The gap twixt cup and lip

With just eleven days to go til the poll that really matters things are looking just a bit crook for the lady in red the latest opinion poll shows us that the ALP are now going to have more than just a little luck to retain even a minority government but then there is this story which must have  the backroom minions of the ALP quaking in their boots as the CMC investigates the distribution of government largess  to “Labor mates”

PROBE ... The CMC investigating Labor links to a grant for Mitchelton Football Club.

The Courier-Mail has learnt the Crime and Misconduct Commission is probing the role Labor’s Bulimba candidate Di Farmer played in the approval of the sports grant at the centre of the rorting allegations.

Ms Farmer headed the Government’s sports division when the grant for financially stressed Mitchelton Football Club was approved last year after an alleged deal was struck over a Labor pre-selection battle.

The watchdog is probing claims Treasurer Andrew Fraser’s former chief-of-staff Michael Dart promised the grant in exchange for the club president and Labor member Rohan Cassell’s vote in his preselection contest for the council ward of Enoggera.

The role of Mr Dart’s wife Peta Jamieson is also being investigated as she is a senior figure in the Department of Local Government and Sport.

Ms Farmer and Mr Dart are members of the Labor Unity faction.

It also emerged the club’s finances were in disarray when Sport Minister Judy Spence’s department approved the $131,000 grant. An audit found there was little evidence of where the club’s money went. The documents emerged yesterday after the Office of Fair Trading originally claimed the Mitchelton club’s files were missing.

“In our professional opinion we are unable to express an opinion that the accounts and records are presented fairly in accordance with the Associations Act 1991,” the audit said.

Ms Bligh has previously dismissed the sports rorts allegations as “baseless” while Mr Cassell, who is also a public servant, has denied there was any deal with Mr Dart.

While the Alp struggles with that and tries desperately to get off the back foot I was most pleasantly surprised to see the LMP using a good positive message in an animated ad in the masthead of the OZ here is a screen shot:

Good positive campaigning (click)

There is still a large space twixt cup and lip but I can tell you that this Queenslander will be watching the count with a great deal of interest this time.
Cheers Comrades

Why voting Green would be a bad idea

When it comes to the Greens my overriding sentiment is that they are generally well intentioned but also rather off with fairies when it comes to what is practically possible or politically sensible. So to be fair in the way that I address this election campaign i thought That i would go through what they propose and offer a few thoughts in response.

What is it with fringe candidates and fish and chip shops?

As a new policy for the 2009 state election campaign The Greens promised to set up a Greens’ ‘Job Agency’ to create “new green industry jobs” - set up as a partnership between the state and federal governments.

It will be linked to Infrastructure Australia and report to the Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG).

It will include a board of management with industry experts chosen to retrain people into emerging industries and provide seed funding to new businesses.

Yet another bureaucratic organisation to dish out the government largess? Oh come on do we really need that?

At the launch they also committed their support to keeping paediatric care at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, one of the biggest single issues of the 2009 election campaign.

The issue is creating nerves for the ALP in inner-city Brisbane, although the Royal Brisbane Hospital is in the seat of Brisbane Central held by the ALP’s Grace Grace with a 14 per cent margin.

Well I agree with them on this one because I live north of the river it is far more convenient for me and every other parent on the north side who has ever had to use the Children’s  Hospital services than to have to go through the city and over the river to the Marter. Consolidating the paediatric hospitals into one may make sense to the doctors but the patients it is a horrible prospect that will make their families very distressed indeed. but then if this is a vote changing issue for you you would be better off voting for the LNP because to guarantee that this madness is stopped you will have to change the government;  electing any Green candidates  will not actually be able to put a stop to this mad scheme from the woman in red.

The Greens will replace the $1 billion Kenmore Bypass proposal with a light rail concept connecting to the main Ipswich line as part of a network for greater Brisbane.

This issue was raised by the Greens during the Brisbane City Council election in March 2008.

I make no secret of my love of trains and trams but that love is not based upon a desire to be obliged to use public transport but a love of the engineering. However I think that this sort of answer to the transport needs of Brisbane’s people. The sad fact is that public transport is very cute if the people it serves all want to go to the same places on a regular basis and if they have the time available to use the service. No light rail will serve the people of Queensland as well as a decent road network.

The Greens promised to stop bauxite mining on the Wenlock River, buy back the water that is allocated to the giant cotton-growing Cubbie Station and maintain their complete opposition to uranium mining in Queensland.

Aluminium is the metal of the Twenty first century it’s light weight and versatility, its resistance to corrosion makes it the ideal basis for many modern engineering solutions in transport, building and even appliances yet the Greens seem hell bent on making any exploitation of our huge reserves of Bauxite both difficult and more expensive.  When it comes to Cubbie Station that is obviously not going to benefit the economy in this state and one wonders if Mr Lee has actually costed not only buying the water but also compensating the owners for the loss of their enterprise?

Uranium is one of those issues that really divides the Greens , on one hand the throwbacks to the 60′s are terrified by any use of this energy source and on the other there are the AGW true believers who insist that nuclear energy is going to be the planets saviour in the fight to  save us all from frying …

Mr Lee said the Greens would also change Queensland’s current solar energy payment scheme from a feed-in tariff, to one based on the gross renewable energy produced.

“It will be calculated, like every research report that looks at this issue says it should be, on the gross renewable energy that households and schools and business, produce.”

brisbanetimes.com.au revealed last year that Queensland has the slowest uptake of solar power.

I am rather concerned about the plans to create solar thermal power stations in tropical Queensland especially as Cyclone Hamish bears down upon us. Looking at the designs in the Greens glossy PDF I can’t see how infrastructure like that would survive any sort of half decent blow. I don’t think that they have really though about it, but what do you expect from a fringe party who know that they will never hold the reins of power what they dream about is getting in to a balance of power situation so they can be the tail that wags the dog.

Queensland and its people deserve to have representative government that seeks tob serve the majority of the people and a vote for the greens will at best be wasted and at worst will deliver the casting vote to a bunch of unrealistic ideologues who want to impose their religious liturgy upon the rest of us.

Cheers Comrades

International Women’s day and Abortion

March 6 is International Women's Day and it's being celebrated in Brisbane with a lunch at the Convention Centre.

There are probably  a whole swag of Femnazi’s out there who are seething with anger that “International Women’s day” now raises barely a ripple in the nations collective consciousness. But Maybe that is not such a bad thing after all.  Despite the whining from the usual suspects the reality is that we now have a society where our daughters can reasonably expect that they can shape their lives just about any way they please in terms of their career choice, their education and all of the thing s that matter.

That is not of course to say that things are perfect for women, (or men) in every aspect of our lives. Life is a journey, not a destination, and the road is far from smooth for anyone what we all have to do is decide just what matters . Feminism does deserve some acknowledgement  for highlighting some social inequities but it has also made a fundamental error in assuming that the female way of understanding the world is superior to the male understanding. Neither is better than the other, they are just different, not because of the way that girls and boys are socialised but different because our brains are “hard wired” to be different.

As a society we need to think beyond the male female dichotomy, beyond the rabid imaginings about patriarchal dominance and think about why there is differences between men and women and why it is that those differences are complementary attributes of that which is our collective humanity. Perhaps the time has come to move beyond a day for women to a day for gender equity where the roles and qualities of both genders can be appreciated .

Equality between the genders is of course the last thing that Feminists would acknowledge when it comes the issue of abortion and I wonder just how this story will be seen in the context of IWD?

At issue is a clause in the new legislation that forces doctors who oppose abortion to declare their belief and refer patients seeking terminations to specialists who are willing to provide the procedure.

Queen’s Counsel Neil Young, a former Federal Court judge, and barrister Peter Willis, a former adviser to the attorney-general’s office, who examined the legislation on behalf of Catholic Health Australia, say that Australia will fail to meet its international obligations unless the clause is removed.

Catholic Health chief executive Martin Laverty told The Sunday Age that the group had been advised the contentious clause breached the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a treaty ratified by Australia and overseen by the United Nations.

He said staff at the state’s 15 Catholic hospitals would not be expected to take any part in the abortion process — including referring women to other doctors — and Catholic Health was ready to challenge the law in court if anyone were to be prosecuted for refusing to provide a referral.

He called on Attorney-General Robert McClelland to use his powers under constitutional law to remove the clause. Several senators within Mr McClelland’s own party have also urged him to overhaul the law, including Tasmanian Senator Helen Polley, who wrote to him on the matter.

“If you have very strong religious convictions on abortion you should not have to be participating in any form in the process, including referring women,” Senator Polley told The Sunday Age.

“There are real concerns that the only way to test this law will be for someone to be prosecuted.”

In feminist theory personal autonomy is seen as being the most important thing of all but under the  feminist inspired legislation in Victoria the personal autonomy of doctors and other health professionals to act according to their conscience (by having NO part in the baby killing process) is entirely proscribed and if this is struck out of the legislation because of our being a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights it will be a real blow to my latte sipping friends who obviously think that personal autonomy is only valid when  it suits their agenda.

And on that note I will leave you all to think about how we can make a society that builds upon the strengths of both genders without unduly privileging either. After all isn’t that what we should be working towards?

Cheers Comrades

8)

“It is very encouraging indeed but we still have a long long way to go,”

Head to head: Anna Bligh and Lawrence Springborg.

This is the second opinion poll ( the other is here)that I have seen in the last couple of days that suggests that the Bligh crew are in serious strife.

The Galaxy Poll found the Liberal National Party had pushed ahead of Labor on a two-party preferred basis, the first time the conservatives have hit the front since the week before the last election.

They hold a 51 per cent to 49 per cent lead, a result that could force both sides to consider forming minority governments with the help of independents or minor parties.

Labor’s primary vote has dropped to 41 per cent, while the LNP has pushed to 44 per cent, eight points better than it achieved at the previous election.

The Greens remain on 8 per cent and the party’s preferences could play a crucial role in marginal seats.

Mr Springborg last night said the LNP would still need to gain considerable ground to oust Labor, which would profit from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s stimulus cash.

“It is very encouraging indeed but we still have a long long way to go,” Mr Springborg said.

It is looking more and more that we may just see a re-run of the Western Australian result up here in the sunshine state. In any election a major factor seems to be momentum and I am only seeing wheel spinning from the lady in red.
Cheers Comrades

The Gore effect, a joke that just keeps giving.

Humour and just what is funny really depends upon where you stand and what it is that rocks your boat. But nothing makes something more unfunny than being the butt of the joke. Which surely explains just why the Warministas are so incensed by any evocation of the “Gore Effect”. There are two ways to deal with this sort of mockery, In the first instance you could just get with the program and accept the irony of advocates for a theory of rampant global warming being repeatedly frozen in their attempts at activism is innately funny. Or you could try to find a pseudo scholarly reason that explains just why making jokes about this is very bad indeed.

The “Gore effect” in action (photo from Tim Blair)

THERE were two storms in the US capital yesterday, and one blew away the other.

Global warming activists had stormed Washington for what was billed as the nation’s largest act of civil disobedience to fight climate change, only to see the city almost shut down by a major winter storm.

As Washington was blasted with its heaviest snowfall of the winter, politicians cancelled appearances and schools and businesses were closed.

The storm also buried under 15cm of snow any hope of global warming activism.

Reports said the activists had hoped to swarm Washington in an effort to force the Government to close the Capitol Power Plant, which heats and cools government buildings, including the Supreme Court and the Capitol.

Fox News said the scene was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made an address on global warming in New York — on one of the coldest days in the city’s history.

In a press release supporting the protest against the coal-fired plant, Greenpeace wrote that “coal was the country’s biggest source of global warming pollution” and “burning coal cuts short at least 24,000 lives in the US annually”. But Fox News said it might be worth noting the US Government’s own stark numbers: pneumonia kills twice as many each year.

The storm was more serious elsewhere, paralysing most of the east coast yesterday.

For the first time in five years New York City cancelled school for its 1.1 million students.

The thing is, I have never come a cross a single sceptic (about the AGW theory) who sees the ” Gore effect” as being anything more than a delightfully humorous irony  and a great way to undermine the “sky is falling” rhetoric of the Waministas. Not with science but with well deserved mockery. Although the AGW enthusiasts dress their faith in scientific vestments it is in essence a religion that seeks to do with activism what it just can’t achieve with actual evidence. That the forces of nature can be seen to smite their efforts not just once, but repeatedly, makes their claims to be acting for Gaia look as ridiculous as any other millenarian cult who have to explain, the morning after their predicted demise of humanity, why we are still here.
Finally I shall explain for the benefit of those wilfully ignorant Waministas that if you hear anyone talking about “the Gore effect” in any context it is a joke, always a joke, and you and your fellows are the butt of that joke. By all means pretend that it is cited with anything other than a comedic purpose because that gives we sceptics even more reason to enjoy the catharsis of laughter.

Until next time comrades

Not Cricket !!!

Footage shows a man being treated in an ambulance following a shooting in Pakistan which injured up to eight Sri Lankan cricket players including (insert) Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera and Sri Lankan Captain Mahela Jayawardena.

I have just one simple question for all of those people who want to pretend that the threat from the Jihadists is minuscule, what if it had been the Aussie cricket team who were attacked would you be just as sanguine then?

Cheers Comrades

Would you buy a used government from these two?

It has to be ironic that Anna Bligh is running this campaign “on the record” of the Labor government and yet we are informed that if she manages to win office again then she will do a very serious cabinet reshuffle.

DEAD woman walking … Judy Spence, walking with Premier Anna Bligh, is among four current ministers who could suffer from a ‘serious renewal’ of a future Bligh cabinet.

But if I was lucky enough to secure the support of Queenslanders … we need to see a very serious renewal.

“We’ve got some very talented backbenchers and I’d be looking to bring them forward into a more senior position.”

The current Cabinet members were all appointed under former premier Peter Beattie, except Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara.

There will be at least two Cabinet vacancies following the retirement of Rod Welford and Warren Pitt.

But there is also speculation that Ms Bligh will dump the longest-serving ministers – Judy Spence and Robert Schwarten – as well as move Stephen Robertson out of the health portfolio.

Ms Spence has been under fire over Opposition claims she ordered a crime crackdown in her electorate and after her department erected two signs around her electorate claiming credit for new council pools.

But Ms Bligh yesterday backed her Police Minister yesterday, saying Ms Spence had done a “very good job in a tough portfolio”.

Which is sort of like buying a car knowing that it needs a new engine, sure it might be a good deal now but wouldn’t you be better off buying a working car in the first place?

I am getting to love the fashion sense of the state Labor elite though, creased socialist red for our Premier and prison stripes from the Police and Corrective Services minister. I believe the phrase is “what were they thinking”.
Cheers Comrades

Acting in haste, in Victoria

Without offering an opinion on this specific case you have to wonder just how many people have had their bodies mutilated to “correct” a cognitive problem only to discover that they have made a terrible mistake…

In a statement of claim filed with the Supreme Court, the man, 66, said psychiatrists Dr Trudy Kennedy and Dr Chris Grant had advised him that he was suffering from transsexualism, during consultations at Monash Medical Centre’s gender dysphoria clinic between 1993 and 1995.

He said the doctors had told him that gender reassignment surgery, entailing the removal of his penis and testicles and associated cosmetic and hormonal changes, would be appropriate treatment.

The man claimed the doctors had not correctly diagnosed him with transsexualism in line with recognised practice. He said he did not fit the criteria of transsexualism, including being convinced since childhood that he was a member of the opposite sex, finding his genitals disgusting and having a preoccupation with traditionally “female” activities.

He said the doctors had failed to investigate his history, which included being sexually abused by his mother between the ages of eight and 15.

I wrote about a similar case in the UK here and then,  like now I am rather concerned by  efforts to mutilate the body to match the mind rather than making real efforts to do anything to make the person learn to be happy in their own skin.

Cheers Comrades

Judy Spence and the signs

Week Two

Judy Spence and Bernie Dawson from the Mount Gravatt Community Centre

I can think of very little else in politics that is worse than unduly claiming full credit for something without actually being entitled to do so. But it seems that that is precisely what Judy Spence has done via the officers of her department. You just have to wonder if these signs were erected because of a direct instruction of the minister  or if a loyal staff member is now taking the blame to protect his minister.

Each was emblazoned with “This pool is proudly funded by the Queensland Government” despite Ms Spence’s department being only a partial contributor.

The illegally installed signs, which cost $2400 each, were ripped down by Brisbane City Council officers because they breached agreed signage rules under which the two levels of government receive equal credit.

One of the pools is in Runcorn, deep within Ms Spence’s electorate of Sunnybank, while the other is just outside her electoral boundary in Mansfield.

The signs were erected early last month amid widespread expectation that Premier Anna Bligh would call an early election.

The incident comes only weeks after Ms Spence admitted pressuring police for a pre-election crime crackdown in her electorate – 18 months after she denied Sunnybank had a crime problem.

In a brief to council, BCC principal planning officer Graham Heiner described the signs as “propaganda”.

“The signage also incorrectly gives the impression that the projects are funded solely by the state, given there is no acknowledgement of council as the project initiator and major funder,” he said.

[...]

Liberal National Party campaign spokesman Mike Horan said the signs saga showed the election was all about Labor MPs retaining their jobs.

“It’s high time the Premier pulled Judy Spence into line,” Mr Horan said.

Well you can bet that there will be one hell of a cat fight in the Bligh Bunker over this little act of departmental stupidity. For not only has the department wasted nearly five grand on two useless signs, but it seems that the department has ignored the clear protocols about proper attribution of credit for these sorts of shared projects.
The really scary thing is that this has happened under the nose of the woman who is supposed to be running our police department, which makes this Queenslander rather concerned.
Cheers Comrades

Bite

Swim in MY sea and you are fair game matey!

Every time I hear about someone being attacked and/or eaten by a shark (or a crocodile for that matter) I feel conflicted. On one hand I feel concern and sympathy for the person bitten but on the other I consider that the water is not our environment and any who enter it do so at their own risk.

March 1, 2009 – 8:04AM

A young man has been attacked by a shark on Sydney’s northern beaches, the NSW Ambulance says.

He was attacked in the water at the northern end of Avalon Beach, in the city’s north, about 6.45am (AEDT), a NSW ambulance service spokesman said.

“A young male has suffered severe upper leg injuries and is being treated at the scene,” the spokesman told AAP.

“We’re not sure if he was on his own.”

He was unable to say whether he was swimming or surfing.

The victim will be taken to hospital by ambulance helicopter.

It is the third serious shark attack in Sydney in less than three weeks.

Just as falling to your death is a risk when climbing mountains, becoming dinner for a large predator is the risk when you swim the sea. After all from a predator’s point of view if people were not meant to be eaten then why are they made out of meat?
Cheers Comrades