Howard unveils hospital takeover - ABC News

This is indeed the mark of a politician who smells the stench of defeat on the winds. Yet again, Howard takes to the hustings with pork barrel in tow shelling out largesse in the fervent hope that someone, somewhere will think better of him. There is a far more sinister bent to this piece of desperation, that being the ease with which Howard moves into the areas of responsibility of the States with not so much as a 'by-your-leave', in order that he might look good to a small minority of voters in a marginal seat.

This is a dangerous move from a struggling Prime Minister who clearly believes that he can, and should do just as he sees fit in order to retain a grip on power, whatever the cost. In this case, $45m per annum. So much for Federalism.

Howard has more 'friends'.....apparently. At least the media seem to think this YouTube venture of the PM's is working that way.

According to today's news, a Flu epidemic has been declared within Queensland because more than 1,000 reported cases have been recorded by medical authorities.

Senior doctor quits over hospital takeover
Noses and faces, dear reader, as in the cutting off of to spite.

At twenty-six minutes past seven last night, NASA sent it’s latest Mars probe - Phoenix- on it’s way.

"What I know is, we’re up against a very clever politician, a very cunning politician," - Kevin Rudd on John Howard
Poll-driven PM’s ’given up governing’: Rudd - National - theage.com.au

PM backs councils in merger debate - ABC News
Indeed he did, today during question time. Demanding that Peter Beattie allow a plebiscite, John Howard told the House that the coalition would investigate all avenues to force the Queensland government to allow the people a voice on the matter of council amalgamations.

Yet more desperation from a man who is fast turning desperation politics into an art form. I'd be interested to see what constitutional lawyers thought of that outburst from the PM. I gather it might take them a few days to reply, but not because it's a difficult question. I'd suggest they'd be too tied up guffawing and falling about to focus on the issue.

John Howard says he’s yet to see the real disenchantment in the electorate which led to the massive election victories for opposition parties in 1973, 1983 and 1996.

Reserve Bank Governor, Glenn Stevens, announced this morning that the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia believed they'd held off on raising interest rates long enough, and intimated that they were quite concerned at the potential in the Australian economy for a fall in growth to negative returns.

I find Paul Kelly to be a fairly accurate commentator on matters political, and pretty much a person who doesn't openly exhibit his known biases. His editorial in today's The Australian is an excellent case in point.

Clearly Alexander Downer met his match when he deigned to take part in a high school media program.

Shades of 'how dare you, you impudent young pup!' and 'respect your betters young man!' I'll bet that Dolly won't be putting his conservative sensibilities in the way of concerned potential voters again anytime soon.

Watching 7:30 Report tonight I was absolutely shocked to see an article about this issue and also this one, both of which highlight banking practices I thought were long since dead.

The currently running Parliamentary inquiry into lending approval standards being conducted in Canberra seems to have fingered the mortgagee trustees, Permanent Custodians and Perpetual Trustees as principal movers in repossession actions.

PM vows to clean up the internet

The Prime Minister unveiled his new net commandments last night on a webcast to more than 700 churches around the country. At least 100,000 people were believed to have watched.

Three banks raise interest rates.Earth-shattering news, to be sure. This was 2 hours 23 minutes old when I came across it. Since 9:00am this morning, my Inbox had received notification of five other lenders and mortgage managers raising their rates, and a couple even offering NIL application fees as some form of recompense. Let's face it, folks. ALL financial institutions will raise rates because the money comes from the same place.

HMAS Sydney - courtesy Wikipedia

HMAS Sydney was a modified Leander-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy. The ship had great success in the first years of World War II, but controversy and mystery surrounds the loss of Sydney and its crew in November 1941. Its sinking with all hands represents the greatest ever loss of life in an Australian warship; Sydney was also the largest vessel of any country to be lost with no survivors during the war.

Judges get it right - Paul Kelly

I can't agree with this editorial by Paul Kelly. The executive arm of government has the ability.....the 'power'..... to wield a concept known as the defence power. This power effectively activates and exercises the military right of Australian governments to defend the country and its citizens by military force. The exercising of the defence power does not, should not and must not be reclassified as an ability to make decisions regarding basic human rights because of an ideological interpretation of the vague terminology we call 'terrorism'.

Kelly claims:

(Justice)Kirby found that the executive had failed to offer a convincing case to justify the control orders. The intrusion they represented was out of proportion with any threat. He found that the law went beyond the concerns of the defence power into the domain of civil government. Coming down in favour of the long-established "containment of the defence power", he supported its restriction to the body politic. He argued that control orders impinged on the right to liberty, and the court's role was to "guard against unwarranted departures from fundamental rights".

The unstated yet fundamental difference between Kirby and the majority resides in attitudes towards the parliament. This is the pivotal difference, not just on the bench but in the wider nation. For Kirby, the court's task in an age of terrorism is to insist on settled principles and to keep the parliament and executive in check.

But Kirby's vision of rights is unbalanced and overlooks that terrorism represents a fundamental assault on human rights. Incredibly, he implies the court's decision gives terrorists the victory they cannot secure for themselves. This is an indulgent misjudgment.

This decision is a clear breach of the seperation of powers.

"GM canola offers some solutions to the current problems conventional canola faces in Australia and is likely to make an important contribution to farming systems"
Secret report backs GM crops | NEWS.com.au

Joyce calls for tax-deductible home loans

Bananaby just doesn't get it, does he!

Okay, a different Costello, but same family just the same.

I have no idea just which point Gerard Henderson believes the media is missing with their reporting of the polls on Bennelong, just as I don't think Gerard knows which point he's attempting to make with his column today.

Any opportunity to take a jab at the ABC by the Murdoch press, it seems.

I have the "who do you trust" Red Symons created, John Howard inspired ringtone on my phone, although it's been surplanted for another at the moment, but after hearing of this latest I-didn't-do-it from Costello, I'm sorely tempted to reactivate it.

This man is now so desperate everything he says or does reeks of his frantic need to hold onto power no matter what comes. Grab an ale and rest a spell, reader, while I explain why.

Where is the logic in selling uranium to India on the basis that doing so will strengthen the NNPT?

I just hope they're right.

RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said he had no reservations about tightening monetary policy following its August Board meeting, despite the recent escalation in financial market volatility. Indeed, the key phrase from the opening statement in our view was this:

Imagine, for a moment, that major global corporates started sponsoring condoms. Suddenly safe sex would become a fashion statement like Shane Warne's Nike Slash ear stud.....

Roll up! Roll up!
You want uranium? Well, buddy....do we have a deal for you!

Remember what I wrote earlier this week in regard to the finance industry's non-conforming lenders?

I don’t often have the opportunity to sit in front of the ’puter and read blogs over a quiet ale, but today seems to be one of those oh-so rare Saturday’s.

Wet day in Brisbane. Wet day in Sydney. Doesn't really make for exciting racing, especially on a slow track like Oran Park, but when the weather's lousy outside, what better way to occupy one's Sunday arvo than in front of the box with a beer or three watching motorsport?

FJ of the Gold Coast reckons
“So I pay tax so Rudd can get tanked and act inappropriately at a titty bar?? Great news. Rudd is a fraud,”

Actually, FJ, you pay your taxes so all manner of politicians and public servants can get tanked and act inappropriately. The difference in this case is simply that Glenn Milne didn’t see any mileage in reporting on Neville Nobody tanking up and touching the showgirls because Neville Nobody isn’t leading the Labor Party.

Has democracy sunk to a new low?

"The water cannon truck will only be used in extreme cases of major public disorder..."

This is Australia, at least it was last time I looked. Our democracy entitles us to protest those issues we don't agree with in a rational, non-violent manner. Surely our police forces are capable of handling the odd rabble-rousing collection of attention seekers? If high-pressure water cannon are going to be on display, just in case, surely that's cause for the idiot elements to raise heads? I think it's called incitement to riot, which is a crime.

Absolute lunacy, and a complete waste of $600,000. The real irony though....a water cannon in the middle of a drought! As if we can afford to waste 12,000 litres at a time. Nice one, Morris!

I heard the news of Peter Andren's cancer prognosis on The World Today. I don't even know the man, yet my heart sank. It appears his chances of defeating the disease now hinge on diet and a positive mindset.

Why is it that these adversities always seem to beset those with the most to offer?

"My near universal experience of regularly travelling this great country of ours in the past decade has been that local communities want good services and good outcomes. They care little as to which level of government delivers them as long as they are delivered. That inherent pragmatism of the Australian people should be a clear signpost to all governments."

Kevin Andrews didn't say as much during the interview by PM, but his tone of voice spoke volumes. Mohamed Haneef will never be allowed a Visa to re-enter Australia and complete his medical training as long as Kevin Andrews arse points earthward.

How does Jetstar win these awards while deliberately placing their passengers and staff at such great risk?

I heard this story today on The World Today and immediately thought of those awards. Operational excellence for mis-tuning the main communications on take-off. That's a hot one! After my own Jetstar experience in May, I'll never fly them again. If you still fly them, I'd suggest you don't fly out of Avalon. Dickie might be beating something up, but that's unlikely given the exposure he's creating. Is it really worth the risk?

Came across this story in this morning's business mail. Yet another example of how the finance industry, and particular the mortgage broking marketplace is continuing to evolve in this country.

There's bugger all on free-to-air tele at the moment.....in fact, anytime really, but I reckon this edition of Enough Rope should be an absolute corker. It'll be both funny and poignant, probably akin to watching a skilled surgeon dissect a baked pig. Fun for all the family.

I'll be short & sweet on this issue because I reckon Ross Gittins says it all fairly well. It's an issue I've been banging on about for quite some time now, and with good reason. I can't stand liars and have little tolerance for fools, yet all we get treated to by our elected representatives are examples of the former who treat we voters as the latter.

I'll say it again, and this time I have Gittins' article as a backdrop. Politicians do NOT control interest rates. They influence interest rates, usually adversely, but simply cannot control them. The Reserve Bank of Australia board determines interest rates in this country and does a bang-up job too, if I may say! I especially like the statement Gittins includes in his piece from Reserve Bank Governor, Glenn Stevens:

"Since we now had a good system for allowing the Reserve to keep inflation low, a return to double-figure interest rates would be "unusual"."

The utterances of George W. Bush overnight invoking the memories of America's inevitable departure from the Vietnam theatre in 1975, to my mind, amount to clear a admission for the first time that his misanthropic adventure into Iraq is an abject failure.

Makes you wonder just who's zoomin' who. John Winston indicates that he'll consider John Symons' plan to incentivise new home buyers, while Peter Costello rules out the idea.

John Symons, CEO of Aussie Home Loans, stated earlier this week that in the shadow of the US sub-prime mortgage meltdown, some re-pricing of risk in the Australian, if not the world financial marketplace would result.

Kim Beazley thinks Australian's don't understand enough about the United States of America.

I have to ask, what is there to understand that we don't already have showcased for us by television, radio, news media, political rhetoric, cinema, in fact name a segment of Australiana which isn't influenced by American culture and capitalistic ethos, and I'll gladly reassess my belief that Kim Beazley needs to pull his head out of his arse.

A very nice piece of hypocritical Bolt on this mornings Insiders to start off a week's public affairs.

All polls are saying the same things, regardless of whether it's questions on economics, nudie bars, climate change, or nuclear power plants, the electorate is definitely jaundiced about government attitudes to issues which matter, and suspicious about those which don't.

According to the Oz Politics timetable, the government are rapidly approaching decision time. Once APEC and it's implications is out of the way, all eyes will be watching for the Commonwealth Car registered C1 for any moves towards Yarralumla. Three weeks to go.

Yes, she's blonde. The latest piece of Playboy fluff inhabiting the Hefner Mansion hasn't a clue how she's made it there....

"I didn't work to get here. I don't know how I got here but I'm here"

There's going to be a lot of broken hearts when Hefner eventually shuffles off this coil. An equal if not greater number of broken bank balances too, I suspect.

"If Kevin Rudd and Labor believe they are ready to govern, they should take the Australian people into their confidence and start telling the truth about their policies and positions."

This, from a man with a reputation for 'non-core' promises and a litany of grey-shaded tales which bear a passing resemblance at best to the truth.

“As a city councillor I am appalled that we are allowing our government to gate off our city from the people who live, work and pay rates here. That we would spend $600,000 on a water cannon to be used against our citizens should they exercise their democratic right to demonstrate. That we have converted 31 state transit buses into ‘mobile holding cells’ and that during the APEC summit, it will cost the city of Sydney hundreds of millions of dollars in lost economic activity that we will never recover."
Chris Harris

I caught the first article on Media Watch last night, and frankly fail to understand why Kyle Sandilands still manages to occupy a place within the Australian entertainment industry.

Live for today, people! That's the general message being touted by financial institutions and so-called financial advisors, according to this site I came across in the morning news mail. I'll be bookmarking this site as it seems to have some interesting commentary on matter fiscal.

Andrew feigns shock and awe at the new Network Ten mock-umentary, Californication. My advice, Andrew? Review the various broadcast control legislations across the country, State and Federal, before libelling industry administrators for following that legislation. Secondly, get a fucking life, and probably most important of all, pull your head out of your arse and try talking to real people to assess real opinions before shouting up your colon and wasting your employers column space.

Oh, and do try not to show off your innate bigotry. I know it's difficult, but at least give it a try.

UPDATE: Public opinion makes a mockery of Bolt's feigned prudishness.

I'll do the right thing, and aid promotion of the Australian Blogging Conference soon to be held in Brisbane. I have some advice for the organisers, however.

What an absolute irony this is. David Hicks will get to vote against the Howardian Cabal. Chortle! Chortle!

This Tamar Valley pulp mill saga has, more or less, washed over me to a great degree. I don't live in Tasmania, and aren't directly impacted by the proposal. I have sympathies with the likes of Peter Cundall who lives in the valley, but without definitive evidence being available for analysis, it's a bit difficult to form an opinion either way.

"...a new role for Australian troops and a new challenge for the Labor Party ahead of the election"
Changing role in Iraq | Dennis Shanahan Blog | The Australian

A certain desperation seems to be exuding from some elements of the Mainstream Media in regard to just exactly what the much awaited report from the US Commander of multinational forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, might say. Dennis Shanahan is one dedicated conservative apologist and right-wing pundit who continues to hold the line that invading Iraq was always a good thing, and now has a sniff of some vague sense that a victory of sorts might be in the offing, if Petraeus’s report says what Shanahan hopes it will.