Tuesday 26 March 2013
Have you accepted The Out Of Order Coke Challenge?
'Sticking it to Coke' for suing the Northern Territory over their 'cash for cans' scheme and standing up for our wildlife!
Labels:
people power
Abbott the hypocrite par excellence
A yet to be Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott writing to BA Santamaria when he was considering entering politics and Santamaria was advising him to join the Liberals:
To join either existing party involves holding ones nose.
The Liberal Pary is without soul, direction or inspiring leadership.
Abbott during Question Time on 21 March 2013:
I have seen enough of good people on both sides of this chamber to have some respect for the Labor Party…..
Abbott in an Address to the Victoria Liberal Party State Council on 28 April 2012:
And we, my fellow Liberals, are fundamentally a party of values and of
principles.
Abbott in an Address to the Victoria Liberal Party State Council on 28 April 2012:
Tony Abbott photograph from Google Images
Monday 25 March 2013
The difference between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott
During the National Apology for Forced Adoptions held in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra, the difference between the world views of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott was graphically demonstrated.
There were tears and applause for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard:
The first moment when approval of the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott turned to anger, interjection and shouting:
Full speech transcript
Note: transcript appears to have been amended by author since first publication
Note: transcript appears to have been amended by author since first publication
A perspective from one of the many in the Great Hall that day:
The emotions in the room were palpable. Gillard used the word illegal, which we were hoping for. Mum desperately needed to hear that word...
When Abbott started speaking, immediately the tone of the room and the elated atmosphere disintegrated rapidly. Abbott obviously had not consulted with anyone. He didn’t understand the findings of the Senate inquiry and didn’t understand that language is so important when we’re talking about forced adoption. He spoke about "relinquishment" not "forced adoption". We were there for a national apology on forced adoption, not relinquishment. My mother did not relinquish me, I was taken.
He also used the term "birth mothers". For the majority, the mothers and fathers consider themselves parents, period. That’s when the heckling occurred, when he used the term birth parents. For my mother, it echoed the judgemental and insensitive practices of the past.
Everything that Gillard achieved in terms of validating all the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters was completely eroded by Abbott’s speech. One of the recommendations was to bring broader public awareness around the coercive and illegal practices that occurred. If our Opposition Leader couldn’t even understand what happened and use the appropriate words, then what hope do we have of the broader community understanding?
The ugly face of any future Abbott Government?
Hon. Christopher Pyne
Federal Liberal Member for Sturt and Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives
19 March 2013
House of Representatives Hansard Tuesday 19 March 2013:
Mr Pyne: Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the Leader of the Opposition asked a perfectly valid question. The Prime Minister answered the question and then she as an aside said for some unknown reason, 'Misogynist Tony is back'. I would ask her to withdraw it because it is a slur on the Leader of the Opposition and a desperate play from a desperate Prime Minister!
The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business will leave the chamber under standing order 94(a).
Opposition members: Why?
The SPEAKER: Why? If anybody needs to ask that they might all just leave the chamber.
The member for Sturt then left the chamber.
Sunday 24 March 2013
A pinch of perspective for the Australian media and political commentators in March 2013
A little historical perspective for the Australian media and assorted journalists still hyperventilating over the third week of March 2013.
The Universe when it was only into the 380,000 year of its estimated 14 billion years of age to date.
ESA and the Planck Collaboration
Description
The anisotropies of the Cosmic microwave background (CMB) as observed by Planck. The CMB is a snapshot of the oldest light in our Universe, imprinted on the sky when the Universe was just 380 000 years old. It shows tiny temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of slightly different densities, representing the seeds of all future structure: the stars and galaxies of today
Just when you think the political class could not possibly become any dumber
State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R), wrote an email to a constituent who disagreed with his support for a new tax on the sales of bicycles, a proposal being considered as part of a larger piece of transportation legislation. Reached by the Seattle Bike Blog, he confirmed the email is real.
In his message, sent to the owner of a bicycle shop, Orcutt wrote: “If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride.”
He added that when citizens drive cars they are helping to pay for the roads, whereas bicyclists “need to start paying for the roads they ride on rather than make motorists pay.”
Saturday 23 March 2013
The gentle and generous humour of Prime Minister Julia Gillard
The ABC’s Sally Sara tweeted this image of Paul Bongiorno replacing Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at her desk to celebrate his 25 years as a member of the Press Gallery. The Prime Minister is acting as one of his ‘assistants’ for the camera.
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