Diving into the pool of ignorance

Letter  to the Editor in The Daily Examiner 14 November 2013:

Pool of ignorance

WE IGNORE history at our peril. Whenever science makes advances which challenge long-held beliefs the reaction is always the same.

Enthusiastic vociferants emerge from the pond of general ignorance to rubbish the findings and pillory any person who should speak out on behalf of the science.

But what would the world be like if the deniers/sceptics had been correct?

1. The world would be flat.

2. The sun, planets and stars would circle the earth.

3. The earth would be less than 10,000 years old.

4. Fossils are the result of recent catastrophic occurrences.

5. Biodiversity is not the result of evolution.

6. The continents are fixed in position.

7. The Holocaust is a Zionist fabrication.

8. Tobacco products are good for your health.

9. The moon landing was filmed in the Arizona desert, and so on.

So will time also relegate our climate deniers/sceptics to the wheelie bin of history where they would join the flat earthers and the geocentrists? Maybe they will find some solace in that history also shows that often deniers/sceptics are long since passed on, leaving their descendants to ponder 'How could they have ignored the bleeding obvious?'.

Ted Strong
Seelands

Prime Minister rejects lease on $2.8 million house in Forrest, ACT

It would appear that either Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott really enjoys the company of young police cadets in his current academy digs or is determined to keep his family as far away from Canberra as possible for most of the year, because at the outset he rejected the house leased for him at 34 Arthur Circle, Forrest, ACT, just minutes away from Parliament House.

It has lain empty since sometime in September this year and is reportedly costing taxpayers $3,000 a week. The Prime Minister apparently preferring to house his wife in their own million dollar family home at 32 Lady Davidson Circuit, Forestville, NSW rather than with him when Parliament is in session or when he is otherwise officially engaged in Canberra.

The house in Arthur Circle.........

RORT ALERT! Gaming the system allegations made against disability support pensioners

Hot on the heels of Assistant Employment Minister Luke Hartsuyker’s attempt to demonise people on unemployment benefits, we now have Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews and Human Services Minister Marise Payne apparently suggesting that an unidentified number of individuals on the disability support pension may be fraudsters or criminals gaming the system.

Rather conveniently the Murdoch media managed to obtain an ‘exclusive’ copy of what it likes to call the Government's 2013 disability support pension report with which to bolster quotes from ministers Andrews and Payne it included in its 17 November 2013 article Federal Government has welfare rorts in sights as eligibility tightened.

The article talks of a 22 per cent increase in 10 years of the number of people on disability support pensions, but conveniently neglects to point out that the number of pension recipients has dropped, from 831,908 in December 2011 to 824,082 in February 2013 and since 2010 the rate at which the pension has been granted has fallen from 63.3 per cent of applicants to 42.4 per cent – facts it was quoting in May this year before the federal election and change of government shifted the emphasis to overtly hostile.

The journalist bellowing welfare wastelands neglected to mention that only 20 per cent of all people thought to be living with some form of disability actually receive a government payment/pension and, that 18.6 per cent of all those on a disability support pension only receive part-payment - many because they have some form of regular work.

The journalist also forgot to mention that 2.6 million Australians provide 24hr a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, unpaid care for partners/family members with a disability [FaHCSIA Annual Report 2012-13].

One has to suspect that the real reason the Abbott Government is being so negative with regard to unemployment and disability is because within the next two years it intends that people in these two government cash transfer categories will be compulsorily placed on the income management scheme which sees at least 50% of a person’s pension and benefits quarantined in a digital version of food stamps, the Basics Card.

Given that historically 20 per cent of recipients are likely to exit the disability support pension each year because they die, that will potentially leave Abbott and Hockey with an unspecified amount of quarantined money remaining in notional accounts administered by the Dept. of Social Services. 

If these two right-wing politicians are quick off the mark they should be able to grab around $60 million annually from the the disabled dead when they proceed with their vaguely foreshadowed amendments to legislation covering social security, disability and income management.

And that's the point of this whole mainstream media exercise isn't it - to soften the general public into uncomplainingly accepting that the Abbott Government intends to make the poor (both living and actively dying) pay for tax cuts/concessions promised to those comfortably off and downright wealthy voters.

From Sri Lanka: an example of Tony Abbott's "difficult things" ****************WARNING Explicit Images****************

Excerpts from Opening remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at a press conference during her mission to Sri Lanka Colombo, 31 August 2013:

It is important everyone realizes that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not.

I have been extremely moved by the profound trauma I have seen among the relatives of the missing and the dead, and the war survivors, in all the places I have visited, as well as by their resilience. This was particularly evident among those scratching out a living among the ghosts of burned and shelled trees, ruined houses and other debris of the final battle of the war along the lagoon in Mullaitivu.....

I was concerned to hear about the degree to which the military appears to be putting down roots and becoming involved in what should be civilian activities...

I was very concerned to hear about the vulnerability of women and girls, especially in female-headed households, to sexual harassment and abuse. I have raised this issue with several ministers, the provincial governors and senior military commanders who attended my meeting with the Secretary of Defence. I challenged them to rigorously enforce a zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse.

I have also been following up on the status of the remaining detainees and have urged the Government to expedite their cases, either by bringing charges or releasing them for rehabilitation. I also suggested it may now be time to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act which has long been cause for concern.

Because of the legacy of massive trauma, there is a desperate need for counseling and psychosocial support in the North, and I was surprised and disappointed to learn that the authorities have restricted NGO activity in this sector. I hope the Government can relax controls on this type of assistance......

I asked the Government for more information about the new Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances, and stressed the need for it to be more effective than the five previous commissions of this kind. I was disappointed to learn that it will only cover disappearances in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which means that the many “white van” disappearances reported in Colombo and other parts of the country in recent years will not fall within its scope.....

The Commonwealth of Australia is party to seven core human rights treaties, but that doesn’t seem to be something Prime Minister Tony Abbott takes into account when in discussion with the Government of Sri Lanka.

The Sydney Morning Herald 16 November 2013:

Mr Abbott told reporters that while his government "deplores the use of torture we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances difficult things happen".

http://youtu.be/3tDAWm487xk

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields by Channel 4 [Full video]

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields Part 2 - Unpunished War Crimes [Full Video]

Australian Electoral Commission petitions Court of Disputed Returns to void the 2013 West Australian Senate Election

Australian Electoral Commission Media Release:

Petition lodged with Court of Disputed Returns

Updated: 15 November 2013

The three-person Australian Electoral Commission today authorised the Electoral Commissioner to lodge a petition with the Court of Disputed Returns in respect of the 2013 Western Australian Senate election.

The petition was lodged at approximately 2:30pm AEDT today.

The petition seeks an order from the Court that the WA Senate election of six senators be declared void.

Given the closeness of the margins that favoured the final two declared candidates, the petition is based on the premise that the inability to include 1370 missing ballot papers in the recount of the WA Senate election means that the election was likely to be affected for the purposes of s 362(3) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

As the matter is now before the Court the AEC will not be making any further comment.

The AEC recently appointed Mr Mick Keelty AO to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the missing ballots.  Mr Keelty’s inquiries are continuing.

Editorial note: For copies of the petition, please contact the High Court Registry’s public information officer (Canberra) during their business hours. The AEC will not be posting or distributing the document.

National media contact:

Phil Diak | Director Media
AEC, Canberra
02 6271 4415
0413 452 539

media@aec.gov.au

Tony will have nothing to complain about when foreign intelligence services start digging for 'information' about Margie

Leigh, all countries, all governments gather information. That's hardly a surprise. It's hardly a shock. We use the information that we gather for good: Tony Abbott 13 November 2013

The snapshot below shows one face of the Australian intelligence gathering situation in Indonesia in 2009. However, it is likely little has changed given Prime Minister Tony Abbott has classified Australian Government spying as information gathering used for good and, repeated a similar claim in Parliament on 18 November 2013.

Indonesia is less than happy with the fact that our intelligence services spied on the president, his wife and a number of high-ranking politicians.

According to the Jakarta Globe on 18 November: “We are not satisfied with the dismissive explanations from Australia,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said at a press conference on Monday. “We are recalling our ambassador from Australia for consultation.”

This has been an impressive political performance by Prime Minister Abbott and Foreign Minister Bishop - it took them a mere 61 days after assuming office to reduce Australia's relationship with Indonesia to its lowest point since 1998-99.

There is a hint that a number of 'don't quote me but' briefings to journalists are occurring in an effort to create a political back story which will shore up the case for the 2009 spying episode.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/18/slides-australian-yudhoyono-phone-indonesia?CMP=twt_gu

The Guardian 18 November 2013:

Australia's spy agencies have attempted to listen in on the personal phone calls of the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and have targeted the mobile phones of his wife, senior ministers and confidants, a top secret document from whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals.

The document, dated November 2009, names the president and nine of his inner circle as targets of the surveillance, including the vice-president, Boediono, who last week visited Australia. Other named targets include ministers from the time who are now possible candidates in next year's Indonesian presidential election, and the first lady, Kristiani Herawati, better known as Ani Yudhoyono.

When a separate document from Snowden, a former contractor to the US's National Security Agency (NSA), showed Australia had spied on Indonesia and other countries from its embassies, the Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, reacted angrily and threatened to review co-operation on issues crucial to Australia such as people smuggling and terrorism.

The revelation strained a bilateral relationship already under pressure over the Abbott government's policy to “turn back” boats of asylum seekers coming to Australia. The new leak, published jointly by Guardian Australia and the ABC, reveals the specific top-level targets and is likely to seriously escalate those tensions......