Monday, January 31, 2011

Justin Madden and Scientology

I've never particularly been much of a fan of former footballer and Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden, but I usually tolerated his awkward goofiness, that is until now. His decision to come out on the weekend and ingratiate himself with the wicked cult Scientology at the opening of one of their new churches in Melbourne read here was the straw that broke the camel's back. He's now made my metaphorical Nixonesque "enemies list".
When we even take just a cursory look back, this guy seems to have had poor judgement his entire political career? But that's what you get when you pick "celebrity" candidates for high office.
It all started for me when he first entered the Parliament (and the Ministry) in 1999 where at the swearing in ceremony photo op he made a bizarre reference to being thrilled to be getting a State funeral when he dies.
While that may've been a display of poor judgement for a green MP, his record since then hasn't been much better.
Let's see; his Turkish staffer Hakki Suleyman, right under his nose, was up to all sorts of mischief in Brimbank Council while his daughter was the Mayor.
He's responsible for corrupting the planning process in the Windsor Hotel redevelopment.
Fast tracking planning approval of property owned by his first cousin.
And this is the same guy who has the audacity to say he wouldn't mind being Premier one day. Unfortunately for Madden, a potential Premier has to have sound judgement, and for a guy who comes out heaping praise on a vicious cult, his judgement is sadly lacking.

the Right are terrified of Arab "democracy"

Just at the moment that Arab people power is on the brink of overthrowing a corrupt brutal regime with passionate calls for democracy to be introduced into Egypt, the usual right wing flame fanners are suddenly back tracking on this whole democracy thing see here .
But here's what's troubling the "democracy seekers"; when a western sponsored dictatorship crumbles, who is left to fill the void? The Islamists of course, who have a genuine grass roots following and can at least be counted on to act ethically in a country rife with systematic corruption. If they rise to power, then so be it! So despite the reservations of the Right, do you think that a country like Egypt which has had so much exposure to the western world (compared with Afghanistan) will fall into the trap of tolerating Taliban style fanatics in power? I can't envision tourist resorts with bikini clad women being shut down by the religious police should the Islamists take power, their economy relies way too heavily on tourism for that.
But once again, it's a case of stay tuned.......

Saturday, January 29, 2011

the Egypt "dilemma"

Following on from the Tunisian inspired protests, the Egyptian people are courageously taking a stand against the western backed autocratic regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
At the time of writing, the President has sacked the government and is installing a "new government".....whatever that actually means?
But herein lies the dilemma for the President, does he take the usually accepted method (by the west in any case with a nudge and a wink) of bringing in the security forces and brutally crushing the rebellion and showing everyone who's boss?
Or does he take option B, which involves accommodating the wishes of the people and bringing in some democratic reforms?
In this day and age with satellite tv, internet, social media etc, it's alot harder to crush a revolt without having to deal with the blow back of all the uncomfortable pictures flashing around the world of your brutal regime in action. You're probably not likely to win any Nobel Peace Prizes after that?
Or as we've seen with option B already, once you provide oxygen to the protesters demands, they become empowered and ask for more freedoms (ie, real democracy)...the cheek of them?
Mubarak really seems to have painted himself into a corner now by trying to "appease" the protesters. While it's difficult to see someone who's been in (autocratic) power for so long voluntarily stepping away into a quiet retirement, it's increasingly looking like he may have no other choice? Unless he decides to unleash a wave of brutality? Stay tuned.......

Friday, January 28, 2011

Olympics are not worth the money

As the preparations get into full swing for the 2012 Olympics in London, one again has to step back for a moment and look at the enormous cost of hosting this monstrous event.
And when we look at the recent history of this event (when held in democracies), it's not a pretty site.
Many Greeks still blame the Games for the beginnings of their current state of crisis, and one can't help but have some sympathy for that position. Their security costs just kept skyrocketing on the back of massive pressure from America and its Anglo allies to "do more". One of the guiltiest offenders in this regard were the Australian media who pummeled Greece for months with terrifying stories insinuating that the only surprise would be if a bomb DIDN'T go off. So when it was all over and done with, the Greeks were left to pick up (essentially) the American's tab.
Sydneysiders are not far behind either, they also pinpoint the beginning of their decline with the closing ceremony at Homebush.....admittedly the've had an incompetent State Government the whole time which hasn't helped.
The Atlanta Games were a well documented disaster, so you'd have to go back to 1992 to find a city that actually benefited from the event?
So while London gets deeper and deeper into debt ensuring we have a safe Games (by having the military parading around with machines guns on every street corner like a tin pot dictatorship presumably?), who is going to pay the bill once all the corporate jets have left the tarmac?  The taxpayer of course, or more accurately, their offspring.
So once again the question needs to be asked, with most sports already discredited with steroid abuse, how many billions need to be wasted before we say; "that's too much" to pay for a two week ego boost? 

Obama and the deficit

It was recently reported that the US budget deficit has now hit $1.5 trillion, or in more ominous language, 9.8% of GDP.
We're talking about some serious debt here, so bad in fact that it's getting close to the tipping point of being unmanageable. So what is Obama to do? He's recently caved in on the high income tax cuts (with the obvious plan of opposing then when they expire in an election year), and the Republican vultures are now circling around "Obamacare", and to a lesser extent Medicare. Republican House Leader John Boehner joined in the ridiculing of Obama with the jibe that "America's Sputnik moment is the fact that we're broke, and the American people know we're broke and we've got to do something about our spending''.
Well Boehner is dead right about that, and any responsible government would start looking at what's massively bloated and in need of a trim? The obvious logical answer is the Defense budget, which is around 5% of GDP. But this of course is the untouchable sacred cow of US politics, not even the Democrats want to touch this one and be accused of being "soft". But sooner or later the US will realise that it has no other option than to abandon its overseas follies. But as they say, pride comes before the fall, and the only real danger here in the years ahead is just how far are the political establishment going to allow the US to tumble before they face the inevitable? My instinct tells me they have a Saddam Husseinesque pigheadedness to these things, and they will fall embarrassingly low before admitting the reality?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Broadmeadows pre-selection

It now looks increasingly likely that non ALP member Frank McGuire (or as he will soon be known as, "Eddie's brother") will be parachuted into the vacant seat of Broadmeadows at the upcoming by-election (if he survives the threats of legal action?).
Despite the embarrassment of not even being a member of the party (what do political beliefs have to do with anything anyway?), lives in plush Brighton, and used to work for an ex Democrats leader, the Shorten-Conroy cabal have brushed aside the normal pre-selection procedure to install yet another celebrity candidate (anyone remember Kirsty Marshall?).
While this would normally call for cynicism, I guess it's better than having that branch stacking Turk Burhan Yigit propped into one of Labor's safest seats. And it is oh so safe, the simpletons of the Broadmeadows region are not smart enough to vote for anyone else on an issue by issue basis, they're completely rusted on (and there to be taken advantage of by the ALP).
I guess voters in safe seats get the representatives they deserve at times?

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

drugged up athletes denying the undeniable

While I was reading a recent article about celebrity (or socialite to be exact) Totti Goldsmith getting busted for allegedly being in possession of cocaine at a rock music festival, her denials of the allegations got me thinking of all those god awful athletes (especially cyclists and track and field competitors) who when caught, immediately switch to plausible deniability mode, and plead that there's been some kind of terrible mistake and that they're innocent of the allegations. Well there's been a mistake alright, they didn't use enough masking agent and got caught! While making no aspersions on dear old Totti, this appalling mindset that exists in professional sport that we just deny everything really has got to change. And perhaps it might if we had journalists who actually took these athletes to task for their crimes, instead we usually see an instinctive maternal response where the media laps up their denials while continuing to portray them in the best possible light.
And if the media are not bad enough, when these allegations finally go before the relevant authorities, (as an example I'll use cyclist Nathan O'Neill) they're found guilty of a violation, yet the Arbitrator slaps them on the wrist with a "no significant fault or negligence" finding! I mean no wonder these guys can just keep blatantly taking drugs, because they know that even if they get caught with something in their system, they can usually come up with a plausible denial that we'll gladly swallow. The media won't vilify them too much, they'll keep their sponsors, and at worst they'll have a short ban for an "unintended" violation. That's how these things seem to work I'm afraid.
And btw, does anybody still remember that Shane Warne is a convicted drug cheat?

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Australia day

As we approach Australia Day, it's that time again to see the usual jingoistic articles and photos of drunken blond haired cultureless teenagers draped in the Australian flag chanting oi oi oi telling us how "proud" they are to be Australian.
Well I'll tell what I'm proud of this Australia Day, I'm proud of;
universal health insurance
quality public schools
compulsory voting
having a national broadcaster
While I'm certainly NOT proud that we invaded a peaceful peoples and virtually made them extinct,
that we have (or are) fighting others colonial wars
that we have a head of state who is hereditary (and not even Australian)
that we have a "Queen's birthday" public holiday (which is not even on her birthday)
that we demonise the less fortunate (ie refugees) while espouting the Aussie fair go.
Australia is a country with alot going for it, but constitutional maturity is not our strongest virtue. Perhaps when (or if?) we become a Republic that has acknowledged our ancestor's mistakes, I'll have something to be proud of on Australia Day.

real policing, not terror laws catches criminals

Following the Moscow airport bombing today read here we are likely to see a crackdown from the Russian Security forces against the predominantly Muslim Northern Caucasus, with the predictable round up of the usual suspects for their annual beatings and the like. But this of course will not solve the problem (in all likelihood exacerbate it?), and nor will blaming the perceived lax security at the airport. While less than enlightened governments rush to bring in draconian legislation in order to look tuff after a terrorist attack, there's very little evidence to show that standard competent police investigations wouldn't have brought in the same result. If the state is relying on bag searches at airports, train stations etc to stop a suicide bomber then they're in for a sad reality check. A potential terrorist needs to be caught at the plotting stage, ie alarm bells should be ringing when person X purchases excessive fertiliser, or components for other terror making equipment. This is how real police catch criminals, not rounding up "enemies" for a beating...which is valuable time lost looking for real criminals.

Friday, January 21, 2011

my favourite conservative columnist

I recently mentioned my favourite US Republican politician (ie, about the only one who isn't crazy?), so now I also thought I'd mention my favourite Australian conservative columnist, him being Gerard Henderson.
As you can see from this example of his work read it here , he has well thought out conservative positions. I may not agree with many of his views, but at least as opposed to the Bolts, Ackermans, and Albrechtsens of this world, his positions are at least considered, and in the original conservative style. While his credibility was badly hurt with his support of the Iraq war (almost to a man, conservatives just loath Muslims?), I usually enjoy reading his mild polemics. And while I'll never be too kind to anyone who at one time had a close association with John Howard, his writing at least is almost in the style of someone trying to hold back the walls of Jericho (ie countering the established popularly held view which I can identify with).
But unfortunately he is very much the exception on the conservative side, where we're used to hearing nothing except the usual anti Islam, Anglo centric rantings.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Be careful what you wish for in Tunisia

While most kind hearted people would naturally rejoice at the implosion of a corrupt brutal dictatorship, when you scratch the surface at the goings on in Tunisia, you can't help but get the feeling that nothing will change for the better. This sentiment seems to be best described by The Independent columnist Robert Fisk. Ive linked his article here , but I'd just like to highlight some of his points that especially resonate with me;

The French and the Germans and the Brits, dare we mention this, always praised the dictator for being a "friend" of civilised Europe, keeping a firm hand on all those Islamists. Tunisians won't forget this little history, even if we would like them to.
Yes, we would like a democracy in Tunisia – but not too much democracy. Remember how we wanted Algeria to have a democracy back in the early Nineties?
Then when it looked like the Islamists might win the second round of voting, we supported its military-backed government in suspending elections and crushing the Islamists and initiating a civil war in which 150,000 died.
No, in the Arab world, we want law and order and stability. Even in Hosni Mubarak's corrupt and corrupted Egypt, that's what we want. And we will get it.
It's the same old problem for us in the West. We mouth the word "democracy" and we are all for fair elections – providing the Arabs vote for whom we want them to vote for.
In Algeria 20 years ago, they didn't. In "Palestine" they didn't. And in Lebanon, because of the so-called Doha accord, they didn't. So we sanction them, threaten them and warn them about Iran and expect them to keep their mouths shut when Israel steals more Palestinian land for its colonies on the West Bank.
Ben Ali has fled. The search is now on for a more pliable dictator in Tunisia – a "benevolent strongman" as the news agencies like to call these ghastly men.
And the shooting will go on – as it did yesterday in Tunisia – until "stability" has been restored.

So what is likely to emerge when the dust settles in Tunisia? Another pro west strong man, or if we let the people actually decide their own fate, they may elect the previously banned Islamic Party? Dear oh dear, indeed be very careful what you wish for.......

The Australian sinks to a new low (if that's possible?)

The Australian newspaper is known for its hateful Islamaphobia, but its latest attempt at this black art really does take the cake read it here . They've managed to dig up a Muslim convert who's set up his own (probably three person?) sect called Sharia4Australia that aims to apparently destroy democracy, and introduce sharia law to Australia (yeah good luck with that). These sort of fruitcakes that can be usually found howling at the moon shouldn't be given print space by any respectable broadsheet, but of course The Australian is not a respectable newspaper.
Naturally the hundreds of heretic Christian sects don't seem to get a run for some reason in The Australian, only the "evil" Muslims do.
But if that's not enough, the designated "hero" of the piece is an "Australian army veteran" by the name of Jack Zedee, who - get this - is a senior member of a pro guns group called Firearms Forum. So these two opposing extremists (religious nut and gun nut) are set to square off in a public debate tonight at the bastion of civility, Parramatta Town Hall.
I mean really, this is comical stuff, this is all fodder for Today Tonight, but hardly fitting for our "leading" broadsheet.
So if anything nasty happens tonight in Parramatta, will The Australian accept any responsibility for enraging the simpletons?

who should pay for the QLD flood damage?

The political debate is now well and truly up and running as to how best to pay for the QLD (and now Victorian) flood damage. There's been plenty of talk as to whether the Feds can keep their "return to surplus" predictions, and whether initiatives like a temporary Medicare levy increase should be adopted?
While it's obvious that the Federal Government has a meaningful part to play in the disaster recovery, we need to take a step back and just consider for a moment who is really responsible for funding the recovery efforts?
There's are a whole range of issues at play here (which hopefully the judicial inquiry will look at), and they include;
Do people who willingly choose to avoid paying the "flood premium" on their insurance expect anything in return?
What about the (unwritten) assurances that after post 1974 building of the dam that Brisbane was "flood proof"?
What about the people who live in areas where "flood cover" is not provided by the insurers?
Do we need go down the path of compulsory "force majeure" insurance as happens in a number of places around the world? And how would this affect the viability of the insurance industry (not to mention the effect on premiums)?
Alleged mismanagement of the Wivenhoe Dam by the premature release of water from there (as insinuated in The Australian newspaper)? What's their responsibility in providing compensation?
And the big daddy of them all, what about the planning policy failures of (generations of) local, State Governments, with their cow towing to greedy developers (with brown paper bag in hand?) who've consistently downplayed the threat of natural disasters in order to get zoning approval to build profitable properties in flood prone areas?
So I now go back to the original point, why should everyone start pointing at the direction of the federal government with begging bowl in hand? The reasons for the unprecedented damage caused by these floods seem to (at face value?) lie within the purvey of the State authorities. This seems to be their mess....so let their tax payers clean it up!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Kennett responsible for increased drug use?

I was passing the time on youtube recently, and came across the Victorian State Coalition's election campaign advert for the 1996 election see it here , and noticed that they promised "alcohol free" discos. I assume this (absurd) idea was a pathetic attempt to be seen to be doing SOMETHING about the King St nightclub precinct violence that was spiralling out of control at the time?
But this got me to thinking, did this idea of "alcohol free" discos morph into the giant rave party scene which took off in the 90s, which were alcohol free, but contained about 95% drug use of patrons?
How ironic would that be, if by trying to lower nightclub violence, you've helped create a flourishing pill popping drug scene?.....which shows no signs of abating!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Thoughts of my favourite Republican politician Ron Paul

I must say that I like Ron Paul, probably because he's the only Republican who's not crazy?
He probably has next to zero chance of the Republican nomination for President in 2012, but based on his views current political and economic system below, he's certainly a Republican I can stomach;

"A grand absurdity; a great deception, a delusion of momentous proportions, based on preposterous notions; and on ideas whose time should never have come; simplicity grossly distorted and complicated; insanity passed off as logic; grandiose schemes built on falsehoods with the morality of Ponzi and Madoff; evil described as virtue; ignorance pawned off as wisdom; destruction and impoverishment in the name of humanitarianism; violence, the tool of change; preventive wars used as the road to peace; tolerance delivered by government guns; reactionary views in the guise of progress; an empire replacing the Republic; slavery sold as liberty; excellence and virtue traded for mediocrity"
"A central bank that deliberately destroys the value of the currency in secrecy, without restraint, without nary a whimper. Yet, cheered on by the pseudo-capitalists of Wall Street, the military industrial complex, and Detroit"
"We police our world empire with troops on 700 bases and in 130 countries around the world. A dangerous war now spreads throughout the Middle East and central Asia. Thousands of innocent people being killed, as we become known as the torturers of the 21st century."
"We assume that by keeping the already-known torture pictures from the public's eye, we will be remembered only as a generous and good people. If our enemies want to attack us only because we are free and rich, proof of torture would be irrelevant."

sport belongs to the corporates....so what are you going to do about it?

Once again we have another whinge about corporate sponsors taking the best seats at sporting events at the expense of joe public, this time at the Australian Open tennis tournament that begins on Monday read here . But what is anyone really going to do about it?.....absolutely nothing, that's what! I've been going on for years with my disgust at the corporate world taking over sport, where it got to the point that I "retired" from watching (or caring) about competitive sport in the mid 90s.
But how many people actually have the courage to do what I did and abandon their beloved product when the administrators caved in once too often to corporate interests? None, that's how many....you all care way too much about your precious football team to ever give away the joy of seeing your team win. You'll sit on the sidelines and bitch and moan on talk back radio about how expensive it's become, and you can't get good seats anymore etc etc, but in the end you'll bend over and sing "moon river".
I personally have never felt so liberated as when I actually stopped caring about whether the team in the blue, or the red top actually won or lost the designated match. There's just way too many things to enjoy in life without worrying about the result of a manufactured game.
Organised sport really is a silly concept when you think about it, a concept essentially appealing to the raw human emotion of identifying with a particular tribe, which is superior to the neighbouring one. How absurd it is that soccer fans usually have to be separated at stadiums along their "tribal" colours, because human nature being what it is, they may kill each other if their paths cross. Yet these same human beings can chat about their differing team views over a beer at the pub the next night?
When I think about the silliness of organised sport, I immediately think about the Nika riots of Constantinople in 532. These riots almost brought down the greatest civilization the world has ever known - and over what? - rivalry between the blues and the greens chariot racing factions.
But getting back to the original point, if you're so enraged about corporate interests taking over your sport, then in the true corporate spirit, take your money and your interest elsewhere. If only a small percentage of people did that, the administrators would quickly be made to heel. Even a small blip on the chart can mean millions, so in the end, it's really up to you!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Gillard's lack of leadership

While I've made passing reference to the lack of ability of our lightweight careerist PM Julia Gillard in this (and other) forums, thankfully I'm not the only one who's starting to see through the thin veneer.
Labor thinker Bob Ellis fired off the first round recently when he said of her; "civilised people's hands are already over their faces every time she speaks. That cannot last. She has no power, no influence, no friends, no learning. There's not much there", and "she's not well-informed, she hasn't, I think, read a novel or seen a film with subtitles....she has not much except a kindergarten sandpit response to things" read here .
Granted, pretty catty stuff that we may snicker at and dismiss, but unfortunately in the wake of the devastating QLD flood crisis Gillard's complete lack of leadership talents (and instinct) are on full display. Somehow she's managed to make a wooden, barely competent State Premier (Anna Bligh) look like Rudy Giuliani after 9/11 see here . Can you imagine the difference has Kevin Rudd still been in charge? In his admittedly over the top style, he would've been out there in an SES jumpsuit up to his knees in water. It's at times like these where the victims need to hear the soaring rhetoric of a Rudd, a politician with an instinct of hitting the right note and resonating with the electorate (and while it all eventually came undone for Rudd, he showed he could connect with the people).
But alas, no such inspirational leadership from Madam Lightweight Julia Gillard, instead all we get are dry statements which are more at home in the Industrial Relations Tribunal in her old job as a labour lawyer.
But the great tragedy of all this is that the alternative is even WORSE. A Coalition led by the "mad monk" whose poll numbers increase every time he stays silent! What a vacuum of leadership we're forced to endure at the national level....and there's little respite in sight.

Friday, January 14, 2011

the real estate Princess...something rotten in Denmark?

While the Australian media is currently gushing at the birth of Crown Princess Mary's twins, I am again having the eyes roll in the back of my head.
Maybe I'm just an old sour puss, but I'm failing to share in "Australia's delight" at this momentous event. While it's terrific that she's given birth to healthy children etc etc, a moral black cloud remains in the air over all this gushing rapture in my view.
Let's just take a cursory look at the background of "Australia's" Princess, she was a Real Estate Agent by trade, by definition a profession with extremely low ethics with a barely concealed contempt for their clients. And so the story goes that after reading about the likely venue that the wealthy Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark was to attend while in Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games, the ambitious Real Estate Agent coincidentally showed up at the same place. And I guess this is where her reported training in Marketing and Advertising really paid off in her courtship of the Crown Prince. But you know what, I don't think the poor bloke ever stood a chance of avoiding her evil clutches, she's also got a qualification from the Australian Direct Marketing Association!
So yes, let all Australia rejoice that our little Cinderella stumbled upon her charming Prince, leaving the behind all her inbred two headed Tasmanian brethren.....certainly that's no life for a "princess"?
Yes, let us bask in the joys of European hereditary monarchy, where all that was needed for the real estate princess to gain such well deserved opulence was to give up her citizenship, religion.....and self respect!

Order for the removal of the crucifix in Italian schools

Once again I was going through my archives of comments I've made on other forums over the last year or so, and I've reproduced it here;

Below is a summary of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights to order Italy to remove the cross from Govt schools. While I'm a huge supporter of institutions like the ECHR, I believe on this occasion that they've over stepped the mark. The ECHR does a great job in protecting minorities victimized by the state, but in this instance, is it really an unbearable hardship to ask non Christians (in a christian majority country) to sit in the same classroom where a crucifix is displayed? Does that really impinge their human rights and make them feel like lesser people? It's not like they're being asked to recite (or abstain from) the lord's prayer or something, where it's clearly visible to all as to who is "different", ie non christian. But what really concerns me is what's the next step? Just like the forced removal of head scarves of women in French schools, will pupils be forced to remove religious symbols from their person in future? I believe in FREEDOM, and to me that actually means allowing people to wear Taliban style full head covering if they freely CHOOSE to, it's not my place to force them to remove it. And the same goes with a school displaying a crucifix on the wall....who bloody cares? These court cases are just a breeding ground for intolerance, regardless of which side of the ledger you're on.
And I like what one Greek Orthodox Bishop said about this case, basically that it appears religious symbols of tolerance will be replaced by adulation of tv stars and pop singers. Summed up nicely I thought?



"Decision of the Court

The presence of the crucifix – which it was impossible not to notice in the classrooms – could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion. This could be encouraging for religious pupils, but also disturbing for pupils who practised other religions or were atheists, particularly if they belonged to religious minorities. The freedom not to believe in any religion (inherent in the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Convention) was not limited to the absence of religious services or religious education: it extended to practices and symbols which expressed a belief, a religion or atheism. This freedom deserved particular protection if it was the State which expressed a belief and the individual was placed in a situation which he or she could not avoid, or could do so only through a disproportionate effort and sacrifice.

The State was to refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it. In particular, it was required to observe confessional neutrality in the context of public education, where attending classes was compulsory irrespective of religion, and where the aim should be to foster critical thinking in pupils.

The Court was unable to grasp how the display, in classrooms in State schools, of a symbol that could reasonably be associated with Catholicism (the majority religion in Italy) could serve the educational pluralism that was essential to the preservation of a “democratic society” as that was conceived by the Convention, a pluralism that was recognised by the Italian Constitutional Court.

The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities, and especially in classrooms, thus restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions, and the right of children to believe or not to believe. The Court concluded, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 taken jointly with Article 9 of the Convention..."

beautiful holiday paradise resorts are not so "beautiful"


I was planning on writing a piece soon of why I have an inherent prejudice against those wealthy 5 star resorts that abound in poor "island paradise" third world countries. However a friend of mine made some comments recently in another forum on this same topic, so instead of reinventing the wheel, I paraphrase their comments below;
"I had never until recently visited any islands in the Pacific nor the Indian ocean , and I don't denounce the natural beauty nor the wonderful people ... the locals .. who inhabit such tropical paradises. Their local customs and food being magnificent ! BUT .. Once I went to a couple, stayed in top notch resorts , took it upon myself to visit places on my own , leave the resort and talk to those that work there and treat them with humanity and respect, the govt gives away family plots to resort owners, who normally take the profits out of the countr, pay below minimum standards to workers, forcing long hours, and making workers pay for food that they may eat. It's horrid, exploitative and downright inhuman to see this happening as we bake our sweet butts in the sun. Resorts to me are tarted up prisons, dull, spiritless places, boring and I have stayed at the best ones. I will never ever stay in a resort or visit these places unless I stay in a pension with locals! The locals are exploited, and are treated badly by resort owners who don't want them near these places coz the fear that they'll cause trouble . These third world island dictatorial regimes pander to the capitalists as they get a cut for buying land or confiscating land from these little people who lose their livelihood and can't plant their food and need to go to supermarkets, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exploitation . Resorts should b banned".

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

the cruelty of sanctions against Iran

While the (increasingly ineffectual and incompetent Obama led) United States pats itself on the back over its sanctions against Iran, today we can see the human cost of this sanctions regime. On January the 9th, Iran Air Flight 277 crashed killing at least 77 passengers. In fact 17 planes have crashed over the last 25 years killing approx 1,500 people, primarily because the US forbids Boeing to sell crucially needed parts to Iranian airlines.
But we continue to delude ourselves into thinking that these sanctions are actually achieving something, studies by serious academics tend to show otherwise.  According to studies by Akbar E. Torbat, "overall, the sanctions' economic effect on Iran has been significant, while its political effect has been minimal". So in other words, we've achieved nothing other than hurting innocent human beings?
So while the US tries its best to turn the proud Persian people into another Cuba, all they seem to be doing is strengthening the "security and military apparatus" of the State....and we know no good will ever come from that!

sports grounds and sponsor's logos

Since the 90s, in Australia there's been a terrible trend of major sporting stadiums losing their original identities and selling their naming rights to the highest bidder. This has always been anathema to me as I've always felt that a landmark building/stadium/location etc should only have ONE name that it is forever identified with.
This trend seemed to begin with the Princess Park aussie rules ground being renamed OPTUS OVAL, after the telco. I was upset at this sell out at the time, but tolerated it since it was only a minor ground in the league, and this sort of cheekiness was unlikely to expand at the higher level.
Well how wrong was I, this only ENCOURAGED the corporate sector to arm twist the last traditional hold outs that ran sport to see the light of the new (corporate, capitalist) world to sell off their naming rights. And how much easier it became to do this as the old school sports administrators were pushed aside in favour of professional marketeers who were taking over sports administration.
But perhaps it wouldn't peeve me off so much if these companies actually had a long term investment (ie. generational) in these stadiums that created some genuine ownership or affinity between stadium and product, instead we have the ridiculous situation of iconic grounds changing names every few years. Example; Stadium Australia in Sydney has also been known as Telstra Stadium and now ANZ Stadium...which naturally causes confusion with the ground in Brisbane which was also known as "ANZ Stadium". And Melbourne's Docklands Stadium is not much better, its previous names include Colonial Stadium, Telstra Dome and its current (for this week) Etihad Stadium.
There's so many grounds changing names so frequently that when I see a reference to a ground on the news, I usually have no idea of where they're talking about? A pretty sad indictment for someone who USED to be interested in sport!
Perhaps we need to fight back though, like they did in cricket? Naming rights lunacy reached its crescendo in the domestic Sheffield Shield cricket competition in 1999 when the 100+ year old competition was renamed (almost on a whim) the Pura Milk Cup. Not the "Pura Milk Shield" mind you, but CUP.....a deliberate attempt by the company to disassociate the public's mindset with the Shield, and link it to their product. But cricket fans continued to call it "the Shield", while news channels provocatively referred to it as the "domestic four day competition". Fortunately sanity prevailed and the tournament picked up a new sponsor in 2008, with it now being called the "Sheffield Shield, presented by Weet-Bix".
While that's one small victory against the tidal wave of corporate money currently controlling sport, I suspect people will only ever say "enough is enough" when the grandest stadium of all - the MCG - is renamed the HOLDEN UTE STADIUM...or some other god awful name.
My only reaction to that would be.........schadenfreude.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Australian footballers with Italian girlfriends

My "raised eyebrow" detector recently alerted me to the fact that there seems to be alot of ethnic Italian women dating aussie rules footballers (serves me right for reading the tabloids I guess).
Now admittedly some of these women may just have Italian sounding names without being "culturally" Italian, but the numbers involved still appear to be quite high?
The reason I mention this is that you rarely (if ever?) hear of an ethnic Greek woman dating/marrying a famous aussie rules footballer, but there doesn't seem to be any such "taboo" with Italians?
Why is that, and what does this tell us about (Australian born) Greek women, in comparison with their cultural cousins from Italy?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

why federal Labor (nearly) lost the last election?

I was recently going through my archives (and thought bubbles) and found some musings on why I thought Gillard nearly lost the Federal election in August last year (after toppling Rudd just weeks earlier). So I've reproduced them below;
  • Rudd was a control freak who essentially ran a 4 person government, disrespecting the conventions of cabinet govt and Westminster principals, while taking the advice of twenty something know it all punks in the PM's office instead of your cabinet and wider party room was always a recipe for disaster
  • In the aftermath of the GFC criticizing the "neo liberal" economy and the sectional interests that support it was straight out of Chomsky (although heavily disguised)
  • Rudd's "anti Israel" comments, although justified and completely common sense, must've sent shock waves through the pro Israel Labor Right factional warlords and their henchmen
  • Rudd's support for an Australian manufacturing industry....which bordered on protectionism, must've been seen as a heresy of the highest order in elite circles
  • The big killer however was dropping the ETS, in that one moment Rudd just gave away all his "street cred" on climate change....and I said at the time
  • the whole insulation scheme cock up however was nothing but a huge beat up and meaningless on its own as an election issue
  • The Murdoch press can gloat now (especially The Australian), as they almost single handedly tore apart a first term Labor PM with record approval ratings. Their ability to chip away at any perceived govt negative and play it up for all its worth was really something that should be studied by scholars, politics and media students
  • And the biggest reason of all in my view....by knocking off a first term PM, no matter how hard you try to spin it, is an admission of failure and gives the electorate the justification it requires to reject the govt at the election
Rudd ended with:''That's why we have governments … to intervene when we have a market failure … That's why we are an activist government. We can't provide nirvana, we can't provide utopia … but we can and will make a real difference!''

the hate of American politics

It will be interesting to see if there'll be any reevaluation of the political temperature in US politics following the assassination attempt of Arizona Congresswoman (D) Gabrielle Giffords, who was one of the people targeted by nut case Tea Party activists (and Republicans in general) for her "soft" views on immigration and health care see here .
While the anti immigration bandwagon has risen to mouth frothing (and essentially crazy) levels in Arizona over the last year or so, Giffords (admittedly a blue dog Democrat) was apparently quite moderate on the issue, and trying to come up with some workable alternatives. This of course is anathema to the (mentally ill) Republican Right, and the Congresswoman had been targeted for her "centrist" views. So in this political climate it's hardly surprising that a disgruntled loser with a gun (as an aside, you can forget about this ever turning into a debate about restricting gun ownership, America is not mature enough for that discussion) would do what Sarah Palin and FOX NEWS have been demanding the public do and "take back our country".
In this distressing story however I see opportunity, a chance for Democrats and political activists alike to put the political blow torch straight back onto the extremist hate mongering Republicans who are spouting all the usual mouth frothing venom. A chance to say ENOUGH, and its time to accept responsibility for your rhetoric, because when you fill the airwaves with bile, your supporters may just listen to what you're saying and DO something about it?
I'm sorry but these Republicans can't just walk away from this after metaphorically loading the gun and placing it in the hand of a supporter and then say "it's nothing to do with us", there is a collective responsibility here, and each protagonist has to accept their share of the blame.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

new UN Security Council Members

I notice that the new non permanent UN Security Council Members elected were; South Africa, India, Colombia, Germany and Portugal.
While I have no problem with Germany and Portugal, I can't let the election of the other three pass without comment. South Africa is a nation in complete denial over HIV, whose greatest claim to fame in recent times is propping up the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. India the "world's largest democracy", continues to be a rogue state in my mind until it signs the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.
And as for Columbia, a right wing client state of the US that gets its kicks by apparently abducting and killing union leaders.
But at least on the bright side, Canada suffered a humiliating loss in its attempt for a seat. But true to form, that awful PM Stephen Harper perversely tried to blame his political opponents for the loss, but as the Opposition Liberal Party countered "the blame game is a sign of a government that is unwilling to absorb the lessons of defeat".
So to sum up, I'm not expecting too much from the UN Security Council over the next two years, with backroom deals of self interest being the norm. And I expect even less from India - a truly awful place - the most corrupt "democracy" on earth.

golf courses in Greece

After reading a recent article bemoaning the "Byzantine process" for investors to build golf courses in Greece see here , I just couldn't let it pass without comment.
While these (not so) benevolent investors bitch and moan about essentially their frustration in not being able to make more money, have we taken a moment to think about how inappropriate and out of place golf course resorts are to the Greek environment, and indeed our way of life?
It's stated as a criticism that there's only 6 major golf courses in Greece, yet I consider that a POSITIVE. I can think of nothing worse than to rape the fertile Mediterranean Greek soil with a bulldozer, and to then drop in a sand bunker, there's just something about the game of golf that is anathema to Greece. What business does this quaint Scottish game of the lowlands have doing in Greece? It may be just fine in the lush green fields of Scotland, but we're not exactly drowning in fresh water in Greece. And how much real estate are we taking up to build these monstrosities? In a land of not exactly set in stone land ownership titles, you can't help but wonder how many people will be potentially swindled out of their "implied" land by cashed up legally savvy developers?
But these resorts apparently have "economic benefits" for the country? But for whom exactly? It's all in the detail of the tax arrangements that politicians sign the developers up to, and how much of this "revenue" trickles down to the wider community is very debatable.
Sorry, but I'm just very suspicious of these "exclusive" resorts in their gated little communities in a place like Greece, remember golf was a game that you couldn't even play at the better clubs if you were black not that many years ago.
If you want to see golf in the Mediterranean, go to Spain me thinks, they sold out years ago. Keep these awful resorts out of my beautiful Messinia!

wikileaks placing troops in harms way?

While Wikileaks has gone out of its way to show that not one person has been physically harmed from the release of classified US documents in order to counter the US position that the documents pose a "potential risk" to US forces. I would go one step further however, I would argue that so what if US troops do get attacked?
If the US Government invades foreign nations, and classified documents subsequently reveal that they were acting with duplicity and were essentially unconcerned about the civilians of the conquered nation that they were slaughtering, and should this cause outrage and attacks on military targets that kill Americans, well I consider that fair game. It's a terrible thing no doubt, but as the Americans say, it's "collateral damage". Isn't it better that genuine military targets get fired on rather than an outraged suicide bomber blowing themselves up in Grand Central Station?

Friday, January 7, 2011

see you in Tuscany?

I couldn't help but chuckle after reading this article in The Australian about women packing up and romantically heading for Tuscany see here in search of spiritual awakening, love, etc etc.
Apparently Tuscany is full of disenchanted Anglo English speaking women who've seen one too many movies romanticising the Italian lifestyle (and there's surely a second wave coming after the deluded see that Julia Roberts movie?) and have packed their bags and headed for Italia.
I guess one of the reasons I chuckle at all this is because once they meet their Fabio and fall madly in love, they'll soon find out that there's almost a 100% chance that he'll cheat on them.....sorry.....but it's in the Italian DNA. (ps. I've previously been chastised for making such wide ranging judgements, but I refuse to recant!)
But alas, at least it keeps these women out of my precious Messinia, truly one of the most magnificent regions in the Mediterranean. The last thing we want in Messinia is a bunch of wide eyed 40 something women wondering around looking for run down houses to renovate. It's bad enough that they've built that awful golf resort in Pylos, but that's a gripe for another time.
Even putting aside my male viewpoint, I don't really see what the special attraction is with Tuscany? It's no better or worse than a thousand spots dotted along the Mediterranean, but I guess since they made a movie about it, then that's the place we have to go? I think that tells you something about the psychology of human behavior, like sheep following the crowd!

Vic Transport projects put on ice

I see that the new State Govt has sensibly put the previous Govt's unfunded transport policies on ice read here , pending review. One of the things that really used to stick in my craw about the then Govt was the way they'd spend millions of taxpayer dollars to promote themselves, and of course public transport being such a disaster for them (as it always seems to be with State Labor Govts?), they NEEDED to spend big to try and pull the wool over our eyes.
The absurd (unfunded) Footsgray to Caufield metro tunnel has sensibly been put on the back burner pending "review". Maybe I'm just stupid, but I've never really understood the theory between linking these two points (at MASSIVE expense)? Surely a rail line extension to Rowville and Doncaster are of much greater immediate urgency?
While the creation of the "Victorian Public Transport Development Authority" - inspired by the Perth and Zurich models - as the central planning authority for transport in this state is undeniably a good idea, it remains to be seen how much of a genuine "planning authority" it will end up. There are already a number of permanent stakeholders (the franchisees) with long term contracts, who will be potentially fighting the govt tooth and nail to keep their control and influence over the network. I just hope (yet fear) that the authority doesn't become a marketing department like Metlink? It needs to have real teeth, and bite the operators when required. But the operators have binding contracts, so any attempts to get them to co-operate will almost certainly result in additional payments to their (foreign) bank accounts.....but money usually makes for-profit corporations co-operative.
Whether the model works or not, at least on the upside career duds like Transport Department secretary Jim Betts will probably get the sack? He's furiously opposed the concept, taking the untenable position that the current arrangements are just fine. I mean give me a break, this Department is second only to the Dept of Human Services (DHS) in its level of incompetence and disfunction. Their record of incompetence is so great, I don't even need to provide examples to prove my point, just google anything to do with trains and you'll see for yourself.
But the great shame in all of this is that the Baillieu Govt got elected on a public transport platform which very much sounded like something an incoming Labor Govt should be delivering. The previous Bracks/Brumby govts fell into the trap (not unlike their Labor predecessors) of paying too much attention to the rationalist bean counters in Treasury and Transport, and paid the price accordingly.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

absurdity of being a Constitutional Monarchy

While it appears that Australians are completely comfortable with Australia remaining a Constitutional Monarchy and not becoming a Republic, what really riles me up is the insidious practice of creating a fiction to show that we're already an independent country with no legal ties (in reality) to the old country. Oh really? Well without rehashing the whole Republic debate here (the for and against arguments have been done to death over the last 15-20 years), I will just say that the Governor-General is NOT our Head of State, he is the Queen's Viceroy (as I call him), or if you prefer the correct description (as stated on my passport) "the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, being the representative in Australia of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second". The G-G does NOT receive the full class A diplomatic recognition as the Head of State, indeed he/she gets the B treatment as a mere "representative" of the TRUE  Head of State, our glorious benevolent Queen.
But if you think this is no big deal (in reality), what would happen then should the US ask us to be part of a "coalition of the willing" to invade a Commonwealth Country? Sound fanciful? It may've been airbrushed from the public consciousness, but the US invaded Grenada in 1983 (to the public disgust of the Thatcher Govt). The Queen is the "Commander and Chief" of the Australian armed forces, yet we would be invading ourselves under this scenario.
There's so many of these types of scenarios I could point to which show how ridiculous Australia being a Constitutional Monarchy truly is, but is there anything more absurd than invading yourself?

QLD floods and asylum seekers

With the State of Emergency situation created in northern QLD with the recent severe flooding, we've seen frantic calls being made from local authorities for federal intervention to deal with much needed infrastructure repairs, ie roads, housing, etc. And we've also been hearing that there's a desperate shortage of available skilled labour to perform this urgent work.
Well I have an immediate cost effective solution; we've currently got overcrowded immigration detention centres full of able bodied adults who would jump at the chance to assist Australia in its time of need, by providing their labour. How many doctors, nurses, engineers, all round handymen etc do we have sitting idly by in these "prisons"?
What a way to a) circumvent the current skills shortage, and b) provide positive imagery to Australians of asylum seekers chipping in to do their bit to help out the nation that they're hoping to call home?
But alas it will never happen, instead the Government will continue to get wedged on asylum seekers by the mouth frothing populists, and as for the flood victims......well good luck to them....because they're going to need it!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

greedy retailers want MORE

I was going to write a piece about the greedy Australian retailers lobbying for the GST to be applied on foreign internet purchases, and how wrong they are on the whole subject.....but the argument has been succinctly made in this piece in The Age you can read it here .
I couldn't agree more.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

is this the future for Greece????


"2001 March - President de la Rua forms a government of national unity and appoints three finance ministers in as many weeks as cabinet resignations and protests greet planned austerity measures.
2001 July - Much of the country is brought to a standstill by a general strike in protest against proposed government spending cuts. Country's credit ratings slip.
2001 October - The opposition Peronists take control of parliament in Congressional elections.
2001 December - Economy Minister Cavallo announces sweeping restrictions to halt an
exodus of bank deposits.
2001 December - The IMF announces it won't disburse $1.3 billion in aid for the month,
pushing Argentina closer to the brink of default.
2001 13 December - Much of Argentina grinds to a halt due to a 24-hour general strike by public workers protesting against new government curbs on bank withdrawals, a delay in pension payouts and other economic measures.
2001 20 December - President Fernando de la Rua resigns after widespread street protests and rioting leave at least 25 people dead.
2001 23 December - Adolfo Rodriguez Saa named new interim president, says Argentina will suspend foreign debt payments. Fresh protests in anger over Rodriguez Saa's appointment of officials seen as corrupt and his decision to maintain unpopular banking curbs.
2001 30 December - Rodriguez Saa resigns, citing a lack of support within his own party.
2002 1 January - Congress elects Peronist Senator Eduardo Duhalde as president for the remaining two years of de la Rua's term. Within days the government devalues the peso, ending 10 years of parity with the US dollar."

Well if this is what's in store for Greece, perhaps they should take the Argentinian option"? Again I quote;
 "faced with a sudden loss of employment and no source of income, (workers) decided to reopen businesses on their own, without the presence of the owners and their capital, as self-managed cooperatives. Some businesses have now been legally purchased by the workers for nominal fees, others remain 'occupied' by workers who have no legal standing with the state (and in some cases reject negotiation with the state on the grounds that working productively is its own justification)."
But the IMF didn't take too kindly to these socialistic plans and pushed for more "austerity measures", but thankfully the Argentines saw the light that they needed to free themselves from these vultures, so again I quote;
 "Argentina shifted to a policy of "disindebtment" towards the IMF: paying the IMF in schedule, with no negotiation whenever possible, with the intention of gaining independence from it. On December 15, 2005, following a similar action by Brazil, President Kirchner suddenly announced that Argentina would pay the whole debt to the IMF. The debt payments, totaling 9.810 billion USD, were previously scheduled as installments until 2008. Argentina paid it with the central bank's foreign currency reserves"
So where does that leave Greece? They CAN continue down the west approved financial austerity route guided by their American born and educated Prime Minister George Papandreou, which he no doubt feels is the "courageous" policy option? But what would truly be "courageous" would be to throw off the self imposed shackles of the west, and embrace some Argentine style thinking and look at innovative, alternative solutions......for me, that would truly be courageous.

Allende, Pinochet, the CIA...and Bolt defending the indefensible

Coincidentally following my mention of the original 9/11 in Chile in an earlier blog, I notice that tabloid shock columnist Andrew Bolt recently (for all intents and purposes) defended the CIA inspired Pinochet led coup that toppled Allende see here . So while it was a polemic directed against Labor FM  Kevin Rudd, the defence of the coup cannot be allowed to go unanswered. Tabloid gutter crawlers like Bolt gain their strength by being noticed and commented on, so it's my usual practice to deprive them of oxygen, but come on, defending dictators I think NEEDS to be countered!
He starts by admitting (yet downplaying) the undeniable (to do otherwise would lead to more ridicule than usual) that "human rights abuses by security forces within Mr. Pinochet’s subsequent military government, have overshadowed international perception of the Allende years". Well excuse me, but you can't just brush aside a military coup sponsored by the most powerful nation on earth which successfully imposed an (American friendly) dictatorial strong man on Chile that murdered and tortured thousands as somehow irrelevant to the seemingly greater crime of Allende's term in office.....it just doesn't work that way pal!!!!
Chile was traditionally one of the most educated countries in South America and the people had a pretty good idea who they were electing, that being a Marxist populist in Allende who was going to nationalize industry, provide greater opportunities for the poor etc etc.
In a region not exactly known for democratic government, Bolt chides Allende for allegedly having no intention of keeping his promise to create a Statute of Guarantees of individual liberties, well deary me, a politician not keeping a campaign promise.....let's bring in the military.....oh that's right, we did!!!!!
But perhaps Allende's policies which led to "triple-digit inflation, currency devaluation, economic chaos and social tumult" were enough reason to justify a coup? Well just maybe it would've been a good idea to let the people decide at the ballot box at the next election first and see how that worked out?
But of course we all know the polemic against Allende (whether it be Bolt, or the usual suspect neo cons) is just smoke and mirrors to divert from the unconscionable crime of removing a democratically elected socialist government from office which was going to kick out the multi nationals and not take its orders from Washington.
But of course in United States foreign policy terms, democratic elections are only to be tolerated if the people vote the "right way", and if they don't..........GOD HELP THEM!

9/11 "post traumatic strees"

Following Obama's recently signed bill to aid emergency service workers over illnesses relating to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, in the same spirit of benevolence, perhaps the US should also now offer compensation to all the traumatised emergency service workers in Chile who bared witness to the US organised coup d'état against their democratically elected government in the original 9/11 in 1973? Yeah, fat chance of that happening!!!!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Corruption in the west

While I'm often quick to criticise the duplicity of the English speaking democracies who claim to always be acting benevolently, yet under examination are usually found to be acting in their own self interest (to the detriment of others), I will acknowledge one thing that I'm thankful for growing up in Australia;
As the latest World Corruption index shows see here nations like Australia, NZ and Canada rank highly for their low levels of systematic corruption. Surprisingly the UK and the US rank a little unimpressively.....perhaps this may be in part due to their recent economic woes which provide a fertile breeding ground for corruption to flourish? 
I suspect though that the usually incorruptible civil services of these Anglo English speaking countries has allot to do with their Protestant puritanical roots? There's so much I don't like about these common cultures, but when you compare the UK's public sector with its Indian or Pakistani offspring.....you can see that we do owe the puritans a little gratitude.
So there, to all those who've accused me of always being negative, I do have SOMETHING nice to say about the Anglo world.
Best to start the new year off on a positive I guess:)

capitalism, the IMF....and why Greece is in deep doo doo

As we enter the new year, I can't help but think of what's in store for poor old Greece in 2011 (and beyond)? In relation to the IMF, paraphrasing Chomsky probably sums it up best;
Under the rules of our western run world economy, investors make loans to third world tyrannies, and since the loans carry considerable risk, usually make high profits. But when the borrower defaults -in a capitalist economy the lenders would incur the loss - but existing "capitalism" really functions quite differently. If the borrowers cannot pay debts, then the "benevolent" IMF steps in to guarantee that lenders and investors are protected. The debt is transferred to the poor population of the debtor country, who never borrowed the money in the first place. This method is apparently called "structural adjustment". The designers of the international economy demand that the poor accept market discipline, but they ensure that they themselves are protected from its ravages.........ominous signs for Greece me thinks?
But like a friend of mine says; "the IMF never helps, it's there to enslave, make profits through creating a crises in many countries and then purporting to be your friend. Look at it's aims and why it was formed. Nothing has changed over the years, just its focus on carousel countries . It's a money vampire, insatiable and like a junkie looking for it's next hit"
Sums it up nicely I reckon?

who are we, and where are we headed?

On the 110th anniversary of Australian Federation, I got to thinking.......
What does it say about us as a country that we have few real constitutional rights, they we're reigned over by the descendants of a long dead German aristocrat, that the British Govt has special powers to enact racist laws, but no settlement with descendants of those who have lived here for 50,000 years?
What does it say when (unlike most civilized democracies) the federal govt offers no legal guarantee to it's citizens of rights to live free from torture or inhumane treatment?
So I ask the question, how can any educated thinking person oppose a Republic, or a Bill of Rights?
Some argue, if it aint broke, don't fix it! But I would argue that it is very much broken and needs fixing!....

footballers causing trouble

Following the recent arrest of Australian Rules footballer Brendan Fevola for the umpteenth time, the issue of unruly sports stars is in the news again.
In recent times some social commentators have taken the view that the sports clubs should take more responsibility in the social welfare of their athletes, and not spit them out when they're no longer useful or have strayed in the wrong direction.
Well I have to disagree with this viewpoint to some extent, (in this case) these football clubs are employing highly paid professionals to perform a task, with the historic trade off being the clubs excusing and/or covering up their crimes (moral and perhaps occasionally illegal?). Top level football clubs are part of an industry - a business that makes money for highly paid players and administrators, and as the blindly parochial are slowly finding out, there's no room for sentiment or loyalty towards the supporters in this game.
But back to my point, all the recent talk about player counselling and sensitivity training is nothing but PR smoke and mirrors, designed to downplay the fact that allot of these guys are just arrogant troublesome jerks with an inflated opinion of themselves. The reputation of "the club" is all that matters....and by that I mean its ability to keep making money for everyone on the gravy train.
So no, I don't think we need to mollycoddle these footballers any more, if their massive PR machine can't hide or downplay their latest scandals, then they need to live or die by their actions. At the end of the day it's a two way street - we'll cover your arse as best we can, but if you keep crossing that line, then you're on your own....and good luck with your futures endeavours.
Ps. Don't wait by the phone for us to ring back...........