The financial position of ailing marketing firm Acanchi underwent a startling transformation in 2012 just as they started work on creating the fake grassroots movement “Vote No Borders”.
In 2011 Acanchi’s auditors noted “The Company made a loss in the current year of £197,003, and at the balance sheet date its liabilities exceeded its assets by £385,162”. The company had a turnover of £25,631 against cost of sales of £21,283 and “admin expenses” of £201,125.
In 2012 Acanchi started work in Cambridge and London on developing the “VNB” PR campaign against Scottish Independence, which is surprising given that BBC propaganda portrayed VNB as a spontaneous movement of local Scots. We know they started in 2012 because one of Acanchi’s staff, Jessica Quiney, posted it on her CV on Linked-in. The CV page was deleted yesterday but not before Wings Over Scotland grabbed a screenshot.
This work for the No campaign coincided with an amazing turnaround in Acanchi’s financial fortunes. In 2011 they made a loss of £197,003. In 2012 they made a profit of £103,292. The income from sales went from £25,631 in 2011 to £348,835 in 2012.
There is a very interesting explanation given in the Directors’ report to the Acanchi annual accounts for 2012. It is signed by Gary Waple, the man who registered the “Vote No Borders” domain and who now works for the Regulatory Commission of the Bank of England. Mr Waple states in the 2012 Acanchi Directors’ report:
“The nature of Acanchi’s business is that the award of government contracts is subject to external delays beyond the Company’s control. As stated in last year’s financial statement, the Directors’ forecast that there would be a significant improvement in these financial statements. This was achieved as the result of the company being awarded contracts in the current period which had been the subject of long on-going discussions in the past.”
So what was young Jessica Quiney doing at Acanchi at this period? Well, in 2012 she:
“collated and formatted material promoting the pro-Union arguments in opposition to the SNP’s call for Scottish independence including development of narratives, a positioning strategy and a programme of micro-initiatives for this project.”
In 2013 Jessica was:
“Involved in the development and implementation of a proposal and subsequent micro-initiatives for a campaign supporting the No vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014”.
Vote No Borders had nine adverts in one single edition of the Daily Record newspaper in Scotland this week, each giving the story of a single “grassroots” Scots punter and why they are against independence. These “narratives” were developed by Jessica Quiney, a Cambridge classics student, born in England and educated at Northampton High School. I can see no evidence she has ever been to Scotland. Interestingly the photographer, Claire Borley, who took all the photos of “typical Scots” for the No Borders campaign which are appearing in the newspapers, is also Cambridge based.
Claire Borley’s cv gives a stunning glimpse into just how real and gritty this “Scottish grassroots campaign” is:
Born and raised in Cambridge, my professional life has always been about communication.
After gaining an English degree and jumping in at the deep-end in Bermuda as a PA with limited shorthand but fast typing, I worked in television production in London. Here I built up a wide variety of skills working for the Walt Disney Company, Buena Vista International, Buena Vista Productions, Roger Bolton Productions, Wall to Wall TV and Windfall Films.
After spending a number of years on the production side of a visual industry I felt it was time to develop my own creative abilities. With this in mind I returned to Cambridge and continued to work successfully as a freelance photographer for advertising, editorial and corporate clients as well as private clients, musicians and performers.
My aim is always to capture the personality and essence of the individual moment and make each project unique for the client. This leads to much of my work being used for PR, marketing and multi-media broadcast. I enjoy working below the line (direct mail, flyers etc), above the line (mass media advertising) or through the line (bit of both).
Young Jessica Quiney has done nothing wrong. Despite the fact that Fiona Gilmore, 100% owner of Acanchi, was now by 2012 raking in 100 grand a year in profit, poor Jessica was not even being properly paid – she was an intern, an example of the appalling exploitation of our young generation and the total lack of respect in modern society for the value of labour against capital.
But what cannot be forgiven is the BBC’s extraordinary promotion of VNB as a genuine grassroots organization – in total just under 150 minutes were devoted to showing Gavin Esler’s puff piece on the BBC News Channel, not to mention at least 20 minutes on other BBC news programmes.
It has recently come to light that the UK government has been rocked by private polling costing £56,000 of taxpayers’ money, which shows a major fall in “No” support. It is incredible that the government even thinks it is legitimate to pay with taxes for private polling to be made available to only one side in the referendum campaign. It does make you wonder, what else do they think it is OK to pay for? My strong expectation is that the poll of which news has been leaked is only the latest in a series; polling statistics are the basis of PR strategies such as the one Acanchi has been developing for the No campaign.
I cannot leave the subject of Acanchi without referring to this report that:
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, in October 2008, it was the turn of British firm Acanchi, hired by the foreign minister “to craft the new image” (“Foreign Ministry, PR firm rebrand Israel as land of achievements,” 6 October 2008). The firm’s founder toured Israel as part of the mission “to create a brand disconnected from the Arab-Israeli conflict that focuses instead on Israel’s scientific and cultural achievements.”
I have deep contempt for Fiona Gilmore. To try to create a “brand image” for Israel that leaves out the Palestinians, is the moral equivalent of creating a “brand image” for the Nazis that leaves out the concentration camps. Anyone who can tour Israel as the guest of the Israeli foreign office to that end, is not somebody I would wish to associate with. She is however the ideal partner for Malcolm Offord, the Vote No Borders financier – and major contributor to the Tory Party and to Michael Gove personally – who argues that Britain needs much more drastic cuts to welfare benefits. There must be something about food banks that gladdens the Tory heart. The prospect of not having any in Scotland evidently terrifies them.
Sumer is Icumen in…….well it is in the Northern Hemisphere. 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHFxxZmyxDg
Sorry to hear that very sad tale of Oz settler life as victims of the dispossessed native people.
You see, when you steal a people’s land, possessions and ability to live their normal life, you’re supposed to either genocide most of them or at the very least place them on concentrated reservations where they in their misery can only harm one another.
The Israelis are quite good at this and the British and Americans etc have lessons to teach as well.
Following these practices can give you a few hundred years of peace and quiet to enjoy you acquisitions.
Just don’t expect it to last forever.
For Mary and Jemand
A gift from Australia to Palestine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k81p2LCj_cs
Jemand. 10 25pm
Well there’s something on which we have common ground. I’m glad your mother was unharmed.
My parents too were not attacked when, in their old age, two burglars visited their house and took some of their stuff.
Tell me was the criminality in this case caused by the whiteness of their skin or the fact that there’ll always be people of all shades willing to do bad things?
Tony M.
An amazing mix!
Vive La Diversité.
BUT, don’t you think it’s important to understand the gravity of the threats we face from the wily brown hordes.
“The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from ‘Miffed’ to ‘Peeved.’ Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to ‘Irritated’ or even ‘A Bit Cross.’ (The English have not been ‘A Bit Cross’ since the Blitz in 1940, when tea supplies nearly ran out.)
Terrorists have been re-categorized from ‘Tiresome’ to ‘A Bloody Nuisance.’ (The last time the British issued a ‘Bloody Nuisance’ warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.)”
John Cleese
Thank goodness the world is in safe hands.
http://otherwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/obama-no-exit-military-strategy-cartoon.jpg
The Israelis are quite good at this and the British and Americans etc have lessons to teach as well.
The Canadians also have experience in this
Do you think that intimidation might be playing a rôle here, Doug?
It is my understanding that a lack of positive benefits of the union, prevents them from getting any serious attendance at their meetings. If they do participate in a public debate, it seems that they cannot convince the audience of their message.
More concern about skin colour
Mitt Romney Rips Anti-Obama Police Official’s ‘Vile Epithet,’ Calls On Him To Resign
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/18/mitt-romney-robert-copeland_n_5347778.html
Obama himself has ordered the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of brown skinned people by drone and missile. No irony.
Heard this morning that Libya, one of the USUKIsNATO theatres of war, is like ‘a volcano about to explode’.
Libya fighting causes turmoil as government claims control
The Libyan government insists that it is in control of the country despite a series of heavy attacks and clashes over the weekend.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27465173
Militia in Libya attacks parliament; 7 lawmakers reportedly captured
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-libya-former-general-clashes-20140518-story.html
▼Ex-general’s forces in Libya attack parliament building in escalation of challenge to government
▼Libyan lawmakers reportedly captured in attack on parliament building by ex-general’s forces
▼Anti-Islamist offensive in Benghazi by Libyan ex-general’s forces was criticized by central government
For incidental visitors — please note that this blog’s comments section is Scratch ‘n’ Sniff. Just scratch the surface and you will smell the stench of rank hypocrisy.
@Mary
Thank you for your tediously elaborate explanation of why you occasionally still post comments with a battle flag emblazoned with “Truth and Justice”. It doesn’t, however, explain why you originally thought you could hijack that term for your own (mis)use.
@Sofia, Herbie et al,
I simply believe in personal accountability, the lack of which you often attack in ambitious public officials but puzzlingly forgive in the nameless criminals who burgle, steal, rape and murder. You can make all the excuses you like about why people commit these heinous crimes but only a person of low character and harbouring a churlish hatred of (some) others will selectively relieve people of personal accountability on the basis of ethnicity. Sounds a bit “racist”, to me.
I think Herbie’s callous mocking of my short account of one such crime speaks volumes for the sort of person he is. We could switch the colours around in the story and, like a minature poodle doing somersaults to please its master, Herbie would flip his response to suit. It’s called ‘having no integrity’.
His referring to me as a “settler” is as funny for its obvious inaccuracy as it is nasty for its sinister intent. Just ignore the fact that, like everyone, I had no say where I would be born. His flippant use of that single word, “settler”, is a shamelessly racist tactic to _dispossess_ me of my place in the world. On other threads you will probably find him extolling the virtues of historical migration.
You will notice that the various lord protectors of humanity here will self-righteously rail against so-called “racism” while impertinently focussing on the ethnic details of their targets and critics.
Mary’s quite good at exposing the “Jewishness” of her targets and juxtaposing their Jew-factor with seemingly unrelated facts. But connecting Mary’s ‘dots’ reveals the unmistakable structure of an underlying conspiracy that, diagrammatically, uncannily resembles a child’s drawing of spaghetti.
And with me as one of several critics, they will use German words because they think it is witty to infer from my tag that I am an evil Nazi sympathiser and oddly refer to my being in Oz to imply that I am an evil invader of others’ lands. The references serve no other purpose than to evade the substance of my arguments by falsely indicting me of imaginary crimes. It is all in keeping with that unique use of language that is comprehensively explained in the excellent book, “The Lonely Blog’s Guide to Propaganda and Making Friends”.
This is a turn up for the books. The Astra Zeneca board have rejected Pfizer’s final offer, as it was described.
AstraZeneca Rejects Pfizer ‘Final Offer’
AstraZeneca says Pfizer’s latest £69.3bn takeover bid undervalues the company and brings “uncertainty and risks” for shareholders.
http://news.sky.com/story/1264321/astrazeneca-rejects-pfizer-final-offer
‘Truth and Justice’ because that is what we all want and need.
I do not use the word Jew. Israeli Zionism is the problem.
I support the Palestinian cause here along with many others. Is that not allowed?
There has been no apology for the tasteless post about a brown flag. Worthy of the BNP in this country.
The poster from Australia was one of the group who hounded me. I have not forgotten.
Jemand. 10 25pm
Again, feeding you obsession with and fear of, brown skin pigment.
You’ve made it clear over the months that you clearly feel your pale skin gives you the right to occupy and exploit the land of others. In this case, brown-skinned others who inhabited for over 40,000 years.
Within a few short years the treatment of this land and it’s living components by your brothers has led to large-scale degradation of soil and water. I don’t need your “education” to know for sure that these are the fundamentals. On the current trajectory this asset-stripping episode will be brief. Whether your descendents leave any long-term genetic presence on that continent will depend on whether they can educate themselves regarding the things that really matter. Luckily the locals have passed on and protected a priceless cultural heritage which, if you learn a little humility, will help with the job of reorienting your attitudes and actions.
My mother’s house was burgled by one of your favoured brown children not long ago.
We know it was one of your innocents (note sarcasm) because he thoughtfully left a handprint which was soon matched by police to his criminal record.”
WTF does the colour of his skin have to do with this? Did it have any more to do with it than the colour of the policeman’s skin had to do with doing the bleeding obvious and matching prints.
You suggest that I “…perhaps become the better person you also imagine yourself to be without the snooty sense of superiority (it gets stale after a while).”
I’ll take that as a compliment from someone who clearly doesn’t have the brains to give himself a headache.
You set the bar so low!
That’s very funny, Jemand.
You dispossess them, steal their land and livelihood and then you demand of them “personal responsibility”, and not to nick your stuff.
It’d be a different matter were you someone such as Pilger who argued for an equitable settlement, but no, you’re not even that. You’re one of their tormentors. Murdoch-like, prowling the planet for sport.
What goes around, comes around.
So suck it up, settler.
You’ll get no sympathy from me.
Mr Scorgie
“Not true ResDis, as you know, I always provide a link for other posters to refer to something your associate Habbabkuk doesn’t do.”
___________________
Yes, you usually do – and then, perhaps hoping that most people “couldn’t be arsed” to look up the link (remember that expression of yours, Doug?), you proceed to quote selectively from it.
There have been many examples of this misleading and mendacious behaviour from you, Doug.
I have just met an American girl who brought her cocker spaniel Leopold over from America. He spent six months in Austria before coming here. He is so frightened (the dog trainer has told her) that his only defence is to go on the attack. Poor chap. She keeps him on a lead which is making him even more defensive.
My dog who is a black mongrel laid down but as soon as he was allowed to come near, he went on the attack. I think she has a problem.
Better news than usual.
Putin orders Ukraine border pullout
Breaking news
Russia’s President Putin orders troops near Ukraine border to return “immediately” to their permanent bases
Sofia, it appears to be you and Mary who are obsessed with the colour brown and the incontrovertible innocence of people of that hue. Your many, many, many combined comments are testimony to this observation.
I am going to ask you some pointed questions in this reply and I expect that if you want to defend your intellectual honesty and moral integrity, then you will address them accurately, in good faith and without quibbling.
Mary claims she has never used the word “Jew”, and you shamelessly let that go by unchallenged while plugging your favourite subject, the oppression of brown people by white people. How do you explain Mary’s recorded history of using the word “Jew” and various euphemisms on this blog many hundreds if not thousands of times?
And tell me Sofia, while you are supposedly not racist, how is it that you believe that some brown coloured person owns the riches beneath the soil of Oz, and I do not? By what logic does he inherit the right, while I do not, to the treasures of geological processes that took place aeons before life on Earth even began? How does our respective skin colours factor into your equation of Justice? From your own comment, it seems that we were not born equal after all. Rather, he is the rightful landowner and I am merely a rude squatter – all based on the colour of our skin AS YOU DESCRIBE IT. Please explain how that works WITHOUT being RACIST?
And where does the “right” to own anything come from?
You have made a bold claim that I “clearly feel [my] pale skin gives [me] the right to occupy and exploit the land of others.”
Sofia, how do you know what “rights” I might think I have? And what land do you claim that I (unrightfully) “occupy” and “exploit”? The land immediately beneath my feet? The land thousands of kilometres away? What land?
When you lecture on soil degradation, what was my part in this crime? Are you grouping me with others on the basis of my skin colour? Are you including me in a collective accusation of wrongdoing based on my ethnicity? How is this not “racist”?
What land do YOU think I have a “right” to “occupy” and “exploit”? Where would you have me go if I am to be evicted in your vision of Justice? And what land do YOU have a right to occupy and exploit? How is it that some people have these rights and I do not?
Sofia, you claimed that my “brothers” did bad things. Do you know my “brothers”? Or is that another racist euphemism for like-coloured people with whom I have no association whatsoever? Can you explain your choice of this term?
And tell me more, Sofia, what do you mean by “Whether your descendents leave any long-term genetic presence ..”? What is the purpose of the term “genetic” in this statement if it is not fundamentally concerned with “race” and a barely concealed expression of contempt for Caucasians?
You, Sofia, ironically said it yourself – QUOTE “WTF does the colour of his skin have to do with this?” END QUOTE
Can you not see the hypocrisy in your own language?
Sofia, if we were to pass each other in the street, I’m sure we’d just say “hello” and walk on, none the wiser as to our online identities. But you do know a lot more about me than I do about you and yet, it causes me no harm in you knowing. So in the spirit of fair and open discourse are you prepared to identify your ethnicity? You will agree that it can do you no harm, especially in relation to the damage to your credibility if you decline to be open in the way that I have been.
So, let us clear this all up. Be kind enough, honest enough and brave enough to answer all of my simple questions above and, who knows, Sofia, maybe it will resolve some of our differences.ve
Herbie, you’re an imbecile of no intellectual value. I apologise for wasting my time addressing you directly.
Israel warns extremists ahead of papal visit
Police chief warns Jewish extremists over attempts to disrupt Pope Francis visit as church leaders raise security fears.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/05/israel-warns-extremists-ahead-papal-visit-201451819853808940.html
‘Israel’s police chief has vowed that Jewish extremists will not be allowed to spoil the upcoming visit of Pope Francis by vandalising Christian holy places.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem on Sunday, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said a group of “extreme elements” were attempting “to create pressure and the impression of pressure” ahead of the pontiff’s visit, which begins on May 25.
“There have been attempts here – principally as we get closer to the visit itself – by some extremists to try and make a provocation, and create a bad atmosphere before the visit,” Danino said.
“We have absolutely no intention of tolerating this,” he said.
Israel has been struggling to contain a wave of so-called “price tag” hate crimes by Jewish extremists targeting Palestinian and Arab property, which has included an increasing number of vandalism attacks on mosques and churches.’
Leave off with the ad hominems please @ 7.52am and 9.42am. Those contained in the long and boring posts re not allowed under the new moderation here.
Watch out for the Darling pea!
http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Anim_Dis/647.pdf
The poor sheep are banging their heads until their skulls crack. Terrible.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/thousands-of-sheep-in-australia-die-from-banging-their-heads-till-they-crack-open-after-eating-poisonous-plant-9392432.html
I just saw this posted by the editors of Medialens.
BBC News website editor strikes again for Israel
Posted by The Editors on May 19, 2014, 9:34 am
The BBC News website’s Middle East section appears to have become all but officially part of Israel’s propaganda machine, with one report after another distorting indisputable facts to paint the best possible picture of the Zionist state.
http://www.redressonline.com/2014/05/bbc-news-website-editor-strikes-again-for-israel/
Yes, I know about the “new” moderation here Mary. It’s a lot like the old moderation but now anonymous.
Ad hominems? Lol!
Lack of radiation records criticised
Experts investigating radioactivity at Dalgety Bay say it is unacceptable that the UK does not have comprehensive records of potentially contaminated land.
MoD ’caused beach radiation’
Beach radiation clean-up debate
‘Low risk’ from beach radiation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-27470332
Skin color is but a superficial manifestation of difference, so no surprise to see Jemand focus on that to the exclusion of all else, in what has to be the most stupid argument I’ve ever encountered on this board.
The fundamental issue here is the disposession of a people, their way of life and culture.
Jemand is unable to see that because he places no value upon their culture, or way of life. They’re only Abos.
Australia was an institutionally racist state until 1973. Now it’s well known for its casual racism.
You see if you deprive a people of their way of life, you actually deprive them of life itself.
That’s the fundamental reason for native Australians being 10 times more likely to end up in prison, and having much much poorer educational and health outcomes than the non-Indigenous population.
The original policy will have been to create conditions where they would be expected to die out in time, but as post war civilisation arrived in Australia in the 1970s they were forced to abandon that hope, and now the Indigenous peoples are increasing their population, but with no remedy to the fundamental problem they just get angrier and angrier in greater numbers.
As I’ve said, what goes around, comes around.
You get a similar problem in western societies where corporates so squeeze the life of people for maximum profit that you get increased incidence of mental illness, drug dependency and so on.
All you really need to know is that it’s the same elite mentality that imposes an unnatural life upon both.
Too good not to pass on. wide ranging. Al Nagba. Hague. Meetings on Syria. Livni. Universal jurisdiction, etc.
West Funds Insurgencies
by Felicity Arbuthnot / May 19th, 2014
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/05/west-funds-insurgencies/
Herbie (encyclopaedus ignoramus) dribbling more diarrhoea from above with extra crunchy racial hatred and blaming me personally (i don’t think he’s kidding) for all the ills South of the equator. Even for imaginary crimes against Aboriginal people. No, I’m not referring to real crimes committed by other people, I’m speaking of those crimes that he IMAGINES that I committed personally, myself.
Can he quote anything that I have written that has been both disparaging and untrue of these people? No. He cannot because he is a pedlar of hate, a common liar filled with a known toxic blend of self-righteousness and secret self-loathing. He has truly found a comfortable place on this blog’s comments section.
But what crimes will Herbie admit of his own people in the land that they are currently despoiling? Great Britain used to be rich in trees and animal life and its own Aboriginal people, now long gone. They were conveniently disposed of at the ends of pointy sticks in waves of invasions and bred out to diminish all memory of their ancient ways. Christianity tidied up most of the loose ends but since the enlightenment, some have tried to recover what was once thought lost forever. No tears for those “Abos”, as Herbie calls them. He thinks he’s the native, now, with all of those quaint entitlements like perpetual ownership of everything in a spherical radius of a thousand kilometres.
So, let’s hear it from him. What clever defence will Herbie offer to repudiate his own personal culpability for the many savage killings of the original native Britons and ravaging of the landscape by his marauding ancestors? And of the subsequent terror exported by the British Empire to the many corners of the globe? What has Herbie to say in his own defence?
Nothing? Or more ejaculations of racist bile?
Go ahead Herbie, lay before us the foundations of your character. Surprise us with something .. ‘new’.
Herbie, Jemand
Herbie writes
“Australia was an institutionally racist state until 1973. Now it’s well known for its casual racism”
and although I’m no expert in matters Australian, that does correspond to everything I’ve read and therefore I don’t think there’s much point in denying it.
Which is not to say that every Australian (eg Jemand) should be considered a racist (except by heritage, perhaps). On the other hand, neither is it very profitable for Jemand to point to the racist heritage of other nations – the history of the entire world is characterised by continual displacements (or exterminations) of indigenous peoples.
What counts today, surely, is what govts do in terms both of making good (to the extent possible) past wrongs and combatting the racism which remains at the personal level.
I’m sorry to see that neither Jemand nor Herbie have given any time to the above in their comments.
From Habbabkuk :
Herbie writes
“Australia was an institutionally racist state until 1973. Now it’s well known for its casual racism”
and although I’m no expert in matters Australian, that does correspond to everything I’ve read and therefore I don’t think there’s much point in denying it.
– – – –
Hababbkuk, I have never denied that my country has some problems, only the mischievous exaggerations by troublemakers as you very well understand.
If Australia is so institutionally or “casually” racist, why do hordes of non-white migrants flee their Utopian homelands to settle in the hostile environment of a racist state? Can anyone answer that conundrum while keeping a straight face?
In relation to what governments do in terms making good on past wrongs and combating the alleged racism which remains at the personal level, this is demonstrably not the forum for polite, educated discourse on such matters. If you think it is, or can be, please lead the way.
At a personal level, the government cannot prescribe social relations with any positive effect. It takes people who live in troubled communities, not bureaucrats, to mend those fences. Look at your Northern Ireland and tell me what the government can do other than NOT engage in warfare.
Our close neighbour racist? No!!! It can’t be true!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputera_%28Malaysia%29
Jemand
“If Australia is so institutionally or “casually” racist, why do hordes of non-white migrants flee their Utopian homelands to settle in the hostile environment of a racist state?”
______________
Two explanations come to mind:
1/. thy are not fully aware
2/. things are even worse in the countries they are fleeing from
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“In relation to what governments do in terms making good on past wrongs and combating the alleged racism which remains at the personal level, this is demonstrably not the forum for polite, educated discourse on such matters. If you think it is, or can be, please lead the way.”
__________________
That is correct – this blog is mainly for venting and despite protestations to the contrary, there is little educated discourse here. It was implicit in my comment that it would be welcome if people like Herbie were to come up with constructive suggestions or ideas once in a while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“At a personal level, the government cannot prescribe social relations with any positive effect. It takes people who live in troubled communities, not bureaucrats, to mend those fences. Look at your Northern Ireland and tell me what the government can do other than NOT engage in warfare.”
________________
I think there is a rôle for govt to set a positive framework which will, over time, make it easier for individuals to mend fences. And, by the way, I’m willing to believe that recent Australian govts have been trying to do that.
Habbabkuk, I mostly agree. Governments can only lay the groundwork, the rest is up to us.
But let me set you straight on the migration thingo. Refugees are a relatively small part of our immigration intake so misunderstandings might generally apply in their cases, but not so much in the cases of regular migrants.
People who apply to migrate here must go through a fairly long process during which time they are able to acquaint themselves of particulars that might be of concern to them. Be in no doubt that, with all the bad publicity that Australia has received in the international press, especially in India, these migrants are literate enough and sufficiently well informed of contemporary events to make sound migration decisions. And so they come and they come.
There are also many ethnic community organisations with whom they can consult and relatives who already reside here. It is therefore not a convincing argument, I am sure you will now agree, that regular migrants are naively migrating to a racially hostile country and have no means of returning to their respective homelands if their experiences prove their decision to be wrong. And yet they come and they stay and they come and they stay.
It might surprise you to learn that Australia is already overpopulated. That’s right, despite our enormous land mass and rich resources, we’ve got too many people. Water resources are our weakest link and biodiversity very sensitive to human invasion. The political cost of using our coal reserves to produce desalinated water is too high. We could use solar, but you can’t sell the Sun to Aussies any more than you can sell ice to Eskimos. It’s a weird situation to be in.
So don’t be surprised to read of the doors down under being closed in the next 20 years. But before that closure, you will witness some terrible paroxysms of unrest as the political establishment reluctantly comes to terms with their failure to make provision for the inevitable confrontation with the population problem.