Religion shows its ugly side in the Clarence Valley

On 24th March a 73 year-old scripture teacher was removed from the Year 6 class room of a Grafton public school after she informed children that the 2009 Victorian bushfires were God's punishment for that state decriminalising abortion.
Shades of Danny Naylor!
According to Monday's The Daily Examiner a spokesperson for the Clarence Valley Ministers' Fraternal (who train these religious educators) described the incident as "a slip of the tongue".
Yeah, a slip that was so-oo long that calling it that is pure spin.
What this incident shows is that religious instruction has no place within a secular public school curriculum.

On the Internet you are never [#%**?] safe

President of the Australian Labor Party (Queensland) and state secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union is reported to be taking a certain unlovely name and shame website to court alleging defamation and supposedly asking for $600,000 in damages.

It seems that the website might have been used by guests to further some very bitter union infighting.

Apart from an article in The Courier Mail nothing much had surfaced about this little dog fight until Wikileaks published this week.
Now the entire world has a fair idea what the complaint is about, courtesy of documents with lots of [#%**?] and considerable legal correspondence from Carne Reidy Herd (a generous political donor to Queensland Labor in the past) which developed earlier in the year.

When are prominent people going to learn that softly, softly is a much better approach when requesting uncomfortable comments be removed from websites if that is their legitimate desire?

G20 in London, March 2009: words in pictures

Montage by Stephen Hird

Who knew Helen Liu? The Mata Hari furphy

Who knew Helen Liu?
Everyone it seems.
Who really cares?
Only Tony Abbott and Co.

Abbott was in full spate on Meet the Press last Sunday:
"I think there's absolutely no doubt that John Howard in his first term would have sacked a minister who had been as inept as this. Absolutely no doubt but look, I think there are also questions for Kevin Rudd. What's the extent of his relationship with Helen Liu? And if he does have the kind of extensive relationship with Ms Liu that it seems he might, given the reports in today's paper, perhaps he should be fronting up to this Commission of Inquiry which is currently looking in to the whole question of Joel Fitzgibbon and these disclosures."

Now if Tones the Terrible really wants to worry about something coming out of China he can try this widespread 'spying' on for size.
If what appears to be a group of teens high on big brother's alcopops could hack an Aussie government website last week, it's odds on that Australia was caught by this particular covert international digital information gathering operation which entered over a thousand computers in 103 countries and close to 30% of these were considered "high-value diplomatic, political, economic and military targets".

Is Kevin Rudd's head really that big or are his staffers just losing the plot?

Twitter is a strange beast which often seems to induce poor impulse control in politicians and their staff.

Here is a case in point:

KevinRuddPMMore photos of the PM with Defense Sec Robert Gates http://cli.gs/TpQTMa #KevinPM Teamabout 22 hours ago from TweetDeck

Now I have no idea why the Prime Minister's team thought that it was worth sending out links to photographs taken of his meetings with President Obama and Robert Gates.

In America every single person who shakes hands with the cousin of a cousin of the wife of a serving admiral right up to the those who meet with a former or sitting president are happy snapped by an in-house photographer.
U.S. officials have a mania for giving away these souvenir snaps, the originals of which are then discarded in the bottom desk draw of a junior officer, lowly aide or secretary of the local agricultural society.

For heaven's sake - even I've had the full red carpet treatment in years past!

If Mr. Rudd and his Twitter team want their tweets to count for something - how about an insightful, pertinent and informative bite about his Washington visit.

Note to Kevin's staffers: the colour of guest soaps in White House bathrooms doesn't count as valid information, nor how great the coffee was as you waited for the boss to stop smiling for the cameras.

Rudd's 11th Community Cabinet meeting coming up in WA

The Rudd Government will be holding its 11th Community Cabinet meeting at Ballajura Community College, Illawarra Crescent, Ballajura, Western Australia on Wednesday 22 April 2009.

If you want to have a 10 minute chin wag with a minister or listen to Rudders address the forum you need to get your moniker on the list before 4pm on April Fool's Day.

Mate, if you are going to this meeting perhaps you might ask the PM a question for me:
When is the federal government going to hold one of these cabinet meetings in the NSW Northern Rivers?