Ten years ago, photographer and human rights
activist Muzafar Ali met Australian film maker Jolyon Hoff and
together they helped start the first refugee-led school in
Indonesia. In 2015 Muzafar was resettled in Australia and recently
they have completed another feature documentary, Watandar My
Countryman.
Former Afghan Refugee and photographer, Muzafar
Ali, discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia
for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a
search to define his own new Afghan-Australian
identity.
Watandar, My Countryman, is a documentary that
touches on some of Australia and the worlds biggest geopolitical
stories including; the relationship between colonial, ancient and
immigrant Australians, our treatment of refugees, the division
between the worlds dominant religions, the success and or lack of
success of the international forces in Afghanistan, and the power
of individuals to create change.
The Wires Aryana Mohmood spoke to Muzaffir Ali,
former refugee from Afghanistan, photographer and human rights
activist and Jolyon Hoff, film-maker.
To get the latest screening information, you
can go to watandar.com.au.
Image: Image courtesy Muzafar Ali
Produced By: Aryana Mohmood
Featured In Story: Muzaffir Ali, former refugee
from Afghanistan, photographer and human rights activist , and
Jolyon Hoff, film-maker
A new report from the Grattan Institute reveals
recent migrants within the past five years are twice as likely to
be underpaid than long-term residents with similar skills in the
same jobs.
The report also mentions in 2022, between 5% to
16% of employed recent migrants were paid less than the national
minimum wage.
From high-class restaurants in hospitality or
in heavy labor jobs in agriculture, these migrants may earn less
than $10 an hour.
The Wires Toni Pankaluic spoke with Tyler
Reysenbach, an Associate at the Grattan Institute to find out
more
Produced By: Toni Pankaluic
Featured In Story: Tyler Reysenbach, an
Associate at the Grattan Institute
On January 2018, Hazem Hamouda left his
Brisbane home for a family trip to his birthplace of Cairo, where
his daughter Lamisse was about to begin a university exchange. Upon
arrival at Cairo International Airport, Hazem was arrested in a
random sweep by authorities, accused of sympathising with a
terrorist organisation.
Lamisse abandoned what should have been two
years of education in her cultural homeland to step into the public
eye and campaign for her fathers release. Mr Hamouda was released
after a year of being detained, and this year Hazem alongside his
daughter Lamisse have completed a book encapsulating this tragic
event.
The memoir is an extraordinarily crafted
account of what its like to find your life turned upside down
overnight. Its also a nuanced discussion of race, religion, gender
and culture in Australia and Egypt, and what its like to live
between the two, from two generations of the same
family.
The Wires Aryana Mohmood spoke to Lamisse
Hamouda, Brisbane-based youth worker and writer, about her book The
Shape of Dust and how she came to write this book with her
father.
***
The book will be published on July 4 2023. You
can find this book in all good Dymocks retailers around Australia,
and from independent book sellers and it is available for pre-order
on Booktopia.
Lamisse and her father will be in Melbourne for
the emergers writers festival, speaking at the Wheeler center on
Thursday night, June 22, there are still tickets available and you
can book on the EWF website. There will also be a book launch in
Meanjin at AVID Reader on Sunday July 16 at 2pm, and to book please
go to the AVID
reader.
Produced By: Aryana Mohmood
Featured In Story: Lamisse Hamouda,
Brisbane-based youth worker and writer
Advocates across the Sexual Violence Prevention
sector are calling for an increase in funding ahead of the
Queensland State Budget set to be released
tomorrow.
Queensland sexual violence prevention services
havent received a substantial increase in core funding for 27
years. And without the funding necessary to address the recent
surge in disclosure rates and service demand, victims of sexual
violence are feeling the consequences.
The Wires Mary-Kate Hannagan spoke to Angela
Lynch, Executive Officer of the peak body for the Queensland Sexual
Assault Network to find out more.
Image: Image courtesy: Kgobo/
Wikipedia
Produced By: Mary-Kate Hannagan
Featured In Story: Angela Lynch, Executive
Officer of the peak body for the Queensland Sexual Assault
Network
On the 12 of June most of Australia, except
for Queensland and Western Australia celebrates the UKs monarchs
birthday.
Before, it was known for most peoples lives
as the Queens birthday, where there was also a Queen of Australia
which the legal system works under.
Was this figure put in lawfully into the
colonys legislature?
Short answer, no.
So now the motherland has a new monarch, but
does that make him automatically a King of the colony?
Of course not, as always there is a
procedure that must be adhered to.
So lets see if the rascals and
outlaws in the colony have done their paperwork correctly?
Does Australias Constitution allow for the
creation of a King of Australia?
Remembering that the Constitution is
Australias fundamental legal document, describing how the people in
government must act, including their oath for appointments.
Is there an enumerated head of power within
the Constitution to create a title for the King of Australia?
Lets not buy into a conspiracy theories, and
go straight to the government, after all isnt their word final?
A FOI (Freedom of Information) request was
sent to the Australian Government to provide the necessary
paperwork.
Pastor Brian Houston, the self-proclaimed greatest pastor on
earth meets his Waterloo at court in Sydney, Australia.
Why was Waterloo so significant?
Waterloo ended the wars that had convulsed Europe
since the French Revolution (1789-99). It also ended
Frances attempts, whether under Louis XIV or Napoleon, to dominate
the continent. Waterloo inaugurated a general European peace that,
apart from the brief interruption of the Crimean War (1854-56),
lasted until 1914. National Army Museum UK
The Australian Newspapers Liam Mendes tried to get the mean girl
Minister Katy Gallagher to answer a crucial question about Higgins.
She demonstrates what a piece of work she really is. Finance
Minister Katy Gallagher was defiant and all but silent as she flew
into a Canberra firestorm over her...
Are aliens extra-terrestrial? Ufologists,
contactees and abductees presume that they are. This presumption is
based on the theory that alien-astronauts visited the Earth in
ancient times to establish off-world colonies and engineer the
process of human evolution. Since the aliens supposedly come from
worlds other than our own, or so the theory goes, it follows
t...
The late Australian geopolitical analyst James ONeill wrote
this article for New Dawn 155, published in 2016. As you will read,
James accurately analysed and foretold the events that are
unfolding today.
In 1904 Sir Halford Mackinder gave a
lecture to the Royal Geographical Society in London in which he set
out a blueprint for change in the worlds geopolitical footprint.
The centrepiece of Mackinders vision was the great land mass he
called Euro-Asia, now better known as Euras...
If you were asked to come
up with a symbol for evil, very likely you would think of the
swastika. The quintessential emblem of the Third Reich, it still
evokes hatred and fear seventy years after the collapse of the Nazi
regime.
And yet not so long ago it was a symbol of blessings and good
fortune. Even its name is derived from Sanskrit roots meaning it is
good. (Other names given to it include the cross patte,
the gammadion, the hakenkreuz or hooked cross,
and the fylfot.) Today, in a somewh...
<p><p style="padding-left: 60px; padding-right:
60px;"><em>I took this video of the approach to landing in
Sydney in May, and it worked out so beautifully that I thought it
was worth sharing.</em></p> <p>It was late
afternoon, and the soft evening light is fantastic. As the video
starts, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House are in the
centre of the frame, with the central city on the right. The view
is absolutely stunning, including dramatic clouds and some rain in
the distance, though the foreground is sunny. We pass islands and
yachts on the harbour, a bridge, houses, roads, a very pointy
church spire, train lines, commercial buildings, shipping
containers, and a canal before reaching the airport. Unfortunately,
the video doesnt catch the message painted on almost the last roof
before we reached the airport fence, saying Welcome to
Perth!</p> <p>From about the 1:50 mark, you can see the
shadow of the plane sliding across buildings in the distance, and
it gives you a great impression of how low in the sky the sun was.
The shadow gets bigger and bigger and closer and closer until it
meets the plane at touchdown.</p> <div class="arve
wp-block-nextgenthemes-arve" id=
"arve-youtube-lziuotvfrxe648735b9ca116916272146"><span class=
"arve-inner"><br> <span class="arve-embed
arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio"><br> <br>
<br></span></span> <p><br>
&&&&&&
Im strongly reminded of Paul Kellys great song, Sydney from a
727.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>Now
the red roofs are catching the first rays of the morning
sun</em><br> <em>My eyes are full of sand from my
midnight run</em><br> <em>And the captain
says...</em></p></p>
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) has sent a letter to law
enforcement agencies demanding answers on undercover police
activity on January 6. The congressman cited an authenticated GoPro
video that shows at least one undercover officer urging protesters
to climb barriers and enter the Capitol building.
In an
interview with Just The News, Loudermilk confirmed the
authenticity of a GoPro video released this past March in which at
least one undercover D.C. Metropolitan Police officer can be seen
instigating illegal activity. We know that it is one of their
officers and at one point he is encouraging, and it appears hes
encouraging, hes definitely helping people climb the scaffolding,
and hes telling them go, go, go, Loudermilk told the Just the
News.
Why is an officer encouraging people to climb the scaffolding
and go into the Capitol? And secondly, why did the MPD Metropolitan
Police support department decide to put undercover officers in the
crowd? Was there intelligence that they had that was or was not
passed on to the Capitol Police and what did the Capitol police do
with that evidence, if they got it? he added.
The shocking footage shows a plainclothes MPD officer climbing
construction scaffolding while encouraging other protesters to do
the same. He also yelled go, go, go and keep moving as protesters
stood on a ledge outside the Capitol pavilion, urging them to move
forward towards the building.
The footage was obtained after January 6 defendant William Pope
of Topeka, Kansas filed
a motion on February 21. While my descriptions of the
undercover MPD officers are accurate, the media and the public
should not have to rely on my descriptions alone, Pope wrote.
It is in the interests of justice that this exhibit in support
of my motion be seen by all.
BREAKING
Undercover @DCPoliceDept
Officer body camera from Jan 6 shows:
DC Metro performed illegal acts:
-Crossed restricted lines
-Encouraged crowd to go into Capitol grounds, climb scaffolding
-Solicited help to climb scaffolding
-Joined crowd in cheers to rush Capitol pic.twitter.com/Kxhr7x0THu
I guess its just one of those months where I didnt save links
for this roundup. Nonetheless, I will plug the Ace Journal
Clubs discussion about
why low sexual desire is considered a mental disorder.
And I have a single link:
Why Do You
Always Kill Gods in JRPGs? | Moon Channel (video, 1:31 hours)
The short answer is that the evil god is capitalism. This is
a great video essay about the history of Japan, and how its
interpreted through the metaphors of Japanese mythology.
Through this lens, Japanese history is a sequence of false
gods, each rising and fallingfrom the Shogunate to Christianity to
state Shinto, and now capitalism. The game isnt mentioned in
the video, but it finally makes sense to me why Xenoblade
Chronicles 3 is about a bunch of old immortals feeding on the life
force of a populace doomed to die youngalthough I suppose that same
story could have been written from an American perspective as
well.
A good coffee is more than just a necessary morning
routine its an art. An art that has evolved over time to become one
of mans most beloved rituals, and there are some damn fine coffee
shops around the region renowned for producing some of the best
coffee in the world. A good morning coffee is an experience that
really shouldnt be interrupted, whether its a public holiday or
not.
Heres a list of some of the best places where you can
get your fix on the Kings Birthday public holiday on Monday this
week.
Brother Lawrence
Alongside the dense, chewy hoops (bagels) at Brother Lawrence,
the cafe also boasts a quaint but vibrant breakfast and lunch menu
inspired by fresh and local produce while youll also find a cabinet
stocked with focaccias, freshly squeezed juices, sparkling drinks,
hot drinks, assorted tea from Love Tea and coffee by Ona, brewed
and served to perfection. Plus there are hot cross bagels.
Open from 9am-2pm.
Where: 11 Rutland Street, Newtown.
Sweet Adeline Cafe
Whether youre keen to hit the walking track or just
stock up on some sweets, Sweet Adeline Cafe is the pop-up you need
to swing by.
Theyll be open from 8am.
Where: 1/560 Latrobe Blvd, Newtown
Vid Bar Highton
This gem is all about delivering the sweet, sweet overseas
culinary classics, headlined by a range of authentic tasty
bite-sized Greek doughnuts (aka loukoumades aka pieces of heaven).
For the public holiday, theyll be open from 11am to 10pm.
Where: 4/1-3 Belle Vue Ave, Highton
The Grove Coffee Co
Renowned for its great quality coffee, simple but quality-driven
food, and an ethos of friendly, light-hearted service driven by a
want to please, this little gem is also open.
Where: 2/85 The Terrace, Ocean Grove
Winters Cafe
Located at the river end of Pako, Winters has become
a mainstay in the Geelong brekky scene. Their menu comes equipped
with a local, seasonal focus meaning youre always going to get the
best locally sourced ingredients Geelong has to offer.
Theyll be open from 9am-2pm.
Where: 330 Pakington St, Newtown.
Geelong West Social Club
You know when you find yourself in a bit of a hurry, dont want
to spend a heap of money, but want some good tasty food and smooth
hot coffee, where do you go? The Geelong West Social Club, thats
where especially with their delicious array of bagels.
The G.W.S.C team are open 8am-1pm.
Where: 1b Yuille Street, Geelong West
Brown Deli
Tucked away on Geelongs Waterfront, Brown
Deli is the new pint-sized cafe to draw in the locals with its
Korean-inspired bagels, toasties, coffees and good vibes throughout
the week...
The Australian Government and its subsidiaries is corrupt to
the core.
The colonys residents live in a totalitarian state, where
propaganda states that democracy prevails.
MANY are also oblivious to the corruption within the legal
business, but dont count on the mainstream medias investigative
journalists to tell you, as theyve been wiped out a while ago,
where theyre basically government and corporate lapdogs.
So called free speech has been a thing of the past for a
while, where it was crushed since the advent of an (alleged) global
health situation.
Governments and their subservient news outlets together with
the worlds largest advertising corporations masquerading as social
media (Meta) and search engines (Google) and others, went on a
vicious assault on free speech removing information under the
banner of alleged misinformation.
People even posting official government documentation were not
only stopped from doing so, but also banned from sites.
In Australia one does not have the alleged democratic right to
protest, but rather has to ask for permission from the states
police forces.
or Kim Jong-Uns North Korea communist regimes, but better for those
in government and not people.
The legal profession is one that cons people into many
actions, where consent is the most important one, which is obtained
via fear, force or deception.
One of the governments fraud on the people during the past 3
years was the unlawful issuing of Infringement Notices, or
colloquially known as Covid fines
This government fraud has been exposed for New South Wales and
also Victoria, but the governments are still chasing people for
them, where it's crickets for the other states.
Never forget that the federal government also acted
unlawfull...
Dane Wigington GeoengineeringWatch.org The
completely unprecedented Canadian wildfire incinerations are
creating and feeding a massive solar radiation
management "smoke apocalypse" that has covered the majority of
the North American continent. Does this scenario serve primary
stated objectives of climate engineering operations? The short
answer is yes. On the other side of the world record shattering
heat is fueling
In the coming days and weeks, Americans will
likely spend a lot of time discussing and arguing over former
President Donald Trumps indictment. Ideally, these should be
fact-based conversations. However, it is much more likely that the
opinions of a lot of people will be tainted by misinformation and
propaganda.
As a service to our readers,WhoWhatWhywill
periodically make available primary sources that will help
Americans better understand what is happening.
Yesterday, for example, we publishedthe text of the indictment, which every American should read prior to forming an opinion
about what Trump may have done or not done and whether those
actions likely constituted a crime.
Today, we want to take a closer look at the
Presidential Records Act, recent guidance about it that the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) published, and
the answers to some frequently asked questions that might come up
as people discuss the indictment.
The
Presidential Records Act (PRA)requires
presidents and vice presidents to turn the records they created
while in office over to NARA when their term ends.
The law unambiguously states that the US
retains complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential
records.
In addition, the president is expected to turn
these records over right away. There is no provision in the law
that allows them to sort through them first. Obviously, presidents
take a lot of stuff from the White House when they move out.
Therefore, it is possible that they discover presidential records
among their things at some point in the future.
When that happens, they are expected to quickly
notify NARA and turn those records over.
However, it is important to note that there is
a difference between presidential records and personal records. The
former must be turned over, but the president can hold onto the
latter.
Personal records are defined as documentary
materials of a purely private or nonpublic character which do not
relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the
constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties
of the President. T...
<p><p><p><img alt="" class=
"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" height="150"
src=
"https://21stcenturywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BASIL-BLAKE-5623-150x150.jpg"
width="150"></p> <p>In this episode of the <a
href=
"https://tntradio.live/shows/patrick-henningsen-show/"><span
class= "s1"><b>Patrick Henningsen
Show</b></span></a> on TNT Radio which aired on
June 6, 2023, Patrick talks with our roving correspondent for
culture & sport, Basil
Valentine, and 21WIRE writer and commentator Blake Lovewell, about the problems with the UKs
new Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot scheme, and also the Dutch
farmers revolt and why the Gates and the globalist cabal are waging
war on meat consumption and nutrition. They also look at the
counter-arguments against drug legalisation. Later in the segment,
they also interrogate the latest obvious Ukrainian false flag
attack against the Kakhovka dam and what the implications of this
act of sabotage are. All this and more.
<em>Listen:</em></p> <p><span
class="mce_SELRES_start" style= "display: inline-block; width: 0px;
overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><em>More from Basil:<br> <a
href=
"https://twitter.com/says_basil">Twitter</a><br></em></strong>
<em><strong>More from
Blake:</strong></em><br>
<em><strong><a href=
"https://21stcenturywire.com/category/blake-lovewell/" rel=
"nofollow noopener" target=
"_blank">21stcenturywire.com</a></strong></em></p>
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LIVE to TNT RADIO for the Patrick Henningsen Show every MON-FRI at
12PM-2PM (NEW YORK) | 5PM-7PM (LONDON) | 2AM-4AM
(BRISBANE):<br></strong> <a href=
"https://tntradio.live/"><strong>https://tntradio.live</strong></a></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">READ
MORE GREAT RESET NEWS AT:</span> <a href=
"https://21stcenturywire.com/tag/great-reset/">21st CENTURY WIRE
GREAT RESET FILES</a></strong></p>
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adsanity-alignnone" id=
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France must reduce its number of cows to meet its
climate change commitments and the EU 2030 Net Zero carbon
targets.
In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which
aired on June 7, 2023, Patrick talks with independent French
researcher and journalist Freddie Ponton, about a new report recently
published by Frances Court des Comptes (Court of Auditors)
indicating that France must cull its number of cows to meet its
climate change commitments and EU 2030 Climate Target Plan. Freddie
exposes the strange timing pertaining to the release of this report
which coincides with French Prime Minister lisabeth Borne release
of the new government plan of action to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in Frances farming industry. Freddie goes on to talk
about French company InnovaFeed and its largest active insect
production site in the world whose aim is to provide the market
with huge demand for alternative protein-based ingredients. Freddie
ends the interview by touching upon the latest Intelligence report
regarding the Nord Stream sabotage and explains why the narrative
presented by The Post and the CIA intel documents is a clumsy
attempt to mislead the public. All this and more.
Listen:
TUNE-IN
LIVE to TNT RADIO for the Patrick Henningsen Show every MON-FRI at
12PM-2PM (NEW YORK) | 5PM-7PM (LONDON) | 2AM-4AM
(BRISBANE): https://tntradio.live
via ChildrensHealthDefense.org: Where did the global biosecurity
agenda come from? Where is it going, what was it intended to do?
Was it hijacked, or was it always nefarious? How then do the IHR
Amendments and Pandemic Treaty fit into this, and who were the
funders? Dr. Meryl Nass and James Corbett continue their discussion
in the 7th installment of their series on the WHO + One Health to
answer these questions and more, with former WHO expert Dr. David
Bell. Tune in!
While we all want a better transport system, disruption fatigue
is becoming a real factor for passengers, particularly on the train
network. On some lines, there have now been major disruptions every
year since 2016. Not all of these are in the name of better rail
services. This winter a two week shutdown of lines Continue
reading Big Build burnout?
After seven months of nutrition
investigation, Im utterly convinced that this is the truth. No
conspiracies here, its occurring in broad daylight right in front
of our faces.
Amazingly, he makes a terrible mistake when he mentions the
removal of fiber from processed food. Nobody needs fiber. It has
zero nutrional value. Its removal has absolutely nothing to do with
the metabolic syndrome epidemic.
Lets explore Shapeshifting. That very human talent to change and
adapt with curiosity and exploration. How will we adapt to
artificial intelligence, especially in a job market that suddenly
looks VERY different? GPTs on GPTS the report from OpenAI, OpenLabs
Research and the University of Pennsylvania gives very interesting
insight into the jobs that will impacted hundreds of them from 19%
exposure to 100%. Tax assessors dont do too well. 100% replacement
and 50% faster. But sometimes, were not interested in exploring or
being curious or learning. We just want to get by.
Ive got some bad news for those of you who just want to chill.
This is not the time to do that. Were giving birth to AI at the
moment. The world is pushing and straining, and its going to come
whether we want it or not. Do we get caught in a rut? Thats not my
job. Thats not how this job should be. This isnt what I planned
for. I dont understand this person. Why do I have to be the one to
find common ground? Why do I have to work with AI?
I have a long and boring list of jobs that are impacted by
AI/ChatGPT and how to pivot and adapt. Skip that part.
We look at Underemployment in Australia due to AI: a single
person jobsharing with AI and 9 other people wont be enough hours.
Roy Morgan report on underemployment (currently at 17.1%) is more
comprehensive than ABS unemployment (3.4%). Those numbers are about
to skyrocket. I hope this episode has given you some thoughts about
how to copilot with AI, how to move through this next phase with
curiosity and wonderment rather than fear and trepidation,
understanding that maybe your job will never be the same again. But
thats okay, because theres a new approach, a new way of doing
things thatll be interesting and keep you engaged.
Resources below as well as my AI Is My CoPilot course (in
Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Virtual) please go to the
Australian Institute of Management website if interested: please
dont do my course unless it suits but please please please, do SOME
education on AI. This thing is moving FAST.
Transcript of Alchemy of Innovation
episode 4: Artificial intelligence, jobs in Aust...
It may not yet have dawned on Australia, but the rest of the
world is waking up to the threat of net zero policies. At our
recent editorial meeting in Melbourne, I was shocked to discover
just how far behind Australia is on this awakening.
Almost all media coverage in Europe and the US is already highly
critical of net zero. Even the politicians have woken up.
In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a
halt on new green legislation coming out of the EU.
Germany successfully torpedoed the EUs attempt to ban combustion
engine cars.
In the UK, some councils are refusing to cooperate with the
governments demands to impose net zero policies.
Net zero is so unpopular in the UK that politicians are using it
as a punching bag for all sorts of barely related shortcomings. For
example, one minister is blaming her inability to carry out Brexit
reforms on the constraints imposed by the emissions commitment.
Companies worldwide are also turning their backs on net zero at
an increasing pace. Seven insurance companies have quit the
Net-Zero Insurance Alliance a part of the powerful group called the
Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero which pressures financial
industries into adopting net zero policies.
Even the only remaining cheerleaders for net zero journalists
are having second thoughts. The Financial Times covered the
staggering cost of a green hydrogen economy.
Financial markets cottoned on to this shift first. Green energy
stocks plunged in 2022 and clean energy tech companies favourite
bank in California went bust in 2023
Just when an energy crisis was supposed to prove renewable
energys credentials and capabilities, the world concluded the
precise opposite. It turned to coal instead.
While Australia still grapples with the impossible implications
of net zero, the rest of the world is already moving on to
pondering solutions instead. And, as slowly as humanly possible,
theyre reaching the painlessly obvious solution: nuclear power.
In October 2021, the UKs Independent Review of Net Zero report
commissioned by the government concluded that nuclear power is a
no-regrets option for the UK.
In April 2022, the UK government outlined its plans for nuclear
power. These include building eight new reactors plus smaller
modular reactors, set to provide 25% of the UKs electricity demand
by 2050.
In Japan, utility companies are applying for 27 reactor
restarts, with 17 passing safety checks and 10 resuming
operations.
In South Koreas March 2022 presidential elections, a pro-nuclear
candidate defeated an anti-nuclear incumbent who planned to phase
out nuclear power.
The countrys 26 reactors produce about a quarter of its
electricity, but the new president wants to increase this to at
least a third. Plans include extending the life of existing
reactors and building new ones.
Mikki Willis documentary, Plandemic Part 1 was released May 4,
2020, and has since been viewed over 1 billion times, a record, for
sure, for any documentary. This, despite it being heavily censored.
Plandemic Part 2: Indoctornation has been viewed more than 200
million times.
One of the keys to the videos remarkable successes was Willis
decision to allow (and encourage) people to download the movie
files and upload them anywhere they pleased, without
restrictions.
This virtually guaranteed he wouldnt make any money from the
films, but he viewed them as a gift to humanity. Putting the truth
out there was more important than making a buck. Besides, hosting
the films on any given platform would allow the opposition to
simply nuke that one site, ensuring the films wouldnt be seen by
anyone.
Plandemic 3 Will Expose Power Players and Their Intentions
Plandemic: Indoctornation features the brilliant David Martin,
Ph.D., who has documented and tracked white collar crime for
decades and invented technologies that help trace the flow of
funding. Willis explains:
We decided in Plandemic 2 to really follow the paper trail.
And I'm very glad we made that decision because it has been
bulletproof. Every single claim that David Martin made in the film
has been 100% validated at this point.
He's the one that actually helped educate [Sens.] Rand Paul
and Ron Johnson when they started to go after [Dr. Anthony] Fauci
to finally hold him accountable for his decades of crimes.
[Martin] had the paper trail of how much money had been
spent, that had been moved through a company called EcoHealth
Alliance, and where it ended up in Wuhan at the lab.
But as important as it is to know where the virus
originated, it goes so far beyond that in the next [film]. We are,
I will announce right now, producing Plandemic 3. And that one's
going to go even further into who's behind this [virus] and why. Is
this really about money? The answer is, for the most part, no. The
people at the top of the pyramid, they can just print their own
money.
It's really about ultimately creating a state of dependency,
through which you can then control the human population. We're
going to go deeper and really show the trail on how that works, the
history of that, and how it's led us to this moment right
now.
deal of our population into fighting for these very
wicked forces, unknowingly, unwittingly.
Around the corner from my Brunswick St office, at the RNA
showgrounds, work is underway on the Exhibition station upgrade so
its ready for Cross River Rail, Brisbanes new subway system. This
appears to have necessitated traffic control on Gregory Terrace,
the latest of many disruptions associated with the mega project.
With all the disruptions, cost blowouts, and the possibility public
transport usage wont recover to its pre-COVID trajectoryits now at
only 80-90% of pre-pandemic levels according to the
Brisbane Timesits legitimate to question whether Cross River
Rail was a good investment of public funds. Its looking more likely
the critics were right about the project, which could ultimately
cost in the order of $10 billion.
As questionable a project as Cross River Rail is, at least its
not as bad as the $100 billion Melbourne suburban rail loop the
Victorian Government green-lighted and which is receiving billions
in federal funding, despite the state government not submitting a
business case to Infrastructure Australia (see
Daniel Andrews Suburban Rail Loop proceeds without business
case).
Clearly we can do better in infrastructure decision making
across Australia, and one positive step toward that was suggested
by Allegra Spender and her fellow Teal MPs last month when they
proposed to legislate for compulsory disclosure of estimated costs
and benefits of any major project proposed for Infrastructure
Australias priority list (see Allegra Spenders tweet below). This
seemed eminently sensible to me, so I was aghast it was knocked
back by a Government-Opposition team up. Both major parties have a
mutual interest in continuing the current system which provides
insufficient protections against pork barreling it seems.
It is disappointing that the ALPs commitment
to integrity didnt survive the move to the government benches. We
dont...
Many years ago I was on an email list dealing with human
biodiversity until dropped, I think, for apostasy. The
members were of academic distinction, including many with
degrees in the sciences from such schools as CalTech,
Harvard, and Berkeley. They were interested in how humans are and
how we got that way. As their chosen explanation, they espoused
orthodox Darwinism. I had my doubts, as some of their theories
sounded cockamamie.
I was surprised to find how furiously they reacted to questions
regarding evolution. One was Razib Khan, a gifted geneticist, who
was so incensed with what I thought were innocent doubts that he
furiously forbade mention of my name by commenters at GNXP.com, his
own website. This intrigued me. Given his intelligence and academic
credentials I figured that, if he couldnt answer questions,
probably nobody could.
The anger of some went beyond the civil, odd since they were not
uncivil people. One Said that I was trying to pull down
science. which I would have thought beyond my power. Apparently if
one asked questions about a scientific theory, one wanted to pull
down science. I was however flattered to think they believe me able
to do this.
Razib described me as arrogant, (I had always wanted to be
arrogant, but couldnt find a convincing pretext). Again, I was
taken aback. I was asking questions, which are admissions of
ignorance. How was that arrogance.
But they never answered my questions. They still dont. Is this
how science works?
Why the anger at Darwinian irreverence? I can only
speculate. The sensitivity suggest uncertainty. Biology depends on
evolution as its framework and substructure: without it, the field
would become chaotic, a collection of unrelated observations. Large
egos have been committed to the theory. Evolution in the broad
sense, from Big Bang through Darwin, provides an overarching
explanation of everything, a sort of religion manque, preventing
some from waking at three in the morning and wondering, Where the
hell are we?
Please note that I did not invent the following questions
regarding evolutionary mechanisms, though I may have come up with
the particular example. For at least a couple of decades serious
skepticism has arisen, sometimes from molecular biologists
and their ilk and often from mathematicians, who are less
emotionally attached to Darwin. Perhaps the first of well known
skeptics was Dr. Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh
University whose book, Darwins Black Box, was the first
exposition both technically impecc...
Forty-eight hours before a global peace conference in Vienna,
Austria, was to begin, the venue host abruptly cancelled. Peace, it
seems, cannot be discussed, especially peace in Ukraine.
This news is
a disturbing step in a growing trend.
Owners of the venue which was to host the Summit for Peace in
Ukraine, announced on Wednesday, 7 June, 2023, their decision to
cancel the agreement holding the summit on their premises.
Fortunately, a new location was secured in Vienna (and anyone on
Earth can sign
up to take part online), but not before a smear campaign
against the summit had been launched.
The venue owners reportedly explained: We have decided to comply
with the wishes of Ukraine and its embassy operating in Austria and
have cancelled the rental of all rooms in the GB catamaran for the
event International Summit for Peace in Ukraine next weekend.
This was not just one venue taking this position. On Wednesday,
the Press Club Concordia also refused to make its premises in a
central location in downtown Vienna available for a press
conference of the summit.
Supporters of the summit note the chilling innuendo caused by
the abrupt cancellation of the summit. Speakers widely regarded for
their moral and intellectual guidance have been undermined in
statements intended to justify objections to the summit.
This is not an isolated incident. Western liberal ideals have
long asserted that the best answer to mistaken speech was wiser
speech and more of it. We now have a rapidly growing liberal
consensus in favor, instead, of censoring media outlets, canceling
speaking events, and forbidding people with unwanted points of view
from even gathering together. Powers are being granted to
governments, social media platforms, and other tech corporations
that believers in democratic self-governance spent centuries
claiming nobody should have.
Those who turn against free speech are often groups afraid they
cannot win an honest debate. And so, they take up censorship. The
movement for peace in Ukraine can take this as a compliment.
Governments fear such a discussion of peace and instead smear this
peace summit and the speakers.
PMID: J Ginseng Res. 2023 Mar ;47(2):218-227. Epub 2021
Dec 2. PMID: 36926602 Abstract Title: Ginsenoside Re inhibits
myocardial fibrosis by regulating miR-489/myd88/NF-B pathway.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is an advanced
pathological manifestation of many cardiovascular diseases, which
can induce heart failure and malignant arrhythmias. However, the
current treatment of MF lacks specific drugs. Ginsenoside Re has
anti-MF effect in rat, but its mechanism is still not clear.
Therefore, we investigated the anti-MF effect of ginsenoside Re by
constructing mouse acute myocardial infarction (AMI) model and
Anginduced cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) model.METHODS: The anti-MF
effect of miR-489 was investigated by transfection of miR-489 mimic
and inhibitor in CFs. Effect of ginsenoside Re on MF and its
related mechanisms were investigated by ultrasonographic, ELISA,
histopathologic staining, transwell test, immunofluorescence,
Western blot and qPCR in the mouse model of AMI and the Ang-induced
CFs model.RESULTS: MiR-489 decreased the expression of-SMA,
collagen, collagenand myd88, and inhibited the phosphorylation of
NF-B p65 in normal CFs and CFs treated with Ang. Ginsenoside Re
could improve cardiac function, inhibit collagen deposition and CFs
migration, promote the transcription of miR-489, and reduce the
expression of myd88 and the phosphorylation of NF-B p65.CONCLUSION:
MiR-489 can effectively inhibit the pathological process of MF, and
the mechanism is at least partly related to the regulation of
myd88/NF-B pathway. Ginsenoside Re can ameliorate AMI and
Anginduced MF, and the mechanism is at least partially related to
the regulation of miR-489/myd88/NF-B signaling pathway. Therefore,
miR-489 may be a potential target of anti-MF and ginsenoside Re may
be an effective drug for the treatment of MF.
PMID: Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai). 2023 Mar 14
;55(4):633-648. PMID: 36916297 Abstract Title: Ginsenoside
Rh2 suppresses colon cancer growth by targeting the
miR-150-3p/SRCIN1/Wnt axis. Abstract: Ginsenoside Rh2, which
is extracted from ginseng, exerts antitumor activity. Recent
studies suggest that Rh2 may suppress the growth of colon cancer
(CC). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this
study, we identified the relative levels of miR-150-3p in CC
tissues and cells by a comprehensive strategy of data mining,
computational biology, and real-time reverse transcription PCR
(qRT-PCR) experiments. The regulatory effects of miR-150-3p/SRCIN1
on the proliferative and invasive abilities of CC cells are
evaluated by CCK-8, EdU, wound healing, and transwell assays. Cell
cycle- and apoptosis-related protein levels are assessed by western
blot analysis. Antumor formation assay was conducted to explore the
effects of miR-150-3p on tumor growth. Furthermore, bioinformatics
and dual luciferase reporter assays are applied to determine the
functional binding of miRNA to mRNA of the target gene. Finally,
the relationship between Rh2 and miR-150-3p was further verified in
SW620 and HCT-116 cells. miR-150-3p is downregulated in CC tissues
and cell lines. Functional assays indicate that the upregulation of
miR-150-3p inhibits tumor growth bothand. In addition, SRCIN1 is
upregulated in CC and predicts a poor prognosis, and it is the
direct target for miR-150-3p. Moreover, the miR-150-3p mimic
decreases Topflash/Fopflash-dependent luciferase activity,
resulting in the inhibition of Wnt pathway activity. Rh2 can
suppress the growth of CC by increasing miR-150-3p expression. Rh2
alleviates the accelerating effect on Wnt pathway activity, cell
proliferation/migration, and colony formation caused by miR-150-3p
inhibition. Rh2 inhibits the miR-150-3p/SRCIN1/Wnt axis to suppress
colon cancer growth.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) continues its steady march
higher in the polls, now reaching an all-time high of 19 percent in
the latest INSA poll conducted for the Bild newspaper. The results
have sent yet another "shockwave" through the political and media
establishment, with politicians from both the left and the moderate
Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) fiercely debating what is behind the
rise of the AfD. The party is known for its strict anti-immigration
stance, opposition to sanctions on Russia as well as German weapons
being sent to Ukraine, and criticism of green energy policies being
promoted by the left-liberal ruling government. Comment: The answer
appears to be in plain sight. However, the term "shock" being used
to describe the party's rise in the polls is being rejected by the
AfD's Bundestag faction leader, Alice Weidel. "Every three days,
the Bild has to announce an 'AfD survey shock.' That's not a shock,
that's called democracy. And it shows that people have...
In honor of World Environment Day, Id like to
share a personal story highlighting how pipeline companies damage
communities in my state and how were fighting back.</p>
<p>Pipeline construction has already been destructive! For
years, fossil fuel corporation Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners
(ETP) plan was for the Mariner East 2 and 2X pipelines to transport
highly explosive natural gas liquids from fracking overseas to
produce single-use plastics. Construction for this project wreaked
havoc on my community and left us with dangerous
pipelines.</p> <p>In 2017, because of drilling being
done for this project, the aquifer underneath my neighborhood was
hit! The water that flowed from this spill destroyed the private
wells residents relied on for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Thats
when their dirty project really came to the forefront of my
life.</p> <p>My neighbors and I demanded an
explanation. But, when we realized how difficult it was to get
straight answers from Sunoco/ETP, and how likely they were to keep
doing the dangerous drilling, we got to work, and I took on a new
role as an activist against the Mariner East pipelines.</p>
<p>We worked with Pennsylvania Senator Andy Dinniman to get
temporary halts to the drilling and pursued longer-term
moratoriums. We bird-dogged Sunoco/ETP every time something went
wrong like when Sunoco/ETP didnt self-report as theyre required to
do when sinkholes occurred.</p> <p>My community and I
are still fighting back against the threat of more pipeline
construction. Its a David vs. Goliath kind of battle, but weve
carved out essential wins along the way.</p> <p>These
fights dont just affect one person they affect entire communities,
states, and the country. And though my story involves the Mariner
East 2 pipeline, it reflects the kinds of fights going on in
communities nationwide. Its why I joined Food & Water Watch
because were in this together, and were making lasting
change.</p> <p>Join us in the fight to secure safe
wa...
Will the next two years be a big turning point in your
community?
The Strong Towns Community Action Lab team is
ready to work with your local leaders, municipal staff, and area
residents to spark the bottom-up, incremental change that will have
a lasting impact on your community.
Bring your town together for 24 months of coaching,
training, and impactful public events.
If your community is selected to host a Community
Action Lab, youll see local advocates, elected officials, and
municipal staff team up with Strong Towns to dig deep and address
the thorny issues your city faces. The two-year agenda includes
professional training, public engagement processes, communications
support, and custom-designed educational materials.
This program is what so many communities have asked
Strong Towns to do to help them set a course for revitalization and
prosperity, and we're honored to answer the request for the second
year, says Director of Community Action Edward Erfurt.
RFKs prospects for the 2024 presidential election,
and the UK governments war on the free press.
In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which
aired on May 29, 2023, Patrick talks with our roving
correspondent for culture & sport, Basil
Valentine, reviews RFKs prospects for the 2024
Election and also exposes the UK governments war on the free press,
as journalist
Kit Klarenberg is harassed for exposing deep state scandals,
before being thrown under the bus by Britains journalist Union, the
NUJ just as they did with Assange. All this and more.
Listen:
TUNE-IN
LIVE to TNT RADIO for the Patrick Henningsen Show every MON-FRI at
12PM-2PM (NEW YORK) | 5PM-7PM (LONDON) | 2AM-4AM
(BRISBANE): https://tntradio.live
Dismantling the scientism still plaguing us
post-Covid.
In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which
aired on May 29, 2023, Patrick talks with Luther about
the increasingly delusional approach to virology by mainstream
science and media who are appearing to rest on their laurels,
demanding the lay public appeal to their authority when The Science
continues to fall apart post-Covid. All this and more.
Listen:
TUNE-IN
LIVE to TNT RADIO for the Patrick Henningsen Show every MON-FRI at
12PM-2PM (NEW YORK) | 5PM-7PM (LONDON) | 2AM-4AM
(BRISBANE): https://tntradio.live
What can you expect from a government headed by a comic actor
named Zelensky? We see the answer to that question day by day in
the way the Ukrainian armed forces are carrying out their
much-anticipated spring counter-offensive: it is being stage
managed by the Public Relations team with scant regard for their
cannon fodder
Continue reading The Ukrainian
Army is Run Not by the Generals But by the PR Department
Comments by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News
We are republishing the report by Dane Wigington of Geoengineering.org published
last year (2022) titled Wildfires As A Weapon: US Military
Exposed.
Wildfires As A Weapon: US Military Exposed
Is the military industrial complex insane enough to incinerate
Earths last remaining forests in order to achieve the objectives of
the global controllers?
The short answer is yes. A formerly classified US military
document titled Forest Fire As A Military Weapon is a truly
shocking expos of planned scorched Earth destruction.
The US Forest Service actually participated in the research and
planning that went into this military instruction manual for
carrying out orchestrated forest
fire catastrophes.
What part have climate
intervention operations played in the preparation of
forests for extreme and unprecedented incineration all over
the world?
The short video report below reveals the shocking degree of
research that the US military and the US Forest Service has
put into preparing forests for extreme incineration.
Click the PDF image below to view the entire
formerly classified US military
documentForest Fire As A Military
Weapon:
The climate engineering atrocities are a primary factor in the
equation of exponentially increasing forest fires and fire
intensity.
Comments by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News
We are republishing the report by Dane Wigington of Geoengineering.org published
last year (2022) titled Wildfires As A Weapon: US Military
Exposed.
Wildfires As A Weapon: US Military Exposed
Is the military industrial complex insane enough to incinerate
Earths last remaining forests in order to achieve the objectives of
the global controllers?
The short answer is yes. A formerly classified US military
document titled Forest Fire As A Military Weapon is a truly
shocking expos of planned scorched Earth destruction.
The US Forest Service actually participated in the research and
planning that went into this military instruction manual for
carrying out orchestrated forest
fire catastrophes.
What part have climate
intervention operations played in the preparation of
forests for extreme and unprecedented incineration all over
the world?
The short video report below reveals the shocking degree of
research that the US military and the US Forest Service has
put into preparing forests for extreme incineration.
Click the PDF image below to view the entire
formerly classified US military
documentForest Fire As A Military
Weapon:
The climate engineering atrocities are a primary factor in the
equation of exponentially increasing forest fires and fire
intensity.
Comments by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News
We are republishing the report by Dane Wigington of Geoengineering.org published
last year (2022) titled Wildfires As A Weapon: US Military
Exposed.
Wildfires As A Weapon: US Military Exposed
Is the military industrial complex insane enough to incinerate
Earths last remaining forests in order to achieve the objectives of
the global controllers?
The short answer is yes. A formerly classified US military
document titled Forest Fire As A Military Weapon is a truly
shocking expos of planned scorched Earth destruction.
The US Forest Service actually participated in the research and
planning that went into this military instruction manual for
carrying out orchestrated forest
fire catastrophes.
What part have climate
intervention operations played in the preparation of
forests for extreme and unprecedented incineration all over
the world?
The short video report below reveals the shocking degree of
research that the US military and the US Forest Service has
put into preparing forests for extreme incineration.
Click the PDF image below to view the entire
formerly classified US military
documentForest Fire As A Military
Weapon:
The hound flipped through the channels with the remote but could
only find two mollusks debating how stupid Joe Biden is and the
National Weather Service talking about a terrible pestilence
sweeping the land.
Wait! said the cat. Lets see what they named the terrible
pestilence.
The crawl says theyre calling it the Victoria Nuland! said the
hound. Hey, its time already for the CIA mockingbird news.
At this the cat sprang off the couch and got nose to nose with
the screen, switching his tail from side to side, as the
mockingbird fluttered and chirped away:
In our continuing exhausting award-winning coverage of Russias
Hitler-like attack on Ukraine, we sum up the irrefutable truths so
far: Russia bombed its own Nord Stream gas pipeline, bombed its own
ammonia pipeline, bombed its own journalists in its own cafe,
bombed its own Kerch bridge, tortured and killed its own allies and
sympathizers in Bucha, attacked the Kremlin with drones, bombed its
own troops holding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and
destroyed the Nova Kakhovka dam so Russian defenses and minefields
would be washed away and water would be cut off to its soldiers and
allies in Crimea.
The cat turned his head to the hound and said, Can you believe
this shit?
And the hound answered: I know! I never saw a country attack
itself so much. Its like it has an auto-immune disorder like a
really bad gluten allergy.
And that, children, is how Vladimir Gluten got his name.
From Reuters: When federal enforcers alleged in 2015
that New York surgeon Feng Qin had performed scores of medically
unnecessary cardiac procedures on elderly patients, they decided
not to pursue a time-consuming criminal case.
Instead, prosecutors
chose an easier, swifter legal strategy: a civil suit. Qin agreed
to pay $150,000 in a negotiated settlement and walked free to
perform more cardiac surgeries at his new solo practice in lower
Manhattan.
Qin faced no judge or
jury. He did not admit to wrongdoing. He maintained his license to
practice. Whats more, neither Qin nor government officials were
required to notify patients who purportedly were subjected to
vascular surgical procedures they didnt need. Those included
fistulagrams to spot issues like narrowed blood vessels or clots,
and angioplasties to open clogged coronary arteries.
Within months of the
settlement, a registered nurse working for Qin at his Manhattan
practice alerted authorities that something seemed amiss. The
nurse, who ultimately turned whistleblower, alleged to federal
prosecutors that the surgeon was performing unnecessary procedures
on patients, mostly elderly Asian and Black immigrants whose care
was covered by the public programs Medicare or Medicaid.
Prosecutors indicted
Qin in 2018 on a felony count of fraud, which carried a maximum
sentence of 10 years in prison. But in 2021, in a deal brokered
behind closed doors, prosecutors dropped that charge in favor of
yet another civil settlement, court records detailing that
agreement show.
Once again, Qin kept
his New York license to practice with no restrictions; a restricted
license is one of the few ways the public can learn that a doctor
has been disciplined for bad behavior. Qin agreed to pay a total of
$800,000 in annual installments ending in December 2025, deposited
with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. As an added penalty, he
was banned from billing public health programs until February
2025.
. . . The
registered nurse who reported Qin to authorities in 2015 was
stunned that the criminal charge was dropped.
A wealthy doctor
bought his way out of jail, whistleblower Mark Favors told Reuters
in his first public interview about the Qin case. How many people
get a deal like that?
By David Swanson, Executive Director of World BEYOND War; Kathy
Kelly, President of World BEYOND War; John Reuwer, Board Member of
World BEYOND War; Brad Wolf, Director of Peace Action, Lancaster,
PA
Forty-eight hours before a global peace conference in Vienna,
Austria, was to begin, the venue host abruptly cancelled. Peace, it
seems, cannot be discussed, especially peace in Ukraine.
This news is
a disturbing step in a growing trend.
Owners of the venue which was to host the Summit for Peace in
Ukraine, announced on Wednesday, 7 June, 2023, their decision to
cancel the agreement holding the summit on their premises.
Fortunately, a new location was secured in Vienna (and anyone on
Earth can
sign up to take part online), but not before a smear campaign
against the summit had been launched.
The venue owners reportedly explained: We have decided to comply
with the wishes of Ukraine and its embassy operating in Austria and
have cancelled the rental of all rooms in the GB catamaran for the
event International Summit for Peace in Ukraine next weekend.
This was not just one venue taking this position. On Wednesday,
the Press Club Concordia also refused to make its premises in a
central location in downtown Vienna available for a press
conference of the summit.
Supporters of the summit note the chilling innuendo caused by
the abrupt cancellation of the summit. Speakers widely regarded for
their moral and intellectual guidance have been undermined in
statements intended to justify objections to the summit.
This is not an isolated incident. Western liberal ideals have
long asserted that the best answer to mistaken speech was wiser
speech and more of it. We now have a rapidly growing liberal
consensus in favor, instead, of censoring media outlets, canceling
speaking events, and forbidding people with unwanted points of view
from even gathering together. Powers are being granted to
governments, social media platforms, and other tec...
Almost every country in the world has signed up to the Paris
Agreements goal of keeping warming well-below 2C and pursuing
efforts to limit it to 1.5C.
As countries gear up to conclude the first global stocktake of
progress under the Paris Agreement, you might be wondering how
things look for the long-term temperature target.
This seems a simple question, but when looking around for
answers one cannot help but come back either disappointed or
confused.
On the other hand, the UN environment programme,
plus otherstudies and reports, suggest that
achievement of the Paris Agreement is right there in front of us,
within reach if not for a slight additional push. These estimates
project warming already below 2C and moving towards the 1.5C
limit.
These two answers span an unhelpfully broad range from disaster
avoided to disaster confirmed.
In the early 20th century, the field of psychology was
revolutionized by a concept known as the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI). Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel
Briggs Myers, developed the MBTI based on Swiss psychiatrist Carl
Jungs theory of psychological types. Over the years, the MBTI has
transformed into a reliable psychological instrument used in
various fields such as career counseling, team building, personal
development, and even relationship counseling. At present, an
estimated 2
million peopletake the
MBTI test annually, demonstrating how well-known it is by the
general population.
The MBTI categorizes individuals into 16 different personality
Sensing vs Intuition, Thinking vs Feeling, and Judging vs
Perceiving. Each personality type is represented by a unique
four-letter code (e.g., INFJ, ESTP). Today, were going to match
each of these personality types to their ideal city, taking into
account their inherent traits, values, and preferences.
Heres Where You Should Live Based On Your Myers-Briggs
Personality Type
Zaki Rasooli was a
professional mixed martial arts fighter in Afghanistan, before
fleeing the country after the Taliban captured Kabul (MEE/Ali
Latifi)
When Zaki Rasooli arrived in Abu Dhabi in October 2021, the
mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter thought hed only be in the
Tasameem resettlement camp for a few days before being airlifted to
the United
States to start a new life.
Instead, he spent 18 months in misery.
By the time he arrived in the Emirati capital, it had only been
two months since the Taliban had returned to power in Afghanistan,
but it was already evident to Rasooli and other evacuees that the
United
Arab Emirates had far surpassed the 5,000 Afghans the country
said it would house until they could be resettled in a third
country.
Less than a month later, Rasooli and the 3,000 other Afghans in
the camp lost even more hope when Washington suspended its daily
chartered flights from the UAE to the US on 7 November.
As time went on and answers became more scarce, Rasooli said the
Afghan evacuees began to feel suffocated in the
detention-like conditions inside the camp, which he was told
should have housed no more than 2,000 people.
Norman Fenton Where Are The
Numbers.substack.com June 4, 2023
Heiko Schoening (a German medical doctor) was arrested at Hyde
Park London in Sept 2020 for talking about what he claimed was the
planned origins of covid. Norman Fenton caught up with Heiko at a
meeting in Bath, 4 June 2023 when he returned to the UK to attend
the World Council for Health BetterWays Conference in Bath. Heiko
told Norman that the reason given for his arrest was that he
participated in a public event with more than 30 people and hence
was in breach of covid regulations for which there was supposed to
be a 100 fine. But Heiko was taken to a police station and held in
solitary confinement for many hours. His mobile phone and computer
were confiscated and never returned. Despite it being quite a major
event at the time, it seems impossible to find much information
about it on the internet by googling. All videos about it seem to
have been removed; not just those on YouTube
but all others
also. What you can find is a
formal question from David Kurton to the London Mayor on the
London Assembly website which the Mayor Sadiq Khan would not answer
as it was an ongoing investigation
From guide dogs to emotional support animals,
the use of animals for emotional and physical support has been a
popular therapy for decades. However, there is one four-legged
friend that specifically helps people to take back the reins when
navigating addiction and mental health conditions.
Equine Assisted Therapy is the practice of
using horses as a form of rehabilitation therapy. The early
sessions of equine therapy generally focus on building a
trust-based relationship with the therapist horse (or
horses). Although equine therapies can
have valuable benefits across a range of conditions, its
particularly beneficial for those who may feel like their issues
are trapped in their mind, namely people who experience anxiety,
PTSD, or chronic stress.
Speaking with The Wires Aryana Mohmood about
the value of equine-assisted therapy is Marian Cartwright,
an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist.
Produced By: Aryana Mohmood
Featured In Story: Marian Cartwright, Equine
Assisted Psychotherapist.
New research reveals the majority (86%) of
Australian businesses believe that the career prospects of
employees are limited if they work from home, but only just over
half (56%) of employees are aware of this.
Hybrid arrangements remain the main working
model in Australia, yet employees are bracing for the shift back to
full time office working, with just over a third (34%) revealing
they believe this will take place by 2025.
The Wires Aryana Mohmood spoke with Emma
Foster-Mitrovski,
the CEO of Unispace Across Australia and New Zealand about these
findings: particularly the career prospects of remote workers and
the growing disconnection between Australian employees and
employers.
Produced By: Aryana Mohmood
Featured In Story: Emma Foster-Mitrovski, the
CEO of Unispace Across Australia and New Zealand
The weaponization of the vaccine industry and how
our basic rights were dismantled during the global
pandemic.
In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which
aired on June 1, 2023, broadcasted LIVE at the Better Way
Conference in Bath, UK. Patrick talks with Dr. Meryl Nass who
works with Childrens Health Defense, about the challenges facing
Western civilization after the realization of how our basic rights
were dismantled during the global pandemic crissi. Dr. Nass also
talks about the weaponization of the vaccine industry, specifically
the horrific effects questionable pharmaceutical products have had
on members of the military. All this and more. Listen:
TUNE-IN
LIVE to TNT RADIO for the Patrick Henningsen Show every MON-FRI at
12PM-2PM (NEW YORK) | 5PM-7PM (LONDON) | 2AM-4AM
(BRISBANE): https://tntradio.live
On Friday 12 May, Bowenville (near Toowoomba)
based Cessna 525 CitationJet CJ1+ bizjet VH-JSZ was noted arriving
into my local Clermont Aerodrome from Archerfield.
File photo
After taking on fuel, it then departed to Normanton and then
Darwin.
While Machjet (Machjet International) Cessna 525 Citation CJ1
bizjet VH-SIY flew up from Archerfield to Rockhampton Airport
before then continuing further North. It later returned to
Rockhampton Airport and then back to Archerfield.
And Navair Flight Operations Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 VH-HQK
as "Navair 141" flew up from Dubbo and Sydney to Hamilton Island
Airport before then flying back down to Dubbo.
Meanwhile, also on Friday 12 May, Auscott
P/L Beechcraft B200GT King Air VH-NMW flew up from Toowoomba and
Archerfield to Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport before then
flying back to Toowoomba.
UPDATE! A week later on Friday 19
May, VH-NMW did the opposite flight up from Toowoomba to
Proserpine Airport and then down to Archerfield and back to
Toowoomba.
Telford Aviation Beech A36 Bonanza VH-MPT flew down from the
Whitsunday Airport at Shute Harbour down to my local Clermont
Aerodrome. It then departed to Bundaberg Airport and then
Archerfield.
It seems that VH-MPT had flown North from Archerfield via
Bundaberg Airport for the Whitsunday Airport at Shute Harbour two
days prior.
Locally-based (but Mackay-registered) Mooney M20J VH-NWF flew
back to Clermont Aerodrome from Caboolture having flown down there
two days earlier as well.
NSW based Cessna 310J VH-DKY flew down from the Whitsunday
Airport at Shute Harbour to Bundaberg Airport before continuing to
Coffs Harbour.
It seems to have flown up from its Coffs Harbour base to the
Whitsundays...
(L) Ms ODea, accompanied by Shadow Foreign Secy Michael
Ancram, left, and Euro MP Neil Parish, Photo: Richard Austin,
Western Morning News (R) Google Map of southern Africa
by Mary W Maxwell, LLB
During this vigil of the Brisbane trial of Russell Pridgeon and
Patrick ODea, Ive hardly said much about Patrick. So I typed
ODea, Zimbabwe into a search and what came up was Patricks sister
Kathleen ODea. Her marvelous autobiography is called Marshmallow
Fishes. So I ordered it from abebooks.com, and now it is in
my hand. Its also in my spirit eegads what a book!
It was published in 2014, so its not about Operation Noetic. Its
about joy. Its about being alive. Its about caring for the people
in ones nation. Let me ask you offhand how many times have you
knocked on the door of 10 Downing Str...
We spent a couple of weeks visiting four national
parks in north-east NSW for three nights each that wed missed in
the past. First off was the Cypress Pine Campground in Boonoo
Boonoo National Park (below), just across the Queensland border.
The park adjoins Queenslands Girraween National Park.
Much better facilities here (generally the case with
NSW versus Queensland parks) and nice big camp sites. Platypus was
seen frequently in the creek below the camp but the only image was
the poor effort below of one swimming past a Little Pied
Cormorant.
The Constitution gives some Australians more rights than others.
Or in the words of George Orwell borrowed by Opposition Leader
Peter Dutton, some Australians are more equal than others. They are
called Tasmanians.
Why is that so? Because the founders thought that the smaller
colonies would not have a reasonable say in the affairs of the
Commonwealth. They could be silenced or squeezed out.
So, the founders provided that each colony on becoming a state
in the federation would have a minimum of five members and each
would have an equal number of senators, irrespective of the size of
their population.
In the first House Tasmania got the five minimum members and has
had them ever since even though its population would warrant
fewer.
The inequality between the states was part of the federal
compact a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation, as
it was expressed at the time.
That federal compact, of course, completely left out some of the
people who lived on the continent the indigenous population, who
were expressly not counted for the purposes of determining how many
members of Parliament each state would get.
That was rectified somewhat in 1967 when the Constitution was
changed to count them.
But that did not acknowledge that since 1788 Europeans have come
to Australia dispossessing Indigenous people of what was their
land. That process only stopped in 1993 with the recognition of
native title.
And still there is no recognition of the prior occupation and
ownership and continuous connection with the land.
With what we know now, it is surely time to bring Indigenous
people into our federal compact and go beyond recognition, and to
give a voice to Indigenous people, in an equivalent way to which
the people of the smaller colonies got an extra constitutionally
guaranteed extra voice.
No one says that it unfair that Tasmanians get one senator for
every 45,000 people, but in NSW it is one for every 680,000 people.
No one says it is unfair that Tasmania gets one MP for every
108,000 people, but in NSW it is only one for every 175,000
people.
And even with that more equal electoral advantage, Tasmanians
are behind people in other states on just about every
socio-economic measure. Just like Indigenous people. The Voice is
the very least we can do. Yes, a truth commission and a treaty
would be better. But unless the Voice is approved, they will never
happen.
The Tasmanian example is instructive because Tasmania could well
be the decisive state. If Queensland and Western Australia vote No
and the overall majority is for Yes, the Tasmanian vote will
decide: their Yes means Yes wins; their No means No wins.
Tasmanians should reflect on this and reject Duttons specious,
narrow, self-serving argument that if Yes wins Indigenous people
will be more equal. Just as it has been rec...
On Thursday 11 May, Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF) Airbus A330-203 / KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport
(MRTT) A39-001 as "Dragon 62" was noted completing a missed
approach at Rockhampton Airport. It looked to fly down from
Townsville to complete the airwork at Rockhampton Airport before
then flying down to RAAF Base Amberley.
File photo
A39-001 "Dragon 62" had earlier departed Amberley and landed
at Townsville.
Of interest, also on Thursday 11 May,
fellow RAAF KC-30A MRTT aircraft A39-006 as "Dragon 51" and A39-004
as "Dragon 16" were also in the air and flew through Central
Queensland airspace as they flew North and South through the
state.
Finally, also on Thursday 11 May, RAAF
Boeing B737-7ES / E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning &
Control (AEW&C) aircraft A30-005 as "Mitchel 16" completed some
late airwork at Rockhampton Airport including a missed approach
while on a flight from and back to RAAF Base Williamtown.
<div>On <b><i>Thursday 4
May</i></b>, Link Airways (Corporate Air / Vee H
Aviation) Cessna 441 Conquest VH-VEH as "Survey 23", which had
landed at Emerald Airport from Goulburn yesterday, flew survey work
out of Emerald Airport through the day. </div>
<div><br></div> <table align="center"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class= "tr-caption-container"
style= "margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"> <tbody>
<tr> <td style="text-align: center;"><a href=
"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmZYP2-JxYt662aVHQ20p5PqUu22ZOoUF8tmmwu7yoDEGyquEHUOPqthOKZxdph_cam1RmMcMAQrAHVYlystw8Dn7bVz4Um0HaVLW1DQ2dcxiQDK63OLIFfUcUerWAZ4nBHN7oPPoyH5Nkq_v3wMLPr0BH2Gc_brs8SL81lkgeZA3RAa0m9F1jC69/s3886/52580443962_9f7a04af4a_o.jpg"
style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img
border="0" height="213" src=
"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmZYP2-JxYt662aVHQ20p5PqUu22ZOoUF8tmmwu7yoDEGyquEHUOPqthOKZxdph_cam1RmMcMAQrAHVYlystw8Dn7bVz4Um0HaVLW1DQ2dcxiQDK63OLIFfUcUerWAZ4nBHN7oPPoyH5Nkq_v3wMLPr0BH2Gc_brs8SL81lkgeZA3RAa0m9F1jC69/s320/52580443962_9f7a04af4a_o.jpg"
width="320"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td
class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File
photo</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div
style="text-align: center;"><br></div>
<div><b>UPDATE!</b> On
<b><i>Wednesday 17 May</i></b>, VH-VEH
"Survey 23" looked to start operating out of Mackay
Airport.</div> <div><br></div>
<div><b>UPDATE!</b> On
<b><i>Tuesday 23 May</i></b>, VH-VEH
"Survey 23" looked to depart Mackay Airport for Goulbourn at the
end of its deployment.</div>
<div><br></div> <div>Flight Testing
Services Australia (Brisbane) PA-31/A1 Navajo VH-WHE also completed
an aerial survey fight out of and back to Emerald Airport -
possibly both working for the same company. VH-WHE originally
flew into Mackay Airport from its Redcliffe base in April and it
looked to fly into Emerald Airport from Mackay Airport earlier this
week.</div> <div><br></div>
<div><b>UPDATE!</b> On
<b><i>Sunday 21 May</i></b>, VH-WHE
departed Mackay Airport and returned to Redcliffe at the end of its
deployment. VH-WHE ended up operating out of both Charters
Towers Aerodrome and Mackay Airport in the days since writing this
post.</div> <div><br></div>
<div>Meanwhile, also on <b><i>Thursday 4
May</i></b>, Brisbane-based Crockett Aviation Group
Beech B200 King Air VH-FAQ visited the Labona Station Airstrip
within Adani Australia's (Bravus Mining & Resources) Carmichael
Coal Mine site from Archerfield and the Sunshine Coast.
Air Link (Dubbo) Beech B200 King Air VH-ISS fle...
A nice helicopter to be noted passing through Charleville
Airport on Monday 8 May was Timberline
Helicopters (USA) Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk N563DJ. It
looked to fly in from Scone in New South Wales and later depart to
Mount Isa where it appears to be staying for the night.
Robert Myers /
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
On Tuesday 9 May, N563DJ was due to
continue to Darwin in the Northern Territory. It is believed
that it will continue to its final destination in Indonesia in the
coming days.
Of interest, the refurbished ex-US Army Blackhawk has been
operating during the Australian bushfire season out of Scone with
locally-based Pay's Helicopters as "Helitak 260". Pay's
Helicopters has been in partnership with Idaho-based Timberline
Helicopters since 2016. Under the agreement, a refurbished
UH-60A Black Hawk has been used extensively in firebombing
operations across regional New South Wales.
While Queensland Government (QGAir) Rescue (State of
Queensland) Leonardo S.P.A. Helicopter (Agusta) AW139 helicopter
VH-EGK popped into Emerald Airport while flying North to Townsville
from Archerfield.
And Avalon Aviation / Executive Helicopters Airbus Helicopters
EC 130 T2 helicopter VH-VNG departed Hamilton Island Airport for
Saint Lawrence, Gladstone and Biggenden Airports. It looks to
have flown into Hamo last Thursday 4 May.
Meanwhile, also on Monday 8 May, Dalydine
P/L (Pilatus Australia) Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-PDE flew up from
Archerfield to Emerald Airport before then departing to Tumbar
Station/Jericho and points further West all the way up to Mount
Isa.
UPDATE! On Thursday 11 May,
VH-PDE flew back into Emerald Airport from Riveren, Tennant Creek
and Caldervale Station before then returning to Archerfield.
While Brescon (Toowoomba) Beech B200 King Air V...
On Wednesday 3 May (Happy Birthday Me!), and
on other days this week, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing
F/A-18F Super Hornets and Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic
warfare jets have been noted completing exercises within the
Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA).
Defence image...
They have been flying up from RAAF Base Amberley in formations
using callsigns such as "Cannon", "Carbine", "Colt" and "Buckshot"
for the Super Hornets from No. 1 Squadron, while the Growlers from
No. 6 Squadron have been flying as "Sabre" and "Brutal".
They have also been heard to fly low-level around Fraser
Island and the Sunshine Coast.
Meanwhile, also Wednesday 3 May, two Boeing
C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft from the Royal Australian
Air Force (RAAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) have again
flown North via CQ airspace before calling into Townsville.
The RAAF C-17 was identified as A41-209, while the USAF C-17 was
identified as 05-5146, and they were heard to be flying together as
"Charger".
One bird slowly circling overhead. A really good view with
binocs. My second positive I'd of this species in my area in 51
years of birdwatching. But had a few more sightings that I were not
sure of.
On Sunday 30 April, Avcair (Avgunn)
LearJet 60 bizjet VH-ILJ was noted visiting the region once again,
this time arriving into Rockhampton Airport from Brisbane and
Cairns.
File photo
VH-ILJ then departed to Brisbane.
While another frequent visitor in the form of Bowenville
(near Toowoomba) based Cessna 525 CitationJet CJ1+ bizjet VH-JSZ
arrived into Rockhampton Airport again from Archerfield.
UPDATE! on Monday 1 May,
VH-JSZ departed Rockhampton Airport for Dalby and then
Archerfield.
And LifeFlight (Aeromed) Canadair CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604
bizjet VH-OFC "Ambulance 634" arrived into Rockhampton Airport from
Brisbane then departed back to there.
Meanwhile, also on Sunday 30 April,
Aircraft Australia Cessna 310R VH-JQK visited Rockhampton Airport
from Redcliffe and the Sunshine Coast.
BPW Aviation / Airspeed Aviation Beech 58 Baron VH-SQC arrived
into Rockhampton Airport from Tamworth before it then departed to
Toowoomba and back to Tamworth.
And Dubbo based Reedy Creek Forestry Cirrus SR22 VH-ZIR
arrived into Longreach Airport from Dubbo before it then departed
to Karumba.
On Friday 28 April, Stroud Aviation and
Transportation (Boonah) / Navair Flight Operations Cessna 510
Citation Mustang bizjet VH-SHI as "Navair 125" was spotted at
Rockhampton Airport after earlier arriving from Archerfield.
VH-SHI "Navair 125" later returned to Archerfield.
While Avcair (Avgunn) LearJet 60 bizjet VH-ILJ was back in the
region again, this time visiting Longreach Airport from
Brisbane.
And late on Thursday 27 April, LifeFlight
(Aeromed) Canadair CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604 bizjet VH-OFB
"Ambulance 624" flew up from Brisbane to Rockhampton Airport. It
later returned to Brisbane.
Meanwhile, also on Friday 28 April, the
Queensland Police Service (Airwing) Cessna 208 Caravan VH-PSY also
arrived into Rockhampton Airport from Cairns before later returning
there via Townsville.
While the Queensland Police Service (Airwing) (State of Queensland)
Raytheon B1900D VH-PSK arrived into Rockhampton Airport from Cairns
and Townsville before it later departed to Cairns direct.
Aircair Aviation (Aircair Helicopters) Cessna 340A VH-MPQ landed at
Longreach Airport from Moree before it then later departed to
Mckinlay.
UPDATE! On Monday 1 May,
VH-MPQ returned to Longreach Airport from Mckinlay before the
flying back to its Moree base.
And new Bell 407GXi helicopter VH-VPE flew up from Moree to Roma
Airport and further up to my local Clermont Aerodrome and then
Townsville on delivery to Nautilus Aviation. It originally
departed Bankstown the previous day and is due to continue to
Orpheus Island and then Cairns early on Saturday 29 April.
On Thursday 4 May, Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) Dassault Falcon 7X bizjet A56-003 was spotted on the ground
at Rockhampton Airport. It had earlier arrived from Brisbane
as "Envoy 13".
After some time on the ground, A56-003 "Envoy 13" departed
Rockhampton Airport for Albury and then Canberra.
Meanwhile, overflying the region, also on Thursday 4 May (and at other times during the past week),
were a pair of United States Air Force (USAF) Boeing C-17A
Globemaster III transport aircraft which have been identified as
05-5146 and 05-5149, often flying with a Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF) C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft
A41-209.
The formations of Globemasters have been flying as "Charger"
while the USAF Globemasters have been heard using their own radio
callsigns of "Slew 91" and "Slew 92".
They have been flying together as a part of the joint military
Exercise Global Dexterity.
On Monday 15 May, a search for two missing
persons brought several fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft to the
Fraser Coast region and specifically, at least, Bundaberg
Airport.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) (Cobham SAR
Services Pty Ltd) Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604 bizjet
VH-XNC as "Rescue 440" flew down from Cairns to complete and
coordinate Search and Rescue operations North of Fraser
Island
File photo
It acted as overseer for search helicopters, LifeFlight Bell
412s VH-XCI "Rescue 522" and VH-XCK "Rescue 511", plus Heli-Aust
Whitsundays (Gladstone Helicopters) Airbus Helicopters EC135 P3
(CPDS) VH-ZGH, and McDermott Aviation / Heli-Lift Australia
Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin helicopter N365JA and Aerospatiale
AS.355F1 Squirrel helicopters VH-YUR and VH-YEU.
During the afternoon, VH-XNC "Rescue 440" called into
Bundaberg Airport for fuel before then returning to Cairns.
Of interest, Brisbane-based Heli Support (Aust) / Aviation
Utilities Eurocopter AS.350B3 Squirrel helicopter VH-HTV
"Media 48" was also in the area covering the search for television
media.
Meanwhile, also on Monday 15 May, Seair
Pacific (Istlecote) Cessna 208 Caravan VH-TFB arrived into
Rockhampton Airport from Maryborough Airport then flew to
Middlemount Aerodrome and back to Rockhampton Airport before
departing to Lady Eliott Island.
As usual, Brisbane-based Crockett Aviation Group Beech
B200 King Air VH-FAQ looked to head up to the Labona Station
Airstrip within Adani Australia's (Bravus Mining & Resources)
Carmichael Coal Mine site from Archerfield and the Sunshine
Coast. But due to inclement weather in the area, it stopped
in at my local Clermont Aerodrome before eventually continuing to
Labona. VH-FAQ then ret...
The Australian Government is moving in the right direction, but
not fast enough, with fiscal policy if it wants to fight inflation.
It appears too reliant on the expected cessation of
pandemic-related stimulated measures to support its claim that the
Budget is contractionary. And arguably it should be running a
bigger surplus in 2022-23 and a surplus rather than a deficit in
2023-24, if it wants to make a substantial contribution to the
fight against inflation. This is clear from Treasury estimates
presented in the 2023-24 Budget, as explained in this article.
In defending his Budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers observed Our
budget is contractionary when inflation is at its highest, as
quoted in
The Australian. Is it true the Budget is contractionary?
Critics have argued the federal government isnt being fiscally
responsible because spending is increasing. This is true, but the
size of the economy and government revenue are also increasing.
What matters is how spending and revenue changes compare with what
they would be in a fiscally-neutral scenario. How should we judge
the governments fiscal impact or impulse with respect to the
economy, or whether its aggregate spending and revenue choices make
sense given the state of the economy?
According to IMF economists Garry Schinasi and Mark Lutz in the
1991 Working Paper
Fiscal Impulse:
The IMF measure of the fiscal impulse is the change in the
fiscal stance, which is an estimate of the initial amount of
expansionary or contractionary pressures placed by the budget on
aggregate demand. This measure of fiscal impulse attempts to remove
changes in the actual budget balance that are transitory in a
cyclical sense.
The fiscal stance can be considered as an estimate of what the
budget balance would be if cyclical influences (i.e. the state of
the economy relative to its trend) were removed. The fiscal impulse
is the change in the fiscal stance, and it tells us whether the
government budget will add more or less to aggregate demand in one
budget year than in a previous year.
There is no perfect way of estimating the fiscal stance, and
hence the fiscal stimulus, but various organisations such as the
IMF and Treasury have tried doing so. While the Treasury doesnt
explicitly indicate the fiscal impulse of the budget, it does
provide measures that help us determine whether the Government
Budget can be considered expansionary or contractionary. The
Treasury gives us an indication of the fiscal stance of the
Government in the Fiscal Strategy and Budget Outlook chapter
of...
On Monday 24 April, Navair Flight
Operations Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 bizjet VH-LXZ as "Navair 199"
visited Mackay Airport from Bankstown and Cessnock.
File photo
Meanwhile, also on Monday 24 April,
Brisbane-based Crockett Aviation Group Beech B200 King Air VH-FAQ
visited the Labona Station Airstrip within Adani Australia's
(Bravus Mining & Resources) Carmichael Coal Mine site from
Archerfield and the Sunshine Coast. VH-FAQ later flew up from
Archerfield to Rockhampton Airport.
Seair Pacific (Istlecote) Cessna 208 Caravans VH-TLH and
VH-TQW arrived into Rockhampton Airport from the Gold Coast and
Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport respectively.
They, along with VH-FAQ, then all flew out to Labona and then
back to Rockhampton Airport.
UPDATE! On Tuesday 25 April,
VH-FAQ, VH-TLH and VH-TQW all departed Rockhampton Airport once
again to Labona and are due back into Rockhampton Airport before
then departing to their respective home ports.
UPDATE! On Wednesday 26
April, Seair Cessna 208 Caravan VH-TQW actually stayed at
Rockhampton Airport from the previous night, departed for
Middlemount Aerodrome before then flying down to Maryborough
Airport and Hervey Bay Airport.
The Queensland Police Service (Airwing) (State of Queensland)
Raytheon B1900D VH-PSK arrived into Rockhampton Airport from Cairns
and Townsville before then departing to Brisbane. It later
returned to Townsville and then Cairns.
Brescon (Toowoomba) Beech B200 King Air VH-XDW arrived into
Rockhampton Airport from Thargomindah then departed to
Wellcamp.
And Machjet International Beech B200 King Air VH-ZPY arrived
into Rockhampton Airpor...
<p>On <b><i>Thursday 27
April</i></b>, Poolhurst Aviation Air Charter Services
Pilatus PC-24 jet VH-VTF was noted visiting Proserpine (Whitsunday
Coast) Airport.</p> <div><br></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class=
"tr-caption-container" style= "margin-left: auto; margin-right:
auto;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align:
center;"><a href=
"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiS8oF21M9dFLAANsqRx-nhxnMqTqkMqDUN2CRAXz8aCDCxNPrM-ADicejgvkVyYup3gSmPPr_RksDfOUL1vF9l09gWvCiEZbBIJ-hKxHq3eiaIajWyUKR1mNyrr6doiszVV_jxmMZHA1MXS1JNL78KqhMFoBL94Y-cfovNrGRPzxgBB4HeFy0H2KRT=s2048"
style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img
border="0" height="213" src=
"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiS8oF21M9dFLAANsqRx-nhxnMqTqkMqDUN2CRAXz8aCDCxNPrM-ADicejgvkVyYup3gSmPPr_RksDfOUL1vF9l09gWvCiEZbBIJ-hKxHq3eiaIajWyUKR1mNyrr6doiszVV_jxmMZHA1MXS1JNL78KqhMFoBL94Y-cfovNrGRPzxgBB4HeFy0H2KRT=s320"
width="320"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td
class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File
photo</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<div><br></div> <div>It looked to fly from
its Archerfield base to Warwick and then up to Prosie before
continuing to Townsville. VH-VTF then returned to Warwick and
then Archerfield.</div> <div><br></div>
<div>Mitchell Water Cessna 525 Citation M2 bizjet VH-WMY was
noted flying up from Melbourne (Moorabbin) and Melbourne (Essendon)
to Mackay Airport before returning to those places via Roma
Airport.</div> <div><br></div>
<div>And Avcair (Avgunn) LearJet 60 bizjet VH-ILJ visited
Rockhampton Airport from Brisbane.</div>
<div><br></div> <div>Meanwhile, also on
<b><i>Thursday 27
April</i></b>, Dalydine P/L (Pilatus Australia)
Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-PDE was back in the region, flying up to
Mackay Airport once again from Archerfield before then heading
across to Keeroongooloo. It then returned to
Archerfield.</div> <div><br></div>
<div>McNab Aviation Cessna 414A VH-FKH visited Rockhampton
Airport from its Toowoomba base via Archerfield.</div>
<div><br></div> <div>Brisbane-based
Crockett Aviation Group Beech B200 King Air VH-FAQ visited the
Labona Station Airstrip within Adani Australia's (Bravus Mining
& Resources) Carmichael Coal Mine site from Archerfield and the
Sunshine Coast.
Air Link (Dubbo) Beech B200 King Air VH-ISS flew up to Labona
from and back to Archerfield. </div>
<div><br></div> <div>The Queensland Police
Service (Airwing) (State of Queensland) Raytheon B1900D VH-PSK
arrived into Rockhampton Airport from Cairns and Mount Isa before
later returning to Cairns.</div>
<div><br></div> <div>...
On Thursday 27 April, Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF) Boeing B737-7ES / E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early
Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft A30-006 was noted
completing airwork at Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport.
File photo
It looked to fly up from RAAF Base Williamtown to complete airwork
including possibly three missed approaches at Hervey Bay
Airport.
A30-006 was flying as "Wedgetail 07" and later returned to
Williamtown via more airwork at Coffs Harbour.
A flock of budgerigars landed beside me when I was observing
Other birds in open grassy area with patchs of trees right beside
the road that leads to Broadwater camp ground before rangers house.
Very rare sighting , not on ebird list.i was very surprised. Must
be at its eastern limit in that area 48 birds observed in 2
days.
Over the past year, the growth in advertised wages
has been led by Queensland, with a very solid +5.5 per cent.
However, over recent months the trend has been
coming off hard, except in New South Wales, which still managed
+1.2 per cent growth in the wages index over the past quarter.
Source: SEEK
The growth between March and April was just +0.2 per
cent.
Source:
SEEK
This is further evidence that as labour supply
floods into the country wages growth peaked in the the third
quarter of 2022, and is now decelerating.
There's only been modest growth in this index over the past six
months.
<p>On <b><i>Friday 21
April</i></b>, a nice visitor to the 'far-flung'
corners of the region (!) in the form of new Textron Aviation
(Cessna) 208B Grand Caravan EX N673EX which appears to be heading
'home' following two months of being 'down under' in the
South-Pacific region, completing a demonstration tour of most parts
of Australia and also New Zealand and some South-Pacific Island
nations.</p> <div><br></div> <table
align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class=
"tr-caption-container" style= "margin-left: auto; margin-right:
auto;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align:
center;"><a href=
"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RcpLHPRmHQa4zredm7CsGlhsyardiCvsFXvMWQvnicESVKL-2mCGNtbWUmzbwSs8RlcF0M8TlOsXVNSAnECudgE3EWPHDCsoNN_J9ewkS00N0YgUKhRt1N7azP4UEsh1SoB8MXGlfnXPRTobUOSMruDScJ6J77sjsb8oxjSPbQ2dm7px0aj_Txmw/s1852/N673EX.jpg"
style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img
border="0" height="213" src=
"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RcpLHPRmHQa4zredm7CsGlhsyardiCvsFXvMWQvnicESVKL-2mCGNtbWUmzbwSs8RlcF0M8TlOsXVNSAnECudgE3EWPHDCsoNN_J9ewkS00N0YgUKhRt1N7azP4UEsh1SoB8MXGlfnXPRTobUOSMruDScJ6J77sjsb8oxjSPbQ2dm7px0aj_Txmw/s320/N673EX.jpg"
width="320"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td
class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File
photo</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div
style="text-align: center;"><br></div>
<div>N673EX flew into Cloncurry Airport from Brisbane before
then continuing to Darwin. It is expected to depart overseas
the next day.</div> <div><br></div>
<div>N673EX had originally arrived into Australia back in
mid-February and has since spent time in most states of Australia,
New Zealand and some small South-Pacific Island
nations.</div> <div><br></div>
<div>Meanwhile, also on <b><i>Friday 21
April</i></b>, the Queensland Police Service
(Airwing) Cessna 208 Caravan VH-PSV visited Rockhampton Airport
from Cairns and Townsville.</div>
<div><br></div> <div>And Skytrans Airlines
Dash-8-100 VH-QQB as SKP779 flew up from Brisbane to the Labona
Station Airstrip within Adani Australia's (Bravus Mining &
Resources) Carmichael Coal Mine site before flying across to
Rockhampton Airport and then back to Brisbane.
Finally, also on Friday 21
April, Machjet (Machjet International) Cessna 525A
Citation CJ2 bizjet VH-ZIY was noted visiting Hamilton Island
Airport again this time from the Sunshine Coast.</div>
<div><br></div> <div>Fellow Machjet
International Beech B200 King Air VH-ZPY also looked to visit
Hamilton Island Airport but from Cairns. It also appeared to
visit Charters Towers Aerodrome the previous
day. </div> <div><br></div>
<...
On Saturday 22 April, the visiting New South
Wales based Amateur-built Bearhawk 4 Place Model B VH-TGN finally
departed Central Queensland, looking to head back to RAAF Base
Richmond where it seemingly is operated by the RAAF Richmond
Gliding Club.
Phillip Brown
/ https://www.flickr.com/
The Bearhawk departed Rockhampton Airport for Gladstone
Airport before continuing to Goondiwindi and Richmond.
VH-TGN arrived into the region at the start of the week and
visited Emerald Airport as well as visiting Rocky and
Gladstone.
Also on Saturday 22 April, Beech 35 Bonanza
VH-UXV arrived into Rockhampton Airport from Toowoomba.
Australian Wings Academy Cessna 172s VH-WWJ and VH-EEA flew up
to Rockhampton Airport from Archerfield before then continuing to
Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport.
UPDATE! It looked like VH-WWJ and VH-EEA returned
to Archerfield from Proserpine Airport via Biloela / Thangool and
Redcliffe Airports on Tuesday 25 April.
And Bowenville (near Toowoomba) based Cessna 525
CitationJet CJ1+ bizjet VH-JSZ arrived into Rockhampton Airport
from Archerfield before then departing to the Sunshine Coast and
the Shellharbour Airport at Wollongong.
UPDATE! On Sunday 23 April,
VH-JSZ returned to Rockhampton Airport from Shellharbour and the
Sunshine Coast before then returning to Archerfield.
Meanwhile, also on Sunday 23 April,
Dalydine P/L (Pilatus Australia) Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-PDE flew up
to Mackay Airport from Sydney and Keeroongooloo, in the South-West
corner of Queensland. It had arrived there from Charleville
Airport a couple of days prior.
On Wednesday 26 April, sleek new Mike Tango
Operations (Toowoomba) Textron Aviation (Beech) B200GT Super King
Air 260 VH-8MT was spotted visiting Rockhampton Airport. It
arrived from Toowoomba and Bankstown and then later departed to
Bellevue Station on Cape York.
UPDATE! On Thursday 27 April,
VH-8MT returned to Rockhampton Airport, flying in from
Normanton. It then departed to Archerfield and
Toowoomba.
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday 26 April,
Seair Pacific (Istlecote) Cessna 208B Grand Car...
The big economic question for 2023 is how much the Australian
economy will slow down in response to interest rate increases,
regarding which we should expect more to come. Queenslands economy
will benefit from a high-performing mining sector, but theres
little doubt well slow down, too.
The federal budget forecasts GDP growth in 2023-24 of 1.5%, down
from 3.25% in 2022-23. Australias population is forecast to grow
1.7% in 2023-24, which implies a slight fall in per capita GDP.
Behind the slowdown is a reduction in dwelling construction (-3.5%
change) off the recent peak associated with pandemic-related
stimulus and a reduction in consumer spending growth to 1.5% in
2023-24, down from 5.75% in 2022-23. If the slowdown is worse than
expected, it will be because the Treasury, and the RBA for that
matter, have underestimated the impact of rate rises on consumer
spending.
We know retail turnover in real terms is falling as households
cut back on purchases of durable goods. This is likely due to a
combination of rising prices, interest rate increases, and
Australians returning to overseas holidaying. Queensland
experienced the largest fall in the March quarter with real retail
turnover falling 2.2% compared with a national average decline of
0.6% (Figure 1).
Following a visit to Ghana (the next six posts on
this blog), Bill Watson and I had two days in the United Arab
Emirates to break the journey home 23-24 April, 2023. We stayed in
the Ibis One Central Hotel in Dubai. On the first day I headed
south to Kite Beach and Al Sufouh Beaches to look unsuccessfully
for Socrota Cormorant, but had to make do with some interesting
sights as an introduction to the UAE.
The Korean government agencies funding and insuring the Barossa
gas project face significant and mounting risks on two fronts
native title and climate-related risks. says an April IEEFA
report.The Barossa Gas project is located in Sea Country associated
with the Tiwi Island in the Northern Territory. This Gas field has
extremely high levels of CO2. A protest was held organised by
the Beyond
<p>Congratulations to Jordy Groffen and Roy Farman, each a
recipient of the 2023 Ric Nattrass Research Grant! Jordy is a PhD
student at James Cook University, and Roy is a PhD student at the
University of New South Wales. Here is a summary of their work, in
their own words.</p> <div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft is-resized"><img alt="" class=
"wp-image-1116" height="234" src=
"http://www.qldfrogs.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Roy.jpg"
width="374"> <figcaption>Roy in his PhD lab at UNSW. Photo
courtesy of Roy Farman.</figcaption> </figure>
</div> <p>Roys research will aim to use the Quaternary
fossil record of Queensland to explore the biogeographic ranges of
fossil frogs and compare those ranges to living frog species today.
Additionally, he aims to to compare the fossil frog response to
climatic change events compared to living frogs.</p>
<p>Roy says:</p> <blockquote
class="wp-block-quote"> <p>I intend on using my taxonomic
guide of Australian frog ilia, as well as MicroCT scans and
geometric morphometrics to identify fossil frogs from Queensland
and then compare the biogeography of extant and fossil frogs from
Queensland fossil deposits. My project will benefit frogs in QLD by
increasing our understanding of palaeobiogeographical patterns,
understanding of skeletal elements among Australian frogs, the
evolution of Australian frogs and their relationship between other
species, as well as increasing our understanding of the types of
frogs present in Queensland during the Tertiary and Quaternary
periods.</p> </blockquote> <p>Jordys research
will focus on the Nursery frogs (<em>Cophixalus</em>
& Austrochaperina), which are terrestrial breeders
with direct development eggs are laid in moist leaf-litter and are
attended through development by a male frog. As eggs laid on land
are predicted to be at risk of desiccation from higher temperatures
and lower moisture, predicted from a changing climate.</p>
<p>Jordy says:</p> <blockquote
class="wp-block-quote"> <p>Breeding biology of these
species is very poorly known. I will study parental care across
<em>Cophixalus</em> species, under varied environmental
conditions in the field (low elevation, upland areas, heatwaves,
drought), to uncover the details of nest choice and parental
care.</p> </blockquote> <div
class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="alignright
is-resized"><img alt="" class= "wp-image-1117" height="395"
src=
"http://www.qldfrogs.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Jordy.jpg"
width="322"> <figcaption>Jordy out in the field testing
equipment. Photo...</figcaption> </figure>
</div>
In November 2022, a team of QFS volunteers returned to Kroombit
Tops National Park to undertake additional monitoring and surveys
for threatened frogs as part of the Kroombit Threatened Frog
Project a project funded by a Community Sustainability Action grant
awarded to QFS by the Queensland Government.
On this trip, QFS volunteers assisted with the deployment of
acoustic recording devices at potential release sites for Kroombit
Tinkerfrogs being bred in captivity at Currumbin Wildlife
Sanctuary. The release of captive-bred animals into the wild is
vital to the long-term survival of this critically endangered
species in the wild. Acoustic recorders deployed at Kroombit in
November 2022 will be retrieved from the field on the final QFS
Kroombit Frogsearch in late February 2023.
Photos of some of the captive-bred animals being reared for
release at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
Photos courtesy of Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
Data from acoustic recorders deployed at potential release sites
will provide important baseline data on the current abundance of
Kroombit Tinkefrogs, against which the success of the proposed
captive release program can be assessed.
Following our visit to Mole National
Park in northern Ghana (following post) we headed north, passing
many traditional villages, before reaching the town of Daboya on
the White Volta River.
A Western Banded Snake-Eagle (below)
was seen along the way.
We arrived at Mole Motel in Mole
National Park in the northern savanna belt of Ghana late in the
afternoon of Day 13 of our tour of the country for a four-night
stay. Our rooms overlooked the surrounding savanna and a large
waterhole. The first bird I saw from my room was an Abyssinian
Ground Hornbill near the waterhole. Our first full day at Mole saw
us in the morning along the Brugbani Road in sparse woodland that
had not long been burned.
The next stage of our 21-day tour of Ghana (see following blog
post) was a four-night stay at Ashantis new lodge at the edge of
the Ankasa Conservation Area, a 50,000ha rainforest reserve on the
Ivory Coast boarder in the countrys south-west. We had two jeeps
with drivers at our disposal here to negotiate the muddy and
heavily rutted roads to reach birding sites, the first of which
were a couple of pools deep in the forest.
Following our successful encounter with
the White-necked Picathartes (following post) our minds turned to
another creature well-known from rainforests in the vicinity of
Bonkroin central Ghana:the
White-bellied Pangolin. Pangolin sits high on the wishlists
of many critter lovers. The only mammal to be wholly covered in
scales, the survival of several species is in the balance as
pangolins are slaughtered in their tens of thousands. Pangolin
scales are considered to have considerable value as traditional
medicines in east Asia, especially China and Vietnam, but there is
no evidence supporting this. Shy and harmless, the pangolin is
believed to be the worlds most heavily trafficked mammal. As
pangolin populations in Asia disappear, the trade increasingly has
shifted to Africa, where the four pangolin species are now absent
or rare throughout their ranges.
Before our tour, the group agreed with
my suggestion for a $US50 reward for anyone in the villages around
Bonkro who found us a pangolin, the stipulation being that we had
to be taken to the pangolin and not the other way around. A man
with tracking experience came forward and one of our Ashanti
guides, Ibrahim Entsie, also had past form in finding pangolins.
With these two guys, our group set out at sunset on Day 11 of our
trip to find a pangolin. This was not going to be easy. We followed
the trackers up and down ridges, along creeks, through regrowth and
primary rainforest - often in rough terrain with no paths.
Four years ago, I began planning a
21-day private tour of Ghana in West Africa in association with
Ashanti, a
highly regarded tour company based in the Ghanaian city of Cape
Coast, to be held in April 2020.Then Covid-19 intervened. The trip
finally happened from April 1 to April 21, 2023. We were ably
assisted throughout the trip by our excellent guide Victor Owusu,
his highly capable assistant guide Ibrahim Entsie, and our
formidable driver Christian. A full trip report listing all
participants, species lists and the like is to follow a series of
blog posts.of which this is the first. En route to Ghana I spent a couple of days in Singapore,
where I indulged the shenanigans of a group of Smooth-coated Otters
that have become used to people in Bishan Park.
Our group huddled beneath the
sandstone rock ledge of a cave deep in the rainforest, hoping to
indulge one of natures great ornithological experiences: viewing
the pre-dusk arrival of the beautiful White-necked (or
Yellow-headed as it was formerly called) Picathartes, also known as
Rockfowl. This remarkable bird, its bright yellow head bare of
feathers, returns to the cave where it builds mud nests late each
afternoon to roost. Its humped back and long legs and neck add to
its bizarre appearance. We had walked 30 minutes from the nearby
village of Bonkro in central Ghana through the Nyamebe Bepo Forest
Reserve to reach the cave. It was Day 10 of our 21-day Ghana
tour.
The picathartes cave
Id had the rockfowl experience before: in Cameroon in 2007,
with the only other species in this family - the Grey-necked
Picathartes, But our Ghana encounter was to be no less memorable.
We had waited an hour, full of anticipation, when the first birds
were spotted, feeding on the ground in rainforest below the
cave....
Male Bird seen on Devils Break track approx 12pm on 25th April.
Scarlet chest and obvious white forehead patch. Many images taken,
bird seemed to be comfortable, feeding actively and moving from
tree to tree quite quickly. No female sighted. Bird not calling and
no playback was used. Was moving around in a 300m stretch along the
ridge near path at top of hill. Observed for approx 45min before we
moved on. No other birders sighted it that day but I was able to
relocate it the following morning at 7:46am in the same place until
11:30am. Location: -27.520342, 152.86121
A washing machine repairman who was wrongly named as a
high-profile suspect in the investigation into William Tyrrell's
disappearance will receive almost $1.5million in
compensation.
Bill Spedding sued the NSW Police alleging detectives
maliciously pursued him while investigating the disappearance of
the three-year-old from his foster grandmother's home in Kendall,
on the NSW north coast, on September 12, 2014.
His case before the NSW Supreme Court sought compensation for
reputational harm and psychological treatment. Mr Spedding also
sought exemplary damages to punish police for purportedly using the
courts for an improper purpose.
The tradesman was an early high-profile suspect in the
disappearance, with police searching Mr Spedding's Bonny Hills home
and draining his septic tank in January 2015. But they found no
evidence linking him to William.
Bill Spedding was awarded almost $1.5 million in damages after
suing the NSW Police Force for malicious prosecution. Above,
outside court on Thursday with his wife Margaret
+2
View gallery
Bill Spedding was awarded almost $1.5 million in damages after
suing the NSW Police Force for malicious prosecution. Above,
outside court on Thursday with his wife Margaret
A coronial inquest later found Mr Spedding had an alibi on the
day of William's disappearance. He was attending a school assembly
for a child in his care that day, and had a receipt from a nearby
coffee shop.
During the police investigation into Mr Spedding, the
tradesman was charged in April 2015 over the historical child abuse
claims, spending 56 days in custody and then being released on
strict bail conditions.
The charges were later dropped by prosecutors.
Mr Spedding alleged that the charges were levelled against him
in a bid to intimidate and place pressure on him.
Mr Spedding's lawyers claimed a police investigation prior to
those charges being laid was 'done in extreme haste' in three or
four weeks.
'The investigation was not in any way professional, careful or
proper,' said Mr Spedding's lawyer Adrian Canceri during closing
submissions in August.
Mr Spedding has claimed the anxiety and depression he suffers
were caused by the prosecution and the public attention it
brought.
Clear evidence emerged that the complainants had been coached
by another person to make allegations and another person's evidence
undermined the case, Justice Harrison heard.
Barrister Adrian Williams, for the State of NSW, had argued
that misunderstandings occurred but it didn't follow that police
were actin...
Stupid armchair criticism of a split-second
decision
A junior police officer who gunned down a man as he savagely
stabbed his own mother in broad daylight may have committed
homicide, according to Victoria's coroner, who has referred the
case to state prosecutors.
Gabriel Messo died after being shot three times by a Victoria
Police officer who confronted him as he brutally attacked his
mother in a public park in Melbourne's north-west about two years
ago.
The assault was so ferocious that his mother, Lilla Messo,
lost an eye and developed an acquired brain injury. She ultimately
survived the attack.
Mr Messo's death was being investigated by the Victorian State
Coroner John Cain, who today found that the first two shots fired
by Constable Emmanuel Andrew was an acceptable use of force.
"The level of force used was not disproportionate to Constable
Andrew's objective to prevent the assault from continuing and to
protect Lilla from really serious injury," Judge Cain said.
But Judge Cain said he was "gravely concerned" about the third
shot which was fired just five seconds after Gabriel Messo, who was
by that point unarmed, had stopped attacking his mother and was
moving away from police as he clutched his torso.
"I have formed a belief to the requisite standard that an
indictable offence may have been committed by Constable Andrew in
connection with Gabriel's death," Judge Cain said.
"The indictable offences I have formed a belief to the
requisite standard include but are not limited to of homicide,
causing serious injury intentionally, conduct endangering life or
assault."
He has referred the case to Victoria's director of public
prosecutions, who will ultimately decide whether to criminally
charge Constable Andrew.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said he was
confident prosecutors would assess whether to lay charges as
quickly as possible.
"We will await the findings in due course," the chief
commissioner said.
"I know this will be an incredibly difficult time for the
member involved and Victoria Police will continue to support him
during this process."
Police union backs officers involved in Messo shooting
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt strongly
condemned the coroner's findings and said the two police officers
attending the Gladstone Park assault had made the right
decision.
"We've got a decision to make as a community in Victoria. I
can tell you now, police forces around the world are being roundly
criticised for attending scenes and doing nothing," Mr Gatt
said.
He was a victim of political correctness. Blacks
are sacrosanct. If the thug he shot had been white, nothing
would have been said
Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe who fatally
shot Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker at Yuendumu has left the
country after claiming that in any other jurisdiction he would have
got a medal for protecting his partners life instead of being
painted as a violent thug.
Constable Rolfe flew out of Canberra on Thursday after sharing
a 2500-word open letter accusing the NT police, coroner and her
counsel assisting of trying to publicly vilify him during the
biased coronial inquest into Walkers death, which is due to resume
next week.
The 31-year-old also accused Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker
of refusing to meet with him and called for his resignation.
In the letter, obtained by The Australian, Constable Rolfe
says Walker was a violent abuser who tried to kill him and his
police partner, Adam Eberl, when their specialist unit was deployed
to Yuendumu to arrest him for attacking their colleagues with an
axe.
Walker was a young man with a violent past who abused many in
his community, including young girls and boys, he said. When he
tried to kill my partner and I I did not think about his race,
upbringing or his past trauma, I thought about defending my
partners life, and thats what I did.
In a different state, I would have got a medal for it, and
none of you would ever have known my name.
Constable Rolfe apologised for sending offensive text messages
that have been ventilated at the inquest but claims the
communications were cherrypicked from thousands extracted from his
phone and honed in on at the inquest in a deliberate attempt to
paint him as a racist, violent cop.
They had access to every single one of my messages and knew
that I did not treat a single race differently from others. In
private, I talked shit about nearly every group at times, he
said.
Yet they released just a tiny snippet to make me out to be a
racist. The parties knew that the messages had nothing to do with
the death of Kumanjayi Walker.
They knew the damage they would do once in public they would
hurt the community, the police force and the relationship between
them but they didnt care. If the coronials goal was to heal, it has
failed.
Constable Rolfe, who grew up in Canberra, said the
investigations into his actions at Yuendumu on November 9, 2019 had
been blatantly biased.
If all you know of me is through the media then you see me as
a violent thug, an ex-soldier with a past, he said.
Zachary Rolfe has been dismissed by the Northern Territory
Police Force despite being acquitted of murder over the shooting
death of an Aboriginal teenager.
Mr Rolfe shot Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker dead
during a botched arrest in November 2019 at the remote community of
Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
A statement issued by NT Police on April 4 confirmed Mr Rolfe
was sacked 'due to serious breaches of discipline'.
'A 31-year-old male police officer has been dismissed from the
Northern Territory Police Force effective 4th April 2023,' the
statement read.
'The officer was dismissed under section 78 of the Police
Administration Act 1978 due to serious breaches of discipline
during their policing career.'
Mr Rolfe, a former constable, was charged with Mr Walker's
murder three days after his death on November 9, 2019, but was
acquitted in March 2022.
Four NT police officers arrived at Yuendumu to arrest Mr
Walker but the 19-year-old resisted, stabbing Mr Rolfe in the
shoulder with a pair of surgical scissors.
In response Mr Rolfe's partner Adam Eberl punched Mr Walker in
the head, then Mr Rolfe struck the boy in the face, before firing
his Glock pistol into Mr Walker's back.
Mr Rolfe shot Mr Walker two more times in the torso. A
post-mortem examination would later determine either the second or
third shot killed him.
The jury that acquitted Mr Rolfe heard that he acted in good
faith, in the reasonable performance of his duties and in the
defence of himself and his policing partner in firing his gun after
being stabbed.
The ABC reported that Mr Rolfe's dismissal may be linked to
his 2,500-word open letter, which was published online in
February.
In it Mr Rolfe claimed he would have 'got a medal' for his
actions if the incident had occurred in another state.
The letter was critical of police leadership and the
continuing coronial inquest into Mr Walker's death.
Meanwhile, Mr Rolfe's father, Robert Rolfe, called out Police
Commissioner Jamie Chalker, saying the territory's top cop 'must
go'.
Mr Rolfe claimed a 'petty vendetta' led to his son's
dismissal. 'We cant allow Chalker to keep on getting rid of
good police officers,' Mr Rolfe told Sky News Australia.
Mr Rolfe sr also claimed 'the government have now lost
confidence in Chalker'.
With ANZAC Day on next Tuesday 25 April, the
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has released details of planned
flypasts during Queensland commemorations - including some Central
Queensland locations.
Details from the RAAF flypasts for Anzac Day for Australia
webpage (https://www.airforce.gov.au/news-and-events/events/raaf-flypasts-anzac-day)
indicate a single F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft from Number 1
Squadron based at RAAF Base Amberley will conduct a flypast of
ANZAC Day commemoration activities on Tuesday 25
April around Queensland, including in the Fraser Coast region
as shown:
Meanwhile, a single RAAF Alenia C-27J Spartan transport aircraft
from Number 35 Squadron at RAAF Base Amberley is expected to
flypast at locations in the Southern part Queensland including some
locations in CQ like Miles.
Sadly, the 'usual' sight of a RAAF C-17A Globemaster transport
aircraft from Number 36 Squadron at RAAF Base Amberley is not
occurring this year.
ANZAC Day is a time to reflect on the contribution made by past and
present service personnel who have displayed great courage,
discipline and self-sacrifice in choosing a life of service to
their country.
The RAAF 'Flying Operations' also reminds everyone that "All Air
Force flypasts can be cancell...
Our first sighting of a pink eared duck at Dholes Rocks. May
have been more around the corner but we only observed this one and
it was feeding frantically. Very fast not like other pink ears we
have observed.
<p>Back in the nineties, a history-conscious Queensland
Treasury official saved a 1944 chart on Post-war Employment
Planning from the rubbish bin during an office cleanout (Figure 1).
On his retirement from the public service, that official gave me
the chart. Notably, the chart includes Queensland state income
estimates for 1939-40. These estimates were prepared by the late
great Colin Clark, during his time as an economic adviser to the
Queensland Government. </p>
<p><strong>Figure 1. Chart on Queensland Government
post-war employment planning</strong></p> <figure
class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src=
"https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/jSpOoCqs9pVY13F9Vlth14yWF5KHTROmwpCrH5-HrJUDYw8s_oQRliMgy3Idltu0jeTkbQkn60RE0ufIl2n4jABQ1_DS8rADhzskcXJKDPpfqdUFvq0Z0ovnArl7Gux8sfkUH6TwIvaV7IyABOBc_nc"></figure>
<p>Zooming in on Clarks gross national (i.e. state) income
estimates for Queensland, we see the greater importance of
agriculture in the States economy in 1939-40 than today (Figure
2).</p> <p><strong>Figure 2. Close up of Colin
Clarks Queensland state income estimates for
1939-40</strong></p> <figure
class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src=
"https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/nj5BgYMVns2FXjBW-cfxp0YwtKMf5S7SEEO9FoNPjW2I2XTzus0tyFOd3NqJhisg24RqiqMyCVHoSsRNZ-XQPBHHaxqQbwpQmoDq8k0d2e09B4dpD8oowV0QJccsV_bnTJbD3l_H-0VEbhubQxXu9fA"></figure>
<p>In 1939-40, at the outbreak of World War II, agriculture
(i.e. agricultural production & pastoral production) accounted
for over 20% of the Queensland economy (Table 1). As in other
economies, economic development has been associated with greater
on-farm efficiency and people moving from the country to cities,
generally to higher productivity jobs. The services sector was much
smaller than today, as was the government, represented by public
works, public administration, and railways in the table. Mining
would be lumped in with forestry and fishing in Clarks other
primary production category, which accounted for around 10% of the
Queensland economy in 1939-40. </p>
<p><strong>Table 1. Composition of Queensland gross
state income, 1939-40, Colin Clarks
estimates</strong></p> <figure
class="wp-block-table"> <table> <tbody> <tr>
<td></td> <td>Millions of Pounds</td>
<td>% of total</td> <td>% (net of indirect
taxes)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Indirect
taxes</td> <td>15.6</td>
<td>9.5%</td> <td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Domestic, professional & personal
service
Quite happy to feed in front of us, stayed for 20 minutes. Lots
of photos and video. It came so close had to back of the zoom on my
camera. New life time bird for us.
15 birds hawking over eucalypt open forest and pasture, ca. 11
km S of Boonah, before departing southward about 1800. Not a rare
bird in SEQ (yet) but my first for the year.
Begonias GalorePlant Sales, Displays, Raffles, Refreshments and
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Road, Belmont Begonias Galore One-Day Plant Sale Begonias
GalorePlant Sales, Displays, Raffles, Refreshments and much more.
Please bring a box or bag for plant purchases. Begonias Galore
[]
On the return leg of our
cruise to Papua New Guinea we stopped for the day on February 3
in the Conflict Islands, a chain of small islands that are part of
the Louisiade Archipelego. The Louisiades extend from the
south-eastern end of PNG where the Coral Sea meets the Solomon
Sea.
They have several endemic bird species and four of
these (plus two future splits) occur in the Conflict Islands. We
were moored off Panasesa, the largest of the Conflict group, and
transferred by tender boat from the Coral Princess to an island
wharf. A path from the jetty crosses the island, passing through
rainforest.
During our
cruise from Brisbane to Papua New Guinea, we had an overnight
port stop in Rabaul in east New Britain. This allowed an
opportunity for a morning of rainforest birding on February 1. Ive
visited Rabaul previously while working as a journalist and had
limited opportunity to bird forest patches far from town. Most
birders visit west New Britain and little is known ornithologically
of the islands eastern half. I was able to organise a highly
recommended tour with the Rabaul-based company Pauvu Tours (contact
Tulipa Paivu tpaivu40@gmail.com) or find them on
Facebook.
Weve just returned from a 12-day cruise from Brisbane to Papua New
Guinea aboard the Coral Princess from January 26 to February 6. Ill
post separately about productive birding experiences near Rabaul
and in the Conflict Islands. This post is to give an idea of what
to expect on a cruise of this nature and to outline what happened
with seabirds along the way. Its important to note that seabirding
from large cruise ships is difficult; youre a long way up from the
water and birds are usually distant.
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
First birds of interest were a surprisingly good number (about
10) of Brown Booby perched with Pied Cormorants on pylons as we
left Moreton Bay late-afternoon on Day One. At 6am the next day
(January 27) we were at 23.79020S, 153.47622E, well north of Fraser
Island, heading north at 17 knots an hour, a speed maintained for
most of the cruise. Several hundred Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were
seen as the morning progressed, most headi...
The Eastern Grass Owl is regarded generally as scarce in Australia.
In south-east Queensland it is restricted to tall grassland in
coastal areas, often interspersed with sugar cane plantations. The
Sunshine Coast is arguably the stronghold of the species in the
region. Birds here are concentrated in the grasslands and
plantations of the Maroochy River floodplain, and in isolated areas
of wallum heath.
Since moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2009, I have noticed a clear
and sharp decline in numbers of Eastern Grass Owl locally. They
were once resident in Yandina Creek Wetland and along the adjoining
River Road but Ive not detected them there during recent surveys.
Across the Maroochy River in the vicinity of Burtons Road near Bli
Bli, I was aware of three pairs in different places on private
property, to which I had access with permission from owners. This
population is much reduced and any birds remaining are no longer
nesting, as they had in the past.
Stupid armchair criticism of a split-second
decision
A junior police officer who gunned down a man as he savagely
stabbed his own mother in broad daylight may have committed
homicide, according to Victoria's coroner, who has referred the
case to state prosecutors.
Gabriel Messo died after being shot three times by a Victoria
Police officer who confronted him as he brutally attacked his
mother in a public park in Melbourne's north-west about two years
ago.
The assault was so ferocious that his mother, Lilla Messo,
lost an eye and developed an acquired brain injury. She ultimately
survived the attack.
Mr Messo's death was being investigated by the Victorian State
Coroner John Cain, who today found that the first two shots fired
by Constable Emmanuel Andrew was an acceptable use of force.
"The level of force used was not disproportionate to Constable
Andrew's objective to prevent the assault from continuing and to
protect Lilla from really serious injury," Judge Cain said.
But Judge Cain said he was "gravely concerned" about the third
shot which was fired just five seconds after Gabriel Messo, who was
by that point unarmed, had stopped attacking his mother and was
moving away from police as he clutched his torso.
"I have formed a belief to the requisite standard that an
indictable offence may have been committed by Constable Andrew in
connection with Gabriel's death," Judge Cain said.
"The indictable offences I have formed a belief to the
requisite standard include but are not limited to of homicide,
causing serious injury intentionally, conduct endangering life or
assault."
He has referred the case to Victoria's director of public
prosecutions, who will ultimately decide whether to criminally
charge Constable Andrew.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said he was
confident prosecutors would assess whether to lay charges as
quickly as possible.
"We will await the findings in due course," the chief
commissioner said.
"I know this will be an incredibly difficult time for the
member involved and Victoria Police will continue to support him
during this process."
Police union backs officers involved in Messo shooting
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt strongly
condemned the coroner's findings and said the two police officers
attending the Gladstone Park assault had made the right
decision.
"We've got a decision to make as a community in Victoria. I
can tell you now, police forces around the world are being roundly
criticised for attending scenes and doing nothing," Mr Gatt
said.
Churchgoers have been left stunned after a police officer
stopped a Catholic mass on Thursday to check parishioners were
wearing masks.
Police halted the service at St Bernadettes Glendalough church
midway through the priest addressing the congregation following a
tip off that people were not wearing masks.
Masks are currently required to be worn at all public indoor
setting across Perth and the Peel, South West, Wheatbelt and Great
Southern regions.
Five people were found to not be wearing masks, one of which
had an exemption while the four others were made to put them
on.
The incident was shared to Facebook by a parishioner, who
wrote a policeman allowed himself in, strutting up the aisle
demanding correct mask behaviour and checking exemptions.
Where have we seen this behaviour before in history?
Police said in a statement they responded to a report from a
member of the public of people not wearing masks inside a church in
Mount Hawthorn.
Upon attendance, 5 people were spoken to by police and
complied in wearing a mask, they said. One person provided proof of
an exemption.
Catholic Archdiocese of Perth archbishop Tim Costelloe said it
is highly regrettable that police felt obliged to intervene during
the service to enforce the mask rules.
It is my hope that other ways can be found to deal with this
delicate issue in future and my office stands ready to cooperate
with the police in this matter, he said.
It is the formal and very public policy of the Archdiocese of
Perth to do everything it can to facilitate compliance with all the
governments requirements in relation to the COVID-19
pandemic.
It is a matter of regret to me that the police were placed in
a position which led them to take the action they did.
The church has since shared a message to its Facebook page
reminding all parishioners that they cannot enter the place of
worship without a mask.
The interruption left churchgoers stunned, with one audience
member saying it was confronting to see an officer in the
church.
Everyone was pretty stunned, it was confronting, parishioner
Matthew told 6PR Radio. Its troubling to see the liturgy you love
stopped by police.
Assault, battery, trespass and unlawful imprisonment and other
cases against NSW police are costing $30 million a year.
NSW police bungles are costing more than $30 million a year in
damages and compensation payouts to members of the public claiming
to have been mistreated.
The number of successful claims involving police in New South
Wales reached almost 400 in the past financial year the highest
level in five years and included assault, battery, unlawful
imprisonment, malicious prosecution and trespass
More than $148 million has been paid since 2016 an average of
more than $80,000 a day for more than 1600 incidents, sparking
calls to overhaul police training and the woke police
leadership.
Answers to Questions on Notice in NSW state parliament have
revealed that during the pandemic year 2020-2021, police paid out
$32,972,561 for 398 incidents, a jump of 100 incidents from
2019-2020 when $24,164,658 was paid out for 298 claims.
In comparison, Queensland for the same period paid out only
$2,281,850 million, although the force has about 12,000 officers
and NSW has about 17,000.
Retired detective sergeant turned One Nation MP Rod Roberts,
said the consistency of the payouts every year showed the problems
in NSW Police were systemic and had been ongoing for years.
Police are a law enforcement body. Not social workers. To
enforce the law they need to know the law, which by these figures
they do not, said Mr Roberts.
We need to support our frontline officers and the first step
in this is ensuring that they receive the appropriate training to
enable them to perform their roles professionally, he said.
NSW Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Corporate Services, Paul
Pisanos said, There is a myriad of reasons why civil claims are
brought against the NSW Police Force, and to suggest that training
or lack thereof is the cause is incorrect.
The claim costs, including legal expenses for defending the
police, are paid for by the NSW Police Force insurer.
The compensation amounts were revealed after questions in the
NSW parliament and showed the categories of claims spanned
intimidation, injurious falsehood, collateral abuse of process,
negligence, trespass, misfeasance in public office.
Last year police were told they would not be held to account
if they issued tickets wrongly for Covid breaches.
Mr Roberts said the management and leadership of the police in
the past had been too woke.
This is evidence they are not being trained properly and are
being taught too much woke political correctness, he said.
Five men who were wrongly accused of assaulting police have
been awarded $61,755 in legal costs after a magistrate noted there
were glaring and serious discrepancies between the
Khaled Zreika, 21, and Hussein Zraika, 22, had just bought
disposable face masks at a petrol station at Guildford in Sydneys
west on September 24 last year when police entered the store and
arrested them for failing to wear masks.
The situation rapidly deteriorated when the men followed
police outside and questioned why they were being arrested, with
the officers from Raptor Squad wrestling the pair to the ground and
calling for assistance.
Noah Obeid, 19, Fadi Zraika, 20, and Zachariya Al-Ahmad, 20,
who approached police to criticise them for the arrest, were also
arrested as scores of officers responded.
The five were charged with various offences including
assaulting police, harassing police, hindering police and resisting
arrest, however all charges were later withdrawn apart from a
breach of the public health order.
On Thursday, Magistrate Greg Grogin said it was abundantly
clear there was a major discrepancy between vision of the incident
and the officers claims.
He found the proceedings against the men were initiated
without reasonable cause, and ordered police pay $61,755.80 of
legal costs.
Police had earlier conceded there was no reasonable cause to
bring the charges and agreed to pay costs, but argued the amount
sought by the men was manifestly excessive.
In bodycam footage played to Parramatta Local Court on
Thursday, Constable James Katsetis and Constable Dylan Leyshon from
Raptor Squad can be seen walking into the service station, with one
of the officers greeting the men by saying hey brother, how you
going.
No mask, both you boys, Constable Katsetis continues. Youre
both under arrest ... can you hop outside for us?
The officer, who initially admonishes Hussein Zraika for
swearing in a public place, is depicted a short time later
wrestling with him on the ground before telling him, you f---ing
move, Ill knock you out c--t.
Constable Katsetis then moves to where Khaled Zreika is being
restrained nearby and knees him multiple times, causing him to
shout in pain, before telling him: dont f---ing move c--t.
Mr Grogin said lawyers representing the men had criticised the
actions of police, but the award of costs could not be viewed as
being a punishment.
The fact that costs are not punitive does not require this
court to come to a decision as to the actions of the police on the
day, he said. Suffice to say, a pictur....
This is absurd and shows no awareness of the use of
firearms in policing. The key point is that rapidly aimed
fire from a handgun is not very likely to hit its
target. Most shots will go wild. So the only way of
being reasonably sure that the target is hit is to fire multiple
rounds in close succession, which is exactly what Rolfe
did.
It is easy to do armchair pontification about rights and
wrongs after the event but the police are often confronted with a
situation requiring split second decisions, which was the situation
here. The root cause of the death was the deceased's
hostility to the police, not the action of the police in response
to it
It may be relevant that Const. Rolfe appears to be a little
guy who would reasonably be particularly fearful of any physical
confrontation
Biomechanical expert Andrew McIntosh on Friday gave evidence
in the NT Supreme Court, where Constable Rolfe, 30, has pleaded not
guilty to murder and two alternative charges over the fatal
shooting in the remote community in November 2019.
Dr McIntosh was asked about the moments after Mr Walker began
to struggle with Constable Rolfe and fellow officer Constable Adam
Eberl, when the 19-year-old stabbed Constable Rolfe in the shoulder
with a pair of medical scissors.
The first shot then fired by Constable Rolfe is not the
subject of any charges, but prosecutors argue the second and third
shots fired 2.6 and 0.5 seconds later were not legally justified
because the threat posed by Mr Walker had been contained.
Dr McIntosh said the body-worn camera footage of the incident
showed that after the first shot, Mr Walker and Constable Eberl
fell onto a mattress on the floor.
As Mr Rolfe moved towards them with his gun drawn, Dr McIntosh
said Constable Eberl could be seen putting his body weight on top
of Mr Walker, who was lying on his right side.
Dr McIntosh said this meant Mr Walker's right arm, which was
holding the scissors, would likely have been restricted in its
movement range.
Under questioning from the prosecution, he agreed that when
the second and third shots were fired, Mr Walker was not likely to
be a "direct threat" to Constable Rolfe.
He agreed Mr Walker was likely to be a "low threat" to
Constable Eberl, because his ability to deploy the scissors was
impaired, as his arm was stuck beneath him.
"If you're using a weapon in your hand and your arm is pinned
in that way, then it's very difficult to develop force with the
weapon that you have because you can't accelerate your arm, reach
any velocity, reach any momentum and exert a force onto someone
else," Dr McIntosh said.
It's long been admitted that the police do have and use
LRADs and that they can be misused. So the time appears to
have come when the police are misusing them. The shocking
part is that the mainstream media seem to be largely ignoring
it
SINISTER stories have emerged from the trucker convoy camp in
Canberra. Nasty new devices seem now to be deployed against
peaceful citizens. This is Australia in the 2020s.
Canberra is the insiders insider paradise. Woke on
steroids does not begin to describe the place. A workers promised
land. With fewer than half a million residents, it is run by a
glorified local council. As the Australian Capital Territorys Chief
Minister, Andrew Barr, says in as many words, vaccinated to within
an inch of its life. As I have noted elsewhere:
Australias two separate worlds were vividly on display on
Saturday, 12 February. In Canberra, tens of thousands of protesters
marched upon the national Parliament in the biggest display of
controlled public anger at government since Vietnam. The numbers
and the raw emotion involved make the pro-Gough rallies of 1975
look puny in comparison. People from all over the country rose up
and marched on the capital. Across town, meanwhile, youngsters as
young as five were being dressed up as superheroes as they were led
off to be vaccinated against a minor illness that will not even
touch most of them.
Then came horrifying reports of the way the police had managed
the crowd, the weaponry they had deployed, of unexplained injuries
at the convoy camp. Was something literally cooking the
protesters?
Your News reported: Australian police have been deploying
directed energy weapons (DEWs) against the peaceful Freedom Convoy
protesters around the capital, according to reports.
Disturbing videos and photos circulating social media show
Canberra protesters, including women and children, who appear to
have been badly burned by directed microwave energy weapons, with
blisters on their faces, arms, and torsos.
These particular DEWs reportedly used concentrated microwave
radiation to inflict painful burns on the skin from far
distances.
The mainstream media has accepted that the Canberra cops were
using sonic devices called long-range acoustic devices (LRADs)
which the Australian Broadcasting Corporation tried to put a benign
spin on. It said sonic weapons were used by police in Canberras
protests, but only to broadcast messages rather than do
harm.
All ok, then.
Why the use of designer torture devices by the police? One
hundred thousand and more protesters from all over Australia have
presumably caused some seri...
Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe has been
cleared of all charges over the fatal shooting of 19-year-old
Kumanjayi Walker during an attempted arrest in the remote community
of Yuendumu.
The jury found Constable Rolfe not guilty of murder as well as
the two alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a
violent act causing death.
Constable Rolfe, 30, showed no emotion as the verdict was
announced in the NT Supreme Court. Afterwards, he smiled and hugged
his defence lawyer.
The jury returned following just under seven hours of
deliberations.
Mr Walker was shot three times during a struggle with officers
in a home in the community 300 kilometres north-west of Alice
Springs in November 2019.
The first shot, which came after Mr Walker stabbed Constable
Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of scissors, was not the subject
of any charges.
Constable Rolfe's legal team argued he was acting in defence
of himself and his partner and in line with his training and
duties.
Constable Rolfe addressed a media scrum outside the court
shortly after the verdict was announced. "Obviously I think that
was the right decision to make," he said.
"But a lot of people are hurting today Kumanjayi's family and
his community ... and I'm going to leave this space for
them."
Constable Rolfe's defence lawyer David Edwardson QC told the
waiting media "there are no winners in this case." "A young man
died and that's tragic," he said.
"At the same time, Zachary Rolfe, in my view was wrongly
charged in the first place. "It was an appalling investigation and
very much regretted."
The jury heard almost five weeks of evidence and testimony
from more than 40 witnesses before retiring to deliberate at
lunchtime on Thursday.
Constable Rolfe had pleaded not guilty to all charges laid
over the shooting, which happened just after 7:20pm on Saturday,
November 9, 2019.
Police body-worn camera footage played throughout the trial
captured the struggle that started less than a minute after
Constable Rolfe and his policing partner, Constable Adam Eberl,
entered a home in Yuendumu and identified Kumanjayi
Walker.
The 19-year-old was wanted by police because of an incident
that took place three days prior, when he had confronted two local
officers with an axe as they tried to arrest him for breaching a
suspended sentence.
Prosecutors agreed the first shot was legally justifiable
because it came after Constable Rolfe was stabbed in the shoulder
with a pair of scissors and while Mr Walker was on hi...
The cop was clearly searching for contraband, a common
problem in prisons. And if no harm comes to the baby I see no
big problem with it. But the law needs to be changed, not
breached
The family of an eight-month old baby is suing the state of
NSW claiming he was unlawfully strip searched by a female police
officer.
The boy's mother was on her way to visit his father in jail on
September 2, 2018, when the officer allegedly took the baby out of
his nappy, spread the his leg's and inspected his body.
The incident outside Mid North Coast Correctional Centre near
Kempsey is the second such allegation to go to court in NSW with
the family of a 16-month-old boy settling out of court in a
previous case.
There is no suggestion either child's family were attempting
to smuggle contraband and it is not clear if the same officer was
involved in both incidents.
When arriving for the visit about 8.30am, both the baby and
mother were first examined by sniffer dogs before being directed on
to a bus where the boy was allegedly further searched.
'The police officer inspected the (baby's) naked body,
including (his) genitals and buttocks area,' court documents seen
by The Daily Telegraph state.
The lawyers for the baby under direction of his mother are
suing for unlawful detention and battery.
'NSW laws clearly state that a child under 10 cannot be strip
searched,' their lawyer Todd Scott said.
The law in NSW also states a member of the same sex must
perform any strip search.
He added the alleged incident was a 'flagrant' violation of
the rights of the baby who was unable to assert any
objection.
The family is also seeking damages in Port Macquarie District
Court.
The state on behalf of NSW Police is yet to submit a defence
in the case.
Imagine a sexual encounter involving a woman shagging a man,
sitting on top of him, bouncing cheerfully. How could she be a rape
victim?
That was a key question at the heart of a case settled two
years ago involving a Sydney man who achieved a substantial payout
as settlement of a $1 million malicious prosecution case against
NSW police and prosecutors. The case exposed the disgraceful
behaviour of police and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)
in ignoring clear video evidence revealing his former wifes rape
and assault allegations to be falsehoods, the authorities role in
encouraging her to concoct new allegations, and their lies told in
court to try to keep him in prison.
The settlement came at the end of a five-year ordeal for the
man Ill call him Peter after his former wife, a medical specialist,
told police he had raped her a few weeks after the couple had split
up in 2015. The marriage fell apart when Peter discovered she was
having an affair, but the couple then had a brief reconciliation
which culminated in consensual sex on the day in
question.
Two months later Peter was arrested and charged with sexual
assault and violence when he returned from a work trip to Europe.
He spent a month in prison and over $350,000 in legal costs before
the allegations were thrown out after a 10-day jury trial. The
judge described the wifes evidence as demonstrably false and said
that the prosecutors had failed to take into account clear and
consistent, objective evidence backing up Peters claim that he was
being wrongly accused.
Peter had installed video cameras that recorded the whole
encounter, giving a lie to the wifes allegation that he had jumped
her immediately following her arrival at the former marital home.
The cameras showed them fully dressed for almost an hour prior to
the consensual sex which featured the woman in flagrante delicto,
sitting riding him on the couch.
And wait for it. During their lively encounter, the video
evidence showed she actually stopped to ask if he was
okay!
The doctor has suffered no adverse consequences for her
malicious lies. Peters efforts to have her charged with perjury
have received persistent knock-backs from police, the DPP, and
other relevant complaints bodies.
Thats our justice system. Women accusing men of rape or
violence have absolute license to perjure themselves in our courts
and concoct elaborate mistruths which, even if proved false, will
very rarely bear any adverse consequences.
The official policy of our police and prosecutors is that
women can lie with impunity. This week I canvased police officers
across the country who all reported they are told never to
ta...
At least six senior NSW police officers who recently committed
serious domestic violence offences have kept their jobs, shocking
victim advocates and raising questions about the force's commitment
to addressing the scourge of abuse within police ranks and in the
broader community.
Documents obtained by ABC News under Freedom of Information
reveal 27 NSW police officers were charged with domestic violence
in 2019 and 2020. Of those, five male officers were convicted of
their charges in court, three of whom are still serving including a
senior constable convicted of two counts of assault occasioning
actual bodily harm, two counts of common assault and breaching his
AVO. Three other officers who were found guilty of their assault
charges without conviction are also still serving.
A further 15 NSW police officers 11 men and four women were
last year charged with domestic violence offences including
destroying property, assault, stalking/intimidation, choking and
using a carriage service to make threats to kill, documents show.
The 2021 data is similar to that obtained in previous years, with
16 officers charged with domestic violence in 2020 and 11 in
2019.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb, who was formally sworn in to
her role in February, said she had "zero tolerance" for domestic
violence but that attempts to sack officers who break the law were
subject to appeal, and not always successful.
"Obviously I haven't had to adjudicate on any of these matters
I've been Commissioner for the last 60-odd days," Commissioner Webb
told ABC News. "I've got a very strong position on domestic
violence generally ... [but] I can't speak for [decisions made by]
my predecessors."
When asked whether the public could trust the NSW Police Force
to respond well to domestic violence in the community if officers
found guilty of such abuse were permitted to continue serving,
Commissioner Webb said it was a "reasonable question".
She said she was "sure" the six officers still serving after
being found guilty or convicted of domestic violence would have
faced disciplinary action and didn't think they'd still be on the
frontline, but her office did not provide details by the ABC's
deadline.
Still, it's relatively uncommon for police officers in
Australia to be charged with domestic violence, let alone be found
guilty in court. For context, in the year ending June 2021, 89 per
cent of domestic violence defendants in NSW had a guilty outcome.
Of the 27 officers charged with domestic violence in 2019 and 2020,
however, just a third were found guilty with or without conviction,
in line with trends in other states.
Figures undermine confidence in police, advocates
sa......
Politically correct police leadership hits back at
criticisms of itself. They breached their own guidelines
by hounding officer Rolfe. They were prepared to throw
a good officer to the wolves in order to placate Aborigines.
The officer would not even have been charged if the deceased had
been white
The Northern Territory Police Force is in turmoil after a
veteran officer was brutally suspended for publicly criticising how
his commissioners had treated constable Zachary Rolfe over the
fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker.
Sergeant Mark Casey, who has served in the NT Police for 25
years, said he was devastated and terrified after being suspended
without pay on Saturday for alleged serious breaches of discipline
related to his personal behaviour and public views.
The suspension notice, signed by Assistant Commissioner
Michael White, asserts that Sergeant Casey committed three
breaches: improper conduct, personal use of social media and breach
of the forces code of conduct.
The 45-year-old from the digital forensic unit was suspended
just hours after an opinion piece he wrote was published by local
online news outlet NT Independent.
The article detailed concerns he held about the actions and
integrity of NT Police executive members including Commissioner
Jamie Chalker.
This concern relates to the authoritarian management as a
whole and specifically in relation to the charging of Constable
Zach Rolfe, he wrote.
It is time for someone to stand-up and allow the discourse to
happen, rather than sitting in fear, waiting for someone else to
take action.
Sergeant Casey said he had initially written the article
purely as a vent, to privately process his growing frustration
about how the Rolfe matter was handled, before deciding to have it
published.
Sky News Darwin Bureau Chief Matt Cunningham says the ICAC is
considering an independent inquiry into the arrest of Constable
Zachary Rolfe, after he was found not guilty for the murder of
Kumanjayi Walker in 2019. I think Michael Richards, the new ICAC
commissionerhes made it clear that More
Id been speaking to quite a lot of police and they were all
saying that something needs to be done but they were all too scared
and fearful of the repercussions, he said.
Sergeant Casey said he had expected to face disciplinary
action for publishing his opinion piece. I expected the
intimidation and the bullying in response, but I underestimated how
brutal it was going to be, he said.
I did initially feel relief (after publication) but being
suspended without pay has been devastating.
A Victorian policeman is under investigation for posting
online that there are only two genders.
And so he should be!
Everyone knows there are actually three genders: Males
(pronouns he/him), Females (pronouns she/her), and Narcissists
(pronouns me!/me!/me!).
The Age newspaper reported this week that 62-year-old Sergeant
Bruno Staffieri was interviewed by officers from Professional
Standards Command over an online comment he made to an officer
working in the Gender Equality and Inclusion Command.
Staffieri reportedly wrote: So you are doing tertiary
education studying genders. Ill make it easy for you to pass there
are 2.
Someone call triple-zero!
You have to hand it to Victoria Police; they know what
constitutes inappropriate behaviour.
* Shoot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets? No
consequences.
* Pepper spray law-abiding citizens? No consequences.
* Harass old ladies sitting in a park during Covid lockdown?
No consequences.
* Slam people into the pavement for not wearing a mask? No
consequences.
But if you dare to state a biological fact, everyone from the
Deputy Commissioner down wets their pants.
Sergeant Staffieri should demand to know how many genders
there are so that he can be more accurate in future.
Google doesnt know, so well wait for the answer.
Oh, and if youre the victim of an actual offence, youll have
to wait too. Police are busy attending to thought crimes.
Staffieri, who has been an officer for more than 35 years and
is close to retirement, could lose his job because of the online
comments.
This is not the first time Staffieri has upset police command
with views that, until five minutes ago, were entirely
unremarkable.
Staffieri was also investigated over his public criticism of
the governments decision to cancel Australia Day and Anzac Day
celebrations last year, but allow the Gay Pride March in St Kilda
to proceed.
So the next time Australians are sent out to fight a war,
maybe we can send out the 8,000 that marched today and try to stop
the enemy by waving feathers and brightly coloured boas at them,
Staffieri reportedly posted on May 17, 2021.
Nick Patterson has vowed to take his 'fight against police
corruption' all the way.
The former gym owner was jailed for 29 days after confronting
photo of him appearing to punch a police officer made headlines
across the nation.
While the mainstream media aired the perfectly-timed image to
portray Patterson in a negative light, police bodycam footage later
He was released on harsh bail conditions and charged by
police.
Victoria Police later even threatened me with jail if Rebel
News didn't remove the bodycam footage from our website.
Now with a 10-day trial set to begin on November 14, Patterson
said he is more committed than ever to seeking justice.
"I've held a very strong position against the government's
mandates from the very beginning through the whole Covid scenario
and I've been targeted for that reason," he said.
"I really believe that I've been put in this position for a
reason because I won't back down and I'll go all the way with this
and I want to change the system."
Patterson said that he is confident that, with the public
behind him, he has an extremely strong case and wants his case to
set a precedent.
"I can prove their systemic failure. I can prove that the
police have been writing false statements to put people in jail,
they did that to me, I can prove that they've used bail as a way to
silence political dissenters," he said.
"I can prove it, there's no way that they can deny this.
"They're still trying to charge me which ... it's ridiculous
to pursue those charges because there's no evidence of them."
You can follow Nick's case in detail at
FightCorruptPolice.com, a website he's set up to detail and provide
updates on his legal fight.
Killing an Aborigine is unforgiveable, regardless of the
circumstances. Putting him back on normal duty would lead to
an uproar from all the usual suspects. For cowardly PR
reasons he had to be hidden away. How that affects him
personally the police leadership does not care about. Violent
Aborigines must be condoned, not their own officers doing their
duty
Northern Territory policeman Zachary Rolfe who has returned to
work months after being found not guilty of murdering Kumanjayi
Walker remains banned from entering any police premises or
performing normal duties.
Despite Constable Rolfe being reinstated as a serving member
of the Territorys police force, its executive has revoked the
30-year-olds access to any police facilities and refused to return
his police identification to him since his return to work on July
18.
The Weekend Australian understands Constable Rolfe has been
relegated to desk duties at a nondescript government office
building in Darwin as a result of formal complaints from other
officers involved in his prosecution.
It is understood that one of the complaints is from Sergeant
Julie Frost, who was the officer in charge at Yuendumu, 300km
northwest of Alice Springs, on the night of the shooting and who
had, that day, requested an Immediate Response Team (IRT) to arrest
Walker.
Sergeant Frost has allegedly claimed she would be triggered if
she saw Constable Rolfe at work.
During the trial, Sergeant Frost gave conflicting evidence to
Constable Rolfes and that of his IRT colleagues.
The IRT members said their instructions were to arrest Walker
as soon as possible upon arrival at Yuendumu, while Sergeant Frost
testified that she had directed the team to arrest Walker at 5am
the next day.
Constable Rolfes barrister, David Edwardson QC, also accused
Sergeant Frost of concealing a five-page chronology of events she
wrote in the days after Walkers death.
Constable Rolfe refused to comment on Friday, but his father,
Richard, has accused the NT police brass of trying to force his son
to commit suicide by making his return to work difficult and his
position within the organisation untenable.
I believe (police commissioner) Jamie Chalker has done
everything possible to push Zach to commit suicide by deliberately
isolating him from his peers, he said.
Hes been locked away in a government building working without
any contact with other frontline officers, while restricted to
working on a computer.
He said his son had gone on stress leave and would not return
to work until the coronial inquest into Walkers death starts on
September 5.
Many moons have passed since Kristina Keneallys son, an
officer with the NSW Police Force, was confirmed to be under
investigation for allegedly falsifying evidence against a civilian
who wound up being sent to prison.
In a case that could defy the limits of what is definitionally
corrupt, Senior Constable Daniel Keneally accused the young man,
Luke Moore, of threatening to kill a detective during a telephone
conversation held in February last year, a call which Moore
fortunately recorded.
His house was raided the next day and he was chaperoned to
Nowra Correctional Facility where he spent the next three weeks
imprisoned with bail refused until the recording was uncovered and
the charges withdrawn.
A letter of apology arrived a few months later on behalf of
the state of NSW. It said: The State accepts that SC Keneally was
in error when he said that you wanted another police officer dead.
Moreover, the State equally regretted that Moores declarations of
innocence were not examined more expeditiously, the letter
stated.
Yes, what a great pity. Moore has already rejected several
offers of compensation and is continuing to sue the NSWPF for
upwards of $800,000.
Meanwhile, the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission
confirmed in December that it would investigate Keneallys conduct
but the matter has hitherto disappeared into a bottomless black
hole without a syllable of further information.
But Margin Call can reveal that the LECC, which disgracefully
refused to touch the matter in the first instance, has dispatched a
brief of evidence to prosecutors seeking to know if criminal
charges should be laid against Keneally.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions declined to
comment, but were reliably informed that a leading official has
completed an assessment of the LECCs case, with their report
currently undergoing review at the upper managerial levels of the
agency.
A final decision is likely to be made by ODPP Director Sally
Dowling SC.
The LECC confirmed in response to questions it had taken a
number of steps to progress the investigation with the matter
remaining under consideration, a response nearly as mystifying as
what its officials actually do during their working hours.
This is the same agency that formally refused to investigate
Moores complaint in the months after he was released from jail
because, in their own words, it is not a matter justifying
investigation.
Come again? If allegedly loading up a civilian on a false
charge that leads to their imprisonment does not reach the
threshold for LECCs examination then we can only wonder what levels
of depravity are required to pique their interest.
A Ballarat woman who was charged with inciting others to
breach a state lockdown has had her case thrown out of court.
Zoe Buhler was arrested in her Ballarat home in September 2020
while pregnant.
The mother-of-three livestreamed her arrest, showing police
handcuffing her in a video that later went viral and sparked
concerns from the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The arrest came after she created a protest event on social
media, citing concerns about the impacts of lockdowns during the
pandemic.
In the Ballarat Magistrates Court this morning, police
prosecution applied to have the charge struck out, which was
approved by Magistrate Mark Stratmann.
In a statement, Victoria Police said they withdrew the single
charge following an assessment of the case, determining it was "not
in the public interest to continue with the prosecution".
Ms Buhler, now 30 years old, said she was relieved but had "no
regrets" outside the court this morning. "I think it's disgusting
our rights and freedoms were taken away. I've pretty much felt that
way the whole time," Ms Buhler said.
"I'll be considering my options going forward, especially with
regards to being handcuffed while pregnant."
Ms Buhler said she believed she had been experiencing Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder and the legal costs of contesting the
incitement charges had been a burden.
Costs will be agreed upon between the parties at a later
date.
"There was money raised to help with the costs of lawyers,"
she added. "I don't even know how much [it was]. A ridiculous
amount."
In March 2020, the Victorian Chief Health Officer and
Commonwealth Health Minister were granted special powers to issue
lockdowns, if necessary, to minimise the rate of transmission of
COVID-19.
They have not enacted a lockdown in Victoria since October
2021.
"In the end justice will be served where it is needed. It's
important to stand up for what is right," Ms Buhler said.
"I guess my message for Dan Andrews would be, I hope one day
you'll have your day in court."
Since the start of the pandemic, 5,264 people in Victoria have
lost their lives due to complications relating to COVID-19.
In late August 2020, pregnant mum, Zoe Buhler, was charged and
handcuffed in her own home by Victoria Police, accused of inciting
a protest in breach of public health orders.
Her great crime was to put a message on Facebook promoting a
peaceful protest with social distancing measures and masks to end
lock downs and stand for human rights.
The Assistant Police Commissioner, Luke Cornelius, alleged Ms
Buhler had engaged in serious criminal behaviour. He referred to
those objecting to lockdowns as batshit crazy.
How serious was this charge, given it has been dropped weeks
away from a state election? Surely a serious charge should be
pursued fully through the courts?
Clearing the political decks is how some cynics might view
it.
Many Australians, and others across the world, are familiar
with the vision of Zoe Buhler being handcuffed by police in her
kitchen. It is the unfortunate stuff of Covid legend.
On Tuesday, police withdrew the charge. It took police two
years to do the right thing. Many questioned the validity of such
so-called crimes that turned ordinary citizens into criminals for
things like walking outside.
During this time, Victorians experienced things they never
thought they would in a free country, one in which democracy and
respect are fundamental tenets of our peaceful way of life.
Other than Black Lives Matter gatherings, Victorians observed
their right to protest being annulled with pepper bullets and tear
gas. Citizens were filmed running from police officers who used
batons and a bravado in clips that went viral worldwide.
Had these crowds been assembling in the streets to riot, to
burn buildings, to loot, to murder, to wreck, or to create mayhem,
then Victorians would have understood such aggression by the
police.
But these crowds had gathered for freedom.
They gathered for the right to go to work, the right not to be
forced to take vaccines, and the right for their children to go to
school or playgrounds.
They rallied for democracy, for the return of the Parliament
to make decisions, and against the absolute authority of emergency
power contained in the Premier.
It was under Labors watch that the police chased protesters,
hurried on grandmothers from park benches, handcuffed a pregnant
mother, held elderly men on the ground, and kept Melbournians
locked down for 23 hours a day unable to travel or even walk
further than 5 kilometres from their homes...
For all the tea in China, I wouldnt be a cop. Dealing with the
dregs of society, going to work each day with the possibility of
being killed, working shifts that affect sleep patterns the list of
drawbacks is endless.
But theres a darker, more sinister side to being a police
officer in Queensland especially if youre a woman.
The revelations emerging from a police inquiry into the
services responses to domestic violence have exposed a deeper
malaise.
This is a cohort of people who have lost their way. Theyve
lost their identity. They are a police service lacking leadership,
where the modern realisations of a safe workplace are colliding
with the seedy traditions of yesteryear.
Reading the evidence is like watching an episode of Mad Men,
where the misogynistic ways of men in the 1960s are laid bare.
Women are merely seen as sex objects.
The Queensland police service is facing a cultural tsunami and
the so-called Old Guard are being decapitated, one by one.
The question that the good folk of Queensland need to be
asking today is if certain male police officers treat their female
counterparts in this oafish and belligerent way, what hope does the
citizen in the street have against such poor behaviour?
If a cop has no regard for his colleagues, how does he handle
law-abiding citizens?
When Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll took over the top
job three years ago, she knew there would be difficult days.
Yet this inquiry is a long-running horror movie. The
Commission of Inquiry has unearthed our worst fears. It has
revealed a police service that has not kept pace with the morals
and ethics required of a 21st century organisation.
The toxic culture and lack of manners among some of the mostly
male officers is embarrassing, and deeply divisive.
It does nothing to instil confidence and it hurts those who
treat the job seriously, and who behave responsibly. It seems for
every good cop, theres a bad cop.
Ms Carroll is dealing with a culture among the men towards
female officers that has flourished and been entrenched for
decades.
The cover-ups and lack of transparency and accountability are
a damning indictment on a police service that has lost touch with
reality.
A jury has been told a NSW Corrections officer was acting
lawfully when he shot and killed a shackled Indigenous man outside
the Lismore Base Hospital.
The accused man, who is referred to as Officer A for legal
reasons, is standing trial for the murder of 43-year-old Dwayne
Johnstone on the evening of March 15, 2019.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The court has heard Mr Johnstone was handcuffed and had
restraints on his ankles at the time.
The jury heard the officer fired three shots as Mr Johnstone
tried to flee, and twice shouted out "stop or I'll
shoot".
The third shot hit Mr Johnstone in the back and he died in
hospital a short time later.
Defence barrister Philip Strickland SC told the court on
Monday the regulations surrounding when a Corrections officer could
discharge a firearm were clear.
"A correctional officer may discharge a firearm if the officer
believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to do so in
order to prevent the escape of an inmate," he said.
"You may agree with this law or you may disagree with it, you
may think it gives officers too much power, but I urge you if you
do think that then disregard it. "It doesn't matter if you like the
law or you don't like the law."
The defence barrister told the court the drama played out over
the course of 11 or 12 seconds. ''He had to make, in a few seconds,
a decision of momentous consequence," Mr Strickland said.
The court was told Mr Johnstone was "desperate to escape" and
a nurse at the Lismore Base Hospital thought he was overheard
offering someone "10 grand if you help me get away".
The court was told the nurse did not alert authorities because
they were unsure if they had heard correctly.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay has argued Mr Johnstone posed no
risk to any person and Officer A had no lawful excuse to shoot him.
"What you have here is an unarmed offender, in restraints, not
posing an immediate threat to anyone," he said.
Mr McKay told the jury corrections officers were trained to
make split-second decisions, to always seek a peaceful outcome and
to use a firearm as a last resort. "A firearm is the most lethal
weapon in the Corrective Services armoury because it has the
potential to kill," Mr McKay said.
"You would have no reasonable doubt that the accused intended
to inflict really serious bodily harm on the deceased."
It began with a troubled, young girl infatuated with a
slightly older, rising teenage football star, who was popular, good
looking and not short of female attention.
The sports star, Benjamin (Ben) Gregory Smith, viewed the girl
as a sort of little sister figure. Nothing more.
He had no idea of her secret obsession with him until nearly
20 years later, when it manifested in claims he had sexually
assaulted her.
Smith, now 43, had been a NSW police officer for almost 10
years and had joined the Australian Crime and Intelligence
Commission (ACIC) as a covert intelligence officer when the by
then, grown woman, walked into his former workplace, and made her
claims.
The fallout blew apart his life and career as a law
enforcement officer and up until then, his steadfast belief in the
justice system.
I no longer trust the police, even though I was one of them,
said Smith.
The complaint made was complete and utter rubbish. I thought
naturally they (the police) would put the jigsaw puzzle together
and I honestly believed that the matter would be withdrawn, Smith
said.
But it wasnt. From that awful moment it took more than three
years and two trials, which cost the better part of his family home
to finance, for Smith to finally be acquitted of all 14
charges.
The first trial in ended with a hung jury. The second in came
in with a unanimous jury verdict of not guilty. While being found
innocent brought Smith great relief, the father of three says it
did not bring him closure.
That, he says, would only come if action were taken against
the detectives involved in the failed prosecution.
Until people like this are held accountable and made an
example of, things like my case will continue to poison and clog
our justice system, he said.
The torturous road to being found innocent laid bare what
Smith and his criminal lawyer Danny Eid argue were conflicts of
interest and misleading evidence.
The two trials revealed, Smith and Eid argue, the
investigating detectives had not disclosed exculpatory evidence
that negated the womans allegations, had not undertaken a proper
investigation and had lied about evidence from material
witnesses.
I still to this day believe that they jumped the gun way too
early and or were forced to lock me up by a senior police officer,
Smith said.
Mr Eid is adamant if police had done their job properly in the
first place, Smith would never have been charged.
But Smiths ordeal is not over. His attempts to raise
complaints with the police watchd....
In an authoritarian State even sitting on a park bench can
be a crime. More Pol Pot than Soviet, sadly
A newly released video of police body camera footage has
exposed the extremes Australia's lockdown laws during the Covid
pandemic.
Two police officers on July 24, last year, approached Edwin
Paz, 31, and another unnamed man sitting on a bench in Victoria
Park, Camperdown, in Sydney's inner-west.
There had been a Rally 4 Freedom protest in Sydney earlier
that day when the virus was spreading rapidly and the Harbour City
was under strict stay-at-home orders and mask mandates.
What started out as a general enquiry ended with Paz on the
ground shouting out 'I can't breathe', while surrounded by police
officers.
On Tuesday at the Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, Paz was
sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order (CCO) for
assaulting an officer and a 12-month CCO for resisting an
officer.
He was also fined $2,000 for not wearing a face mask and not
complying with a Covid direction.
The footage played in court begins with one of the officers
telling Paz their conversation was being 'audio and video recorded'
and that he was allowed to do so in a public place.
Paz refused to cooperate with the police, telling them 'I
can't hear ya'.
The officer informs Paz to 'get up and leave or I'm going to
place you under arrest.'
'Are you trying to intimidate me?' Paz asks. 'I do not consent
to talk with you, I haven't entered into a contract with ya, so
stop speaking with me.'
Paz then asked the officer what crime had been
committed.
The officer replied that 'If you're not within your local LGA
(local government area) or you're not exercising, you are not in a
public place with a reasonable excuse.'
It later turned out that Paz, who is from Smithfield in
Sydney's west, was out of his LGA.
The officer told him he was placing him under arrest and that
Paz was also committing an offence by not wearing a face
mask.
Paz said that he didn't have to wear a mask, but would not
produce an exemption, which was another reason for getting
arrested.
He then said 'I'm free to do whatever I want, I'm a free
man.'
The other officer then spoke and told Paz to stand up so he
could be handcuffed, while the first office said they did not want
to use force. But they did use force as Paz continued...
Some people are impressed by the fact that Ive seen
8000+ of the worlds 10,000+ species of birds, but if you've got the
time and money to pay big bird tour companies for guided trips, its
not difficult to amass totals of that order. Ive preferred to
organise my own overseas trips undertaken solo; with my partner
and/or a small group of friends; or with groups I organise as
leader and/or guide in co-operation with local birding guides.
Thats not to say its not sensible to sign up with
the big tour operators. If you have the money it may indeed make
sense; its an easier option that those mentioned above. Also more
safe and stress-free, supposedly. Ive only once participated in a
tour organised by one of the big operators a three-week trip to
Cameroon in West Africa in 2006 run by South Africas Rockjumper. It
was a long time ago but Ive been intending since then to tell a
precautionary if hair-raising tale about that trip. Im now
belatedly doing so.
Howard Cabinet in 2002Cabinet documents released by the National
Archives from 2002 shine a light on the conservative
Liberal-National Party Coalition Government of Prime Minister John
Howard in refusing to sign on to the UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol, and
also the decision not to proceed with a High Speed East Coast Train
network linking Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.The
Cabinet documents
The Queensland Government has pledged to work to save the
Buff-breasted Buttonquail from extinction after upgrading its
status to Critically Endangered, although the delay in doing so may
mean the species misses out on crucial conservation funding. State
authorities also upgraded the Coxens Fig-Parrot to Critically
Endangered in government declarations published late last week. The
upgrading of the buttonquails status is recognition of the view
that the species is far more rare than is generally appreciated and
indeed may be extinct. It is endemic to the savannah woodlands of
Queenslands Cape York Peninsula. North Queensland naturalists John
Young (below) and Lloyd Nielsen in the late-1980s began reporting
Buff-breasted Buttonquail from woodlands between the Atherton
Tableland and Lakeland Downs at the southern end of Cape York.
Since then, numerous records of the species from that region have
been claimed, but no supporting evidence such as a photograph has
emerged to support any report.
The University of Queenslands Research and Recovery of Threatened
Species group has been undergoing intensive surveys of this and
other areas of Cape York in recent years to locate the species in a
program headed by PhD student Patrick Webster. Webster and his
colleagues have failed to find evidence of the presence of the
species anywhere, but they logged numerous records of the closely
related Painted Buttonquail (below). In Mar...
The Oriental Pratincole is a very rare visitor to south-eastern
Australia, so the finding by Colin Trainor of five pratincoles at
Seven Mile Lagoon, in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane, on
November 26 generated much excitement. The finding is all the more
extraordinary since the birds were at the same spot that Chris
Corben, Greg Czechura and I had a flock of 26 Oriental Pratincoles
in November 1971 51 years ago! - and where another flock of 10
birds was located in November 1996 by Andrew Stafford. The 1971
record was the first for South-East Queensland; the 1971, 1996 and
current records are the only ones for the region.
All three records of Oriental Pratincole were in the south-west
corner of the lagoon, which is often dry but has had plenty of
water in it recently due to good seasonal rains over the past two
years. The lake was full for many months but the water level has
receded more recently, exposing mud around the shore. Following
Colins find, multiple visitors to the site at first failed to
relocate the birds, so it was generally believed they had moved on.
To give you an important update Im slowly transitioning the
relevant content from this blog account over to my websites new
blog page so please head over there to follow if you want
womens/adults/family natural health advice https://www.primalinfluence.com/blog
A highlight of our 3-week trip to New Zealand was a visit to
Blumine Island in the stunning Queen Charlotte Sound, part of the
Marlborough Sounds that dominate the landscape of the South Islands
northern end. We had a delightful 6 days in the port town of Picton
(below) where we were to hop on the ferry at the end of our stay to
cross Cook Strait to the North Island.
Blumine Island has been cleared of predators, allowing for the
reintroduction of several species that are today extremely rare and
threatened elsewhere. Its a wet landing so not a regular stop-off
for tour operators. You need to arrange with the boat company
beforehand to be dropped off and picked up. We had 2 hours on the
island (below) - more than ample time to pick up the specialties -
and used the company E-ko Tours. Be warned, the fares like just
about everything in NZ are not cheap.
The five species of kiwi endemic to New Zealand have long been
among my favourite birds. Unlike so many NZ birds, all five have
managed to survive the predations of stoats and other introduced
pests, although their populations are seriously depleted.
Intervention by the NZ Department of Conservation and dedicated
community-based conservation organisations has been instrumental in
bringing kiwis back from the brink. I had previously had fantastic
encounters with the North Island Brown and Okarito Brown Kiwis and
wrote about them in articles about wildlife conservation in NZ for
The Bulletin magazine and The Weekend Australian newspaper. Ive
just returned from a three-week trip to NZ with my partner Glenn
where I hoped to do the same with two more species: the Great
Spotted and Little Spotted Kiwis.
I started the hunt by heading out at night around Arthurs Pass
(above) high in the mountains of the South Island to listen and
look for Great Spotted Kiwi, which is restricted to the islands
north-west. I heard a male calling briefly near the village but it
was not interested in playback. More co-operative was a flock of
Kea the next morning in the village centre (below).
Other than kiwis (following post) I was keen to catch up with a few
other NZ birds Id missed during my previous 6 or 7 visits to the
country. One is an endemic breeding seabird, the Westland Petrel,
which is an occasional visitor to Australian waters but one Id
missed on multiple pelagics. We had a few days in the delightful
town of Punikaiki with its dramatic coastal scenery (below) and
abundance of forest.
The petrels breed nowhere but in a 4km stretch of forest at
elevations at between 50 and 250m within a couple of kilometres of
the coast south of Punikaiki (below)....
TUNE-IN
LIVE to TNT RADIO for the Patrick Henningsen Show every MON-FRI at
12PM-2PM (NEW YORK) | 5PM-7PM (LONDON) | 2AM-4AM
(BRISBANE):
(L) Ms ODea, accompanied by Shadow Foreign Secy Michael
Ancram, left, and Euro MP Neil Parish, Photo: Richard Austin,
Western Morning News (R) Google Map of southern Africa
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