Politics is a dirty word

President Donald Trump’s claims that China is preventing the U.S. from resolving tensions with North Korea by allowing oil to be sent to the country is just empty rhetoric. Of course China sends oil to North Korea – it always has and always will. Trump just can’t get his head around facts! Trump doesn't want a negotiated settlement - he has made it clear from his aggression that he wants war. He seems to have blind belief that America is invincible (because that's what the Generals in the Pentagon tell him.)

Russia has demonstrated its ability for its nuclear bombers to reach virtually any part of the world. The Russian Air Force sent strategic bombers to visit an airport in eastern Indonesia. Two Tupolev Tu-95MS bombers flew from the Amur region, in Russia’s far east, to Frans Kaisiepo Airport in Biak, on the northern coast of Indonesia’s eastern province of Papua. The bombers, which are also missile platforms, were supported by two Ilyushin Il-76MD airlifters that landed at Biak the day before.Those aircraft are often configured as airborne early warning and control units to guide attacks. The Indonesian Air Force, in announcing the visit, said that the bombers were conducting a long-range navigation exercise. It is likely that they were also involved in surveillance and information gathering. the RAAF heightened its readiness but the aircraft did not enter Australian air space. In February this year, a Chinese KJ 200 surveillance plane was seen over Victoria but that did not prompt any...

The future of US President Donald Trump is not very clear. Pundits are not sure if impeachment is the most likely scenario, or if assasination will be his lot. Who is the assassain most likely to be? The CIA is a front runner, followed by North Korea and former KGB operatives as vwell as Iranians, Syrians and Afghanis who suffered US tyranny. There could be any number of disgruntled US citizens and military personnel who suddenly realise that their living standards are falling and they have been dumped on the economic scrap heap.

It's only a matter of time for an American plane to be downed near the Korean peninsula. Two Chinese fighters are reported to have flown within 150 feet of a US navy spy plane. They successfully forced the aircraft away - much to the ire of the US military.

Why does the US persist with its claims that North Korea must give up its nuclear weapons when Trump keeps threatening the country? American behaviour has been bellicose and belligerent and the US is still the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons in war (and on civilians at that). If America abandons its nuclear weapons, the North Koreans may follow suit, otherwise there is no incentive.

The on-going dual citizenship debacle hitting Federal politicians highlights the need to change the system. Get rid of Federal Parliament – we don’t need it. Australia is over-governed with vast armies of politicians and fat cat bureaucrats. Australians do not elect Prime Ministers, they elect local politicians who get together and appoint a party leader who is automatically Prime Minister if that party has a majority of seats in Parliament. A large part of the problem could be solved by getting rid of political parties. Currently, politicians owe more allegiance to their parties than to the people who elect them. A next step will be to abolish the extravagance of a Federal Parliament with all the costs associated with duplicating Ministers and Departments when each State already has working bureaucracies in place. Let COAG run the country.

Politics hasn't changed much over the years. Politicians still make promises they know they can't keep.This Tommy Trinder song says as much about today's politics as it did about his time. " You can't deny that things today are in a pretty fix. I sometimes think it's time that I went into politics. The government do nothing, and never will I fear. Although they promise plenty, for this is what we hear. Everything will be lovely, lovely by-and-by. Everything will be lovely,w hen the pigs begin to fly

The Federal Government decision to spend $75 million on a Royal Commission to investigate the banking and finance industry will add to the country’s fiscal deficit. About the only good point is that the Royal Commissioners will investigate superannuation funds as well as banks. Compulsory Super has been a crock for all baby-boomers. It's OK for the high flying GenYers and subsequent generations with its generous tax breaks. But for those about to retire it has been useless. After a lifetime working and paying taxes those around 65 and 70 get little except the prudent savings accumulated over the years. One 70 year old has just cashed- out his super – the princely sum of $18,500. For most of the working life of people that age, superannuation contributions from employers were not available. Following the introduction of compulsory super, many only had limited part time employment and may have been largely self-employed. - taking meager living expenses out of business income.With a l...

The Australian Government is squandering another $1 billion on increasing the Landcare bureaucracy. Landcare Australia will merge with the National Landcare Network but the move is unlikely to result in more efficient service delivery. Historically, at least 60% of funds allocated to Landcare have been swallowed by employment and administrative costs for the unwieldy bureaucracy.Funding offices and staff in Canberra and in each state as well as regions has diverted most of the money which was supposed to improve environmental outcomes.Little money reaches the volunteer landcare groups who actually carry out on-ground works.There has been very limited assessment of the value of works undertaken compared with costs of administration.

Political changes in Zimbabwe may have major implications at home and throughout the world,Mugabe was the head of the ZANU terrorist group supported by China and North Korea. His rival for black supremacy was Joshua Nkomo who had his ZAPU guerilla troops in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) Mugabe emerged as the victor in the political power struggle following majority rule and began his reign of terror which saw massacres and the wealth of the country plundered through an incredible level of corruption. The ruling ZANU party will still control the Government,with a new strong man in control, Emmerson Mnangagwa, so things may not change for the people unless the new president is strong enough to restore the Zimbabwe economy. Prior to majority rule, the country (then Rhodesia) had a booming economy with full employment and massive earning from exports. Mugabe's incompetence saw the mining industry shut down - apart from supplying uranium to North Korea.Most other industries in the ...

The Government's decision to postpone Parliament because it feared losing a vote on the floor of the House, is outrageous. If the Government doesn't have the numbers to get on with its job then a snap election should resolve the problem for them.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced cuts in income tax in the hope of buying votes. But we don't need a Federal Parliament anyway, COAG should run the country - saving billions of dollars in unnecessary bureaucracies.

Politicians have allowed Australia'e economy to wallow along for decades, reaping the benefits of various booms which created the illusion of lasting prosperity. Now the mistakes of the past are coming home to roost.https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/australias-economy-house-cards-matt-barrie/?trk=eml-email_feed_ecosystem_digest_01-hero-0-null&midToken=AQHcW-8--4iXvw&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=2HbSvPZgyyc801

Australian politicians who failed to declare possible dual citizenship when nominating for election should (at the very least) be required to pay the full cost of any by-election created by their failure to disclose. Politics in Australia has gone from the absurd to farcical. If would-be politicians can’t be bothered to fill in their nomination forms properly when seeking election why should taxpayers foot the bill for by-elections when it is recognised that they were not eligible to stand for Parliament. Their seats can be declared vacant, then if they want to renominate and get back on the gravy train, they can wait until the next normal federal election. Taxpayers should not bare the costs of unnecessary by-elections.

Attempts to impose sanctions on North Korea as a result of its continued testing of nuclear bombs and missiles have had little impact on the country’s military development. It is still trading with many countries in Africa and Asia. Pakistan provides nuclear technology in return for missiles and Zimbabwe granted North Korea access to the world’s largest uranium reserves. The only minor impact of these sanctions has been on the North Korean people.

Australians are sick of politicians. Fiddling with dual citizenship rules won’t change anything. We need some fundamental change to our constitution. There's little doubt that Australia is over-governed with vast armies of politicians and fat cat bureaucrats. Australians do not elect Prime Ministers, they elect local politicians who get together and appoint a party leader who is automatic ally Prime Minister if that party has a majority of seats in Parliament. A large part of the problem will be solved by getting rid of political parties. Currently, politicians owe more allegiance to their parties than to the people who elect them. A next step will be to abolish the extravagance of a Federal Parliament with all the costs associated with duplicating Ministers and Departments when each State already has working bureaucracies in place. Let COAG run the country .

REPORTS of mass evacuation drills in North Korean towns followed fears of a US attack. Another ballistic missile test is expected to greet US President Donald Trump when he starts his Asian visit in a few days. He plans to visit Japan,the Philippines, China,South Korea, and Vietnam. There are expected o be many anti-Trump demonstrations during the visit.Trump has been critical of Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and China. Protests in South Korea are likely to be particularly vocal as many blame Trump for the current crisis on the Korean peninsula. The US has deployed three carrier strike groups in the region, the USS Nimitz, Reagan and Roosvelt, in preparation for all-out war. The US has also flown B1B bombers over Korea in an attempt at intimidation. There is doubt about the effectiveness of B1B bombers with at least three crashing this year. Several cities on the east coast of North Korea undertook war-preparation drills last week. It will be interesting to see if Trump and ...

Barnaby Joyce has been an embarassment as Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and he’s been the worst Minister for Agriculture since Ken Wriedt in the Whitlam Government. Joyce bears some responsibility for overseeing the theft of billions of litres of water in the Murray-Darling scandal. Thankfully the High Court ruling on his dual citizenship status gives voters in the seat of New England a chance to consign this political hack to the scrapheap. Tony Windsor has said he won’t be standing, so it will be a matter of picking any candidate whose name is not Barnaby Joyce.

Australia’s politicians have totally bungled the introduction of high speed broadband internet connections. A fundamental mistake was establishing a government business -NBN Co - to roll out the system. A more cost-effective and simple approach would have been to allow Telstra to install the fibre cables. Now the NBN recognises that it is unlikely to ever make a profit unless it receives a subsidy and protection from competition. It is also likely that a full roll-out of the NBN network will not be completed for decades, if ever. Consumers will carry the additional costs which are likely to total $ billions.

There's no need for Australian politicians to squander billions of taxpayer dollars buying costly missile defence systems - which may not work. Australia can save heaps on defence spending by developing electronic warfare systems as an alternative to supporting US arms dealers which may leave this country exposed to attack. Electromagnetic Pulse Generators are relatively simple defensive tools which can disrupt communications, guidance and navigation systems. A low powered electromagnetic pulse can be made by discharging an ultra low inductance high voltage capacitor into a low inductance antenna. Russia and China have both perfected EMP weapons – as demonstrated in the Black Sea, when in 2014, the systems of the Destroyer, USS Donald Cook were disabled. This year, USS Fitzgerald was unable to manoeuvre to avoid colliding with a commercial freighter off Japan – despite having what the US regarded as the best defence and navigation systems. With an effective EMP system or Dir...

US Generals have finally been forced to admit that they can’t guarantee victory in a war with North Korea which is presumably why President Donald Trump has done nothing but talk (and shout) about Kim Jong Un. Generals in the Pentagon have acknowledged that an electromagnetic pulse device disabled the USS Fitzgerald, causing a collision with a freighter off Japan. China and Russia have been perfecting electronic warfare systems, and the technology has been available to North Korea, which destroys US belief in the invincibility of its military machine. Surface ships, submarines and aircraft can be rendered useless by electromagnetic pulse weapons. Some EMP generatora are relatively simple to make and offer a low cost method of countering high-tech military equipment.

The USS Carl Vinson Strike Group, which has been operating close to Korea has returned to its home port of San Diego. The group has been replaced by the USS Nimitz strike group in a move designed to keep pressure on North Korea. A British Think Tank, The Royal United Services Institute has said that tensions between the United States and North Korea are so high that war is “a real possibility.” The conflict would result in hundreds of thousands of casualties, severely disrupt the global economy, and have profound implications for the political and diplomatic landscape of East Asia.

Many Americans are preparing for a nuclear strike against them by North Korea and its allies. California is preparing for a nuclear attack, after continuing threats from Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Propaganda by both leaders has escalated tension and scuttled any prospect of a peaceful solution to thecontinuing problems created by US involvement in the Korean War. The Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Centre has asked officials to "familiarise themselves with radiological and nuclear emergency response plans," to reduce the number of casualties. It is thought that North Korean submarines may already be on their way to cruise the US coast.

China is reported to have deployed at least 200 of its J20 stealth fighters. The first few entered service last March. The plane, is a twin-engine multi-role fighter that can reach speeds of 2,100 kilometres an hour. China appears to be getting ready to act if the US launches strikes on North Korea.

Politicians and highly-paid bureaucrats love to paint a picture that everything is going along fine and that there is no need for dumb voters to worry. After all, they are in control, and they 'know' what they are doing. But the reality is rather different, they don't know what they are doing and are bumbling the economy (here and throughout the world) into recession likely to hit within the next three years. Even the international business magazine, Forbes acknowledges that Australia is one of the countries most likely to be hit by a massive debt crisis within three years. Our current account deficit is $1 trillion and politicians and bureaucrats have no idea how to get the economy under control. Unemployment in Australia is still too hight at 5.8%.

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, is trying hard to maintain some credibility despite the poor performance of US policymakers on North Korea. She has said that the US Security Council has exhausted its options on containing North Korea’s nuclear program and the Pentagon may need to take action. "We have pretty much exhausted all the things that we can do at the Security Council at this point," Ms.Haley said. Her comments followed threats from Donald Trump that he would respond with 'Fire and fury' if North Korea did not abandon its nuclear programme. The ludicrous situation is that North Korea will not wind back its nuclear capability and sanctions can never work, so if the US wants war, they may as well get on with it. China and Russia will not stop trading with their ally, Tax havens like Switzerland, Bahrain, Bermuda, Singapore and the Cayman Islands will not impose financial constraints on the North Korean regime. The failure of sanctions against...

South Korea has conducted its own test of a ballistic missile in response to yet another missile shot over Japan by North Korea. It remains to be seen if t he UN and other Government leaders, including Australia's Malcolm Turnbull condemn South Korea as roundly as they condemned the North Korean test. The North Korean missile flew a distance of just over 3,700 kms with a maximum height of 770kms.

Former Prime Minister, John Howard has called for ­proposed same-sex marriage legislation, including full protections for parents, religion and free speech, to be produced before the postal survey vote closes in ­November. He supports the No campaign in the costly postal survey. He says it is disingenuous for the Yes campaign to argue that changing the law to ­include same-sex marriage did not affect other rights and that the survey involved a simple yes/no question.

Australia's financial deficit is currently running at $44.5 billion and there is no sign that politicians plan to reign-in spending – making a mockery of claims that the budget will return to surplus. The United States is in an even worse position with a current deficit of $440 billion. Huge military spending will ensure that the deficit grows for the foreseeable future.

The US air force has acknowledged that it will take at least two more years for the much-hyped F35 Joint Strike fighter to be ready for combat roles.It has taken longer than expected to develop the weapons systems needed to make the plane an effective fighting platform.

The first rule of bureaucracy is 'always make sure there is someone to blame when things go wrong'. Successful bureaucrats are never left holding the bag when the bomb goes off. The current financial and political turmoil around the world is a clear example of this practice at work. The global financial crisis was carefully engineered to create chaos. It was part of a long-term plan by the global financial elite to take control of national governments by imposing stringent conditions aimed eventually at establishing a global currency and a world central bank. In a paper published in 1995, Richard K Moore wrote that declines in the quality of life, the breakdown of traditional values in society, widespread government corruption,chronic poverty and armed conflicts, needed to be met by significant reforms to the way we conduct ourselves. Nothing has changed.

Generals in the US Pentagon have been jolted by reports that North Korea has finally perfected a cobalt bomb – a dirty weapon carrying enriched uranium, capable of spreading large volumes of the isotope Cobalt 60. North Korean scientists began development in 2012, shortly after the death of of President Kim Jong il. The bomb is probably not capable of being delivered by missile because of its size, but could be dropped by aircraft or launched as a torpedo. The explosion of such a device would cause widespread and long lasting contamination which is one reason for US military indecision on how to respond to North Korea's actions.

Why do the Americans think they should be the only country allowed to throw missiles around the world?. They have devastated the Middle East but they complain about North Korea's attenpts to protect themselves from US aggression. They still smart from the memory of losing the Korean war, the Vietnam War and for their underwhelming performance in Afghanistan.

RUSSIAN bombers have been flown on a drill through East Asia presumably in response to the regular war games being conducted by the US and South Korea with some participation by Australia and the UK. It's still not clear how effective the US navy is given recent navigational problems which may have been caused by electronic warfare methods which disabled military systems.The US is deploying 100 F35 strike fighters in Souh Korea and Japan even though the planes are not thought to be combat ready. Russia has reportedly established a new division of heavy bombers to patrol the Pacific region. Fifty supersonic Tu-160 bombers have been deployed.They are expected to be replaced by new PAK-DA stealth bombers in 2022.

The $122million postal survey on same-sex marriage in Australia is yet another demonstration of Government waste and inability to make decisions. A 'NO' vote will send a clear message to politicians that they don't understand the Australian population.

War games between the US, South Korea, Australia and the UK may be put on hold after navigational problems with US warships caused two collisions in recent weeks. Ten American sailors are missing and five injured after the guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore early on Monday .Seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald was hit by a container ship off Japan. The US navy acknowledged the crashes were caused by poor leadership.If the warships are unable to avoid collisions with unarmed surface ships, they can't be expected to find submarines or survive an encounter with a fully armed warship.

In a joint effort, peace activists in the U.S. and South Korea are calling on people of both countries to demand their presidents call off planned US-South Korean war exercises, and aim for a peaceful solution to the current crisis with North Korea. Authored by former U.S. presidential candidate Jill Stein of the Green Party and South Korean anti-war activists, their online petition urges a “freeze for a freeze” — a freeze on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in exchange for a freeze on U.S. military exercises in Korea. North Korea's threat to launch four missiles and crash them in the sea off Guam, may have been an attempt to stop the war games exercise. The Australian Government plans to send ships to participate in the war games.

Australian's are getting heartily sick of the ongoing debate over same sex marriage - to the point that if a plebiscite is finally held, many will vote No even though they don't regard the issue as serious compared with all other problems with our society. The proponents and supporters of the intractable same sex marriage issue seem never to have read - or understood the Shakespearean sonnet: 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man eve...

US President Donald Trump called Malcolm Turnbull's immigration policies "worse" than his own approach during the infamous phone call between the two in January .A leaked transcript shows a tense exchange Trump told Turnbull that a deal for the US to take on refugees headed for Australia was "ridiculous", "rotten" and "stupid"

The latest missile test by North Korea appears to have been a Pukguksong-1 ballistic missile designed to be launched from on land or from a submerged submarine.It has a range of more than 1,200 miles which means that the missile can reach every part of the United States and Australia if our leaders are stupid enough to involve us in a conflict on the Korean peninsula.

China has deployed substantial numbers of its DF-21D medium range anti ship ballistic missiles, known as 'Carrier Killers'. The DF-21D's warhead is built to plunge down from low-earth orbit at 10 times the speed of sound, penetrating an aircraft carrier and causing massive damage. The Russians have also deployed anti-ship missiles capable of speeds in excess of six times the speed of sound. These hypersonic missiles travel so fast that they are unstoppable with current missile defence systems. The sheer bulk of massive aircraft carriers like the US Nimitz class and the latest Ford class vessels make them unmissable targets for these latest missiles. It is almost certain that North Korea has at least three similar KN-17 missiles ready for action in case of US intrusion into their waters. Iran and India have also developed hypersonic anti-ship missiles. India's BrahmosII system has been configured for low level attack over relatively short distances, but a long distance...

The British government just can't accept that the days of 'Britannia ruling the waves' were over long ago. It has been throwing more than six billion pounds at building two aircraft carriers – the first of which is HMS Queen Elizabeth. In many respects the Elizabeth class carriers are no superior to carriers of past ages – such as HMS Ark Royal from the second world war which was finally scrapped in 2013 The new carriers are not fitted with catapults. Nor will they have arrestor wires- in the interests of keeping down costs. The military capabilities of the carriers rely on the unproven technology of the US built joint strike fighter, the 35BLightning II which is supposed to have short take off and vertical landing capabilities. But the problem is that many technical hurdles are still to be overcome before the planes can be operational. Britain has no plan B after scrapping its force of Sea Harriers and RAF ground-attack Harriers.Typhoon combat jets aren't designed...

Political and bureaucratic incompetence and corruption are to blame for the misuse of water allocations in the Murray Darling scheme. Billions of litres of water paid for by taxpayers to save Australia's inland rivers is instead being harvested by some cotton growers to boost production.

Holding a referendum to consider four year terms for Federal politicians would be yet another waste of money. Why limit the referendum to just that question? We need a drastic change to the constitution to get rid of Federal government altogether. Scrapping federal elections completely would remove the most wasteful tier of Government and provide huge benefits. All major functions are carried out by the States, and COAG should run the country.

At $15billion, the new USS Gerald R Ford is the most expensive aircraft carrier ever built. It has just been commissioned by President Donald Trump.The Americans don't seem to believe that the days of super ships are numbered. In the light of new missile and electronic developments, aircraft carriers are regarded by many as huge floating targets, destined to disappear just as battleships did years ago.

US politicians and Generals have demonstrated that they are full of bluff and bluster over North Korea. The reality probably is that they are scared witless at the prospect of losing another war. They jump up and down at North Korean missile and nuclear tests - without actually doing anything Not much has changed since the spy ship the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea in 1968. It is still proudly displayed there as a symbol of US indecision and ineffectiveness. The ship was originally a light freighter for the US army, launched in the second world war but recommissioned into the US navy in 1966 as a spy ship. It was gathering electronic data off North Korea when it was intercepted and taken into custody with hardly a murmur from the embarrassed US military.

Australian streets will become safer from terrorist atrocities with changes to defence laws allowing police to call in Special Forces when needed. The forces will also train police in counter-terror methods. Police training has been shown to be grossly inadequate to deal with terrorism incidents. To be really effective, it is hoped that troops will not be subject to the 'professional standards' investigations which have hamstrung police when faced with armed and violent offenders.

Nuclear Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has joined with USS Carl Vinson strike group for training exercises designed to threaten North Korea. Electronic jamming techniques may be used to disable the ships and turn them into defenceless targets. North Korea has been working on electronic systems to jam navigational and weapons systems and is believed to be in the final development stage of an electromagnetic pulse device which will wipe out military communications and warfare systems.The North also has a variety of fast motor torpedo boats and at least 12 missile boats equipped with Styx anti-ship missiles( equivalent to the Tomahawk cruise missile).

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is right in saying that the Liberal Party set up by Robert Menzies was never supposed to be a'conservative' party. It was established to bring together a range of views and create policies which met the needs of the general community. To some extent the party was high-jacked to the right by John Howard and then Tony Abbott. Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser objected to way the right wing destroyed liberal values and he resigned from the party, referring to Tony Abbott as 'one of the most dangerous men in Australia.' The public has lost confidence in all political parties, and the time has come to consider banning them. Voters elect members of Parliament to represent constituents - not to look after the interests of the party. We don't elect Prime Ministers - we elect local members and they do deals to choose their party leader. So there is no allegiance to constituents - the party is all that matters.

The assessment of US President Donald Trump by ABC's political reporter Chris Uhlmann that,amongst othedr things, “he had no desire and no capacity to lead the world.” at the G20 talks in Hamburg, demonstrated that his nose is still out of joint over trump's win, which showed that Uhlmann, along with most other political 'experts', didn't know what he was talking about. Uhlmann should stick to reporting facts rather than presenting his dubious opinions.

The Australian Government is believed to be about to place an order for a Patriot air defence missile system from US arms manufacturer Raytheon. The PAC3 missiles used by the system are made by Lockheed Martin and cost about $3 million. Each Patriot system is mounted on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck capable of carrying up to 16 missiles. The number of systems to be ordered is not known, but the Government is looking at ways to find an additional two billion dollars without it showing up as a further blowout in the budget deficit.

Plans for a third Melbourne airport to be built at Koo Wee Rup are doomed to failure. The plan was first mooted decades ago and has re-emerged every few years – to be rejected by residents and airlines as totally impractical. The Koo Wee Rup swamp is prime agricultural land, producing 90% of Australia's asparagus, growing exports worth over $18.5 million a year. This hair-brained proposal is from a private investment source and they say they will not require funding from the Government. The State Government and local Councils are unlikely to give planning approval.Land acquisition costs alone would total billions of dollars because of land values. In addition, the high water table would present huge technical difficulties in constructing runways. Even road building presents major difficulties and when a highway is built anywhere in the swamp, construction crews are back within weeks repairing subsidence problems. Passenger jets landing on the runways would be likely to disappear –...

The $56 billion valuation by Deloitte Access Economics on the Great Barrier Reef should encourage Governments to value more of Australia's natural assets. What are our rivers worth? how about wetlands and native vegetation? Our wide array of native animals surely has a value? The list is almost endless and its only after assets are properly valued should consideration be given to major developments and activities such as the deliberate burning of native vegetation in the guise of fire control!

A call by former US General David Petraeus for Australia to carry out military exercises in the South China Sea will be ignored by our Government if the politicians have any sense.

The race is on to build a supersonic passenger jet to replace Concorde which was withdrawn from service 13 years ago. In the US, NASA selected a team led by Lockheed Martin to complete a preliminary design for the QueSST X-plane. The aim is to develop a way for an aircraft to fly faster than sound without causing a loud sonic boom. QueSST is designed to fly at Mach 1.4, at a height of 55,000 feet. The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks generated by air pressure. It is planned to produce a small 'thump' noise which technicians refer to as a 'heartbeat'. Sir Richard Branson has ordered 10 planes being built by a company he has backed, called Boom Technologies. The business says it already has 76 orders for the aircraft which will carry 40 -50 passengers at up to twice the speed of sound. It expects the planes to be operational within six years. In the UK. Oxfordshire firm, Reaction Engines has been developing a turbine that combines both jet and rocket technologie...

The US military machine appears to be in a state of mild panic after one of its 'state of the art' guided missile destroyers was rammed by a Japanese cargo ship, killing seven US sailors and one of its reconnaisance planes was buzzed by a Russian fighter over the Baltic Sea. This came after the US shot down a Syrian fighter jet which was attacking a group of Kurdish PKK terrorists. After the Russians announced that they would regard US and coalition partner planes as hostile, the RAAF halted bombing activities over Syria. It seems to be only a matter of time before the Russians shoot down a US jet in the Middle East.

1. The ramming of an American destroyer by a Japanese container ship in the Sea of Japan, which killed 7 US sailors created consternation in the Department of the Navy. The USS Fitzgerald, is an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer. Its sophisticated radar and defence systems should have prevented the collision and the failure led to speculation that the ship's defence systems may have been disabled, possibly by North Korea or the incident may demonstrate that US ships are particularly vulnerable at night. The ship limped back to port and is likely to be out of action for a year. The Fitzgerald is a key part of the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group. The US navy may have to withdraw another destroyer from service elsewhere to fill the gap. There are concerns that US Aircraft Carriers may be just as vulnerable.

Australia's Department of Defence is spending $200 million to pull secretive data from a private data storage facility in Sydney operated by a company called Global Switch because a Chinese business has bought control of the business's parent company and trhe Government fears that the date may be compromised. The Australian Government is not alone in being paranoid about defence leaks. Bluffdale in the US state of Utah is home to the world's biggest and most secretive data centre – the $2 billion Utah Data Center built for the US National Security Agency. It is more than five times the size of the US Capitol and its purpose is to securely store Government data as well as to intercept, decipher and analyze huge volumes of the world’s communications via satellites and cables everywhere. Essentially it is able to intercept all forms of communication by governments, businesses and individuals through computer servers of almost unlimited capacity.

So-called Domestic violence must be re-evaluated in Australia.Hysteria has been used to pillory men in our community for offences they have not committed. The main killers of children in Australia, according to statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology are: Mothers 47%. Fathers 30%. Mothers' new male partner 19% In the US an estimated 200 women kill their children every year. Mothers who deliberately kill their children are often found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. A 1969 study conducted by Dr. Phillip Resnick found that when mothers kill their kids, 68% are sent to mental hospitals and only 27% are sent to prison; when fathers kill their children, 72% go to prison and only 14% are hospitalised. But. In Australia using the term 'Domestic Violence' downplays the seriousness of the problem. Violence should be treated equally by the law, no matter whether or not the perpetrator knew the victim. Many women seem to believe that they have some k...

Inflation in the economy is regarded as bad, but deflation is worse. This was seen during the 1930's Depression. Prices declined, but wages declined faster, and unemployment rose. The Center for Economic and Policy Research says that inflation is trending down, even when housing prices are factored in, but this really means that deflation is emerging again. I have been making strong arguments about deflation for years,but its effect is steadily growing. Private markets are running out of things to buy. Asset prices are peaking, with stocks trading at scary earnings multiples and homes have largely become unaffordable. Value is clearly dropping out of the world economy, and it's time for politicians and academic economists to address the seriousness of the situation and look at adopting Steady State economics in place of the current bid for constant growth which follows an unsustainable'boom and bust' mentality.A steady state economy is one with stable or mildly fluctu...

Three Federal Ministers are being hauled before the Victorian Supreme Court to explain why they should not be held in contempt for daring to suggest the Judges get it wrong in passing sentences on violent offenders – particularly those who have links to terrorists. The three were simply voicing the views of many members of the public – including their own constituents. So why do these judges think they have a right to avoid criticism? The community is sick of seeing light sentences for violent behaviour and the Ministers should be applauded for their comments. The court system has brought itself into disrepute by the actions of the judiciary. The ministers had a right to express the views of the community.

Coalition and Labor party Federal politicians should be made to pay the full cost of any settlement deal with refugees held on Manus Island. A class action brought on behalf of the refuges may be settled to avoid lengthy and embarrassing proceedings in the Victorian Supreme court. The payments should be made from the salaries and superannuation entitlements of all sitting politicians who forced the refugees into unsafe 'concentration camp' conditions. Clawing back the funds should start with big deductions from payments made to John Howard, Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. The rest should be divided up between all other Coalition and labor MP's. Manus Island and Nauru first became Australia’s offshore immigration detention centres in 2001, when former Prime Minister John Howard launched the infamous “Pacific Solution”.

The British Government is ramping up up its military spending by approving a 60 million pound grant to develop a new engine which could power ultra high speed missiles and aircraft.Reaction Engines,based in Oxfordshire expects to have the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine operational within three years. The company has been working with BAE Systems, which has a division in Australia.

Politicians all over the world still don't seem able to grasp the reality that the majority of people are fed up with the 'politics as usual' which parties want to dish up. First there was the election of Donald Trump in the US which defied all the predictions of so-called expert analysts and political journalists. Then there was the double dissolution election in Australia which was called in an effort to give the coalition Government more control over the Senate. The people rebelled and delivered a reduced majority for the Government in the lower house and an even more hostile Senate. Now the British Prime Minister called an unnecessary snap election to try to strengthen her negotiating position with the European Union over Brexit. Instead she was humiliated with a reduced parliamentary majority and was forced into a dealwhich will probably be unworkable. The Australian Government and the US President refuse to listen to people about climate change. Governments throughou...

Despite all the political bickering in Canberra over emissions targets, and other climate issues some small businesses have been playing their part in addressing the problem. Freeranger Eggs in Victoria 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 1200-chicken farm generates only about 60 tonnes of CO2 each year. But it is better than carbon neutral, it is carbon positive. The average organic matter in soil tests was 4.1 per cent in 2004, in 2006 it was 6.0 per cent, and in 2009 it was 7.9 percent. Calculations based on 2-inch deep samples, show that over those five years the farm sequestered about 14 tons of CO2 per acre or four tonnes of carbon per acre on the grasslands. Further testing and calculations h...

Terrorist attacks are nothing new in this world. Britain and Europe have been plagued over the years by the IRA, the Red Brigade, Bader Meinehof, Eoka and the Basques – to name just a few.Those attacks were brought on by feelings of injustice. When George W. Bush, assisted by Tony Blair and John Howard decided to wage war in the Middle East, the writing was on the wall for bloody reprisals in response to the wholesale destruction of people, villages, towns and cities. Acts of murder can never be tolerated, and perpetrators must be dealt with by lawful means. Many Muslims feel that they need to display their anger with western powers over what they see as genocide. There is concwern that a violent group, Nation of Islam has established ma presence in Australia. The US group was established in 1930 and became the power base for African-American militant activist Malcolm X. Politicians need to address the issues not just grandstand in an effort to generate political capital. The situation...

Iran has deployed air defence missiles capable of bringing down missiles, bombers and fighter jets. The missile system uses mobile units and is reported to have greater range and speed than previous Iranian versions which were based on Russian and North Korean systems.

Donald Trump's decision to take the US out of the Paris climate agreement makes America irrelevant. The White House announced that the United States would begin the process of leaving the Paris Agreement, a reckless and indefensible action which threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time.

The US missile defence shield is still undergoing trials and there is no guarantee it will work if North Korea launches an attack. In recent days,the US managed to destroy a missile launched from a Pacific base to simulate an attack on America.A missile developed by Raytheon, known as a 'Kill Vehicle' brought the incoming missile down but apparently the success rate of the missile defence system is only 40%.

Politicians are likely to demonstrate their inability to grasp economic realities at the State of the Nation Conference being held in Canberra by the Committee for Economic Development Australia. Both the Government and opposition have demonstrated that they have no agendas which have any hope of returning the budget to surplus in the foreseeable future. Both sides of politics are unable understand the fundamental issue of cutting spending and are locked into an irrational time-warp dream of perpetual economic growth to drag us out of our economic woes. They need to address realities, not illusions and should be looking at adopting a steady-state economic model proposed by John Stuart Mill. Such economies are not driven by booms and busts but are stable or mildly fluctuating in size.Steady State Economics presents a different view of how we could run the world, instead of chasing the illusion of perpetual growth. It offers the concept of an economy that is completely sustainable. A co...

The UK's Daily Star newspaper has published a map show how far North Korean nuclear missiles can reach. Darwin is vulnerable as is the entire US west coast, including Alaska. With the enhancement of North Korea's missile technology, the Australian Government is believed to be cxonsidering spending billions of dollars on a missile defence system, such as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) hardware being offered around the world by the US.

Ministers for Consumer Affairs throughout Australia have failed consumers by allowing potentially harmful substances to be included in food products without requiring the additives to be identified on labels. A prime example of this has been fish farming in Tasmania where the ABC TV Four Corners program revealed that additives are included in fish food to colour the flesh of salmon. The same additives are widely used in the poultry industry to colour egg yolks and the flesh of chicken meat. Ministers allow the additives, even on free range poultry farms despite being completely unnecessary.

Lets hope that the Lindt Cafe debacle leads to some fundamental changes in Australia's policing and counter-terrorism standards. It has been just one example demonstrating how wrong the Australian Prime Minister is when he makes claims that 'we have 'the best police and security services in the world.' Their training has been inadequate, but maybe the problems can be rectified. Quite apart from the question of why Man Haron Monis was allowed to be walking the streets when he was a known risk there is no question that the lone gunman could have been eliminated by a sniper from across the street. SAS troops are trained assassins and could have used 566 steel tipped penetrating ammunition to take out Monis with almost no risk to hostages.The ammunition was developed in Belgium for ant-terrorist actions and is used all over the world. Or, once it was know that he was acting alone, a single marksman with a handgun could have entered the cafe and shot Monis dead. The mass en...

US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth $350 billion over 10 years. It includes supplying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system known as THAAD designed to destroy incoming missiles. Mr Trump's next stop is Israel and it will be interesting to see what reception he gets and what deals are made.

Pakistan is believed to have more than doubled its arsenal of short range tactical missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Realistically the only targets it can reach are in Afghanistan,parts of Iran, India or inside its own territory to halt any invading troops.

James Comey, the former FBI Director who was fired by President Donald Trump is reported to have a net worth of at least $15 million. It's not clear how big a payout he will received for being fired from his $200,000 a year job.

North Korea's Strategic Rocket Force is reported to have deployed more medium and long range missiles, in a show of continuing defiance in the face of US aggression. The missiles are believed to include three stage surface to surface versions with combinations of solid fuel and liquid fuel engines.One advantage of using solid fuel is that there is less preparation time prior to launch. It takes time to pump liquid fuel into rockets and satellite imagery warns when a launch is imminent.

The Australian Government i wasting its time chasing a seat on the united Nations Human Rights Council given our track record with the mistreatment of refugees and our indigenous population. Far from being given a seat, the Australian Government should ostracised by the international community for is actions. Has the Government really forgotten its treatment of Gillian Triggs, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission?

The Indian Navy’s new guided missile stealth frigate INS Sahyadri is taking part in a six-day exercise with the Singapore Navy from Malacca Straits to the South China Sea. this month. The exercise is expected to completed next week. The Indian navy has four stealth frigates armed with land attack Brahmos missiles The INS Sahydri is expected to visit Fremantle before returning to its home port.

The Federal Government's $6.2 billion tax on banks is likely to be counter-productive and may create instability within the economy. One result might be to encourage more foreign banks to set up in Australia, creating massive competition for the big four and undermining their profitability. The Bank of China has been operating in Australia since 1942 along with a handful of other foreign banks. But if international banks see an opportunity to make a killing at the expense of our local banks, they will jump at it. number of foreign banks, such as HSBC and CitiBank offer personal and business banking services to Australians. Internet banking makes it simple to deal with a bank in Bermuda or any other tax haven.

The Federal Government is spending $2 billion on upgrading shipyards in South Australia and Western Australia and a further $90 - $100 billion in actually building ships for the Australian navy at a time when large surface warships are increasingly seen as floating targets in any war situation. Our politicians are locked into deficit spending – probably for generations.

The Federal Coalition Government could take lessons on economic performance from Bass Coast Shire Council. The Shire has a big accumulated cash surplus and its latest annual budget projects a surplus of $3.9 million – but it is still jacking up rates by 2%. It plans capital works expenditure of 18.5 million in the next 4 years and employee costs of $28 million. Far from increasing rates, it seems that the Shire could afford to reduce charges for ratepayers.

Fair? What's fair about this budget? It's just another attempt by bureaucrats and politicians to cobble together a vehicle to ensure that they maintain all their perks and privileges – and make us pay for them. It is as tax and spend budget. There is little to encourage 'jobs and growth' and even less to demonstrate the achievability of the Treasurer's promise of a return to surplus in 2021.That claim lacks any degree of credibility. As for allocating another $15 million for sport, that just follows a mantra about sport being the “Opiate of the masses” The Government clearly believes that spending our money on sport will keep us quiet. But how is it fair when hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted each year by sporting bodies in Australia. It 's not just a problem with the Australian Olympic Committee. Vast sums are also haemorrhaging from the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Institute for Sport and myriad state sports institutes. The g...

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted each year by sporting bodies in Australia. It 's not just a problem with the Australian Olympic Committee. Vast sums are also haemorrhaging from the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Institute for Sport and myriad state sports institutes.

A shooting murder in Keysborough overnight demonstrated the futility of the knee-jerk gun control laws rushed in by Prime Minister John Howard in 1997. Australia now has more homicides every year than prior to the gun legislation. Australian Institute of Criminology figures show that In 1995 there were 321 murders. The Port Arthur shootings happened in 1996. During 1999 there were 344 homicides. With the gun control lkegislation, only honest people handed in their guns, the crims and thugs kept them, so what was the point?

Reports that University students will he targeted by the Government to pay more for qualifications – and be forced to repay their hecs debts more quickly demonstrate just how out of touch this Government is. Education is the key to the future of this country so it seems incomprehensible to try to dumb-down the community. Higher education should be a priority but instead our politicians are chasing the lowest common-denominator. Why cause financial chaos for graduates who have the country's future in their hands? A better approach for the Treasurerwould be getelite sports people who have received massive handouts of taxpayer dollars through bodies like the Australian Institute for sport? Their training cost big money and when they excel they often command annual payments worth millions of dollars. But what do they do – many head off to tax havens like Bermuda or Monaco and live the high life. Why aren't they forced to pay the country back?

Without a fundamental change in Government policy, Australia is rushing headlong into financial chaos. Government debt is currently more than $500 billion and there are no signs of firm Government plans to reign in spending. The country would be in better shape now if politicians had been prudent and put aside billions of dollars during the mining boom into a national capital fund or into the Reserve Bank. As it is, we are a basket case and things will only get worse with current policy settings.

President Donald Trump and the Pentagon Generals should face charges, if personnel aboard vessels in the Carl Vinson carrier strike group are killed in action.The United States has been aware for some years that North Korea has the technology to deploy electromagnetic pulse weapons. which disable weapons,guidance and navigational systems. Here's the website of one international think-tank that has published information about it. gatestoneinstitute Many other reports have been circulating for at least three years.The Carl Vinson and its crew will be sitting ducks in a shooting war if EMP weaponry is used.

North Korea has developed electronic warfare capabilities that can disable missile guidance systems, navigation equipment and jam satellite Global Positioning Systems.It is reported to have developed a highly effective non-kinetic electromagnetic pulse system to use as a weapon, very similar to the way the Russians disabled the destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea. The country appears to be ready to take on the USS Carl Vinson Strike Group.

With technical advice from China, North Korea's arms manufacturers are well down the path of perfecting ramjet engines which will propel rockets and aircraft at more than five times the speed of sound. Engine tests were conducted in March and development has proceeded. Missiles travelling at hypersonic speed are almost impossible to intercept and destroy.

If North Korea starts chucking missiles around in response to US aggression, a few may be heading for Australia, but there are still some doubts that the country has enough long range missiles to pose a major threat. It's likely that the targets will be in the north of Australia. As US bases, Darwin and Cairns are likely to be first in line. Darwin regularly hosts US troops and ships. Trinity Inlet, Cairns is home for US nuclear submarines.The country has two types of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the KN-08 and KN-14. Designed to be transported and fired from mobile rocket launchers the three-stage KN-08 is believed to have a range of about 11,500km with the two-stage KN-14 having a shorter range. It is believed that at least one of the missiles has been adapted for submarine launch.The issue of North Korea will almost certainly be on the agenda when US Vice President, Mike Pence visits Australia on April 22. It will be interesting to see how the F-35B Joint Strike Fi...

China is About to launch its second sircraft carrier The Shandong is the first carrier designed and built in China.The new Type 001A aircraft carrier is an improved version of China's only operational aircraft carrier, the 60,000-ton Type 001 Liaoning, which is a refurbished Soviet carrier. With a displacement of around 65,000 tons, the Shandong will be slightly larger than the Liaoning. Once launched, the ship is expected to be in service within two years. Powered by oil-fired boilers and steam turbines, the ship will have an estimated operational range of 3,850 nautical miles (7,130kilometers) at about 32 knots. It will carry 24 multi role fighter jets. Ten helicopters and a range of missiles. The new carrier features a so-called ski-jump assisted Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) launch system which limits the range of aircraft but future carriers are expected to use more advanced catapult technology used by U.S. aircraft carriers. The Chinese navy's Equipmen...

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott is right when he says that Australians are sick of politicians. But his proposed solution won’t change anything. We need some fundamental change to our constitution. There's little doubt that Australian is over-governed with vast armies of politicians and fat cat bureaucrats. Australians do not elect Prime Ministers, they elect local politicians who get together and appoint a party leader who is automatic ally Prime Minister if that party has a majority of seats in Parliament. A large part of the problem will be solved by getting rid of political parties. Currently, politicians owe more allegiance to their parties than to the people who elected them. A next step will be to abolish the extravagance of a Federal Parliament with all the costs associated with duplicating Ministers and Departments when each State already has working bureaucracies in place. Let COAG run the country.

North Korea is forging ahead with its development of weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear warheads and nuclear submarines despite sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the United States. A report for the UN reveals that the sanctions have failed to hinder the development of weapons systems. The report found that the country had developed an international smuggling network to foil the sanctions and outmanoeuvre enforcement measures. There is a network of North Korean companies with bogus identities used to accrue cash, technologies and materials for the government’s weapons development. It's yet another example of the failure of sanctions to work effectively.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has made it clear that The US is considering a preemptive military strike on North Korea. After the missile attack on Syria, Korea, China and Russia have been on notice that they are next on the hit list. Hard to understand why the Generals in the Pentagon think they can win an all-out war on three fronts. The combined military strength of China and Russia easily matches US power and North Korea has enough fire power to be a nuisance.China and North Korea have more than 20,000 missiles on the Korean peninsula. The end result is likely to be the Mutually Assured Destruction feared during the Cold War. The US military appears to dismiss North Korea's missile technology, assuming the Koreans don't have long range missiles to attack the US. But they forget that North Korea has at least 70 submarines, some carrying medium range missiles. So all they have to do is cruise towards the US coast and launch their attack. In the meantime they can atta...

America's feigned outrage at the use of Sarin gas in Syria was the excuse for launching Cruise missiles (it wasn't just because the US President had a tantrum, it was more of a long term plan by the Pentagon ). It is hard to understand how the US expects to claim the moral high ground with its dismal track record of stamping around the world killing people. In various Middle East wars the US has used such weapons as depleted uranium, thermobaric bombs and white phosphorous which have lasting impacts on people. Depleted uranium weapons are manufactured in many countries, included the UK, US, France and Russia. It is a significant component of armour piercing anti tank shells. Depleted uranium munitions have been widely used in the Middle East. On the battlefield, some of the uranium is vapourised on impact, producing a radioactive heavy-metal smoke that is easily ingested or inhaled and causes long term and terminal health impacts. On top of that, the US shot down an Iranian ...

The United States seems determined to embroil the world in yet more terrorist attacks by further violence in the Middle East. Sean Spicer was right when he said that President Trump was doing his best to destablise the Middle East Chemical weapons are back in the news, with the US announcing moves to try to unseat the Syrian President Assad for allegedly authorising the use of Sarin gas, a potent organophosphate which is part of the US weapons arsenal. Many thousands of tonnes of Sarin are held in US stockpiles so it is hardly credible for the US to claim to be upset that the weapons have been used.The US is the only major power which has not ratified a clause in the Hague convention prohibiting the use of poison gasses in war. This is an other example of the US and its allies not thinking things through. Removing President Assad would likely strengthen terrorism in the Middle East and around the world – as did removing Saddam Hussein from Iraq and Colonel Gaddafi from Libya. Any m...

It you've ever wondered why so many people have allergic reactions or sensitivities to food containing such products as wheat, here's the answer. It's common practice for wheat harvested in Australia and the United States to be drenched with the herbicide Roundup, or other products containing glyphosate or 24D several days before the combine harvesters move through the paddocks because they are said to increase grain yields and make the withered plants easier to harvest Pre-harvest applications of herbicides has been commonplace for 20 years. So the community has been systematically poisoned by a build-up of these chemicals. Politicians, farmers and business leaders know about it but don't care even though their own families are at risk. Details: The pharmacy

Politicians are always dreaming up extra ways to spend our money, but they are less motivated to implement a more efficient taxation system. One idea that the Federal Treasurer could consider in the upcoming budget would be to abolish income tax for companies and replace it with a turnover tax. In one move it would decimate the tax evasion industry. Accountants find it easy to hide profits but it's no simple task to disguise total revenue. Turnover tax is a simplified system making it easier for business to meet tax obligations. The turnover tax system replaces Income Tax, GST and Capital Gains Tax. Turnover tax is worked out by applying a tax rate to the gross income of a business.

Quantum physics research has allowed China and Russia to develop Quantum radar systems which can detect stealth fighters and bombers from a distance of more than 100kms – effectively rendering obsolete jets like the US made F35 Joint Strike Fighter on which Australia is spending more than $25 billion.Russia has already deployed a network of long range radar systems to protect its borders and its naval fleets around the world.

Australia's two largest ships, both amphibious assault ships (or helicopter landing docks), which cost over $3 billion are both undergoing engine repairs to make them operational. The navy's flagship, HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide will be out of service until repairs are completed. The Spanish-built ships arrived in Australia as bare hulls and were fitted out out at the secretive BAE Systems facility at Williamstown in Melbourne.

Loading blame for closing Victoria's Hazelwood power station onto current Premier Daniel Andrews is rather unfair given that operation of the facility was taken out of Government control by Jeff Kennett when the plant was privatised in 1996. Design was undertaken in the 1940’s and construction began in 1954 so it is hardly a ‘state of the art’ facility. With 1.5 tonnes of carbon produced for every megawatt hour of electricity, the company deemed it had to go. At the time Hazelwood was sold it was realised that the plant had a finite life and it would be closed at the discretion of the new owners.

Politicians need to wake up to the devastating impact of some farming practices on the food chain and human health.Widespread chemical use in food production is out of control. Pre-harvest application of herbicides containing glyphosate and 2-4-D to wheat and barley crops just before harvest has become routine in the past 15 years. It is used as a drying agent 7-10 days before harvest within the conventional farming community to increase yields. Residues within the grains are not monitored.

The Federal Government will allow the budget deficit to increase by more than $10 billion to over $30 billion in two years as a result of low wage growth and falling taxes on business profits.Deficits will continue to grow unless the Government reigns in spending. Prospects of a return to surplus are now a distant dream ( or can be seen as just another broken election ploy). In an effort to extract money from the community the Government is increasing the cost of Commonwealth fines from $180 to $210 per penalty unit, which is expected to raise a paltry $90 million by 2019/20. The International Monetary Fund expects a fairly dismal future for Australia unless the Government takes serious steps to reduce borrowings and brings a halt to deficit spending.It all highlights the long term problems that face this nation thanks to successive dud politicians. Australia's Reserve Bank would be bursting at t he seams with billions of dollars if politicians had been prudent during the days of...

Australia seems headed for a critical fuel shortage which is likely to shut down transport, industry and even our military. Successive Australian Governments have overseen a massive decline in fuel security. From being totally self-sufficient when Bass Strait was in full production, we now import around 80% of our fuel – crude oil, diesel and petrol.One of the absurd things which our Government allows is the export of virtually all gas produced in WA and Queensland. so even though we have vast gas production, there is a shortage right now within Australia.For some years we've had, at best, 3 weeks supply of petrol and diesel in the country. The bulk of our oil is imported from Singapore and comes through the South China Sea. So if the US or our Government provokes a war with North Korea, or China. We will quickly run out of fuel. That means not just rationing …. there won't be any petrol, diesel, fuel oil or avgas for anyone at any price - not even the military. Would make it...

With many countries (including Australia) lining up to spend billions on stealth fighter jets from the US, China or Russia, Turkey is building its own. Designated the TFX, it will be a twin engine plane powered by Rolls Royce EJ 200 engines - the same as the Eurofighter Typhoon. Turkey invited Pakistan to participate in the development project and it is paying $200 million to BAE Systems to assist with the design. BAE is UK based, with a division in Australia.

Two of the 100 F35 Joint Strike Fighters being built for Australia, have arrived in the country, ready for the Avalon airshow in Victoria. The total cost of around $25 billion is likely to blow out considerably and may well double once armaments are ordered. There's not much point in having an expensive weapons platform in the air if it doesn't carry weapons. The F35 is designed to carry a range of weaponry including cruise missiles, air to surface stand--off bombs, guided bombs and naval strike missiles. There may be some spin-off benefits for local armament firms. But the overall cost will be felt by Australians for decades.

Political parties are the major reason for widespread public distrust of politicians. Once a candidate is endorsed for election, he or she has more allegiance to the party than to voters – which sees normal ethics, reality and accountability fly out the window. The party machine and hierarchy are all that matter and individuals will be protected whatever they do. Corruption in Federal and State politics is nothing new, politicians have been accepting bribes for ever and they have always had their hands in the pockets of taxpayers – but the scandals have grown in recent years. The latest to hit the fan are fraudulent claims totalling $140,000 which forced the resignations of the Victorian Parliament Speaker and his deputy. The regularity of scandals demonstrates that many politicians are simply crooks who can't be trusted. One way to overcome the problem may be to disband political parties, politicians should stand in electorates in which they live as independents directly represen...

The US has test fired 4 Trident ballistic missiles from one of its Ohio class submarines. This follows tests by North Korea and Russia.

The United States has sent the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson into the South China Sea in what it describes as "routine operations." The ship carries 60 aircraft including FA 18 Super Hornets and Boeing Growlers. Sailing with the 97,000-ton carrier is a guided-missile destroyer and a nuclear submarine. At this stage, the US has not formally asked Australia to send in ships but that may change if China deploys its naval and air forces in answer to US aggression.

At 8am yesterday we heard what seemed to be a heavy turbo prop plane approaching our farm. I went out to look and after a while, a strange looking plane appeared, and skirted around the property before heading towards Melbourne. I was unable to get a photograph and the plane was not close enough to read any markings, but it had small twin tail planes and what appeared to be a beam attached above the fuselage. On looking at aircraft photographs over the internet, it appears to have been a Chinese KJ 200 surveillance, early warning and electronic control aircraft. It seems that the Chinese are keeping an eye on Australia - and who can blame them given our Government's attitude over the South China Sea.I notified the Department of Defence but, of course I haven't heard anything!

A more than doubling of the spot price of coking coal to a high of $206 a tonne is likely to boost Australia’s export earnings by $25 billion – which gives the Government no excuse to bully the Senate into passing unfair cost-cutting legislation. But, of course, it won't stop them from trying and the parasites will want to increase taxes too in order to ensure there is plenty of money for them to dip into.

Britain may cancel its order for the F35 joint strike fighter and it is hoped that Australia follows suit. This single action would free up at least $25 billion and help to solve the Govenment's fiscal problems. Calls for cancelling orders for the stealth fighter being built by Lockheed Martin are not just based on excessive costs. The new plane's performance does not meet expectations. An analysis in the authoritative US Air force Air and Space Power Journal says: “Even if funding were unlimited, reasons might still exist for terminating the F-35. “Specifically, its performance has not met initial requirements, its payload is low, its range is short, and espionage may have compromised the aircraft long in advance of its introduction.” Advances in Russian and Chinese radar defences mean it is not clear that the stealth technology will still work, the analysis warns, adding: “The F-35 might well be the first modern fighter to have substantially less performance than its predece...

America's national debt is now almost $20 trillion and although the US has a new President, the Government seems to be locked into increasing deficit spending as China dumps US bonds. Russia is still in the market to buy. Figures show that China currently owns about 7% of US debt and if it and Russia organised a strategic US bond sell-off it would likely cause the US dollar to crash. The currency has been particularly vulnerable since economists decided to abandon the gold standard because they reckoned more money could be made by backing currencies with illusion and promises rather than gold in Fort Knox,the Bank of England or other central banks.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea of Japan on Sunday, but it was probably not an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. It was most likely an intermediate range version designed to annoy its neighbours. As a direct result the United States will probably fast-track the deployment in South Korea of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system developed by Lockheed Martin - an automated missile defence shield.

Russian and Chinese hunter/killer submarines are apparently cruising the world's oceans in readiness for war with the US and its allies. The Russian submarine fleet is much reduced from the Cold War days when it operated than 200 subs but it still has 60 or so and China is reported to have 70 compared with the US's current attack sub force of about 50. US allies have relatively a handful of operational submarines between them.

Chinese bombers and fighter planes flew close to Japan yesterday. They went past Okinawa through to the Western Pacific . The action is similar to Russia flying two bombers close to the UK on Thursday. Both countries appear to be demonstrating that they have significant air power and are prepared to use it. The events are probably a response to US claims that it has a right to overfly the South China Sea. The next step may well be demonstration flights down the US west coast either by Russia, China, or both.

The Russian air force had a bit of fun with the Brits, flying two Tupolev TU-160 heavy bombers around Scotland and down the Irish Sea out into the Bay of Biscay, The RAF scrambled fighters and so did France and Spain but the Russian planes re-traced their flight and returned home. At no time did they enter British, French or Spanish airspace so presumably they were just demonstrating that they could do it. Much like the US flying over the South China Sea! Maybe they will try the same along America's Pacific coast.

With the US, Russia and China seemingly rushing headlong into a war, for the first time since the US civil War the Americans may have to fight on their own territory- after years of stamping around the world creating havoc everywhere else. In recent months Russia has established significant military installations along its eastern seaboard, including missile silos, naval facilities and bases for ground troops - some within 80kms of the US. So any war will not simply involve long range attack by hypersonic missiles - there may well be hand-to-hand combat across the country as troops advance. Many people don't realise that the Russians had parts of America as a colony for some years. Russian America was a lucrative property until the Russians sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million.