Now some of the cleric's fellow Muslims, including the Islamic Council of New South Wales, are calling his comments comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat" as "unIslamic, unAustralian and unacceptable."
Far from building bridges with the wider community, he seems to have dug himself an almighty hole.
Full story reported here: BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australia's Muslims fear backlash.
"It is a storm in a cup ... no worries, mate, in Australian“
No one can sack me, says defiant Hilali | News | The Australian.
Why is the Australian media so het up over the purported – translated no less – statements by a cleric of a religious sect which is a minority in this country?
So, if she isn't being pulled by a fresh opportunity, did McKew feel pushed by changing times at the ABC? A new managing director, Mark Scott, was appointed in July, and this month announced anti-bias guidelines for the broadcaster.
McKew quiet about life after Aunty | Media | The Australian.
Valid question, I’d suggest. Especially given Scott’s black-and-white view of media presentation and his reticence to be seen as anything but plain vanilla. In his recent speech to that doyen of conservative thinktankism, The Sydney Institute, Scott was quoted as stating his new editorial guidelines …
would encourage diversity "ensuring the ABC is the town square where debate can flourish and different voices [be] heard".
Clearly Scott doesn’t have a great opinion of current ABC journalism ethics. I’d say Maxine won’t be the last of the current crop of ABC journalists to seek other pastures in which to graze. Why dine where the food is always plain and boring?
The Federal Opposition is calling on the Government to decide whether controversial comments made by the Muslim cleric Sheik Taj el-din Al-Hilali break laws against inciting violence.
This issue of a muslim religious leader supposedly inciting violence through his preachings is now well and truly worn out. When politicians start to bat the situation back and forth, inflaming more than quelling the more controversial elements of the issue for sheer political capital, then the joke is dead, people!!!!
Leave the man alone! Leave the issue alone! It’s dead and now it’s starting to stink with the political and media-laid maggots devouring the corpse.
The origins of the tune are more complex. The discovery around 1970 of an original musical manuscript (today held in the National Library of Australia as MS9065), together with an undated letter by Christina Macpherson to Thomas Wood recalling the events surrounding the creation of the song, has finally led to Christina being accredited as the first ‘creator’ of the music. Yet as Christina openly acknowledged, she simply adapted the tune from an existing folk song.
I'm rather fond of the idea that our national song comes from an Irish folk song entitled "Ga'ng the De'il an' Shake Y'sel' ".
CATHOLIC schools have raised fears of government interference in their religious affairs after John Howard pledged $90 million for school chaplains, a move the former premier, Bob Carr, called a retrograde and divisive threat to the separation of church and state.
Catholics and Carr wary of school chaplains plan - National - smh.com.au.
On initial assessment, my thoughts were that yet again, this Howard government is attempting to manipulate social mores in order to sway ideologies. It is a mark of this government, to install greater conservative influences within the base levels of society. Non-secular religious influences, conservative school practices, raillery against women’s rights to self-determination of issues regarding their own bodies, and so on. It’s yet more fundamentalism running rampant out of Canberra. Even to the extent that this morning I hear Howard claiming that while he’s all fired up about this ‘Chaplain’ idea, he’ll reserve the right to dole out the money to those schools and individuals they wish to choose. In other words, he’ll decide the suitability of the person’s ideology, thanks very much.
To me, Chaplain means sky-pilot as opposed to what is genuinely needed in our education systems, both public and private, which is trained counsellors. Not bible-bashing pulpit thumpers. I’m with Bob Carr. Governments of any stripe must not indulge in boundary pushing on that imperative standing between church and state. Provide proper, trained and independent psychological support to school communities, but leave religion to those who really feel the need.
Prime Minister John Howard took a moment to reflect on the responsibilities of sending young soldiers to war, as he launched a new book on World War I.
PM reflects on sending young men to war.
and so he ought, although I have serious doubts that the PM has any real understanding of the responsibilities of sending young lives off to fight political wars. I firmly believe it to be the heights of hypocracy to pontificate about the moral pressures the PM may or may not have experienced, when it is clear that Australia’s involvement in the only real “war” Howard has send young lives off to is one of political convenience.
On the subject of Les Carlyon’s book, I’d be much more comfortable in recommending that readers watch Andrew Denton’s program, ‘Enough Rope’ this evening, than paying undue attention to what Howard has to say.
Courtesy of the Guardian’s Hilary Osborne
Chairman Beattie has urged all Queenslanders to get behind a combined Church campaign of prayer for rain, as an adjunct to water-saving efforts by constituents in this time of drought.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is welcome to attend tomorrow's crisis talks on the plight of the Murray Darling basin
It’s an afterthought, and a direct insult to the Premier of the State which has the most to offer to the Murray-Darling river system, through discussions on the massive water storage and catchement zones allocated to the cotton industry on the Queensland-NSW border.
This week, the Senate sits primarily to debate the private members bill promoted by Senator Kay Patterson(Lib) and supported in kind by Senators Natasha Stott-Despoya (Dem) and Ruth Webber (ALP). The Bill, Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006, offers much hope for suffers of genetic disease, but poses deeply divisive ethical questions.
A family friend last night said the decision to use a surrogate mother to give birth to their child was an "enormous" one for a politician.
Stephen Conroy, Labor’s hard man, factional manipulator and shadow communications spokesman, is now a daddy. His wife, Paula Benson isn’t however, a mummy. Another woman is ‘mummy’ and a third woman was the oven. Strangely for me, as someone who doesn’t comprehend this seemingly mindless pursuit for immortality through loin-fruit, I’m happy for the Conroys. I can only hope that they too, are happy. Baking a bun with someone else's dough in somebody else's oven still gives you a bun at the end of the day……or baking……as the case may be.
Mr Howard made it clear he respected Bono's rock star status but that respect only went so far: "I don't accept preconditions from anybody."
Mikhail Gorbachev didn’t object. Bill Clinton didn’t object, Even ‘Dubya’ didn’t object to meeting with Bono to discuss global poverty and the importance of developed nations honouring the already agreed 0.7% of GDP allocation to resolution of global poverty.
Little Johnny Howler does, however. The arrogance of the man knows no bounds.
I’m in agreement with Peter Beattie and Mike Rann, in their calls for a constitutional convention in the aftermath of yesterday’s high court decision validating the governments Workchoices legislation in constitutional terms. Justice Michael Kirby, one of two dissenting judges, said it well.
"once a constitutional Rubicon such as this is crossed, there is rarely a going back".
This decision places enormous pressure on the constitutional federalism this country enjoyed before yesterday morning. John Howard’s claim, and I notice today, Peter Costello’s claim, that this government doesn’t want to take this decision any further in constitutional terms, doesn’t mean that it won’t. This decision opens doors, or more pertinently, opens a Pandora’s Box. Kim Beazley may well tear up the Workchoices legislation, however, the precedent has now been set. Governments post-Howardian now know they can exploit the constitutional gift of the Corporation’s Powers. Australia’s constitution, such as it is in these days, is sorely in need of amendment, in my view.
Last weeks High-Court ruling, denying a man the right to re-dress an unjust child support situation and claim against his former wife for financial loss and damage, has raised the ire of Alby Schultz, federal Liberal backbencher. This ludicruous ruling, which overturns on appeal a previous win for Mr Liam Magill, who took action against his former wife for deceit, shows clearly the built-in bias in Australia's family law statutes in favour of women.
As a matter of habit, I listen to Radio National programs in the form of Podcasts. Two reasons. Podcasting is convenient method of lulling me off to sleep after a mentally stressful day, and I enjoy several RN programs, not the least of which is “Late Night Live”. Without the benefit of podcast files, I’d be missing out on what I consider to be important issues, such as this program on Phillip Adams' show.
"While I think it's probably not viable at the moment, I think it will become viable within a 10- to 15-year time frame. And I think that's why we have to start planning now because if we were to leave it 10 to 15 years to start planning for the construction of these facilities, by then it may well be too late."
Thus spake Martin Blakeman from the mining company Newera Uranium following the release and presentation of Ziggy Switkowski’s report on the Prime Ministerial Taskforce on uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy.
You really do have to ask yourself who pulls whose strings when it comes to deciding who comes to this country, and the manner in which they come.
Continue reading "Fear and Loathing, Again.....and Again." »
Currently listening to ABC Radio National’s Saturday Extra. Geraldine Doogue’s style makes this radio current events and political expose` style program well worth catching. Today’s subjects – a nuclear Iran. Is it worth tolerating or removing?
Recent amendments to Pakistan’s Hudood ordinance which virtually makes rape a forgiveable crime under Sharia Law, seem to go at least some way towards women of that Islamic country attaining some measure of protection under law.
Reading through this article on the Times Online, I can’t help but feel that while Pervez Musharraf is clearly making good political ground with western observers, this latest accession to women’s rights is a carefully measured adjustment of Pakistan’s social scales, and little else. Any program of continual advancement of women’s rights will have to be supported from without Pakistan, I feel, as the will in that tribal, male-dominated society – which still urges adoption of Sharia Law under most circumstances – simply isn’t strong enough for progressive change to continue from within on its own.
At least now women who cry rape, do have somewhere, in law, to stand.
Let's take a good close look at this little piece of sleight-of-hand by a corporatised former government instrumentality, and arguably the largest of the Big 4 banks in Australia today.
David Hicks’ legal team has been granted an urgent hearing in the Federal Court, in a bid to have him released and returned home to Australia by Christmas. The hearing, in which Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer are to be sued for failing in their duty of care to protect the interests of an Australian citizen abroad.
Interesting piece in the Daily Telegraph.
Not a rag your Bannerman makes a habit of perusing, but the day is slow. Begs the question, are we really becoming a nation of tittle-tats? Is it the thing to do, tell tales? The fellow hosing off his concrete is certainly a naughty boy, at least on first appraisal. Perhaps though, he doesn’t bathe everyday, preferring to spend his shower allocation (Ye Gods, that we never get to that stage!) on maintaining a tidy courtyard. Who’s to know? Which is precisely the Bannerman’s point. Who is to know? Whose business is it, if not the man holding the hose?
Welfare cheats. Should we, as a society, be consciously taking note of people we suspect of being welfare cheats, dobbing them into Centrelink at the first opportunity? When do we do the dobbing? When we have cast-iron, categorical, produce-it-in-court proof, or do we simply tip off the welfare police and let them do their worst, trundling merrily on our way pleased that we’ve saved another few bucks for those who really need it? Trust your Bannerman. Experience says that Centrelink is akin to the blinkered cart-horse. It knows there’s a loud and frightening vehicle closeby, but unless it appears right in front, can’t see it and can’t turn it’s head to see due to the tight reins held by the driver. So you dob in a drone sucking off the welfare teat on disability support while doing mechanical car repairs on the sly up in the back shed. Who are you really hurting and who are you really benefiting?
Dob in a terrorist! Would you know what a terrorist looks like? Bannerman certainly doesn’t, that much is certain. Maybe if someone wearing a backpack on a commuter train suddenly screams out “Allahu akbar min kulli shay!” during the morning peak hour, Bannerman might twig that all wasn’t quite kosher but otherwise, keeps pretty much to himself, as 99.999633% recurring commuters do.
On the issue of dobbing, just because one can, is it to be deemed that most despicable of all jingoistic insults – UnAustralian? Bannerman seriously doubts the validity of such a nominative, given that there is no such animal as an UnAustralian. What is UnAustralian anyway?! Is it someone not born in this greatest of all non-plussed, capitalistic, consumer societies? Is it someone not yet naturalised? On that subject, perhaps someone not born on this soil, so to speak, can never be Australian, like that second class of citizens, the naturalised immigrant or visa-holding refugee. Oh, please, don’t accuse the Bannerman of discrimination! Look to Phillip Ruddock on that score.
And there, reader, we come to the crux of this dob-in-a-suspected-societal-suckhole issue. Dobbing, in the main, is not smiled upon by Australian society. At least it never used to be while Bannerman was growing up and being taught the wiles of survival on the streets of suburbia. One kept to one’s self. One minded one’s own business and kept one’s beak out of other people’s affairs. So what if that bloke down the way was getting DSP while hauling people’s engine blocks out of their cars on a block & tackle? Doesn’t the government have a brief as a part of their mandate to properly police such things without involving Hyperidian Bannermen? If Mr Tidy Courtyard wants to hose his concrete, is it any of Bannerman’s business? We all have water meters. Let council get off their collective arses and do a little monitoring of water usage instead of relying on Joe Public to do their job for them!
As for dob-in-a-terrorist……..موفقیت خوب باآن
Bannerman dislikes intensely highlighting the works of other bloggers, purely because there are very few, in the B-man’s eyes – who warrant attention being drawn. However, and this will not become a regular occasion, attention is drawn this morning to Dunlop’s Murdoch-sponsored bandwidth boon.
As always, Bannerman is not especially enamored by Dunlop’s style, however, he realises that not everyone has the same sense of delivery as he does. Allowances must be made. Let us take issue with the content. Citizenship, specifically Australian citizenship. A multicultural nation we most certainly are, more as a result of the egalitarian approach to distressful events in other parts of the globe from which people of all races, colours and castes fled. Post World War Two many persons immigrated to these shores from European countries devastated in that conflict. Following the Vietnam conflict of the seventies, many South-East Asian peoples fled oppression to come here. And so it’s gone.
Bannerman often vacations on the Queensland border, where great wines and good food are paramount considerations. The ethnicity of that region is primarily southern European, the original immigrants being sometime, if ever, english speakers who came here after the war. They brought their cultural mores with them. Wine-making being one. Bannerman hesitates to state that english was an immigratory necessity in 1946. One wonders how many Italian newcomers, for instance, could actually speak english, let alone know why the large star on the flag has seven points, for example.
The Australian Jewish communities posed a valid question in their submission to DIMIA on this subject.
“The proposition that Australia introduce a formal citizenship test begs the vital question of what it might test for, and how.”
And just who will formulate the basis upon which this test seeks it’s answers. Just what IS the ethos here? Is it really, as Howard stated, to determine just who will and won’t be prepared to defend the country should the need arise? A ridiculous assertion in Bannerman’s eyes. No, this citizenship test/affirmation/entry criteria is yet more ideology from the Howardian stable of staunchly pro-American, ethnically divisive, exclusionist ideals for which Australia is most definitely not known and admired, but for which Howardians desperately yearn. And the timing is just right. The Yanks are introducing a re-vamped test as well. What better opportunity?
The politics of Fear and Loathing are being taken to a new level. Not only will we decide who comes to this country and the manner in which they come, we’ll decide by ameri-centric ethos who get’s to become a second-class of citizen and who remains as a citizenship pariah. The politics of disgust!
Bannerman is smiling sardonically at the responses from the usual media suspects in regard to Kofi Annan’s farewell speech today at the Truman Presidential Library, Independence, Missouri.
The time has come to recapture the centre. The time has come to forge a new coalition of political forces across the Australian community, uniting those who are disturbed by market fundamentalism in all its dimensions and who believe that this country is entitled to a greater vision than one which merely aggregates individual greed and self-interest.
The Monthly magazine - an intelligent, independent voice.
Bannerman has just finished reading this essay from The Monthly, authored by Kevin Rudd. He was led to it by this appraisal of Rudd, written by Justin Whelan. The B-man believes now more than ever that his original opinion of Rudd as being the one to lead Labor out of the neo-liberal inspired wilderness, was right. You are strongly encouraged, reader, to take in Rudd's essay. Masticate it. Dwell on it. Consider it's subtlties and it's bluntnesses. He's right, you know.He says his thinking was influenced by meetings with low paid and unemployed workers from around the country, which he describes as confronting and eye-opening.
The venerated Tattersalls Club in Brisbane’s Queen Street has, once again, petitioned it’s all-male membership on the issue of accepting female members. The vote was resoundingly to the negative. 1683 votes to 1577 votes. 106 votes against the issue.
Many things to many people. That’s Christmas. To the Bannerman, it’s nothing more than a whole lot of the post title. Humbug! Capitalistic, commodity-driven, materialism excited by wave after wave of pumped up media-promoted schmooze. Bannerman abhors carols, unless they’re female, 35 years of age with an hour-glass figure sporting bubble-butt hips & massive mammaries. The repetition as well! Silent night indeed……..if only it were. Then there are the trees, the decorations, the endless streams of tiny, flashing lights, wrapping paper which costs and is never given a thought to as it’s shredded uncaringly. Huge sessions of over-eating over-rich foods which cost much, much more than at any other time of year. Add in the screaming children who have been let out of school for six weeks and the picture is complete.
Wiki says Humbug is an archaic term meaning "hoax", or "jest". It also says that in indigenous patois it means “to pester or annoy”. Bannerman reckons Wiki is precisely on target. There is no more annoyingly false faux ceremonial than Christmas. Humbug! and a very merry Bah! to you all, from the Bannerman.
Bannerman is heading bush for the next fourteen days to get as far from the Xmas stupidity as possible. Take good care of yourselves. As the B-man so often says, no-one can or will look after you like you will. If you survive Christmas and make the sensible decision to go to bed at a reasonable hour December 31st without over-indulging in alcohol, loud music or attempting to fuck someone who is uglier than your usual low standards, Bannerman will be here to further educate you in 2007. Until 4th January 2007……….HUMBUG!
Bannerman doesn’t often indulge in supermarket exploratives. He finds the commercialistic falsehoods presented to be not only so very indicative of todays society, but also outrageously indicative of how easily we, the ardent consumer, are duped by the conservative push for globalism at any cost.
Bannerman was chatting to a friend this morning, about many issues, but one in particular which aligns with this article. Both B-man and his interlocutor are ‘baby-boomers’, inferring that both are long enough in the tooth to appreciate what proper parental responsibility, concern and control really means.
The US Office of Military Commissions also confirmed today that Hicks would likely be in the first group of Guantanamo Bay inmates charged.
Well, reader, Bannerman has the distinct feeling that he’s read this story before. Some time in the past, in fact. Maybe some thirty-one months ago?
Next week marks the fifth anniversary of David Hicks's imprisonment without trial in the notorious detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. He got there after being sold for $1000 to American special forces in Afghanistan by a Northern Alliance warlord.
Continue reading "How To Embarrass Yourself On Radio National" »
Shane and Simone separated in mid-2005, but the leg spinner has expressed his desire for reconciliation, describing her as his "rock."
The federal government is becoming increasingly out of touch when it comes to the child care needs of working families, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says.
"The Western people are the biggest liars and oppressors and especially the English race," the Mufti of Australia said in Arabic during the extensive interview in Eqypt, his birthplace. "The Anglo-Saxons who arrived in Australia arrived in shackles. We paid for passports from our own pockets. We have a right in Australia more than they have."
Bannerman gave this dill the benefit of the doubt over his ‘plates of meat’ gaff. Statements like that above are quite simply the ravings of an ill-informed, arrogant, religious elitist who garners a dangerous following with his idiotic statements. There can be no claims of being taken out of context this time around, given the Imam was speaking in Arabic, to an Arabic speaking audience, in an Arabic speaking country. In fact, his country of birth. No, Bannerman believes the Sheik knew precisely what he was saying, despite the ludicrous nature of the statements.
This man cannot be permitted by his community to continue to inflame perceived cultural differences between his muslim community and the rest of Australia. If Muslims wish to be considered as Australians, wish to be considered as a part of Australia, it’s culture and its people, then this moronic religious nutbag must be disavowed and cast off as representative of the Islamic community. He is not worthy of that community, and most definitely is not acceptable as an Aussie.
Amid the lowest world oil prices in 20 months, an investigation has found petrol retailers have not passed any of the relief on to consumers.
Bannerman is stunned, nay, shocked to read that oil majors haven’t been treating consumers honestly these last several months….years….decades.
"The formality of weddings has never been a big thing for me," Ms Gillard says. “I'm not an actively religious person, so you manage your relationships on the basis of whether you feel committed or not, rather than have you been through a particular ceremony. People have all sorts of choices - for me (marriage) doesn't loom large."
Bannerman entirely agrees. He also entirely agrees with Ms Gillards estimation that motherhood and politics at the top level simply don’t mix. Consider Mark Latham. Not as a mother, although some might use that term in a derogatory fashion. His own focus on family would loom large in his failure, although from differing aspects than those which effect women in politics. Politics is most definitely NOT a mens only game, but women who believe that full-on motherhood and a top level political career are not only possible, but also achievable options together, simply aren’t being realistic.
Imagine, for example, Prime Minister Mother at an Asian Trade conference more concerned with her toddlers teething difficulties than avoiding being conned in trade negotiations. Yes, fanciful scenario and highly unlikely to ever occur, but Bannerman would ask the reader to consider just why said scenario would be so unlikely. The answer is quite simple. Motherhood and political leadership aren’t compatible. In fact, the very idea is laughable, just as is the concept of John W Howard caring about David Hicks.
Bannerman heard this snippet this morning and didn’t quite believe his ears. Looking up the internet news soon confirmed that his hearing is fine. He’s wondering if ALP policy makers thought processes are though.
The Federal Opposition is calling on the Government to take action against a Sydney cleric for encouraging Muslim children to die as martyrs. The head of the Global Islam Youth Centre, Sheikh Feiz Mohammed, also referred to Jewish people as pigs in a video of one his lectures.
"The rules even allow hearsay within hearsay, meaning that Mr Hicks could be placed in a position where he doesn't have the opportunity to cross-examine the person twice removed from the witness who actually made an allegation about him,"
He said that she said that he heard that David Hicks is a card carrying Al Qaeda member. That’s how Dick Cheney wants the military commission process to function. The process which was deliberately legislated as an act of government, to remove it from the reach of a justice system which decreed its predecessor illegal in 2006. David Hicks is still to be charged under this kangaroo court system. Why, escapes your Bannerman, although he does note, with some considerable chagrin, the stunningly loud silence with which the Australian government are complaining.
"The rules even allow hearsay within hearsay, meaning that Mr Hicks could be placed in a position where he doesn't have the opportunity to cross-examine the person twice removed from the witness who actually made an allegation about him,"
He said that she said that he heard that David Hicks is a card carrying Al Qaeda member. That’s how Dick Cheney wants the military commission process to function. The process which was deliberately legislated as an act of government, to remove it from the reach of a justice system which decreed its predecessor illegal in 2006. David Hicks is still to be charged under this kangaroo court system. Why, escapes your Bannerman, although he does note, with some considerable chagrin, the stunningly loud silence with which the Australian government are complaining.
Bannerman is concerned, but not really all that surprised that Little Johnny Howler should choose to be a party to a video supporting a Christian fringe group.
Howler is, supposedly, a Christian. Devout or otherwise is irrelevant, but that he chooses to use his Christianity for political advantage is not in question. He isn’t overt or radical about it, but he is openly considerate of Christian organisations, as this issue shows clearly.
Disingenuity aside, Bannerman considers overt displays of any form of religious allegiance by politicians like Howler to be not only poor politics, but openly ignorant and dismissive of faiths other than those promoted. Howler, if he really is as smart a politician as Bannerman considers him to be, should never have associated himself with an organisation like ‘Catch the Fire Ministeries’, or failed Family First candidates such as Danny Nalliah. Maybe he’s not that smart a politician. Certainly not if he’s happy to associate with religious nutbags like Nalliah and Scott.
Bannerman is outraged!!! The man is alive, isn’t he?!!! What more can a concerned politician do???!
"The conclusions of the British parliamentary committee that you don't have the most basic standards applying at Guantanamo Bay adds weight to our view about the fact that David Hicks has been there for too long and ought now to be released." – Kelvin Thompson, Opposition Legal Affairs spokesman
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock was in transit but a spokesman said: "We've been assured the facilities at Guantanamo Bay are modelled on maximum security prisons in the United States".
Ruddock’s spokesperson needs to undertake a little research before opening their flapper:
‘In some jurisdictions, supermax prisoners can acquire increased privileges and amenities-e.g. more telephone calls, access to radio or a television, the ability to walk to the shower without handcuffs or shackles-as an incentive and reward for appropriate behaviour. But the privileges usually only reflect a tinkering at the edges of the basic model of confinement and do not significantly ameliorate the conditions. Moreover, these "privileges" are taken away as punishment for even minor infractions.’
‘Once an inmate is in a supermax, there is usually some sort of periodic review to determine if there is a need for continued segregation or, in facilities with progressive incentive levels, whether an inmate should be moved up or down. Unfortunately, the reviews are often perfunctory, concluding with reiterations of stale justifications. Staff rarely have adequate familiarity with or background information about inmates to make considered judgements -- and there are insufficient institutional incentives for them to give sufficient weight to the inmates' right to be free of unnecessary restrictions.’
Human Rights Watch ‘Out-of-Sight’ Briefing Paper on US Supermax Prison conditions, 2000
Bannerman wonders when David Hicks was last permitted to make a telephone call when he wanted to, listen to radio or watch television, walk to the showers unshackled. He also wonders what review process has ever been undertaken over the past five years to determine Hicks’ need to be held in almost continual solitary confinement.
Clearly, even though what we hear about through the media is often third hand, Guantanamo Bay does not meet even the Human Rights Watch assessment of US Supermax prison conditions. David Hicks must be released and repatriated to Australia without delay. Failure by the Howard government to see to this requirement with despatch condemns it for all time as failed guardians of Australian civil rights.
Prime Minister John Howard has called the move stupid and offensive, while Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says it is "political correctness gone mad".
Naturally, the leaders of the two major political parties would say that. Rudd after Howard especially. Howard most particularly because he so desperately wants, nay, needs to be seen by the electorate as the quintessential patriotic Aussie. Kevin Rudd is being led along by his political nose. What he really believes is not known because of his party’s need to be seen to be either strenuously opposed to Howard’s ideals in a strong public position, or with him in a perceived public position.
Bannerman applauds Andrew Bartlett and the democrats for stating the bleeding obvious. The symbol of nationalism – which is all a flag is, apart from a collection of stitched coloured cloth, is being used by those who see it to their benefit to do so. Such was the ethos of National Socialism in Germany, circa 1932. At every turn, the swastika showed the German peoples allegiance to an ideal. Just what ‘ideal’ are Australian’s being aligned with in this politically promoted allegiance to a flag which remembers a nations colonial heritage and nothing else?
The Democrats are quite right in supporting the stand of the Big Day Out’s organisers. Whatever our nation’s flag may be, whatever it may represent, it must not be permitted to be used as a rallying point for martyrs and jingoists, nor must it be permitted to be denigrated by those whose focus is other than a peaceful, united and rational Australian community.
With yesterday's post in mind, Bannerman came across what turns out to be an older article on Space_dot_Com this morning, which reveals that the second brightest star in the southern cross is, in fact, a binary system. Beta Crucis, or Mimosa to give it’s common name, is classified as a blue-white giant, differing from our own Sun in that Beta Crucis is much, much larger and nearing the end of it’s main sequence phase. It’s partner, a smaller red giant star, orbits 8 AU,or eight times the distance which Earth orbits our Sun, from Beta Crucis.
This revelation raises a query in Bannerman’s mind. Should Australia amend the flag?
"The Australia I want for the future has a strong economy, but one where we don't throw the fair go out the back door," - Federal Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd
Minutes after Australia's consumer watchdog declared oil companies had done the right thing by cutting the cost of petrol to appropriate levels, they thumbed their noses at motorists by ratcheting bowser prices up 12c yesterday.
Bannerman asks a question. Why is there a “normal weekly price cycle” which decrees that oil refiners make more profits at some points in the week than at others? If the Tapis market rate is trending downward, surely the retail price should do exactly the same?
Bannerman thinks something is very rotten in the state of our fuel economy.
From the former DIMIA, especially for the Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilali. Here ya go, Sheik! Rub our convict noses in your 100% Australianism. Of course, any other pretender only has to get 75%, but seeing as you're such an all over Aussie, you'll need to get 100%. Off ya go!
"It doesn't matter where you go in Australia - you talk about Toowoomba and they say that's where you drink recycled sewage."
Research by Monash University academic Bob Birrell has found a third of foreign students are graduating without a competent level of English.
But ( Federal Education Minister ) Ms (Julie) Bishop says Australian universities only enrol foreign students once they have achieved international standards of language proficiency.
ABC News .
When will the games surrounding the life and mental stability of David Hicks end? When the United States administration gets what it wants? A proof-of-life scapegoat for all of it’s political, social and humanitarian failings?
I don’t want to see you.
I am afraid to speak to you.
Rarely will the Bannerman link to another’s blog for the sake of pushing an issue. In the case of David Hicks, this issue, and this post, requires a bloody good shove along!
This article, among many, many others highlights the ever increasing focus by Australians on the plight of David Hicks. Politicians of every stripe except those of the inner circle of the coalition government are calling for, at the very least, an independent psychiatric assessment of Hicks. The inner circle appear quite satisfied with asking the obvious questions and receiving the obvious answers.
The time is long past for this man’s release. He is NOT charged. He cannot be charged with any supposed crime which in any proper court would survive the initial perusal of the presiding authority. He faces a kangaroo court of the U.S. administration’s convenience. His own government has abandoned him out of political convenience and he flatly refuses to see its representatives. Those representatives continue to force themselves upon him, despite his written proclamations refuting their ‘assistance’, and for that he is said to suffer retribution at the hands of a so-called ally.
When will Australia rise up against its government and demand this man’s release?
"It was going to be a beheading and this was going to be posted on the Internet via a homemade video,"
Bannerman would really like to know just why Pakistan is still regarded as a close ally of the so-called “coalition of the willing”? Where are these British Citizens getting their ratbag ideas from if not the country they regard as that which holds their heritage? A video taped beheading, no less!!!
Evidence conclusive, if ever there was need of it – which there isn’t – that multiculturalism just doesn’t work!
"I would like for the Minister to see that I am human and let him know that while I've made mistakes in the past those mistakes are in the past and I ask the Minister to judge me for the man I am today," – Robert Jovicic
Not an unreasonable request. Clearly, this is not an unreasonable human being. Bannerman is fascinated to discover just what Kevin Andrews’ reaction to Jovicic’s plight will be
"Many of us have water tanks and it’s all very commendable ... but it’s not going to solve the problem by itself. If we go it alone and clean up our own back yard ... that may be commendable, it may be admirable, but it will have no impact unless it is matched by global action. And we could pay a very heavy price, a very heavy sacrifice indeed."
Bannerman just finished watching the much awaited ’debate’ between Mister Millionaire, Malcolm Turnbull and Mister Greenie, Peter Garrett on 7:30 Report.
The transcript won’t be available until tomorrow morning, however one thing about the interaction stood out clearly to the Bannerman. As eloquent as Turnbull appears to be, and as well armed with notes as he clearly was, Garrett never once stooped to character assassination of his opponent as Turnbull did on at least two occasions. Bannerman also noted that while Turnbull constantly referred to notes of what Garrett allegedly said at nameless interviews with the media, Garrett issued forth with facts, figures and a well defined stand on where he and his party stand on issues such as carbon trading, climate change and alternate energies.
Less than thirty minutes spent discussing an enormously broad-ranging set of issues such as Turnbull and Garrett represent for their respective parties is hardly indicative of the strength of the proponent’s arguments or the individual’s ability to support it respectively. However, it is clear to the Bannerman just what the tactics of both are in this face-to-face style of presentation. It’s also clear just which one has the more powerful presence.
"This suggestion that because detainees are there, that that is in itself evidence of terrorism, or their being a terrorist, simply puts the lie to any attempt to deal with them in a fair and open manner,"
David McLeod, lawyer for David Hicks
(via ABC Online)
What defines a ’dangerous terrorist’? Someone’s say so? Is it necessary for said alleged terrorist to have killed someone? Fired a gun, carried a stanley knife, perhaps. Bannerman thinks that all of us could be classified as terrorists if the latter proviso comes into play.
Reported firstly in New Scientist, this grand attempt by Richard Branson to save the planet for all humanity leaves Bannerman just a little non-plussed.
Bannerman and his lady today decided to kick back in Gold Class. The film? Casino Royale.
"We would take our share for Queensland so there would be a benefit for us, but this would create a healthy Murray-Darling," - Chairman Beattie
'Water war' fears over resurrected Bradfield scheme. 19/02/2007. ABC News Online.
The Bradfield Plan has had two resurrections since being canned in 1933. Once in 1947 and again in the 1981. The reason it hasn’t been actioned to date is one of cost -v– benefit.
’Mr Andrews says it’s not possible under Australian law for Mr Jovicic to be granted Australian citizenship at this time.’
Lateline - 20/02/2007
Bannerman draws the readers attention to the last three words in Kevin Andrews’ or his department spokesperson’s statement on the future of Robert Jovicic. "...at this time." Bannerman wants to know just when, under Australian law, it will become possible for Mr Jovicic to be granted at least a return to permanent residency, pending his citizenship instatement? Bannerman wants to know why the Howardian regime appears intent on toying with this man’s future, after bowing to the weight of public opinion and returning him to the country he has spent 99.95% of his life in?
Bannerman asks whether Australia is still the land of the Fair Go, or has it, under the conservative regime, become a society of moralising judgementalists? The simple facts are that Robert Jovicic is a human being. He has admitted he made mistakes in life. He is asking for a ’fair go’. A chance to prove that what he claims to be a changed persona is in fact that. Bannerman believes in the spirit of true Australiana. Jovicic deserves the benefit of the doubt. He deserves the ’fair go’ he asks for. He does not deserve to be treated as a disposable piece of humanity to be discarded at the whim of a bigoted, self-serving government which has form on the issues of regard for human rights.
The humble incandescent light bulb is about to become history as Australia dumps it in favour of more energy efficient technology.
The more efficient technology? Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, of course. The ones that cost more in energy terms to manufacture, aren’t suitable for enclosures as spotlights or downlights and contain that nasty neurotoxin, mercury.
A television alert from the Bannerman. Tonight is certainly David Hicks night on SBS. ’Insight’ at 7:30pm has Phillip Ruddock and Terry Hicks together in the same audience discussing the issue of David Hicks. Then at 10:00pm, SBS is replaying the documentary, ’The President versus David Hicks’.
To cap the television media pressure, we hear now that ’Dubya’ rang L.J.Howler at dawn, no less, today. He wanted to discuss North Korea. Little Johnny hit him up over David Hicks. Bannerman can imagine the tenor of the conversation, with ’Dubya’ wanting to talk top level stuff and L.J. whining about 2007 being an election year and he’s feeling the heat, George. Can’t you do something?
It’s tough at the top. Bannerman hopes it gets a hell of a lot hotter and tougher and in short order.
Full review of the 'Insight' program tomorrow, hopefully with transcript."Ten years ago the Australian government took away the worlds first Voluntary Euthanasia law. Last year they banned Australians from using the telephone, fax, email and Internet to seek information about end of life issues. Now they have taken to banning and burning books." - Doctor Phillip Nitschke, Exit International
"Nick Minchin has let the cat out of the bag this morning, he’s admitted that the Future Fund will comfortably meet its target by 2020, well ahead of schedule" - Wayne Swan
ABC News Online
Well, maybe Nick did and maybe he didn’t allow the feline freedom. This is politics at it’s most desperate. It’s "he said", "no I didn’t" type of stuff you’d normally hear in a junior school yard.
Well, no, it’s not good. In fact it’s downright disgraceful and disgusting. Not especially surprising in any particular aspect, but extremely distasteful none the less.
"As far as the Australian Government’s concerned, it’s interesting that there’s an election in Australia later this year and Mr Hicks will be in custody until after it, and he won’t be able to speak about his circumstances for another year."
(via ABC Online)
Bannerman wound up being quite touched by the interview on 7:30 Report this evening between David Hicks’ military defence lawyer, Marine Major Michael Mori, and Kerry O’Brien. Clearly, Mori wasn’t going to respond to several of Kerry’s questions as Kerry would have liked, but the one telling point in the entire interview came with the very last question. When he returned to his military career, would there be a price to pay for Mori, as a result of his staunch support for and defence of his client over the past four-and-a-half years?
The look of resignation and inevitability which passed across Mori’s chagrinned face spoke volumes, even if his mouth uttered a non-committal platitude. That one question and one facial expression is proof positive, as far as Bannerman is concerned, that the Hicks issue impacted negatively on more than just David Hicks. Kudos to you, Michael Mori. May your legal career rise to great heights upon your exit from the military. May that day come soon and bring you the justice you deserve. Bannerman applauds.
So, the RBA has left interest rates alone. For the time being. Was it the right decision for today's economy, where disposible income is almost entirely absorbed in debt maintenance? Where a balance of trade deficit continues to exist despite a supposedly booming economy?
"They took everything from me apart from my knickers. Then some cotton pyjamas were thrown in for me to wear and four filthy blankets. The metal door slammed shut again."
So says Leading Seaman Faye Turney, youngest of the recently released Royal Navy personnel from Iranian captivity.
Prime Minister John Howard says he will not be moving to take control over state ports as they struggle to keep up with demand for coal exports.ABC News
"We're not about winning elections in a year, we're about winning debates over a decade. The conservative ideas experiment has been tried and it's failed. They've left Australia with fragile prosperity based on a boom, far too many kids left behind, a changing climate, a divided culture and knee-jerk responses to real security threats." - Michael Cooney, Policy Director, Per Capita Thinktank
BB picks OCD contestant | NEWS.com.au
Yes, reader......it's that time of year again...
PM credits IR laws for jobs surge - National - smh.com.au
"I do believe, after a year - and a year in which 276,000 new jobs have been created - it is reasonable to assert that one of the contributions made to this spectacular growth in employment has been the removal of the unfair-dismissal provisions under Work Choices," - Little Johnny Howler
32 killed in America's worst campus shootingTHIRTY-two people have been killed at a Virginia university in the bloodiest school shooting massacre in US history.
BBC, Geldof to catalogue all human existenceGeldof, the former frontman for rock group the Boomtown Rats, says he was first inspired to act after hearing about disappearing languages in Africa 20 years ago.
Support for Labor IR plansSo says Peter Hendy, CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in response to Kevin Rudd's outlining of his party's approach to industrial relations, productivity and climate change."It is not possible to see how any of the major announcements are a forward step for jobs or productivity from where we are today,"
According to today's Fin Review, yet another property development and investment entity is poised to go under.
Lawyers most depressedSo it might be, however, isn't it fascinating, reader, that highly skilled neuro-surgeons - such as the one who operated on Bannerman's Mum last Thursday for five hours straight, after performing a similar 4.5 hour op on another patient earlier in the day - don't appear in the top ten most stressful professions?"Law, unfortunately, is a high-pressure profession.''
Surely, dealing with a person's life, their ability to walk, talk and even think holds a far greater responsibility than litigation, building design or insurance.
Anzac controversy 'will increase crowds'Well, Bannerman has never considered ANZAC Day to be 'just another public holiday' and seriously doubts any true-blue Aussie really does either."Anzac Day's got to stop being just seen as another public holiday,"
New IR body will be 'hand-picked by unions': Howard.
"I tell you what the problem of that is, is that those people will be hand-picked by the union bosses."
"This is a political device to give the impression of modernity but in reality it will hand back even greater power to union bosses,"
Yes, Joe, I reckon he’s on the nose too! Yet another desperate ploy by this aged PM to counter a somewhat flawed, but eminently more acceptable-to-the-voters opposition approach to the most sensitive political subject to have arisen in these past eleven years.
As part of the climate change measures, the solar rebate scheme will be doubled to up to $8,000 per household. ABC News
In years past, especially in election years, the Howard government hasn't been too keen on 'leaking' budget details to the media before post time.
In a word....unimpressed. That's my impression of Peter Costello's 12th budget delivery.
Watching the ABC production 'Bastard Boys' last night, I couldn't help but wonder at the timing of the screening.
ABC News Online"We firmly believe that the US is a force of good in the world." - 'Dolly' Downer
"We have joined together because we are deeply troubled by the state of free speech in Australia."The opening sentence of a joint statement from eight Australian media executives.
Continue reading "It's a free world, but don't ask how free" »
Happiness is paradoxical. What we think will give it to us - invariably doesn’t. When we think we’ve got it - we invariably haven’t. We’re not even good at predicting what will make us happy people. From languishing to flourishing - can even the most troubled mind be primed for happiness? A panel of international trailblazers in the study of emotion, positive psychology and Buddhism get earnest about pleasure.
The text from Radio National’s ’All in the Mind’ program which aired this afternoon. I happened to catch most of it while we were on out way to the cinema. I thought it quite pertinent and some of what the speakers had to say relevant to the ethereal nature of what we call happiness. Essentially, my own belief that happiness cannot be measured, quantified in any specific manner or nailed down to a certain thing or set of circumstances appeared to be borne out in this program. As Buddah tells us, learn to deal with what you have, not what you desire.
So, if you’re a John Quiggan or James Farrell type, do have a listen or download the podcast.
A damning statement from the self-annointed blogospheric centrist, Ken Parish.
Ex-Customs official spared jailAllan Kessing may have been spared jail, but he has a conviction recorded against his name which morally should never have presented itself. As has been stated elsewhere, he deserves to be feted for what he did. Not castigated by the law.
When we hear about knee-jerk reactions to particular problems, this one has to be right up there with the jerkiest.
Both the Kessing and Harvey/McManus cases show the personal risks of revealing controversial or secret information to the public....... The Law Report - Whistleblowers
Regardless, or some might say, even in spite of, the public’s interest.
Continue reading "More On Whistles and Those Who Blow Them" »
Airport cargo security concerns 'being addressed'
Executive Director of the Office of Transport Security has stated:
"I can't give you a 100 per cent guarantee saying that we've addressed [the issue] or that there is no risk,"
"We can talk about our surpluses, we can talk about our strong economic position, our growth rates, we can talk about our low inflation, we can talk about our strong exports. All of those things are important and it’s good to have them. But the greatest assets this country has is the fundamental decency of its people."
In the words of Mr Creosote, "Better get a bucket, I’m gonna throw up!"
It’s curious that we might get a referendum on this, but people don’t get a say on whether or not they want their local government authority amalgamated with other ones.
Andrew Bartlett draws attention to the re-born Daylight Saving issue in Queensland.
Superbugs entrenched in Aust hospitals
Staphylococcus and other related so-called super-bugs are easy to beat, yet Australia's hospital system doesn't seem to place a lot of priority on the battle.
Anger as warship clears streets
If 250 or more vehicles get carted off Sydney streets because a friendly ally's navy comes to town, what penance will Sydney-siders have to suffer when APEC comes to town?
I’ve just had a read through the Defence Update 2007. I have some questions.
Aussie terrorism victim fronts anti-war campaign
Well timed deliberately or not, Louise Barry's video support of the GetUp campaign to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq must surely have an impact on the government in this election year.
The so-called Housing ’Crisis’. It’s a terrific word, isn’t it? "Crisis" Invokes all manner of dread and despair. But is it a crisis in reality?
"I am satisfied the (visa) cancellation is in the national interest," ...Kevin Andrews, Federal Minister for Immigration
Let’s be clear about this. Andrews takes his orders from Howard, and in this case, also from the slowly decaying corpse of Phillip Ruddock. How that man still manages to present to television cameras escapes me, however, as George Megalogenis suggested on the weekend, he is showing signs of wear & tear. For a corpse that is.
A crusading conservative lawyer with deeply held religious views........ Dr Phillip Nitschke on Kevin Andrews
(via ABC Online)
Yes indeed, it seems that to be a member of the Howardian cabal means also that you’re a God-fearing christian by default. A cabinet made up of Captain Catholics and those who speak out wind up like Warren Entsch. Back-benched for the duration.
The law as it stands allows for a person to be detained for questioning in relation to acts of terrorism. A person can be questioned for a maximum of 24 hours. However, the legislation does not state the maximum number of hours a person may be held before questioning begins. - Mr Peter Russo, partner in the law firm Ryan and Bosscher Lawyers, and Mohamed Haneef’s lawyer.
I believe this aspect of the governments anti-terrorism legislation to be the major failing of it, and is also the thrust of Peter Russo’s opinion piece in today’s Fairfax press.
I’ve just spent the last three hours going through the Haneef Record of Interview so generously leaked to the Murdoch media by some kind soul close to the legalities of the matter.
"Such is the hatred of John Howard and his government, that the Left would prefer to support alleged terrorists against their own democratically elected government."This from an ABC opinion piece by that vaunted protector of basic humanity, Peter Faris....QC. Why does Faris continue to hide behind his qualification when spouting this hate-filled drivel targeted at ethnicities he doesn’t understand and is clearly afraid of? I suppose I’ve just answered my own question. As for his tired ’left -v- right’ dogma, apart from being the retreat of the argumentally challenged, it does nothing to support his claims against muslims/terrorist (the two appear interchangeable to Faris) serving only to exacerbate an ever-growing gallimaufry of mindless, directionless, anti-social feedback to those sectors of society which the rest of Australia ought to be supporting, rather than shunning.
The denial utterances coming from Phillip ‘Cadaver’ Ruddock just don’t ring true to me.
"Can I say, we’re going to consult the people again. We haven’t fixed a time frame for doing that, and I think the time will come before too much longer when we do have an Australian as our head of state." - Kevin Rudd
(via NEWS.com.au)
Now this is much more interesting that Kevin Rudd chasing populist butterflies. Mamdouh Habib in court for ’offensive behaviour’ and ’offensive language’ whatever that might mean. Actually, I’m left to wonder just how many non-muslim, white caucasian Australians conduct themselves ’offensively’ in McDonalds restaurants on a daily basis? I’ve seen a few. As for calling a copper a ’piece of shit’, I hardly think it’s a court offence. You’d have to wonder as well, if the police were in the Maccas to investigate an unrelated matter, what were they doing ordering coffee’s?
Habib demands apology for ’insult’
(via Sydney Morning Herald )
"Certainly, given the events, I’ve asked the police to assure me that the evidence and the information they gave to me is still correct"Stuff-ups Incorporated, alias the Howard Government, in company with the Keystone Cops, otherwise known as the Australian Federal Police must be feeling very uncomfortable, a la Bazza MacKenzie*. With all the back-peddling now underway, it’s a wonder Andrews, Ruddock and crew have the gonads available to even face the press, let alone make statements.
Andrews asks police to review Haneef visa info - ABC News
(via ABC Online)
Credit privacy set to be tested
The forerunner of many impending alterations to the way borrowers and lenders will be conducting their business in the near future.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Reading through this article on Noel Pearson's opinion of political imbalance on the 'welfare state' poses some interesting questions.
Continue reading "Fundamental Decency is not Conservatism" »
"...the ultimate hope comes through democracy. It comes through the same liberties that you and I enjoy. Why should we think that the people of the Middle East, the people of Afghanistan, the people of Iraq want any less than we want." - Condoleezza Rice.
If you want to put that into modern science-fiction terms.... "We are the Borg. Negotiation is irrelevant. You will be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own."
Lord Robert Baden-Powell would be enormously proud.
"Dyb, Dyb, Dyb....Dob, Dob, Dob....Arkela, we'll do our best" Then at the end of that week's meeting, you'd trundle off home and continue your life's activities as if nothing had changed just because you'd been to scouts. APEC and like gab-fests are no different. Nice warm and fuzzies, we'll certainly try to do our best, but look, let's be a bunch of realists and admit that twenty of us can't achieve diddly squat. Let's at least look like we're engaged, and leave it at that.
Roll on Bali.
On the face of it, and from the headline, you'd think this article might be a bit trivial. It's actually more revealing than I suspect Mal Brough knows.
"I was disturbed to learn that you can sell anywhere in the territory, from your home if you register as a business, x-rated material," he said. "I just presumed it was like the ACT."
On the matter of Foxtel or Austar being nobbled, slim chance, I'd suggest, however watch SBS programming for removal of foreign soft porn from the program offerings.
Great word that, isn't it? Pusillanimity. Perfectly describes the current attitude by fuel companies to price structures while the ACCC Public Inquiry into the Price of Unleaded Petrol is running.
What are petrol prices doing in your neck of the woods? In mine, unleaded fuel hasn't moved awhisker for well over a week now. I filled last Tuesday at 105.9¢/l and noted this morning it's exactly the same. It's been that price now since last Sunday, as I recall. Mind you, Distillate is going through the roof, but there's no public inquiry into distillate pricing, is there?
Better get in for your chop, dearest reader, before the public hearings end. Ballarat is the last one, this coming Thursday. You can bet your bippy that once the public face of the inquiry vanishes, so will the inertia of unleaded fuel prices. Results won't be made public until October 15, and I'll bet my lefty nothing untoward will be found.
October 1 heralds the unveiling of the real, honest-to-goodness Citizenship Test which the current government says will decide just who qualifies for a run at the goal of Australian citizenship.
That's the gauge by which Premier Anna Bligh today decided to not consider Daylight Saving for Queensland this year, or any year. Today's decision by Anna Bligh not to consult the people on the issue of Daylight Saving reads like the fix it is.
There's a very interesting post on Troppo by Nicholas Gruen which is attracting some equally interesting commentary. It's a boring subject. Money, and the administration of it by supposed predatory lenders.
As I've always believed, the American people, that society - while definitely a strange one - are not at the heart of perceived anti-Americanism in Australia.
Continue reading "Anti-American feeling is really Anti-Bush" »
I've just finished reading through the Oz article about the death of Trooper David Pearce in Afghanistan. Without any doubt, a life-rending occasion for his family, and so very far from home.
Take a look around the media and you'll find all manner of seemingly stupid statements by our elected representatives.
Just 150 hours will encompass all aspects of John Howard's history lessons according to his blueprint for a national history curriculum.
Too much arguing, not enough debating. That's the title of the Oz editors piece in today's edition.
Continue reading "Too Much Innuendo, Not Enough Objectivity" »
An interesting half-hour this morning on Radio Nation was The Media Report, by Anthony Funnell.
When my first marriage ended nine years ago, it got ugly almost from day one.
All the plaudits are coming out now, after the man has gone. Perhaps the personification of a truism in that only the good die young, Peter Andren will be sorely missed within the system we glorifyingly call 'representative democracy'. In this world of party politics, only the independant candidate can ever be accurately described as representative.
Rest easy, Peter Andren. You'll have other opportunities in other lives, I'm sure.
Senate voting preferences are now available for scrutiny by those of us smart enough to vote below the line, rather than take the lazy way out, above the line. To find out what your state's preferential deals between candidates and political parties are, simply click here and start trawling. There are some really weird and wonderful preference distributions in play for November 24, for the Senate at least.
For the House of Reps, preference distribution doesn't appear to be out yet, but for the seat I'll be voting in, it looks a sure bet that Laming will get back on the 'donkey vote' alone. Unfortunately. Still, live in hope...
It's just a pity we can't afford to pay for our increased wealth.
If Jennifer Love-Hewitt is deemed by certain papparazzi and so-called fashion sites to be less than a shining example of womanhood then might I simply offer right here and now that I wish every single woman looked like she does.
On a serious note, feminine body image is not well portrayed by fashion designers and those who flaunt their wares on the international catwalks have much to answer for. Waif-thin models with fried-egg breasts, boyish hips and legs which look like toothpicks in heels are not attractive to your average male and isn't that why women like to look good? To attract their preferred male? Sure, women dress to impress other women, certainly not to impress men. As a male, I can categorically state that while I really enjoy watching a well dressed woman walk on by, I'm actually admiring how her body compliments the clothing, not the other way around.
No one woman, celebrity or not, has the perfect body. As human beings none of us are made that way, and neither we ought to be. Vive la difference and let's promote variations, but please, please........don't go deploring someone's body image simply because he or she doesn't match up to the fashionista's propagandised perception of what everyday feminity ought to be.
As an aside, I note none of the sites berating JLH on her cellulite thighs and love-handles says anything at all about her fiance's lack of six-pack abs and muffin-top middle. Hypocritical? Extremely so, in my view.
For those of you who, like me, take an interest in your fellow human beings from an observers perspective, here's today's tip on body language and how we react.
Granted, not many women frequent "gentlemen's" clubs or observe the grip a pole-dancer can hold to that chromed bar, but it's fascinating to note that science has yet again revealed the inner truths about how and why we function as we do. Just another of the myriad of ways we impact on each other when we're not even aware we're doing so.
Back to the land of the 24/7 connected and constantly informed. Strange as it may seem, I missed it not.
This case and subsequent appeal ruling raises far more questions regarding just what is an employer's business, and what isn't, than it resolves.
Dear Mr Andrew Laming MP, Member for Bowman [LP], I DO NOT SUPPORT the saying of 'Sorry' to aboriginal Australia if in the saying any inferences are made to current generations of white Australia being in any way, shape or form implicated in the misguided behaviours of a culture and political time which is now long past. I wholly support Brendan Nelson's stance in this regard.I was born in 1957. I have not been involved in the 'stealing' of aboriginal children from their parents by a political, moral and ethical culture which was clearly flawed at the time and highly disrespectful of a culture which existed long before white men decided that they knew best for aboriginal Australians and their children. I am not implicit in the actions of those who came before me and will NOT accede to populist actions of a government which I helped elect, to simply see that government sell my vote down a river of expediency. Saying 'Sorry' will ultimately prove inadequate, insufficient and unacceptable to those portions of aboriginal Australia who have an unending agenda of angst towards white Australia. Regardless of the terms in which the apology may be couched.
I exhort the Rudd government to, if it must, make whatever words it chooses sound sweet and pleasing, but it MUST NOT offer them in my name. I am not guilty and will never claim remorse in this matter.
Yours in rectitude
Niall Cook
and GetUp! can go fuck themselves as well! If you're of a similar mind to me, then I strongly urge you to act likewise.
David Hicks is apparently courting media suitors. More power to him, I say. Let's all hear the truth of the story from the man who suffered it. Should he accrue a profit from the experience? I doubt he will, considering the physical, temporal and mental toll he's already paid, but in fiscal terms, why not, say I.
Frankly I don't care what Hicks nets from the telling of his tale, just as long as we get to hear, see and read it all straight from the horse's mouth.
It’s a play on words, a political mechanism, and hopefully a means of Government actually achieving something positive in policy direction for the longer term benefit of Australia.
Political opportunist, Steven Fielding, has come out claiming
"it's about time the Rudd Government really got a handle on this issue by cutting petrol tax"
The expected norm when the Reserve Bank of Australia exercises monetary policy is for banking houses to mirror the increased cost of funds by raising appropriate retail lending rates. That's 'mirror', which means to pass on whatever the rise was to customers through their contracted interest rates. Of course, anyone who has ever read a loan agreement will realise that lenders in Australia can lawfully charge whatever they please in interest rate terms. The simple fact that we expect only to bear the RBA rise in rates, doesn't mean we actually get the RBA rise in rates.
Today's rise in housing rates by the Commonfilth Bank departs from the expected norm in a somewhat troublesome manner. Clearly, what this 0.05% higher rise than that decided upon by the RBA says that the CBA under-estimated their losses during the October-November period of 2007, when the first tranche of sub-prime mortgage losses were felt by lenders in Australia, and the 0.10% increase applied by the CBA in January wasn't sufficient to recoup those losses. The question which arises is this. Is it ethical of the bank to adopt a bloody-minded attitude which says, "fuck you, borrower.....read your loan agreement!"?
The cure for such attitudes is regulation, and I seriously doubt whether any government of any persuasion would ever head down that road. The other option, which remains open to all borrowers at any time, be they business, commercial or retail home borrowers, is to fixed their lending interest rates. I did, several months ago. If you're smart, especially on a home loan, you'll do the same. Leaving one's self open to the whims and fancies of the financial marketplace is a prime example of caveat emptor.
Polls and surveys which result in ponderous tomes, such as Yearbook Australia 2008, always provide some amusement to me.
Valentines Day, and while out having a quiet smoke, I had a promotional card with heart-shaped chocolate shoved into my hand, promoting It's Just Lunch.
I'd have thought the 'busy professional' wouldn't want to waste their time on blind dating. Yet another truly bizarre concept from the land of bizarre concepts, the USA.
Having already declared myself to be a complete artistic philistine, I thought to further reveal my complete lack of appreciation by nominating my selections from the Archibald Prize entrants.
Here's another example of a candidate for Brat Camp.
Does this sort of thing happen in Australia? Am I just another naive parent who's blessed with responsible, caring children? Am I just one of the few lucky parents, perhaps?
Whatever the answers, I can't help but feeling that such disrespect for self and one's parents is predominant in English society. What's going wrong over there?
An absolutely excellent review and summation of Robert Manne's book "Dear Mr Rudd", byGeorge Megalogenis
Katie Richardson as Miss World Australia
Not my cup o' tea. I'd be more inclined towards Kaela Louisa Scott...
... even if she does have thick ankles.
Misogynistic? Sexist? Innately male? Not at all. I just know what I like in a female body.
If there's one issue which Rudd's 2020 Summit will bring to the fore of the public imagination, it's the Republican issue.
I don't think any different reaction to the Governance stream report from the weekend's 2020 shindig would have been forthcoming from Australia's Monarchist elites, than what was spewed forth today.
I had a read of this piece because of the author's name.
I'm a Brisbanite, but can't actually say I've paid a whole lot of attention to this seemingly benighted development. Until now.
Continue reading "Does Brisbane Need A "Darling Harbour"?" »
To my mind, allocating an excise on candied alcoholic drinks is a logical progression. Sure, it's yet another tax boon to the federal government, ought to be something encompassed by the GST, as should all taxes on consumables. However, this article is nothing more than a baseless opportunistic beat-up.
Interesting revelation from Andrew Bolt at the end of this morning's Insiders program on the ABC. The all too common reiteration that global warming/climate change is a non-event was there, but thrown into his irrational approach to realities everyone else accepts was a claim that the 'stolen generations' have never existed. Rudd's apology to these indigenous Australians earlier this year, which apparently helped to raise our PM into the ranks of the world's top 100 most influential persons - thanks to Cate Blanchett, according to the Dolt - comes about as a direct result of an apology for events which never happened, to a generation of indigenous Australians which have never existed.
I'd be interested to know just how many indigenous Australians were watching, and what their reactions might be to hearing that the PM is riding to fame & glory on the back of an issue which even John Howard accepted, but Andrew Bolt thinks is a complete fabrication.
Anyone who believes that supermarket chains are in the petrol game for any other reason than to boost bottom line profits, must also believe that politicians never tell lies and Santa Claus is real.
A 24 year old woman decides to express herself by appearing tastefully nude in an adult woman's magazine. Then her employer finds out, and she's sacked!
Continue reading "It's A Free World Until You're Told It's Not." »
Just about every politically aware Oz blogger has expressed their impressions of LAST NIGHTS budget delivery, so I thought I may as well do likewise.
We may all have to wait until 1 July before we're able to know which way the health insurance system will turn. Away from private health cover and onto the public system, or will more than 400,000 Australians currently holding private health cover decide to stick with it?
On Friday, Californian time, that US state's Supreme Court ruled that denying the societal precept of marriage to same-sex partnerships is tantamount to being unconstitutional under US law.
Every day in the media, we’re treated to gems coming from the ACCC inquiries into grocery prices and petrol retailing.
Every day, there’s another revelation from Woolworths or Coles on one subject or the other. Coles admits to ripping us off on fuel pricing. Woolworths now admits to boosting it’s profit margins on it’s Australian businesses in order to keep it’s New Zealand operations afloat. All at our - the Australian shopper's - expense. Marvellous stuff, but what is the ACCC going to do about these bare-faced admissions? Can it do anything? Absolutely nothing, I’d suggest. Meanwhile, if you’re shopping at Woollies, you’re helping to support a New Zealand business operation which is losing money, effectively.
As for some forty percent or more of the grocery marketplace in this country being held by “Aldi, independent grocers, milk bars, petrol stations and specialty stores”, I’d suggest Mr Luscombe needs to be given an average shopper’s weekly list & sent out into the real world to get the ‘best buys’. He won’t be getting them at the local servo, any independent or Aldi either. Competition is healthy in Australian grocery marketplace. It’s the Woolworths/Coles cabal against the rest. The simple fact that no single entity can adequately compete with the grocery camarilla, is immaterial. If both of the giants say competition is alive & kicking, then it must be so. Graham Samuel clearly believes the stories he’s being told.
I happened to hear the recorded proceedings of the US Senate's grilling of Big Oil on AM this morning.
This morning's Insiders program was interesting on a number of levels.
Continue reading "Are We Facing Food Stamps and Ration Cards?" »
As readers will know, I am all in favour of euthanasia, assisted suicide, call it what you will. The right of adults, cognisant of their fate healthwise, to choose not to artificially prolong their lives when they perceive the quality of that life no longer exists.
I've steered clear of the Bill Henson/pedophilia hysteria to date, simply because I'm not, or wasn't until last night, well enough acquainted with the man's work or artistic focus.
Those who read here even semi-regularly will know that I'm an inhabitant of the finance industry.
As a committed republican, I find the perpetuation of Queen's Birthday Honours to be anathema to the very idea of Australian's in a huge majority supporting a republic.
As is my wont, I was listening to PM last evening, on the way home, when this story was broadcast.
Today, Honda Motor Company announced, what I believe, will be the next generation after fossil fuel powered road transport. The hydrogen fuel cell powered motor vehicle, which in it's current incarnation, Honda call FCX Clarity.
Apropos of yesterday's post on alternatively powered motor vehicles, I thought I'd make a point about something which rolled into my Inbox today, courtesy of one of my brokers.
"Fuelwatch is about empowering the consumer. If there's going to be a price hike tomorrow, you will know about it ... and you will know where to buy petrol and how to avoid the price hike" - Graeme Samuel from this article in today's Fin Review.
Anyone who knows me also knows that I'm a daylight person.
ABC Radio National program, Australia Talks, addressed the euthanasia debate once again this evening.
We've all read the Dilbert cartoons in the papers. An American magazine recently ran a 'Dilbert Quotes' contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert type managers. These were voted the top ten quotes in corporate America:
July 4, 2008. It's a day, just like any other day. Well, not any other day, because today it's a Friday which makes it a better than average day. End of the working week and harbinger of the weekend. Yay!
I like the following from the Fair Pay Commission's Chairman, Professor Ian Harper.
“Wages paid to the 1.3 million Australians who rely directly on the Commission’s decision comprise only a small percentage of the economy’s total wage bill. Furthermore, the impact on employment and unemployment will be relatively minor in the context of current economic circumstances.”
Continue reading "Is Good Service Worth Another $0.57 An Hour?" »
Today is the 92nd birthday of Edward Gough Whitlam.
It is ironic that governmental advisory reports on climate change are produced on paper, the production of which in and of itself consumes huge amounts of bleached dead trees. Surely the carbon minimised footprint is well in the red before any mitigation of carbon production actually begins.
I'm on Federal Labor's E-list
My feelings about today's announcement by Starbucks Coffee Company, are mixed.
Sooo…..Grocery Choice. Fuel Watch, maybe. Can we have a website dedicated to … new cars sales, perhaps? What about tyre retailers? Cheapest travel agencies? What next?
Is the mainstream media deliberately spreading doom and gloom in reporting statistics such as those in this article or is it simply reporting the news of the day?
Continue reading "The Who, When and Where, But No How Or Why" »
How many of you out there have received the congratulatory mail from your banker, clapping you on your virtual back in relation to a brand new increase to your credit card facility, despite you never having requested one?
Take a gander at this screen shot cut from The Australian's online front page at 2100 hours.
It seems that New Zealand has a porn industry.
I'm in total agreement with Darryl Mason, and fail to understand the outpouring of anthropomorphises from Sydney-siders, and other sentimental souls across the nation over the fate of an abandoned baby humpback whale.
Most of us have heard Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch. If you haven't, you should. It's bloody hilarious.
It's as well that Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has guaranteed all monies in Australian Bank deposit accounts, not just to ease concerns of average Australians, but to allay any fears of foreign investors dealing with Australian domestic banks.
An announcement this morning by ABC Radio National presenter, Stephen Crittenden at the beginning of his Religion Report program, about
cuts to ABC Radio National programming
has caused an absolute furore within, and without, the ABC.
Listening to PM on the way home this evening, the lead article happened to be a report on the finding of 'not guilty' in the Jack Thomas terrorism re-trial. Thomas was found - by a jury of peers, as ought to be the case - not guilty on the charge of receiving monies from a terrorist organisation. The context of the verdict may be read here.
Yes, I can feel a certain sympathy for self-funded retiree, Greg Russell, however what he does or doesn't choose to do with his business or his investments can hardly be laid at the feet of the government.
I happened to catch this interview with aboriginal activist, Stephen Hagan on Radio National's 'National Interest'. Worth a listen, if, like me, you'd heard about one man's tilt at the establishment over a sign on a football grandstand.
... but didn't want to admit to ignorance?
Continue reading "Ever Wondered What Those Letters Meant..." »
That most prolific of Troppodillian bloggers, Nicholas Gruen, made an 'appearance' on ABC radio this morning in relation to an Open Letter to the PM which he and seven other economists have penned.
I heard this piece of news on this afternoons NewsRadio, and frankly, my heart sank.
Continue reading "A Message From Sydney Airports Corporation" »
"An ungracious winner is even less palatable than a sore loser", so says Janet Albrechtsen, and she should know all about sore losers because she's always behaved like one.
Was Mick Dodson ungracious in consulting his family before accepting the 'Australian of the Year' award? As a prominent indigenous activist, I'd say most definitely not. Just what import does the award hold anyway? More often than not, it's politically oriented. Howard awarded Tim Flannery hoping to shut him up. Rudd doubtless awarded Dodson hoping for the same. People of principle don't operate in that vein, and I regard Dodson as a principled man. I don't regard politicians or journalists in the same vein.
Who really gives a fundamental about 'Australian of the Year' awards anyway? Nationalistic jingoism, just as the Order of Australia is so-called recognition of societies doers and triers. Awards are like grease. Applied where needed most to ensure quiet compliance and continued function. I don't hold with them.
Traffic was horrendous this morning, taking me 70 minutes to complete a journey which I normally do in 40. There was a bright spot in the depressing crawl of the peak hour commute. I was able to catch 'Life Matters' on ABC Radio National.
"The death penalty is overwhelmingly supported by the public in Japan, which has one of the world's lowest crime rates."I'd call that sufficient vindication. Bleeding hearts breed high crime rates and higher taxes. It gets my vote!
We've seen it and we've heard all about it. Those of us living far away have no idea of what it must be like to have escaped a firestorm, and lost everything in the process. Some have lost those they loved and that must be tragic. My thoughts are with each and every person who has suffered or fears the suffering, fears the potential loss because they live in a bushfire-prone area.
I'm drawn to wonder though, why satellite towns - locales, call them what you will - like Kinglake and Marysville are constructed such that dwellings and businesses are deliberately established cheek-by-jowl with the forest surrounding them? Surely, it's lovely to live close to nature, but when nature has the terrible potential to snuff you out, doesn't commonsense decree that one not have the bush at one's back door?
Have a look at any number of photos of the fires over the weekend, and doubtless in days to come, and take note of just how close paved roads, kerbing and channeling, and all the services of modern suburbia have been created for those wanting to live in the peace and serenity of the bush. How many local authorities have likely been coerced, brow-beaten or otherwise influenced into approving subdivisions for idyllic settlement by developers looking to develop the mountain forests of Victoria as the perfect compromise of work-life balance?
I love the country life, and I love the bush, but there's absolutely no way under the Sun that I would buy or build a home where the bush is at the back door. The dangers are far too great. Yet others will and good luck to them. My belief is that those people deserve to be better protected by the local authorities where they choose to live, in demanding of developers greater clearances between suburban development and the virgin bush councils demand be retained. Who is to blame? I'll point the finger at property developers because past experience assures me of the greed which drives the animal. I point equally at local authorities for not demanding stricter controls of what is developed and how. Those who live in the bush buy a product which is well sold and extolled. To my mind it's those doing the selling who have much to answer for.
Time yet again to take up the ravings of the mindless right-wing ideologue brigade.
I'm afraid in my view, thugs get what they deserve. Nick D`arcy is a thug. He should consider himself extremely lucky that his punch didn't kill Simon Cowley. Any talk of non-custodial sentencing wouldn't be arising were that the case. Who cares, in our society, if a thug is dismissed from the Australian Olympic swimming team. I certainly don't. I do care if a thug gets away with his actions on the basis of "I'm Sorry" and "Please Sir....I have a substance abuse problem". I'm sure the corrections system has valid alcohol rehab programs.
A truly excellent article in Business Spectator today, by economist Alan Kohler. As always, he writes a no-nonsense critique, striking at the heart of the political theatre at play in this country today, which expresses concern for our position in the Global Financial Crisis, but that's where it all stops. We don't really have a government, nor do we have an alternative. We have a two party adversarial system in a locked horns battle of one-upmanship which uses the current fiscal debacle in a politically opportunistic fashion for points scoring. What a shame it would be of the theatre ended and true government began.
Who watches the Gruen Transfer on Wednesday nights?
...establishing a Creative Commons License over the use of the phrase, "Stench Of Reality".
The following won't mean anything to anyone but me, however for reasons of my own, I have established a Creative Commons Licence applicable to any content which appears on this weblog. That licence - established under the Australian jurisdiction of Creative Commons is BY ATTRIBUTION only.
Stephen Bartholomeusz's column in Business Spectator this morning - Understanding Trujillo - provides some interesting counterpoint in the never-ending debate over just what 'racism' is, and how it ought to be defined.
The latest re-energised idea to emerge, again, as a part of the federal government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy is the Very Fast Train idea.
You have to wonder what this fellow is so afraid of to be making ass-hat statements like this.
Tolerance is an admirable trait in any individual. It takes many forms. Religious, political, ethical, moral, behavioural and doubtless variants thereof.
I’ve just read through Kevin Rudd’s latest essay. My second exposure to the statistically prolific Rudd in writing – well, third if you count his recent blog on Climate Change. I have to admit that as with his February essay in The Monthly, I skimmed the final two ‘chapters’ having been worn down by the rhetoric, self-promotion and simple overload of data.
We in Queensland, who are older enough, all know who Tony Fitzgerald is and what he did in the 1980’s.
I often find Op-Ed pieces in the daily rags to be either ideologically biased, un-necessarily critical or fawningly ridiculous. Let's face it, when expressing our own opinions, which is what an Op-Ed is, we're expressing our own personal biases, critiques, likes, dislikes or fondest wishes.
It’s claimed that Christian Rossiter could take weeks to die and while I’m fit, healthy and ambulatory in a way Rossiter never will be again, I can’t help but wonder just what pain will need to be assuaged as he nears death.
In his own words, ‘no-one can say I touched politics lightly’. He seemingly refuses to stop touching the Australian political landscape in ways which are, to my mind, inappropriate.
For once, I am in total agreement with The Australian editor, Chris Mitchell. Unless and until public sector whistleblowers, just like Allan Kessing who saw wrongs and attempted to do something about them, are protected and encouraged to spill the beans on illegal and improper goings on, inertia will continue to hold sway in the policing of public policy.
Allan Kessing has told me in exquisite detail over several emails exactly what happened with his reports, and how those reports were stifled by those with vested interests in the operations of Sydney Airport Corporation. I still retain those emails, and feel deeply for the injustices visited upon Mr Kessing by a system which actively discourages honesty from within.
The Rudd Labor Government has an obligation to follow up on today’s revelations, which I feel have been too long in coming. Mr Kessing’s legal advice to date has been flawed, it’s clear that vested interests at higher business and political altitudes held more sway than justice should have allowed, and as for Anthony Albanese….he most certainly has a case to answer. As to Robert McClelland’s dismissive claim that, "The ALP is not the government of the Commonwealth of Australia," the man is now equally guilty of fostering injustice. In this country, where effectively we have a two-party electoral system, the party in power IS THE GOVERNMENT. There can be no escaping this fact. The sooner a thorough-going inquiry is formulated, the more likely honest people will receive the protection they are entitled to in ratting on those guilty of transgressions against the general public.
So, the MFAA (Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia) has been seen to be doing what it should have been doing for more years than I care to think about.
I listened to this on Radio National this morning, and found myself asking the following:
The solution to such issues is to simply avoid listening to medically-oriented media programs, live one's life in moderation, and derive as much pleasure in so doing, as is humanly possible. If the bullet is fired, all the dodging and weaving in the lead-up won't matter a damn.
I came across Glenn Milne's article attempting to claim a division in the Australian Liberal Party, between true Liberals and the Conservative elements in the party.
Continue reading "Self-Evident Truths, or Misguided Beliefs?" »
You really have to wonder at either the gullibility of Conservative politicians, or their political opportunism.
"Several sources said party director Brian Loughnane told the meeting that when interviewers explained the implications of an ETS to survey respondents, they were negative about the proposed scheme."
