The Leader of China has just dropped in for a visit to Australia, with the intention of procuring more uranium for China's expanding energy needs. Lots of points I guess for the booming economy, but a few questions about the effects that's having on other nations' peoples in terms of jobs etc. So much manufacturing has closed in the Western world to set up business solely for the cheap labour in China. How will these newly unemployed, in the West,be able to afford the products arriving/flooding from China's factories. And let's not forget that some of these workers in China are being forced, through the huge labour pool, to accept conditions that were outlawed in the West. Of course there may be a new direction for China's Labour Force that sees improved education standards, and increasing access to new technological processes, but the 30million pool of unemployed just want food and shelter. I guess that means more opportunities for Western businesses to invest over there.

Now back to the uranium, with farms in the UK( yes the UK, and I would assume other parts of Western Europe), still suffering from the effects of Chernobyl's meltdown, similar stories for Three Mile Islands "mishap", it seems inconceivable that any country would wish to take up uranium energy production. There has not been developed one safe system for its waste removal anywhere. The effects of any "mishap", are to radiate for an interminable period vital tracts of agricultural land, and leave in its wake wastelands impossible for human/species usage. Given the current decline in water resouces, oil resources, tree resources, fish resources, any direction that further exacerbates our liveable environment is suicidal.

One can only hope that common sense might prevail, and renewable energy sources will be recommended and implemented, then again they could just want the uranium for the new world nuecklikiller race, and the slippery slope of global decimation. For a few moments greed the masses of the world face an uncertain, radiated future. Who knows, we may eventually get those dragons, of our storybooks from old, mutants reborn for future generations.

Have just had the unpleasant reading of this blog, http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print.php?sid=25372 , by unpleasant I mean that sinking feeling in the head and the guts as you wonder what will go wrong next. Briefly it describes how our oil dependent nation is heading for what is known as "Peak Oil", basically the beginning of the end of oil supplies. In the long term maybe 30 years, quite possibly less.

Some would say why worry we won't be around, and that's the legacy they would leave for our children, an inadequate infrastructure unable to cope with the structures currently in place. Say the outer suburbs, homeowners' dream, unable to drive to work or anywhere, even the city. There is an absolute necessity to rethink and begin again our public transport system, to a level that meets the requirements of the outer suburbs and not just innercity dwellers, either that or the Japanese system of high density inner city living.

Then there are those in the country, not just in towns but on farms/properties, dependent on large quantities of fuel for food production as well as for the transport of goods. How much will be added to the price of food if present oil dependent trucking firms are responsible for haulage. This is not just a state task but a national future transport policy needs to be fully enunciated by all political parties.

Anyone who manages to read this please contact your politician with your concerns.

Welcome to this attempt at a blog, been viewing a few in recent days, and have to agree with the message to everyone on the net that voices need to be raised, so that perhaps our "esteemed and honest" representatives of government, will hear and get their snouts out of the trough.

The most disturbing news for me has been of late the electronic voting machines debacle in the US, http://www.bradblog.com/ , http://blackboxvoting.org/ ,and heaven help those nations who choose to follow these machine makers mediocrities. Disastrously for democratic believers these "businessmen" have chosen a path of total manipulation of voter's choices. In plain English, your vote will never count as long as thesePeople are running the machines.

'Course here in Australia some would say we have " no worries ", but hey who remembers the the national tally computer shutting down due to an "electrical problem " last federal election, not long after initial counting had begun, then the shift to Howard away from the Labour Party,  and then the debacle of these last few years of Liberal government on a range of public issues.

While we are about that idea, who's John Howard's/George W. Bush's  " second best friends ", take a lookabout for stories on levels and layers of corruption within the Bush administration, makes you wonder what our own liddleJohhnie's been cooking with the AustralianEconomy?