I suggest war with australia

since the thread 44th president of the USA is closed, I would like to respond to Richard's
lengthy missive about the history and faults of the USA.

To get out of the economic malaise we are in we need another war to force us to
ramp up our manufacturing economy,

I suggest we DECLARE WAR ON AUSTRALIA!



gerry

Good thing I don't live there
Richard

Gerry

Tasmania is inhabited by mammals that have poor eyesight and view the world through black and white only...


Remember...Change is coming.....Ehhh maybe not so much...

gary

Tell that to the tally man when your have been blinded to see,with out hope of the future.
the thread will be opened when I have finished with the editorial of the context.
Quote: I not only could not stifle controversy among our readers---I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about it errors; for as a wise man once said:"An error does not become a mistake! Until you refuse to correct it."
We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out, when we miss them.
Richard

Australian Cocaine Ring Bust.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided four homes in Melbourne arresting three Mexican nationals and seizing 65 kilograms of cocaine valued at nearly $16 million. The shipment of cocaine originated in an undisclosed Latin America country and made its way to Australia via the United States. It was concealed in various cement garden fixtures coming from the United States, with a business set up in Melbourne to help the shipments appear legitimate. The AFP believes the three Mexican nationals were sent to Australia to help facilitate such shipments and the later regional distribution of the drug. According to press reports, U.S. custom officials tipped off Australian authorities about the shipment.

The operational structure of this cocaine ring is fairly standard; the importation of legitimate goods to a legitimate business with drugs hidden inside the legal cargo is frequently found in the United States and Europe.

Relatively speaking, the seizure was not that large. But as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials pointed out, the level of sophistication of the entire operation stands out. Stratfor has been tracking the spread of Mexican cartel influence into South America and other regions of the world. It now seems that with a lucrative drug market in Australia — where a kilogram of cocaine can fetch up to $180,000 — it was only a matter of time before Mexican drug traffickers would turn up Down Under.

The arrests mark the first time in recent memory that Mexican nationals have been detained overseas for drug trafficking. There have been reports of Mexicans working with organizations in West Africa and Europe, but no detentions have occurred in those locations. As drug markets like Australia continue to expand and offer lucrative profits, we will likely see an expansion of Mexican cartel operations and personnel into these regions.

View attachment 10795

MEXICO CITY — Authorities confiscated more than $200 million in U.S. currency from methamphetamine producers in one of this city's ritziest neighborhoods, they said Friday, calling it the largest drug cash seizure in history.

http://fotos.eluniversal.com.mx/coleccion/muestra_fotogaleria.html?idgal=3405

View attachment 10796

Jobs ads fall in November for the fifth successive month By Leah McLennan | December 07, 2008

Article from: Australian Associated Press

JOB advertisements have dropped for the fifth consecutive month in November, with employees' fear of being fired widespread, a survey shows.

The Olivier Job Index declined 9.83 per cent seasonally adjusted in November compared to October, with ad numbers down 16 per cent on November last year.

In raw terms there were 48,000 fewer employment opportunities advertised per week in November on the three major Australian job boards, compared to October.

All of the 16 industry sectors surveyed were hit during the month.

The hardest hit sector was advertising and media, where the number of jobs ads dropped 25.78 per cent in November.

Another sector knocked hard was administration and clerical, where job ads fell 21.14 per cent in the month, and building and construction, which saw job ads decline 14 per cent in line with contraction in the construction industry.

Even the safest sectors have started to post declines in job ads, according to the survey.

Engineering, the sector with the most growth in the past year at 25.7 per cent, fell 2.98 per cent in November. Olivier Group director Robert Olivier said there was a lot of stress in the workplace at present.

"The stress on managers to cut and employees' fear of being fired is widespread," Mr Olivier said.

November is the fifth successive monthly fall in the Olivier Job Index and follows a fall of 4.42 per cent in October and 1.17 per cent in September.

"After strong growth in the employment market over the past two years, the Olivier Job Index has now recorded five months of consecutive falls and prospects for the new year look ominous," Mr Olivier said.

On a state by state basis, Victorian job ads were down 10 per cent in November, while NSW fell 11.93 per cent for the month.

SA job ads fell 8.67 per cent, ACT job ads were down 1.92 per cent, while Tasmania improved in jobs ad numbers by 4.46 per cent.

The decline in job prospects worsened in the two resource rich states, reflecting the fall in global commodity prices.

WA suffered an 8.67 per cent decline, while Queensland job ads fell 8.63 per cent in November.

The one bright spot for the Queensland state was that hospitality and tourism jobs rose 0.18 per cent.

"Perhaps it's a schoolies effect," Mr Olivier said.

"As long as they're eating drinking and spending their parents' money there may be hope."

Graduates also took a hit in November, with online opportunities falling by 20.2 per cent.

"Competition for entry level jobs next year will be fierce," Mr Olivier said.

Rupert Murdoch warns Australia not prepared for 21st century


Rich countries are a danger to themselves, says News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch.
Photo: Reuters


Australia is not adequately preparing itself for the challenges of the 21st century, media mogul Rupert Murdoch says.

Mr Murdoch on Sunday said that while poor societies were becoming richer, rich societies were at risk of becoming complacent.

The News Corp chief and Manhattan-based US citizen used the last of his six Boyer Lectures for the ABC to look to Australia's future in the global economy.

"At this time in our history, the gravest threat to Australia's freedom and prosperity does not come from war or terrorism, it comes from the comfort that can make us content," Mr Murdoch said in his lecture entitled The 21st Century.

"Australia's open economy, free society and strategic location give us many advantages.

"They also give us a clear choice - Australia can be a model for the world or we can be a land of squandered opportunity.

"That is the challenge we face."

Praising the land he was born in, the 77-year-old said Australia defined him and gave him his first successes.

As every country's greatest asset was her people, Australia must unlock the abilities of all her citizens to advance in the global community, he said.

"Today instant flows of information, the advance of trade and the rise of economies that reward risk and enterprise are all combining to create a world where the opportunities ahead would be greater than anything we've seen in human history," Mr Murdoch said.

"With so much talent, with so many advantages and with so much potential, I can think of no greater sadness for this century than an Australia that was willing to settle for just getting by."

While some may predict dire consequences should Australia not observe and embrace change, Mr Murdoch said it was quite the opposite.

"I am reasonably sure that the consequences will probably not be dire," he said.

"In my mind, that's the problem."

AAP

DAMIEN BROWN

December 07, 2008 12:00am

HOBART'S residential property bubble has burst, with prices falling more than in any other state capital in Australia..

HOBART'S residential property bubble has burst, with prices falling more than in any other state capital in Australia in the past year.
But regional cities Launceston and Devonport continue to record solid price growth for houses.

In-depth independent analysis confirms now is the worst time in almost a decade to put your house on the market in Tasmania.

The snapshot, by independent researcher RP Data, shows Hobart's median house price has fallen 6.75 per cent this year, making it the cheapest capital city in the nation.

The figures also show how tougher economic times are hitting home. RP Data analyst Cameron Kusher said this year "has seen a marked slowdown in all capital cities".

"Hobart median house prices have fallen by 6.75 per cent and Hobart median unit prices have fallen by 11.76 per cent."

Mr Kusher said that was the biggest fall of any capital in the year to September.

The second biggest drop was in Perth where house prices fell 6.25 per cent and units fell 3.95 per cent.

Hobart's median house price -- $290,000 -- is $70,000 cheaper than the next cheapest capital, Adelaide, where the median price is $360,000.

Hobart also had the cheapest units with a median price of $225,000. That is $65,000 less than the next cheapest capitals, Adelaide and Darwin, at $290,000.

It is the first time RP Data, one of the nation's biggest residential property analysts, has done a detailed report on Tasmania's residential prices.

"Across Australia we are seeing low demand due to the current state of world financial markets," Mr Kusher said.

"This has also impacted property. With low consumer confidence, fewer people are choosing to purchase property and are instead holding on to whatever money they can.

"Those properties listed for sale are therefore taking much longer to sell.

"For buyers who don't have to sell, it is a great time to be in the market -- there is a greater level of vendor discounting and more options."

Mr Kusher said units in Tasmania's major centres had experienced big falls in median prices in the past year but house markets, overall, had stayed "relatively buoyant".

"Long-term throughout Australia we continue to build too few houses whilst population-growth figures show the number of new Australians has never been higher," he said.

Devonport was one of the state's better performers, fetching the second highest median price for houses and units.

In the past year its median house prices rose 11 per cent and unit prices 6 per cent.

It was the only Tasmanian city to have an increase in both categories.

Its median house price was $243,500 and the median unit price $200,000.

In Launceston, the median house price increased 8 per cent but the median unit price fell a massive 19 per cent. Its median house price was $237,250 and the median unit price $170,000.

Mr Kusher will deliver a detailed verdict on the "state of the state" at forums around the state this week.

The forums will be at Hobart's Hotel Grand Chancellor on Tuesday at 7.30am, Devonport's Quality Hotel Gateway on Tuesday at 4.30pm and Launceston's Colonial on Elizabeth on Wednesday at 7.30am

Aren't the North Koreans now officially Good Guys?

That would free up a spot on the Axis of Evil for Australia, wouldn't it?

sprinterusa said:

MEXICO CITY — Authorities confiscated more than $200 million in U.S. currency from methamphetamine producers in one of this city's ritziest neighborhoods, they said Friday, calling it the largest drug cash seizure in history.

View attachment 10796

Click to expand...

You guys can have the cocaine; I'll just take the paper stuff to the recycler.

Hospitals slower to see patients Print Adam Cresswell, Health editor | July 01, 2008
Article from: The Australian

PUBLIC hospital emergency departments are seeing a smaller proportion of patients within the recommended time than they did eight years ago - and the federal Government has admitted that "much work lies ahead" to fix the system.

More than 6.7 million people sought treatment at Australia's emergency departments in 2006-07 - the equivalent of one-third of the population - and 30 per cent of these patients were not seen within the minimum recommended times laid down by the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine.

The figures, contained in the latest annual State of Our Public Hospitals report released by the federal Government, have prompted a chorus of protests from health organisations who say it shows the system has been starved of funds, even though overall spending on hospitals hasnearly doubled over the past decade.

Releasing the report yesterday, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said it illustrated "11 years of Liberal neglect".

She said all states and territories except NSW were seeing a smaller proportion of emergency patients punctually in 2006-07 than they were eight years previously, in 1998-99. Over the same time frame, the number of people presenting to emergency departments rose by 34 per cent, up from five million in 1998-99.

The report showed there were 4.7 million admissions to public hospitals in 2006-07.

Ms Roxon said the latest report showed admissions were growing by about 3 per cent a year - more than double the rate of population growth - and hospitals were "under severe strain".

"While it will take time to turn around a decade of neglect, the Rudd Government is determined to deliver dramatic improvements in healthcare," she said.

The proportion of elective surgery patients seen within recommended times in 2006-07 ranged from 68.6 per cent in the Northern Territory, and 67.6 per cent in Tasmania, to 85.9 per cent in NSW.

Longest waits are for knee replacement (162-day median wait), a type of nasal surgery called septoplasty (113 days) and hip replacement (106 days).

Between 1998-99 and 2005-06, the amount of commonwealth money provided for state hospitals rose from $6.1 billion to $9.2 billion.

But over the same period, that money as a proportion of the total spending on state-run hospitals fell from 48.1 per cent to 42.7 per cent.

Yesterday's report also showed continuing increases in some states in the proportion of same-day procedures, and decreases in average lengths of stay. Both are techniques hospitals canuse to cope with an ever-growing stream of patients needing treatment.

Australian Medical Association president Rosanna Capolingua said the report was "a wake-up call to the governments of Australia" and that doctors and regular patients "have known for a long time that our public hospitals are at breaking point".

Prue Power, executive director of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, called on the Government to increase its share of total hospital funding from its current level of 42 per cent. The annual indexation also needed to be raised from the "inadequate" current rate of 1.7per cent.

States want cash for Medicare surcharge change

Siobhain Ryan | May 13, 2008
Article from: The Australian

THE states have demanded the Rudd Government cough up more money for healthcare agreements if changes to its Medicare surcharge cause a surge in the number of people using public hospitals.

Health ministers from Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania called for compensation from the commonwealth yesterday if its weekend decision added to public hospital queues.

Today's budget will lift the income threshold at which people face an extra surcharge for not having private health insurance from $50,000 to $100,000 for singles and from $100,000 to $150,000 for families.

The Australian Health Insurance Association has warned the move could prompt up to 400,000 people to dump their insurance and instead take their health needs to the public sector, already burdened by long waiting lists and inadequate resources.

As the Rudd Government prepared to unveil its budget package for public hospitals, the state health ministers who are negotiating a new funding agreement with the commonwealth used the announcement to add to their claims for extra funding.

Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson yesterday said it was still unclear what effect the Medicare surcharge decision would have.

"Queensland will argue that any potential impact needs to be taken into account during the current Australian Health Care Agreement negotiations," he said.

Western Australia Health Minister Jim McGinty said compensation should follow any shift in federal policy that added to the burden on the states.

A spokeswoman for NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher said she would be watching for any adverse effects.

Tasmanian Health Minister Lara Giddings said the private health system had won under the Howard government, and it was time federal priorities changed.

"If the change to Medicare is the first step by the Rudd Government to reversing this trend, the state Government would naturally expect an increase in federal funding to allow us to deal with the likely increase in demand," she said.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon conceded yesterday that the fallout from the change, in terms of private health insurance membership rates, was still unclear.

A UBS Investment Research note issued yesterday labelled the move "politically expedient", saying it would save government spending on the 30 per cent health insurance rebate.

Average premiums for individuals topped $700, according to its estimates, leaving the Treasury with a hefty annual bill.

But Choice health policy adviser Michael Johnston said the threshold rise would save the Government up to $140million, if the AHIA's estimate of the number of people likely to drop their cover was correct. Most - 90 per cent - government receipts from the surcharge come from people earning under $100,000 a year.

Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation director Jane Hall predicted private health cover would become less attractive for many current members once the penalty was removed.

Professor Hall said if healthy people left the private health pool, the cost of cover for the remaining members could rise.

Opposition health spokesman Joe Hockey warned that private health insurance premiums would "go through the roof" because of the exodus of members.

:

If per say an American citizen was injured in Australia, he or she would be afforded.. Free medical care, under the Public National Health Care System.

If per say an Australian was injured in America then he or she can be denied hospital admittance or charged for basic services., that could equate to a US $100.000+ bill
No Australian has even been bankrupted from debut $$$$$ from Hospice care billing.

Each and every person living in Australia! "Is guaranteed full medical assistance on a permanent basis" not caped with fee's, or restricted as to a pre-condition, 'that may be work-place related'.No lawyers or delayed court tactics,as to the blame game of who's responsible, for the debt incurred.

Public Hospital waiting for elective surgery is as similar as in the US as to stress shortages of Doctors nurses and trained personal,and funding.. If not an immediate life threatening situation, the waiting period is three to eleven weeks.

Private health care insurance is a stop gap between public and Private contributions your choice to take this insurance out. as to four types of insurances available. Politics and unions play the same game in hospice care, most problems with health care as in the United States, is management related.

The emphasis of the equation: All citizens have full coverage, and are not denied the basic "HUMAN RIGHT of MEDICAL CARE".
If you were permanently unemployed,or for what-ever reason that would prevent one from working... one still has 100% coverage.

Barker T and Son, flowerpot-makers, wilt in red tape

Mark Schliebs | November 20, 2008
Article from: The Australian
ONE of Australia's last large-scale terracotta flowerpot manufacturers knows only too well the complexity of Australia's taxation system.

For more than 30 years, Alan Barker has been working at his family's business, Barker T & Son, in Granville in Sydney's west.

Mr Barker said the equivalent of one day a week was now being spent on ensuring the struggling business complied with all state and federal regulations and laws.

"Two days a week, every second week, is just spent on compliance," he said.

"I reckon at least 15 per cent of our revenue goes to government taxes and other costs. We haven't made a profit in five years."

He said he was considering leaving the industry.

A global survey of how easily businesses can comply with tax systems has ranked Australia 48th out of 181 countries. The survey, compiled by the World Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers, was based on estimates of how much time and money a flowerpot-making business would spend on taxation.

In terms of what proportion of revenue was spent on taxes, Australia was ranked 127th in the world.

Mr Barker said cheaper labour and materials and lower taxes in countries such as Vietnam had led to a flood of Asian-made flowerpots on the Australian market. Vietnam's tax rate is ranked 45 places in front of Australia, at 82nd.

"We used to produce between 10,000 to 20,000 (pots) a year," Mr Barker said. "But I would have made 2000 or 3000 this year."

According to the World Bank study, the average amount Australian manufacturers of flowerpots paid in taxes amounted to 50.3 per cent of profits.

Mr Barker said each year he had to make separate payments for income, land and business taxes. He also paid GST and had decreased his Fringe Benefits Tax after cutting the number of vehicles he used for business.

His staff had fallen from six to two in the past couple of years.

He said that, within two years, Asian imports would force the few remaining Australian flowerpot makers to close.

Kym Wilson, who has been making pots for 30 years in Western Australia, said his business was running at a loss.

Mr Wilson's Picnic Hill Pottery, in Lesmurdie in Perth's east, has not made a profit in the past four years. He said GST had become the biggest tax for him to pay now.

Richard,

You seem more thin-skinned than the rest of us. You have posted at least 90%
more derogatory info about the US than all of us put together.

You don't have to defend. everyplace in the world has some weakness.

but if your going to attack-then you also have to take it


gerry

Hands up who likes to pay Taxation?...Silence is Golden
I didn't think so.
Our companies pay taxation; But basic 101's for dummy's can reduce taxation by years end, if you know how to reduce your legal yearly taxation credits. We pay not a cent more than we are legally required to do so.

Fact one: Most business fail in the first five years, not so much that the service of whats being offered is bad, but because they are absolutely pathetic financial managers,and many would agree that some of those top COE's around this world of ours in both Government and private sectors, are five quid short of an empty egg crate.

Over the last ten years in fact... Taxation has been reduced , sales tax in most parts, was scrapped for a 10% GST almost half of which Europe pays, this is fully deductible if in business as an operating expense.

Some of the die-hard old school complain bitterly..I say...'TOUGH TITTIES ' ... others don't.

Fuel is the third cheapest in the world outside of the USA and Canada, incomes can be combined and off-set to one being claimed as a dependent a 50% tax cut. The Rudd Government is to bring in further taxation cuts by the end of the financial year, low income earners are subsidized with free medical pharmaceuticals, specialized medical care, transport, housing, rent relief, you name it, they get it for free.

Many lower income earners, who are socially disadvantaged, are in need of assistance. So it' would be fitting for those who earn more to contribute a higher tax level,to help contribute to those, who can least afford better. Unfortunately Generation Y will in some sectors abuse the relief they have been given, and will tend to route the system. Basically a population that is small by the size of the Australian land mass it cost's to manage the infrastructures at all levels. There is never enough money and there are some who want and want but never contribute to society's scheme of things.

The greatest gift of which is in our constitution, is the unemployment benefit and pension schedules.It is not capped, but permanent.. mind you you have to earn it. 'LOOK FOR A JOB' There are no soup kitchens, or food stamps as such, although there are charity services to fill in the voids,If and when as to identifying where it is required, for those in immediate need of extra-ordinary assistance...No one is denied assistance.Some do escape the safety nets, that's an administration failure or the client, who may be Beyond Blue. I'm not a social welfare worker.

It's a good country that offers a great and safer environment to live in.
If a business such as the one Garry has sown then he has failed to understand what pottery is as to a Name brand or a sale driven to a boutique industry Tasmania has many specialized pottery makers, none have failed. But they are diversified.Bendigo pottery is the oldest in Australia it has it's up's and downs and exports world-wide. The saying is down under, for those who want to make something out of their lives is to get of your bum, and have a go ya' mug.

Inefficiency and incompetence is unacceptable, in to today's market of industry and commerce.
Products must be changed, as the times of technology advance changes. One must be aware of competitive manufactures in all levels of business from other and alternative venues, if your product can no longer compete,or be financially sound to sustain, then invest in R@D to diversify, or get out of the kitchen.There is no room for whingers, or losers.

As for those annoying Gad fly's in the outback of the vast landscape of ill tempered, stingy, unpleasant cantankerous, curmudgeon's..{Note One D} who's soul intent is to upset the pro quo,"neigh I shall not be silenced, by the dissent of Mythology.
Go Jump your own shark;As to the principle rule of economics; 'Survival of the fittest." If you fear"..Then ask yourself this honest, but fundamental question..What is it! That you fear so most?........ CHANGE
To save you the typo space it's likely Australia may hit a negative by late April on the third Q....followed by a retraction in May 2009.
The difference is that the working masses are not in stress as of yet, housing is not an issue in fact it's increasing in sales as folk move from the declining mining sectors, back into mainstream cites and suburbia.there is no credit shortage for mortgages.

Our companies are debt free; Our staff are fully secured for employment even if we had to shutter for 12 months,monies have been set aside over a forty year period to pay them for a period of twelve months, before a compulsory retrenchment scheme became a necessity. the directors would hope not, as to the value of staff with 300 years of combined knowledge would be a loss that could never be reinstated.

Our staff who are greatly valued, as they are the keys for tomorrow's future.I take the personal responsibility to look after these folk. Our company and its subsidiary's are under no legal obligation to voluntarily pay them when there is no work, however there is the principle of values, and conscience, so the financial cost is borne by my own personal monies.

Why Revelations! Why earth corruptions.
Why salvation's! Why eliminations.
Side by side, day by day.
Search for reasonisation.
Light by light, slay my mind
There will be no salvation.
Richard.

Richard

This is my last post in this thread. I have only posted facts and articles from your newspapers, no editorials, no opinion. It appears that I have struck a nerve. Imagine that, a person getting their hackle feathers up when an outsider constantly beats up something or someone that belongs to them.

So...I apologize for posting up nothing but negative articles about a such a Great Friend and Ally...Australia.

AUSSIE...AUSSIE...AUSSIE

gary