The Great Firewall of Australia

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/09/2621354.htm

Most IT professionals agree that the Federal Government's plan to install a nationwide Internet filter is wrong, misguided, and will be ineffective.

Now "Save the Children", one of the lobby groups with a passion for protecting the interests of children, has added its voice to the growing list of opponents to the plan.

The planned Internet filter won't stop objectionable material - it will still be exchanged via file sharing sites, chat rooms, and emails.

The problem is it's not just ineffective, it's dangerous. Not only does it NOT do what it it's supposed to do, it actually gives the government an easy way to control the web browsing activity of normal law abiding citizens. Once the government adds a site to the list, most people won't be able to see it in their browsers.

We expect (and see) this sort of behaviour in places like China and Iran. Now minister Conroy wants this sort of power in Australia. Do you think these politicians would be able to resist the temptation to block a website that's critical of them?

If this plan goes ahead, the "Great Firewall of Australia" will let politicians control what we see in our browsers, while child-abusers continue to exchange their grubby wares unhindered via other methods.

Stephen Conroy, please listen to people like Save the Children, and spend the money more effectively via child protection authorities and police.

After all, we're getting deeper and deeper in debt. We really need to be smarter about how we spend public money.

Be a Skeptic, but "Do unto others"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/16/2599244.htm

Religious conservative, and Family First Senator Steve Fielding is skeptical about the effect of Carbon Emissions on Climate Change.

I disagree with Senator Fielding but I applaud his courage in asking questions that might make him look silly. It's tempting to disparage Fielding's questions, especially those of us with strong views on Climate Change and the reduction of Carbon Emissions, but asking "silly" questions is one part of the scientific process.

But, Senator Fielding, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Perhaps you should remember how important it is to question those things that some people take for granted. The next time someone challenges church opposition to Gay Marriage, a Bill of Rights, a Woman's right to choose etc, remember that there are no sacred cows. All sincere questions deserve to be taken seriously.

When it comes to asking and answering skeptical questions, Mr Fielding must "Do unto others" if he wants his questions to get the consideration they deserve.

Pathetic Little Man

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/03/2533784.htm

On a recent flight from Port Moresby, Prime Minister Rudd didn't get the meail that he wanted, so he abused the flight attendant, who was reduced to tears.

Here's his pathetic apology:

"I had a discussion with I think one of the attendants about the provision of food," he said.

"It didn't last very long and if anyone is offended by that, including the attendant concerned, ofcourse I apologise."

How.... small, Mr Rudd. Are you over compensating for something?

You can tell a lot about someone by the way they treat the people that aren't important to them.

We can tell a lot about our self-important Napoleonic PM from this.

Kevin Rudd & Gough Whitlam. Doing the Deficit Two-Step.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/04/2481623.htm

It seems to happen with regular monotony - a Labor government gets elected, and we end up with Debt, Deficits, Unemployment and Big-Government.

No one disputes the need for governments to invest in infrastructure - especially in times of financial turmoil.

But Rudd and Swan are prooposing to put the country $100 billion in debt over 3 years. The sort of debt it took the Coalition a decade to pay off.

It's a matter of spending what you actually have rather than charging up a huge burden of foreign debt on the national credit card.

The major lesson of the financial crisis is that debt can be toxic. If you borrow too much when times are tough, you'll lose your shirt - and that is true for householders as much as governments.

Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello slammed the competence of the Rudd Government on Lateline last night.

He pointed our the hypocricy of Julia Gillard praising the strength of Australia's financial framework at the Economic Forum in Davos at the same time that Rudd was talking it down and saying that "Capitalism needed to be saved from itself". As if there was one message that we needed to tell the world, but another message we needed to feed to the poor voters at home.

He underlined the poor quality of the $10 billion pre-christmas cash hand out, which did little more than boost the profits of Westfield, without creating any real jobs.

But most of all, he pointed out the stark contrast between the time when he was treasurer, and now, under our current incompetent, Wayne Swan. Under Costello we had budget surpluses in excess of 2% of GDP. Swan is giving us the opposite - budget deficits in excess of 2% of GDP.

As the old song goes... "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone".

At last

“The New Colossus”

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset hates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lighting, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Emma Lazarus

Swan Flies in Wrong Direction

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/01/2407628.htm

Treasurer Wayne Swan is either misguided or disingenuous when he claims that his clumsy bailout of Aussie banks didn't cause a run on investment funds.

I admit, it's easy for me to sit on the sidelines and criticize with the benefit of hindsight. But consider this, most other western countries, while offering guarantees on bank deposits, have an upper limit. Australia's limit was pretty lame, so I think the treasurer decided to get hairy chested about it and instituded a guarantee without limit. And then in typical Labor style, decided to introduce a tax (which he calls a "levy") on larger deposits to help pay for the insurance.

Most people accept that this is what caused most investors to try and pull their money out of investment funds. Why not? When they could get a guarantee without limit from their local bank.

But what seems even more worrying is the change of tack that the treasurer has taken in order to address the credit crunch. He's decided to give people $1,000 before Christmas. I think the correct term for this is "Trickle Up Economics". It's sort of like the antithesis of extreme capitalism where benefits to the rich "Trickle Down" to the masses, like crumbs from the table. But in Swan's scenario we give money to the masses before Xmas to buy their plasma TV's and lotto tickets.

Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt, but this was the same pundit who before the election was bemoaning the lack of infrastructure investment. Who boasted at his first budget a $40 billion plan to invest surpluses in Nation building.

Now at the first sign of trouble, the infrastructure plans are put on the backburner so Mums and Dads can get a bit of extra pocket money before the end of the year.

Imagine how many more jobs would be created, how much demand would be created for our natural resources if, instead, he kept his word and kept his promise of nation building?

It doesn't provide instant gratification like the Plasma TV money, but it has longer term benefits for us all.

Melbourne City Council Censors Painting the Criticizes China

Ronald McDonald carries the Olympic Torch past a burning Monk, by Van Thanh Rudd.

The Melbourne City Council says it rejected this painting from an art exhibition because it "does not fit the brief". The painting is by Van Thanh Rudd, nephew of PM Kevin Rudd.

I reckon the real reason is that the Melbournce Council is scared of offending China, McDonalds and the PM.

Absolutely gutless.

China's "One Child" Policy

According to the Wall Street Journal The Chinese Government will keep its "One Child Policy" for at least another decade.

As a result, a generation of children is China is growing up with no brothers, sisters, aunts or uncles.

Anyone found breaking this law faces huge fines. Government workers can lose their jobs, and pregnant women may face forced abortions.


Ironically, those chinese who are rich enough, pay the fine, and are able to have more kids.

For the rest, it's a choice between hiding from the government to have a child without a permit, having an abortion, or selling your baby on the burgeoning Child Trading market.

One sad consequence of this situation is a large increase in the number of child abductions.

Labor Activists Still Facing Harsh Treatment

http://www.ir2008.org/

Yao Fuxin, 57, was involved in organizing workers in Liaoning to address corruption and other issues facing the local factories. A former employee at the Liaoyang Steel Rolling Factory, he is married with one daughter. In late March 2002, Yao Fuxin was secretly detained and formally charged with "gathering a crowd to disturb social order" after leading tens of thousands of workers from Liaoyang factories in a peaceful demonstration protesting against corruption and demanding the payment of back wages and pensions. He was later charged with the far more serious charge of subversion due to alleged involvement in the banned China Democracy Party.

During his trial, Yao insisted on his innocence, saying he believed in the government and wanted to see the plight of the workers resolved. He was sentenced to seven years, which he is now serving at Lingyuan No. 2 Prison in Liaoning. His family fought for a retrial with the assistance of his defense lawyer Mo Shaoping, but it was announced at a secret hearing on June 27, 2003, that the appeal was rejected and the original sentence upheld. Since his imprisonment, Yao has been plagued by serious health problems. Family members, who visit him regularly, say he is in very poor health. Yao's family and Liaoyang workers have repeatedly appealed to authorities as high as the National People's Congress and the Supreme People's Court to release Yao on medical parole, but without success.

China is Getting Ready

” In the name of ensuring stability and harmony in the country during the 2008 Olympic Games. The Chinese governement continues to detain and harass political activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers.”

"China is Getting Ready" by "Amnesty International"

Google is complicit with the Chinese Government's censorship of it's citizens.

"China and Google" by "Oyster"

China: the world's biggest prison for journalists and cyber-dissidents

"Beijing 2008" by "HerveParisFrance"

McDonald's - Beijing Olympic partners

If you're wondering why most companie$ and countrie$ aren't officially prote$ting the thuggery of the Chine$e Government, here'$ a $ubtle hint:

"McDonald's - Beijing Olympic partners" by "shalvas"

Beijing Olympics 2008

In the run up to the Beijing Olympics I'll be posting some photos I've found around the net by other people which express my sentiments.

The Chinese Government's treatment of dissidents is appalling.

They tolerate no disagreement.

They've erected a huge firewall to prevent their citizens from reading anything online that criticizes their government.

Chinese people are beautiful, intelligent and gracious.

But the Chinese Government... they're nothing but amoral thugs.



"Beijing Olympics 2008" by http://www.flickr.com/photos/kongharald/

A Man of Steel after all

Credit where credit is due.

I've been critical of PM Kevin Rudd before, but I admire his courageous stance in Beijing today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/09/2212108.htm

It took guts to go to China, and in his first speech there, to say loud and clear that Australia is concerned about Human rights violations in Tibet.

Hopefully Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will recognize the value of International Friends who are unafraid to speak the truth, rather than "friends" who never say what they really think.

Dubya's Man in Australia

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/04/2208065.htm

Our little mouseketeer of PM shows that he's well and truly behind big kahuna, George W Bush.

Holt may have been "All the way with LBJ", but Kevvie is definatley "At the decree of GWB".

Definately not the sort of behaviour you'd expect from a supposed "Man of Steel".

At Home At Last

Full marks to new Labor Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, for granting permanent residency to Robert Jovcic

Jovcic was a victim of the previous goverments heartless immigration policy, which left him homeless and sleeping on the steps of the Australian Embassy in Belgrade.

Minister Evans says that this was "one of a number of regrettable immigration matters the new Government is rectifying".

It's great news.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/23/2170552.htm

Insipid Swan Starts to Sink

Rates08

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/14/2138016.htm

New treasurer Wayne Swan doesn't have a clue when it comes to dealing with banks.

Banks around the country are getting away with raising their interest rates - even when the Reserve Bank hasn't raised official rates.

Shadow Treasurer, Malcolm Turnbull is right. They're treating Swan like a mug.

If Swan doesn't lose the training wheels soon, the millions of people who got duped by Kevin07 are going to be worrying about Rates08. And Swan's credentials on fiscal management will look about as beleivable as that woeful hairpiece of his.

The age old cycle of "Labor Mismanagement" begins again.

Get out of my face!

I hate TV ads.

I have trouble at the best of times shifting my attention from one thing to the next. Just ask by dear wife how difficult it is for her when she comes into my office while I'm halfway through thinking somthing through.

When I'm relaxing in my favourite chair in the lounge room wathcing a show on TV, the last thing I want is some stupid corporation interrupting the peace, trying to sell me something I don't need - be it hamburgers, debt, pain killers, or white goods.

If I want to buy something, I'll go and get the facts by checking some web pages, talking to people who've bought similar things, or just makeing a few phone calls.

The last thing I want is some twisted manipulative message from a company that paid a fortune to butt in on my peace and quiet with some inane advertisement extolling the virtues of their snake oil, targetted at some idiot with half my IQ, a quarter my common sense, and ten times my apparent desire to base spending on the propaganda I see on the TV screen.

(Yes, that sounds elitist and it is. Advertisers target their ads at a lower than average intelligence level of about late primary school, and assume if they tell you to buy something often enough, you'll be stupid enough to buy it. Well... are you? Is that how you're going to reward someone who invades your lounge room in the middle of your favourite show?)

Guys - just get out my face!

In fact, I've bought a couple of PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) - the Beyonwiz DP-S1 and the Topfield 5000. Both of them have a wonderful product called ICE TV installed which lets me know what TV shows are on and when - up to a week in advance. All of this lets me pause the TV, and skip over ads. So now, when some imbecile tells me how cool McDonalds, or "SUPER" A-Mart is, I just tell them to *#$%# off, press the red button to skip ads, and keep watching my show. (You have no idea how satisfying it is to blast TV ads away at the press of a button).

So here's my prediction. Everyone will end up getting a PVR with ICE TV, and skip over ads. TV will become a less attractive medium for corporations to peddle their wares. TV broadcasters will lose advertising revenue, or try and devise more insidious ways to push ads in front of your face, which will devalue the medium even more.

It's at this point that the guys at Think TV will try to convince you how much you need advertising on free to air TV.

Which is a load of rubbish.

I'd rather pay a TV broadcaster to show stuff on TV, provided they didn't insult my intelligence with ads.

Or even better - watch the ABC. What a wonderful institution. Intelligent shows, no ads, no dumbed down news or current affairs.

But regardless of whether you like ABC or not, whether you're prepared to pay for your TV or not, the forces of evolution are at work in the TV world.

And it's my fervent hope that TV advertisers, those parasites who invade our living rooms, will go the way of T-Rex, Eohippus, and the Dodo.

And I for one, can't wait to dance on their graves.

Change of Government

While I'm disappointed with the outcome of the Federal Election, I sincerely hope the new Labor Government has success in improving the quality of life for Australians over the next three years.

I'm so glad to live in Australia! There are not many places in the world where you can have a change of goverment and not have blood in the streets.

Liz and I took the kids into the polling booth and let them see democracy in action.

What a fantastic sight to see everyone voting, and having a say in what happens in the country.

At last look, our local member, Peter Dutton, was almost 200 votes ahead. It's a bit close for him, but it looks like he'll make it. Good on you, Peter, you're a great local member, and deserved to win!