Australia's most prominent political "ranga" has come up with a scheme ( is that how you spell scam )which she is trying to sell as a device to protect the identity and privacy of those being educated in Australia by issuing them an identification number so they can access a government website to see how they're going.
And I suppose if school children are slower at walking, at noticing large moving objects that might intersect their chosen course, to the point where we've had to reduce the speed limit by up to half outside schools then the chances they are also not able to assess just how they're doing at school.
Our "ranga" is without doubt a communist, and this issuing of a number to replace the identity of our children as far as the government is concerned is straight out big brother stuff and will continue through out their life becoming part of their TFN and then probably carved onto their tombstone.
I'm trying to keep this short, but really is the only answer this government has to any and every situation to bring out a website ? get over it, we don't need it, or want it.
And while we're on the subject, I've never met anyone who was happy to get carted off in an Ambulance to hospital, but now they can see just how their stay is going to pan out before they go by logging onto another government website that rates their hospital and gives information about how many medical accidents have occurred and more.
Now people are stressed out when they go to hospital, they don't need the added stress of knowing that one in a hundred patients with heart problems has a leg amputated by mistake. Not that that event will actually happen, but you get my drift.
People need to log off these government websites in droves, seriously. they are going to turn you into someone you won't like and turn our democracy into a country that is more communist that Russia.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Two thirds of the old Beaudesert unrepresented, again.
Logan, Queensland, Australia, and the people of Division 11, Division 10 and Division 4 are left unrepresented by their councillors, something that many residents, particularly in 11 and 4, claim is a common occurrence with representatives missing meetings to avoid declaring conflicts of interest, and to pursue personal career opportunities.
The recent meeting where the issue of Pay rises for councillors was discussed, was held not long after another meeting which was attended by the three aforementioned councillors but in a strange twist they claimed their absence was a protest about concocting a plan to secure the pay rise by stealth, according to the news reported locally in a quote from Cr Ban. The twist is that previously she had in the media accused the rest of the councillors of attempting to reject the pay rise to stop the non chairing councillors from keeping in step with the recommendations from the independent tribunal. Confused? well so am I,
As far as being a spokesperson for salary, and considering the rise would see the city’s 13 elected representatives each pocket an extra $3050 to $5170 a year, and that the base pay without car, unlimited fuel allowance, phone , laptop, telecom services paid, office staff, and facilities, and probably other allowances is already around the $100,000 mark with the amalgamation loading, you'd think someone preparing to dump their division to pursue another elected position against a vow not to do so, and someone who previously continued to take a salary from the ratepayers while campaigning and failing to secure a federal seat before would think twice before looking so greedy and making a last ditch grab for more money before the next federal elections are called.
The real problem is that despite the very weak excuse of "a protest" for not attending, the excuse was made after, and to the press i believe, leaving the say of the people of those three divisions unsaid, and it's not the first time in some cases. The people of those divisions deserve better, they pay their rates and a councillor does very very well on the remuneration they receive for the little work they do ( apparently you can do the job . . . and. . . run a campaign for a federal seat without either suffering ).
Residents being unrepresented by a councillor at meetings should be a sackable offence.
The joke is, that it seems the councillors really want the pay rise, they really do, but they are trying to appear as if they don't support it now that it has come to light that if the base rate is handed down by the independent tribunal, council cannot pay less than that rate and if they vote for tat rise it has to for all, worse, failing to vote is a vote for the rise because it reduces the number against, just as abstaining in the meeting would be recorded as for.
The charade will probably be a TV stunt for the federal campaign, there isn't any other reasonable explanation because a real protest would have been to go to the meeting , have your say, represent the people like you're supposed to , and vote against if that's the view of the ratepayers.
The unfortunate thing for the old Beaudesert Shire area, it means that only one out of three councillors attended that meeting, and gave representation of the views of the ratepayers, the other two thirds of our area were unrepresented again.
The recent meeting where the issue of Pay rises for councillors was discussed, was held not long after another meeting which was attended by the three aforementioned councillors but in a strange twist they claimed their absence was a protest about concocting a plan to secure the pay rise by stealth, according to the news reported locally in a quote from Cr Ban. The twist is that previously she had in the media accused the rest of the councillors of attempting to reject the pay rise to stop the non chairing councillors from keeping in step with the recommendations from the independent tribunal. Confused? well so am I,
As far as being a spokesperson for salary, and considering the rise would see the city’s 13 elected representatives each pocket an extra $3050 to $5170 a year, and that the base pay without car, unlimited fuel allowance, phone , laptop, telecom services paid, office staff, and facilities, and probably other allowances is already around the $100,000 mark with the amalgamation loading, you'd think someone preparing to dump their division to pursue another elected position against a vow not to do so, and someone who previously continued to take a salary from the ratepayers while campaigning and failing to secure a federal seat before would think twice before looking so greedy and making a last ditch grab for more money before the next federal elections are called.
The real problem is that despite the very weak excuse of "a protest" for not attending, the excuse was made after, and to the press i believe, leaving the say of the people of those three divisions unsaid, and it's not the first time in some cases. The people of those divisions deserve better, they pay their rates and a councillor does very very well on the remuneration they receive for the little work they do ( apparently you can do the job . . . and. . . run a campaign for a federal seat without either suffering ).
Residents being unrepresented by a councillor at meetings should be a sackable offence.
The joke is, that it seems the councillors really want the pay rise, they really do, but they are trying to appear as if they don't support it now that it has come to light that if the base rate is handed down by the independent tribunal, council cannot pay less than that rate and if they vote for tat rise it has to for all, worse, failing to vote is a vote for the rise because it reduces the number against, just as abstaining in the meeting would be recorded as for.
The charade will probably be a TV stunt for the federal campaign, there isn't any other reasonable explanation because a real protest would have been to go to the meeting , have your say, represent the people like you're supposed to , and vote against if that's the view of the ratepayers.
The unfortunate thing for the old Beaudesert Shire area, it means that only one out of three councillors attended that meeting, and gave representation of the views of the ratepayers, the other two thirds of our area were unrepresented again.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Israel, marching toward genocide in Palestine ?
It seems that Israel is happy to hide behind "The Holocaust" and claim victim status in its continued aggression with Palestine which appears to be about simply killing off Palestinians and taking their land, or Genocide.
Israel is careful to ensure it controls public information about its activities , especially its military conquests and the prisoners it has captured and who dies during air strikes and tank sorties telling the world that the majority of the deaths are terrorists, refusing to front the world media to justify the thousands of women and children killed in their homes.
Recently the targets of the Israel war machine, funded to the tune of unlimited $$ millions by the USA have changed and it is actively seeking to raid individual residences and arrest and deport foreigners who have seen the real war and are helping the Palestinians to protest peacefully and attempt to get the world media to see what is actually happening rather then continue to publish the sanitised version that sits so well with Israel still portrayed as the victim.
I'm so curious as to how so many high density buildings can be indiscriminately bombed in air strikes killing hundreds of collateral to target a single "enemy of Israel" when the war machine is now capable of finding individuals who have overstayed their visa, conduct midnight raids to arrest them and remove all their electronic communication and data storage devices before they are deported from the country.
The world is slowly becoming uncomfortable with the continued military attacks on a desperate and diminishing population of very very poor people who have been sanctioned to the point of barely being able to get food and recently loosing the only real supply source for the things we take for granted such as household items and car parts which were all smuggled into Palestine through tunnels.
Israel seems scared that foreigners have become aware of the situation and have joined Israelis who also condemn their own governments policy to eradicate Palestine and that they may get real footage of real events out to the world media which contradicts the version the Israel government allows the rest of us to see.
Israel is careful to ensure it controls public information about its activities , especially its military conquests and the prisoners it has captured and who dies during air strikes and tank sorties telling the world that the majority of the deaths are terrorists, refusing to front the world media to justify the thousands of women and children killed in their homes.
Recently the targets of the Israel war machine, funded to the tune of unlimited $$ millions by the USA have changed and it is actively seeking to raid individual residences and arrest and deport foreigners who have seen the real war and are helping the Palestinians to protest peacefully and attempt to get the world media to see what is actually happening rather then continue to publish the sanitised version that sits so well with Israel still portrayed as the victim.
I'm so curious as to how so many high density buildings can be indiscriminately bombed in air strikes killing hundreds of collateral to target a single "enemy of Israel" when the war machine is now capable of finding individuals who have overstayed their visa, conduct midnight raids to arrest them and remove all their electronic communication and data storage devices before they are deported from the country.
The world is slowly becoming uncomfortable with the continued military attacks on a desperate and diminishing population of very very poor people who have been sanctioned to the point of barely being able to get food and recently loosing the only real supply source for the things we take for granted such as household items and car parts which were all smuggled into Palestine through tunnels.
Israel seems scared that foreigners have become aware of the situation and have joined Israelis who also condemn their own governments policy to eradicate Palestine and that they may get real footage of real events out to the world media which contradicts the version the Israel government allows the rest of us to see.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Closing the door on Bloggers right to anonymous comments.
As Politicians get younger, they seem to be also getting very thin skinned.
The new breed of political wanna-be is starting straight out of high school or University without any real work history or life experience, they seem obsessive about having a certain look or dressing for the part and being good looking and they want all the older seasoned politicians to simply step aside and gift them a seat without having to put in any of the hard yards at all and they cannot tolerate any criticism at all. They seem to lack the life experience that tells one that not everyone is going to fawn over you and agree with your every word and that does not make them your enemy to be attacked when you have risen to a level of power in the political sphere where you can use it to retaliate against them.
Many people will tell stories of how a particular politician harassed them or besmirched them in the press or even had others physically accost them or their property and even go as far as having the police come to their door and threaten or even arrest them; all hearsay of course but when recounted by the actual community members affected appear to be for no other reason than to silence them.
Blogs have been an avenue where people can openly discuss issues, have an opinion in either support or disdain for public figures and their deeds and freely with the use of an anonymous or nickname without fear of being retaliated against by an elected representative.
You see the thing is these young bloods of our political world have worked out that you get paid very well for very little work as a politician, you also double (at least) that in allowances (cars, office, budget etc) and again with the very generous superannuation and travel available so that two terms can set one up for life. However it goes even further than that as after public life there are contacts and boards where one can once again do very little and be remunerated well, and all that is just for the honest politician, the crooked ones can really do well.
Recently there has been a development where South Australia has become one of the few states in the world to censor the Internet by creating a law which was pushed through last year as part of a raft of amendments to the Electoral Act and supported by the Liberal Party, also requires media organisations to keep a person's real name and full address on file for six months, and they face fines of $5000 if they do not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.
The law will affect anyone posting a comment on an election story in Newspapers, or online editions including editorial types and it also appears to apply to election comment made on all types of Blogs and the social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Under current federal legislation, it preserves the right of internet users to blog under a pseudonym but there is reason to think that the future will be different as the younger representatives begin to get preselection for the major parties and being forced to the ballot box as we are will get voted in and follow the changes that have been put in place by the SA Attorney General.
What is crazy funny is that the Attorney general thinks his draconian laws do not impinge on free speech or invoke retribution and yet believes that he will be singled out for attacks in the press and web based editorial sites for instigating these changes.
Personally, I use a pseudonym because I do know that certain elected people will attack me, no doubt about that, they've already tried and even though in a perfect world i agree that every comment should be made by a real person who has the courage of their convictions to say their bit and put their correct name to it; but it is certainly not an ideal world and people with power can be corrupt and use that power to silence individuals, it's happening right here in Queensland, Australia, right now.
Further, consider the whistleblower, where for example a party member knew that a colleague had a conflict of interest and did not declare it and in fact profited form that non declaration but couldn't give that information to anyone in the party but could make it public under a nickname, well that could no longer happen because they would be identified.
Unfortunately to preserve democracy you have to accept its failings as well as it's advantages, freedom of speech is being diminished by this law, no doubt about.
The new breed of political wanna-be is starting straight out of high school or University without any real work history or life experience, they seem obsessive about having a certain look or dressing for the part and being good looking and they want all the older seasoned politicians to simply step aside and gift them a seat without having to put in any of the hard yards at all and they cannot tolerate any criticism at all. They seem to lack the life experience that tells one that not everyone is going to fawn over you and agree with your every word and that does not make them your enemy to be attacked when you have risen to a level of power in the political sphere where you can use it to retaliate against them.
Many people will tell stories of how a particular politician harassed them or besmirched them in the press or even had others physically accost them or their property and even go as far as having the police come to their door and threaten or even arrest them; all hearsay of course but when recounted by the actual community members affected appear to be for no other reason than to silence them.
Blogs have been an avenue where people can openly discuss issues, have an opinion in either support or disdain for public figures and their deeds and freely with the use of an anonymous or nickname without fear of being retaliated against by an elected representative.
You see the thing is these young bloods of our political world have worked out that you get paid very well for very little work as a politician, you also double (at least) that in allowances (cars, office, budget etc) and again with the very generous superannuation and travel available so that two terms can set one up for life. However it goes even further than that as after public life there are contacts and boards where one can once again do very little and be remunerated well, and all that is just for the honest politician, the crooked ones can really do well.
Recently there has been a development where South Australia has become one of the few states in the world to censor the Internet by creating a law which was pushed through last year as part of a raft of amendments to the Electoral Act and supported by the Liberal Party, also requires media organisations to keep a person's real name and full address on file for six months, and they face fines of $5000 if they do not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.
The law will affect anyone posting a comment on an election story in Newspapers, or online editions including editorial types and it also appears to apply to election comment made on all types of Blogs and the social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Under current federal legislation, it preserves the right of internet users to blog under a pseudonym but there is reason to think that the future will be different as the younger representatives begin to get preselection for the major parties and being forced to the ballot box as we are will get voted in and follow the changes that have been put in place by the SA Attorney General.
What is crazy funny is that the Attorney general thinks his draconian laws do not impinge on free speech or invoke retribution and yet believes that he will be singled out for attacks in the press and web based editorial sites for instigating these changes.
Personally, I use a pseudonym because I do know that certain elected people will attack me, no doubt about that, they've already tried and even though in a perfect world i agree that every comment should be made by a real person who has the courage of their convictions to say their bit and put their correct name to it; but it is certainly not an ideal world and people with power can be corrupt and use that power to silence individuals, it's happening right here in Queensland, Australia, right now.
Further, consider the whistleblower, where for example a party member knew that a colleague had a conflict of interest and did not declare it and in fact profited form that non declaration but couldn't give that information to anyone in the party but could make it public under a nickname, well that could no longer happen because they would be identified.
Unfortunately to preserve democracy you have to accept its failings as well as it's advantages, freedom of speech is being diminished by this law, no doubt about.
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