It may come as a surprise to many people but banks 'print' money, the government has no real control over monetary policy and as a result has almost no control over the economy at all.

What do you mean banks print money?

 When you go to a bank and get a loan on a mortgage the bank is not lending money which someone has actually deposited with them. They just record your debt and create electronic money by recording a credit in someone else’s account. You pay interest on the money they just created. Why do you pay interest on something which cost nothing to create?  - because banks decide you should and there is nothing we can do about it.

I have been thinking about the possible avenues of action an individual, or collection of individuals can take against the policies of a foreign nation. I know groups like Amnisty do this kind of thing all the time, to the best of my knowledge via letter writing and awareness raising. The current topical example of this is the case of Nguyen Tuong Van, and the threats of boycotts of Singapore owned companies such as Optus and Singapore Airlines.

For a boycott to work, what has to happen? Obviously the concerned few will not be sending these companies broke, but could they be put under pressure? And how does one make sure that they know why they are under pressure? Letter writing to the board? Public demonstrations?

1) Twirl a fire stick

2) Put a sticker on the back of your car

3) Sign a petition

4) Wear Bali pants

5) Make your own bead jewellery

6) Don't wash your hair

7) Sign an online petition

8) Join Greenpeace

9) Don't wear shoes

10) Vote for a major party

I propose we start an action group to commence Citizen Initiated Referenda to take back control of our democracy from the party political machine(s).

Could any (all) of you better educated, informed and connected readers, bloggers and others please post links and material here to get us started on this movement.

I, for one, refuse to let this country sink into the hands of a bunch of conservative facists due to apathy.

Yours in Fury.

Take a look at the attached military spending figures for 2004.

World Total military expenditure $US975 billion.

USA $US455 billion 3.8%GDP
Israel $US 11 billion 9.1%GDP
Japan $US 42 billion 1.0%GDP
Germany $US 34 billion 1.4%GDP
France $US 46 billion 2.6%GDP

CRUNCHING SOME NUMBERS (at last)

In a couple of my opinions I expressed in discussions about what we should or not do, I alluded to being reasonable or not... All this to do with the psychological warfare we need to create. A counter-action to the lies that are dished out everyday by our government (and peddle by others if you wish).

Crickey.com manages to do it a bit but, even there, it’s still in “limbo-land�? as far as turning the necessary number of minds around... “Preaching to the converted�? is not a bad thing as it reinforces the faith but one still needs to go our there and do some door to door salesmanship...