Southern Free Times Warwick : Star News Group » Your Letters

Waste of energy?

admin — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:48:43 +0000

members of the Queensland Liberal Government.
It has been reported in the Courier Mail that you intend to alter the way electricity is charged for in this state.
My understanding of what I read is as follows: A flat fee of $240 a year will be levied on all electricity consumers. The Per KW rate is to go down.
The statement was that this will be fairer for all consumers.
I have a small quarterly electricity bill achieved through house design and thrift. I do NOT have solar panels fitted.
Could you explain to me how forcing me to pay what appears to be almost double per year is fair?

Michael Downing
Warwick
Break silence on violence
With White Ribbon Day taking place this month, now is the time for all Queenslanders to help us bring this issue of violence against women out into the open.
The statistics regarding violence against women is truly frightening.
Last year in Queensland, over 57 per cent of homicide deaths were attributed to domestic family violence.
Nationally, over 1000 women and girls are assaulted every day in Australia, yet only one in ten ever report this and it is thought that one in three Australian women will experience violence in their lifetime.
That woman who is one in three, could be your relative, your coworker, your friend.
These horrifying statistics are just the tip of the iceberg of what is fast becoming an invisible epidemic that affects the lives of so many women and girls. This month is the time for us all to take action.
I urge everyone who cares about his or her daughter, wife, mother, friends, neighbours and colleagues to buy a White Ribbon and swear online to be ‘not violent, not silent’.
Simply go online and take the oath, buy and wear a White Ribbon and encourage your workplace to join in too.
White Ribbon Day was on Sunday, November 25. Thank you to those who went online to “change it, swear it, wear it” and break the silence about violence.

Pagan rituals

admin — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:48:01 +0000

I would like to add some issues that are not mentioned in the Bible as correctly pointed out by the writer in the Southern Free Times Nov 1, yet they are practised by churches, I believe, pretending to follow the Bible.
The writer said these prelates wear dunce’s hats. Actually they have two peaks. This comes from the fish god, Dragon. Thus the two peaks represent the open mouth of the fish as it is pulled from the water. Of course these clergy are educated, but I believe they are dunces to be educated in evil.
The writer also mentioned the golden staff. The clergy excuse this as a symbol of the shepherd’s staff, they being the shepherd to catch any sheep that may stray away from their clutches. However not all such staffs have an innocent curl on the end, some are adorned with a serpent’s head. The magicians in Pharaoh’s court had such rods, Exodus 7:12. The banging of the rod/staff/crosier on the ground is also a pagan idea to get power from below, Isaiah 30:32.
Other pagan rituals are the aligning of the churches facing east to greet the morning sun with early morning service. While not all churches face east, depending on the orientation of the land, when 80 per cent are so arranged, we detect a pattern. So the placing of cemeteries on the west of towns comes from sun worship, as the sun dies in the west. Other pagan rituals are Easter eggs and rabbits as fertility symbols, Christmas festivals to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun after the dark days of winter in the northern hemisphere.
As God placed His memorial of Creation in the Holy Seventh Day Sabbath, advocates of sun worship have placed their worship day on Sunday, for which there is not a single Bible text to support it. Thus by men’s pagan traditions they break God’s Ten Commandments, Matthew 15:6. Christ kept the Seventh Day Sabbath on earth, and His apostles did so after His death and resurrection, Acts 18:4-11, and it will be kept in eternity, Isaiah 66:23.
PS The Seventh Day Sabbath is called the Seal of God in contrast to the mark of the Beast.

Charles Gaitskell
Stanthorpe

A tax on carbon is a tax on life

admin — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:47:32 +0000

Carbon is the essential building block for all living things.
But life cannot exist without energy.
The primary energy of the solar system is nuclear energy – it powers the sun which floods the Earth with solar radiation; other nuclear reactions release heat deep within the planet. But solar energy alone cannot create or sustain life.
Earth’s primeval atmosphere had three natural gases that contained the essential ingredients for the first plant life – carbon dioxide, the food for plants; water, the drink for plants; and ammonia, which probably supported the first primitive life forms. It also had methane, the first natural (non-fossil) hydro-carbon fuel. Ancient atmospheres had far more methane and carbon dioxide than is present today (but no runaway global warming).
Life emerged in water when primitive plants using solar energy and the magic of photosynthesis took carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to create sugars, fats and proteins in their leaves, stems, roots, seeds and fruits. Their exhaust product was another natural gas – oxygen.
Millions of years passed, and slowly the plants consumed carbon dioxide and added oxygen to the atmosphere.
Primitive animals then evolved; they used oxygen to extract carbon energy stored in plants. They consumed these carbon fuels and exhausted carbon dioxide. Life is truly a carbon equation.
Carbon fuels such as wood, biomass, coal and oil are essentially preserved organic materials that store solar energy. When burnt in air they release stored energy and exhaust the same valuable by-product – carbon dioxide.
The human race depends totally on carbon based foods that are derived from the gas of life, carbon dioxide, plus nitrogen, minerals and water. And since the invention of engines, humans have come to depend on reliable, efficient, energy-dense, portable carbon fuels to grow, harvest, transport, refrigerate, process, distribute and cook food. The exhaust product from all of these engines is an important stimulant to the growth of all plants.
Without carbon dioxide, no life would exist. And without carbon fuels, modern cities would starve within weeks.
A tax on carbon is thus a tax on life.
Viv Forbes
Rosewood
forbes@carbon-sense.com

High cost in water
Graeme Schreiber water engineer Stanthorpe said pumping water back to Stanthorpe if Emu Swamp Dam goes a head is a high cost.
I agree with him.
When Ron Bellingham was a Councillor, at his last water meeting said, if water is pumped back to Stanthorpe from Emu Swamp, the ratepayers of the town will be paying a extra $1000 a year per ratepayer and plus every year; the ratepayers cannot afford high water rates.
All that the Council has to do is raise the wall on Storm King Dam and the ratepayers will be able to afford the water.

John Salata
Glen Aplin

Religious rights

admin — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:46:44 +0000

I agree with Erin Johns (SFT, 1-11-12) that she has certainly missed many chapters of the Bible and needs to read it in order to answer the questions that she raises. Earthquakes, tsunamis and death occur because the universe was cursed alongside with mankind because of our rebellion and separation from God (Genesis Chapters 1,2,3; Romans 8:18-22). This was not God’s fault but rather mankind’s. The reason some religious organisations adorn themselves against Erin’s wishes is because that’s what people throughout history and still currently do, dress up! The Defence Force does, Parliament does, Rock and Roll stars do and people even do it for weddings and football games. So what! The ‘common herd’ that Erin mentions may well be the sheep of the true shepherd who hear their master’s voice (John 10:1-30). Erin apparently has not yet heard that voice (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Erin doubts that ‘Jesus is coming’. I’m not surprised because she’s never read the Bible in order to be aware of His words. Jesus is coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), however it is not known when (Acts 1:7;1 Thess.5:1-11) although it will be sudden, unexpected and there will be a judgement (Revelation 20:11-15). Is the Bible even true? Yes, it was inspired by the creator of the universe. I don’t believe that Erin created a universe, so I think I’ll trust God rather than her. Instead of using words such as balderdash and poppycock in relation to the best selling book on earth, Erin might have the courage to attend Bible study at Warwick Church of Christ (cnr Wood and Wantely Sts) on Wednesday nights at 7.30pm and learn something of what is apparently so detestable to her.

Jamie Bath
Mount Tabor

School blues

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:37 +0000

It seems Jay Nauss does not want to see private schools eliminated, except Catholic ones. “As it is a path of Danger”. This one-eyed bigotry is not unexpected as, along with Mr Gaitskell, and some others, it seems the only acceptable form of Christianity is the one followed by them.
Finland, and I add Sweden plus, to an ever diminishing religious affili-ation, Denmark, have taken that path of “Danger” without seeming to have invoked any celestial wrath. Please Mr Nauss, elaborate. What danger is there?
Whilst there have been instances of child moles-tation within many Church organisations, not only Catholics, I have never heard of a child molestation case within the Stanthorpe Catholic Diocese.
Mr Gaitskelll’s diatribe of nonsense where he accuses religious, and scientific leaders, of being “Devoid of Morals.” is repugnant and actually defamatory. Similarly to Mr Nauss, it seems that, if you don’t follow their particular belief system, then you are immoral.
Accepting the evolution-ary theory is commonsense, as it is supported by thousands of pieces of supportive, replicable, verifiable evid-ence. When similar evidence for the existence of Gods (any of the thousands of Gods invented by man) is shown to this lifelong atheist, I will switch sides.
Until then I will not proselytise, nor try to convert others to my way of thinking, and even then, I hope I have sufficient good manners not to make denigrating statements for which I have no evidence.

Tom Edgar

Belts on buses debate

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:10 +0000

Putting on a seatbelt is not only the law but an instinctive reaction when we get into our cars. However, it takes a tragedy involving a school bus to highlight the need for better safety standards on the vehicles that transport our children to school every day.
In Queensland, seatbelts in some school buses are not compulsory, which is a concern, given how far some students travel to school in remote communities.
A report released last week in New South Wales recommended seatbelts for all rural and regional school student bus travel operating outside lower speed urban environments.
Compulsory seatbelts in buses for regional school travel is a commonsense solution supported by experts and community groups who have been calling for these changes for many years.
It’s time to put the safety of some of our most vulnerable and youngest Queenslanders ahead of the costs and politics of this issue.

Luke Short

Democracy who?

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:09 +0000

There’s a promo for a show about democracy being aired on Foxtell. The catch phrase is, “Democracy is not a spectator sport!” Whoever dreamed that up, I take my hat off to him/her.
It says it all. As a person criminalised by the system for speaking out against it, I’ve been forced to realise most Australians are too gutless to stand against the Fascist Labor and Liberal parties. A realisation that both shocked and angered me. On the battlefields of the world, Australians have proven themselves to be, “as game as Ned Kelly” and then some, but in the political arena, as cowardly as the biggest squib America has ever produced!
Everyone I talk to is fed up with being screwed by the government. Until we, as a nation, find the courage from somewhere to smash the Fascist major parties out of existence, we’re going to continue to be screwed by them! It’s that simple! It’s not rocket science!
Frank Brown
Richmond

Council complaint

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:01 +0000

I just wanted to write to vent my disapointment with the council, the poor service I have been dealt and also the lack of courtesy from a particular councillor that had promised to look into a problem I am having and, despite my writing to him over the last seven or nine weeks, I have been blatently ignored. Seriously Cr, a simple note to say “I am making enquiries on your behalf” would have been great.
The problem I have is that for the last (about) 15 years, I have been making requests in writing to Council every three or four years with regards to getting some curb and guttering work in the street that I live in, to help with the problems we had here in previous years with errosion and huge washouts occuring between the road surface and the footpath. Every time I have written, I have recieved the standard answer that it is not within council’s budget for this financial year.
I have to admit that the last time I complained about this, there was some work done here to scarf out and remove an amount of earth and some hotmix placed in the entry to my property to try to overcome the problem of the washouts, but that created its own problems, which have come to my attention since selling my utility and purchasing a Falcon sedan and a box trailer.
Now it seems that I cannot access the property with my trailer without it scraping heavily on the road surface, due to the sharp drop from the roadway and very rapid rise to the footpath and driveway to enter my property. I should also mention that this happens with the trailer EMPTY and to date I have avoided trying to attempt the manoeuvre with anything loaded in the trailer.
Now, after talking to a young lady from council who first appeared to be helpful and sympathetic to my needs, it seemed that reliability was lacking, as she did not meet me at the times she arranged and failed to call as a courtesy to say that she could not make the meeting. After many phone calls to attempt to contact her, she finally returned my call and delivered the news I was waiting for… It is not within council’s budget but you can write a letter, so it would appear that I am back to square 1… which, in case you need reminding, was 15 years ago at a time when my yearly rates were less than $800 (my last rates notice was over $2500 for less than a 15m frontage).
Now, I know I am not the only issue on council’s agenda and I know that the people in the offices have more to worry about than hurting the feelings of a ratepayer who does not have reasonable access to his property with a box trailer attached to his car, but seriously… all I want to know is if this work will ever get allocated during a budgeted year or will my letters and enquiries be returned with the standard responses from now till eternity?

Neil Briscoe

Bullriding concerns

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I feel a need to speak up for the sport of bullriding. I am an avid animal lover, vegetarian and a fan of bullriding.mainly the PBR (professional bullriding). I watch the American PBR live on my computer, but it’s over for the year now. I have watched the video of the bull that was injured at the Warwick rodeo. I dont think what happened was cruel; it was sad and distressing to watch. I think at the time the officials and bullriders did their best. I have watched the video over and over and what happened was, the bull hipped himself in the chute while coming out. You must remember how strong a bull is, especially bucking bulls, because they are trained to buck and some bulls want to get out of the chute and buck as soon as they can and that is sometimes why they play up in the chute. It’s not from any cruelty, like some people think, but this bull hipped himself with such power that it made the bull fall over in the opposite direction. This is how the bull broke his leg. Now, yes I agree, the incident could’ve been dealt with better but it’s easy to look back and go on about it in a negative way. Something positive needs to come out of the accident to prevent or minimise this sort of thing happening to another bull. I’m not an expert on the Warwick rodeo but, as a fan of the PBR, I can see those chutes are pretty ancient. Why not upgrade them or put some padding in the chute…..why not get together as a rodeo community, have a meeting to make better strategy to deal with injured bulls? It seems everyone was caught offguard when it happened…but now it has. Why can’t all these groups get together and form ideas and think of a way of getting better chutes to protect bulls when they hip themselves and also make it more safe for the rider. If Warwick is Australia’s richest rodeo, then put money back into the upkeep. I love going to the Warwick rodeo just to see bullriding live, because I can’t get out much to go to big PBR events. And it’s important the bullriding is there, but if you don’t have plans and strategies for every situation to do with the sport, then please do not have it anymore. It’d break my heart, but I prefer that to a bull with a broken leg. Also I wish people who make nasty comments about bullriding and rodeos learn more about what they are talking about. Thank you for your time.

Ruth Beckey

Viva la revolution

admin — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:00:45 +0000

The effort by Stanthorpe’s, Save Our Shire Committee is a passive “revolution”. Or as our Local Government Minister would say: “It’s democracy in action.”
How successful the “revolution” to restore Stanthorpe’s and several other Shires will be is dependant on a number of factors. A large majority of the people have to be in favour of the move. Not just in favour, but raised to a state of fervent parochialism. They have to realize that their God-given freedom is being seriously threatened.
Members of the committee must remain in that state of mind for as long as it takes or the movement will fizzle and die just like previous protests.
All relevant information needs to be freely available to the community – by newsletter, internet, word-of-mouth, regular meetings and any other means. All we have is people power.
There needs to be a Ratepayers association with a membership structure in order for people to feel committed to the cause.
De-amalgamation must be financially viable for the ratepayers. It appears, because of massive government debt, there will, in the future, be little or no monetary assistance from them.
Unless shires secede, they need State Government approval to separate. Don’t believe the QLD Labor Party, they will say anything to regain power. Unless council debt is reduced there will be moves to bigger councils.
Like the animals in George Orwell’s book; we are gradually losing our freedoms.

Jay Nauss
Glen Aplin