Peter Garrett - Fraud for the environment.

I've said before that Peter Garrett is an embarrassment as a minister in my opinion and that he is simply a sycophantic yes man following party line without a clue about anything environmental in real terms, and I stand by that.

The burning of fossil fuels has to be the biggest downside of mans foray into the modern society that it is today as far as impact on this planet we live on, the continued reliance on a depleting finite resource that is damaging in its removal and then doubly damaging it its processing and eventual use is the greatest success and greatest failure at the same time.

All that being said we can make the choice to do something about it on a daily basis, reducing the amount of fuel we use, using consumables with less packaging and limiting the amount of travel we do, all things that a government suggests to the people in the community to lessen the impact of climate change.

So you have to ask yourself why would the minister for the environment be spending $226,010 on travel, burning vast quantities of aviation fuel, going around the world, when a Skype hook up could achieve the same result?

Simple, Garrett is enjoying one of the perks of being a minister, free world tours at the taxpayers expense, holidays around the world for free.

The Government will claim that he went to some conference or did some government business while he was there of course and he will most likely trot out the old line that it is expected that we attend these things, which is BS.

Garrett is a fraud, spouting lines from old songs about how the people should do without, make sacrifices to help reduce carbon emissions and at the same time he's burning so much carbon on world trips that we're effectively going backwards and not achieving any reduction at all.

Garrett should rethink his globetrotting ways, he should practice as he preaches, he should be an example for reduction of carbon emissions, he should be a shining light to the rest of the community about how we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and do business world wide without wasting both money and resources.

If Garrett can't do this he should resign, and let someone who can be real, effective and set an example as a warrior for climate change.

In my opinion Garrett is a Fraud for the environment.

Division 3 decided, . . .wait for the ricochet, . .

After what seems like months since the cowardly departure from a tough fight with sitting Labor man John Mickel in the seat of Logan to the relative sure thing of a safe seat in Beaudesert by the former Division 3 representative, it would seem that we now have the other candidate who came second (by a handful of votes)in the two horse race for division 3 almost 14 months ago, as the victor of this by-election.

The very experienced former deputy and acting Mayor will be back to add to his previous 12 years in the chamber.

This actually raises some questions about what is going to happen to the political balance in council, and to the ladder climbing of the new kids who seem to spend their days plotting ways to tip other councillors out of their chairs including the deputy mayor, or should i say especially the deputy mayor who seems to be the main target most of the time even though all attempts so far have ended in complete and utter embarrassing failure.

The fact that the newly elected Division 3 representative has great experience as a deputy mayor may be the catalyst for another coup attempt from the power hungry "kiddie councillors" who may attempt to offer their allegiances in exchange for support to topple the current deputy mayor.

I doubt that the division 3 representative will be willing to play that game with the likes of those would be razor gang members of council in a bloody minded and politically driven coup that would serve no real purpose except to further destabilise council as a whole.

personally I think the new division 3 councillor will get a chair anyway, quite possible the chair for community services.

Shock Treatment, . . . .is it just brutality?

Since the Police Union have had their way and officers have been issued with what is effectively a cattle prod in a pistol, the Taser; Police haven't had so much exposure in the media for overzealous use of force since the Joh bejelke Peterson days in Queensland where police were reduced to almost a political goon squad.

The initial cry for the taser from the police union was as a safety precaution for the general public; the claim was that the taser would replace lethal force, the gun, for the majority of cases where police were confronted by an agitated and armed offender (alleged) who was resisting arrest and making threats to the public or police.

So far the Taser has been used on children and adults who appear to have done little more than question the validity of police instructions or not obeyed police instructions in a fast enough time frame.

This isn't a police bashing post by any means, however, it seems to me that if you give someone the power to, and the use, of a tool then they will find a reason to use it.

That being said, my concern is that the police have no way of ascertaining the health conditions of a person they are shocking with 50,000 volts or whether this kind of voltage could have serious consequences of a negative nature to the person they are shocking which could result in death even though both the government and the police claim there are no adverse health issues with the taser.

Recently reported in the media is the story of how police officers got involved in an incident which was occurring at a hotel across the road from a police station which resulted in about half a dozen police officers scuffeling with 3 members of a family with one officer targeting the older man who appeared in video footage to be pushing officers away from his younger relatives and who during the scuffle with this particular officer returned punches after several times evading the grasp of that officer who eventually tasered the older man and then grabbed him in a headlock. One of the younger relatives retaliated by running at the officer and (allegedly) head butting him which resulted in severe damage to the officer who was knocked out instantly and hit his head very hard on the ground when he went down.
The men were arrested by police later and charged but let off by a judge who saw the video evidence and called the police to task for excessive force, and released the charged men, to the ire of police.

The older man suffered a heart attack only minutes after the tasering by that officer, and most probably as a result of it, a point which police say has no basis despite overwhelming contradictory evidence from the USA where cases of heart attacks and other problems after Taser shocks are well documented.

The police want to continue to have appeals and have the men charged with something, since the officer has serious problems from his injuries, and it seems to me that it's about revenge rather than right and wrong.

The incident was a common one where a rowdy group were blueing after a skinfull at the pub, the question is this, if the taser is a replacement for lethal force as they say, then why was it used in this situation? was that officer in fear for his or a member of the public's life? or, . . was he frustrated at his inability to apprehend an old man who was trying to break up the fighting?

In the case at the gold coast the officer tasered a 15 year old girl who was being held by two security guards; was that officer in fear of his or a member of the public's life? I don't think so. He used the taser like a fist to punish the girl out of anger and rage, he issued summary justice. . . .no judge , no jury, just a cop and his taser and that girl will obey or by heaven she will pay.

So in reality do our police need to be using a replacement for lethal force as they have in these cases, look up you tube and see how they use them in the USA and you will see that if a person doesn't respond fast enough, obey quick enough or even treat the cop with enough respect they can be tasered, just normal people who have come to the attention of police and feel the wrath of those officers.

I think the officer who uses a tares should be forced to submit a public report as to why they felt that they were in fear for their life or fear for a member of the public's life and if they cannot substantiate a real and present danger, they should be stood down.

Well you can tell me that you think police don't get enough support from the general public, and that as a rule we are losing respect for them, and even that they are a necessary evil, but I guess we need the force, even though we probably fear them more than any criminal, or bikie gang, strange isn't it.

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Genetics made me small, . . . . God doesn't get involved the whims of those with small man's syndrome.

When people make the astounding claims that they have been victimised, stalked, picked on as a child or come under any other form of discrimination you would hardly expect to see them trying to be the authority over the general populous, seeking attention any and every way they can get it and releasing to the press self promotional stories with a continuing frequency, would you?

Well apparently that's exactly what you'd do because after years of being picked on as a child for being "small" we see a story about a person deciding to get surgery in Russia to get an 8cm growth in the leg bones and someone paying it seems $40,000 for that to happen, plus I would imagine air fares and accommodation etc.

I actually have serious doubts about the alleged "picked on" story in one way because as a rule you don't get picked on for that it is usually because you are a prick, and no one likes you, isn't it?

I also don't believe that there was any other reason than vanity behind the surgery, at all, and in fact it can line up behind the other rumoured procedures that are purported to have been paid for by this person.

Aside from the fact that in the press and TV media, the statements conflict in places, which from this source is not unusual in my opinion, the pictures are also interesting for a couple of reasons, that are quite obvious by the fact that they shouldn't be there if the timing is as it is stated.

You have to ask yourself, why do these type of people always try to dominate everyone, try to become the highest ranking, and have the most power, the answer from a psychology perspective (from a website, I might add) is that they have been sexually molested, don't laugh, or that they are embarrassed by their father figure and want to replace them as head of the family, again don't laugh, or that they are consumed by insecurities and use the attack is the best form of defence idea.

Ok, websites may not be the most reliable places to get psych diagnosis, and I take no responsibility for any babble they might put out on any number of subjects relating to the human mind, but I don't have an answer for that question so I had to try and find one, didn't I ?

Being a sceptic, I actually think that, given the timing, this is purely a profile raising exercise, will the women of Beaudesert feel either sorry for or empowered by this assertive action on body image ? or will the general public think this is just another example of spoilt gen Y's wanting and getting and never hearing the word NO.

I wonder at the mental state of people who will go into unnecessary serious surgery several times perhaps in the name of vanity, and at their capacity to rationally and reasonably represent the majority of the public who would never put their own life in danger that way.

I also wonder at the reference to God, and the blaming, and if there is one, just how impressed a God would be to find a former Jewish person being so disrespectful to both their temple and their holy father. God was innocent in all this.

Don't wig the Cat out man.

With the latest discussions in the good chambers of Logan Council , behind closed doors i might add, is about Cat Registration, I'm not kidding.

It has been reported in the news that the State Government is requiring all the cats to be registered and micro chipped and most preferably desexed as well, and some Councils have made enquiry and had discussions about how exactly that will be implemented.

I'm informed that at Logan there is quite a margin between the amount collected from the registration of Dogs and what they spend on facilities and control (specifically for Dogs) and that has also been part of the discussions I hear.

So getting down to tin tacks, we the public assume the reason, and really the only plausible one, for hiding the discussions from us is that these gutless councillors are planning to charge cat owners for the privilege of keeping the mice away from the pantry, could it be so ?

I'd have to say that even if it was free, you'd have to be "tossing possums" to even consider registering your cat because in all likely hood sooner or later these councillors will decide to make you pay, and how easy will it be to know who to charge than to simply go through the register of those who partook of the free registration etc.

Another thing to consider is that by charging the public for owning cats as they do Dogs, council effectively takes responsibility for the control of problems related to cats in their jurisdiction, even the feral ones.

Now I've been a long time advocate of protecting the natural environment and reducing the numbers of feral cats out there decimating natural species and breeding out of control, so this is a good thing right? Wrong, do we really think Logan Council will actually want to spend the money from cat registration on animal control? I doubt it.

There is a real need for control of feral cats not just in Logan but across Australia, and it's a Government problem that really doesn't seem to be getting very much attention or actually getting any results in real terms; feral cats are increasing.

So are you going to register your cat, if you are or are not I'd like to know the reason.

Nothing to fear ; . . except fear itself ? right?

Things that go bump in the night, that shadow that seemed to move just at the edge of your periferal vision, things that go missing and later reappear where you've already looked, sound familiar?

You are just like everyone else in this there are things that are odd and things that seem not to make any sence, and of course there are some things, unexplainable things that freak you out.

Deborah Smith
April 5, 2009
An invisibility cloak has long been the the stuff of science fiction, but fantasy is about to become reality.

The British scientist who pioneered the concept, Sir John Pendry, expects a cloak that can conceal an object from prying eyes to be unveiled within months.

Harry Potter need not worry just yet. His wizard's cloak, which makes people disappear, is still too complicated and costly for Muggle scientists to emulate.

"At the moment we don't have the technology to do that," Professor Pendry, of Imperial College London, told the Herald . The first man-made cloak will be more like an invisibility "carpet", he said. Tuck a tiny object underneath it, and it will seemingly disappear because the bump the object makes will be hidden from view with an artificial mirage.

Its development will be a startling demonstration of the potential of metamaterials - a radical new technology that could lead to other applications, including barriers to prevent waves damaging the shore, acoustic cloaks to reduce noise, stealth systems for the military, and faster telecommunications.

Metamaterials have microscopic structures that give them properties not found in nature because of the unusual way the structures interact with light or other electromagnetic waves.

They can be designed to hide things by bending radiation around an object as if it were not there, "like water flowing around a stone", said Professor Pendry, who will give a public talk on invisibility at the University of Sydney on Wednesday.

He was the first to think up these new materials a decade ago. In 2004, to "spice up" one of his mathematically dense lectures in the US, he mentioned Harry Potter. "I said one of the interesting things they could do is hide things."

Other researchers in the audience, led by David Smith of Duke University, took his message to heart. "They went back and built the darn thing."

In 2006 Professor Smith revealed the first cloak, which steered radiation around a copper cylinder, making it invisible to microwave detection.

"I am optimistic work in progress will produce an optical cloak in the next six months," Professor Pendry said.

Sydney Science Forum on invisibility, Wednesday April 8, 5.30 pm, Bookings 9351 3021, ssf@science.usyd.edu.au .

If this does become reality it won't be before they either only make it available to police and military or only make available some device to allow police and military to see someone if they are "invisible"

I just thought it looked like fun.
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WHO IS BUDDY WILSON ?

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I've had several emails in relation to the issues ongoing at Greenbank which mostly seem to revolve around the divisional councillor, the Greenbank community centre management committee and now a new group trying to move into the area.

The issues;

The councillor being a member of the GCC management committee
The removal of a long term community group from the GCC
The use and relocation of a telephone line
The inconsistencies in the accounts at the GCC AGM.
The closing of GCC meetings to the public
The compulsory blue card requirement, with no children's program
The cancelling of memberships over blue card requirement
The matter of who resides in the care takers residence at GCC

It seems that when issues arose between the Divisional Councillor, Hagnal Ban, and a community group situated in the Greenbank Community Center's Kurrong Romm on a permanent basis with the rent subsidised by that Councillor, the first thing that Ban did was to stop paying the $50 a week rent without telling the group it had been cut. After a period of perhaps two months the GCC committee issued a notice to the group asking for rent to be paid up to date and after some checking to find it had indeed not been paid by the councillor, it was paid by a means that resulted in a permanent rec cord of the payment and the receiving of that money. Nevertheless later at the GCC AGM it was declared that the money had not been paid and this information was given to journalists to discredit the group in all probability.

The payment of the overdue rent was never acknowledged by the GCC committee and an order was issued by it to remove the group from the GCC . After a time, the dispute escalated to the point where the group was locked out by council (Beaudesert) Questions were asked at the time about the councillors involvement as a committee member of the GCC management Committee, and the Councillor gave assertions to the public and Logan Council that she was never a member of the committee, despite it being recorded on minutes that she had offered apologies at committee meetings and had attended committee meetings which are not open for the public. It has also been public knowledge that the previous council Beaudesert Shire put a councillor on every community group including the GCC management Committee and it is in council documents that she was put there and in the GCC constitution that a councillor would have automatic membership on that committee.

During the time these disputes were on going the GCC was undergoing some upgrades including the construction of a new caretakers residence, bollards around driving areas to keep cars away from pedestrian areas, and some other things. As soon as the group was locked out it seems their telephone connection, which I'm told cost the group about $3500, was connected to the new caretakers residence by someone other than Telstra apparently and without consent from the group, and that group paid the bill for a time while it was used by others. I believe that theft of a phone line is a serious offence, but I'm not seeing any action from either Council or other authorities.

I wonder at how the connection between the councillor, Hagnal Ban, and the committee in this matter is not obvious to a Council who have inherited the situation, but it seems they are nonetheless turning a blind eye to it.

The AGM of the GCC management committee was a shambles by all accounts and the president was just going to chair it until a member of the public insisted that all committee deliver reports and then stand down while a neutral chair hosts the re election of a new committee. The Councillor, ban was there but refused to chair, and it was Greg Birkbeck who quickly jumped to the position of chair after a whispering session with the councillor apparently. The old committee had the numbers and was re-elected without a problem, and those people who came on the night to join up as members to be elected to that committee were prevented from voting. I personally believe that was set up by some people who had declared that they were going to join up and help get a new committee going, but didn't do so until the AGM even though I'm told they were informed that if they did so they would not be permitted to vote. Those people are integrated with that committee very well now I'm told.

The GCC management committee have made it compulsory for members to have a blue card (for working with children) even though they don't offer any programs at all, no child care and are a hall hire committee in essence, they have also signed off on the applications for members saying that they do, and the members have signed off saying they are working or volunteering to work with children under the GCC management committee as i understand it.

Any members who wouldn't provide their personal details on the form for the management committee, rightfully, on the basis that it is wrong to make this a requirement for membership, have been sent letters terminating their membership.

Since that time it has been revealed to me that it is a requirement for members t attend 4 meetings per Annam to maintain membership, and of course vote at future AGM's and that committee has also changed the constitution to say that they only have to open meetings to the public on two occasions other than the AGM, so no one but them are ever going to be the committee.

At the last AGM questions were asked as to who was residing in the caretakers residence, since it was supposed to be advertised to the public that a job as caretaker was available, but it was clear that someone was already occupying the building, I was told that the secretary was seen parked there and her car was there overnight on a regular basis. At that AGM it was publicly announced by the secretary that a temporary caretaker named BUDDY WILSON was in fact the occupant of the building until a permanent care taker could be found.

Apparently there was 1 applicant interviewed for the job and was rejected, I am also told that someone named Greg Birkbeck interviewed the applicant, although not a member of the committee or an officer with Logan Council, I don't know if Birkbeck is qualified to interview applicants for a caretakers job anyway, but if there was only one why were they rejected? will this information be made public. The rumour is that the persons residing in the caretakers residence are related to members of the committee.

So I wonder who was Buddy Wilson, how was he removed from the residence and why if the position was not yet filled, and where is he now and for that matter where did he come from because other than the claim of his existence by the GCC management committee member, no one else has ever seen or heard of him.

If you know Buddy Wilson, please email me so I can resolve the issue.
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Draft SEQRP ; Make your comments count, time extension.

This is a press release and the sceptic in me says that they haven't received the minute percentage of submissions as yet to effectively call this consultation so they are extending the deadline for closing, but basically it allows you all to have your say on one of the most manipulative, prejudicial, biased, misinformed, and polarising documents the government has released.

In real terms the SEQ RP is about stopping mums and dads using that big block they planned and worked for years to own, often doing without to do so, from being subdivided to either fund retirement or provide land for their offspring. The SEQ RP calls this fragmented development and prefers the kind delivered by the major developers like Lend Lease, so it has given them in many cases development rights in the middle of rural areas whilst preventing anyone else from having the same right.

The big hit comes when it seems that councils get the workload to make it all happen, and guess what, that means that those mums and dads don't get the right to develop their parcel of land but they get to fund the planning for the big developer, fund the structure planning for that developer and fund the planning for infrastructure to service that development for the big developer and fund quite a bit of the physical infrastructure to that development, in other words you cant have your rights even though you have paid your own way, but you will now pay again so the developer can make huge profits, . . . . . . .and of course that developer may just make a tax deduct able, large donation to a political parties campaign fund.

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
EXTRA TIME FOR SEQ REGIONAL PLAN SUBMISSIONS

South East Queenslanders have an extra month to provide feedback on the draft SEQ Regional Plan 2009 – 2031.

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe today announced the public consultation period has been extended to 1 May instead of closing of this Friday.
“Some Councils and interest groups have asked for an extension, I’m keen to make sure everyone gets the chance to have their say,” said Mr Hinchliffe.
“This is a plan to protect the things that make South East Queensland such a great place to live for future generations, like our wonderful outdoors environment.
“It places more than 84 per cent of the region off limits to urban development.
“I encourage everyone to have a look at the draft so they can provide any feedback.
“It’s a plan for smart growth, to manage our expanding population and tackle the issues of today like housing affordability, congestion and climate change.
“I’m proud to say we’ve managed to avoid any significant changes to our existing urban footprint, which provides a clear boundary to stop sprawl and protect our natural environment, whilst providing enough land for predicted population growth.
“The focus of the growth will remain the Western Corridor, where the population will expand twice as fast as Brisbane and the coastal areas each year on average.”
Mr Hinchliffe said although submissions usually covered several issues, key themes had already emerged.
“By Monday morning my department had received more than 1000 submissions from individuals, commercial and community organisations, local governments and state agencies,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
“They range from several form letters to detailed council submissions, from input from wildlife organisations and conservation groups to the caravan industry.
“The natural environment is featuring strongly so far with feedback around koala issues, biodiversity, air, noise and coastal management.
“The department is already processing submissions and I have asked them to work closely with key stakeholders over coming weeks so we can finalise the plan by mid-year.”

KEY FACTS

- safeguards more than 84 per cent of the region’s 22, 890 sq km from urban development
- strict controls remain in place for housing outside urban footprint
undeveloped areas, infill areas and rural residential lots can cater for 735,500 more houses and units
- protects natural landscape and rural production areas from housing and rural subdivision
- promotes more growth in the Western Corridor to take pressure off coastal communities
- halts urban sprawl by locating new communities and jobs along public transport corridors to limit car use
- consolidates rural growth to keep green breaks between cities and communities
- ecofriendly tourism development allowed outside the urban footprint increased to include “medium-scale” projects, but not on ecologically significant or good quality agricultural lands
- new sustainable housing designs and new building standards


The draft South East Queensland Regional Plan can be viewed at: www.dip.qld.gov.au or at Council chambers.

Submissions can be mailed to:
Draft SEQ Regional Plan Submission
Department of Infrastructure and Planning
Reply Paid 15009, City East Qld 4002;
via fax: (07) 3235 4071
by email: seqreview@dip.qld.gov.au
(only if they include the full name and email address, or other address, of the submitter)
or lodged in person at the Department of Infrastructure and Planning, 63 George St, Brisbane.

Media 1 - voters 0

Watching the elections in Queensland has been less than inspiring, in fact I'd say there would be more controversy in a mono political system in a communist country.

I haven't seen a more arrogant person win an election since Beattie and I have to say she is just as the news media describe historical in this victory but in a different way.

In days long gone and when the people of France were starving a certain member of the royalty cried " let them eat cake" . . . . . The french revolted and killed as many of the upper class as they could.

Here in Australia, when we were running out of water, Blight said "let them drink their own shit" . . . . . . and the people rewarded her with another term to continue her dictatorial arrogance, ratifying again the forced amalgamations, accepting that they will pay more tax to service her $10 million a day interest bill on the Labor slush fund and accept the addition of a known toxin to our drinking water supply.

I have never seen such a dirty campaign, and one where the media was so biased, in my opinion clearly supporting the Labor government in Advertising, comment, publishing of press releases, and even continuing to advertise during the traditional media blackout before an election.

The very few opposition adds that I did see were sandwiched between Labor adds which featured the opposition leader with negative insinuations and with plain untruths about his policy and pure lies about what he will do if elected.

Then there was the strangest one of all; the amount of time Labor gave to advertising the opposition in a negative light and making claims that people will lose jobs if they vote against the government.

I would say that Queensland is in for a long three years of suffering under Labor and that even though Bligh promised Jobs, her federal counterpart Rudd has already said Labor will cut jobs, and even more that Bligh was claiming the opposition would cut, get ready for pain people.

I am about to succeed from Australia I think, I don't know if i can afford to continue to fly arrogant Bligh and her ministers around the world on holidays while we drink shit and toxins and eat tainted Chinese food because the regional plan is stealing all our farm land for housing and industry built by those companies it seems who funded this re election.

Peter Garrett, it gets worse.

I've always had the opinion that Garrett was caught up in his political infatuation early in his life, quite possibly before Uni, and was staunchly anti conservative.
He used this to his best advantage as front man for Midnight Oil where his politically incorrect (for the time) lyrics complimented the Bands cutting edge, unique sound and put them into a niche withing the pop music genre where they had almost no competition as an anti government / pro humanity act.
There are of course those who sentimentally believe that Garrett is what he sings, I don't subscribe to that theory at all, despite him having served as president of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 1989 to 1993 and 1998 to 2004, in addition he also joined the International Board of Greenpeace in 1993 for a two-year term and served as adviser and patron to various cultural and community organisations including Jubilee Debt Relief, and was a founding member of the Surfrider Foundation.
My personal opinion is that due to his high profile, he was sought out for those roles to raise the profile among younger people and help with fund raising.

Anyway, read this and make your own opinion, is Garrett just a puppet a token, a Labor yes man?

Former musician and Arts minister Peter Garrett has shut down an elite Melbourne classical music school.

The former singer with political rock band Midnight Oil has decided to defund the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and start a new institution within the University of Melbourne.

Unlike other institutions, ANAM does not offer degrees or formal classes - it comprises mainly of one-on-one tuition and opportunities to perform.

The body is seen as a good bridge between learning institutions and the professional musical circuit.

The federal opposition has questioned the motives behind the decision, pointing to the cosy relationship between the Vice Chancellor of Melbourne University Glyn Davis and the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Davis helped Rudd run the recent 2020 Summit in Canberra.

Garrett has not announced how many students the new school will take or where it will be located.

Hillary Clinton, past it, or just the wrong person for the job?

The foreign policy of the US has ramifications accros the world and as far as being a peacekeeper the US has an important role but has the appointment of the Ex President's wife, a blatant crony job, tainted the impartiality with which the world expects issues to be tackled.

Hillary Clinton has already said that she is 100% behind the ongoing destruction of Palestine by Isreal and has fixed ideas about foreign policy on many other subjects and personally, I think someone new and a little less biassed or more impartial would have been better for the job, actually I think Mrs Clinton has no place in this new administration after all the US has been in the clutches of clintons and bushes for 20 years, isn't that enough?

Read on;

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China to keep buying US debt as she wrapped up her first overseas trip, during which she agreed to work closely with Beijing on the financial crisis.

Ms Clinton made the plea shortly before leaving China, the final stop on a four-nation Asian tour that also took her to Japan, Indonesia and South Korea, where she worked the crowds to try to restore America's standing abroad.

In Beijing, she called on authorities in Beijing to continue buying US Treasury bonds, saying it would help jumpstart the flagging US economy and stimulate imports of Chinese goods.

"By continuing to support American Treasury instruments the Chinese are recognising our interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together,'' Ms Clinton said at the US embassy here.

Ms Clinton had sought to focus on economic and environmental issues in Beijing, saying Washington's concerns about the human rights situation in China should not be a distraction from those vital matters.

Beijing's human rights record emerged nonetheless as an issue, as dissidents on Saturday reported being harassed or intimidated by Chinese authorities in a bid to stop them speaking out or meeting Ms Clinton while she was here.

"Plainclothes police blocked me from leaving my home. They were afraid I would try to meet with Hillary Clinton or others in her delegation,'' democracy campaigner Jiang Qisheng said.

Ms Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi largely agreed to disagree on human rights as they pledged future joint action on the economy and climate change.

The goodwill, also on display in her talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, could raise hope for a new era of cooperation between the two largest greenhouse gas emitters and two of the world's top three economies.

What a difference a day makes, as Qld plunges lower into recession than any other state.

As the treasurer tells his tale of woe and lays the blame at global factors out of his control, the question is being asked, how long has the problem been going on and why didn't the state government do something earlier.

We are going $1.66 billion into deficit by the forecast, and could be deeper and worse our states credit rating has dropped, the only state to do so, to AA+ from AAA which means we will pay a higher rate of interest on government borrowings and we were paying $10 million a day in interest before all this.

You'd have to say that the treasury has not kept the government informed of the situation or they have simply turned a blind eye to it hoping it wouldn't impact until after the elections.

With labor heavy weights jumping ship and taking life time incomes with them, it will be years before this state will be in the black again and one could only expect the incoming government to be stuck with the job of trying to sort out a mess.

Once Australia's boom state, riding a wave of property and mining investment, Queensland has an economy grinding to a halt. Treasury officials issued a dire warning yesterday for the next financial year, when they fear the budget deficit will double to $3.2billion.

The latest forecasts, which take into account the Rudd Government's $42 billion stimulus package and recent interest rate cuts, predict a further 60,000 people will be laid off in 2009-10, when economic growth will slump to 1per cent, putting Queensland on the brink of a recession.

With the property market stagnant and weakening global demand for coal, the $809 million surplus forecast for this financial year had become $54 million by December and was revised yesterday to a $1.573 billion deficit.

In the past two months, Treasury officials have revised down revenue collections by $500 million in transfer duty, $427 million in royalties and $334 million in GST, and for the first time will have to top up the supposedly fully funded government superannuation scheme.

The treasurer has come up with a solution though, he plans to either cut services, or raise taxes.

Brilliant!