Choppergate - Michelle Grattan

No matter how you look at it, Choppergate is an unmitigated disaster for the gov. They seem incapable of relating to just how bad this looks out in the real world beyond the echelons of power in Canberra. More so that Bishop remains as speaker.

 

 

Choppergate - "An apology got out with a crowbar" :)

Precious Pyne spouts the usual Liberal lies and denies reality. Choppergate is turning from a online running joke to political poison.

 

Been crying all day - daughter strikes again

She's really hurt me this time.

So anyway, in a bit of an email conversation she thanked me for being understanding about her conversion to Muslim. To me it was "meh", no biggie. I've always been that way. 

Then there was a bit of a thing about bla, and then there it was. In brackets, like an afterthought or an aside; "(_____ and I are getting married this year)".

I email back "So when's the wedding then?".

Nothing. Silence for two days.

And it came home to me last night. She hadn't even invited me. Her own father. Indeed it appears she just doesn't want me there.

I sent off a long heartfelt email and ever since have been just crying and crying. Been in bed all day devastated. David is rope-able. Told her in the email please don't contact me for at least a while, and that I can't go on being hurt like this by her.

Seeing the psychologist Tuesday. Have had to cancel two appts so far this month as I've been so sick with the yellow slime, but now with the antibiotics I'll probably be able to get there. I have the bankruptcy to discuss, the nightmares of my brother over David's bashing (had another one last night), and now this.

Typical. Being religious doesn't mean you're moral. Morality is about how you treat people, not about how many religious rules you follow. I'd put secular morality up against religious "morality" any day. 

I'm running Windows 10

I've just installed it. Took about 3 hours I think. Free download for registered Windows users. Everything works well so far. And the start menu is back! Although it does appear Norton needs to be upgraded to work on it.

It was more like get me the fuck out of Windows 8 than getting Windows 10. Windows 8 was a drama and I preferred Windows 7 over it any day. Whew.

I escaped Windows crappy Vista by holding on to Win XP forever. Nursed that little PC to the end baby.

I will see how Win 10 goes....... 

Australia the next Greece? - *pffffft*

Get people to pay tax mate, instead of listening to a bullshit artist who hasn't the faintest idea.

 

Bishops position now "untenable" - former speaker

Bronwyn Bishop's position is untenable, destroying respect for parliamentary democracy says former speaker Anna Burke http://t.co/YLbrv9UlRq

— ABC News (@abcnews) July 29, 2015

"Abbott proof fence" school poster controversy - Castlemaine

This poster has caused a big drama in Castlemaine, near Bendigo. Apparently it got taken down after pro Abbott supporters went bananas. So I now present it here.

The Abbott supporters are now getting a touch unhinged I'd suggest. Realising their conquering hero is a lemon is I guess a bitter pill to swallow. 

New "Bronny Copter" game is here :)

See how much taxpayers money you can spend on the way to Gelong before crashing. I'm no good at it though, all this keeping the copter flying and rorting :s. Play here.

Bronwyn Bishops latest flight at taxpayers expense

And so it goes on.........

"Spotlight" movie trailer - Catholic church abuse

Looks pretty good. Due for release November. 

 

Solar to be competing directly with old coal grid power - Australia

Whether Abbott and his coal corporation like it or not, a solar revolution is coming to Australia. With new battery storage technology, available for as little as $5,000, a household can unlock itself from the grid at certain times of the day. Such as peak hour for example. It will significantly reduce their power bills and collectively take a huge chunk of profits from the traditional polls and wires technology.

Makes Abbott look like a total dinosaur.  

The Powerwall models, designed to allow homes to store and use their own renewable energy primarily from solar PV systems, are expected to be available in Australia in early 2016. 

The modest price of the batteries – which in the US cost US$3500 (AUD$4800) for a 10 kWh system – has led investment bank Morgan Stanley to predict 2.4 million systems will be installed in Australia within a few years. 

That is a huge disruption to the way energy is generated, distributed and sold. 

A 10 kWh system could boil the average kettle non-stop for five hours, or run a typical split-system air-conditioner flat-out for the same amount of time. 

Battery storage allows households and businesses to control when they draw power down from the grid, when they supply power to the grid, or in some cases are used to go ‘off-grid’ altogether. 

And Mr Musk’s ambitious plan to get his lith-ion batteries into homes around the world looks likely to be undercut within a few years by similar, but cheaper batteries such as sodium-ion batteries being developed in the UK. 

That’s terrible news for the existing model of power generation, in which large out-of-town coal and gas generators supply cities over hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines – distances that result in up to half the power being lost along the way. 

Customers seizing control of their energy production and consumption undercuts the utilities’ business models because what those companies sell is not really electricity – they are, in effect, selling access to their expensive networks of poles and wires. 

If punters try to buy power at off-peak rates to charge their batteries, the loss of peak-power revenue to the utilities is huge. more

Marriage equality rally Adelaide - video

From the National Press Club address yesterday, this is the sort of shit we're up against by the Canberra unrepresentative swill. Yesterday in Corgi Cori Bernadi's introductory remarks he stated this as fact:

"I believe and I think it's crystal clear, this campaign is not about equality, but it's about personal desire and self-interest of a vocal minority. [Marriage equality] deliberately destroys children's links to their biological parents" – Senator Cory Bernardi, addressing the National Press Club, 29 July 2015

How completely out of touch with reality can you get? It's barely worth a comment it's so far out there, past Pluto somewhere. 

All I can say is that I loved my late wife of 17 years dearly, so much so as to stick with her through thick and thin until her end. I love David the same way, maybe even more so. It's the same love. The only difference is that he's a man not a woman. 

David and I would like to express that love by having it officially recognised in the sphere of marriage (being as marriage has evolved into being about love not property now you know). Bernadi calls that "personal desire"? "Self interest"? And we're too "vocal" about it? Because minorities are insignificant and to be ignored? 

Seriously, where the fuck do you start with that shit? Fucked if I'm going to bother traveling beyond Pluto to find out.

 

Christians will soon be "enemies of the state" - US christians :s

More craziness from the christians. The poor dears reckon they're doomed because bla....

 

Gay marriage debate - Bernadi vs Wong video

Abbott doesn't want same sex marriage period. Not on his watch. It will become an election issue now as the Lieberals fart ass around playing delay games bla. Labor now has a clear election issue to chomp on that knows has huge voter support; to introduce marriage equality legislation within the first 100 days of gaining gov. 

Well that's my view of it anyway. I maintain that there will never be marriage equality in Australia with Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.

Meanwhile there was a debate at the National Press Club Address today that I missed. Between Corgi Cori Bernadi (Lieberal hater of all things gay) and Penny Wong (openly lesbian opposition minister). Watch here on Iview. 

Update: I found a YouTube snippet :)

 

 

$50million lawyer bill defending cigarette plain packaging in Australia

This is why the TPP is so bad. This is what the TPP will lead to. Corporations suing gov's over laws (put in place for the public benefit) that lose their future profits.

In this case it was through a smaller free trade agreement with Hong Kong that Philip Morris was able to sue the Australian gov for lost future profits. The case was started years ago and is now getting to the nitty gritty. So far Australia's legal bills are about $50million. Wasted money that could have been spent on the Australian community.

Remember, the laws were put in place for the benefit of Australian's health to discourage smoking. Huge flow on effects too with hospitals and the medical profession not having to use resources for cancer caused by smoking. 

However that means nothing for Philip Morris who appear to have no conscience. The health of Australians doesn't matter. All that matters to them are their profit $. Money. Hence they are suing Australia for the loss of profits.   

Australia has succeeded in getting the case split into two. The first part will decide whether Philip Morris Asia has a right to bring the case. 

Philip Morris Asia bought Philip Morris Australia Limited in early 2011 as the plain packaging legislation was being prepared. Australia is arguing this means it can't claim that the law hurt it, because it bought the company "in full knowledge" of Australia's intentions. 

If Australia fails in September it will continue to fight the case, calling former health minister Nicola Roxon and her then departmental secretary Jane Halton as witnesses. 

Philip Morris has been able to bring the case despite losing an appeal against Australia's laws in the High Court because of a so-called investor-state dispute settlement clause in an obscure Hong Kong Australia investment agreement. 

Such clauses have been included in two of Australia's recently concluded free trade agreements, with Korea and China. They allow foreign corporations (but not local corporations) to sue for expropriation. 

Such cases were rare until the early 1990s, but the Productivity Commission says there were 42 worldwide last year. Read more 

Hillary Clinton mocks climate change deniers - video

Finally something worth looking at from the current US presidential campaigns. Hillary Clinton has mocked Republican climate change deniers in this quite funny video.

Here you go Tone :)

 

Labor to block China free trade deal with Australia

At the Labor national conference over the weekend, Labor grew a pair of balls and decided it disagreed with parts of the China free trade deal. They will block the legislation in the senate if Abbott doesn't come back to the negotiating table. 

Abbott? Negotiate? Ha ha ha ha ha.... Anyway, this is humiliating for Abbott. The China deal is his little beauty. 

It's actually not a little beauty though, it's a big pile of shit in fact. In it's current form Chinese workers will be bought in instead of Australian workers employed, and the Chinese workers don't even have to be checked to see if they know WTF they're doing. Like electricians FFS. Honestly you couldn't make this shit up.

From the AMWU email:

Over the weekend, the Labor Party agreed to oppose the parts of the China trade deal that shut out locals from jobs. If Abbott doesn't go back to the negotiating table, then Labor will block the legislation needed to make this deal happen.  

 

Antibiotic man :)

Antibiotic Man! His mission is to fight slime in heads and lungs, even eyes!  Working miracles daily, he takes over when all else fails. Revolting yellow slime is his enemy and he will not rest until the slime is exterminated.

"Help me antibiotic man, you're my only hope".

 

 

Antibiotic germ warfare

It's anti-biotic time!

Doctor today examined me at length, declared my lungs were "congested", my eyes were infected, and gave me two prescriptions. One a general super strong antibiotic for my chest and nose, the other an antibiotic eye drop thing for my eyes. I'm going on the super strong antibiotics darlings.

As strong as they are, it appears I need them. The doctor as well is very reluctant to issue antibiotics in this age of antibiotic resistance. They will fuck around with my bowels, probably give me the runs. The price to pay.  

As I'm on the pension it will be waiting for tomorrow when I get the DSP to pay the $12.20 for both prescriptions, before I can start taking what I've been prescribed. 

Slime report - Day: I dunno it's been so long

Doctor day today thank fuck, and boy do I need it. I asked David to come with me as I felt like I needed someone with me for the bus trip.

Another terrible night last night. It was the coughing this time. I'd fall asleep and only a short time later wake up coughing and gasping for breath. Then it would happen again. And again. All fuckin night. At about 4am I took some Panadol and wonders never cease, I fell asleep for a whole hour. Then two hours. Then 3 hours. The days and nights are starting to get mixed up.

My eyes are all puffy from the lack of sleep for nearly a week. Look like a horror movie extra. Also have sleep build up in my eyes, waking up in the mornings with my eyelids glued shut. WTF? 

Mornings are the worst too. After the three hour sleep I woke up full of it; slime I mean. Nose and throat, air passage wheezing. A few minutes needed to cough up from the air ways and clear the nose. Ugh, totally gross slimy yellow bla. Just revolting.

Eventually I got up and proceeded to do the dishes as per usual. Today however turned into rather a battle, although I was determined to get them done. Standing there I started getting really dizzy, like panic attack dizzy, and would have to lie down. I'd go back to them and last all of a minute or two then same thing; really dizzy and have to lie down. It took me over an hour to get the few dishes there were done but I did it!

Next thing was a lovely hot cup of instant coffee, which was surprisingly nice and invigorating. I was worried I'd not get to the doctors after the dishes episode but the coffee appeared to provide assistance in that. Have calmed down and relaxed after the bad night.

The Doctors appt soon. Thank fuck David's been here through this. Dunno WTF I'd have done without him this last week or so.

   

Electricity prices ARE down $550 - SSJoe

The Lieberals are at panic stations. Now SSJoe has some shonky figures to show that we are all $550 better off as electricity did indeed come down by $550 a year. 

Really? I haven't seen it on my electricity bill. Pretty much nothing happened.


 

Penny Wong on marriage equality - Labor promises marriage equality

This is from the Labor national conference. Shorten also spoke.


 

 

Why did Brandis secretly meet with George Pell?

Is a question those abused by the Catholic church are asking. Why would a senior gov minister meet with Pell, who's under investigation in Australia for (at the least) not taking action in cases of child sexual abuse.

 

Tone's "secret sauce":)

Seeing doctor tomorrow

Rang first thing at 8am this morning to make an appt with my HIV GP. Was hoping to get in today, but he's completely booked out until tomorrow afternoon. Not often that happens so I'm guessing a lot of people are getting sick, especially the HIV people that he sees.

Thought about going across the road to the medical centre here, but I've developed a very good relationship with this doctor and it's hard to see another one that I wouldn't know. I'm a complicated patient :s

Last night was actually a bit better. Typical. By the time I finally see the doctor I'll be on the mend. Still coughing up a lot of slime though, and still slime in my nose, even with the so called super duper nose dryer-uperer pills. Can't believe so much of it can be produced by one person; namely me. Have a plastic bag by the bed now for tissues and slime. Was nurse David's idea for infection control.

David is just fine with the virus. Is a head cold for him, nothing more. Yesterday he was out digging up the bloody garden FFS. I couldn't believe it! 

Daughter has converted to Muslim religion.

Well what a turnaround that is then for her. Far out.

Actually I completely understand why. It's the family thing rather than the religion thing. Her boyfriend's family are Muslim and they've taken her under her wing so to speak. It's more she converted to the family rather than Muslim. Which is what she's really been looking for since her mother died. The religion is just secondary I'd say.

By all counts the family are very moderate Muslims too. No head coverings. I'm fine with it as long as they're not extremist nutters like the crazy christians I keep raving about here. Some people do find solace in religion which is fine. 

It's beyond my understanding though living by religion; following a set of rules from a rule book and the afterlife is marvelous. Incredibly childish in fact. Kids need a rule book to obey, but adults are supposed to have their own moral compass that can be adapted and applied to each circumstance. And expecting some brilliant bla in an afterlife is no excuse to simply accept bad things in today's world. 

The only thing is, she better not start preaching at me. If she does the shit's gonna hit the fan :)  

The socialist objective - Labor's Luke Foley

This from the Labor national conference.

 

Evolution isn't real because exploding bugs! - christians

More christian crazies.....

 

Terrible dreams about my brother

My dreams stopped for a while but are back now with a vengeance. Have had two terrible dreams with my older brother in them in the last three days. The sort of intensity of dreaming that you have to spend time coming back to the present reality.

I'm positive this has something to do with the court case. In a couple of months I have to testify against his psycho son Phillip who bashed David at new years. My nephew that I don't even know.

Last court occasion his other son came over wanting to sort it all out nicely, and I almost got into a big argument with him about it. FFS psycho had bashed David and stomped on his head in front of me. It was a traumatic experience.

Quite apart from David 's injuries and all, that is going to be with me for the rest of my life. I remember it as clear as if it happened yesterday. Psycho is lying saying he didn't even stomp on him. WTF? This isn't Taranaki hick town.

So I have to get up and testify against psycho nephew and my own brother. Hopefully I'll be first up and my brother won't be in the court watching. Something about him gives me the creeps.

Yellow slime worsens - lung infection?

Gonna have to go to the doctors now with this flu thing. Will ring him tomorrow. David appears quite happy though, he coughs a bit and now and then blows his nose, and that's about it. I however am very much a different story, go figure. Same illness just two different people.

I'd have to agree with David's suggested diagnosis that I now have a lung infection. In which case I'll need antibiotics to clear it out of my lungs. Will ring tomorrow to make the appt and try and get in as soon as I can. 

The worst thing about it is the back pain radiating out from where the lungs are. It's intensely bad. David went to the servo next door and got some super duper back pain Panadol but it doesn't appear to be working much at all. So I took another one which sort of actually helped a bit. Then nurse David blew his top because I took the extra one against the packet instructions :s

It becomes everything is ruled by pain; how to minimalise it. What position to sit or lie in. What I can do and can't. Simple tasks become hard, hard tasks impossible. Fuck I'm glad this is only temporary. I don't think I could live with pain like this at all.

Pisses me off as I got the flue injection and end up like this. 

Gays in Ukraine pepper sprayed and beaten - Kiev

I've always thought that the best way to address homophobia is for people to get to know you. Sexuality has wide differences but in the end gays are just people like everyone else. We want to be able to live and love and exist, we don't have horns coming out of our foreheads or want to destroy society.

In that vein these two gays try an experiment in Kiev, Ukraine (Hello to readers there BTW). They find that most people don't care about them being gay, albeit for the neo nazi dickheads without a brain. 

 

Socialism is a moral obligation - the Pope

Pope Francis is turning out to be a real rebel against the Capitalist nightmare presently overtaking the world. He's come out right against the Reaganomic capitalism in the US, or "mutant capitalism" as it seems to be called now. 

You know, that capitalism the crazy christians over there embrace; everything has to be run by the corporations pretty much. No free health care and the like. And fuck whatever Jesus was on about as now apparently christianity means to support people and gov's who bend the poor over the bonnet of the car and fuck them senseless. But I digress.....

In fact Pope Francis (not that I believe in an invisible sky man, but he is a major figure of power in today's world) has been sounding positively socialist. To the point of calling socialism a moral obligation.

You know, that evil word socialism that actually means society supporting the less well off and not blaming them for their circumstances.

Pope Francis is clearly inciting people to rebel with his passionate, provocative and inspirational message, which triggers memories of Marx, yet is directly from the Gospels of Jesus: “Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy,” not just a handout from capitalist billionaires. 

Instead Pope Francis shifts our focus: The socialism is now “a moral obligation. And for Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment. It is about giving to the poor and to peoples what is theirs as a sacred right.” And if we fail to do give it freely, do not be surprised when revolutions explode across Planet Earth. more 

  

Support whale "Snotbots" - Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart/Captain Pickard asks us to support Snotbots. Snotbots are drones that fly above whales and collect samples of their snot. Whoever thought snot could be so valuable? Snot away whales :)

 

Super duper nose dryer-uperer needed - a very bad night

OMG last night was just ridiculous. I started coughing and nose blowing at a rate of knots, about every 5 minutes at one stage. Nothing like a pissy little handkerchief either. It was into a clean towel. Large lumps of yellow slime.

Then David had a coughing attack in the middle of the night. Went on for about half an hour, interspersed with puffs on his asthma puffer and coughing so hard he threw up in the toilet. I've never seen him use that puffer as much as he did last night.

I woke up this morning after finally falling asleep from it all. The towel was full of big yellow globs from my coughing up and nose blowing. My nose and throat were full again after sleeping for a few hours. Felt like 100 years old. 

David got up and seemed reasonably functional. He's the younger man you know and appears to have a much better constitution than me. I stayed in bed for a bit and presently my back started really hurting. I guess from all the coughing and the yellow slime had slimed it's way to my lungs.

It doesn't take much to get my back going after 3 decades of lifting, and soon the pain had gone through to my front. So I had terrible pain across my whole back and front. It didn't lessen but got worse to the point of being unbearable. Fuck, felt like I was dying or something. 

Got myself into a state over it, a minor panic attack I think as my hands were going numb. Was something seriously wrong? Was my heart playing up? My liver? Kidneys? Not knowing why the pain was so sudden and intense made my head state worse. Affecting the pain as well.

However it was nurse David to the rescue. Calmed me down (by this time I was crying it hurt so much) and said I had a chest infection most likely. Proceeded to plaster my back with Voltaren cream which just about instantly worked. Went to the chemist and got the super duper nose dryer-uperers.

Am feeling a bit zombie-ish now from the pills, but at least my back's not nearly as sore, and no pain in the front.  

Mandatory flat tax for the wealthy - Labor

This is long overdue. Whilst poverty is increasing in Australia at 14% currently of people living below the poverty line, rich use accountants that they can afford to pay fuck all in tax. This is just wrong and not the sort of society Australians want to live in. Labor at it's national conference is offering an alternative to take to the coming election.

Mr Albanese told Labor's National Conference in Melbourne that the Australian Taxation Office had found in 2011-12 that 75 Australians earning more than $1 million a year had paid no tax at all. 

He said the combined annual incomes of those millionaires was $195 million, but through elaborate accounting tricks, the super-rich 75 had been required to stump up just $82 in total. 

"That's a disgrace in a nation where Tory governments are ravaging services with spending cuts and demanding higher regressive taxation through an increase in the GST," he said.

The idea of a minimum deduction has previously been floated by South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill who drew on modelling showing it could raise as much as $2.5 billion a year. Read more

$2.5 billion a year? Just shows how much Australians are being ripped off. 

Bronwyn Bishop attended Sophie Mirabella's wedding at taxpayer's expense

WTF? Choppergate was just the tip of the iceberg. Another wedding trip and another taxpayer funded trip to it. She's never paid it back either. Pigs at the trough.

One MP ignored the Prime Minister's instruction, weeks of media coverage and public outrage at MPs' habit of billing the taxpayer for trips to friends' weddings.

Embattled Speaker Bronwyn Bishop claimed $600 for return flights from Sydney to Albury for Mrs Mirabella's wedding in 2006 – and she has never repaid the money, Fairfax Media has confirmed. 

Previously unreported documents released under freedom of information laws show Mrs Bishop told bureaucrats that the trip constituted government business.

An expense document written in Mrs Bishop's own hand lists only "committee chair business" when asked the purpose of flights, which took her to three cities, including Albury, from where she travelled to the Wangaratta wedding.

The Speaker reiterated that statement when questioned by Fairfax Media.

"She was there [in Albury] on official committee chair business," a spokesman for the Speaker said.

But the spokesman refused to answer questions about what that business was or whether Mrs Bishop had any engagements on the trip. "We've got no further comment," he said.

Her office did not respond to questions about why the Speaker had not thought to repay the expenses, given the publicity around the case and the PM's own decision to refund money. Read more  

Choppergate - The Weekly :)

Still no let up to Bronwyn's chopper ride to a Lieberal fundraiser. The gift that just keeps on giving!

 

Bronwyn Bishop's palacial hotel stays - Europe

 I just picked the odd one or two, but the whole article is here. It makes the helicopter ride look positively austere.

 

Shorten dares Abbott for an election on renewable energy

Following Abbott's insanity condemning wind farms and renewables, his blind support of coal, and his attack on the entire renewables industry in Australia, Shorten has come out with solid policy on the new emerging economy in the world. That of green energy. He has even gone so far as to dare Abbott to fight an election on the issue, along with promising another ETS like the one Abbott undid.

The extract focuses almost exclusively on climate change, promoting the policy goal for renewable energy to generate 50 per cent of Australia's electricity by 2030. 

"This is how Australia can transform our electricity system, build a new industrial landscape and deliver a clean energy future. Australians are smart enough to make this work," he says. 

"This isn't a question of Australia leading the world – it's a matter of keeping up. If the world's biggest capitalist nation, and the world's biggest planned economy can agree climate change is a priority - it's time Australia did too." 

Defending the commitment to build an emissions trading scheme, Mr Shorten says: "Around one billion people and more than 40 per cent of the world's economy have already embraced the opportunities of emissions trading schemes. 

"We must give Australian businesses the opportunity to engage with this global market," he says. 

Rather than give "big polluters fistfuls of taxpayer dollars to keep polluting", Mr Shorten says Labor will cut pollution with a market solution. "Let me say this to our opponents, in words of one syllable: An ETS is not a tax," he says. Read more

Of course Abbott will come out with a new scare campaign about the ETS, "axe the tax" and all that. I have a feeling though that the climate has changed on the issue (pun intended) in Australia. Abbott conned the public on the big scare campaign against the ETS and gained office over it promising a fistful of money over it's removal. 

The fistful of money never eventuated (electricity prices actually increased) and now we have all the major western economies addressing climate change in one way or another. In doing so China and India are massively cutting back on coal imports, most notably Australian. Australia has no choice economically but to embrace the new green industries going forward. It will mean jobs and money vs a slowly dying coal industry on the verge of being euthanised. 

 

Now we're both fuckin sick

Good grief, now we're both sick with yellow slime coming out our noses. I spent the whole night blowing my nose yet again, and this morning we were comparing slime colours. Talk about the blind leading the blind :s

David suggested getting some really strong super duper nose dryer-uperer from the chemist, but I thought just stick to the Panadol. I'm very wary of pills these days that aren't prescribed. The kidney failure always comes to mind.

"Holding the Man" film trailer

The film is due for national release in Australia on Aug 27th.

 

US evangelicals exporting gay hate after SCOTUS ruling

More love from the christians......

 

Climate change ship of fools - US Republican presidential candidates

British conservatives must be scratching their heads at this mob, just like they are with Abbott. 

 

Abbott's climate change denial is "unconservative" - British conservative MP

Much of the opinion piece from British conservative MP Richard Benyon is stating the bleeding obvious; that Abbott's climate policies are fucked. What is surprising though is the intense attack on Abbott's beliefs, saying that to not address climate change properly is "unconservative". Ouch. 

As a committed Catholic, is Abbott not perturbed by the fact that the Pope could have been talking about him? Is he not concerned that his policies contradict the Pope's call for governments to urgently implement measures "so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced (by), for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy"? 

There is no contradiction between conservatism and environmental protection. In Britain, Sir Anthony Eden's government passed the Clean Air Act. In the US, Richard Nixon set up the Environmental Protection Agency, Ronald Reagan signed up to the Montreal Protocol and George W. Bush created the biggest network of marine reserves in history. 

All did so for the same reason: science indicated a problem that threatened human and economic wellbeing, and citizens deserved an adequate response. Economies have thrived, not died, as a result of their decisions. For conservatives and for Christians, stewardship of our planet and the life on it should be a central principle of our lives; that it usually makes good economic sense is a welcome bonus. 

This is where we now stand on climate change. Abbott's continuing determination to ignore the science and the will of the people, to pursue policies diametrically opposed to the leader of his church and instead tie the future of his wonderful country to the interests of the increasingly risky coal industry is illogical, isolating and most profoundly un-conservative. Read more

Bronwyn's facebook page taken down as Choppergate whirls

It's the gift that just keeps on giving. Now Bronwyn Bishop is under fire over her facebook page, which got taken down overnight. That hasn't stopped the online world from lampooning her over it though. This pic of her electorate is from a chopper? Taxpayer funded?

 

Snot aplenty

The cold/flu/whatever thing continues unabated. Not sure if there's any improvement yet. Spent all last night blowing yellow slime out of my nose and coughing it out. Been nearly a week now. Still feeling like I have no energy and everything is a major effort.

Needless to say am really really really sick of it now. Haven't been well all winter either. 

$153,000 hospital stay for snake bite - US

Five days in hospital and he was charged $154,000. This is what happens without an Australian Medicare system. In Australia it would be free.

Shorten opposes China free trade deal

Good job. Looks like Shorten is finally growing some balls. Why in the hell do we need to import Chinese workers when Australia's unemployment is the highest in 12 years? It makes not the slightest sense.

Bill Shorten will not denounce a union-led assault on the Australia-China free-trade pact despite the Foreign Affairs Department taking the extraordinary step of drafting a “myth-busting’’ fact sheet challenging the basis of the scare campaign. 

The department’s document seeks to counter union allegations that the billion-dollar bilateral trade agreement will hand Chinese companies an unfettered ability to import Chinese workers on lower wages and conditions and threaten Australian jobs. 

It also slams as false the argument from the Electrical Trades Union that Chinese electricians can work on projects without having their skills assessed, and finds there is no basis to claims Chinese companies will be able to import dangerous products such as asbestos or dodge food safety standards. 

Trade Minister Andrew Robb has demanded the Opposition Leader choose between backing the agreement or supporting what he has dubbed a “racist’’ and “xenophobic’’ union campaign to undermine the trade deal. 

Speaking in Melbourne, Mr Shorten said Labor had always been keen to improve trade ties with China. 

“What we won’t do is allow the labour standards and job security of Australians to be undermined by a weakening of the testing provisions in terms of guest-worker provisions in this country,’’ he said. 

“We believe Australia is smart enough to improve our trade with China but also not sell out Australian jobs and the conditions of Australian workers.’’ more

Lieberals accusing Labor of racism? Oh please........  

Choppergate - latest memes