Today: Liberal and Labor gobbledgook over nuclear submarines.
If you’re thinking of voting Labor, because of nuclear issues, you should realise that Labor is just as confused, and just as subservient to the USA as Liberal is.
Does anybody bother to dissect what politicians say – when questioned about anything, but especially when questioned on nuclear issues ? They would much prefer that nuclear issues were simply not discussed at all.
On nuclear submarines: Peter Dutton (Liberal) Defence Minister when asked if they will be built in Australia:
“I hope that it’ll be higher than 60 per cent… we haven’t yet chosen what boat (UK or US nuclear design) we’re going with… I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised,…… I just think there is more blue sky here than what people realise.”
Shadow Defence Minister Brendan O’Connor (Labor) when asked the samr question:
“We will do everything we possibly can to make sure that those assets are built in Australia,“
They don’t know, and they don’t care. They don’t care whether Australia even needs these $170 billion undersea white elephants. They’ll be gone from office long before the damn submarines are going to happen . Typical of the quailty of Australia’s current political leadership
Nuclear news this week – worrying times!
Some bits of good news – What went right this week: hope for the climate, plus more positive news. Nature has priority’: Rewilding map showcases nature-led restoration . Once Rocked by Nuclear Disaster, Fukushima Is Now a Renewables Hub. Solar Panels That Make Electricity at Night are Finally Here – And They’re Cheap and Don’t Need Batteries.
CORONAVIRUS. Global COVID-19 cases pass grave milestone as highly contagious BA.2 subvariant surges around the world.
CLIMATE. Pole to Pole with Paul Beckwith – I highly recommend this Radio Ecoshock interview with this top climate communicator
NUCLEAR. What can I say ? Are we on the brink of nuclear war? Can we have any confidence in our leaders to make sensible decisions? It is exhausting to rummage through the media spin in the search for accurate information.
AUSTRALIA.
Pine Gap’s role in China–US arms race makes Australia a target. Nuclear risks, the war in Ukraine, and Australia’s significant contribution to these dangers. Defence expert spills the beans – small nuclear reactors for Australia are all about militarism, not ”peaceful energy”,
Cameco Corp still set on WA uranium mine, despite government knockback, Indigenous opposition.
This should be a climate change election
Why the ABC cannot rely on the coalition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPycNs6mlxU
INTERNATIONAL
Caitlin Johnstone sheds a critical gaze on media reporting on Ukraine, and asks why Julian Assange is criminalised for revealing military atrocities. Glenn Greenwald: The Censorship Campaign Against Western Criticism of NATO’s Ukraine Policy Is Extreme. How Much Are We Prepared To Sacrifice To Help The US Win A Propaganda War Against Putin?
NATO gloats over second, bloodier phase of Ukraine war
NATO’s military buildup on eastern flank to lengthen, broaden war — Anti-bellum
The US-Australia-UK pact seems determined to pursue great power competition at the risk of real conflict.
UKRAINE. Russian soldiers received ‘shocking amount’ of nuclear exposure at Chernobyl site – some may have less than a year to live. Carelessness of Russian soldiers around Chernobyl – shows danger of nuclear sites in wartime. Kyiv Independent news is anything but independent. It’s a mouthpiece for NATO-USA-Azov-nazi propaganda and unverified atrocity stories. Ukrainian blogger gets 15 years gaol for saying that Zelensky govt takes orders from other governments. Zelensky gives his vision of peace deal with Russia.
Zelensky adviser: Ukraine war can last till 2035, best option is for Russia to be broken
NATO’s shift to Asia-Pacific: Biden trip to Japan designed to rally Asia against Russia, China
Today: Investigative journalism still lives! In UK’s Daily Mirror – persistent forensic coverage of the plight of veterans of nuclear tests in Australia.
We have told countless heartbreaking stories of grieving mums, children with deformities, men aged before their time and widows struggling to hold their families together, all while campaigning for recognition.
The test veterans and their families will never stop fighting. The Mirror will never cease to demand they are heard.
Just when I was ready to give up on all mainstream media, I found the article by the Daily Mirror. Susie Boniface sets out not only the saga of the sufferings of the veterans, but also, importantly, the irrefutable documentary evidence.
In this time of over-emotional, but not authenticated war coverage, it is refreshing to find this real journalism. And to find a news otlet that has continued to care about soldiers exploited by militarism for all these decades.
Today: On Ukraine – Australia well and truly brainwashed by the military-industrial-corporate-media complex
It would be funny, if it were not so serious. The Australian media, in serious decline, has gone further down the drain lately – esprecially NewsCorpse. We might get bored with indordinate attention lavished on sporting heroes. We might laugh at the politicians’electioneering stunts – much baby-kissing, koala-hugging, tractor-driving, wearing of cowboy hats…………
But the steady destruction of any intelligent discourse on Australia’s new militarism, on why we must hate China, and above all, how we must adore the USA, NATO and their behind-the-scenes delight in the protracted process of Ukraine being destroyed – all this is sinister stuff.
Diogenes went around Athens in broad daylight, shining a lantern – he was looking for an honest person. He’d need a blow-torch in Australia today, to find any honest reporting on Ukraine.
Today: Australia’s Defence Establishment joy – small nuclear reactors, (dud for energy, climate action) but great for war!
It’s not often that for Australia, the essential connection between ”peaceful” nuclear energy and nuclear weapons is set out so blatantly, as Defence Connect just did.. For many decades, we have been beguiled by the nuclear industry’s propaganda with the myth of the ”peaceful atom”.
And more lately. Australians have been sold, by ANSTO’s marketing men, the story of how ANSTO’s goal is the medical benefit to all Australians, from its nuclear reactor. What a load of poppycock that was!
We must be grateful to Defence Connect, for setting it out so clearly. Now that nuclear energy has turned out to be unaffordable and irrelevant to climate change, and now that cyclotrons have proved better that nuclear reactors, for producing medical radioisotopes. The truth is clearly out – the only use for the nuclear industry is warfare!
Today: AUKUS, nuclear submarines, hypersonic missiles – all lovely for Australia’s khaki election.
I must admit – the unsurpassed marketing genius Scotty Morrison has got off to a great start with the ”economics, jobs, jobs, ain’t it grand, mate” campaign. He was helped enormously by the Labor leader not being able to answer questions on unemployment and interest rates.
Nevertheless, I’m betting that dear old #ScotttyFromMarketing will before long revert to the war-mongering shtick. After all, he needs to nullify as much as possible, any criticism of the astronomic costs to all this militarism.
And – #ScottyFromMarketing needs to ward off any potential subversion by the gun-crazy Peter Dutton, who’s always there, salivating to take over the leadership.
Today: Media mesmerised by the glory of space research, unaware of its militarism and danger
Once again, ABC Radio National’s programme ”God Forbid” has provided a generally positive and approving discussion of space research and rocketry. Once again, experts potificate , without the slightest mention that the main thrust of all this technology is devoted to military devices, nukes in space etc. (Not a mention of Australia’s latest venture – hypersonic missiles).
Elon Musk, potrayed as such a philanthropist, is very involved in the USA’s space warfare project. These technocrats have no concept of genuine science, no understanding of the fragility of our ecosphere, including space. Just to give one example, one aspect – the many thousands of satellites going up will eventuall produce light pollution in our skes, – with damaging effects on birds, bats, insects – a huge part of the ecology on which we depend for life. The ecological ignorance of these ”science gurus”, is surpassed only by their total disregard for the danger of nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons in space, and plutonium fuelled rockets.
Today: some dream of Australia as an international nuclear waste dump – the ultimate in colonial degradation
Right now, the Boris Johnson crowd in Britain, and the Emmanuel Macron crowd in France are enthusiastically thumping the tub for the mythical ”New Nuclear”, and for prolonging the operation of their creaky old nuclear reactors way beyond their proper use-by date.
Their whole plan is super expensive, and also pretty much irrelevant to climate action, seeing that new nuclear reactors take decades to become operatiinal.
But it’s not just the cost that’s so unwise, so imprudent.
It’s the waste problem. Both governments have a nonchalant attitude to that
Manwhile, back in this colony, the nuclear fans, which include Keith Pitt, the Minister for Resources, and sundry other politicians, keep pushing for a ”temporary” nuclear waste dump at Kimba, South Australia. (Other quieter players push for one in WEatern Australia,)
It looks to me as though the old nightmare of Pangea still lives in Australia – the transforming of this colony into a colonial nuclear waste dump. Australians need to be aware that this plan – to benefit a few greedy grasping Australian entrepreneurs and sycophantic politicians, could be seen as a convenient solution for our international ”betters”.
Today: Hypersonic missiles for Australia. We sure will be in danger now – another nuclear target, like Pine Gap.
Australia’s ruling party Liberal-National Coalition, and Australia’s pale copy of it, the Labor Party in opposotion – all seem happy to keep Australia’s fine tradition of Deputy Sheriff to the militaristic American empire.
Well, we already do form some sort of a sacrifice zone for the USA in time of war. I’m pretty sure that the last Australian government that had the guts to resist this was quickly removed – surely under the indfluence of the USA – Gough Whiltlam’s effort to prevent Pine Gap military spy centre.
Now Australia has cemented itself as a USA patsy – with AUKUS, nuclear submarines, and now the plan for hypersonic missiles based here. No earthly use for Australia’s own defence, but a helpful target place to put USA’s military paraphernaia, – for which we will pay – to add to the $171 billion that the nuclear submarines will cost us.
Today. Non-nuclear production of medical radioisotopes Time to think about closing down Lucas Heights nuclear reactor?
With the federal government funding a new cyclotron, Australia might now be moving with the times, away from the dirry dangerous nuclear industry, and towards the modern, and much more practical, way of supplying medical isotopes. Cyclotron production means very minimal radioactive wastes, a welcome development, as ANSTO does not know what to do with its existing store of wastes, let alone with future production.
Nuclear news – quiet in Australia? Tense worldwide
Some bits of good news:Photos show increasing numbers of rare one-horned rhinos in Indian national parkBritain’s butterflies bolstered by conservation efforts. Indigenous rangers program doubles with $636 million boost . Back from the brink: Tiny bush carnivore gets a new lease on life. Ancient rock art site returned to Aboriginal owners — and they’re keen to share it, on their own terms.
On the nuclear and military scene – what a mess ! Yes, the Russian invasion is illegal and wrong. And yes, atrocities are being committed, and the Ukrainian people are suffering terribly. But, I hope that people are becoming aware of the very carefully managed anglophone media coverage, which is emphasising human emotional stories, while not really covering the progress of the war, nor the USA resistance to peace talks.. No other invasion, such as those in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, has been media-manipulated in this way.
Meanwhile – inexplicably, Western governments are pushing for new nuclear reactors at the very time when Ukraine is demonstrating how terribly dangerous they are!
AUSTRALIA.
Julian Assange’s family tirelessly advocate for his freedom.
NUCLEAR/URANIUM Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency Key explanatory ARPANSA quotes on nuclear waste management in Australia.. Under the shadow of Fukushima and Juukan Gorge: Deep Yellow uranium takeover poses deep risks at Mulga Rock. Conservationists in bid to kill WA’s last uranium project. It’s been three years, but tourism operators say there’s no sign of $276m promised for Kakadu National Park
Australia’s Parliament has little control over military matters, and Prime Ministers kow tow to USA and the White Anglosphere to go to war. Weapons corporations infiltrate our schools and charities, promoting war-mongering to our youth. NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner Australia to deliver armored vehicles to Ukraine — Anti-bellum.
CLIMATE. “Perverse:” Australian fossil fuel subsidies will top $22,000 a minute this year. Senate again blocks Angus Taylor’s bid to redirect ARENA funds to Carbon Capture Storage projects. Australia gets a fail-grade for climate action, falls behind G20 peers. Morrison Government’s climate record deemed ‘a catastrophic failure’: one in four Australians give zero rating.
INTERNATIONAL
The information war that precedes and complements kinetic war — Anti-bellum . Ukraine: Transfer of Power Balance from West to East.
. Chernobyl: radiation sickness in soldiers, theft of radioactive materials, wildfires – a frightening case of the multiple dangers of nuclear power. Ukraine Negotiations: No Fly Zone, Nukes, Neutrality, and Disarmament. Chris Hedges On Ukraine, Russia & NATO Urgent need to bring about new arms control agreements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I6ZkPi6NSI
Depicting Putin as ‘Madman’ Eliminates Need for Diplomacy. What is the current nuclear arms pact between Russia and the US? The Red Scare, Viewpoint by Alice Slater. Frenzy for selling bunkers, but they might not be much use, really. How would a nuclear winter impact food production?
Coastal communities across the world already feeling the impacts of climate change. Climate crisis worsened by population and economic growth. Nuclear on the ”frontline of climate change” – and not in a good way!
War in Ukraine has produced a new energy crisis. Energy efficiency is the fastest way to address this..
ANTARCTICA. Scientists caught off guard by massive ice shelf collapse in ‘coldest, driest’ part of Antarctica Hotter Antarctic summers posing increasing threat to stability of world’s largest ice sheet.
UKRAINE. Media coverage of the nuclear dangers in Ukraine often poorly informed and downplayed due to the influence of the pro nuclear lobby. Ukraine, Poland discuss NATO “peacekeeping” force in Ukraine — Anti-bellum. Russian troops pull out out of Chernobyl after suffering ”acute radiation sickness”. Wide reporting on Russian soldiers affected by radiation, leaving Chernobyl. Anxieties at Varash nuclear power station, and other ones in Ukraine – ”town smells of fear.”.
Nuclear catastrophe threatened, as fires sweep through forests towards Chernobyl site. 7 wildfires in Chernobyl Exclusion zone exceed Ukraine’s emergency classification tenfold. Head of IAEA to visit Chernobyl, as Russians withdraw from the site. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense warns on radioactivity danger from the Chernobyl Excusion Zone. UN nuclear watchdog chief in Ukraine for safety talks. U.S. ambassador incites Georgians to confront Russia — Anti-bellum.
Today: What’s Scott Morrison doing and not doing with our tax money?
Morrison’s Budget increaes spending on Aged care by $522 million. Big deal !
Morrison spends on climate action – well, nothing, really. No deal !
Morrison promises – open cheque for nuclear submarines when deal finalised – could be $171 billion.
Australia has a crisis in aged care, with the system being run almost entirely on a for profit basis.
Australia has a climate crisis, with large swathes of the East coast afflicted by repeated record floods.
Morrison is governing in the interests of multinational corporations. not us.
Today’s thought: Australia, Liberal and Labor, mindlessly toes the USA propaganda line
Christina Macpherson 1 April 22, UKraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Australian Parliament – to enthusiastic applause, a standing ovation. Fair enough. He’s a brave guy, with a good cause.
Did any of those donkeys in the Parliament understand that Zelensky has been trying to negotiate a peace deal with Russia? A dea lthat would involve Ukraine NOT joining NATO, and would involve fair treatment and some autonomy for the ethnic Russian areas in the Donbas, and recognition of Crimea as part of Russia. (nb. Crimea was not ”annexed” by Russia. They overwhelmingly voted to join Russia).
Do Australia’s sycophantic politicians understand that Joe Biden refuses to join in those negotiations? Do they understand that this war could have been prevented by the USA? That this is another, more sophisticated version of the proxy wars that USA has been orchestrating for decades?
Anthony Albanese, spineless opponent of the Liberal’s blustering bully Scott Morrison, joined in the fervour, comparing Putin to Hitler. All agreed that Australia must send more weapons so Ukraine – must join USA in continuing its lucrative, preferably endless, fight against Russia – a fight to the last Ukrainian!
This week in nuclear news
Some bits of good news. Some welcome news, in UK Government support for energy saving. Some Good News About Corals and Climate Change The UK’s first hospital-owned solar farm shows how renewables could be a way out of reliance on fossil fuels.. The Good News About Renewable Energy.
I’ve read so much on the Ukraine crisis. For an overview of that situation, Charles Freeman, former USA diplomat, is the best source. His interview is long. ”USA fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian’‘. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxufUeqnuc I think I’m the only one to transcribe it. (that took me hours!). But I recommend that you persist with it. It is worth 100 other commentaries on Ukraine.
AUSTRALIA.
Scott Morrison has no plan for the economic growth that would be needed to pay for all his touted ”Defence – Security” stuff. Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA) statement March 2022. Friends of the Earth Australia’s Submission to Environment Minister calls out the dishonesty in the proposal for a national nuclear waste dump at Kimba, South Australia. Australian Radioactive Waste Agency – a couple of English nuclear waste officials conning the Australian public?
Thousands of hectares approved for projects that made koalas homeless.
Wilful ignorance . Blaming war and deadly floods on climate change activists .
‘Our dams are full’: northern NSW and south-east Queensland again brace for floods as heavy rain looms. Fears for more ’life-threatening’ floods in NSW. True impact of floods on animal populations remains unknown
‘We’d never touch it if we knew’: Farmer locked in carbon credit scheme backs inquiry into ‘rort’. Taylor’s office spent $1 billion on ‘sham’ carbon projects .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R8u11MDIjs Australian media – paid to distract you from the really important news – Michael West reports. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep2LConoNkg
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine war shows nuclear deterrence doesn’t work; we need disarmament — IPPNW peace and health blog. Dalai Lama, Other Nobel Winners Demand Explicit Vow Not to Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine. U.S. Peace Council Statement on Russia’s Military Intervention in Ukraine.
Zelensky ready to negotiate with Russia over NATO and Donbas sovereignty, but Biden won’t budge. More Evidence That The US Is Trying To Prolong This War– Caitlin Johnstone lays it bare.
We have a new energy crisis, and EFFICIENCY is the largest, cheapest, safest, cleanest and fastest way to address it.
Official cover-up by 7 governments of the cancer deaths of nuclear test veterans.
Western countries importing Russian uranium and nuclear supplies – WITH NO SANCTIONS.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to discuss climate mitigation efforts, including technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
Climate change at the Poles. Temperatures hit ‘unthinkable’ highs at both of Earth’s poles on the weekend. Climate scientists are trying to find out why. Record-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously. Here’s what’s driving them, and how they’ll impact wildlife. Wildfires caused by global warming ‘are accelerating global warming’. In 20 years of studying how ecosystems absorb carbon, here’s why we’re worried about a tipping point of collapse. Fridays for Future school climate strikes resume across the world
Bitcoin miners want to recast themselves as eco-friendly
ANTARCTICA. Climate scientists alarmed at unprecedented heat at both the Antarctic and the Arctic. Record-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously. Here’s what’s driving them, and how they’ll impact wildlife. Antarctic heat – a horrifying reminder of the future with global heating. Gigantic Antarctic ice shelf collapses into the sea.
ARCTIC. Very low Arctic sea ice.
UKRAINE.
Forest fires erupt around Chernobyl nuclear plant. Chernobyl radiation monitors ‘not working‘. Chernobyl nuclear worker gives the inside story on the dire situation for the staff as Russians took over.
Ukraine war – the Nazi factor. What is the risk of a nuclear accident in Ukraine? Deal on Ukrainian nuclear safety to come ‘soon,’ says IAEA chief. Bellona explains Ukraine’s nuclear stations. International Atomic Energy Agency’s grave concern over safety of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors. IAEA concerned that Russia is shelling Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych, near Chernobyl. The work of Ukraine-based European Institute of Chernobyl. So far, Zaporizhzhya’s nuclear reactors are being managed safely under Russian control . Warning on effect of Russian force’s attack on nuclear research facility.
Thought for the day -Australia joins in the joyous rebranding of nuclear power
Yay – today the Sydney Morning Herald goes for it, as author Lizette Chapman rejoices in the world’s richest people leading the way. The whole article looks like a beaut handout from the nuclear lobby.
In science fiction, it’d be hard to believe! But in the real world today – in the midst of a war crists, with nuclear sites threatened, they are rebranding nuclear power as a good idea!!! Come in – suckers !!!
1 This month.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
Australians deserve the truth
about AUKUS
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 