Google Inc. gets hot under the collar over California's Proposition 8

It's Goggle Inc's 10th birthday and, apart from explaining the birthday logo and a brief post on the presidential debate, the only Press Center release on its blog site last Friday is about California's Proposition 8 (Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry Act) on the ballot for the November general election which seeks to remove the right to same-sex marriage in that state.

Our position on California's No on 8 campaign

9/26/2008 03:23:00 PM

As an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because our company has a great diversity of people and opinions -- Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and gay -- we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

Posted by Sergey Brin, Co-founder & President, Technology

As there does not appear to be majority support for this proposition among Californian voters, one wonders exactly how this issue might affect Obama and McCain.

It appears that Obama has publicly opposed Proposition 8. However, this runs contrary to attitudes to gay marriage among demographic groups which are his strong supporters.

McCain flatly rejects gay marriage.

Another curly one for candidates in the run up to November 2008, which makes for an interesting national poll.

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Fielding crows atop the muck heap

Like a skinny rooster crowing on top of a muck heap, the unrepresentative Senator Steve 'I'm the boss of you' Fielding, uses his balance of power position to redraft the already shonky Medicare logo until it begins to look like the one on the left.

This lone Family First member of the federal parliament is becoming a figure of fun because of his juvenile publicity stunts and truly loathed for his frankly ill-informed stance on many issues.

The Age captures him nicely:

"FAMILY First Senator Steve Fielding seems the least likely figure to become a one-man government.
He is gaunt and harried-looking and darts from newspaper office to TV studio in Canberra's Parliament House with the urgency of a man pursued by the terror of letting a chance slip by."

Elsewhere it points out that Fielding brought a pup when he brought the argument put up by the Coalition and medical insurers to fight the Rudd Government's Medicare bill:

"The Howard government introduced three principal measures to boost the coverage of health insurance. The levy surcharge was introduced on July 1, 1997, (when coverage was 32%) but did not stop its membership decline. Two years later (June 1999) coverage was 30.6%. The taxpayer-funded rebate on the cost of private health insurance was introduced on January 1, 1999, with additional rebates for those aged over 65 from April 1, 2005. The rebate managed to persuade only an additional 0.8% of the population to take out private health insurance in its first year. Lifetime health cover was introduced from July 1, 2000, under which people joining funds are penalised an additional 2% of the premium for every year they delay joining above the age of 30. Of all these measures, it was lifetime health cover (the one that cost taxpayers nothing) that had the biggest impact — health insurance cover rose from 32.2% in March 2000 to 45.8% in September 2000. If the surcharge didn't encourage anyone to take up health insurance, why would its adjustment induce an exodus?"

For some strange reason known only to himself Fielding appears to believe that the only thing which will raise the cost of medical insurance in the immediate future is the raising of the surcharge threshold to $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for couples.

The medical insurers are laughing all the way to the bank now he has needlessly locked around 330,000 people into private insurance schemes, but their retention on the books will not stop insurance rates rising because in the end they are not an expansion of business.

Perhaps Steve should remember that in much of this country skinny roosters end up in the Sunday pot.

Logo is from Evidence Based Only.

"Moggy Musings" [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

An end of the Beijing Olympics musing:

AUSTRALIAN taxpayers forked out almost $17 million towards each gold medal won by the nation's Olympic team in Beijing according to online news.

Veronica Lake, my canine friend and I agree - something is wrong with the world when children live in poverty but money is splurged on bits of jade and gold.

A property wanted to buy musing:
Happy Paws Haven, a Clarence Valley animal welfare charity is looking for a new home urgently. Preferably in the Grafton area, with at least a half-acre of flood-free land having a 3 bedroom house and large shed.

Ph: 0419 404 766 if you have a suitable property for sale or rent.

And I thought I was brave musing:

DJ a 20 month-old tenterfield terrier has just been skydiving on the Gold Coast. This young pup did his long dive for the All Saints Anglican School fete on Saturday 2 August 2008.

Well done, DJ.

A competitive musing:
New Zealand will meet Australia under lights in one of two tests at an Aussie Rules stadium for the trans-Tasman sheep dog trial test series in northern Tasmania on October 4 2008. Be there to see our dogs whup the Kiwis!

An international affairs musing:
I hear that Barack Obama doesn't have a pet. If he wins the US presidential election this November, will that make him the first modern president to enter the White House without a pet? Hmmm, must investigate....