"The lunatics are on the grass" - Brain Damage/Eclipse, Pink Floyd 1973

Dark Side of the Moon was the longest album ever on the English top 100 charts. It finally fell off after 11 years. An iconic album, a themed album. It is timeless. 

These two last songs of that album exploded earlier in my head. It seems the times we live in now have bought a new understanding of Brain Damage and Eclipse. Can't say I've ever really "got it" like I have now. Especially with the current Australian excuse for a gov.

The song came from Roger Waters who got the inspiration for it when he was looking at a beautifully manicure patch of grass, with a sign saying "keep off the grass". Remember as a kid playing on grass? Remember when you weren't allowed to walk on it anymore? A metaphorical take on walking on the grass.

Indeed they want us to walk on the path. Their path......

Some original video from 1973 this one. I nearly creamed my pants darlings. Am a hard core Pinko :)

 

Renewable Energy Target under threat - GetUp

They want to get this on air in Canberra. You can donate here if you wish.


 

US christian fundies are seriously losing it

What the hell is going on over there? I can understand opposition to marriage equality amongst the conservative christians, but this shit is out there.

In a recent post I placed a Soundcloud thing with a guy calling for gay executions. The other day on YouTube the term "homosexual fascists" was used in the comments section. This is all in the last 2-3 days. Now this:

 

"Bowser Bandid" - question time Canberra :)

At the start of question time, the opposition holds up copies of the Herald Sun. Bowser Bandit. Ha ha ha.....

Suicidality - the cancer of my mind

I can be going along fine, dealing with everything OK. And unexpectedly something can trigger my mind. 

How quickly my head moves to these dark thoughts!
I feel alone, not understood.
"Nobody understands!" My mind screams at me.
The fragility, the precipice...
And why? WTF happened?
Loss of control. 
Fear of where my mind can take me.

Such episodes can come and go for me. Triggers can set off a bloody canon in my head at times. Worst of all is I don't realise it's a trigger until after the event.

Round the next corner. Over the next rise. What awaits? Will I be able to cope? Will my mind let me?

US upgrades security after Australia's "beheading" plot :s

I don't know who's stupider, Fox News or the idiots who increased security over it. The so called beheading plot, turned into a massive fizzer. But don't tell the terror panicked people or those trying to get them to panic in the US.

The alleged Islamic State terror plot to kidnap and behead an Australian was partly responsible for the decision to ramp up security at US government buildings, according to a high-ranking congressman. 

Mike Rogers, the chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee, told FOX News 14 Australian IS recruits were "ready to go to Syria" at the time and "further their radicalisation". 

But Rogers said the recruits were told to stay in Australia. Rogers said the note back from IS said: "No, No. What we want you to do, stay in Australia. We want you to randomly kidnap people off the street, behead them, videotape it, send it to us for further propaganda." Read more

A complete fabrication.

This was the result of the police raids. A plastic decorative sword very common in Muslim houses, not capable of cutting a cucumber. That was the only thing the massive police raids using 800 cops.

So think of that over there in the US when you're inconvenienced by increased security; it's all because of a plastic sword. 

Show us the TPP - Greens

It's come to light that US pollies are able to see the text of the Trans Pacific Partnership, as well as Malaysians. Why can't our parliamentarians see it then?

 

I found where Abbott got his policies - Koch brothers, US

This all sounds so familiar here in Australia. Unfortunately for Abbott and co, they didn't count on the senate and the fact that this is Australia, not some piss weak pushover population. The retirement age increase to 70 that was part of the ill fated budget, along with the changes to social security, remain firmly in limbo in the senate chopping block.

This is the real reason why they want to fuck over welfare. It's no secret that the NSW Lieberals are in deep political shit over donations.

 

Our special forces for Iraq - can't fight without a visa for Iraq

Good grief. What a way to run a war. Sounds more like Dad's Army to me. The people running the show that is, not our elite special forces. Note the Bishop death stare above, on this occasion well deserved.

So Iraq is in the midst of war. It asks for help. Help comes from Abbott in the form of 200 elite troops to put on the ground. The elites get there. But then..... Well what's more important, paperwork or defending your country from suicidal religious maniacs? According to Iraq it's the paperwork. 

They won't let our troops fight for them without a Visa to enter Iraq. 

About 200 commandos are in the Middle East waiting to join the fight against Islamic State, but they have been told they cannot enter Iraq without valid visas.

 ........................ 

The troops have been waiting for at least a month and some have been waiting for two months. "We are just going through the administration to comply with the legal framework," a government source said. 

A person knowledgeable about the matter said the Iraqi government's slowness was explained by political caution in allowing foreign troops to be seen on the ground. Read more

Dead set. No wonder these idiots got invaded. Talk about brain dead. If this lot of Keystone Cops are running the show there surely must be serious questions about the safety of our troops under them. 

 

More Centrelink delays :s

*Sheesh*

So the application for the Carers Allowance came in the snail mail, was filled out promptly by David, and taken straight away down to Centrelink. This was because Centrelink had lost the application form and so another had to be done, although they were still in posession of the medical certificate that was part of the application. Because they lost the form and with us busy with everything else, it was over two months before we realised and contacted them to ask WTF was going on.

That was Tuesday he put the form in, they said they'd back pay to the original date on the  medical certificate, and that it would be processed promptly once being given to them. 

Anyway David rings them this morning to see how long it will take. The answer was basically they didn't know. That the normal time for processing these claims is about a month. That there was a special note put on there but couldn't be read by the lady on the phone as it had private info, but that it would likely speed up the claim.

Bla bla bla bla bla ......

So we're still stuck on a hopelessly small amount of money until Centrelink crosses their t's and dots their i's. 

The computers are coming! - 1980

Gays are not pedophiles - answering the allegation

I've posted this ages ago but it's very relevant now after another bit of an altercation with the christian gay haters, who asserts that gays are predisposed or something to pedophilia:

I answered the thing with this video. It's worth posting again for this.

 

Abbott threatening Fair Entitlements Guarantee for workers

That was set up by the Rudd gov wasn't it? Where workers can get their entitlements if the bosses go under. Abbott now wants to mess with it.

 

Update:

Looks like the unions have sorted it all out in the senate after sending a delegation with real people from real companies that went under :)

Officials from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) said they had beaten the Government to the punch. 

"We've had commitments directly given to the union and the delegation of workers that were affected from Ricky Muir, John Madigan, Nick Xenophon and the PUP senators," TCFUA national secretary Michele O'Neil said. 

"And the PUP party room had resolved as a whole to oppose the legislation." more

Another bit of legislation on the senate scrap heap. 

Solar now cheaper than Australian coal - India

Looks like coal's going down the gurglar in India. Well at least Australian coal, which is now more expensive than solar power in India. Hear those "market forces" yet Tone? Tone deaf?

Basically, says IEEFA, the required wholesale power price for imported coal is prohibitive relative to domestic coal or renewable energy. 

“Wind, solar and hydro facilities can be built faster and / or at lower PPAs. Additionally, the use of renewable energy incorporates a zero fuel cost, such that there is an inbuilt deflationary driver – i.e. zero indexation. 

“Given the recent drive by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prioritise the sustained reduction in inflation, renewables support a series of GoI / RBI targets. Importing thermal coal achieves none of these goals, and more likely contradicts them.” 

IEEFA analyst Tim Buckley said that, while the imported coal price may come down, lowering the generation price to around 9c/kWh, there was no way developers could bank on prices staying that low, considering the uncertainty surrounding thermal coal. 

“(India’s) proposed new coal generation plan is showing signs of significant financial stress and is likely to deliver far lower than expected levels of new supply over the next five years.” 

This is not great news for Australia, or more particularly Queensland, which is betting on India’s appetite for imported coal to fund the development of the state’s massive Carmichael coal deposit and the related expansion of the nearby Abbot Point coal port. more

Makes sense. Once the solar panels are up and running there's no fuel costs to drive it. You'd be stupid not to go solar. 

Abbott increases petrol tax - says it's not a tax

Abbott has put the indexation back on the petrol excise. It was taken off back in Howard's day when he was preparing for an election. If there's one thing Australians are very sensitive about it's the petrol price at the pump.

But according to the gov, it's not actually a tax:

 What an insult to our intelligence. 

 

"Execute gays" - US christian maniac

More love from the christians.

Honestly, how the fuck do people over there get away with saying stuff like that? If he said that on the radio here he'd find himself in court. It's vilification on the grounds of sexual orientation. Inciting hatred/violence against a minority. You just can't say those sorts of things on air here.

 

GetUp Reef add against Abbott Point coal expansion

How pleasing, now Citibank has abandoned Adani too. It appears the US banks are falling over themselves to say no to wrecking the Reef.

The Australian big four banks however have not as yet said they won't fund Abbott Point. GetUp is therefore asking for donations to put this add in The Australian newspaper:

 Donate here. 

And there's this from 350.org:

 

"Fuck me in the ass cause I love Jesus" - video :)

Well yes. Although I don't love a man that never existed. Although some people think if he did exist he was fucking his disciples. Strange isn't it there's nothing about anal sex in the bible?

 

A little exchange with a bible basher

Must admit I've sprayed everywhere in the comments section of this YouTube christian hate pastor video. Haven't done anything like that for years. Perhaps I'm coming back? I used to love going to war online late at night/small hours of the morning, after finishing shiftwork at 11pm, when crazy US wingnuts were getting up in their morning. They didn't know what to make of me really. I mean some of my views were anathema to them. Back then it was a bit of fun and games and we all knew it in both countries. I even got a few compliments at how well I wrote things. It was all very friendly usually.

This time however is different. This video from over there is from a bunch of pastors united in their abhorrence of gays, to the point that their fuckin site is called "NoGay CivilRights". WTF? I dunno, I became a bit enraged by this affront against me, even though I'm in another country it's still there online with people fuckin supporting it. Fucks sake my bloods the same colour as theirs. Yet they'd like people like me who live in the US to have no civil rights because they're gay. Of course that would piss me off. I'm standing with my US gay brothers and sisters on this one.

So anyway, may I introduce one of these contributors in the comments section who hates gays. Since I replied to him he has deleted his post on the YouTube comments and replied back to me via PM. What? Too gutless to put it online for all to see? (I now note it's been put back).

Well as he had his hate thing online for all to see and deleted it when I took him up on it online, I will now post the PM shit that followed. Read it and weep christian fuckwits:

Oh, what a surprise here. LazerCannon7 is all upset about his sexuality. Strange then he'd be watching stuff about gays eh? Here's a video from his YouTube account:



Wanna condemn me bitch? Well I'm condemning you here and now. You are a self righteous arrogant prick. Go fuck yourself.

Hi Stacy?

I got into a bit of a thing with a conservative US christian lady in the US, who endorsed this revolting hate rant from over there, with Pastors getting together to condemn gay marriage. It started getting a bit much for the YouTube comments section and so I PM'd her and invited her to view the blog. So far she's chickened out at the "adult warning" thing. I've explained it's pretty much because I discuss some things best left for adults is all. Blog Surfer doesn't allow porn anyway. So anyway I suggested she come and see what a gay person is really like - look, no horns.

Not holding my breath though. Her YouTube profile is here.

Gov refuses to rule out including PBS in TPP negotiations - senate

The finance minister Cormann is a chip off Joe's block. Arrogant prick he is. Thinks we're all stupid and can't see through his doublespeak.

This is from the senate, Cormann being asked a simple question whether Australia's world leading Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is up for grabs in the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement. He weasels his way around an answer, never rules out the PBS, and appears to think he's so clever for doing so. This is whilst the US corporations are salivating over getting access to our PBS.

The funniest line was when he says the gov "isn't seeking" to change the PBS. *pfffft* well the bloody US is. That shits been in the TPP right from the start and the US just refuses to budge on it.

 

US investment banks line up to ditch Abbott Point coal expansion

Looks like nobody wants to have a part in destroying the Reef. I'd say GetUp would have played a big part in that, with targeted online adds showing what Adani was planning to do to the Reef. Now banks don't seem to want anything to do with it. 

Well they'd be idiots wouldn't they? If you're going to invest, would you chose a dying industry with little future, or a rapidly expanding industry of the future? How ironic. New industry saving the Reef.

A Morgan Stanley spokesman in Australia said the bank is involved only in the existing terminal and said the bank was “not in the business of providing greenfield project financing in Australia.” 

“Therefore, as we have stated, we will not lend to, or invest in, these projects,” the spokesman said. 
”We take environmental issues very seriously and in financing any project we always examine the potential environmental impacts.” 

The disclosure of Morgan Stanley’s involvement came as three other large US banks distanced themselves from Abbot Point, joining a growing roster of international lenders expressing worries about the project’s potential environmental impact. 

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have signalled they wouldn’t support new investment at Abbot Point, Australia’s most northerly coal port, potentially complicating the search for funding by Adani and India’s GVK, who want to export coal from planned mines nearby. 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, has voiced concerns about the health of the World Heritage-listed reef, which would see a sharp increase in ships navigating its shallows to fetch coal for export to Asia. The reef — a 344,000-square-kilometre marine park and the only living organism visible from space — is already under threat from rising sea temperatures, water pollution and coastal development. more  

"Gays will make us slaves" - christian maniac

More love from the christians.

Is it my imagination or are these wacked out US bible bashers becoming really unhinged? Cripes, some of them even want to secede from the US over gay marriage.

  

Abbott's citizenship form - "does not exist or can't be found" - FOI request

This whole citizenship thing of Abbott's has been brushed off by the right as something like the crackpot "birther" movement in the US. However this isn't like that at all. It started as a simple bit of curiosity by a blogger and exploded into this great big thing. All Abbott or his office needs to do to put an end to speculation is simply produce the form saying that Tony Abbott has renounced his British citizenship. Simple. It's illegal for a British citizen to be an Australian parliamentarian.

So there was a freedom of information request made to Tone's office. If anyone was going to make a massive effort to find it, it'd be his office. The implications of not being able to produce such a simple document..... well who knows? There is precedent with a by election being held in recent years in NSW when the member elected was found out to be a dual citizen (in that case a New Zealander). So they've looked and looked until they could look no more, and so here is the response to the FOI request: 

 link

Shit Tone, we know you lie, but could you have pulled off such a spectacular lie as this?

And why can't they find it? A document so incredibly important as that getting lost? It beggars belief. I still have my original New Zealand birth cert from 1962. My Australian citizenship cert is put in the "very important papers" satchel sealed between plastic covers to keep it pristine clean. Yet we're supposed to believe the Prime Minister of Australia can't find his papers required to enter parliament?

Full FOI document here. 

Hey Pastor, you are no better than me.

Ha ha ha ha ha......... I dunno. It must be my life experience that makes me laugh my fuckin ass off at this video.

So some hallowed christian US pastor is coming through border patrol over there somewhere. I can only assume by the tone of the below video that he has no idea about the police states the western country's have become, I guess the US the biggest offender? In any case, the hallowed pastor bloke goes all legal at the border and resists what the border police are doing there. Recipe for disaster mate....

Fucks sake, I swore at the cops on a bus here in Sydney a while back and ended up with two broken ribs in the arrest. The memory is rather vague, yes I was pissed as a fart, but even though I'm only 68 kilos I learned from the police court statement that the dumb cops couldn't undo my hands from the bus hand thing for some time. I do have very strong hand muscles, work and that. But in the end to no avail, as I ended up being chucked out of the bus back door by the cops and got clobbered the fuck out of by the cops; two broken ribs. I learned my lesson, and as my solicitor at the time told me, to shut the fuck up and realise NSW is a police state.

OK. Forward to now and my just seeing the below video..... Actually I think for reasons of the posts flow, that before anyone goes on they should watch this poor dear pastor video:



Yes he got fucked up. He did much more than I did; swearing at the cops on a local Sydney bus. He challenged bloody border patrol FFS! And he uses his title as "pastor" as some kind of unjustness being done to him. Oh the precious petal! How dare these evil people accost a god fearing law abiding pastor (assuming he hasn't fucked kids).

Well welcome to our world baby. I'm not a pastor, but I'm a human being. You fuckin self righteous christian prick, thinking you don't deserve to be treated this way because you believe in a sky man. How dare you use your position to ameliorate your transgression against the law. 

Hey pastor, you are no better than me. 

SSJoe goes down in flames - British telly :)

Took a bit of finding this one. I saw a snip of the SSJoe interview on another video, and went searching for the original video of the interview in Britain. Unfortunately their silly player only worked in the UK, but I did find this YouTube one of when the interviewer hits him with a sledge hammer.

 

 

Aftermath of Israeli bomb hit on Palestine - warning: graphic video

This just showed up on one of my YouTube channels I look at. Am in two minds to post it or not as it's not for the fainthearted. But then again surely we need to see what's actually going on there in Palestine.

 

I have divested my superannuation from dirty energy

I've got on the divestment bandwagon!

So I took a look online at my superannuation account. There's still $60,000 in there despite all the drawing on it I've managed to accomplish in the last few years. It was nearly twice that much at one stage. Like I said, have been working full time for 30 years before all of this. So, it's still a sizable sum. 

I took a look at all the investment options available with Australian Super. "Sustainable Balanced" looked like the one for me:

Next I looked at the performance of this Sustainable Balanced fund (at the bottom). 

Wow, that looks alright. About 15% per year. I thought green industries were poorly performing compared to the dirty ones, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. After all it's an emerging industry of the future. Divest! Divest! 

Last century they went from coal powered boats and that to oil power. This century will be going from oil and coal to renewables. Just that little thing called survival of the species there. Divest! Divest!

Which I did, putting all of the $60,000 into this sustainable fund. Fuck you Gina :)

 

ANU responds to divestment furor

A closer look at the furor after the ANU divested from fossil fuels. The mining guy is still stuck in the past, calling it "anti-industry" and deeming it as an evil Green campaign to destroy jobs, or something like that.

Hmmmmm, I might go see what sort of Greenery is available for my superannuation fund then. Divest! Divest!

 

Putin clobbers Washington - Sochi scholars gathering

It's no secret I detest Putin over his anti-gay laws in Russia. At the same time, he can come out with some pretty shrewd observations of the west, and US in particular.

Speaking generally he says this:

Vladimir Putin lashed out at the United States and the West for destabilizing the world order of checks and balances for its own gains. He also accused the West of inflaming the situation in Ukraine and said Russia is not interested in building an empire. 

The Russian President delivered a fierce broadside aimed at the United States in a speech for the Valdai Club in Sochi, which is an informal group of scholars. He hit out at Washington for behaving without regard to the rest of the world's interests 

“The system of international relations needed some changes, but the USA, who believe they were the winners of the Cold War, have not seen the need for this.” He added that the US has been trying to create the world “for their own gains." The Russian President added that because of this, regional and global security had been weakened. 

During his speech, Putin used the Russian version of the Latin phrase, “Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi” (what is allowed for god, is not allowed for cattle,) alluding to the double standards used by Washington. more

Well you can't argue with that. "Create the world for their own gains"..... Sounds the the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement to me.

50% of US workers earn less than $28,000yr

USA; where corporations rule and workers are chucked over the bonnet of the Mercedes and fucked senseless. Beware those evil unions you know. Click to enlarge.

 link

Even more surprising, 81% earn less than $63,000 a year. Far out. 

$20billion of budget on senate scrap heap :)

I'm feeling pretty satisfied with that number. 

I would call that a comprehensive rejection of the budget by Australians. We put a lot of effort into it all of us, sending off emails and like to give the true story of what these cuts would mean to people. Would have to say the crossbenchers have taken notice.

The Abbott government’s “Operation Budget Repair” appears to have morphed into “Operation Let’s Salvage What The Hell We Can”. 

The social security minister, Kevin Andrews, said this week he would consider “any reasonable offer” from crossbench senators in a last-ditch bid to get at least some of his $10bn in stalled welfare changes through the Senate. 

And another $10bn or so of proposed savings or revenue raisings also remain on the Senate scrap heap, including the reindexation of fuel excise, the Medicare co-payment and the dramatic changes to higher education. more  

Dollarmites divestment

Watch what happens when the kids find out the Commonwealth bank may fund the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.

 

The Hobbit air safety video - Air New Zealand

The only air safety video to watch :)

 

The journey from work to welfare

Is not easy. I had my own hiccups along the way, but this experience we've had with David this time has been horrendous. There's always the issues of adjusting mentally to being sick, to not being able to work, to feeling like you're not contributing to anything, worthless, like you should be getting back to work as soon as you bloody well can and to "suck up" your illness. All these things go through your mind and are part of the adjustment, or the recognition, of your illness.

Then you have to seek welfare to survive.

Often with illness, both mental and physical, there is the guilt of not working. Like you've failed. Like the illness should just go away. Terribly inconvenient illness you know. Getting in the way of life's success's and all. Often even the act of seeking welfare is humiliating in itself when you've spent your whole life paying your way.  In the great majority of cases you have just been traumatised by a recent mental or physical disaster.

I've had quite a bit of experience with Centrelink and dept of housing over the decades. I know all about how to deal with them as my wife and I were recipients of both their assistance when raising our daughter. Once the Centrelink computer lost her tax file number too. David however has had fuck all experience even with Centrelink. He like me has worked for decades, but he never had the need for assistance. Suddenly he had to get help from Centrelink from illness.

He had no paperwork. Not even a birth certificate. No drivers licence (I don't either btw - the cops seem to have a thing about it). It was a great thing just to spend time and money to get enough ID together to even get in the Centrelink door.

He had no idea how Centrelink worked. He thought he was bothering them to ring them about something. He didn't know how accident prone both the branches are and the Centrelink computer is as well. That mistakes happen, and you have to be proactive in nursing your forms through their system. He knew none of that and it had a big impact on his mental health when it became apparent to him the maze we were presently negotiating to get money not even enough to live off.

He wasn't very computer literate. His area is nursing, and he knows how to work all the stuff at work. But he didn't even have an email address (*faints*). He had little idea about even how to navigate around online, and correspondingly wasn't set up for internet banking or anything. Much of proving poverty is being able to spit out bank statements on demand. This became a question of late to social workers and the like, how do people get through all this bullshit without a computer?

Add to that all the fuck-ups and bureaucracy along the way by various agencies. It turned into a recipe for disaster. All in all, as finally the Carers Allowance is being fixed up this week for him, it's taken 3 months for him to transition from work to getting everything that he's entitled to from Centrelink. We began this whole process at the start of July.

During that time all we've had for much of it was my partnered disability support pension of $760 a fortnight. Gone into huge credit card debt and nearly ended up losing the place we're in, and all the mental health issues that go along with that. The experience broke both of us mentally, me in particular having three panic attacks in a month, two of them very severe. The thought now of having to deal with any more bullshit is beyond us, I guess that was why the housing form became so hard to do.

Today we are both still dealing with the horror of those weeks. Can't say either of us are doing very well there. We've been told by professionals that it showed the strength of our relationship as most couples would have split up in that time. It was complete hell. Ironically our love for each other became the shining light in all of that and we were drawn even closer to each other.

But on a lighter note, I did find comedy in the midst of it all. The printer had been pumping out shit for days, and this one form at the end printed out this. It printed the whole page, along with the grey screen using my printer ink, and had a bit of black typing in the middle:

"This page left blank intentionally" 

Greens react to TPP leak

In response to the latest leaked Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, the Greens have made clear how much they oppose the whole thing. It's nothing more than a corporate takeover of Australia, for the good of corporations and not the community.

 

 

"It's Abbott's Time"

G20 rap. With Tony Abbott. Feat Scott Ludlam :)

Just so excellent. And who'd have though Scott Ludlam could rap? 

 

Shorten socks it to the Australian christian lobby :)

The Australian christian lobby is Australia's LGBT arch enemy. They have long been against anything gay and have been very forthright in their comments, comparing gays to pedophilia and all. So radical are their views that PM Gillard cancelled her invite to speak at their function after they said something particularly offensive about gays.

This time it's opposition leader Bill Shorten's turn to be invited into their lions den of gay hate. Surprisingly to many, Shorten accepted, prompting much concern and angst in the community that his appearing at the event would legitimise their extremist views. He did however say that he would be standing up for the LGBT.

He's been accused of being a bit gutless lately. I don't necessarily agree. Have a go at some of the speech he's telling them. Perhaps the christians in the Australian christian lobby might take a gander at what christianity is supposed to be all about:

The Opposition Leader, like Prime Minister Tony Abbott, was educated by Jesuits and considers himself a Christian but it is unusual for him to speak publicly about his faith. 

And in a forthright speech to the group at Canberra's Hyatt Hotel, Mr Shorten will say that he has spent his working life trying to show empathy and compassion and "answer the Christian call to care for the vulnerable, to speak up for the voiceless, to reject hatred and intolerance, to help the poor and to pursue peace". 

No faith has a monopoly on compassion, Mr Shorten says, and no religion "owns" tolerance or charity or love according to extracts from the speech. 

"Australia is full of decent and generous people of good conscience, drawn from all faiths and none. And no faith, no religion, no set of beliefs should ever be used as an instrument of division or exclusion." 

"So when I hear people invoking the scriptures to attack blended families. I cannot stay silent. I do not agree. When I see people hiding behind the bible to insult and demonise people based on their sexuality I cannot stay silent. I do not agree." 

"When I hear people allege that 'God tells them' that marriage equality is the first step on the road to polygamy and bigamy and bestiality, I cannot stay silent. I do not agree." Read more

So there stupid ACL.  Shorten's done a lot better than I would've. I'd have accepted the invite, got up there and said "You can all get fucked. The end". And walk off :)

Full text of speech.
 

Evil US corporation targets Aussie battler pirates

It's official. US corporations are on the war path out to get Aussie pirates. Are they frustrated with the slow progress of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement and have entered the fray on their own? Or are they just so mean that they won't even give us the crumbs from their table?

I'm a pensioner. Worked 30 years before my body failed in a hard physical industry. Bought up a daughter in that time and cared for the family, me being the mainstay wage earner. I am the quintessential battler. Now we're fighting to keep a roof over our head. We battle on. 

So we download the odd show for free online. Whatever. We've got fuckin nothing. Surely a bit of free entertainment in our own home isn't going to send the corporations broke?

Well apparently so. Anyone in Australia that has downloaded the movie "Dallas Buyers Club" is now being targeted by the corp that made it. As the laws here protect such people as me who download for domestic purposes (similar to recording a VHS in the old days) from being subject to these copyright laws, the corp has tried to go around it in the courts, challenging these laws in a test case:

In the United States, the people behind Dallas Buyers Club had already filed 66 lawsuits by June and targeted more than 1000 alleged people who downloaded the film via BitTorrent 

They were asking for settlements of up to $US5000 per offence, or more in some cases. 

Now they're taking their battle to Australia, applying to the Federal Court that it have iiNet and other local ISPs hand over the identities of the alleged pirates. 

Chief Regulatory Officer Steve Dalby told TorrentFreak that iiNet will oppose the move made by Dallas Buyers Club LLC. 

"iiNet would never disclose customer details to a third party, such as movie studio, unless ordered to do so by a court. We take seriously both our customers privacy and our legal obligations," Dalby says. 

iiNet does not support piracy, but it is concerned about the way Dallas Buyers Club and its studio Voltage Pictures will use the information. Dalby says that while it may seem reasonable for a movie studio to ask for the pirates identities, if would only be so, if they intended to use information fairly and let the alleged pirate defend themselves in court. 

"In this case, we have serious concerns about Dallas Buyers Club's intentions. We are concerned that our customers will be unfairly targeted to settle any claims out of court using a practice called 'speculative invoicing'," Dalby says. 

He is referring to a practice, where a company mails 'invoices' to the alleged copyright infringer to get a cash settlement while trying to discourage them from appearing in court. It was a controversial scheme, that did not survive legal scrutiny in the UK. 

Dalby says that because iiNet have opposed the Dallas Buyers Club LLC application for the identities, it will now be up to the Federal Court, whether iiNet should do so. Read more  

Australian pirates outraged over leaked TPP proposal!

Australia leads the world in piracy as we know. I think we wear the crown proudly. Most likely inspired by distance and the most horrifyingly inconvenient timezone, never the less we have become the biggest ever pirate down loaders in the world. *trumpets sound*

To solidify this new found proudness, I notice that there's even an Australian Pirate Party. Check it out :)  

So imagine our horror now, as we learn that if the TPP goes through in it's present (leaked) form, it will criminalise people like me (ie. pensioners) downloading The Walking Dead for free to watch at home. What? Outrageous! No fuckin way man!

Overnight, Wikileaks published a leaked draft of the intellectual property chapter of the TPP. It reveals, among a number of other moves to tighten countries’ IP regulations, that those caught conducting copyright infringement activities online (‘Internet piracy’) could face criminal charges. 

The leak caused instant outrage in Australia, with a wide range of groups active in digital rights issues raising an outcry regarding the stipulations of the trade agreement. 

“CHOICE is deeply concerned at a proposal from the United States to expand criminal liability for copyright infringement. This would mean that domestic non-commercial infringement could become a criminal act,” said Alan Kirkland, chief executive of consumer advocacy group CHOICE, in a statement issued this morning. “While CHOICE condemns copyright infringement, we certainly don’t agree that an individual downloading Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones for personal use should be open to criminal prosecution.” more

Hah, take that evil corporations! We found out about your dastardly plot to suck money out of innocent pensioners!  What do they want, every last fuckin cent?

 

QLD coal too risky an investment - new report

Those pesky "market forces" interfering with the gov's ideology! Damn it!

You'd think as an astute investor, that the Queensland gov might take a look at the value it's getting for it's $billions in coal subsidies. The market has collapsed. Why would you pour good money after bad? 

In fact, says Sanzillo, who is IEEFA’s director of finance, the projects’ huge scale, greenfield nature and foreign ownership introduce “an almost unprecedented level of financial complexity and risk.” 

The projects he is talking about include the multi-billion dollar development of what would be one of the world’s biggest coalmines, largely earmarked for export to India. 

In 2012, India’s Adani Group announced plans to proceed with its $10 billion development of the massive and as-yet untapped Carmichael coal deposit, including large-scale rail and port infrastructure investment, that would create 9,000 jobs, and export coal to India from 2016. 

Last year, a $1.25 billion debt issuance was proposed to help refinance Adani Abbot Point Coal Terminal, the 99-year lease for which was bought for $1.8 billion in May 2011. 

But IEEFA’s Sanzillo says the project faces an increasingly difficult hurdle in securing funding due to the rapid deterioration of coal project profitability following a halving of the coal price, and the increased probability of a structural decline in thermal coal. 

“The Galilee coal project proposals are highly unlikely to proceed without the support of the four Australian bank majors, plus some of the nine leading global investment banks,” Sanzillo said. 

Just this week, anti-coal campaigners began targeting Australia’s Big Four banks, starting with ANZ, to protest their funding of fossil fuel projects. Meanwhile, some of the world’s leading investment banks have already joined the growing fossil fuel divestment campaign, in keeping with their commitments under the Equator Principles. more  

Churches respond to Ebola - blame the gays - Liberia

More love from the christians.

At least it wasn't HIV this time. I guess it does confirm though that Ebola is now the new HIV. This is exactly what happened early on in the 1980's, very much so in the church ruled parts of the conservative US.

Well Liberia is the first off the blocks this time. Officially I guess. As it seems it's a very united church announcement. Yes folks, the best way to treat Ebola is to kill the gays....... No doubt the christian fundies in the west will jump on this one.

Earlier this year, the Liberian Council of Churches said in a statement that God was angry with Liberians "over corruption and immoral acts" such as homosexuality, and that Ebola was a punishment. 

In May, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of the Catholic Church of Liberia said that "one of the major transgressions against God for which He may be punishing Liberia is the act of homosexuality," local media reported. 

Francois Patuel, Amnesty International's representative in West Africa, said there had been reports of threats and violence against the LGBTI community in Monrovia since the incendiary remarks made by the local Christian leaders. 

"Amnesty has received pictures of cars that reportedly belong to gays with their windows smashed as well as reports that gays have been forced from their homes and had to go into hiding," Patuel told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

Neither the Catholic Church nor the Liberian Council of Churches could be reached in Monrovia. Representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Episcopal Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment. more   

Dying with dignity - Peter Short terminally ill

Dying With Dignity advocate Peter Short, is now terminally ill with only 10 or so days to go. His wife has posted a video online:


Donate here.

This is the clip of the movie they're crowdfunding: 

 

Greedy "drive by doctors" - US

This shit is mental. The stuff they get away with over there in their privatised medical world. Imagine being the patient in all of that.

 

Andrew Wilkie writes to ICC - gov aslum seeker treatment

Independent senator Andrew Wilkie has written a very direct letter to the International Criminal Court, naming the Australian gov as being implicit in the violation of these people's human rights. The PDF is here. A snip:

More PDF 

"Gays are terrorists" - US christian maniac

More love from the christians.

I wonder how this bloke would go if he crapped on like that on Australian telly? I suggest he might run afoul of some of the anti-discrimination laws here?

Yeah, stop the gays, that'll save us.....

 

Centrelink lost the Carers Allowance application

Good grief 


Are we just having a bad run with Centrelink, or I wonder how many other people have their Centrelink payments fucked up by Centrelink? First it was the other week when they cut David off Newstart because the Centrelink computer suddenly decided that it didn't have my tax file number (it did). Now this FFS.

So the other day I suddenly realise, "Fuck, how long ago did David put in the Carers Allowance application? Seems like ages". Asked David and he reckoned at least a month. In preference to ringing I did what I did another time and complained through their online complaints form. It takes about 3 working days before someone will ring you but that's lightning speed for Centrelink. David got a call earlier.

Turns out it's actually been over two months since he put in the application. We've had so much else going on it's impossible to keep track of everything, we just forgot about it. It also turns out that somehow Centrelink managed to loose the application, at the same time as not losing the medical report from my GP :s   Copious apologies on the phone to David from the Centrelink lady, and they're backdating the payments to when the application went in as the medical certificate now has the Centrelink stamp of approval. Although there is the snail mail thing; they're sending David another application bit to fill in and take down to Centrelink before payments can proceed.

Typical.

It's not much, only $120 a fortnight, but it will go a long way to actually being sort of able to get by on what we get. 

Hello Vietnam :)

Forgive me northern hemisphere-ians for being southern hemisphere-centric, but well you know our century is coming. As long that Abbott fuckwit gets out of the way, but don't worry southern hemisphere-ians, we're sorting that bullshit out as I write. Abbott has about as much chance of getting another 3 years in office as pigs flying.

But I digress.

So this post is to say G'day to Vietnam, who is the latest southern hemisphere country to appear on the top ten list for the last week. And even better, at the same time as China (China has been in and out of the top ten for about a year now I think). Although China is pretty much northern hemisphere (*goes all defensive and suspicious*) but really China is a new economy with new ideas. They are the future, and seem to be creating some sort of balance between maniacal capitalism and gov control. Something I must say the west has lost of late. Their economy works, ours are failing. We gave our economies to the capitalists. The East and Asia Pacific are resisting such doctrines. Australia, if it's to be a part of the new world economy, surely must embrace such moderation of the capitalist doctrines.

So Hello Vietnam!

Ebola shows US healthcare for what it is

I know someone who works in a private hospital nearby to us here in Sydney, and he says himself that he'd never let himself be admitted to a private hospital. Lack of procedures, corners cut, nurses not educated, all the sorts of things that are well and truly covered in the public hospitals here. 

I look at this video from the US about how those two nurses were infected with Ebola in complete shock. It sounds like something out of the third world. What? They don't have national standards for infection control? No universal rules to follow? Piling infected sheets to the roof of the room because there's no procedure?

I present corporate health care: