Sunday, March 30, 2008

Signing Off For a While....

It's been fun....taking the piss out of idiot-boy Loudon...but hes out of the ACT VP job now, so that makes it rather boring and in some strange way we feel our job is done here, so we're going to get back to some good old fashioned tree huggin, jumbo bin raidin', seed eatin', revolutionary lovin', hippy livin' for a bit... hope you all enjoyed it as much as we have.

Last but not lest, we'd like to sign off saying,

"Loudon, get help man, you're a nutter. Soviet styled communism is finished, move on...."

Revolutionarily Yours
Trevour Loudoon Crew (See below)

Comrade Gunny Sgt Hartman
Comrade Dr Evil
Comrade Bill Hicks
Comrade Emma Goldmyn
Comrade Pokey

and Comrade Satan (from whence communism sprang from)

Monday, March 24, 2008

Trevor Loudon Too Right Wing For ACT?

News is filtering out from a closed session at ACT HQ that Loudon has been given the arse from his Vice Presidents position for being too much of a right wing nut case even for ACT.

…not that we really give two shakes of a donkey's ass about ACT or even who is the next neoliberal to take his place, its just a small priceless piece of nemesis for those many with whom that scumbag blog trash has defamed as a means to exercise his a cronic case of acute Mccarthyism.

From Eternal Sunshine of the Ideologically Freehold

...while his dedicated hatred of socialists has its uses, it is a distraction that does not need to hang around the Act leadership. Rodney has done well at purging the spirit of Donna. Last thing Act needs is to be portrayed as a far-right gestapo party. In a closed session of Act's AGM, Trevor Loudon was replaced and Gary Mallett was re-selected as president. Good.

Added: Trevor Loudon has come back from licking his wounds to post this in response to these rumours of him getting the arse, in doing so confirmed much of what is being said on the gonzofreakpower Blog

First-I did not "lose" my position as ACT VP. My two year term came to an end and I chose not to re-stand....I was at the AGM-closed only to non ACT members. There were several dozen party members present. The very able Michael Crozier was elected to the position in the normal manner.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Chernobyl Orchestrated to Convince NZ to Stay Nuke Free

The Spy Who Shagged Us
With the latest subterfuge styled 70's anti-communist demagogy riddled exposé by Trevor Loudon and his secret squirrel buddy Bernard Moran, that those dastedly slippery Soviets through their number one spy Austin Powers Van De Ven, duped New Zealander's into our anti-nuclear stance by what must be considered the largest public mind fuck since minds existed...

Considering the fact that not only were 78% of New Zealanders against nuclear powered ships entering our waters, they were against nukes up to 10 years before Van De Ven began his project of mass manipulation - must have been tachyonic mass hypnotism, it must then follow on that the Soviets had to have orchestrated the Chernobyl disaster as a final nail in the coffin of any free-trade agreement with the U.S and a parting of ways with ANZUS....

....You see Loudon can argue till he is blue in the face as to who may or may not have influenced the anti-nuclear movement, but what he cannot deny is that....it was the disaster in 1986 at Chernobyl that really set this country's anti-nuke stance....not only into legislation in 1987, but firmly into concrete in what is one of only a few uniquely New Zealand cultural beliefs this country can be proud of.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

No Trade For Oil Men

National has come out gunning for the free-trade deal, but ACT however have remained fairly cool on their response to Chinese Government atrocities committed in Tibet and to the pending coined free trade agreement.

In the past various ACT members have said that a free-trade agreement with China could be a good thing. Various members of ACT also supported other totalitarian regimes too like Augusto Pinochet's Chilean junta who tortured 30,000 people and thousands of others were either killed or went missing, never to be seen again.

A poll run on the ACT Party website a whiles back showed that around 60% 0f ACT supporters agreed to the idea of a FTA with China. When Prebble was running the show he was in full support of the idea of an FTA with China, in fact encouraging Labour to sign an agreement with China.

Hyde has said before that he believed that free trade is good for New Zealand in reference to the impending FTA with China.

Well we know that idiot-boy Loudon hates all the tea in China because of the red devil commies that ran/run the place... So while he is would be for a free trade deal with pretty much any totalitarian genocidal Government, it would depend on whether said Government were red star wearing filthy commies or not....to get his tick of approval? We say we don't give a flying shit what the bent of the regime is, genocide is genocide.

Friday, March 14, 2008

A Vote for ACT is a Vote for Rogernomics and Ruthanasia

Yes folks, Roger Reagan Douglas will be standing in an electorate seat and is keen to get on with the job he failed to complete under Labour.

Today he released his repackaging of the same old tired bullshit, calling it "Vision without limits" he laid out his new plan to overtake the Australian economy by 2020. Fortunately one of the key factors to the full implementation of any such devastating economic reforms would be that ACT be the Governing party, which by the looks of the polls, would require odds larger than that which brought about evolution.

So lets take a look at what is Rogernomics. What do we know about this political ideology.

Rogernomics: "...cutting agricultural subsidies and trade barriers, privatising public assets and the control of inflation through measures rooted in monetarism"

What is monetarism? Well its an economic theorem based on the, 'Quantity Theory of Money' which was developed by Simon Newcomb, Alfred de Foville, Irving Fisher, and Ludwig von Mises, later to be ripped off by ultra right free-market nazi Milton Friedman.

Rogernomics supporters saw the layoffs of 87,000 workers in the late 80s as necessary evil for right wing libertarian (U.S version of) economic reforms, many of these same people also saw Pinochet's totalitarianism as necessary to bring about said reforms in Chile, case in point - Trevor Loudon.

One of the reasons totalitarianism would be necessary to Rogernomic libertarians in today's climate is due to globalisation. If say NZ was to convert to a full blown U.S styled libertarian economy employing the invisible hand as a check and balance to prevent say monopolies from forming, what is then stopping another country or external corporation with the means and capacity to buy New Zealand out several times over with their chump change, from doing so.

Can you depend on inter country agreements to prevent mega corporations from doing so, when it is the power of central government, now largely diminished, in fact the whole premise of a country would be largely irrelevant that currently is the preventer.

What you end up with is the same scenario that Trotsky surmised about. The need for the spread of their 'ism' to other countries, in order to ensure the validity of the invisible hand as a check and balance. In Trotsky's era that meant adjoining countries, but in todays economic and geopolitical climate and conditions, geography is irrelevant.

The U.S version of Libertarianism is still a theory yet to be proven, and we all know that people support the idea of free trade until a competitor comes along and cleans up, then corporations will bandy together to create a quasi-state federations in an attempt to protect their assets and profit margins, and you are all back to square one, except of course with a corporately elected state.

Big corporate giants don't give a rats ass about U.S styled libertarianism unless it can make them more profit and the workers are not particularly interested in the political meanderings of their bosses. This type of Libertarianism has not taken history into account, is not based on reality, but on a set of fantasies of middle management and small businessmen set about to grant themselves unrestricted access to a bigger market and to expand their fledgling businesses into unaccountable corporations.

And the person to open those doors for them, their economist Saviour, is Roger Douglas with his sidekick list of small businessmen and raft of delusional economic reforms in tow.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Finally Exposed! Who Was REALLY Behind NewZeal

In his latest attempt for credibility, Trevor Loudon has tabled his paranoia into an article that Investigate Magazine has released.

See: Finally Exposed! Who Was REALLY Behind NZ's Anti-Nuclear Stand?
RED SQUARES The untold story behind New Zealand’s ANZUS breakdown

New Zealand’s break with the US over nuclear warship visits in 1985 has become an iconic symbol of Kiwi independence. In this new investigation, however, BERNARD MORAN and TREVOR LOUDON argue the New Zealand politicians became pawns in a much bigger game, a game they were unaware of...

Whoa backup....Bernard Moran?

From: http://www.otus.co.nz

Bernard Moran:
A freelance journalist by training Bernard has a long association with the military, serving in the UK and Europe as well as with the New Zealand Army in the Intelligence Corps. A director of Trinity Associates, an information research firm, he brings 20+ years of journalistic field investigative skills grounded in military intelligence experience. He has built an extensive network throughout the Pacific Basin and is well 'connected' in the United States as well. Bernard is a member of 'Sub Rosa' the Military Intelligence Association as well as many other professional associations. Skills include country studies, security assessment and information collection.

Sounds like a spy to you?

Monday, March 10, 2008

Philippine Government takes its lead from Loudonism?

Philippine Government has followed in the footsteps of Trevor Loudon by listing any critic of its ideology of oppression as terror suspects . Several New Zealanders appear on both the temporary Philippine Government blacklist and Trevor Loudon's Blacklist including Jane Kelsey.

Of no surprise is the omission by Loudon of this sentence from his quote from Pinoypress:

The Philippines government should stop blacklisting peaceful critics and banning them from entering the country, Human Rights Watch said today.

As usual everyone else is aware that the list is merely suppressing the entry of anyone that would criticise and expose the Philippine Government's use of death squads and summary executions, everyone else in the world can clearly see the bigotry naming dissidents as Al Qaeda terrorists...everyone except of course for you guessed it...
___________________________________________

Further Reading

- See also: Scared Silent
Link to the: Report

- NGO fears impact of gov't's counter-insurgency programs on Lumads
http://www.mindanews.com/

- Death squads spare no one in the Philippines
Since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001, Philippine human rights organizations counted already more than 700 extra-judicial killings. Death squads are targeting progressive activists and leaders of people's organizations but even health workers are not spared. This is the testimony of a staff of one community based health program...

Dangerous Regime, Defiant People - KARAPATAN 2007 Human Rights Report
THE YEAR 2007 is a dangerous time for the Filipino people as state terror, impunity in human rights violations and general lawlessness grip the nation. The government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has done little to stop the political killings and disappearances except take token steps to assuage local and international outcry. On the other hand, the year also signals victories in the people’s relentless struggle against political repression and state terrorism as the victims’ clamor for justice and democracy is echoed here and abroad.

There is no clearer picture of the Arroyo government’s iron-fist mindset and utter disregard for human rights than the sight of full-battle-geared policemen and an armored personnel carrier smashing into a tear-gassed hotel lobby to “serve an arrest warrant” to a handful of rebel soldiers and civilians, and afterwards, police
herding in the journalists and broadcasters covering the incident, their wrists strapped, like suspected criminals.....

Sunday, March 9, 2008

And the Libertarian of the Year Award goes to....

Viktor Bout
Viktor Bout believes in freedom with Corporational responsibility. His ideal society is one in which government is slashed to the bone and corporations are free to reach their potential.

According to the Observer: The war between Israel and Hizbollah was three days old when American intelligence spotted a bear-sized man with a moustache and hangdog face meeting high-ranking Hizbollah officials in a safe house outside Beirut.

With Israeli F-16s roaming the skies above the city and military commanders growing increasingly desperate to find and kill high-value Hizbollah targets, the sighting should have been a watershed moment.

Those high-ranking Hizbollah officials, it is now widely believed, were, in all probability, meeting the man who apparently supplied them with their high-tech weapons: Viktor Bout, the world's biggest arms dealer.

It was, it appears, another close escape for the man known as the "Merchant of Death", who had spent more than a decade fuelling wars across the world by being able to deliver weapons to anyone, anywhere, at almost any time. And that might not have been his greatest talent, for he also had shown an uncanny ability for avoiding arrest, despite having Interpol, the United Nations and half a dozen nations' intelligence services tracking his empire of air cargo transports and weapons delivery services.

Read the full report in the NZ Herald

Trev is back

Not that we missed him, but while he was away at Kyle Chapman's 'survival camp' it gave us the needed time to get in a bit of composting, build a stirling engine which runs on heat from the sun and of course, endless sessions of anarcho lovemaking-to-u-drop.

Now lets see, whats the latest from the pro-Bush Loudon.....ok...hmmm....yeeeep a concoction of the usual, commies are everywhere....Al-Qaeda has set up a base in the Urewera to teach acid-Jazz Jewish music....oh ok here we go, heres one...

Top Chavista To Visit New Zealand

Pro-slaughter of the Palestinians, Mah666 says:
A member of the Left's favorite warmongering neo-Communist state in Latin America is in New Zealand. Will these "peace activists" protest Chavez's warmongering rhetoric toward Colombia over the death of Raul Reyes, member of FARC?

Gee I thought it was the INVASION OF ECUADOR by the Columbian military that lead to the tensions between Columbia and Venezuela....seems I was wrong.

I also thought that there was a difference between warmongering rhetoric and.....I dunno....actually going to fucken war, but no, according to 'Death to all Palestinians' Mah666 there isn't.....

...oh shit! Venezuela restores Colombian diplomatic ties ...oh well never mind Trevvy-poos, no Stalinist war this week.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

UN Observer says govts are using terror

UN Observer says govts are using terror to instill fear in communities - From Scoop

Prof. Hans Koechler paid a visit to Auckland recently to deliver lecture on ‘The Global War on Terror - Contradictions of an Imperial Strategy'. He is President of the International Progress Organisation (IPO) and a renowned international jurist, activist expert on international law, injustice, and power politics, academic and much-published progressive author:

Dr Koechler's clear perceptions on the subject assume greater relevance here now, following the terror raids, arrests, and mass intimidation of Tuhoe last October; and the subsequent Law Commission review now underway of NZ's criminal and terrorist legislation.

Since 1972, UN Secretaries-General in their statements subsequently acknowledged Professor Köchler’s contributions to international peace. In April 2000, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Professor Koechler as international observer at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands (Lockerbie Trial) which to this day remains unresolved largely due to the non-compliance of the British government in releasing the supposedly secret information to the court.

Darpan-The Mirror: Dr. Hans Koechler, welcome, welcome to Aotearoa. Thank you for being willing on your holiday to spend some time sharing your knowledge with us. You have talked tonight about the global war on terror-what is it new about terror and terrorism in the current context?

Prof. Koechler: The new feature is that a kind of universal threat is now being connected to the term terrorism and fear is being instilled into the people because they are make believe that there is a threat to our western civilization even to the very survival of the western community and to the preservation of the identity that is emanating from this kind of illusive enemy which is called international terrorism. That I think is the new feature because in earlier decades, in earlier eras, terrorists acts were specified and people identified certain-the interests coming from certain specific groups but now apparently this danger is somehow general and vague and entire civilizations are presented as a threat to our own civilization.

Darpan-The Mirror: So who is promoting this and why?

Prof. Koechler: As far as I can see it is promoted by the establishment, powerful political and economic establishment, media establishment in the leading countries of the western world. On top of them first and foremost is the United States of America and in addition for instance the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Northern Island and some other Western allies.

Darpan-The Mirror: And what do they have to gain from this?

Prof. Koechler:Well, frankly speaking, it is about the global power in a situation in which there is no challenge to the Western supremacy and particularly in which there is no real threat to the security of the Western world. I mean after the demise of communists, after the collapse of the Soviet block; apparently one feels the need to create another enemy stereotype which will allow to somehow justify certain measures of control over the rest of the world. Usually a government needs an enemy; people have to be rallied around the government in defence against an enemy from outside and this threat or the other which is now supposedly threatening the west is presented as terror- or as terrorism or as the terrorists.

Darpan-The Mirror: You described it as self-defeating; why do you think it is self defeating?

Prof. Koechler: It is finally doomed to fail because it necessitates a constant a kind of perpetual mobilisation of the people and of the resources of a country. When you present the threat as universal and when there is no possibility to identify specifically certain groups from which the threat emerges, you have to engage in a total of strategy of prevention and you have to exclude even the slightest possibility of attack from whichever direction and that means you have to be prepared 24 hours seven days a week hundred percent. And for that reason somehow the …somehow the…strength or the capacities of the countries that engage in such an undertaking will be exhausted and the other reason why I think this is in the medium and long term is a self-defeating exercise.

And the other reason is this kind of strategy antagonizes entire nations and even peoples and civilizations in such a way that they will not feel any loyalty towards those countries that engage in that struggle and they may challenge the supremacy of those countries and they may be more determined in their resistance than they otherwise would be, if there would be a kind of rational relationship on the basis of the definition of mutual interest, as also could be the case.

Darpan-The Mirror: Why have politicians, political leaders, intellectual leaders in so much of the west not challenged? You gave the example of the Japanese member of the senate who had raised issues and those issues had not appeared in the mainstream media. What- Why do you think that is occurring?

Prof. Koechler: I personally feel on the basis of my own experience now over several decades having dealt with issues particularly of the Middle East of the Muslim world that most of the people in the media and in the academic community are just afraid for their own position. They do not want to somehow be marginalized or that they do not want to be sidelined which would be the case if they speak out critically against this entire strategy. So it is a kind of opportunism or the kind of fear which people are not able to overcome because very often if one really speaks out, one is confronted with quiet strong media campaigns and the careers of some people might suffer if they do speak out.

Darpan-The Mirror: But if we contrast that to the civil rights campaigns and the challenges that there were to the suppression of rights during the 1960’s, 1970’s in the West- we are now seeing a revisiting of the normalization, militarization, of suppression of fundamental rights. What’s different? Why are we seeing those voices of dissent now?

Prof. Koechler: I think that as far as Europe is concerned, then I am only an expert on these matters; in Europe as far as Europe is concerned the entire social climate if one may use that term, is different compared to the 1960’s and also our students in universities nowadays are much less outspoken and are much more obedient so to speak as far as the politically correct opinions are concerned. But maybe the situation now has to do with a kind of overall opinion control or fear that has been instilled into the people and no one dares to be or doesn’t want to be disloyal towards his community or wants to speak out against the supplementary soft state.

Darpan-The Mirror:So how would you relate this to that of Palestine? We have seen the stories of killings and maiming everyday; we have seen the depravation of basic necessities of life- of access to electricity and to water and food? How do you interpret or analyze the situation in Palestine and the responses to it within the framework of your thinking?

Prof. Koechler: As far as I understand that I have followed the developments in Palestine since 1970’s and that means it’s now more than three decades, as far as I see it, most of what you refer to now, most of the events are not adequately presented to the wider public; most of the people would just not know what is really going on, the news’ are filtered through the corporate media, if people would really be aware of the situation…people live…under which people live in for instance the Gaza strip, there would be some stronger and critical position against the policies for instance of the western countries. But as far as I see it, there is a lack of…lack of comprehensive information and the other problem as far as Palestine is concerned is that is this linkage with Islam as a threat and particularly terrorism-the linkage of Islam and terrorism.

Darpan-The Mirror:So when you are looking at the way the western states respond to the use of force to suppress resistance movements, freedom fighters, terrorists however they are defined by one side or the other. What are the factors that you think drive the decisions of states now can I put that in the local context…

Prof. Koechler:Yeah.

Darpan-The Mirror: Our government here for example had no problem with recognizing the General who lead the coup in Thailand. The military government there and the government here was perfectly happy to deal with, had no problem in dealing with Musharraf in Pakistan; Bainimarama the leader of the military coup in Fiji is ostracized, there are sanctions against anyone in the military including one who wanted to come here in January whose family members were part of the military, what are the kinds of considerations do you think that drive the differential responses of the western leaders to regimes that are actually very similar in their particular style and in the suppression of rights attached to it?

Prof. Koechler:I would use the term of “the policy of double standards”. A government applies certain principles of legality or certain criteria of the rule of law selectively according to the specific constellation of interest. And so it is no surprise to me, of course I am not aware of the specific policies of the government here, but it is of no surprise to me to see that the government applies certain principles or insists on the implementation of certain principles in one case and totally overlooks them. Of course in the neighbourhood there may be different interests…and different from which your country may have…that explains…why one insists on certain rules in this case and does not insists on certain rules in other cases. Of course, that creates a credibility problem but I do not know...frankly speaking upto the present moment I do not know of any government which really would be consistent in the application of principles and which would avoid in its foreign policy the so-called policy of double standards.

Darpan-The Mirror: The New Zealand government has also made great play out of the fact that it did not join the coalition of the willing in the invasion of Iraq but it’s there in Afghanistan; Does that sound a convincing clean hands kind of principled approach to you or do you have problems with that kind of differentiation?

Prof. Koechler: In terms of legal doctrines, I would say I would have problems with this kind of differentiation but one could say first of all the government of New Zealand made a good decision in not sending troops to Iraq may of the government that joined the coalition of the willing regret this by now and some have already withdrawn their troops. So the government here was lucky in having not fallen into that trap but as far as new principles are concerned in my view the interventions in both countries Iraq and as well as in Afghanistan are a violation of sovereignity of those countries and both interventions are not duly justified or legitimized by international law; even in the case of Afghanistan there is no authorization of the intervention by American and NATO forces in that country.

Darpan-The Mirror: So do you think International law has become so devalued that it is no longer actually defendable in many of those instances or do you think it is a recoverable concept that might still have some value if it can be removed from the grip of the Security Council?

Prof. Koechler: I don’t know. Eventually it may already be beyond repair so to speak. The big problem I see it that in a situation in a global constellation in which there is no balance of power there is absolutely no incentive for the hegemonial country to abide...to abide by the rule of law or to obey the law.

There is no incentive for instance for that country to respect Security Council resolutions, on other way because of the veto this country like for others can block any decisions by that Council at any moment. But as far as Afghanistan is concerned the situation went even that far that for instance my own country the Republic of Austria which according to its constitution is permanently neutral according to the Swiss model.

Even my country has sent forces though in a very small number but sent forces to Afghanistan. Of course people say that this is not compatible with the statutes of permanent neutrality. Can be? It never can be compatible but these things happen now and one is just reinterpreting terms according to the constellation, political constellation of interest at a given moment.

Darpan-The Mirror: So what’s your sense of what might happen in Iran? What are your fears what might happen?

Prof. Koechler: I did fear that the United States together with their ally in the Middle East plus one or two European countries might militarily intervene in Iran and that was according to my knowledge… also the plan of the United States administration two years ago...one year ago.

What I see now is the inter-actions services of that very country have expressed an opinion that is contradicting the strategy of the President of the United States. So now my hope is that the US is reconsidering its war plans against Iran and that it will not attack Iran because it will totally destabilize not only the situation in the Middle East but the situation far beyond that region.

Darpan-The Mirror: You stressed a lot on the foreign policy in ideological and the economic interests are also integral to this not only in the Middle East but in the way many economies are now becoming almost dependent on perpetual certainly many aspects of the economy are; Fiji where you are going to go tomorrow the Fiji economy is dependent on remittances; almost 90% of remittances are coming from the security workers that are operating in Iraq; you have an economy that becomes dependent on war and when people come back and bringing the militarization back into the country itself, do you see any similar kinds of militarization of economy within Europe and America that might want to keep perpetuating this process?

Prof. Koechler: As far as Europe is concerned I do not yet see that tendency firmly established. In United States it appears obvious to me that there is a kind of self-perpetuating situation and that’s the economic interests that lead to the involvement of the country into military adventures. As far as our countries in the European Union are concerned I think we are not yet reached that stage…the military industry in most of the European countries is much less strong and much less developed than it is in the United States.

Darpan-The Mirror: Just one last question…we become aware that terrorism has become a domestic issue in this country with the arrests that were in part under the Terrorism Suppression Act with most of those arrested being Maori Sovereignity activists. Do you think the global war on terror is actually having an internal dimension that legitimizes the use of state power against its own dissident internal factions as much as against the other in the global context? And how in that sense do you think we might connect the domestic realities to the international experiences?

Prof. Koechler: I am in this country only since very short time so I am not so familiar with the internal political situation however I do hope that a distinction will be made between tensions that may exist domestically and the international issues related to the so-called global war on terror. As of the present moment I do not see any connection between what is going on here between the government and the representatives of the native population of New Zealand and the war on terror. And just hope that no one will exploits this extremely emotional climate surrounding the global war on terror for internal domestic politics or for internal security measures. One thing…the one situation is to be totally kept separate from the other.

Darpan-The Mirror: Thank you very much for your time. We wish you safe travel and we look forward to having you back here again before July. Thanks!

Prof. Koechler: You are welcome!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Is Trevor Loudon off to FEMA training camp

When it comes to the likes of Trevor Loudon and the secret intelligence groups like the NZ Combined Threat Assessment Group, you are dealing with highly politically fueled and extremely paranoid delusional people who constantly equate any political dissent with terrorism.

To give you some idea here is a small clip of similar groups in the USA, in this case members of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) who tasks are the following:

The primary mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation.

But as you can see from the video, they have a more sinister brainwashing agenda reminiscent of those found in this country's top spy echelons and not surprisingly, also at New Zeal.

Trevor off for a week of revitalisation?

Last month Loudon asks the following question:

Are Marxists Mental? Are Lefties Loony? Are Anarchists Addled? Are Socialists Psychotic? Are Pinkos Peculiar?

Loudon asks this question in an attempt to smear his political enemies, but really is this something he should be asking himself, because we think this is some sort of subconscious attempt by Loudon to reach out for help as he slips further and further into paranoid delusions.

Considering his recent display of Obama-phobia reaching psychotic proportions with a record of 20 consecutive blogs to date, almost converting his desperate blogspot into an exclusive anti-Obama campaign, without even mentioning his abject fear of communist red devils in every corner and shadow, seeking to spring their evil plan for world domination by taking over our libraries....well we think its about time Trev owned up to his illness and submitted himself for a mandatory 7 day mental health assessment.

Perhaps he has taken our advice with his latest delusional and slightly paranoid schizophrenic statement:

Back Soon Freedom Fighters

Blogging off for a while.

Emergency CIA training camp.

I'll be back to the counter-revolution re-energised and re-programmed in a week.

The path to sanity begins with honesty Trevor, this is not a good start.



Who's Responsible For Health Crises?

Are food producers like Trevor Loudon who, in the face of massive evidence to the contrary, continue to use A1 milk in their food products, responsible, or at least should share responsibility for New Zealand's health crisis?

Wouldn't the responsible thing to do by any far right Libertarian conservative wanker, would be to take the initiative and move to A2 milk ingredients? Or are they just happy to wait for the big corporations to move first while 100,000's of New Zealanders die from the affects of beta-casomorphin found in A1 proteins.

You decide...

--

A1 or A2 milk? Where's the research?

By TIM HUNTER - Sunday Star Times

The following is a summary of New Zealand government-sponsored research, clinical or otherwise, into A1 and A2 milk since July 2004:

None.

Why July 2004? That was when Professor Boyd Swinburn, public health specialist at Deakin University in Melbourne, published a review into existing research on A1 milk and human health risks such as diabetes and heart disease.

Swinburn's study, for the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, said the need for further research was "abundantly clear".

Because of vested commercial interests, he said, "the appropriate government agencies have several important responsibilities in this matter: to support further research in the area (especially clinical research); to clearly communicate the state of knowledge and judged risks to the public; and to take specific actions to promote and protect the health of the public.

"The first two actions are clearly warranted based on the evidence to date."

Most of the milk we drink contains A1 beta-casein, a kind of protein commonly produced by the Friesian cattle breed. The other kind, A2 beta-casein, is more common in Jersey cows, for example. Goats' milk is all A2, as is milk from native Asian cows.

One theory, supported by several research studies but by no means proven, is that A1 milk increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Swinburn's advice that more work was needed seems unequivocal, yet none was done.

The Health Research Council, which manages government investment in public good health research, has funded no studies relating to A1 and A2 milk, ever.

Auckland diabetes specialist Professor Bob Elliott sought Health Ministry approval to fund a repeat of a potentially important animal study, which was later found to be fatally flawed by contaminated feed supplied by the NZ Dairy Research Institute.

The ministry declined to meet the several hundred thousand dollar cost of the project.

The ministry has since approved no further studies and cites the Food Safety Authority as the relevant body, although the FSA has also neither promoted nor funded any scientific follow-up to Swinburn's report.

Food Safety Minister Lianne Dalziel told the Sunday Star-Times on Thursday: "NZFSA has no mandate or facility to sponsor clinical research itself, which is why no further research was undertaken despite the recommendation in the Swinburn report.

"When I was briefed on the A1/A2 milk issue late last year, I felt this was a gap in the process. I believe that any such recommendation should be assessed by health or science and research officials and a decision made about whether further action is required."

Two weeks ago, Dalziel announced a further review of existing scientific studies. This will be done by the European Food Safety Authority after inquiries by New Zealand officials discovered it was also interested in the subject, which neatly flicks the burden of responsibility and funding on to the Europeans.

Dr Murray Laugesen, a public health scientist and co-author of research relating to A1 and A2 milk in 2003, said Dalziel's announcement would achieve little.

"OK, so they do another review of the existing evidence that won't get you anywhere at all. It's like washing the same clothes twice. The main purpose seems to be to get the NZFSA off the hook, to get clarity where clarity is not possible."

The EFSA's conclusions are not expected before the end of this year, but already their value is in doubt. In a January letter to EFSA head Catherine Geslain-Laneelle in Parma, Italy, her New Zealand counterpart Andrew McKenzie advised her to note the Health Ministry's view that "further research, especially independent human trials and animal experimental studies, will be required to definitively identify A1 beta-casein in milk as a risk factor in disease".

Whether the EFSA will come up with definitive results from its review is unclear since so little science has been done in the interim.

But if Geslain-Laneelle, an experienced bureaucrat who speaks three languages, needed guidance, McKenzie advised she read Devil in the Milk, a review of A1/A2 science by Lincoln University professor Keith Woodford.

It was good advice. Woodford's book, published in September, awakened the sleeping giant of controversy over A2 milk with a collection of evidence from more than 100 research papers (Swinburn had reviewed 38).

The issue goes back to the early 1990s, when Elliott got together with dairy industry scientist Dr Jeremy Hill to examine potential links between milk consumption and Type 1 diabetes.

Their hypothesis was that the culprit could be in the beta-casein proteins found in milk. Elliott and Hill's study of international data, funded by Fonterra predecessor the New Zealand Dairy Board, found that the incidence of diabetes and heart disease was correlated with consumption of A1 milk. The correlation is acknowledged by scientists of all stripes to be unusually strong but it does nothing to prove that A1 milk actually causes these health problems.

The latter point is what several scientists have been working on ever since. The evidence to date, as presented by Woodford, suggests it's worth persevering with the effort.

Fonterra did enough work in this area to own important patents around A2 milk and related genetics. The other main owner of patent rights is New Zealand's A2 Corporation, which acquired them from the Child Health Research Foundation a funder of Elliott's research.

However, Hill and Fonterra have since become sceptical of the A2 hypothesis and the giant co-op no longer funds research exploring it.

The dairy industry's position is understandably awkward. If its research found evidence of links between A1 milk and disease, it would be faced with marketing a compromised product while simultaneously promoting its alternative, A2.

Then there is the thorny question of legal risk. If A1 was subsequently shown to be a factor in diabetes, for example, and Fonterra had known about it, the potential costs of legal action would be truly eye-watering.

Furthermore, any general loss of confidence in milk as a source of nutrition could have a significant financial impact on dairy companies and by extension on New Zealand. Fonterra is so big and so important to this country's economy that the repercussions would be felt far and wide.

So its position is naturally one of careful risk management note the science is inconclusive, monitor developments but do nothing to promote further research.

A comment from Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier exemplifies this view: "Whenever any new science (both good and bad) about milk and its components is presented we carefully review that science. We have done this on a number of occasions on this issue and found no cause for concern."

Behind the scenes, however, dairy farmers may be heeding Swinburn's advice to consider changing the composition of their herds. Thanks to the industry's work, it is now a relatively simple matter to classify cattle according to A1 and A2 genes.

As Swinburn noted, "a New Zealand dairy herd that produced predominantly A2 milk would have no apparent negative health effects and could potentially have significant population benefits if the A1/A2 hypothesis proved to be correct".

According to cattle genetics specialist LIC, about one million of New Zealand's 3.9 million cows are now A2. The farmer-owned company does not have a view on whether A1 or A2 traits are desirable but said in its spring newsletter that it could respond to market demand for A2 semen within 48 hours.

When the Star-Times spoke to LIC in September its view was that there was sufficient genetic variation within A2 bulls to avoid losing other desirable traits.

The New Zealand herd could be almost entirely A2 in eight to 10 years, it said, and the shift "could be done without compromising other genetic qualities".

Last week LIC's general manager of genetics, Peter Gatley, said the picture was not quite so simple.

"There is always a trade-off," he said. "Any time you require a certain trait you have to let go other genes.

"As we restrict the total gene pool to the third [with A2] you immediately diminish the gene pool. A large diverse gene pool is always a good thing and to make any move to restrict the gene pool is a major step."

So although the move could be made, there is a good reason not to do it if the benefits are uncertain.

In terms of New Zealand's fresh milk supply, milk from one million A2 cows is more than enough to meet local needs if there was any demand for it. Collecting it would require some reorganisation, however, because the animals tend not to be gathered into complete herds.

This country's biggest marketer of A2 milk, Hamilton-based Ridge Natural Foods, has two of its own A2 herds and milks about 180 cows year round. One other local farm supplies Ridge but the company says it needs more.

There are several other herds wholly or nearly 100% A2, but their milk is supplied into Fonterra's pool and not separately marketed.

The question, then, is not whether anything can be done if A1 milk turned out to be a problem there is a clear path towards a solution. The question is whether there is a problem.

A1, A2: THE DIFFERENCE

- About 80% of the protein in milk is casein, which combines with calcium and phosphate to form molecules giving milk its opaque, white appearance.
- About 35% of the casein is beta-casein, which has three main genetic variants known as A1, A2 and B.
- A2 beta-casein differs from the others in that when digested it does not lead to the release of an amino acid in the body called beta-casomorphin 7 (BCM7).
- BCM7 is known to be an opioid - a type of narcotic - which can have a variety of effects, including suppressing the immune system. Some scientists suspect that BCM7 could cause or aggravate a range of health problems in susceptible people, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, and autism. Research has found evidence to support these theories, but not enough to be conclusive.
- Milk can be tested to identify A1 or A2 beta-casein, and cattle can be tested to identify whether they carry A1 or A2 genes, or both. Milk in western countries, particularly milk from Friesian cows, tends to be A1.