Why on earth is Australia involved in Afghanistan?

I was horrified watching the ABC’s “Four Corner's” program about the sexual abuse of poor young boys in Afghanistan by rich men and men in high places in the army and government.

They pick up young boys and tell their fathers that they will take them as an apprentice and “train” them; they pay the poor father money that is badly needed and then use the boys as sex toys, sodomise them, dress them in women's clothes attach bells to them and make them dance before groups of men to satisfy and enhance their perverted fetish fantasies. The men were saying: “This is part of our “culture” and that our wives know about this practice, but they just have to accept it. We don’t take any notice of women.” In other words, women have no rights and mean nothing to men in Afghanistan - they just have to take what men dish out to them.

It makes you wonder what we are doing there fighting this futile and costly war, other than to save their “culture perhaps?” The money that we are pouring into Afghanistan by the truckload would have to be borrowed money – which could be much better spent in Australia. When will our government see the folly of this war; come to their senses and pull our troops out? A recent report stated that our soldiers go to Afghanistan in good health and come back with all sorts of serious health problems, which often results in ruined marriages and relationships. This is terrible and not worth it. One has to admire the Dutch who could see that they were fighting a futile, costly and losing battle in Afghanistan and had the courage to call it quits.

The war has been going on for nine year years and despite superior military firepower, nothing has been archived except it has brought misery, death and destruction to the people of Afghanistan. It took the Soviet Union ten years to realise the folly of their war in Afghanistan; how long will it take us to realize that this is a war that cannot be won?

We or the USA are morally no different from the psychopaths within the Taliban, who Afghans remember the USA empowered, funded and armed during the 10-year war with the Soviet Union. Washington sowed, unwittingly, the seeds of destruction in Afghanistan. It trained, armed and empowered the militants who now kill them. It is said that death delivered from the air has killed more civilians than the Taliban has.

Finally, our Government is spending money like drunken sailors. Every time there is a natural disaster somewhere, we hand out millions of dollars.I have nothing against helping a country in need, provided we have the money, but we haven’t and have to borrow it. The nest egg of $42 billion saved by our previous government has been spent. The millions we spent in Afghanistan, in Timor, the Solomon Islands and giving away about $500 million to the corrupt government of New Guinea, is money we have to borrow. The Australian people will eventually have to pay this money back, but till we are able to, the interest burden for this borrowed money will be like a millstone around our collective necks for many years. All this money could have been spent in our country, after all charity should start at home. No matter which way we look at this, or our involvement in Afghanistan, it just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

As an avid follower and observer of world affairs and world politics I have read many Stories about Afghanistan and what Dr. Juliette Fournot said clearly confirms my point that this war is futile, costly and not winnable. – Werner Schmidlin

Click here to find more reasons why we shouldn’t be in Afghanistan.

Following is some of what Dr. Juliette Fournot had to say. She lived with her parents in Afghanistan as a teenager, speaks Dari and led teams of French doctors and nurses from Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, into Afghanistan during the war with the Soviets. I quote

I fear that years of war have shattered the concept of nationhood. “There is so much personal and mental destruction. Over 70 percent of the population has never known anything else but war. Kids do not go to school. War is normality. It gives that adrenaline rush that provides a momentary sense of high, and that is what they live on. And how can you build a nation on that?”

The Pashtuns have built an alliance with the Taliban to restore Pashtun power that was lost in the 2001 invasion. The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is, to the Pashtuns, a meaningless demarcation that was drawn by imperial powers through the middle of their tribal lands. There are 13 million Pashtuns in Afghanistan and another 28 million in Pakistan. The Pashtuns are fighting forces in Islamabad and Kabul they see as seeking to wrest from them their honour and autonomy. They see little difference between the Pakistani military, American troops and the Afghan army.

Islamabad, while it may battle Taliban forces in Swat or the provinces, does not regard the Taliban as a mortal enemy. The enemy is and has always been India. The balance of power with India requires the Pakistani authorities to ensure that any Afghan government is allied with it. This means it cannot push the Pashtuns in the Northwest Frontier Province or in Afghanistan too far. It must keep its channels open. The cat-and-mouse game between the Pakistani authorities and the Pashtuns, which drives Washington to fury, will never end. Islamabad needs the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan more than the Pashtuns need them.

The U.S. fuels the bonfires of war. The more troops we send to Afghanistan, the more drones we send on bombing runs over Pakistan, the more air strikes we carry out, the worse the unravelling will become. We have killed twice as many civilians as the Taliban this year and that number is sure to rise in the coming months. “I find this term ‘collateral damage‘ dehumanizing,” as if it is a necessity. People are sacrificed on the altar of an idea. Air power is blind. I know this from having been caught in numerous bombings.” Click to enlarge picture

I see the American project in Afghanistan as mirroring that of the doomed Soviet occupation that began in December 1979. A beleaguered Afghan population, brutalized by chaos and violence, desperately hoped for stability and peace. The Soviets, like the Americans, spoke of equality, economic prosperity, development, education, women’s rights and political freedom. But within two years, the ugly face of Soviet domination had unmasked the flowery rhetoric. The Afghans launched their insurgency to drive the Soviets out of the country.

We are faced with two stark choices. We can withdraw and open negotiations with the Taliban or continue to expand the war until we are driven out. The corrupt and unpopular regimes of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan and Asif Ali Zardari are impotent allies. The longer they remain tethered to the United States, the weaker they become. And the weaker they become, the louder become the calls for intervention in Pakistan. During the war in Vietnam, we invaded Cambodia to bring stability to the region and cut off rebel sanctuaries and supply routes. This tactic only empowered the Khmer Rouge. We seem poised, in much the same way, to do the same for radical Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“If the Americans step up the war in Afghanistan, they will be sucked into Pakistan,” Dr. Fournot warned. “Pakistan is a time bomb waiting to explode. You have a huge population, 170 million people. There is nuclear power. Pakistan is much more dangerous than Afghanistan. War always has its own logic. Once you set foot in war, you do not control it. It sucks you in.” Unquote.

This should give everybody a clear idea what we are in for in Afghanistan.
Werner Schmidlin

Fighting cancer, are there alternatives to chemotherapy?

We lived in a rural community. When I grew up there was not as much sickness around as we have today and if one suffered from occasional ill health, mother’s remedies usually put things right – if not, only then was the doctor called. They made house calls and travelled with a horse and buggy then; indicative of not too many sick people. After the war and with mod cons coming our way, things changed in many ways and not always for the better. The doctors changed their mode of transport from horse & buggy to a car, but still making house calls for some time. You very seldom heard that somebody had died from cancer.

Pesticides started to be used extensively and finished up in our food chain; we created air and other pollution, additives are added to our food to enhance it and to keep longer, we consume processed meat that is filled with all sorts of additives, some or all, harmful to our health. Aspartame, sodium nitrite, monosodium glutamate are a few that come to mind and they are on labels only as numbers. Recently our government forced our local councils to put silicofluoride into our water – a number six poison and a waste product from the aluminium and fertiliser industry. For heavens sake, haven’t we already too many chemical additives in our food, not to mention the chemical cocktails the doctors prescribe for us?

Nowadays, few doctors, if any make house calls because of the sheer numbers and our hospitals are filled to the hilt with sick people of all ages. Why are there so many sick people we might ask? The answer to that you’ll find in the above paragraph.

Today, on my frequent visits to the oncology ward at our hospital, I’m amazed and astonished to see so many people, young and old, receiving chemo treatment. I know how dreadful that can be; as I had friends who suffered from cancer and going through the terrible ordeal of many chemo treatments, only to succumb to the disease in the end anyway.

The question would often be asked if it wouldn’t be better to die than going through this terrible procedure, but the will to live is persuasive and chemo gives hope. When you see the protective gear the nurses have to wear, the precautions they have to take when infusing this highly toxic “poison” into their patients, one realises how hazardous these chemicals are. One may ask, isn’t there another or a better way?

Well, according to an e-book summary, which I received through a reputable newsletter; there is a cheap alternative treatment available, but no further studies are done simply because it costs money and drug companies are not funding it because they can’t profit from such a cheap treatment.

Top 15 chemical additives in your food.

Cancers can re-seed themselves after chemo, surgery or radiation

This e-book may be of interest to cancer sufferers and following is an excerpt from the e-book. If you want to know more click here. - Werner

Winning the War on Cancer

In the book Winning the War on Cancer, author Dr. Mark Sircus discusses sodium bicarbonate, which helps to save countless lives every day. Sodium bicarbonate is the time-honoured method to “speed up” the return of the body’s bicarbonate levels to normal. It is also the least expensive, safest, and perhaps most effective cancer medicine there is.

Sodium bicarbonate delivers a natural form of chemotherapy in a way that effectively kills cancer cells -- without the side effects and costs of standard chemotherapy treatments. The only problem with the treatment, according to Sircus, is that it’s too cheap. Since no one is going to make money from it, no one will promote it.

Those that do will be persecuted for it. The trouble with doing new studies on bicarbonate is that they are expensive and no drug company is going to fund a study when they can't profit from the treatment.

Most thought it was pretty strange when Dr. Tullio Simoncini showed up on our medical radars. He is the oncologist from Rome who pointed to using bicarbonate as a main line cancer treatment and he was persecuted for it. Yet he has stood firm and continues to travel the world teaching doctors about the anti-cancer properties of sodium bicarbonate.

Sodium bicarbonate is one of the oldest workhorse medicines. So solid is bicarbonate’s position in orthodox oncology it would probably be considered malpractice to apply most forms of chemotherapy without it. It is commonly used prior to, during, and after application of chemotherapy.

Some studies actually have already shown how manipulation of tumour pH with sodium bicarbonate enhances chemotherapy again pointing to the possibility that bicarbonate is the main chemo agent saving people from their cancers.

Since the very beginning sodium bicarbonate has been used with the premier chemotherapy agent made from mustard gas. Mechlorethamine also known as chloromethane, mustine, nitrogen mustard and HN2 and sold under the brand name Mustargen was the prototype anticancer chemotherapeutic drug. Use of mechlorethamine gave birth to the field of anticancer chemotherapy.

Without baking soda orthodox oncology would never have been able to establish itself for all their patients would probably have died.These chemo drugs are an analogue of mustard gas and were derived from chemical warfare research. Instructions for its use include: Dilute well with rapidly running IVF flush solution. After infusion is complete, give brisk bolus approx. 200 cc IVF to flush veins. The basic substances used in IVF flushes are sodium thiosulfate and sodium bicarbonate. Without the bicarbonate and thiosulfate buffers patients would quickly succumb to the chemo poisons. It’s a picture right out of hell using mustard gas instead of something vastly safer.

Sodium bicarbonate, potassium chloride, and calcium chloride are used to maintain pH and electrolytes within normal values in intensive care units

We are talking about serious medicine when we talk about sodium bicarbonate. Earlier and more frequent use of sodium bicarbonate is associated with higher early resuscitability rates and with better long-term neurological outcomes in emergency units. Sodium bicarbonate is beneficial during CPR. We are also talking about an exceptionally safe medicine when we talk about bicarbonate. Chemotherapy drugs and corticoids reduce the bone marrow production of cells. In addition, these drugs damage the integrity of the skin tegument, and of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, facilitating the penetration of micro-organisms into the host. Bicarbonate does none of this.

Sodium bicarbonate lessens the development of polycystic kidney disease in rats. Chronic administration of 200 mg sodium bicarbonate to rats inhibited cystic enlargement and prevented the subsequent development of interstitial inflammation, chronic fibrosis, and uraemia.

On the other hand cancer treatments, including the most commonly used chemotherapy agents as well as the newest biologic and targeted therapy drugs, can harm a patient's heart - sometimes fatally. Cardiologists at The University of Texas found in their review of 29 anticancer agents that there is no class of cancer drug that is free of potential damage to the heart. It is the organ that seems to be most sensitive to toxic effects of anticancer agents. Even the newest targeted therapies, designed to attack only cancer cells, can cause cardio toxicity.

Bicarbonate ions and water are two of the most natural compounds on Earth. We do not have to fear bicarbonate intake. And in fact, people who live in areas of the world with high amounts of bicarbonate in their drinking waters have a striking decreased mortality rate and a decreased prevalence of disease. Sodium bicarbonate, though often used as a medicine, is unlike pharmaceutical compounds. It is a natural non-toxic substance that does not require clinical trials for an assessment of toxicity. Spring waters contain bicarbonate ions which are coupled mainly with sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium ions. A deficiency of bicarbonate ions in the body contributes to a range of diseases and medical conditions.

To read the rest of the first chapter from the Sodium Bicarbonate book please download and read before purchase.

Please be advised that this book is an e-book but not a PDF. It is in HTML form meaning very beautiful and one can navigate to references inside the document and outside to resources available on the Internet. Download it for Windows (3,9MB) Download it for MAC (5,6MB) $ 24.90

My thought for today. - Werner
One rotten beam can make a whole house collapse.- Russian Proverb

Hey! Go Bananas!

Our state, Queensland, is known for many things, some even go so far as to say that we are Gods own country; it is a tropical and subtropical paradise and is banana country among other things, and we Queenslanders are often affectionately referred to as the “Banana Benders.” This delightful fruit has an arsenal of potent health benefits. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again – and remember, never put your bananas in the refrigerator! And here is a tip: If you peel a banana from the bottom end instead from the top end where the stem is, all the strings come off at the same time. I was told that this is how the monkeys peel the bananas.

The banana plant, often erroneously referred to as a "tree", is a large herb, (herbaceous) with a succulent and very juicy stem. For the benefit of my readers from northern Europe and North America who have never actually seen how bananas have developed from the flower to the banana bunch; I’ll include a few pictures in sequential order for you – click on the pictures to enlarge! - Werner

* * * * * *

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fibre. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anaemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia
Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation: High in fibre, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady. 1. Banana flower emerging from plant.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan. 2. Behind ever flower leaf is a half ring of bananas or “a hand” as we call it.

Smoking & Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack. 3. The banana. Bunch has gained in length.

Strokes: According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine, 'eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!" PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS if you like this valuable info.

PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe...polish with dry cloth. An Amazing fruit indeed!

4. One of my Banana plants with a ripe bunch, it takes a couple of days or so before the others get yellow.
Happy Banana. - Werner

My thought for today: - Werner
"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." - Sir Richard Steele

THE THUNDER DOWN UNDER!

Peter Spencer has been advised by the Sheriff, Southern Region, Queanbeyan Office, NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General that he is required to leave his property by 11 AM Friday 12 November 2010 or be charged with trespass for being on his own land. This is absolutely preposterous! This land acquisition without compensation will bring our thoughts immediately to Russia under the ruthless dictator of Josef Stalin, but not Australia.

When we read the lyrics of our National Anthem and read what has happened to Peter Spencer and many other Australian farmers then we will have to come to the conclusion that the words in our Anthem are not fitting anymore to what is taking place in Australia today. Our pioneers and forefathers of this great country would turn in their graves if they would know what is going on here now. Shame on our politicians for letting this happen – no wonder the people of Australia have lost their faith and their trust in them. Will we become the “banana republic” of the Pacific and told what to do and what not to do by someone in a foreign country? - Werner

The Australian National Anthem.

Australian all let us rejoice. (What is there to rejoice for Peter?)
For we are young and free; (We are not free anymore.)
We've golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross.
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Following is a media release.

Peter Spencer is leaving property Saarahnlee today Friday 12 February 2010 - will CONTINUE THE FIGHT FOR PROPERTY RIGHTS with Tower of Hope speaking tour.

Peter Spencer has been advised by the Sheriff, Southern Region, Queanbeyan Office, NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General that he is required to leave his property by 11 AM Friday 12 November 2010 or be charged with trespass for being on his own land.

This is an extremely sad day for Peter and his family, after more than 30 years of owning the property as his family home and a maternal family history in the high country. During this time, Peter has operated farming ventures, and been obstructed from pursuing a number of others by increasing restrictions on his ability to utilise the farm through the imposition of unjust “property rights” laws, by bloody minded administration by all three levels of government and after more than 200 appearances in court, including an appeal to the High Court of Australia (decision “deferred” waiting for the findings on a similar Constitutional matter). Through all of this – Spencer has been denied a trial.

Peter is still physically handicapped, however over the last few days Peter has packed up his house and is moving out with the assistance of a number of supporters and other volunteers working around the clock. He is extremely grateful for the help of a large number of people, some of whom he has not met before.

Peter will leave Saarahnlee at 11:00 AM this morning. Meanwhile, Peter Spencer, Alastair McRobert and Agmates Steve Truman are making plans for Peter and Alastair to embark on a speaking tour all over Australia. Spencer said “I will not take up a home for the rest of this year and I will devote my time to telling the Australian people about the need to restore our democracy, including re-establishing secure property rights for all Australians based on ethical and good governance in accordance with the Australian Constitution.”

Following an up welling of popular support for Peter during his 52 day hunger strike, Australians from all walks of life including farmers, sawmill operators, small acreage owners and ordinary Australian citizens are realising that their once secure property rights are under threat from all levels of Government, bureaucracies and the legal “machinery”. Spencer said “this year will become the year of the Tower of Hope, through Spencer and McRobert and with the assistance of Spencer supporters, blog sites like Agmates and SOS-News, talkback radio and grass roots movements across the country”. The issue of secure property rights is going to remain at the forefront of Australian politics for the remainder of this 2010 election year.

Detailed planning for the speaking tour meetings are underway and an initial program will be announced next week.

Spencer and the Australian people still have heard nothing of substance from PM Rudd on the substantive issues at the root of his hunger strike. In his conclusion in the Supreme Court of NSW in October 2008, Judge Rothman said “it is a most unfortunate aspect of the operation of the scheme (agreement between the Commonwealth and New South Wales) that a person in Mr Spencer’s position is effectively denied proper compensation for the restrictions imposed upon him by a scheme implemented for the public good. As earlier stated, ultimately that is a matter for government.” Spencer and his supporters will continue to pursue a Royal Commission into the theft of the entire tonnage of sequestered carbon used to meet the Kyoto Commitment from Australian farmers and for payment of farmers crippled by so-called “Native Vegetation Laws” under “just terms”.

My thought for today. - Werner
"Paranoid" is someone who notices things without government permission. A "conspiracy theorist" is anyone who draws unacceptable anti-government conclusions from politically inconvenient facts.

Things are stirring in the Sunshine State!

Peter Pyke, a former ALP state member, has, like so many others come to realize the absolute mess we are in, in the state of Queensland and wants to do something about it. Good on you Peter! I wish you all the best in your endeavour and if you can initiate a “cleanup” resulting in the re-establishing of democratic principles, banish totalitarianism and make the government listen to the will of the people, Queenslanders will support you. Following is a press release by Peter Pyke. - Werner

* * * * * * *

MEDIA RELEASE: 5 FEBRUARY 2010

“QUEENSLAND BROKE AND BROKEN”,

PYKE ISSUES CALL TO CITIZENS FOR ROYAL COMMISSION.

“Queenslanders can get a Royal Commission on a par with the Fitzgerald Inquiry, but they will not achieve that by sitting on their hands,” says former-ALP State MP and former-Queensland Police Service sergeant Peter Pyke.

Pyke provided evidence of police corruption to the Fitzgerald Inquiry and was prominent as the uniformed serving officer who earned the labels ‘police reform crusader’ and ‘anti-corruption campaigner’ for continually fronting the media in uniform during the Inquiry to urge Queenslanders to support the royal commission and to not allow what he described then as ‘the bad guys’ to derail it.

“Not all the bad guys were dealt with by the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Many escaped the net, and the royal commission was unable to reach under every rock in Queensland, but it was a remarkable feat which brought dynamic change to Queensland,” acknowledges Pyke. “But that was 20 years ago.”

Pyke says some of the bad guys were able to continue with business as usual, both inside and outside the police service, and he says recent events in Queensland provide signposts as to where the state is headed. “The gaoling of former Beattie-Bligh Government minister Gordon Nuttall is one signpost, and the CMC Operation Capri last year is another. The A1GP is another, but the most alarming signpost I see is what we are learning about unchecked police corruption on the Gold Coast.”

Pyke says the revelation yesterday that the CMC had provided a confidential report on Gold Coast police corruption in 2008 which was simply ignored is the last straw.

“In the lead up to the Fitzgerald Inquiry which kicked off in 1987, allegations of coppers on the take responded to by mere hand-wringing by the police commissioner, ministers acting unlawfully or questionably and an administration which paid little heed to widespread public concerns; these were all signposts we saw then and we see again now,” says Pyke.

Pyke says with two years to the next state election and an ineffectual Opposition, Queensland is headed for a train-wreck unless the people can wrest back control.

“We are all busy,” Pyke says, “but this is important. Corruption and cronyism in government and public administration robs the people of not only the cash that is stripped out of the system, but also the provision of efficient public services. This all takes a huge toll. That is why Queensland is now broke and the trains no longer run on time, despite successive ALP governments riding a cash cow for decades. The bad guys and crooked coppers are running rampant again, and while they get fatter all the Bligh government intends to do is to sell off our essential public assets to patch up the holes in their incompetent administration.”

Peter Pyke is re-establishing the Citizens for Democracy Movement in Queensland to agitate for a fair-dinkum royal commission into political and police corruption, and into organized crime.

The Citizens for Democracy movement were instrumental in the Fitzgerald era in Queensland and held a huge public rally in Brisbane on 15 July 1989. The rally was the first legal street march post the Bjelke Petersen clamp down on public protests in the 1970s. Ironically, despite being a serving police officer, Peter Pyke was invited to lead the march of 15,000 irate Queenslanders and he addressed the rally.

“Queenslanders may have forgotten their history, so I’ll remind them that an attempt was first made to establish a phony corruption inquiry before we got the full-on Fitzgerald Inquiry,” Pyke says. “The same thing will happen now if we are complacent. What we want is another real inquiry.” Pyke says its time for him to pick up the baton again and he is calling on Queenslanders to join him in forcing the Bligh government to establish a real royal commission. “And I’m going to be making some phone calls. Right now, Queensland needs good people to stand up and be counted. Off your bum!”

Please release my contact details to all inquirers AUTHOR: Peter Pyke, PO Box 84, Southtown, Q 4350. 0427 388 598. peterpyke@optusnet.com.au

My thought for today. – Werner
All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

The Kea, a New Zealand bird that is not a “Birdbrain.”

This is an amusing and fascinating story, I’m sure you will enjoy reading it. We call a person of subnormal intelligence a “birdbrain,” but this bird does not belong to this category, and it has a mind of its own. We may read about this “scoundrel” of a bird with some amusement, but I’m sure nobody would want them anywhere near them where they live. Enjoy! - Werner

* * * * * * *

Kea, clown of the mountain.

LIVING in the high country of New Zealand, the kea is an alpine parrot. With an irrepressible sense of fun, it has amused and delighted-or caused irritation-with its clownish pranks. Imagine that you have spent the day tramping in the mountains. You arrive at an alpine hut feeling exhausted. After a hearty meal, all you want to do is climb into bed and enjoy a restful sleep. But a family of keas have other ideas. They land on the hut and decide that sliding down the corrugated iron roof would be tremendous fun. The noise of their claws scraping on the iron sounds like music to them. To show how much they enjoy this, they shriek with glee as they go. Then, with wings flapping, they scramble back up and repeat the whole noisy procedure. The Kea is "investigating" a car door seal. Click picture to enlarge.

However, for fun-loving keas, even that game can become boring, so they devise other means of amusing themselves. Now they slide stones down the roof, which they then follow, all the time letting out shrill screams. To judge the reaction of the occupants in the hut, they hang upside down and stare in the window. The idea seems to be that the weary trampers will enjoy this "roof" show. But before you decide if these alpine parrots merit being called clowns; let us learn a little about them.

The kea is named for its raucous flight call “kee-a”. They are native to New Zealand and are found only in the mountainous region of the South Island. Living in the upper reaches of the bush, to the limit of vegetation, they feed mainly on berries and shoots.

Keas are solid, powerful birds-the male weighing as much as 1.2 kilograms and measuring up to 50 centimetres in length. Their predominant colour is green. Despite blending into their bush habitat, they are still very prominent birds. Their fearless personality, distinctive calls, large size, and scarlet under-wings set them apart from the rest of the bird population.

They will frequently play in the air, taking full advantage of the highly variable wind currents in their mountain home. They are a magnificent sight as they soar through the gullies, competitively chasing and avoiding each other. They are rated one of the most intelligent birds in the world. Maybe it is this intelligence that gives them their sense of fun.

They Love to Play.

Their mischievous behaviour is an integral part of their character. Possessing an insatiable curiosity, they investigate everything in their territory, especially something new or strange. This examination is not done by sight alone but requires testing and poking at the object with their powerful beaks until they either become bored with the object or destroy it.

At a mountain pass railway station, a kea was observed investigating two full milk cans that had been placed on the platform. The impudent kea flipped the lid off one and plunged its head in for a drink. The bird was scared away, and a metal rod was placed between the two handles for security. Not to be deterred, the kea returned, examined the "security arrangement" for a minute or two, and then deftly slid the rod through the handles with the tip of its beak. It then brazenly flipped the lid back and took another drink. They are rogues but lovable!

Keas and campers.

Campers who are on hand to protect their belongings will be captivated by the comical antics of these remarkable birds. However, leave your campsite unguarded, and the damage done can be almost unbelievable. With their powerful beaks, they can rip a tent to shreds. What was once your sleeping bag can in no time become acres of feathers.

Anything round in shape becomes the perfect object to roll down the nearest hill. Anything shiny becomes their prized possession. Bootlaces are especially fun to play with. Another game they enjoy is picking up objects and dropping them from a great height, seemingly for the fun of seeing them fall.

Keas, with their unintentional ability to clown and entertain, endear themselves to all who have the privilege of sharing their world. Considering these antics, it is no wonder that they have been called New Zealand's flying monkeys.

Keas and Skiers.

Keas love to congregate where they have an audience, such as at ski areas. The so-called clown of the mountains is now seen as an added attraction for skiers. It appears that they want to join in the fun. They will follow the skiers around with their bouncing, dancing hop. Tobogganing down ski slopes is considered especially enjoyable. As they do this, they slow themselves by putting their feet in a V-formation as skiers do with their skis. It is as if the kea is cheekily reminding us that the snow is not for the enjoyment of humans alone.

Their love of mischief and good fun ranges from nuisance to minor destruction. Ski area operators will testify that they have to `kea proof' all their equipment. Vital apparatus has to be sheathed or enclosed. Even ropes have to be replaced by wires. A `kea proof' rubbish tin has yet to be invented. Skiers have to follow a few simple precautions to protect their belongings from the amiable rogues. If, for example, you leave your camera unattended, it will become a new toy for the kea.

Skiers must protect their cars by covering them with suitable netting. Why? It seems that it is an absolute must for the kea to test the quality and durability of all motor vehicles. They like nothing better than to demolish windshield-wiper blades and rubber moldings and to crack plastic taillights. If a car window is left open, then the kea demolition gang will move in. They will sit on the car shrieking with mirth as they systematically destroy anything not secured. For very good reasons, the keas have been called New Zealand's only "protected street gang".

At Construction Sites.

Construction sites in the mountains are another favorite place for the kea to get into mischief. When a new hut complex was being constructed for New Zealand's famous Milford walking track, the local kea population took a keen interest. One began stealing - nails. While the exasperated builder chased the culprit away, another stole his cigarettes.

As the impertinent kea shredded the tobacco and paper, all his mates -screeched in raucous approval. For curiosity and impudence, the kea takes the prize among the feathered creation. The moment keas spot humans coming into their haunts; they flock around and follow them as if they were afraid that the humans were going to steal their property.

They just have to test and investigate everything around them. Pranks that are endearing to the casual - observer are unbearable to those who live with them day in and day out. There is an ongoing love-hate relationship with the kea. However, no one can deny that they are perky, friendly birds. Being fully protected, they are called the first citizens of the mountains.

Clown of the Mountains

If you ever encounter these fun-loving, intelligent birds, you will agree that they truly are clowns. They enjoy the company of all who venture into their mountain world, and they give evidence of this by clowning around. Their love of life and their capacity to play are a pure joy to behold.

* * * * *

Now wasn’t that a fascinating and interesting story? - Werner
Click on pictures to enlarge!

The truth about fluoride that our collective governments prefer we don’t know.

They perfected the art of obscurantism – in other words, the opposition to enlightenment or the spread of knowledge.

In the country of the blind . . .
It is madness to allow scientifically illiterate politicians to dictate the health of the nation.

WHO declares:
The chemical sodium silicofluoride, which our Governments add to our water supplies, is classified by the W.H.O. as a pesticide, insecticide, fungicide, rodenticide. (rat poison)

A crack appears in the fluoride front.
After surveying the growing evidence, a high-profile advocate has second thoughts about the safety of fluoride.

Following are four condensed letters to the editors sent to four regional newspapers in Victoria Australia, and it was published in www.fluoridefreemurray.org - the author of the letters is: the eminent Hans C. Moolenburgh, M.D. For those who seek enlightenment about this subject, this is a must read. I wish the Queensland government would have taken note of such people as Moolenburgh, who has done extensive research about the sinister side of fluoride, instead of taking advice from government bureaucrats and some dentists who are no experts in this field whatsoever. Click on picture to enlarge!
You may ask who is Hans C. Moolenburgh, M D? Well, to find out click here, before you read further. - Werner

* * * * * *

1. As in your city you are engaged in a fluoridation battle, let me tell you one (out of many) things.

In 1972 it was discovered by the Dutch neurologist M. Bulthuis that very small amounts of fluoride, comparable to those used in fluoridating the water supplies, inhibit an important enzyme called cholinesterase. This enzyme helps with the supple flow of massages in our brains. In fact it helps us with intellectual work and with thinking. The Dutch Director General of Health ordered Dr. Bulthuis not to publish these findings in her thesis, because it could harm intended water fluoridation plans.

She published and lost her career.

In recent years 32 independent studies, beginning in China, have given a practical, but also sad vindication of Bulthuis’ findings. In regions with a comparatively higher concentration of fluoride in the water (plotted against regions with lower fluoride) the overall intelligence of the children (measured by the I.Q.) is statistically significantly lower. Saying it bluntly; fluoridation makes you more stupid.

So what we have here is first the scientific background and 30 years later the practical results of more fluoride in the water.

I myself have seen several children with slightly to moderately impaired brain function. They were the children who were sensitive to fluoride in one of its applications. When I was not too late, these children could be cured by the absolute prohibition of fluoride medication.

In these times of increasing global crisis wouldn’t it be better for our children to have all their wits about them to cope with the difficulties that lie ahead? Please stop the absolute folly of adding this strong enzyme inhibitor to our water supplies. The next generation will be grateful for it.

* * * * * * *

2. During the early seventies of the 20th century Dean Burk, former Director of the Chemical Dept. of the USA National Cancer Institute and John Yiamouyiannis, another chemical expert, did a survey on 20 years cancer death rates in two series of 20 USA cities, one group fluoridated and the other non-fluoridated. They found increasing cancer in both cities, but the fluoridated cities increased sharper than the non-fluoridated and reached at least an extra 10% cancer death rate.

They did not know why this was so, but by now we know several reasons, one of the most important ones being that tiny amounts of fluoride can give breaks in the DNA molecule and that can be the trigger for cancerous development. Later their findings were violently attacked, but during the trial in Allegheny (the citizens versus the fluoridating state) the witness for the defence, the British statistician Professor Kinlen, who had dismissed Burk’s and Yiamouyiannis’ work as nonsense, had to admit under oath that the extra cancer death rate indeed appeared in his own calculations.

Later on in fluoridation promoting circles, it was told that in the Appeals Court; the findings of the extra cancer death rate was dismissed, but this is disinformation. The Court rejected Judge Flaherty’s decision in favour of the complaining citizens, because it ruled that a local judge could not judge in a Federal matter. The jurisdiction of his Court, not the medical evidence was the issue; the carcinogenicity of fluoride is both statistically and scientifically well established.

In a time that cancer begins to become the number ONE cause of death, it is bad policy to add a cancer-provoking substance to the drinking water.

By the way, Professor Dean Burk was a good friend of mine.

* * * * * *

3. In the early seventies a group of Dutch General Practitioners was formed just after their regions were fluoridated, to look into the possible side effects the authorities had promised us would be absent.

Straight from the beginning we found them in plenty; like sores in the mouth, stomach aches (many babies yelled day and night), irritable colon, itching skins, dizziness, depression and later on pain in small joints. The cure was easy: non-fluoridated water, but they had to continue fetching* it for as soon as they drank the tap water again the complaints came back.

However, a proportion of the people who suffered their complaints without fetching water slowly lost them. What was happening? They had entered the adaptation phase discovered by Hans Selye and described in his book Cancer, Stress and Death (1979). When a small amount of poison is swallowed daily like in fluoridation, the immune system after some time begins to work harder to eliminate the poison faster and this can go on for a long time.

But then, suddenly the third and final phase sets in. Either spontaneously or provoked by another physical or psychological stress, the immune system gives up, the exhaustion phase starts and spells a host of possibilities.

• Cancer – which explains the 10% extra cancer death rate in fluoridated cities found by Drs. Dean Burk and John Yiamouyiannis (1975), which by the way was never disproved as the proponents of fluoridation have claimed,
• The significant extra death rate from heart attacks, discovered by Isabel Jansen, R.N., in Antigo, Wisconsin and published in 1990,
• The lower I.Q. in children growing up in regions with higher F content in the water, found recently in 32 independent studies and
• Lower male fertility, also found recently in fluoridated regions, just to name a few.

The adaptation phase lasts from about 5 to 25 years, and then the break comes for many people.

Conclusion: to pour a vicious enzyme poison like fluoride into the water supplies at a time when we already have to cope with a massive toxic overload from poisons in the air, the water and in the soil is the height of folly.

During the fluoridation process in Holland, some town councils offered the citizens the option of being able to fetch for themselves clean water from communal taps. This resulted in some awkward situations as citizens, armed with all manners of containers, formed long queues in their attempt to avoid fluoridated water.

* * * * * *

4. Our planet is staggering under a rapidly increasing toxic load, not CO2, but pesticides, herbicides, chemical remedies excreted in the urine of patients, industrial pollution and what not. At least 100.000 new chemical compounds have been released into our environment since WWII, several of them carcinogenic and the load is greatly increasing every year.

Our immune systems are fighting to cope with this toxic overload and clearly failing, judging from the explosion in the occurrence of ‘civilization diseases’. In blood taken from the umbilical cords of newly born children in industrialized countries we have found traces of 3 or 4 carcinogenic pesticides.

For the detoxification and neutralization of these toxins, we depend on our enzymatic system and it is of course the height of folly to add a vicious and general enzyme inhibitor like fluoride to our water supplies.

Please help to stop this crazy situation and help the so-called experts to come to their senses.

Our next generation has as much right to a happy and healthy youth as did their parents and grand-parents.

My thought for the day. – Werner
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. Friedrich Nietzsche