Politics is a dirty word

A Chinese strike group including its flagship aircraft carrier Liaoning has entered the South China Sea, ready to confront opposing navies, It's not a good time for the US's latest destroyer to be out of action, but the USS Zumwalt is undergoing urgent maintenance after a series of equipment failures. The US is reported to have a carrier strike group from its 3rd Fleet ready to engage the Chinese, and it expects allies to support its aggression. South Korea will likely deploy the Terminal High Altitude Air Defence system installed by the US. It isn't known if America has asked for Australia to send in ships. On past behaviour, if the US President asks, our Government will put ships and troops at risk - probably including the $1.5 billion HMAS Canberra Amphibious Assault Ship, a couple of frigates and a Collins Class submarine.

Russia and the United States are the two biggest dealers in the more than $100 billion a year world arms trade. Thermobaric missiles, grenades and bombs are routinely sold to anyone with the money to buy them. More than 7000 hellfire missiles with thermobaric warheads were sold this year. They were bought by countries including Iraq, France, Italy, the UK and Australia Is it any wonder that the world is in turmoil and that terrorists find it easy to obtain weapons? Each missile costs from$110,000 but bulk discounts are offered.The troubled Lockheed Martin group is one of hellfire's main manufacturers. China is offering a 250KG thermobaric bomb to all comers. It has been bought by many Asian countries, and may have gone further afield. India has been developing and deploying its own thermobaric anti-tank weapons and Indonesia has also manufactured thermobaric grenades.

America's problems with selling the Lockheed Martin F35 stealth fighter plane has opened the door for world wide sales of Russian and Chinese aircraft. The Chinese J31 jet is reportedly being considered by Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. Iraqi fighter pilots are said to be undergoing training in Pakistan which is interested in building the J31 in a project funded by the Saudis.

All the talk about debt and deficit in the Australian economy and the Government's rationale for cutting back pension entitlements and health services ignores the fact that successive Australian Governments have collected taxation revenues totalling trillions of dollars in the past 25 years. Income taxes paid over a lifetime in the workforce were supposed to ensure ongoing services, including education, good healthcare and a dignified retirement for those who contributed. Revenue from mining taxes and royalties added to the funding base for Australia's future. So what have the politicians and bureaucrats done with all that money? Why is the community now told that we have to endure cutbacks when our politicians and senior bureaucrats live the high life on money plundered from the system.

The continued squawking about Australia becomming a republic demonstrates that our politicians are still out of touch with the community. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull still hasn't got his head around the message his government was given at the last election. The coalition only just squeaked back into government with a one seat majority because of disillusionment with government performance. Unfettered spending was one of the problems, but now he is talking of holding a plebiscite about how to elect a President and then a referendum on Australia becoming a republic. Well, the public wants neither a plebiscite nor a referendum. We don't see how this country will benefit – will it cut the waste of taxpayers dollars? No. Will it be more democratic? No. So why spend more money? We are already the 51st de facto state of the United States as for decades our governments have always done everything requested of them by the American President. Please Mr Turnbull, stop spending our m...

It's no wonder that economies around the world are in trouble – because how can they grow when money is worthless? Record low interest rates demonstrate the collapse in the value of cash. India and Venezuela are the latest countries to experience the pain but many more will follow. The problem can be traced back to 1931 when Britain abandoned the gold standard. Up to that point the pound sterling was backed by gold. In 1933 US President Franklin Rooseveldt nationalised privately held gold and finally President Richard Nixon totally abandoned the gold standard for the dollar in 1971. Since then currencies have basically been worthless – simply pieces of paper with no intrinsic value. While financial institutions paid reasonable levels of interest on money invested, problems were held at bay, but once official and unofficial interest rates dropped virtually to zero, the current turmoil was inevitable. Thank you politicians and economists! Economics has never really recovered from the...

Politicians are the curse of humanity – they are responsible for wars and destruction across the globe. The current Middle East catastrophe is a good example. Western countries stamped in to interfere just because they had the power to do so – without any thought for long term consequences. The Middle east and many African countries were created by western politicians drawing lines on maps without any regard for ethnic or tribal realities. Politicians in the United States, Britain, France and Australia support terrorist groups and are keen arms traders when it suits them but pretend they support democratic processes.Wars are now seen as an opportunity to stimulate economic growth by developing, testing and selling new weapons.There are clear limits to growth, even though some don't want to know. They would rather close their eyes, put their fingers in their ears and cope with the crash when it happens.

People throughout the world have become war-weary as fighting in the Middle East shows no sign of achieving anything other than death and misery for countless numbers. But it looks like we need to brace ourselves for a US/China conflict over the South China Sea. China has commissioned its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning (an ageing ship bought from Ukraine in 1998), but it has undergone a major refit with upgraded electronics and weapons systems. The ship itself may not match the sophistication of the latest US carriers - but the Chinese weapons systems are reputed to be superior.

The Australian Government is still happily spending taxpayers money on this dog of a plane that even Donald Trump recognises is expensive rubbish.Australia could end up paying up to $100 million more for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets as a result of Canada cancelling its order.The coalition clearly has no intention of reducing spending (even though Scott Morrison says that's what it needs to do. After its disasterous performance, Lockheed Martin could go broke, leaving Australia with 72 piles of expensive junk (and that's just the initial order). it has flagged the purchase of another 28. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/trump-f35-lockheed-martin-1.3892314

Not only are established political parties failing the community, mainstream media is just as bad. Politicians pay a price for ignoring the wishes of the people by losing votes – which is why the coalition government only scraped back into government by one seat at the last election. Media businesses pay a price by losing readers, viewers or listeners and that hits their revenue. Mainstream media players didn't realise the extent of voter apathy in Australia which resulted in huge support for independent parliamentarians and minor parties. They also had an extreme bias against Donald Trump's run in the US Presidential election – and now can't forgive him for winning and making them look like turkeys. Is it any wonder than mainstream media is in the doldrums as a growing number of people turn to internet sources and social media for their regular news feeds? Blogs and Facebook are now more reliable sources of news than newspapers, or television. Cheque-book journalism such a...

Federal crossbencher Bob Katter has hit out at the decision to put big restrictions on the controversial Adler shotgun, describing the move as a "Christmas present" for minor political parties. This week's COAG meeting saw premiers and chief ministers agree to tough rules around the Adler shotgun, moving it into the most restrictive firearm category -- category D. If passed, the new rules mean the shotgun will only be available to professional shooters, with each state and territory having to pass the changes through their respective parliaments.He says that before long the only people in Australia with guns will be those in uniform.There have been examples all over the world demonstrating what happens then!

US President elect, Donald Trump and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin are reported to have agreed to reveal the existence of a ninth planet in our solar system, the legendary Nibiru (planet X with a brown dwarf Nemesis) which some believe is on a near collision course with earth and will cause massive destruction as it travels past. They believe it will trigger earthquakes and cause a polar shift. The planet was described in ancient Sumarian and Mayan texts but was only identified by astrophysicists in recent years Former US President Ronald Reagan issued a secret Executive Order banning public disclosure of the planet because of fears it would cause mass panic throughout the world, and disrupt economies. Subsequent Presidents maintained that prohibition and apparently threatened other Governments to stay silent. Details about the planet and an accompanying brown dwarf star have been confirmed by astronomical researchers at Caltech and the Carnegie Science Institution .

As the 100th F35 Joint strike fighter is about to roll off the Lockheed Martin production line in the US there are still huge misgivings about cost overruns and the jet's lack of performance. Australia is still committed to pay $25 billion for 72 of the planes even though none of the models built so far is operational. The F35 can fly only on sunny days. It can't fly in clouds, or near lightning or at night so it will be almost useless as an addition to Australia's air defence and attack capabilities. So why haven't our politicians followed Canada's lead and cancelled the order? three Air Warfare Destroyers are also being built for the navy at a total cost of more than $9 billion, not to mention the $50 billion French submarine contract! Military spending is unfettered by tight fiscal conditions. Schools and healthcare are not priorities.

It seems that the Australian Government has finally recognised the need to reign-in carbon pollution and is looking for ways to meet its targets. Some businesses have been addressing this issue for a while. Freeranger Eggs at Grantville, near Victoria's Phillip Island is an example of sustainable farming. The farm management plan takes a three pillars approach to how the farm operates. Animal welfare is one pillar, but equally important are land sustainability and food safety. Despite all the political bickering in Canberra over emissions trading scheme targets, Freeranger Eggs has been getting on with mitigating the impact of carbon emissions. The farm's carbon footprint is limited by imposing a food miles policy for deliveries, using recycled materials and equipment whenever possible, utilising solar power and mechanical processes and an effective waste reduction programme. As a result, the 1500-chook farm generates only about 60 tonnes of CO2 each year. But it is better than...

Final submissions are being sought on the free range egg standard adopted by Ministers for Consumer Affairs/Fair Trading, which allow producers with up to 10,000 hens per hectare to label their eggs as free range. We believe that the information standard on free range eggs adopted by Ministers is contrary to the interests of the industry and consumers. The standard reflects everything on the corporate egg producers wish list, allowing intensive production systems to be classified as free range and appears to directly conflict with specific rulings by Federal Court justices in their decisions on cases of deceptive conduct brought by the ACCC. The new standard simply allows unscrupulous producers to continue to mislead customers, adding millions of dollars to their profits each year just by labelling their eggs as 'free range'.. Loopholes in the standard ensure that almost any excuse can be given for keeping hens locked up, but we believe that the term ‘regular and meaningful acc...

Politicians don't need to think too hard about how to provide low cost housing. How about establishing not for profit regional housing cooperatives which can attract donations to purchase dwellings without paying stamp duty or land tax etc? The houses could then be let for minimal rentals.Providing affordable accommodation at no cost to taxpayers.

The Government has spent $100 million of taxpayers money in bribing the Australian Greens to wave through its backpacker tax legislation in the Senate.In a press release yesterday, the Greens said: "Farmers will now enjoy certainty that they can operate over the busy summer period – no longer will their fruit wither and die on the vine". "At the same time, we have secured a big victory for our environment, with the Government pledging $100 million for Landcare." What complete and utter Bull...... Very few backpackers will pay any tax (whatever the rate) because most work on a cash basis. The backpackers and farmers like it that way - no paperwork. So the Government has offered an extra $100 million of taxpayers money to throw at a system which has long been discredited. Landcare is more of a job-creation scheme than a program to improve environmental outcomes. There is a fully funded national Landcare office, fully equipped and funded State landcare offices in...