Someone's having a lend of Stephen Conroy

Now I know that pollies can be quite dense outside their area of expertise (ie., how to get elected) but someone must be actively having a lend of the Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy for him to have endorsed including "promotion of" technology addiction in the terms of reference for a recently formed cyber-safety consultative working group.
Nobody could be that dumb surely.
Even I know that this so-called addiction is one of the many supposed problematic behaviours which suddenly pop up overnight like mushrooms and get exposure in the media whenever major pharmaceutical companies are hunting to expand their markets.
Stephen won't find it or any variant listed in the DSM or recognised by the principal specialist medical associations, even if his departmental website links try to imply that this addiction exists as a mental disorder.
The next time a shrink makes a joke about the psychopathology of childhood, I bet this gullible minister will bite.
M'oath, he'd probably even buy a roo's tailfeather if you offered it to him!

If the Minister is interested, the website which reputedly gave the drug companies their 'bright' idea is here.

Kevin Rudd needs to lift his game

A question for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd:

Why is an extremist cult, whose activities break up families, given a wide berth by the Australian Government?

Prior to the November 2007 election Mr Rudd described the Exclusive Brethren as an "extremist cult" whose activities "break up families" and called for investigations by police, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Electoral Commission and Austrac, the anti-money-laundering agency into the Brethren's activities.

So, Mr Rudd, what's changed? Why are there no inquiries?

Today The Age reports PM Kevin Rudd has rejected the pleas of former members of the Exclusive Brethren for a broad-ranging inquiry into the sect, saying such an investigation would "unreasonably interfere" with their right "to practise their faith freely and openly.

Former members of the Brethren seized on the comments and, in February, wrote to Mr Rudd asking for an inquiry, particularly into its "disproportionately high taxpayer funding of Brethren schools, dishonest political campaigning, their charitable status in relation to rate and tax exemptions, and their well-known intimidatory tactics during traumatic Family Court cases".

The letter was written by former Brethren member Peter Flinn and signed by 33 others. Attached were 13 stories outlining the misery inflicted by practices of the sect, including the doctrine of separation, which keeps lapsed members from contacting their families.

Mr Rudd's chief-of-staff David Epstein wrote in reply last week that the Prime Minister "does not resile from the views he expressed last year," and that he "remains concerned about the reported imposition of doctrines that weaken family bonds" and "prevent children accessing online learning tools".

Mr Epstein also added that religious observance "should not be regarded as a shield behind which breaches of the law can be hidden", and urged anyone with details of criminal behaviour within the Brethren to tell police.

However, he wrote, on religious freedom grounds, the Prime Minister would not be instituting an inquiry.

Mr Rudd's stance suggests the Government also will vote against a motion by Greens Senator Bob Brown calling for an inquiry into the sect, its tax concessions, public funding, and practices that may harm children or families.

Senator Brown tabled notice of the new motion, his third proposed inquiry into the Brethren, in the Senate on Thursday.

Senator Brown described Mr Rudd's position as "appalling", saying his priority "should be the welfare of children and families, and the taxpayers' money that is going to this organisation".

But Mr Flinn told The Sunday Age the Exclusive Brethren could take no comfort from Mr Rudd's response: "Whilst Mr Rudd did not give a specific commitment to an inquiry, he acknowledged the 'moving personal accounts'."

Mr Flinn also pointed out that Mr Rudd reiterated his Government's commitment to "enhancing transparency in the Australian electoral system, with reforms recently announced relating to the disclosure and sources of donations".

"We have no desire to interfere with the fundamental right of any religious group to freely and openly practise its beliefs. We just want to highlight other equally fundamental human rights, such as access to family who remain Brethren members, a right callously denied by the Brethren," Mr Flinn said.

The Exclusive Brethren is a wealthy Christian-based group that practises a radical doctrine of separation from the world. Its leaders became very close to former Prime Minister John Howard over many years of lobbying and political activism, and, in 2004, they poured $370,000 into his re-election campaign.

Under Mr Howard, Brethren schools enjoyed similar funding to schools for disabled and Aboriginal students, even though, by their own admission, Exclusive Brethren members are in the top echelon of income earners. Mr Rudd has continued the funding arrangements, worth $50 million over the next four years.

Do you belong to the Australian Labor Party or are you in Morris Iemma's party?

Do you belong to the Australian Labor Party or are you in Morris Iemma's party? is a question every New South Wales Labor MP should be asking themselves right now.

This week Morris Iemma breached NSW ALP policy by introducing enabling legislation to allow for the privatisation fire sale of the state's power industry.

At the same time the Iemma Government has made a submission to a Rudd Government inquiry trying to convince its federal counterpart that the teeth should be drawn on any greenhouse gas abatement schemes for the power industry.

With enabling legislation before the NSW Parliament, Morris Iemma has headed off for China and begun to talk down the value of those publicly-owned assets he intends to sell.

As some of the corporate wheelers and dealers (who would potentially be involved in either setting up this fire sale or purchasing the state's electricity assets after privatisation legislation is passed) are also found on lists of political donors to the Iemma Government, the whole setup is beginning to sound remarkably convenient for banks, big business and the multinationals.

It certainly is convenient for Labor political bully extraordinaire Michael Costa.

The Prime Minister and his ministers for water and the environment should be very careful of the motives of this state government, which appears to have both forgotten the very real concerns of its electorate and the need to genuinely tackle climate change.

Penny Wong and Peter Garrett in particular need to remember that old adage about laying down with dogs and getting up with fleas.

Obama reckons he is only 17 delegates away from wiping Clinton out

According to yesterday's Obama for America e-mail.

Barack Obama is just 17 elected delegates away from a majority -- and you can help get him there.
At the start of this race, there were 3253 elected delegates at stake in primaries and caucuses across the country. After winning 32 of 49 contests, Barack is within reach of an absolute majority.
We believe that the winner of the majority of elected, pledged delegates should and will be the Democratic nominee.
Important primaries are coming up this Tuesday in Oregon and Kentucky. With your help, Barack could win enough delegates to reach this crucial milestone on his way to securing the nomination.
We need to do absolutely everything we can to help put Barack over the top.
Right now, thousands of people in these states are thinking seriously about what they're looking for from our next president -- and one voice could sway their decision.
I'm asking you to be that voice.
Use our simple online calling tool to call potential supporters in Oregon and Kentucky and make sure they vote for Barack:
http://my.barackobama.com/callnow
We've come a long way together in this campaign, and Tuesday could be the day we reach a majority of elected delegates.
Passing this milestone will be an unmistakable signal to the media, the superdelegates, and everyone watching this election all across the country -- the people have spoken, and America is ready for change.
Use our online calling tool to build our support in this final push -- even if you've never done anything like this before. Here's how it works:
When you log in, you'll get a list of 25 names that only you will receive. (If you don't have a My.BarackObama account, creating one is fast and easy.)
Click on a name, make a call, and you'll be led through a simple script, question by question.
If you want, you can even print your numbers and the script and enter your results back into the system later.
Get started making a difference now:
http://my.barackobama.com/callnow
For more than a year, we've relied on everyday supporters like you, reaching out person-to-person to build our movement.
We're close to the nomination -- please keep working to help Barack cross the finish line.
Thank you,
Jon
Jon Carson
Voter Contact
Director
Obama for America

Snap, crackle and 'alcopop'

Spooner cartoon in The Age yesterday.

"All the same, from a political and an economic viewpoint, what Nelson had to say stank. His about-face on the increase in the tax on premixed alcoholic drinks could well turn out to be the decision that cruelled his leadership once and for all.
Here's the fundamental truth of it: you can't say on April 27 that you support a tax increase on alcopops and then declare in a nationally televised prime-time parliamentary speech 18 days later that you're utterly opposed to it and will block it in the Senate, and retain your political credibility.
This is what the Opposition Leader said only a little over two weeks ago, after Labor announced its decision to lift the tax on alcopops by 70%. "While we're not normally supporters of tax increases, increasing the tax on these alcopops, these mixers, that young people are in many cases abusing, if that is going to reduce the abuse of these alcoholic mixers then it's something that we certainly are prepared to support."
How can you go from accepting something as a reasonable preventive health measure to seeing it as a blatant tax grab? When you're desperate, you have no genuine new ideas, your political mortality is so strong you can taste it, and you're still not fully accepting that you've lost power, you'll do it."

Are Costa and Meagher trying to stiff sick and needy in the Clarence Valley?

The Clarence Valley has been waiting for the promised upgrade to Grafton Base Hospital for over a decade now.
The NSW Government had told us on more than one occasion that the money was there and that work was starting soon - then returned to ignoring the health needs of Valley residents.

It took Labor's Janelle Saffin and the 2007 federal election to see another health funding pledge of $18 million.
But the NSW Minister for Health, who has had a departmental master plan before her ever since she took over this portfolio, is yet to supply the Commonwealth with a timetable and schedule of works.

Many in the Valley are beginning to wonder if the Iemma Government is trying to obtain the offered funding without it being tied specifically to a Grafton Hospital upgrade, so that it can plug the gap elsewhere.
Or if it is procrastinating in the hope it will not have to come up with its upgrade funding share for another decade.
Are we to be diddled again?

Journalist and Deputy-Editor of The Daily Examiner, David Bancroft, ran this frontpage comment on Thursday.

WE asked NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher a simple question yesterday: when will work start on the upgrade of the promised operating theatres and emergency department at Grafton Base Hospital?
Her answer was waffle.
She told us that that the Federal Government's announced funding was welcome. Obviously.
She told us that planning had already started. That started more than a decade ago.
She told us that Grafton Base Hospital played an important role in delivering health services. Again, obviuously.
And she told us admissions to the emergency department had increased. Exactly.
What she did not tell us was when work would start and if the State Government would provide additional money needed for the projects to proceed.
We need answers, Ms. Meagher, not platitiudes, and we need them now.

Portraits of a drowning man

Cartoon comments found at:
http://www.nma.gov.au/
http://www.leahy.com.au/
http://www.inkcinct.com.au
http://www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au/