How well do you know your accountant?

Attending university is taboo for Australia's 15000 Exclusive Brethrens

Consequently, the Brethren produce heaps of accountants but no doctors, lawyers or teachers.

That may explain how the Brethren have been able to shovel piles of cash in the direction of the conservatives (i.e. the right wing side of politics = the Coalition mob, not the left wing Labor lot!) in Australia.

Yep, that's right, chances are that your accountant is an EB. Well, there's a higher probability that your bean counter rather than your local GP is an EB.

tvnz.com.nz reports that children of the Brethren attend well-equipped schools with low teacher-student ratios and solid HSC results, but none of them will be going to university. ... for them university is taboo.

They can study at TAFEs and other tertiary institutions, but not at universities.

You won't find Brethren children watching TV programs, either, or going to the movies, or visiting google on the Internet.

It's all part of their belief in separation from the sinful world around them, and elders admit that can mean they can grow up ignorant of the extent of that wickedness.

The university ban is one aspect of the Brethren lifestyle that outsiders, known as "worldlies", find hardest to understand.

It means that the 15,000-strong Australian Brethren community is producing plenty of accountants but no doctors, lawyers or teachers.

Which means, ironically, that no Brethren teachers are tutoring the 2,300 students at 43 Australian schools run by the Christian sect, which was described by Labor leader Kevin Rudd last year as an "extreme cult" that broke up families.

Every teacher is a worldly.

"I would say it's not much different from teaching in any other school," says Ewoud Vogel, principal of the original Brethren school at Sydney's Meadowbank, founded in 1994.

"In fact I would say it's my most positive teaching experience in Australian schools," says the South African-born teacher after stints at a Greek Orthodox school and another Christian school in Sydney.

"The students are most compliant to work in the classroom."

Meadowbank has 120 students, 80 in high school and 40 primary.

It has a well-equipped science lab, food tech kitchen, computer room, playgrounds and other facilities.

The teacher-student ratio of less than one to 10 at Brethren schools around Australia is up to three times lower than public schools.

The principal, who also takes geography, has a current HSC geography class of six students.

"I have not found my teaching restricted in any way, or had to change any of my programs," he said after leaders of the secretive Brethren sect went public to correct what they said was years of untrue and negative stories about them.

"About the only difference is that I can't just pull a video off the shelf and show it to students without first having its contents scrutinised.

"And that's probably a good thing."

The school's televisions are used only for showing educational programs.

"I can't come in and ask my students if they saw reports of Hurricane Gustav on the news last night, because I know they haven't," said Mr Vogel.

"So I just open up the newspaper, and we talk about it that way."

Even Disney films are out.

"They're really just entertainment value," said Mr Vogel.

"Some of our children are reading Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at present.

"They won't be going to see the movie, but I think their imagination is enhanced and heightened by reading rather than seeing the movie."

Internet use on the computers is strictly controlled.

Rather than applying filters that block out certain subject material, the Brethren has gone the other way, allowing access only to approves sites and links.

Clearly, the almost ubiquitous google search engine is a no-no.

"From an educationist's point of view, it's great," said Mr Vogel.

"The kids don't get distracted or waste hours on unnecessary material," he said, though he conceded Brethren students may not have as much practice in digging out information as others.

"I am a Christian by faith so I enjoy teaching in a Christian atmosphere," Mr Vogel said.

"I believe in what they (the Brethren) basically stand for, even if I may not believe in all of their interpretations of the scriptures.

"We all believe in the same Bible and the same God."

Brethren schools receive government funding in line with other non-government schools, but overseer David Stewart denies they get any special treatment.

He says the curriculum of all schools is approved by the Board of Studies.

The Meadowbank school ranked 96th of 800 in NSW in terms of HSC results, he said, but that won't lead to university for any of the students.

A chat with senior elder Daniel Hales makes it clear the hippie generation of 1960s and 70s changed all that.

"Universities were once Ivy League bastions of conservative Christianity," he said.

"Then came Flower Power and professors advocating drugs, and so on.

"They became the vanguard for re-engineering society."

"I was enrolled myself once," said the 58-year-old father of five.

"I was going to study law or medicine.

"Then I thought it all through, and I realised it would draw me away from my Christian faith and my family."

"We feel our children would find their faith being challenged (at universities).

"The first thing they learn at university is to question everything.

"We are not afraid of them but we don't see why our children should be subject to that."

"We're not goody-goodies. I have tried cigarettes, and I have seen movies in my wayward youth."

Quotes of the week on the US finacial crisis and Bush bail-out

So this rescue won't bail out the Ship of Fools, but it will make the American Ship of State even more insolvent than it already is. Aggregate US government debt is now running at 92% of GDP (the Federal component is 53%), and another $700 billion will push it closer to 100%. As Michael West concluded yesterday with profound understatement, "America is in trouble".

By Associate Professor Steve Keen, School of Economics & Finance, University of Western Sydney writing in Crikey.

"History does not repeat, but it rhymes," as Mark Twain said.

Peter Hartcher writing in The Sydney Morning Herald

"If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down."

George W. Bush quoted ad naseum everywhere

"The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end America's financial crisis. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the White House cabinet room, warnings from an angry President and pleas from a Treasury Secretary who knelt before the House Speaker and appealed for her support.

S.G. Stolberg & A.R. Storkin writing in the Sydney Morning Herald

"The American people are angry about executive compensation and rightfully so," ... "We must find a way to address this in the legislation without undermining the effectiveness of the program."

Henry Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary quoted on executive compensation caps in Time Magazine

"It's the law of unintended consequences."

Charles Elson speaking of executive salary packages and golden handshakes in the Time article.

"I am who I am."

Australian Leader of the Opposition Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, former investment banker and multi-millionaire, quoted in The Canberra Times

It's Sunday - kick back & relax

From Tumblr.com

Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award (JADA) Grafton, Friday 24th October

Announcement of the winners of the 2008 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award is drawing closer.

In 2008 the award celebrates 20 years of promoting innovation and excellence in Australian drawing and has increased to $30 000 to coincide with this important anniversary. The major award of $15,000 is acquisitive, along with further acquisitions to the value of $15,000.
Hendrik Kolenberg, Senior Curator of Australian Prints, Drawings and Watercolours Art Gallery of New South Wales, is the judge for this year's prize. Entries to this prestigious award close at 4pm on Friday 1 August 2008.
Acquisitions from the Jacaranda Drawing Award (JADA) enter the Grafton Regional Gallery’s nationally recognised collection of Australian contemporary drawing.
A selection panel will select between 45 and 55 works for the award. The exhibition of the selected entries opens at the Grafton Regional Gallery Friday 24 October. It is from this exhibition that the judge, Hendrik Kolenberg, will select the overall winner.
One of the outstanding features of the award is that entries selected for award will tour regional and metropolitan galleries along the east coast throughout 2009-10.
The Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award was originally an open national art award, the Jacaranda Art Prize, that ran from 1961 to 1987, the drawing award was established in 1988. The drawing collection includes works by Maria Kontis, Michael Zavros, Gordon Bennett, Godwin Bradbeer, Andrew Browne, Luke Doyle, David Fairbairn and Deborah Klein.

US 08 is better than vaudeville

This last week Democrat candidate, Barack Obama, made much of the need for presidential candidates to understand the current US financial crisis and share that knowledge with American voters.

The media gave considerable air time to his statement as Foxtel demonstrates:
“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess,” Obama told reporters."

One blogger was quick to jump on this naive and misleading statement:
"Well, here is the thing… a new president won’t be “responsible” for any decisions until January of next year.
Sure, in 40 days we will be going to the polls to vote for a new president. But he won’t take office and, therefore, won’t be responsible for anything until he actually is sworn into office in January of 2009.
So, no, Baarack. In 40 days we will NOT have a new person “responsible for dealing with this mess.”
So, why has the Old Media decided not to lambaste this man who obviously has no idea when he might take office if elected?"

I'm now waiting for the Obama camp to start quibbling about how long the "approximately" string really is.

As political theatre the televised and online reporting of this presidential campaign sure beats those late night variety shows which the free-to-air TV channels inflict on us all.
Which's better - because it's not our country the angst is lower when listening to the typical and very ordinary political posturing (until you remember that these days the US acts like a rogue state in the international arena).

US 08: If you missed the first debate battle of the predictable and boring........

If you missed the first McCain-Obama presidential campaign debate on radio or television, the transcript is now online:

All 27 pages are here

What this debate clearly demonstrates is that there will be no brave new beginning for the United States of America after the November election.

"More than ever, the great challenge of our time is economic management" Malcolm Turnbull

New federal Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, is becoming very serious about the economy.

Gone are the factitious comments about inflation, now we are facing "great challenge".
Why we may even have to arrange for the Australian Government to organise a US-style bail out of financial institutions.

According to The Australian:

Mr Turnbull had suggested the Government back financial institutions with liquid assets....

On Sunday Mr Turnbull said banks were finding it harder to refinance mortgages.

``In other markets, the government, particularly in the US, is taking a role, proposing to buy some of these securities, in effect to provide additional liquidity to take the pressure off mums and dads,'' Mr Turnbull told the Nine Network.

``That's something I'd like to talk to the Prime Minister about to see if we can agree on some bipartisan measures.''

Hold on, the only big collapse which sent so many mums and dads to the wall happened when HIH folded years ago and Malcolm Turnbull was smack in the middle of that mess along with Adler and Co.

Yes, credit is drying up as everyone speculates about what will happen next.

However I can't help but wonder if Turnbull's urging of federal government intervention is more to protect the value of his own holdings and that of his business associates.

If a global recession really hits then Treasurer Wayne Swann's intervention will mean little to those same mum and dads.

Turnbull is also quoted as saying in an article at News.com.au:

Mr Turnbull, a former merchant banker and partner of Goldman Sachs Australia, said he agreed with US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson that there was plenty of blame to go around for the current financial mess.
"I agree with those legislators in the US who say that executives of financial institutions should not be rewarded – indeed they should get nothing out of this," he said.

He goes on to try and distance himself from the present debacle by saying that he only worked in the corporate advisory side and not in an area of investment banking.

How he thinks to get away with such hairsplitting when the whole of Australia knows that he was a managing director, partner and major shareholder in JB Were Goldman Sachs (Australia) during the 1990s through to early 2000, when his investment bank was so clearly in the area he now denies.

Turnbull also pretends that the Prime Minister should not have left Australia because of the global volatility.

This exposes him as a buffoon comparable with the recently departed leader he deposed.

As though where Kevin Rudd physically is this week will forestall Australia being impacted by the ailing American behemoth.

While his Fraser-style obstructionist stance on bills before the House, personal behaviour in Parliament over the last ten months and his comments about Question Time, show him for the arrant political hypocrite that he is.

This man is all about the 'divine right' of the Liberal party to rule, gotcha politics and posturing for the Question Time cameras.

I never thought that I would see the day that I would become nostalgic about Peter Costello's time in the limelight - Turnbull's performance as leader makes me so.

Lord luv a duck! Coon cheese is under attack, again

I have to declare an interest here - I grew up eating Coon cheese and never once made any connection with a racist slur of any sort.

But apparently once Stephen Hagan grew up he objected to this brand name for a cheddar cheese.

The Australian informs us that:

"Mr Hagan said today he would now focus on fighting Dairy Farmers' Coon cheese.

"Initially, Dairy Farmers said it was named after Edward Coon, who revolutionised the speeding process of making cheese," he said.

"But I've questioned the authenticity of that story."

Mr Hagan, said the cheese, formerly manufactured by Kraft, used to have a black wraparound and was named Coon as a joke.

"I want Dairy Farmers to show me the evidence of Edward Coon being honoured an honorary doctorate and what year he received that honorary doctorate," he said.

"If they can prove to me that Edward Coon was a famous cheesemaker, I will drop my campaign.
"If they can't do it, I'm going to fight them all the way...."

Unfortunately for Mr. Hagan, he opened his mouth without even the most preliminary investigation.

It took me 10 minutes to find Free Patents Online and this historical patent; United States Patent US1579196, application filed 27 February 1926, serial number 91,262. PDF image of 2-page original published document.

This patent was taken out by Edward William Coon, a citizen of the United States, of 29 South Water Street, Philadelphia in the County of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, who states he has invented certain new and useful improvements in the process of ripening cheese.

Fulton History displays an image of a newspaper page in August 1923 which has an article reporting that E.W. Coon, maker and shipper of cheese of Philadelphia, had sold five of his numerous milk plants to the Dairymen's League Co-operative Association Inc.

In 1920 Coon was reported as advising other cheese makers to export their mature cheese product as there was high overseas demand.

Steve, mate - it's a case of Occam's pure and simple.

Update:

From Taylor Book:
"DAIRY STATE COLD STORAGE CO." Page 75

"The picture of the plant at the top of the page is of the cheese storage and curing plant. The buildings were originally built by the Reiland Packing Co. It operated successfully for several years under that title. The primary mover in the packing company was Nicholas Reiland, who has been a well known butcher and operated a meat market here. In 1924 the Reiland plant was taken over by E. Coon Company, and after a change in name and owners, became the Dairy State Cold Storage Co. with R. T. Gillespie as manager. The plant is located 2221 Gaynor Avenue."

The above is a factory site possibly belonging to Edward Coon.

In 1918:
Watertown.
The Times says: The Watertown
cheese market was firm on Saturday
when sales of 7,419 boxes were made
at 22% cents and better. As usual
better than the bulk of the cheese sold,
while the "Coon specials" sold for a
cent better th,an all others. The Coon
specials are made-by E. W. Coon,, of
Philadelphia, they are a firmer cheese
with more stock than the general run
of cheese. The price paid was the same
as a week ago, but the offerings were
somewhat smaller as the week (before
the sales aggregated 10,297 boxes.

In 1928:
Official announcement is made of"
the acquisition by the Kraft-Phenix
Cheese Company of several of. the^
larger chese companies of Lewis';
county and northern New York. • \i
These include purchase of the Interests
of R. M. Mills, of Watertown,
the St. Lawrence Milk Company of;
Massena, the Potsdam Creamery Company
of Potsdam, the E. W. Coon
Company of Philadelphia, Pa., and
Cape Vincent. » •.-;;
Sale of most of the companies was.
announced before, but It just became,
known that the Mills interests are included

Monsanto introduces Australian farmers to seed servitude

The Canberra Times reported yesterday:

Australian farmers signing up to grow genetically modified canola are exposing themselves to ''onerous'' obligations, an international law expert says.

Duncan Currie says the contract between biotechnolgy firm Monsanto and GM canola growers bars farmers from selling their land to anyone without a Monsanto licensing agreement.

Monsanto described the claim as ''ridiculous''.

The contract, obtained by The Canberra Times, shows that if the land is sold up to two years after the agreement expires, contractual obligations are passed to the buyer, who could be liable for the former owner's contract breaches.

Monsanto reserves the right to take legal action against any farmers who possess its patented canola without a licensing agreement.

If GM canola is found, the land owner must prove whether its presence was intentional or due to inadvertent contamination.

Under the contract, farmers give Monsanto the right to ''inspect, take samples and test all of the grower's owned and/or leased fields and storage bins'' and to obtain copies of all operational documents for three years after they buy GM canola.

Mr Currie believes the implications for farmers are dire.

''In general this is a very one-sided agreement,'' he said.

''[One provision] is particularly onerous [and] includes liability for payment of Monsanto's legal and attorney fees, including expense incurred in enforcing Monsanto's rights and investigation expenses.'' ......

NSW and Victorian farmers are now harvesting Australia's first GM canola crops after a moratorium on GM crops was lifted in both states earlier this year.

The crops contain resistance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in many non-selective herbicides. A member of the Concerned Farmers Network, Donald McFarlane, said canola crops were hard to contain in one location.

''Farmers of canola will know that it's almost impossible to stop the spread of [canola] seed,'' he said.

''Every year, up to 13per cent of a crop will escape to end up god knows where.''

He was concerned if a farm sold land within three years of planting GM crops, the contract did not ensure the new owner would be trained to prevent crop contamination.

The NSW Farmers Association would not comment on deals between Monsanto and individual farmers.

Its president, Jock Laurie, advised farmers to seek legal advice before signing any contract, GM or otherwise.

Yet another thing that the former neo-conservative Howard Government and the majority of it's State Labor Government counterparts wished on the Australian people.

One has to wonder at the role of the Farmers Association in all this.

Given the fact that prime farmland within 100 kms of the Australian coastline and similar land on the fringes of inland towns and cities is often sold-on or developed for urban-rezoning to supply farmers with a retirement income (especially in areas such as the NSW North Coast), one has to wonder how prospective buyers will feel about inheriting a legal obligation to Monsanto.

Surely this will affect local agricultural property prices and how many 'treechangers' and seachangers' view property on offer.

Joint Select Committee report to Tasmanian Government on GMO seed, crops and food, August 2008, supporting a GM-free state.