A conservative's view of US08 presidential race

Issue	Obama	Clinton	McCain	Aligned
Abortion on Demand	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Affirmative Action	Strongly Favors	Favors	Opposes
Homosexual Rights	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Favors	X
School Prayer	Opposes	Opposes	Favors
Death Penalty	Opposes	Favors	Strongly Favors
3 Strike Sentencing Laws	Opposes	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Private Gun Ownership	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Socialized Medicine	Favors	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Privatize Social Security	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
School Choice	Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Restrictive Energy Policy	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Favors	X
Enforce Drug Laws	Strongly Opposes	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Church Based Welfare	Favors	Favors	Strongly Favors	X
Increased Punitive Taxation	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Illegal Immigration	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Favors	X
Free Trade	Opposes	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Expand Armed Forces	Opposes	Opposes	Favors
Restrict Campaign Funding	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	X
Patriot Act	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
War on Terror	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Liberal Positions in RED   Conservative Positions in BLUE   Chart found at The New Media Journal.US

iParliament delivers little for NSW North Coast browsers

iParliament is quite a good idea. An easy to navigate one-stop shop allowing your local Federal MP to highlight official records, media releases, articles etc., for their electorate's attention.

Alas, although North Coast MPs Saffin, Elliot and Hartsuyker are listed as members of this site they have yet to post any entries.

A opportunity gone to waste it would seem.

An American look at global food shortages. Just how vulnerable are First World countries?

How Far is the US From Food Shortages and Food Riots?

by Monica Davis ( davis4000_2000 [at] yahoo.com )
Saturday Apr 12th, 2008 2:37 PM

 

Even the United States is not immune from the potential for food shortages, food riots and food insecurity. We're just blind to the possibility.

As Americans complain over high gasoline and food prices, many third world countries are experiencing food riots over price and scarcity of food. In some parts of the word rice is so expensive that it is transported in heavily guarded convoys and farmers guard their fields from thieves.---

Experts say the high prices will continue for years, putting billions of people at risk for malnutrition or starvation. World leaders continue to cast fearful eyes at the burgeoning bio-fuels industry, noting that the competition generated by the industrial biofuels industry and food agriculture is pushing up food prices and making it more profitable to grow fuel crops for industrialized countries than it is for big farmers in Third World countries to grow food for their own citizens.---

 

So far, Americans are mostly bystanders in the game, content to grumble at the gas pump and complain in the grocery aisles. As a "First World" nation, the United States so far has not been subject to the food riots, which we have seen in Haiti and other parts of the world. Americans have more per capita income than much of the world; hence the crisis of the Third World, so far, is inconvenience in the "First World" and in developed nations such as the United States.

That said, however, we must understand that this situation is not sustainable. While Americans do have more disposable income than the rest of the word, that income is not unlimited and our food supply is much more vulnerable than we think. When it comes to food security, both in terms of supply and accessibility, this country is much more vulnerable than we think.

As one retired grain salesman noted, most of the nation's grain is moved around the country by just TWO railroads. Little is stored in the event of disaster and the whole system is extremely vulnerable. While we in the United States look at the food riots in other countries with a sense of disbelief, we are not immune. Under the right circumstances, we could be in the same boat. (Ibid)

In order for riots to break out the whole food supply doesn't have to be wiped out. It just has to be threatened sufficiently. When people realize their vulnerability and the fact that there is no short-term solution to a severe enough drought in the Midwest they will have no clue as to what they should do. Other nations can't make up the difference because no other nation has a surplus of grain in good times let alone in times when they are having droughts and floods also. (Robert Felix, "US Food Riots Much Closer than You Think")

Critics say the US is currently too preoccupied with foreign excursions and oil to pay attention to food security, particularly how concentration of suppliers and processors threaten the food chain. The highly concentrated meat processing industry has generated millions of pounds of recalls this year. Outbreaks in e.coli and other food borne pathogens continue to haunt the headlines, as food prices rise around the world.

 

Complete article here.

Desperate measures for desperate times in Liberal Land

With Brendan Nelson failing to secure good opinion poll figures and John Howard always inconveniently popping up on the evening news to remind voters that no matter how the Liberals try to re-brand themselves they remain arrogant little dictators at heart, rumour is starting to surface that some Canberra party heavies are becoming rather desperate.

One or two are even said to be hunting for a connection (any connection) between the Rudd family and the NSW political donations scandal.

Apparently search engines have been running hot and now these little possums are beginning to scratch above ultra-violet and dig below infra-red in an effort to find something which will go crack-boom during the next round of Question Time.

So far they appear to be having limited success, but are providing a bit of amusement for those ever present watchers on the hill.

Nelson's mob seem to have a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock these days.

Barack hits back at 'elitist' jibe, but doesn't miss a beat in money raising efforts

Using the Obama for President email campaign as a guideline, one can be forgiven for thinking that an American president is being chosen solely on the success of fundraising efforts.
Here is today's email hitting out at Clinton and McCain while shoving a begging bowl under the nose.

You've probably heard about the latest dust-up in the Democratic race.
A few days ago, Barack spoke about the frustrations that working people in this country are feeling and said what we all know is true: that many people are bitter and angry because they believe their government isn't listening to them.
You and I both know that the hope of changing that reality is what drives the unprecedented support for this campaign from ordinary people in every part of the country.
But our opponents have been spinning the media and peddling fake outrage around the clock. John McCain's campaign, which will continue the George Bush economic policies that have devastated the middle class, called Barack out of touch and elitist. And Hillary Clinton, who is the candidate who said lobbyists represent real people, didn't just echo the Republican candidate's talking points: she actually used the very same words to pile on with more attacks.
These comments show just how out of touch Senator McCain and Senator Clinton are with the reality of what's happening in this election.
We've built the broadest campaign of ordinary people in the history of presidential politics -- and more people across this country have voted for Barack Obama than either one of them.
And we've done it the right way: our campaign is funded by everyday people giving $5 or more. That's distinctly different from Senator McCain and Senator Clinton, who both rely on money from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.
There's nothing elitist about a movement of more than a million people standing up for a different kind of politics.
If you're fed up with these kinds of tired attacks, you can do something about it right now. We're setting a goal of 1.5 million people giving to this campaign by May 6th.
Right now, one of those million people who have already given to our campaign is waiting to match your first donation. No matter what amount you choose to give, our system will match you with a supporter who has promised to match someone's first donation today.
You can see for yourself exactly what kind of movement this is. When you make your donation, you'll see the name and town of the person just like you who matched your gift. You'll also see a note from them with their story and why they gave, if they chose to write one.
You'll double the impact of your donation if you make a matching gift right now. Will you help fight back now?
http://my.barackobama.com/match
Barack Obama's own life and story are reflected in the character of this grassroots campaign. He was raised by a single mother with help from his grandparents. He has a family he loves, not long ago finished paying off his student loans, and he's doing what he can to help change this country.
That's what he's done for his entire career. After graduating, he became a community organizer, working with people in Chicago who -- like many people across the country right now -- felt left behind by their leaders.
When you make a matching donation, you'll be paired with someone with that same sense that it's time for a government that is responsible to the people for a change.
Someone is waiting to hear your story, and to share theirs with you. If you can support the campaign at this crucial moment, you'll be able to share your story about why you're committed to this campaign.
And because this is a matching donation, your gift of $25 will be doubled by another supporter. You'll have twice the impact and help reach our unprecedented 1.5 million-person goal. Make a matching donation now and be a part of history:
http://my.barackobama.com/match
The attacks from the Clinton campaign -- on Barack Obama himself, and on supporters like you -- can be expected to increase as her chances of winning dwindle further.
A few weeks ago, one of her top aides tried to diminish our success by referring to the places we've won as "boutique" states and to our supporters as the "latte-sipping crowd."
That means 30 states and territories -- twice as many as Senator Clinton has won -- qualify as "boutique." And the nearly 15 million people who have voted for us (again, more than Senator Clinton) must drink a lot of latte.
It's clear that Senator Clinton will continue to say or do anything as her campaign gets more and more negative.
But 1.5 million donors will be an astonishing and undeniable signal that it isn't the elites fueling this movement -- it's the American people.
That starts with you.
Thank you,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

How clean are our Northern Rivers valleys?

The Australian National Pollution Inventory allows you to take a tour of your area by post code and see exactly what significant pollutants are considered to occur in local industry.
Something perhaps NSW North Coast residents in all our many valleys should be doing.

Here is a snapshot of northern NSW Clarence Valley basically listing the substances which are required to be reported.

Yamba post code area only has 2 substances from 7 sources, which are nitrogen and phosphorus coming from agricultural activity.
Across the Clarence River and into the Iluka post code area showed that a very similar profile existed to that in Yamba.
While in the Maclean post code the plot thickens with 10 substances out of 15 sources, mostly coming from mineral, metal and chemical wholesaling with some from agricultural activity.
In the Harwood post code there were 33 substances from 8 sources, mainly coming from the sugar manufacturing in the area.
Grafton post code had 28 substances from 20 sources, adding log sawmilling, timber dressing and other wood product manufacturing to the first two broad categories.

Unfortunately this only tells a fraction of a very complex story - a little herbicide or pesticide anyone?

How dumb is Liberal Frontbencher Christopher Pyne?

Answer: As dumb as proverbial dog sh*t!

Today's Age reports that Pyne, the Liberal Party Federal Member for Sturt (SA), holds the view that the electoral system should be changed so that if a member of the House of Representatives retired, his [sic] party could choose a replacement to see out the term.

What a coincidence! Pyne is running with this line at a time when a number of coalition rats are gearing themselves up to jump ship despite having stood before their electorates not so long ago and declared their intentions of representing those electorates for the term of the current parliament.

Yes, Christopher, the election was only as far back as 24th November 2007.

Already, Peter McGauran, a Nationals' MP, has pulled the plug and created a vacancy in the Victorian seat of Gippsland.

Who'll be the next rat? Will it be Pyne's fellow crow eater, the out-to-lunch Member for Mayo, Alexander (of fishnet tights fame) Downer? Or, will it be the Nats' Mark Vaile, who has already done a spot of moonlighting?

Sorry, Christopher, but if your colleagues are not prepared to go the distance of a full term in Opposition and you would have electorates saved the expense of a by-election then a more palatable solution could be to have the candidate who finished second in the election fill the vacancy.

Of course, we could always require retiring MPs to fork out and contribute towards the expenses of the by-election.

Are these the nongs who want to set off rabbit hunts at the office?

Yesterday I woke to find that the Rudd Government had lost its tiny mind and finally lurched so far right that it was convincingly lost in a strange black ops forest.

Yep, it had called up the terrorist bogey man to insist that it was fit and proper to let an employer snoop unannounced into every email passing through an office computer or a company laptop being used by a worker while out in the big bad world.

 

So who or what has been whispering in the shell-like ears of our fearless Cabinet members?

After US Homeland Security and FBI, the first Aussie culprit appears to be The Research Network for a Secure Australia, a "multi-disciplinary collaboration established to strengthen Australia's research capacity for protecting critical infrastructure from natural or human caused disasters including terrorist acts" and provide security "commercialisation opportunities", funded by the Australian Government (at least until next year) and administered by Melbourne University.

 

Looking at the Network's management and advisory line up, I am flabbergasted that all these academics and professionals could apparently come up with to 'protect' Australia from cyber threats was a plan to spy on ordinary people.

 

The management committee contacts are:

A/Prof. Priyan Mendis
Reader, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
The University of Melbourne,
Prof. Ed Dawson

Director- Information Security Institute
Queensland University of Technology
Prof. Joseph Lai
Associate Dean (Research)
UNSW @ ADFA
Australian Defence Force Academy

 

Its advisory committee is made up of the following:

Chair:
Mr. Mike Rothery (Director, Critical Infrastructure Branch, Attorney-General's Dept.).

Members:
Dr. Richard Davis (Head, NSST Unit);
Dr. Lynn Booth (DSTO);
Mr. Bruce Howard (Engineers Australia, Security Commissioner);
Prof. Ed Dawson (QUT);
Prof. Peter Anderson (PICT, Macquarie University);
Mr. Jason Brown (General Manager, Thales);
Craig Sharkie (CSL Ltd);
Tony Sleigh (NSW Lands);
Mr. Warwick Watkins (Director-General NSW Lands);
A/Prof Priyan Mendis (Convenor of RNSA);
Prof. Joseph Lai (ADFA);
Ms. Jennie Clothier (DSTO);
Mr. Terry Vincent (Australian Bomb Data Centre).

Advisory Board Secretary:
Mr. Athol Yates (Australian Homeland Security Research Centre)

 

The Australian Homeland Security Research Centre  which gives the advisory board its secretary also has an expertise roll call that makes for interesting reading. An employment background  combination of business, military, embassy and spooks all seemingly looking to sell us something to fight that bogeyman.

 

Of course the bogeyman is just as likely to be an infrastructure company like Telstra who very recently repaired an internet exchange box storm-damage fault with an equally faulty computer card and launched its own 2-day denial of service cyber attack on Yamba customers by bringing down its broadband service.

And in the process actually realising the observation that being struck by lightening is more probable than a terrorist attack!

Rudd Government disappoints over personal privacy and the workplace

Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard and the Federal Attorney-General may have announced the Rudd Government's intention to allow business to secretly snoop on employees e-mails, but it is easy to see Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy's puritanical hand in all this as well.

Even if this holier-than-thou senator has nothing up on his website or that of his department at the moment.

 

According to The Age almost any business in Australia which considers itself vital to the national economy will be given these new intercept powers.

Apparently on the basis that every worker is now a potential terrorist threat and every emailed picture of their youngest's first tooth or of last Saturday's party is likely to be a cyber attack.

 

Though I honestly doubt that US Homeland Security-driven Cyber Storm ll simulations conducted globally and here in March actually came to such a conclusion.

The weeklong exercise 18 months in the planning and involved 18 U.S. federal agencies, 5 countries, 9 states, 40 companies, and 10 information sharing and analysis centres. This 'war game' involved disruptions of telecommunications, the Internet and control systems.

Indeed its interim conclusions appeared to be more about further global linking of government and corporate bodies and increased information sharing. 

The 2006 Cyber Storm l report also did not identify e-mail traffic as a potential problem.

 

One has to wonder exactly how monitoring what an employee writes will suddenly stop cyber attacks involving e-mails.

Especially when this seems to be the usual scenario.

 

Top-level business executives, including CEOs, presidents, CIOs, and CFOs, are being directly targeted by e-mails containing malicious Trojans. Cyberattackers know how to follow the money, which is why they often set their sights on companies that are rich with customer data that can be sold online to other attackers and to fraudsters. Now it's getting personal, with top-level business executives, including CEOs, presidents, CIOs, and CFOs, finding themselves being directly targeted by e-mails containing malicious Trojans.

 

All of which points to flaws in company security software as the major security problem. However, rather than invest in some form of reliable secure mail relay, corporate Australia wants to spy in the workplace instead.

A move that appears to have more to do with a corporate desire to find whistle-blowers or build a case to move unpopular employees out the door.

 

Today's The Age article.

 

The proposal has been slammed by civil liberty groups, who say the new laws would be abused by employers.

"These new powers will facilitate fishing expeditions into employees' e-mails and computer use rather than being used to protect critical infrastructure," said Dale Clapperton from Electronic Frontiers Australia.

"I'm talking about corporate eavesdropping and witch-hunts ... If an employer wanted to bone someone, they could use these powers."

The government hopes to have the new laws in place by the middle of next year.

 

The biggest mistake that Kevin Rudd made on taking government was to leave Howard's neo-con public service mandarins in place. Their advice frequently borders on the unsafe or absurd and the Rudd Ministry is showing itself as foolish in its reliance on such advice.

 

It is disappointing to see Julia Gillard lend her name to this intrusive cyber nonsense. She was the one Labor politician I thought would not lose her perspective simply because she was now part of government.

I suggest that Ms. Gillard look at whether Australian business executives have truly tried all other alternatives to what is now suggested.

She might start by asking them all to complete this Security School multichoice quiz to see if they even understand what e-mail security is about.

A Harvard student spills the beans on that speech - John Howard bored, fizzled and embarrassed

In last Thursday's issue of The Harvard Independent Student one Australian gave an undergraduate

view of John Howard's university speech and his meeting with the 'great leader'.

 

Here are some highlights.

 

"It was to the collective antipodean chagrin that John Howard, recently voted out of government in Australia, was repeatedly referred to as "Prime Minister" on his recent visit to the Kennedy School of Government's IOP forum. Perhaps I am mistaken, but "Prime Minister" is not to my knowledge an honorific title that once acquired is taken to the grave."

 

"When I implied that the Australian tertiary education system was held together by chewing gum and fee paying foreign students Mr. Howard stuttered:"Yes, well there's been a flood of Chinese students taking advantage of the opportunities presenting themselves." Such is the delicacy of the man. He might as well have alluded to the "Yellow Peril" without actually addressing my point."

 

"The Howards wanted to know what we all planned to do. Around we went, finance, law, and charity featuring prominently. When I said I wanted to be a journalist Mr. Howard grimaced a little, like a man discovering spoilage in an otherwise preserved bottle of red. He exlaimed, "A journo! What do you want to spend your time writing about people like me for?"
What indeed. Fortunately, before I could explain myself an anemic looking aid came in and suggested we leave. The talk was beginning."

 

"John Howard doesn't speak from text. He freestyles with the convincing invective of a stuttering schoolboy debater. It has a charm, it must be conceded, but it is not the silky polish of Bill Clinton or the merciless sophistry of Tony Blaire. He misuses words, jumbles them and draws on an outdated vocabulary.

Howard appears to be at pains to prove things that are self-evident. He has the conservative, unimaginative, "we know what we know" way of talking which must have made him very convincing in suburban litigation. Good fences make good neighbors."

 

"The speech gave little insight into Sino-Australian or American-Australian relations and, but for some irksome factual errors, succeeded in boring the majority of those in attendance. At one stage, Mr. Howard referred to Australia as a "Western European nation" in the Asian Pacific region. Cringe. It was full of classic Howard half-tautologies that meant nothing, yet were exasperatingly inefficient: "I've learned over the years from my time in politics that the substance of what you do is more important than the symbolism; but also symbolism can mean a great deal and can say a lot about relations between society's and nations."

Q. When is a media release not a good idea? A. When you are the Federal Shadow Minister for Business Development

On 2nd April Nationals MP for Cowper and very vague Shadow Minister for Business Development, Luke Hartsuyker, had a brilliant idea and sent out a media release on the evils of the Rudd Government.

The local freebie newspaper Clarence Valley Review picked up on the media release a week later under the front page headline Hartsuyker blames Rudd for unemployment rise.

So far so good. Start anticipating a run on the board.

However this little National did not plan far enough ahead. He didn't tee up a few tame local fellow travellers to supply a quote or two.

Which left me chortling, because not one of the four business chamber leaders contacted and quoted by the reporter agreed with Luke.

Indeed he was called 'hasty' and found guilty of a 'knee jerk reaction' and the general opinion appears to have been that the rise in the December 2007 Small Area Labour Market unemployment figures (between .02-.04 of a percentage point) was more likely due to interest rate rises.

All that Mr. Hartsuyker got in exchange for his trouble was a very red face. The evidence of which was delivered to around 18,000 households and businesses in the Clarence Valley.

Somebody should remind the Member for Cowper that flirting with the media is always a dangerous occupation. 

Governor-General Her Excellency Ms. Quentin Bryce AC - how sweet the sound

Although you can't see it, the grin I am wearing stretches from ear-to-ear.

Raised in an era when the lives of women and girls were constricted and confined by various religious, social and economic taboos, I may have seen quite a few things change on the way to 2008 but I never thought to see the day when Australia's Head of State would have a female Vice-Regal representative.

The words Governor-General Her Excellency Ms. Quentin Bryce AC trip like sweet music from the tongue.

 

The Courier Mail report earlier today.

 

How Queenslanders sees Her Excellency and Queensland Government official brief biography.

Save those Casino cows!

With Northern Rivers councils seemingly intent on concreting and pebblecreting every available public space lately, it is good to see an elderly woman take a stand against Richmond Valley Council's plan to paint over a much-loved and quirky local mural. Council is quite happy to undertake a shire-wide rates revision which would see more money in its pockets, but is not willing to spend a little to have a local artist or signwriter repair this mural. Sound your horn as you pass council chambers this week and let those councillors know that public art (even smiley cows) matters!

Cats at nine paces during the US presidential election

Watermark's Friday Cat Blogging had these American politcal cats.

Brendan may have lost his shine when he ditched that earring, but did Malcolm ever sparkle in the first place?

The Liberal Party ship hasn't stopped yawing since the federal election last year and often appears perilously close to floundering on one political reef or another.

Brendan Nelson's poor opinion poll showing and unfortunate way with words once more has God's own party canvassing a change of leadership. Eyes are again turning to Malcolm Turnbull.

It's almost as if the ship's crew are intent on sending the boat to the bottom.

As Environment Minister during the last years of the Howard Government he is less than fondly remembered by Tassie and northern NSW for his high-handed attempts to wreck our lands, rivers and coastal oceans.

This is the same man whose history caused The Canberra Times Crispin Hull to write in March this year about the former banker's alleged role in the estimated $900 million HIH collapse and the subsequent court case now underway.

 

"Turnbull still has difficulties. He will be fighting a major case with a lot of publicity. His conduct will be under intense scrutiny. Political enemies and commentators will do their utmost to draw the worst possible inferences from whatever happens during the case. And the timing is appalling. The full case will get to court next year. Given the number of parties, the vast numbers of documents and complexity of legal argument over things such as privilege and meanings in the Corporations Law, the case is likely go on for some time."

Turnbull has quite reasonably refused to "rule out" a leadership challenge under the Howard principle. Former prime minister John Howard when in opposition and government as both deputy and leader said the leadership was always open. Loyal deputies should not have to "rule out" challenges.

This puts the parliamentary Liberal Party in a bind, especially in the face of appalling opinion poll figures for Brendan Nelson.

If the figures do not move, MPs will get restless. They will not want a further swing to Labor at the 2010 (or possibly 2011) election. Ditching Nelson is one thing; finding a suitable replacement is another. Without the HIH case, Turnbull would be the obvious choice. With HIH, they will be taking a risk. Even if Turnbull wins the case, it will be a long distraction at the minimum.

The worse case would be an order for him to pay millions of dollars in damages and a finding of deceptive conduct as alleged by the liquidator a finding no political leader could weather.

Those MPs might also question Turnbull's assessment of "baseless" when pitted against NSW requirements that legal advisers certify a case has "reasonable prospects of success" before proceeding on pain of costs orders against the legal advisers themselves, not just the client."

Is Brendan Nelson related to Joh Bjelke-Petersen?

Been wondering where Brendan Nelson gets his ideas from?

Well, wonder no more. He's been reading The Incomplete Works of Joh the Great - the unpublished personal memoirs of the late (and great, as in fantastic) husband of Queensland's most famous pumpkin scone baker.

Speaking on Sydney radio 2UE this week, Nelson dropped a couple of pure Johisms, but the one that took the cake was his "Just (you) wait and see."

The Sydney Morning Herald's Alan Ramsay provides readers with extracts of Nelson's chat this week with 2UE's Mike Carlton.

Nelson was talking about speculation he is a seat-warmer for Malcolm Turnbull.

2UE's Mike Carlton: "The cruel speculation about you, you must read it every day, that you're merely a seat-warmer for Malcolm Turnbull, that you're there to absorb some of the blows of defeat, and eventually the party will flick you and toss the leadership to Turnbull. You're aware of that?"

Nelson: "Yeah, of course I'm aware of it. And it's nonsense. I've had people underestimating me for 20 years. I'm very determined in this. I've already started the process of policy reform. I'm very focused and determined that we will present an attractive alternative."

Carlton: "You've got to say that. And full marks to do you for saying it. But every time you talk to the Liberal Party, or you pick up a newspaper and read it - and it's there again in the papers this morning - poor old Brendan, lovely bloke, nice fella, we'll leave him in for a bit until it gets hard and then it'll go to Turnbull."

Nelson: "Well, you just watch and see. You'll see how we go. And Malcolm Turnbull is obviously an extraordinarily intelligent, capable and successful man … he's doing a terrific job as the alternative treasurer. But you just wait and see."

Earlier, this exchange took place:

Carlton: "Nice to talk to you. You're looking very spick and span at this hour of the morning. Up and at 'em and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. How do you do it?"

Nelson: "Well, I am and every day. Firstly, it's important that you get up early, you get across what's happening in the news, and plan the day. And my mother always said that I should be neatly presented."

What other helpful advice did Nelson's mother give him? No doubt she also told him to wear clean underwear, just in case he gets hit by a bus.

Ramsey, at his best, added this gem:

God help us then if the Liberal Party leaves Brendan to muck along as leader. The man is trying, but he's got no idea. None at all. Neither do most of his colleagues or those who now fill the 70 taxpayer-funded staff positions with Nelson and his Opposition frontbench. At a staff meeting soon after the Coalition's defeat last November, party officials asked the 400-plus redundant ministerial staffers how many had previously worked in Opposition? Five raised their hands. Five!

The blind are leading the blind.

And, just for good measure, Ramsey included this:

Nelson: "My mother rings me every second day. A cartoon, she'll say. 'I've seen your cartoon, I've read a story', and so on. I just say, 'Don't worry, Mum. We're going all right'."

Ramsey: No he's not, Mum. He's doing his best but the job is beyond him. When even old farts like me start to feel sorry for him, you have to accept your son has no chance of surviving, let alone winning. None at all.

Read the complete piece by Ramsey here.

Senator Fielding goosestepping us all towards a political and social straightjacket

At the 24 November 2007 federal election the Family First Party ran 129 House of Representatives and 23 Senate candidates, according to Senator Steven Fielding's website.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission website, Fielding was the only Family First candidate actually elected.

 

One would think that this might indicate to both parliament and government that the majority of the national electorate had rather convincingly rejected Family First's political philosophy.

One would also think that other senators would recall that Fielding's avowed aim is to act as a 'spoiler' in the Senate.

So it came as a rather rude surprise when Crikey reported the following yesterday.

Senators caught up in the Fielding Filth Filter 

Bernard Keane writes:

Steve Fielding, the Senate choice of 1.88% of Victorians, is obsessed with p-rnography. Since he arrived in Canberra, no Estimates session has been complete without Fielding earnestly declaring that Australian families weren't safe from the flood of p-rn ready to roll out of their PCs. His greatest direct contribution to public policy since he was "elected" was to badger the Howard Government into wasting tens of millions of dollars on the ludicrous Netalert internet filter scheme.

Now he has managed to impose the views of his bizarre monotheistic cult on other Senators and their staff. Since 28 March, Senators have been prevented from accessing "inappropriate" internet content at the request of Senator Fielding, who has convinced Senate President Alan Ferguson to impose the same filter as that in place for bureaucrats, though not the Parliamentary Library.

Accordingly, anything related to s-x, drugs, weapons or other "inappropriate content", regardless of what it actually is, is blocked.

Senator Lyn Allison has written to Ferguson demanding to know why Fielding was permitted to impose his own reactionary view of the online world on other Senators, who determines what is "inappropriate" and how Senators are supposed to do their job properly.

Allison reels off a number of topics now blocked by the Fielding Filth Filter: reproductive health; s-xualisation of children; drug abuse and rehabilitation, the opium crop in Afghanistan, weapons trading – all issues of legitimate interest to those engaged in the policy process, and all now blocked as "inappropriate".---

The only available evidence that any politician has been using the Parliament House network to look for inappropriate content comes from the culprit himself – Senator Fielding, who last year boasted of his ability to obtain p-rn from his Parliament House computer---

 

Reporters Without Borders offers tips for those lucky souls still outside the Fielding-Ferguson-Conroy butterfly net who want to remain free to research, post and comment.

Almost time to hit the track for Casino Beef Week, 27 May to 3 June 2008

The NSW North Coast Casino Beef Week Festival is only weeks away. Mark your calendars for a fun time.

 

Festival Events

Tuesday 27th Fashion Parade   Friday 30th Beef Industry Breakfast - free breakfast in Walker Street from 7am, entertainment, face painting, and more Beef Week Cup Race Meeting   Saturday 31st Street Carnival Day from 8am Beef cattle auction Stud beef competition Art and Craft exhibition Wood chopping Show n Shine car show Street entertainment, food and market stalls, whip cracking, and more Street Parade, 1.30pm Rodeo, 4.30pm Sunday 1st June Family fun day, 9am  Dr Harry Old McDonald's Farm Farmer's market Market stalls Draught Horse Field Day, 9am  Ploughing competition Best dressed cart Damper and stew DOWNLOAD FULL PROGRAM HERE

Hillsong make monkeys out of bunnies

Hillsong 1 defeated Rabbitohs nil

Sydney rugby league club South Sydney, the Rabbitohs, have been made to look like absolute dills by playing follow the leader and responding to a tune harped by the bible-bashing Hillsong mob.

The Rabbitohs, along with a number of piss-poor politicians and self-serving business leaders, are supporting the Hillsong Church in its bid to build a super-dooper church in Sydney's inner city.

The weird team of bedfellows supporting this proposal includes the right-wing religious rat bag Fred Nile and the Liberal's Scott Morrison, federal member for Cook, who was previously a director of the NSW Liberal Party.

Want another opinion on this matter? See Oz Atheist.

Facebook digital board games helped win the Australian 2007 federal election?

A National Library of Australia staff paper The 2007 Federal Election and the Internet is quite firm on the point that the Internet is beginning to impact on federal election campaigns.
Election 2007 staff paper link.

It is clear now that the 2007 federal election can safely be adjudged as the first in which the Internet became not just the repository for information, but also a tool both to communicate policies with the public and to allow potential voters to in return interact in multiple ways with the parties and their candidates. It is impossible to say what effect this may have had on the electoral outcome, and assuredly as in previous elections not every voter would have visited an election website. However, the Internet is now and remains the only medium in which all those involved in elections are present. It is the only place that the general public can examine political parties' policies as the days of the printed manifesto or policy brochure are long gone. It is also therefore the place of record and as such needs to be preserved. Democracy requires the political process to be open and accountable, maintaining an archive of online election documentation, media statements and policies therefore is a vital component of that process.---

Unsuccessful and essentially pointless use of social networking was that by politicians who did not actually themselves create or maintain their profiles instead letting party staffers intermittently update them. The only benefit that 'friends' got from these sources was an occasional press release. However, many other less high profile candidates, particularly those who were not sitting, used the opportunity to create networks, communicate their views and motivate supporters. Successful social networking involves giving over something of your self, sharing interests and activities. Thus a candidate who was prepared to converse, take quizzes, play scrabble games and other quotidian activities on Facebook, was far more likely to develop friendships which could translate into votes.---

Blogs have been a feature of the Australian Internet landscape for a number of years. The blogosphere is now a mature feature of political discourse. However being mature has meant that political affiliations on most influential or popular blogs have become fixed and it is made very clear on most of them which political persuasion is dominant. On some of these blogs comment facilities exist only for those who agree with the blog's political line and discussion or dispute is treating as emanating from 'trolls'- trolls being the popular term for generally pseudonymous online agitators who enjoy causing controversy and baiting other users. However, it is also the case that a number of open forum websites and blogs are used not as a place for debate, but somewhere where interested parties (often un-disclosed party staffers) try to score points. Consequently, the more open arena for balanced and non-partisan comment and analysis was on the psephology blogs. There are a number of amateur and professional psephologists in Australia, most of whom seem to have websites and blogs. Some such as Possum Comitatus (http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-77602), Peter Brent (http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-42909) and William Bowe (http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-42908) maintain large sites continuously and have been doing so for a number of years. These sites cater both for voters or offer policy guidance but primarily provide election predictions and analysis of other's predictions and of other opinion poll derived data.

Meanwhile the Australian Electoral Commission supported Youth Electoral Study No. 4 looking at today's 'apathetic' youth was recently released. Study No. 4 link.

Besides a surprisingly high estimation of 300,000 18-24 year olds not bothering to sign onto the electoral roll, the study shows that while youth generally votes for the first time without a strong previous attachment to a specific political party, young women are more likely to reach their majority without this firm commitment and politicians are in with a chance with these women if they address social and environmental issues.

There is obviously a lesson or two for future election candidates in all this, as well as reasons for internet users to be cautious about political content.

"Government doesn't listen to us blackfellas anymore"

In a recent conversation I was told: "Government doesn't listen to us blackfellas anymore."

Four and a half months after Labor won federal government, it is unfortunate but not exactly surprising that this feeling still exists here on the NSW North Coast.

 

Labor MPs Janelle Saffin and Justine Elliott and Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker would do well to consider that it takes more than bi-partisan token gestures to bridge the divide perpetuated and often deepened by previous governments and parliaments.

 

Apart from Andrew Hegedus as a Clarence co-facilitator, how many people from local indigenous communities actually attended the two Labor sponsored three-hour Clarence Valley 2020 local summit meetings held on 4 & 5 April 2008?

 

Whatever local summit media release went out after these meetings obviously didn't contain much about Clarence indigenous views because nary a word from this perspective appeared in the online news media or any newspapers which came my way.

 

I await media coverage of the Lismore 2020 local summit next week with interest.

Perhaps that media release might also tell those without the means to attend exactly who was there creating the documents supposedly carrying our collective voices to Canberra at the end of the month.

Dr. 'I'm listening' Nelson fails to rate a blip on Google Trends this month

Poor Brendan Nelson didn't even raise a blip on this Google Trends graph covering worldwide searches for his name compared to that of Kevin Rudd, starting 30 March and ending 6 April 2008.
It seems his listening tour is not inspiring anyone to find out more about him.

* "kevin rudd" * "brendan nelson"

A waterfront opportunity Labor may find too hard to resist

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Federal Labor are said to be considering eventually revoking those 'conclusive certificates' the former Howard Government slapped on documents covering the Australian waterfront dispute and mass sackings by Patricks Stevedores.

Won't that set the cat among the pigeons ten years down the track!

Perhaps we will be able to find out the truth of the rumour that John Howard 'engineered' this dispute and used $150 million of taxpayers money to underwrite those sackings.

At least we would probably get to see the 1998 ACIL-I aka Waterfront Strategy reported to be authored by consultant Paul Houlihan.

Howard and Reith may have led the charge to bring down the Maritime Union, but many of the current Coalition front bench were around in 1998.

Little Brennie Nelson was an MP at the time and became Secretary, Government Members' Employment, Education and Workplace Relations Committee in that same year.

And you thought cricketers played for the love of the game

Ever wondered what motivates a bloke - okay, and the odd sheila - to don the creams and play cricket? Well, Aussie cricketer Stuart MacGill (pictured below - thanks, Sydney Morning Herald!) has let the cat out of the bag.


According to MacGill, "People have many different motivations. For some it's ego, some it's for appearances, some it's for cash, for some it's to be a pain in the arse and for some it's to get out of the house."

However, MacGill reckons money is the primary motive for some of Australia's cricketers to play the game.

"I don't think it's a problem - provided the guy does his job I don't care what the motivation is."

Confirming just how out of touch Australian cricket's establishment is Australia's chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, rejected the idea that players were driven by money despite a survey, commissioned by the Australian Cricketers' Association, showing that 47 per cent of national and 49 per cent of state players would consider an early retirement to play in lucrative Twenty20 tournaments.

Read more about this matter in today's Sydney Morning Herald here.

The global warming fencesitter's dilemma

Playing devil's advocate to win from http://xkcd.com

Cease & Desist requests - one of the less travelled paths during the Obama v Clinton v McCain contest

It would appear that blogger allegations of Republican sexism and racism have entered the US presidential race, resulting in this little missive.

February 26, 2008

Sender Information:
SurveyU
Sent by: [Private]
[Private]
New York, New York, USA

Recipient Information:
[Private]
[Private]
New York, NY, 10009, USA

Sent via: Email
Re: Inaccurate article at http://jdel.tumblr.com/post/27338177

[Private],

We are SurveyU, authors of the survey reproduced in your post of February 26th at http://jdel.tumblr.com/post/27338177.
We are the sole author of the survey and received no payment or other consideration from any organization, including the one identified in your post, to create and distribute the survey. It is our intention to publicly release our analysis of the results.

We therefore request that you immediately amend the post to indicate those facts.

Without regard to your incorrect inferences as to whether this constitutes an attempt to architect attack strategies or create 'push polling', the survey uses a number of constructs commonly used by psychologists to measure attitudes toward race and gender (attached), and does not evidence any pre-determined bias or desired result. We used these constructs to attempt to measure whether race and gender are underlying motivators behind the voting intent of college students.

In a separate section of the survey a series of statements made by Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were randomly assigned to one of the candidates or the other. This research technique is used to uncover any underlying bias that students have toward each candidate by seeing how the electability/appeal ratings differ when the same statement is attributed to each of the candidates.

Since you posted the article without any attempts to verify the accuracy ofyour information, we've gone out of our way to explain the survey methodology and intent to you, however, it appears that your motives are not to understand the research, but instead to draw attention to yourself.

SurveyU is proud of its use of scientific methods of gauging college students sentiment for the purpose of contributing to public discourse. We have produced a number of surveys for this purpose, all of which can be downloaded from http://www.surveyu.com/press_room.php

You are on notice that you have made false implications as to our motivations and our intent. We request that you either remove the post or reprint this letter in its entirety in the body of the post.

[Private]
Co-Founder SurveyU
--
[Private]
SurveyU - The Voice of the American Student

Copy of this request found at Chilling Effects along with a revealing secondary 'related link'.

Writers blogging 'til they drop? Not here in an Antipodean paradise

The New York Times is convinced that the world of web comment is one of 24/7 stress.

 

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

The pressure even gets to those who work for themselves — and are being well-compensated for it.

"I haven't died yet," said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. The site has brought in millions in advertising revenue, but there has been a hefty cost. Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. "At some point, I'll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen."

 

I am tempted to say life's not like that in Australia, but what I will say is life's not like that on the NSW North Coast.

For most of us blogging is tempered with various combinations of family, work, community volunteering, gardening, fishing, reading, walking, crossword puzzles, music, films, t.v., chinwags over coffee, shopping, creating art or crafts, home renovations, beer with mates, football, cricket, swimming and just plain lazing about in a little piece of paradise.

 

But then, I suspect that this is the case for most Australian bloggers. After all it only takes a nanosecond on the Net before pollies like Liberals Senator George Brandis offer up pure dross like Rudd didn't respect the Queen enough: Brandis demanding a prime ministerial 'necking'.

 

Hats off to Ken L. over at Road to Surfdom for alerting the southern hemisphere to the dangers of blogging with his post on the subject.

Imagine there's no relay, it's easy if you try

Could it possibly be that the over-hyped, obscenely expensive, politics riddled and ultra-greenhouse gas emitting Olympic Games has lost it's gloss?

Dare we imagine a world without that over-rated torch relay?

Could we possibly find ourselves finally with an Olympic year which doesn't clog the media with what is essentially sporting trivia?

Well, perhaps not yet - but this year's torch relay may yet signal a welcome return to placing sport in its proper perspective.

Elite athletics is not about world peace, the common good or social harmony. It is definitely not above criticism or social comment when self-indulgent national governments vigorously compete to hold these games and so heavily subsidise their 'sides'.

This year an alternative for free expression in China relay is taking place in hyperspace at www.penpoemrelay.org and on the ground.

Me - I won't be turning up anywhere to watch the flame go past.

The opening ceremony won't be on my teev on the night and the only Olympic sport I might watch will be the short grabs I accidentally see on the nightly news come August 2008.

A peaceful form of boycott? Nope. Simply never could abide all that jingoistic tripe!

The rest I leave to the Prime Minister who is doing a bonza job conveying Australia's official position on Tibet.

Art of the New South Wales North Coast

Dry Clarence Landscape by Robert Moore.

Majestic Gymea Lily by Pamela Griffith.

Focussed on Water by Nicki Holmes

A selection of local artists who exhibit from time to time at Grafton Regional Gallery

Australia 2020 summit not shaping up well

Australia 2020's moral policeman Rev. Tim Costello is in trouble, with the gaming industry pointing to a briefing paper he had prepared for the Strengthening Communities, Supporting Families and Social Inclusion working group which contained factual inaccuracies.

 

The 2020 website now posts all the background papers which disappoint for their lacklustre approach.

 

Longterm Health Strategy - a little gem which describes Australia's health system as "a sophisticated public-private and federal-state blend."

 

Strengthening Communities, Supporting Families and Social Inclusion - Tim hasn't corrected his allegedly faulty statistics.

 

The Future of Rural and Regional Australia - someone discovers that the "agricultural sector is an important source of income in rural Australia" and that "shortages of services and skills exist in rural and regional areas". But the real eye opener is this piece of wishful thinking; "But the agricultural sector is in a strong position to address the challenges of climate change."

 

The Future of Indigenous Australia - has this unique view of Australia's general indifference and underlying racism; "Mainstream attitudes towards Indigenous disadvantage are generally constructive, but the public is not well informed."

 

Governance - sit back and let flawed newspaper polls set government policy, because "Mass media not only relay information to the population. Opinion polls are one way in which they close the feedback loop in providing information about public opinion back to governments."

Understates the number of Australian political blogs - but then it uses The Australian as a source.

 

Full list of available 2020 topic downloads here.

Clarion call for NSW North Coast women

According to UNICEF the United Nations Children's Fund.

 

"Nearly 10 million children under age five die every year of largely preventable diseases," said Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF. "Many of the main global killers of children – including malaria and diarrhoea – are sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall, and could become more common if weather patterns change."

 

In addition, women and children tend to be disproportionately affected by hurricanes and flooding, which climate change experts say will increase in intensity and frequency in coming years. The destruction of homes, schools and health centres resulting from natural disasters reduce services available to families.

 

Climate change experts also predict that warming and shifting rains could impact crop production, which could reduce food availability. In 2006, some 36 per cent of children globally were either moderately or severely underweight.

 

Last year's report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that malnutrition and associated disorders, including those relating to child growth and development, could increase as the global climate changes. Reduced supplies of clean water in some areas could also add to the burden on rural women and girls, who are usually responsible for collecting water for cooking and washing.

 

The voices of women and children must be heard and their needs assessed as part of the international response to prospective changes to the environment, and they must have access to the knowledge and tools necessary to protect themselves and their communities.

 

Women on the Northern Rivers must begin to face the fact that this climate change scenario also affects both them and their families, with a likely increase in injury and damage due to severe storms or flooding, a rise in mosquito borne diseases, heat stress and other health-related problems.

So far, local women's groups like Clarence Valley Women's Inc have been very silent on an issue which is coming straight at us all within our own lifetimes.

Accelerating republic debate for Australia?

With the country facing a myriad of environmental, economic and social problems, Kevin Rudd is quoted as suggesting an 'accelerating' debate this year on the subject of an Australian republic.

Yeah. Just what we really need at this juncture, a very public divisive national quarrel to divert us from the real work at hand.

The culture warriors might enjoy the thought but many of us would rather have all our teeth pulled.

The sight of Rudders constantly rising to the media fly this way and allowing it to set the political agenda exposes an irritating weakness.

So short, sweet and without rancour, Kev - p^ss orf!

Your behaviour is beginning to make Julia Gillard look like a very attractive option for PM about now.

Wouldn't be dead for quids in 2008

Just when you think life has shown you pretty much everything - a pregnant man, mice with human body parts attached, plants with animal genes, cats that glow in the dark, Malcolm Turnbull - along comes something which makes you realise that the world can grow even more bizarre.

 

The week PNC Financial Services Group awarded former Aussie PM John Howard a cash prize of $US50,000 for being the best little fascist on the Pacific street for 33 years.

 

For a real belly laugh the PNC media release is here.

You'll enjoy the Howard CV which shows the little man's ongoing attempt to rewrite history and the description of the neo-con Liberal Party during the Howard years as "centre/right".

North Coast Area Health Service 'extreme' cost-cutting

It seems every time I turn around North Coast Area Health Service is doing something which either horrifies, troubles or, in this case, simply grates a nerve.

 

The Northern Star carried this report yesterday.

 

Dr Pezzutti's comments come as staff at Ballina Hospital complained of extreme cost-cutting measures by the area health service.

One staff member, who asked not to be identified, said the health service had replaced sanitary bins in the women's toilets with brown paper bags as a cost-cutting measure. A few years ago the service got rid of the hospital's water cooler, also to save money.

A spokesman for the health service confirmed sanitary bins were being removed from all health service facilities because sanitary waste was regarded as general waste and, therefore, best deposited into waste bins to minimise potential contact with body fluids.

The spokesman confirmed the move involved 'potential cost savings that could be directed into clinical care', but declined to say how much money would be saved or what clinical services the funding would be directed to.

Doctors for the Environment (Australia) April 2008 climate change & health report released

Climate Change Health Check 2020 was released yesterday.

 

Not surprisingly this report predicts that within 12 years Australian doctors (particularly doctors in rural, regional and coastal areas) will be treating more people for heat stress, heat-related illnesses, extreme weather event physical trauma, allergic responses, respiratory problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, food poisoning, as well as Ross River and Dengue fevers, due to the impact of climate change.

 

Full report here.

A Cecil B. de Mille memory

I have to ask. At the end did they find anything in Charlton Heston's "cold dead hands"?