Foxy the mainstream media and Fairfax media in particular is full of lies, it's not until you step out from behind the computer and actually involve yourself in "controversial" activity that you see just how wide the gulf between fact and the fiction written in The Age really is.
Anything you read on Fairfax, The ABC or Newscorp sites is basically fiction, they literally just make stuff up to suit their globalist-capitalist agenda, I'd take it with a grain of salt.
I challenge you to pick a cause which challenges the capitalist orthodoxy, it doesn't matter what it is and become involved, put your boots on the ground so to speak, you'll see what I mean.
I've personally been attending the UPF rallies and observing their counter demonstrations, I've been cynical about the media for a very long time but even I was shocked by the bias and outright falsehoods in the reports from people like John Elder, Chris Vedalgo and Bianca Hall.
Foxy they're liars and while I don't feel sorry for our side, mainly because we're winning at this point I do feel sorry for the well meaning, good hearted people such as yourself who've been gulled by the capitalist media.
Multiculturalism is the central pillar and most potent tactic of 21st century globalist capitalism, support for multiculturalism and open borders is support for imperialism and, yes, support for the Syrian bombing campaign, it's no longer possible to look at it any other way.
The "refugees" flow in, people like you are mollified for a while and the corporate spokespeople like Abbott, Obama, Merkel and Cameron live to fight another day.

malthusista wrote on Sunday, 6 September 2015 1:17:12 AM

"In Syria, amongst the strongest supporters of the Syrian government, led by Alawite Muslim President Bashar al-Assad, is the Syrian Christian community. Many of those Syrians still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ.

In fact, some ostensible Muslims do murder these Syrian Christians as well as other Muslims in Syria. These are the terrorists, armed and paid for by the United States, France and their regional allies including Turkey and the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. These Christians are defended against these 'Muslim' terrorists by the Muslims of the Syrian Arab Army."

I think the posting above should be compulsory reading for Prime Minister Abbott.

If PM Abbott wants to help Syrian refugees as he is indicating, then Australia and allies should be helping President Assad to regain control of Syria.

It is apparent at least some Middle East countries need a dictatorship to maintain control of the different tribes and religious followers.

Prime Minister Abbott should step up like a man and ask President Assad for agreement and assistance to drop bombs in Syria.
And the United States and all allies should do the same.

Regaining peace while developing prosperity in Syria would end the refugee exodus and most Syrians would surely return to their homeland.

Here is an interview with Assad. I found it at "The Saker"- if you want to get a fresh perspective on world events this blog is amazing.

“We rely firstly on people, of course after relying on God, but if you don’t have public support then you cannot withstand. If you don’t have public support then there is no value for any political or national direction you adopt as a president or official or state. First, you rely on the people, and second on friends who stand firm alongside Syria and support in the region and in the world,” His Excellency said. ...

“It was proposed that the crisis had political causes. This is incorrect. As I said before, the cause is foreign interference, but we went along with all that was proposed. They said the problem is about the constitution, so we amended the constitution . They said the problem is about the laws, so we changed the law. They said the problem is about the economic track of the state’s economic policies, so we changed many of those policies at that time. ...

Regarding some proposals that suggest things like revising the constitution or holding elections under international supervision, His Excellency said that things like revising the constitution aren’t a problem..."
http://thesaker.is/president-bashar-al-assads-al-manar-august-25-2015-interview/

Assad is not perfect, but Syria was a secular (with a sizable Christian minority) safe and prosperous country before it was torn apart by the US backed war. What is the plan if Assad goes? Will it become another failed state like Iraq and Libya? ISIS is a creation of the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. There are many sources confirming this, including the ex-spy chief, ret Lieutenant General Michael Flynn check out his interview on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG3j8OYKgn4 - need to go in about 8 mins.

Jay of Melbourne, I agree, I think the left and the nationalists can both support the idea that bombing Syria is not in our or the Syrian's best interests.

I think where that unity dissolves is over the threat posed by Muslim immigration. While I think you are correct that the elites have encouraged Muslim immigration to disrupt our society. I think the Muslim threat is purposefully oversold by the mass media and politicians. I think it is a useful boogey man, a useful tool to keep us afraid and divide us.

You know and I know that Al Qaeda, ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, are all supported by the US and British military industrial complex. They kill many more Muslims than they do infidels. If the US and its allies stopped funding and supporting them they would fade away.

They are a useful tool as they can be used to fight proxy wars eg Syria, Libya, Iraq to destabilise these countries and give us an excuse for yet another Western war of liberation which strangely never brings the freedom or better life we promised, but without fail Western corporations get in and extract oil, gas and get billion dollar no bid reconstruction contracts.

However, these extremist Jihadists are also great for whipping up fear and terror domestically. We fall over ourselves to give up our freedoms and liberties to feel safer, but it is never enough. Why is that? After 15 years of the war on terror we feel more afraid than ever.

"Why of course the people don't want war.... it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." H Goering

>>"We all know the Muslims have no tolerance for Christian beliefs.”<<

This should rather state “for those who convert to Christianity”.

One example: Recently in a refuge camp Suhl in (eastern) Germany (holding 18000 but designed for 1200), nobody wanted to share the bedroom with a young Afghan after he announced his conversion. He was mobbed day after day until he erupted, tore out some pages from a koran and flushed them. This is when the riots broke out. The mob chased the poor bloke through the town until he found refuge in a local police station. Firemen and ambulance were scared to interfere. At the end 17 injured, including six policemen and damage in hundreds of thousands. A man who had helped them to settle a year ago had his car smashed (allegedly the insurance would not cover it, since the riots were classified as “Act of God”). See http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33999801 or in more detail in German in http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article145779834/Das-Multikulti-Krisengebiet-im-Thueringer-Wald.html .

Today, hundreds or thousands of Germans are cheerfully welcoming hundreds of thousands of exhausted refugees mainly from Syria and other Muslim countries, and that is good so. However, the above example shows what can happen after a year, if applications for asylum are not processed fast enough.

There were other examples of lesser riots, e.g. in Czechia, not as rich as Germany (and pork in Europe is much cheaper than beaf) when the imam forbade them to eat at the canteen because the meal contained pork sausages. And Slovaks are rebuked by Brussels when they say that for their culturally homogeneous and poor country it is easier to integrate Christians than Muslims.

Indeed, here in Europe the refugee tsunami (some call it Voelkerwanderung, migration of nations e.g. along the route Turkey-Greece-Macedonia-Serbia-Hungary-Austria-Germany) is growing into a problem for which there are no simple - even less simplistic - answers. It might easily mean the end of EU as we have known it.

OLO is so entertaining !

We should condemn ISIS for its utter savagery. We shouldn't bomb ISIS.

Assad is a brutal dictator. We shouldn't get involved in the war between Assad and ISIS.

We shouldn't bomb ISIS without Assad's approval. Bombing ISIS is actually a devious US attack on Assad.

The US is financing people-smugglers across the Mediterranean. The US and the EU are in league to keep out refugees.

The EU, the US, Canada and Australia should increase their refugee intake, of the most destitute and desperate. Ultimately, the current problem must be solved at source, although obviously this will take enormous effort, a very long time and cost an enormous amount of bloodshed. So, in the meantime, all countries should recognise their human responsibilities for people suffering from wars and corruption not of their own choosing and open their arms to genuine refugees.

Oops, sorry, that last one was mine :)

Joe