Thursday 25 March 2010
Another Abbott-ism
Australian Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Tony Abbott MHR, is certainly value for money when it comes to value-laden judgements and snappy one liners.
This is my favourite of the moment:
Endemic substance abuse and family violence..........They're the all-but-inevitable result of too many people with not enough to do...
Yes, you heard it in his Battlelines first. Boredom is the root of some of our most serious social problems.
Mr. Abbott's level of certainty is er, monumental.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Pushing that misogynistic boulder up Mount Everest
There's no denying that the Australian baby boomer generation have lived through widespread social change.
Morphing social mores and technological evolution over the last seventy years (rather than violent national revolution) mean that our lives bear little resemblance to what they were in the late 1940s and early 1950s when we first started to look at life around us.
Women have probably noticed the change more because we have gone from an obligatory post-puberty shackling with girdles, suspender belts, gloves and hats each time we wanted to leave the house to a free and easy form of dress and, these days are not automatically directed away from higher education and a career towards early motherhood and domestic slavery.
Yet from a female perspective there are still constant reminders of how puny that progress actually is when a young man happily ensconced with wife and children can widely email this 'joke':
What do you say to a woman with 2 black eyes?
Nothing, she's been told twice already.
It's enough to make one cry.
Evil eastern religions are working for the devil says former exorcist bishop
Page 10 of "The Daily Examiner" on Monday 22nd March 2010:
"ALL those evil eastern religions are working for the devil and are trying to trap our souls with wicked devices such as yoga, tai chi and reiki massage.
And let's not start on Harry Potter and Twilight - both are rickety paths to the fires of hell.
At least these are the claims of Bishop Julian Porteous, the second in charge of the Australian Catholic hierarchy who was quoted in yesterday's Sun-Herald.
Bishop Porteous warned people who practiced yoga, reiki and tai chi could find themselves "in the grip of demonic forces" by embracing the underlying religious beliefs of these de-stressing techniques.
Aside from the complete cultural ignorance of such claims, Bishop Porteous, in his blind recruitment grab aimed at the gullible, would be laughable if he wasn't in such a powerful position within the church.
An organisation plagued with claims it has harboured and protected paedophiles en masse for decades can hardly be calling other religions evil. Wasn't there something about people in glass houses in that Bible book?
Such ill-informed posturing does nothing to swell the church's diminishing numbers and only serves to push the community further in a secular direction."
With a groundswell of interest in atheism of late, religious leaders need to contribute sensibly to the issues of the day if they are to be taken seriously and their faith heard.
All those blood-thirsty Buddhists probably meditate everyday I reckon."
This 61 year-old bishop is also known for his dislike of priestly jokes; "There has been a tendency for people to feel a joke at the end of the Mass is something to leave people with a smile, but I personally don't think it is appropriate" and was Sydney's locum exorcist for five years.
Bishop Porteous holds the titular See of Urusi in Northern Africa and thinks that climate change science claims are "sometimes exorbitant" and sees the 2009 Victorian bushfires as some form of national purification by fire.
The last a rather uncomfortable if subdued echo of the more extremist views of Danny Naylor.
Sorta makes me wonder if Bishop Porteous shares Catch the Fire Ministries' take on the Equal Opportunity Bill 2010.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Two Australian Leaders: popularity polling and that polygraph worm
Well, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott can't say that he wasn't warned. Talking heads from the medical fraternity, at least one well-known journalist and even ordinary voters told him before he went into today's televised Leaders' Debate that he would be wise to present Coalition policy and not indulge in politicking.
Instead Abbott lead with his jaw and the Channel 7/Morgan Research handpicked audience with their fingers on the polygraph worm obliged by landing a blow on that jaw at almost every opportunity.
I had made myself a coffee which almost stood to attention on the amount of caffeine it contained, in anticipation of a nail bitingly tense debate.
Halfway through I abandoned the coffee and took up my knitting, as the worm spent most of its time on the middle line or in positive territory when Kevin Rudd was speaking and, on the middle line or in negative territory when Tony Abbott had the floor.
Attacks on the Prime Minister, mention of that so-called 'great big new tax' and even talk of the failed national roof insulation scheme did not move Abbott out from under the wrong side of that visual opinion line - in fact he was a distinct medical flatline when he refused to talk about any Coalition health policy he intends to take to the federal election.
All this merely confirms what Essential Media has been saying for some time, Kevin Rudd is still popular with the electorate and currently 'owns' health policy.
Excerpt from the Essential Report survey results (based on an estimated 1,000 respondents) taken between 16-21 March 2010:
Better Prime Minister – Rudd or Abbott
Q. Regardless of your likely party choice for the next election, which of the leaders – Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott – do you think overall would be the best Prime Minister?
21 Dec 09 - 22 March 10
Kevin Rudd 51% - 50%
Tony Abbott 25% - 30%
Don't know 24% - 19%
When it comes to a choice between Rudd and Abbott as better Prime Minister, 50% selected Rudd and 30% selected Abbott. The results for Rudd shifted slightly (-1%) since we last asked this question in December 2009. However, there has been a five percent increase in the number of people that prefer Abbott and a decrease in the number of people that don't know (-5%).
Results followed party lines – 92% of Labor voters chose Rudd and 74% of Coalition voters chose Abbott. 64% of Green voters selected Rudd and 11% of Green voters selected Abbott.
People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think Abbott would make a better Prime Minister (42%) while 18 – 24 year olds were more likely to indicate they don't know who would make a better Prime Minister out of Rudd and Abbott (28%).
Federal takeover of hospitals and health services
Q. Do you support or oppose the Federal Government's plan to take over the responsibility for funding hospitals and health services from the State Governments?
%
Total support 58%
Total oppose 12%
Strongly support 25%
Support 33%
Neither support nor oppose 21%
Oppose 7%
Strongly oppose 5%
Don't know 9%
Over half (58%) of those surveyed support the Federal Government's plan to take over responsibility for funding hospitals and health services from the State Governments, 12% oppose, 21% neither support nor oppose and 9% don't know.
79% of Labor voters, 46% of Coalition voters and 55% of Green voters support a Federal takeover for funding of hospitals and health services. 27% of Coalition voters neither support nor oppose the plan and 22% oppose it.
People in NSW were more likely than those in other states to support a Federal takeover (64%). 55% of people in Queensland and 52% in Victoria support the plan.
Males were more likely than females to support the plan (61% v 56%). Support for a Federal takeover was highest amongst 55 – 64 year olds (67%).
In February this year we asked the Australian public whether they support or oppose a Federal takeover of hospitals. The results showed that 58% supported a Federal takeover, 10% opposed it, 19% neither supported nor opposed and 13% didn't know.
Power suppliers to raise average prices by up to 42%. NSW Government offers pensioners extra $15 annual rebate to cope.
As at 30 June 2009, there were twenty-nine power companies holding electricity retail supplier licences in NSW and Energy Australia, Integral Energy and Country Energy account for approximately 81% this retail market.
Integral Energy, Energy Australia and Country Energy are all owned by the New South Wales Government.
The Review of regulated retail tariffs and charges for electricity 2010-2013:
Electricity — Final Report March 2010 shows that:The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal stated in a recent media release:
Google Earth is not an accurate measuring tool, but try telling that to one roof insulation installer
Might be time to think again because more of those suspect firms who joined the subsidized feeding frenzy are being uncovered each day.
“I am advised that all payments to this company have been suspended and action is being taken to rectify safety matters and to reclaim government funds.”
Now it seems there is also mention of a NSW North Coast operator who advertised roof insulation installation under the scheme and then stated to at least one potential customer that there was no need to come out and measure the roof as dimensions could be gathered from a Google Earth satellite snapshot. I kid you not.
This rather haphazard firm tried to convince the dubious homeowner that it didn't matter what internal ceiling types she had; that the far from accurately scaled outside snapshot would tell them all.
The home owner declined to proceed as she knew that pink batts would not be suitable for the cathedral ceilings in parts of the house and she had little confidence that she would receive an accurate quote for the rest of the roof area.
This same company was one of those which had the hide to front the Prime Minister in Canberra complaining about the scheme's suspension.
Monday 22 March 2010
Show me the policy, Mr. Abbott!
It would appear that during the faux federal election campaign Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is not taking the forthcoming Leaders' Debate seriously and expects to use it to mount a series of questions rather than give any genuine outline of the health policy the Coalition intends to take into the formal campaign.
This attittude is not always playing well in the regions if the following emailed letter is any indication:
Hon. Tony Abbott MHR
Leader of the Opposition
Parliament House
Canberra ACT
22 March 2010
Dear Sir,
I have read with interest your reported comments on the forthcoming "Leaders' Debate" this week which is intended to address the subject of health care.
I am concerned that these comments appear to indicate that you have no intention of broadly outlining the Coalition health policy you intend to take to the Australian electorate later this year.
As an ordinary voter I would appreciate less politicking and more respect for the general public, who deserve the longest possible time to compare competing policies before going to the polling booths.
Quite frankly even the most pyrotechnic of debating styles will fail to impress my household if all it turns out to be is flash and no substance.
Sincerely,
[Name and address redacted]