the fact that they are facilitating a neo-fascist corporate statist agenda.

    They are so co-opted!

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    bemused

    To this day, I do not understand where, how and why the Liberals (and many Conservatives in general) lost their spine.

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      Jon

      We where told that things and stuff would be cheaper with competition. And it turned out to be true. But it gets cheaper because salaries go down with competition?

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      James Bradley

      Bemused,

      They don’t have the strength of their convictions and they don’t trust the judgement of the silent majority that voted them in.

      They are falling all over themselves to be Mr. Nice Guy to appease the media, they are trying to negotiate things that did not need negotiation.

      They stopped the boats dead and have not backed down from that.

      The same should have been done with the Carbon Tax and the RET’s but they backed off on the RET’s.

      They should have trusted their position that global warming is crap.

      Too many of them are in it for the personal gain not the public good and they don’t seem to be able to think beyond the next election and their paypacket and super pay out – self serving bunch of bedwetters. No better than Labor and the Greens now..

      They got cold feet, and whimped all the stuff that should have been done. If they’d stayed staunch the strength of that commitment would have been enough to see them through a double dissolution.

      But they lack resolve.

      Put Labor back in I say, the sooner the better, they f#cked it – let em fix it.

      Let’s see how far the ‘there’s no financial crisis’ mantra gets them.

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        bemused

        I’ve come to a somewhat similar conclusion. Let the Libs fester in opposition for a lot longer until they realise that pandering to the media, focus groups, Twitter and the myriad of welfare dependents (the non-genuine ones) and all the other empty vessels making too much noise, will not gain them any respect or votes. They have totally abandoned their voter base and what’s more, have proven to have no more resolve than Labor (the Greens have more resolve). I know this is going to sound sexist, and maybe it is, but from an old-timer’s point of view, there are no more ‘men’ in politics.

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          Dariusz

          Little comfort in letting the labor to fix the problem that they created. Basically let them run down the country even more? How is that going help? We can still control debt but with labor coming there is no coming back. And they will come back not just for 3 years, 6 is more likely, like In Queensland they kept on voting them in. Debt? It,s not my problem they still say that.
          Their greed for tax payers money is only surprised by their own Stupidity. What sums we are talking to an individual. Small, pitiful.

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          Sean McHugh

          I’ve come to a somewhat similar conclusion.

          Ditto, a while back.

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        Greg Cavanagh

        Labor don’t do “fix”. Them gaining power will simply reestablish what was, again.

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        Glen Michel

        Big risk putting Labor back in as the Libs will vote in Turnbull as leader of the opposition.Maybe not, but a scenario not worth reflecting on for too long..

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      Manfred

      The Conservative Apologia….

      …instilled by the creeping doctrine of political correctness, the attribution of “value” to all intellectual positions, opinions, emotions, research, irrespective of veracity, scientific credibility, evidence, or majority. The growth of the progressive left flourished free of critical dissection into a political and MSM driven/fueled ‘majority’ we witness today. Out of the inability to say ‘no’, to dismiss nonsense, they flourished, relying on the ‘right’ to express any and all claptrap and to take instant offense at any disagreement, any counter-proposition or perspective.

      As absolute power corrupts absolutely I think it is quite easy to see how having inadvertently got their way for so long they take instant and virtually homicidal umbrage to any disagreement. We see this in the ‘denier’ tag, the reflexive manner in which the ‘ad hominem’ is dished out in any forum on any subject and, as mentioned, we see it in the reflexive readiness to take noisy offense, always masquerading with loud ‘self-righteousness’. We see it clearly in the absence of any celebration that “Global mean temperatures” have plateaued for 19 yrs. Yes, they betray themselves and their nihilistic dogmas at every turn. They should be spurned as one would a rabid dog.

      There is grand irony in that Greece, at the hands of the more extreme left, want to secede from the Euro…apparently they’re fed up with ‘austerity’ directed by Brussels and want a return to their comfortable never-never land. As no formal financial ‘mechanism’ exists to exit the Euro – never countenanced by the architects – and something that has hitherto deterred others to date…..it is going to be fascinating to watch.

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    tom0mason

    Two quotes –

    — Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor 1787 observed

    “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.”

    — and as Thomas Paine recommended …

    “It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.”

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      KenW

      What we’re seeing and debating here is really nothing new then. Only the topic changes.

      How has it turned out in the past?

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      • #

        The price of liberty is eternal vigilance — It should be taught in every western school and recited every day. J

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          Ted O'Brien.

          Yes, but. Liberty relieves us of vigilance.

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          Dariusz

          People don,t care about some lofty liberty. They care only about fulfilment of their own desires. Liberty is only noticed when it is lost.

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          Martin

          The gatekeeper of democracy is free speech. There’s no such thing as 95% free speech.
          You either have it or you don’t. Turning a blind eye to its infringement says all too much about the Coalition’s resolve.

          Like the political mood sweeping across the UK, Germany, Holland, France, and the US, we need a third party – a serious alternative that, if nothing else, will force the conservative circle of pollys to stand up for values. MN would make, if not a leader, an excellent galvanizer.

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            Retired now

            To me the refusal to get rid of 18C meant we have no freedom of speech. What happened to Andrew Bolt was an abomination. And from there the government just seems to have caved and is a nothing. Time for getting back to our values – freedom to speak and even to offend, freedom to control our own lives ( and nothing to do with regulating our sexual and reproductive lives – that sort of conservatism has lead us down a black hole of irrelevance.)

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        tom0mason

        KenW

        Though history may run in cycles,
        the past rarely repeats itself,
        but it often rhymes.

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          James Bradley

          tomomason,

          The new NSW Labor leader ………. is promising to pour money into Sydney sport grounds so that people can enjoy their ‘footy’ in comfort.

          Has a familiar ring to it – beer and circuses, let them eat cake…

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            Greg Cavanagh

            Allianz Stadium Key facts
            Club: Sydney FC | Opening: 1988 | Capacity: 44,000 seats

            Population of Sydney 4.576 million (2010),

            The many pay for the envoyment of the few.

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  • #
    Safetyguy66

    So totally agree with Mr Newman. Many people have seen me post extensive rants on this site about the current generation of young folk being obsessed with regulations.

    ABC this morning entertained someone from some worthless QANGO calling for legislation on “sugary and fatty foods” to “save the children”.

    What ever happened to personal responsibility. I mean “my kid is obese”. So feed them better food you dolt! Not call for the Government to step in an take on your parenting responsibilities. Some of us are fine with the decision to eat 2 x double quarter pounders with extra cheese and raising the price will not stop us, it will just make us vote for someone who doesn’t want to hold our hands till bedtime.

    This age is an age of the utter abrogation of personal responsibility. We have just suffered through a left/green regime led by the most personally irresponsible Prime Minister we have ever had. During her disastrous reign Julia Gillard was not personally responsible for a single failure of anything. Just ask her. It was men, it was factions, it was Tony Abbott, it was aliens, it was anything except Julia. She embodied the spirit this country is no captive too. A spirit of everything being beyond our control and everything being someone else’s fault.

    Mr Newman hits so many nails on so many heads, I can only assume he missed his calling as a carpenter.

    Finally none of this is new. Its the slippery slope to National Socialism and we all know where that ends.

    “It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now–independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back one’s own conviction against a majority, and the willingness to voluntary cooperation with one’s neighbours–are essentially those on which the of an individualist society rests. Collectivism has nothing to put in their place, and in so far as it already has destroyed then it has left a void filled by nothing but the demand for obedience and the compulsion of the individual to what is collectively decided to be good.”
    ― Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom 1940-43

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      Yonniestone

      Safety I had myself a little rant at the end of the last thread, pretty much agreeing with your sentiments except focusing on the apathy of the average Australian but I guess it would apply to any current western type of democracy.
      (Ok showing my inept IT skills and can’t link my post so pasted it below if it’s OK mods?)

      The general population mostly aren’t gullible they’re lazy, people have gotten so complacent about the importance of their role in a good democracy and have essentially handed over their controlling interest to a subversive leftist power masquerading as an elected governments, and for what?

      The extravagant pre election promises of handouts and gifts, the sincere pledges of inquests into hyped up terrible social matters that do nothing & go nowhere, the fantastic new technologies that have been sorely needed for years but emerge as costly F#$kups (NBN), tax breaks that simply move money from one area of the ledger to another, I could go on.

      All of the above Bullshit system is apparently voted in by the public every 4 years or so with them actually knowing they will not be any better off no matter who you vote for, ask the average person and you’ll pretty much get that answer, so my attitude is if people know something is wrong with the democratic system but are happy enough to accept bribes with their money they have no right to complain as the system succeeds with their failure to confront the wrongs being done, worst is while they can function now the future generations won’t as any democracy will be long gone.

      I’ve never felt sympathy for cowards and never will, you reap what you sow.

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        Safetyguy66

        On the money as usual Yonnie.

        I used to think one of Australia’s greatest assets for a peaceful society was our world record political apathy. The fact that we managed to go for so long, not caring at all about politics as a populace has been a signature of who we are. Once every 3 or 4 years we took a glance at the telly, remembered how our parents voted, whinged, then hopped in the car and went and did “the deed”. Preferably at a voting centre with a sausage sizzle to at least ensure the trip wasn’t a total waste of time.

        The idea that we may one day live in a country where mobs paraded the streets with pictures of political leader’s face on poles, as seen across the world for most of modern history was completely foreign to us and an anathema to our way of life. But for whatever reason (and I think Mr Newman lists a few of them) we are there now. The link below is one of the scariest things I have ever seen in my life and for a while there I watched a lot of hostage beheading videos out of the middle east, which terrified me so much I found them captivating. But they are nothing compared to this image. This image is the start of the end of Australian society. Its the tip of the iceberg of young Australian ignorance. An ignorance that can only end in totalitarianism. If young people truly believe this then we can look forward to a society where we will have our own soccer stadium (don’t even get me started on the ABC injecting soccer into this country) beheadings of political dissenters to enjoy before you know it.

        http://www.menzieshouse.com.au/?p=4905

        The same institutions that foster this poisonous ideology and make no mistake left politics is an utterly mindless and poisonous ideology, do so in complete ignorance of the potential consequences. Student Unions, Teacher Unions, social sciences and the like ignore the lessons of history and continue to pave their road to hell with a million tiny new regulations. They indoctrinate our youth into the belief that the state can fix everything and that expanding and enhancing the power of the state to compel others to your will, is not only good, its required. But as we have been saying, none of it is new and that is the true crime, we know where this road starts and we know where it ends yet we seem to be hurtling down it with “gay” abandon.

        Obama’s state of the union address today is likely to be a leftist manifesto extraordinaire. There is talk of wealth taxes and more. The so called land of the free has spent 2 terms now experimenting with socialism via bailing out banks and businesses with tax payer funds and printing money to devalue their currency. The basis of capitalism has been undermined and in some cases overturned, yet it shows no signs of slowing.

        One of my favourite Western movies is “Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid”. Im not sure if Sam Peckinpah realised he was documenting the end of liberatarianism in America and probably the world. But if he did it was genius. This film documents the last free men roaming the American open ranges and living as they pleased. Criminal acts aside, it illustrates how land settlement, contracts and agreements between powerful commercial interests band together to form ad hoc governments which gain legitimacy by force alone. Its worth watching for that reason alone, completely aside from the fact that its a Peckinpah western and a damn good flick. Which leads me to my final comment for this rant. Its from Lew Rockwell who speaks on the “essence of government”…

        http://www.lewrockwell.com/2001/10/doug-casey/the-essence-of-government/

        “You might object that the important difference between the KKK, IRA, PLO or a simple mob and a government is that they aren’t “official” or “legal.” Apart from common law concepts, legality is arbitrary. Once you leave the ken of common law, the only distinction between the “laws” of governments and the ad hoc proceedings of an informal assemblage such as a mob, or of a more formal group like the KKK, boils down to the force the group can muster to impose its will on others. The laws of Nazi Germany and the USSR are now widely recognized as criminal fantasies that gained reality on a grand scale. But at the time those regimes had power, they were treated with the respect granted to any legal system. Governments become legal or official by gaining power. The fact that every government was founded on gross illegalities – war or revolt – against its predecessor is rarely an issue.

        Force is the essence of government. But the possession of a monopoly on force almost inevitably requires a territory, and maintaining control of territory is considered the test of a “successful” government. Would any “terrorist” organization be more “legitimate” if it had its own country? Absolutely. Would it be any less vicious or predatory by that fact? No, just as most governments today (the ex-Communist countries and the kleptocracies of the Third World being the best examples), demonstrate. Governments can be much more dangerous than the mobs that give them birth. The Jacobin regime of the French Revolution is a prime example.”

        The youth of today want to enhance that force and harness it against any who disagree. We are heading back to the future if what we see in our media is any indication of the direction this country is heading.

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          Yonniestone

          Safety thanks for the generous reply, plenty of information to follow up on also, very much appreciated mate.

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      Ted O'Brien.

      Born in 1944, I grew up in a society which set a very high value on personal freedom. By the time I was 40 I could see that the Australian view of freedom was becoming not so much that I be free, but that nobody else should be more free than I

      It has not yet diverted from that road.

      I blame Whitlam’s dumbed down universities for this.

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      tom0mason

      You have quoted one of my favorites – Friedrich Hayek.
      So here’s a couple more –

      ” There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. While the first is the condition of a free society, the second means as De Tocqueville describes it, ‘a new form of servitude.’ ”
      — Friedrich Hayek, Individualism and Economic Order (1948)

      “A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.”

      — Friedrich Hayek (1941)

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      Manfred

      SG66, encouraging personal responsibility is anathema to those that wish not to govern, but to control. Fortunately, there are always those whose DNA conveys irrepressible behaviours and desires to walk an independent path and beat to an independent drum. For many of the rest, a growing number acquire this required range of behaviours and traits after a few generations of epigenetic modulation, before they too rediscover the need for liberty and truth, likely but not always at the end of a gun.

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    el gordo

    I consider Maurice Newman one of Australia’s leading intellectuals, as yet unrecognised.

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      the Griss

      “Australia’s leading intellectuals”

      Gees, and here I was thinking that role was covered by Flannery, Clive Hamilton or maybe even Karoly or Steffen !

      Whoops.. I forgot bandana man.. or maybe even Bob Ellis !!

      Australia’s far left intellectuals..

      toss in two-names and the other hideous greens, Milne, Brandt and that fool from WA, Lodinum?, and you have a total IQ still in double figures !!!

      Any further advances on the list of far-left intellectuals ?

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    Snalivs

    Where the previous generation fought the onslaught of fascism and communism, in order to preserve their personal freedom, the current generation so quickly gives up the very ground their parents fought for. Every time we say ‘There should be a law against this or that’ we are voluntarily giving away our rights (and therefore responsibilities) as individuals. It started with fences around swimming pools, progressed to the need to wear bicycle helmets and now in the glorious state of South Australia, a place I used to call home, restaurants and eateries require a permit to serve water with meals! To quote William S., ‘Oh brave new world, that have such people in it!’
    Ambiguity and double-speak, feel-good jargon and political correctness are now the order of the day.
    Bah! Humbug!

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    Maverick

    I like the reminder about the lamb journos being “gullible”. The noun is gullibility, but as far as i can see there is no word for a collection of persons suffering gullibility. We need to be able to describe the climate change gullibles, or the climate change gullabilities but word does not seem to exist – can anyone help out?

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      tom0mason

      Maverick I’ll try to keep this short.

      They are silly, amateur, asinine, slow, backward, soft-headed, witless, brainless, credulous, dense, dull, dumb, flabby-minded, feeble, foolish, green-behind-the-ears, easily gulled, half-witted, idiotic, ignorant, semi-literate, inane imbeciles, under-experienced and inexpert, insensate, mindless, moronic, nitwitted yet obtuse, senseless and shallow, stupid, thick, ill-educated, unintelligent, simple-minded dimwits uncritically repeating worthless climate press releases.

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        handjive

        A prime example; the SMH Ben Cubby tweet in response fellow sock-puppet Peter Hannan tweet:

        Immediate threat of an #ElNino has passed for the 2014-15 cycle, #BoM says, as central Pacific temps continue to ease back.

        Ben Cubby ‏@bencubby 18h18 hours ago
        @dcacoustic @p_hannam looked pretty likely for a while there
        . . .
        Only to the progressive & intellectually challenged gullible.

        Due dilligence = zero.
        Accountability = zero.

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      Gary in Erko

      Gull – http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/gull
      Synonyms for gull, verb cheat
      bamboozle; deceive; defraud; dupe; fool; gyp; hoodwink; mislead; trick

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      James Bradley

      I believe the collective noun to describe a group of gullible people is ‘ponzi’ – as in:

      “I see a ‘ponzi’ of Labor/Green/Socialist/Lefties demonstrating with Clive Palmer to stop climate change.”

      And as I remarked previously, nowadays they all seem to demonstrate against change.

      It seems they are all afraid of everything.

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      Sweet Old Bob

      Flockers !

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      CDM

      Fools is quite adequate.

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    mmxx

    Classical science seems to be losing way in the face of social media “popular opinion cultism”.

    Nothing demonstrates this more than the knock-on social phenomenon of acceptance of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming (or climate change, which now seems to better cover all climate variations for its believers).

    An unquestioning public acceptance of uninformed, popular media commentary is emerging as a major challenge to core scientific and technological principles that have advanced humankind so much in the last two centuries.

    Perhaps sci-fi has a lot to answer for!

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    pat

    “a real journalist would hate to think they were mere puppets of corrupt officialdom and crony capitalism”

    the short version:

    July 2014: RTCC: Ed King: No country will escape climate impacts, warns Ministry of Defence
    Rising sea levels, drought and food shortages likely to increase without cut in climate warming gases.
    Compiled by the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, a department within the MOD, Global Strategic Trends – Out to 2045 aims to inform government officials developing long term plans…
    Demand for food, water and better sanitation is likely to grow in the coming decades, and will require more effective international cooperation, said Rear Admiral John Kingwell, Director of the Concepts and Doctrine Centre…
    The 172-page report draws on research from a number of international defence departments, including the Pentagon, as well as academia, NGOs and energy companies such as Shell…
    It says that without a global consensus on the dangers posed by climate change, global temperature increases will lead to greater instability across the planet …
    Earlier this year Jamie Shea, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, told RTCC that a UN climate deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is essential for global stability. At a May Senate hearing Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, Assistant Secretary of the US Navy said the challenges posed by climate change are “overwhelmingly clear” to Pentagon top brass. And last month a report authored by Brigadier General Christopher King, Dean at the US Army Command and General Staff College said melting glaciers were likely to exacerbate tensions between India and China over access to water…
    While many developed countries will escape the worst effects of global warming, their economies could suffer, with financial requirements for humanitarian assistance projected to increase by up to 1,600% by 2035…
    http://www.rtcc.org/2014/07/01/no-country-will-escape-climate-impacts-warns-ministry-of-defence/

    the long version (202 pages, including Acknowledgements, Feedback Form, etc):

    PDF: Ministry of Defence: Strategic Trends Programme – Global Strategic Trends – Out to 2045 – Fifth Edition
    This publication is the fifth edition of Global Strategic Trends. It is benchmarked at 30 April 2014.
    Foreword by Rear Admiral John Kingwell Director, Concepts and Doctrine.
    In the West in particular, a rise of individualism and, amongst many, a growing sense of disconnection from long-established governing structures will challenge traditional systems. The growth of cities will provide opportunities to make better use of the world’s resources but will expose many of the millions living in coastal cities to the risks of flooding as rising sea levels and more frequent and destructive weather events begin to test resilience…
    (page 31) Climate change
    Inertia in the climate system means that historic greenhouse gas emissions will almost certainly affect the climate for the next few decades, regardless of any mitigating action taken. By 2045, average global temperatures are likely to have increased by approximately 1.4°C above levels recorded at the end of the 20th century…
    ***Without meaningful effort to secure global consensus on the scale of the problem and how it should be tackled, it will almost certainly be challenging to limit global temperature increases. By the end of the century, the Earth’s climate is likely to be substantially warmer and different from today’s.
    ***A large body of scientific evidence indicates that climate change is mostly being driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) from generating power…
    (page 197) Acknowledgements
    We have benefited enormously from the time and effort generously given by the organisations and institutions listed below…ETC ETC (INCLUDES MANY OF THE USUAL SUSPECTS)
    http://www.ieee.es/Galerias/fichero/OtrasPublicaciones/Internacional/2014/Global_Strategic_Trends_-_Out_to_2045.pdf

    for me, the left/right paradigm is merely a divide & conquer meme. that the so-called left, especially the alleged progressive left of the media, is still pushing CAGW after the revelations of Climategate, is truly astonishing. it does, indeed, say something about the gullibility of the human species.

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      ianl8888

      … the gullibility of the human species

      Fear is at the core of this. It makes most of the populace (to paraphrase H.L.Mencken) “clamour as wee timorous beasties to be protected – from everything”

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    Ted O'Brien.

    Three things I have said often, and I say them again. The whole truth is a bit longer story, but here is the summary.

    1. The Hawke government’s deregulation of the banks + the Hawke government’s promotion of Alan Bond’s abuse of that deregulation = The crash of 1987. This was half of Australia’s contribution to that bust.

    2. The Hawke government in1986 changed the management of the CSIRO, putting their own brand of “political scientists” in charge of the real scientists. Neville Wran, National President of the ALP, was the first non scientist to be chairman of the ABC. From that source then flowed Australia’s contribution to the AGW scam. The AGW scam in its turn is a tool to complete the destruction of the capitalist system.

    3. The initial proposal for an ETS in Australia firmly rejected the notion that credit should be given to Agriculture for the sequestration side of Agriculture’s carbon cycle. They intended to tax recycled carbon on the same basis as fossil carbon, and that on a very poorly researched basis. This would have within two years bankrupted Australia’s livestock industries, and soon after the rest of agricultural industry.

    This would then have rendered the 60% of Australia’s land area which is used for grazing economically worthless, enabling the government to transfer that land into new ownership without compensating existing owners. This was the dead giveaway for the whole scam.

    This was a grossly inequitable proposal. However in our parliament only Barnaby Joyce, a former farm business accountant who has also worked in the financial sector, understood the implications. But for his work opposing it that proposal would have become law.

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      pattoh

      Hey Ted

      The Hawke government also gave us dancing builders advertising “Industry Super” which started another stream of post politics income for the “Faithful” while at the same time creating an “Indulgence Fund” ( managed by the faithful) on a short cycle feedback loop into the political funding coffers. SWEET!!!!!

      That famous actor sounds soo believable in the current ads, but they are still building windfarms.

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      Ted O'Brien.

      Oh dear!

      Neville Wran was made chairman of the CSIRO, not the ABC. Very, very sorry.

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    DonS

    Hi Jo, Happy New Year.

    I agree with your point about the how the institutions of the West, schools, universities, media etc. have been captured by the anti-science left and used to constantly push their favourite political causes. CO2 climate change has been, I think, their most successful push but it did take 30 years of constant campaigning to gain the prominence it now has. The penetration of this meme into the societies communal mind is astounding.

    For example, I happened to tune into a popular children’s TV program on the weekend and the topic of conversation turned to the composition of the atmosphere. Which 3 gases did our expert guest tell us kids are important constituents of the atmosphere? Would you believe it, CO2, Methane and water vapour! No mention of Nitrogen, Oxygen or Hydrogen. This segment of the program wasn’t even about climate change but this blokes first response to the question of atmospheric gases is to put 2 trace gases prominently at 1 and 2. I wondered at the time how many parents know what their kids are being told? How many care?

    Sadly I think it will probably take a generation or more to turn the good ship humanity away from the course of ignorance and superstition. As not one politician in a position of power has yet publically made a counter argument to the meme then I would say that the fools are still firmly in control of the rudder. It will be a long struggle that I don’t think most of us will be around to see the outcome of. If they get their way and turn off the electricity I don’t think I want to be around.

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    the Griss

    OT.

    Just been play around silly linear trends with USHCN month data.

    From 1895 to now the trend is +0.0125°F/yr

    From 2005 to now with the introduction of USCRN, trend is 0.084°F/yr

    USA is definitely over the top of the hump and cooling ! 😉

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    Muddy Puppy

    So it isn’t just me then? Thank $^&*&^ for that. I was on the Catallaxy Files yesterday espousing my theory that the difference between the cultural and economic insurgents and we, the defenders, is the lack of organisation, and the response I received was ‘Meh.’ ‘The Left’ to put this simplistically has strategies and tactics to achieve them (not necessarily co-ordinated, but still, they have plans and are willing to act on them), but ‘The Conservatives’ mostly just mope around in stunned submission, hoping for a quick and painless death. Our previous generations who fought and died for the institutions and values that gave birth to us would not even spit on our cowardice. Forums such as this blog and others are wonderful for ‘spreading the word’, but are we spreading it to the partial or complete believers anyway? Mutual back-patting. Fan-bloody-tastic. So exactly what is our ‘body count’ of enemies so far?

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    • #
      Snalivs

      Attaboy!!
      ‘The Conservatives’ walk around confident in the belief that the ‘truth’ will prevail in time, and that everyone will suddenly and at the same time, realize that they have been speaking the truth for all this time and that God is on their side. Unfortunately, in does not work that way, you have to fight fire with fire, and it is time that a few rockets went across the fence.

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    John

    ‘repeal the carbon tax ‘ You lucky bastards… if we in the UK did this we could fund the NHS for years and up to 3000 more people a year would survive the winter.

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    Oliver K. Manuel

    Gail Combs posted this excellent summary of the world today:

    https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/my-climate-forecast-3/#comment-483324

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      Ross

      Also on Steve Goddard’s site today he makes the point that NASA & NCDC only have data for 50% of the world’s LAND area and yet they can present Global temp. figures to 100th of a degree. They really a magicians!!

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    ROM

    I guess I am too much of an optimist but lets look at a few recent happenings.

    One of my brothers and his wife went on a European visit a couple of years ago some of which was to visit old haunts when my brother spent six months in Germany in the 1970’s getting cured of the deadly Bilharzia he picked up while acting as the Agricultural officer in charge of feeding some 65,000 refugees in the back blocks of Tanzania.
    They took the time wherever they could to dodge the tourist traps and got out amongst the locals across most of southern Europe.

    Their story was that the Europeans were deeply fearful of the possible rise of the Right in Europe.
    Read the news out of Europe today and the left is really flailing, not that I am any fan of the far right but extremes breed extremes and thats what we are now seeing in Europe, the increasingly severe back lash against the extremes of the left and the potential break up of that great left wing dream, the nascent world government based on the EU.

    And the other great dream of the rabid, radical left, the unfettered mixing of cultures and races without any obligation being required by those forcing their way into the developed European nations welfare systems but not in any way being prepared to fit in with European culture.
    Such as wealthy Nigerian women flying into the Uk to have their babies free on the UK’s health system.

    It is all give on the part of the Europeans and all take on the part of the increasingly unwanted, unloved, despised and increasingly hated economic “refugees’ from every where else.
    Switzerland has now stopped the flow of the ‘Refugees’.
    Sweden and Norway are consdering it if they haven’t already done so.
    The french now have large enclaves of North Africans and Algerians and others where the French police can no longer go to enforce french law. It’s all Islamic.
    The Greeks might be on the point of electing a far right government run by the Pegida party which may mean a Grexit, the exit of Greece from the EU.
    The right wing UKIndependent Party [ UKIP ] seems to be picking up votes and defecting politicians from the Tories.

    Cameron has promised a poll on a Brexit , a British exit from the EU next year during the elections.
    The polling organisations are saying it’s going to be close run vote

    The Germans are currently experiencing massive and growing anti immigration marches particularly in the former east German territories.
    The German left is wetting itself in fear.
    The renewable energy poster child of the greens and the radical left, Germanyis having a melt down as it starts to deindustrialise so they are now building coal generators for Brown coal, the dirtiest form of coal as fast as they can. and they have stopped the building of off shore turbine as which are turning into a full blown economic and power generation disaster as they fail within months.
    And the german public are getting sick to death of the german greens impractical and immensly costly non viable and abortive policies.

    The Americans have moved right and voted in a Republican Senate and Congress while Obama who is just full of himself and has surrounded himself with some of the best paid liars and snake oil salesmen of any recent presidents just makes things worse and worse for the Democrats.

    The Chinese are much closer to fascism than communism these days.

    Like wise the Russians under Putin although who can even guess what will happen in the country Churchill described as “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

    India, the second largest nation in population terms and maybe only a decade or a decade and half behind China in it’s increasing economic power has left the old left wing Soviet order a long time ago and has moved right and still is moving even further towards a full capitalist form of economy.

    The south American nations have flirted and experimented with left wing socialism including some ongoing fat left radical groups still fighting their internal wars but for the most part the South americans have pulled back from both far left and far right governments.

    Indonesia, our very big neighbor, the fifth largest nation on earth in population, which we here in SE Australia [ different in Darwin and the NW of Australia which has a lot of interaction with Indonesia ] pay far to little attention to is now steadily moving towards a law driven right trending capitalistic driven economy after being a far left and rather unsuccessful economy during the Sukarno regime a half a century ago.

    Canada played with left wing governments for a long time but have now moved right.

    The left is now paying the price for it’s stupidity, it’s extremist policies, its failure to take account of the man on the street attitudes and feelings. The left in it’s total arrogance in the belief that it alone knows what is best for mankind is in the process of destroying itself for another couple of generations.

    And if the Islamist threat turns into something very nasty in western societies it will be the Left who with their laissez-faire attitudes to the influx of immigrants that weren’t prepared to accept western values or western societies cultures and resonsibilities who will get the whole deserved blame and the stench of being the cause and source of the entire problem.

    In times of severe societal strife and threats , the population always swings right.
    That is the same story down through history.

    To quote Winston Churchill again,

    Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

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      Manfred

      ROM#23 stated:

      The Greeks might be on the point of electing a far right government run by the Pegida party which may mean a Grexit, the exit of Greece from the EU.

      Interesting, possibly exciting but I think you may have your ‘G’s’ mixed up ROM?…

      Pegida appears to be a German (not Greek) manifestation.

      On the other hand, in Greece, the extreme left is poised to gain power and drag Greece out of the Euro, and as I referred to in my earlier post #8.3, there is quite an irony in this.

      The Greek Parliament’s centrist governing coalition wasn’t able to agree on a new president Monday, and instead called new elections for Jan. 25. Polls point to victory by a more extreme party, the left-wing Syriza, which is skeptical of the European Union.

      Either way, it’s change and pushback from the current toxic green order. Whether this constitutes improvement is, as we all know, the question. Extremes are inclined to beget extremes.

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      • #
        ROM

        Manfred. @23.1

        My bad ; thanks for the correction.

        Pegida is the German anti-islamic / anti immigrant right wing movement
        Syriza is the far left Greek party which might soon gain power and cause all sorts of grief for the Euophiles by reneging on all of the Greek debts and taking Greece out of the EU..

        Whatever and whichever, the great dream of a European national entity to match the USA in economic and political power is coming badly unstuck. It is doing so arguably due to the enforced top down imposition of the EU concept by the European political elite and same elite who have enforced the top down imposition of innumerable and often inappropriate Brussels created EU regulations and laws onto the citizens of the nations that were supposed to become an integrated and combined European Nation.
        A bottom up movement towards a European national entity that had both it’s origins in the street level citizens and the continued backing of those same street level citizens across all the nations that would have had the likely probability of creating a long term integrated European national entity.

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      NZPete

      ROM#23
      What an interesting and insightful analysis.
      Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts in writing.

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      Ted O'Brien.

      ROM, this reminds me of when Pat went back to Ireland for a visit. On his return Mick asked: “And how are things, Pat, in dear old Oireland?”

      “Mick,” says Pat, “It’s turrible, turrible, turrible. At all four corners of the country there’s thousands of men, armed to the teeth and ready to stroike”.

      “Oh”, says Mick. “That’s turrible, turrible, turrible! Tell me, Pat. Why don’t they stroike?”

      “The police won’t let them!”

      Seriously, though, thanks for a very interesting set of observations.

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    Richard Ilfeld

    Actually, socialism is communism served by the drink.

    In response to the foolishness, we now have 4 parties in the US:

    Liberal: Government is all
    Democrat: Government is all but we’ll pretend its not.
    Republican: Government is all but we’ll pretend it’s not and do it more efficiently.
    Libertarian: Leave us the hell alone!

    Think on this. If the conventional wisdom, evidence based, was that the temperature of the earth varies but a bit, and that naturally, and of the two states it takes warmth is to be appreciated and ice is to be feared….
    The warmists would clearly be thought of as fringe kooks. Oh wait….

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  • #

    I suggest there is no real functional difference between having the government own all property with the people doing and receiving only what the government deems “proper” (aka. socialism) and the people owning everything except the government controls who, what, why, and how of everything for everybody (aka. fascism). The only real question concerning each of these systems is who to sacrifice to whom for what reason and how much. Ultimately it is the innovative, creative, and productive who are sacrificed (because they are productive) to the parasitical, incompetent, improvident, and non-productive (because they are non-productive).

    This is to be contrasted by the people owning everything and being free to do whatever as long as each refrain from impinging on the same freedom of everyone else. In this latter case, it is the government’s task to assure that said impingement does not happen and is prosecuted, in the particular, if and only if it occurs (aka. capitalism). Each receives according to his production of value. The parasitical, incompetent, improvident, and non-productive receive only what is voluntarily given to them. If they don’t receive, they either learn not to be parasitical, incompetent, improvident, and non-productive or starve. The taking by force is not permitted no matter how much you may want or need.

    Which of the three systems (socialism, fascism, or capitalism) you view as just says much more about you than about the system in question. The choice you make is a matter of life or death. Oh, perhaps not immediately but it will in the long run. This can be seen in a true reading of the human history of the past several thousands of years.

    Perhaps you think there is another way by blending the “good” of the three systems and rejecting the “bad”. What you see happening today around the world is an attempt to do just that. Now, how is that working out? We elect people who say they are going to fix things. They only do more of the same and, surprise, we get exactly the same result.

    The names of the people change but the ideas that guide their lives don’t. Why then are you surprised that the result is the same old same old same old? Isn’t it time to question those ideas and to acquire some better ones to guide our and their choices and actions?

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    • #
      pattoh

      Is that a bit of CFR/Round Table fatalism Lionell?

      We are still all serfs in the eyes of the City.

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      • #

        That is the result of trying to blend the three systems. It doesn’t work very well in the short run and not at all in the long run. At best, it is an unstable state in transition. The important question is it in transition to socialism/fascism or to capitalism.

        So far, it is the former with human sacrifice in ascendency. Both sides of any legislative body, sacred or secular, agree that is as it should be. The only concern is who to sacrifice to whom, for what purpose, how much, and how fast. However, it is human sacrifice 24/7/365.25.

        It is the consequence of an almost universal creed of anti-man, anti-mind, and anti-life. THIS is the core very bad idea that must be examined and changed!

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        • #
          pattoh

          The “City” Puppet Masters have always backed ALL sides. While we are pointing fingers at each other, we are NOT thinking about them.

          We are all just useful idiots, cannon fodder & worker bees/bacteria & the sooner we are homogenized ( & lobotomized by the MSM) into predictable consuming units, the easier it will be to run a NWO Government.

          DOUBLEPLUSGOOD!!

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          • #

            Ultimately, the “city” puppet masters will destroy their own nest by their own ideas, decisions, and actions. A homogenized and lobotomized “worker bee” population may be “easy” to control but they can neither build nor maintain a high technological civilization. Without free minds having the freedom to learn, choose, act, and to keep the produce of their actions civilization let alone a high technological civilization cannot stand. The devastation will be complete.

            Our challenge is to avoid being victims of that devastation.

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            • #
              pattoh

              but they can neither build nor maintain a high technological civilization

              Lionell keep your tin hat & filters handy & wander over to the Invisible Serfs Collar occasionally.
              The usual suspects seem to feature large in tailoring the “education”of the necessary technologists & the propagandizing of the population.
              It must be working or we would not have had so many Climate “Scientists”!

              i.e you can create specifically tech-heads & build a wall of cognitive dissonance around the rest.

              Sweet!

              http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/

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  • #
    the Griss

    OT.. From notalot

    MASSIVE data tampering in South America.

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    • #
      Manfred

      I’ve just had a look at that link, thanks! Breathtaking.
      Nevertheless, ‘the climate movement’ and MSM have ever less to do with authentic concern for Gaia, the weather and the climate and ever more to do with politics. Always a stalking horse, or puppets on a string, pick your metaphor, the Greenista obligingly dance hither and thither in their private jets.

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  • #
    James Bradley

    Bit OT,

    I recall the demonstrations of the 60’s and 70’s and regardless of the cause all the activists were ‘demanding change’.

    It seems incongruous to me that all the demonstrations we see now are activists ‘resisting change’.

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    pat

    Holthaus is UNBELIEVABLE! what a headline?

    20 Jan: Slate: Future Tense: Eric Holthaus: 2014 Wasn’t the Hottest Year Ever On Land. That’s Terrifying.
    (Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University.)
    There was big news on Friday: Earth’s temperature reached new heights last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. Averaged over the entire planet, that means 2014 was likely the hottest year in the history of human civilization.
    But on land, where everyone lives, there wasn’t a new record. Global land temperatures ranked only fourth hottest, next to 2005, 2010, and 2007. Instead, 2014’s extreme heat was almost entirely on the backs of the global oceans, which beat 2003 and 1998 by a relatively wide margin. The fact that the oceans—and not the land—were so warm last year should deeply worry us…
    There’s evidence the Earth’s oceans are undergoing never-before-seen change…
    When you couple 2014’s record-setting oceans with our ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions, it portends an ominous surge of heat globally—on both land and in the oceans—for years to come.
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/01/20/_2014_wasn_t_the_hottest_year_ever_on_land_that_s_terrifying.html

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    pat

    behind a paywall, but just heard it being read on radio:

    Older viewers abandon the ABC
    The Australian-8 hours ago
    That Ten can win more viewers with a smaller programming budget in a harsh … Sources at commercial networks told The Australian that ABC …

    other excerpts i managed to find in searches:

    – The ABC’s primary channel suffered the largest drop in audience share of the main networks …

    – THE ABC was the worst performing television broadcaster last year, losing 3.95 per cent of …

    too early for the ABC to claim they engineered the above – they were only EXAMINING this move in august:

    Aug 2014: SMH: Matthew Knott: ABC to shift focus away from older audience as part of programming review
    The ABC will examine cutting back on television and radio programs aimed at older audiences as part of a major review of the public broadcaster’s programming…
    There has long been concern within the ABC – which airs popular programs such as Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Antiques Master – that its audience skew is too old.
    Research by Fusion Strategy released last year showed that with a median age of 61, the ABC has the oldest audience of the major television networks, ahead of SBS (57), Channel Seven (49), Nine (45) and Ten (41)…
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abc-to-shift-focus-away-from-older-audience-as-part-of-programming-review-20140816-3dtio.html

    all that CAGW programming can’t be helping!

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    Bulldust

    The stupidity of The Australian is that most of its articles are hidden behind a paywall, which now works, so less and less people will read the publication. They have already failed.

    The West Australian doesn’t have one, and the Age/SMH can still be Google-passed.

    So basically The Oz is simply preaching to the choir now.

    Much as I appreciate Maurice’s commentary, he is also preaching to the choir. You will gain little support from the middle ground by preaching fire and brimstone, regardless of whether you are right or not. When the “leftism” is firmly entrenched in a system and drifting further to the left, IMO the best option is to stake a flag in the centre and pull the mainstream “silent majority” to your camp. Taking a polemnic position is not all that helpful, espcially, as aforementioned, when only like-minded people are reading.

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  • #
    Bulldust

    ABC ranting about hottest year evah again:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-21/jericho-global-temperatures-are-batting-above-their-average/6029926

    My comment in case it gets modded (which it generally doesn’t when I threaten to copy it):

    What a deceptive scale on the first graph. Missing decimals on the vertical axis to fool the lay reader into thinking there are massive temperature changes. Only at the top a small, but unclear indication that the scale is in hundredths of a degree.

    Also where are the error bars? In any scientific measurement there are errors, and any graph which omits them is not worthy of being deemed scientific in nature. The single line implies certainty which is not there.

    It would also pay to compare to the other three main global temperature sets (RSS, UAH and HadCrut). Suddenly a different picture emerges.

    For example, I am sure it would interest readers to know that GISS was the only one that claimed 2014 was “the hottest year on record.” Only by 2 hundredths of a degree, by their counting, and the error margin is about one tenth of a degree. So statistically speaking it was amongst the hottest, but one cannot be certain it was the hottest. Didn’t stop the media releases claiming so, did it?

    This comment copied eslewhere – hi, ABC mod squad 🙂

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    pat

    2019 vote fails to get up, so reuters emphasises 2017 could succeed???

    20 Jan: Reuters: Barbara Lewis: UPDATE 2-EU parliament committee drops 2019 carbon reform option -sources
    The 2019 date was a compromise between a European Commission proposal to start reform in 2021 and calls from major Western states, notably Germany and Britain, for a 2017 start…
    Three parliamentary sources, who asked not to be named, said Polish members of the centre-right European People’s Party had insisted on the withdrawal of the 2019 compromise hammered out last week. Coal-dependent Poland is leading resistance to change.
    The benchmark carbon price fell almost 3 percent after the news the 2019 proposal had been dropped. It recovered, but was still around 1 percent lower at 7.22 euros in late trade…
    ***”It is bearish for sure but the market hasn’t reacted as much as it could have because the earlier start date is still on the table,” said a carbon trader speaking on condition of anonymity…
    Swedish politician Fredrick Federley, a member of the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, said the voting in the industry committee on Thursday would be very close…
    “We are one step closer to having a majority for 2017,” he told Reuters.
    Thursday’s vote is an interim one. It must be followed by another next month in the environment committee, then a plenary parliamentary vote and endorsement from the 28 EU states.
    Traders said a start date earlier than the Commission’s 2021 proposal has been anticipated by the market and prices would probably fall if this does not materialise.
    As well as leading member states Britain and Germany, many utilities say a stronger ETS is needed to encourage investment in lower carbon energy.
    Speaking on Tuesday in Brussels, senior officials from Germany’s E.ON and central Europe’s biggest utility CEZ said the Market Stability Reserve into which surplus permits would be placed needed to start in 2017.
    (Additional reporting by Susanna Twidale in London and Vera Eckert in Frankfurt; editing by Susan Thomas)
    http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL6N0UZ31Z20150120

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  • #

    Thanks for a very important posting, Jo.
    We were promised a Liberal government after the election, with everything that the economy needed, but got a Labour Light government instead. We lost the noxious CO2 tax and the boats stopped but where is the repeal of 18c?
    However in voting, there is no where else to vote except for the mountain of blubber known as Clive Palmer and his Pups.

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      scaper...

      There will be a new Party launching in October. Already has twice as many members as the Liberals. I’ll be parking my vote there on the 18C issue, alone!

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        Annie

        I need to know a lot more about this before committing Scaper. As in the UK with UKIP, are some policies sensible but are there others, or a lack of others at all, which are iffy?

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      • #
        Peter C

        Please let us know more Scaper,

        But not here, because I might not come back here to check. Maybe on the next next blog!

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    • #
      Annie

      We’re living through the same Labour/Labor Lite rubbish here as we were/are inflicted with in the UK. It’s very disappointing.

      Years ago our eldest son identified Australia as another Nanny State…he was right.

      You can do nothing here without some wretched permit costing hundreds of dollars and wading through often contradictory regulations (eg…window size versus commonsense insulation, and so on).

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      Annie

      Too true nicholas tesdorf. What real choice are we given as to who will represent us? In UK I felt I had no choice. Even local party members had very little; I hovered for a while, thinking of joining the Conservative party, but eventually decided I couldn’t stand David Cameron and didn’t. I had higher hopes of Tony Abbott but have been very disappointed. Why, for Heaven’s sake, did he not go for a DD after being messed around by Palmer and his puppies, the ghastly greens and whingeing Shorten?

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    pat

    21 Jan: Bloomberg: Ewa Krukowska: EU Parliament’s Biggest Group Withdraws Early Carbon-Fix Offer
    The European Parliament’s largest political group withdrew a draft compromise on advancing a remedy for Europe’s carbon market to 2019 after its proposal failed to win broad support Monday in the legislature’s industry committee.
    The European People’s Party opted Tuesday to form a coalition with the European Conservatives and Reformists group that will push to introduce the so-called carbon-market stability reserve in 2021, in line with the European Commission’s original proposal last year. A coalition of four other groups in the committee wants to bring the emissions fix forward by four years in a vote on Jan. 22…
    “There is no point hiding that we are divided just likeEurope is divided,” Marek Grobarczyk, the ECR group’s lead lawmaker on the measure in the industry committee, said in an interview. “Old EU countries that don’t rely on coal back an early start, and nations mainly in central-eastern Europe opt for a later introduction to protect their economies.” …
    EU carbon permits for December settled down 0.7 percent at 7.25 euros ($8.38) a metric ton on ICE Futures Europe in London. That eroded yesterday’s 1.1 percent climb.
    “Some traders appeared to bet the industry committee would be able to agree on a 2019 start for the market stability reserve, which didn’t happen,” said Louis Redshaw, founder of Redshaw Advisors Ltd. in London, which trades on behalf of factories…
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-20/eu-parliament-s-biggest-group-withdraws-early-carbon-fix-offer.html

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      Retired now

      Pat, can you paragraph your comments properly please. As they stand I find them indigestible, end up not reading them and so probably miss something of importance. Thanks.

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        the Griss

        Yep, with my eyes, I prefer text with a line space between paragraphs.

        I generally leave lots of line spaces when I’m post so I can proof read what Iv writ.

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    pat

    20 Jan: Bloomberg: Defective Panels Threatening Profit at China Solar Farms: Energy
    by Bloomberg News
    Flaws found in some Chinese solar panels can drastically eat into their efficiency, reducing how much power the panels will produce as the country races to meet aggressive goals to hold the line on fossil fuel emissions.
    The defects, found in products set to be used only inChina, are in a coating that suppresses reflections on glass, allowing the panels to capture more light. About 23 percent of samples taken from dozens of Chinese companies failed to meet requirements, according to regulators in China. For samples from Jiangsu, the eastern province where much of the glass is made, the rate was as high as 40 percent…
    “A reduction in power generation caused by quality imperfections means declining investment returns or even losses from solar farms,” said Meng Xiangan, vice chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society, an industry group…
    “Photovoltaic quality problems may not occur immediately but will be revealed after about two years of operation or longer,” said Peng Peng, director of policy research at the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association. That presents“an uncertain risk for investors.”…
    Broader questions about quality continue to dog the industry. Almost a third of 425 utility-scale solar farms surveyed by the Beijing-based China General Certification Center from 2012 to 2014 had flaws of some sort, according to an official at the center who asked not to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
    Those problems, including faulty panels, poor construction, design flaws and project mismanagement, mean the solar farms are producing less power than initially expected, according to the official.
    Those tests included 3.3 gigawatts of projects, about 10 percent of China’s installed solar capacity at the end of 2014.
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-20/defective-panels-threatening-profit-at-china-solar-farms-energy.html

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      Thanks for this pat.

      So, umm, let me see if I’ve got this right.

      Oh dear! They’ve found flaws in the panels that reduce the power generation.

      So, now we have even less power generation from a method of power generation that is specifically designed to deliver only 8 to 13% of its Nameplate total power rating at optimum, when new.

      Oh dear, so let’s look at that then, shall we.

      On second thought, let’s not!

      Tony.

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    Richard Hill

    Some time ago I worked with an engineer who had come to Australia from Argentina. I asked him why our 2 countries had diverged. (Aus and Arg were both doing well in the early 1900s). He said that a major difference was the respect for craftsmen in Australia. he said that in Argentina the social hierarchy was different. Craftspeople were well down the list in Argentina.
    Sadly, I see the trend in Australia going away from the apprenticeship model to the tertiary, credentialism model. We look too much towards the UK and the USA for ideas about vocational development for our young people. In at least one Canton in Switzerland 80 percent of school leavers go into apprenticeships in a wide range of occupations. Way beyond the manual trades model of Australian apprenticeships. Is it a coincidence that the rate of youth unemployment is quite low in Switzerland and the decline of small towns isnt as bad as it is here?
    It is insane that in Australia a 16 year old who could be making a valuable contribution in commercial IT has to endure 6/8 more years of academic classroom/lectures before getting an IT degree allowing him/her to apply for an IT job.

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      Retired now

      “away from the apprenticeship model to the tertiary, credentialism model”

      To the overpriced tertiary, credentialism model. Sad.

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    pat

    climate warriors!

    20 Jan: PR Newswire: New Sustain:Green MasterCard Brings Carbon Reduction Rewards and Sustainability to Everyday Purchases
    Issued by Commerce Bank, Sustain:Green biodegradable credit card offsets 2 pounds of carbon (CO2) for each dollar spent on net purchases, and 5,000 pounds upon first use
    On average, the American lifestyle produces enough carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (17.6 metric tons) to equal over 41,000 miles of driving in a typical passenger car. Manmade carbon emissions are considered the leading cause of global climate change, yet carbon reduction and other sustainability efforts don’t always eliminate one’s carbon footprint to zero. To address this problem, Sustain:Green has created a new biodegradable MasterCard rewards cardholders with carbon offsets for their everyday purchases. Carbon offsets rewarded to Sustain:Green users help fund Mata no Peito rainforest preservation projects in Brazil…
    With a deep commitment to sustainability, Commerce Bank issues the Sustain:Green MasterCard and manages all aspects of the credit card not specifically related to the rewards program.
    “At Commerce, we consider sustainability factors in all facets of our business. Since 2009, our E-statement usage has increased by more than 230% and we’ve reduced annual energy consumption companywide by more than 20% over the last 6 years,” said Chad Doza, Senior Vice President of Consumer Credit Cards…
    For transparent tracking and accounting of carbon offsets rewarded to card users, Sustain:Green works in concert with the non-profit American Carbon Registry (ACR)…
    http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-sustaingreen-mastercard-brings-carbon-reduction-rewards-and-sustainability-to-everyday-purchases-300022712.html

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    markx

    It is true we are are becoming hugely over regulated, and the great certainty stated and implied in the whole CAGW saga is a lousy develelopment.

    But yoy are certainly wrong if you think you can ‘just leave it to the free market’ to make it all work.

    http://mobile.news.com.au/finance/money/oxfam-report-richest-1pc-to-own-half-of-all-wealth-by-2016/story-e6frfmci-1227190173292

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    pat

    markx – i see the 1% as the “crony capitalists” of which jo writes.

    19 Jan: Media Research Center: Mike Ciandella: Media Hype Davos Climate Change Focus as 1,700 Private Jets Fly In
    Hypocrisy of flying to climate change conference in private jets is lost on the media.
    That doesn’t include commercial air travel or any other method of transit to the conference. Ironically, the top article featured on the “Agenda” section of the World Economic Forum website on Jan. 19, boldly stated that “[d]ecarbonising the global economy in a matter of decades is the number one priority.”
    According to Newsweek, former vice president Al Gore will be speaking at Davos “to stress the importance of tackling climate change.”
    USA Today hyped the global gathering and specifically mentioned climate change as one of the “global wounds that require bandaging.” There was no mention of the huge carbon expenditures the trip would require or the number of private jets flying to Davos.
    The Huffington Post noted that “it’s a bit ironic to discuss climate change at Davos, a remote location in Switzerland that requires a tremendous carbon footprint to even get to,” but didn’t call out attendees for hypocrisy. Huffington Post chair, president and editor-in chief Arianna Huffington will attend the conference…
    It was CNN Money that reported, “Roughly 1,700 private flights are expected over the course of the week, which is twice as many as normal.” …
    In addition to all those private flights, there will be many helicopter rides between the Zurich Airport and Davos. CNN reported that last year helicopter traffic from that airport increased from five flights a day to “54 flights on a single busy day.”
    http://www.mrc.org/articles/media-hype-davos-climate-change-focus-1700-private-jets-fly

    no doubt Al Gore’s Davos partner, hip hop “star” Pharrell Williams, will either fly over in Al’s jet or in one of his own, as he is wont to do:

    Sept 2014: Daily Mail: Fehintola Betiku: Jet-set lifestyle… Pharrell Williams touches down in Manchester as he continues European arena tour
    Pictured arriving at Manchester Airport on Monday, Pharrell Williams showed just how to travel in style as he touched down via private jet…
    With his workload never decreasing, Pharrell recently launched his collaborative project with G-Star Raw as part of New York Fashion Week.
    The eco-friendly range called Raw For the Oceans is The Voice judge’s brain child with his fabrics initiative Bionic and the iconic streetwear label…
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2748662/Pharrell-Williams-touches-Manchester-gets-European-arena-tour-underway.html

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      ianl8888

      The Huffington Post noted that “it’s a bit ironic to discuss climate change at Davos, a remote location in Switzerland that requires a tremendous carbon footprint to even get to,” but didn’t call out attendees for hypocrisy. Huffington Post chair, president and editor-in chief Arianna Huffington will attend the conference…

      Absolutely wunderbar 🙂 🙂

      John Cleese really should become active in satire again – there are so many deserving targets

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    Rollo

    Markx, I sympathise with you.

    On one side we have the 1% , quietly increasing their share of the world’s wealth, caring little about the rest of the world.

    On the other side we have the insane left, trying to control everything, from climate to what you are allowed to say and think. Jo and others seem to have cut the limbs off the alarmists , with science and logic, but like the legendary black knight they soldier on.

    I’m feeling very pessimistic about the future of this country.

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    Retired now

    Over the Christmas period I was becoming increasingly convinced that I was the only one feeling as I am – being steam rollered by leftist thinking. The major problem I have is that I don’t know anyone any more who thinks out of the box – that is thinking for themselves. The media are a continual leftist group think regurgitation. I need an Australian media I can relate to, which connects with my concerns.

    Initially I was delighted by Tony Abbot, but since the 18C debacle, and the continuing pandering and apologising to the left and back pedalling on most of the other policies I’m left wondering what to do. Being Aussie I have to vote, but noone speaks for me. I don’t want to vote for a way out party. I want a mainstream party that addresses my concerns – roughly what others here are concerned with. Freedom is a big thing for me. As is honesty in science/life. As is financial responsibility. I am fiscally fairly conservative, socially liberal and very anti-left in a mostly left-wing family.

    Nice to know I have some company here.

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