Howard is gone November 24, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics.add a comment
This is what I wrote three years ago:
Three more years. Three more f–king years.
I don’t know what to say. I feel kind of sick. I’m pissed because the lying rodent didn’t get kicked out like he oh so deserved to, but I’m also feeling sick because I feel disappointed with the Australians who voted for him. Why would they do such a thing? Are they intent on the destruction of Australia? The Liberals scare campaign over interest rates had better not be responsible for this. Howard and his cronies went on and on if Labour were elected interest rates would go up, even though the freaking government does not control interest rates and the majority of economists said interest rates would not be affected by who was in power. But it seems as if the terror campaign worked, which is so f–ked up. Winning an election by lying to your people, that’s just great.
Predictably George W. Bush was pleased that his deputy sheriff got re-elected, calling Howard from Air Force One to congratulate his “great victory.”
Just as the sun is rising over the dawn of another three years of Liberal rule I have the feeling things are not going to get better. And I suspect the children waking up this morning in detention centres around the country would be feeling the same way.
I have mixed feelings. I am certainly glad Howard is gone, but why not three years ago? (Or for that matter, six years ago?). It pisses me off when people mention the invasion of Iraq as one of the key reasons they would not be voting Liberal. Iraq was invaded in early 2003, while the last election here was late 2004. The idea of invasion was immoral back in 2002, and the actual invasion in 2003 only proved that. Why didn’t those people vote against Howard back then?
I hope Kevin Rudd can bring a renewed sense of morals to the Australia identity. The old government wore me down with its non-stop corruption, lies and hatred towards fairness. I’m not expecting a revolution. I don’t expect to be able to get married next week, but there is optimism in the air, for a brighter future for this country. The next three years will hopefully make me proud of this country again, something Mr Howard stole from me.
Transsexuals and passports in Australia August 18, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Human Rights.add a comment
Natalie Imbruglia’s sex change cousin in passport row
Maxine Frith
August 19, 2007
A TRANSSEXUAL is taking on the Howard Government in a bid to be acknowledged as a woman named Stefanie, not a man named Stephen.
Stefanie Imbruglia – a first cousin of pop star Natalie Imbruglia – is fighting a recent law change that forbids her identifying herself as female on her passport.
After living as a woman for two years, Ms Imbruglia, 42, is due to fly to Thailand in October for sex-change surgery that will complete her transition from male to female.
But she has been outraged by legislation enacted by the Government three months ago that has scrapped the right for people in her position to apply for an interim passport that lists “intended” sex rather than current gender.
Ms Imbruglia has been told she will either have to apply for a passport as a man or travel on a document of identity (DOI) that would leave her genderless.
It would not offer her the same level of protection in foreign countries and could lead to her being subjected to strip searches and harassment, says a letter she received from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“It is completely outrageous,” she said. “I am a woman, not a man. I may fly out to Thailand with a penis, but I’m going to come back as a total woman with a vagina so how am I going to get through immigration on a male passport?”
Sydney high school attacked for anti-Iraq war performance August 16, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Bush Administration, Invasion of Iraq.add a comment
Rock Eisteddfod’s Iraq entry draws criticisms
The Federal Government has accused a Sydney school of hijacking the annual Rock Eisteddfod challenge by involving students in a controversial and political performance.
The piece, called ‘Bad Knight 2′, is critical of US President George W Bush and the war in Iraq.
There are calls for it to be banned because its performance will coincide with a visit by Mr Bush to Australia.
And we certainly wouldn’t want to hurt poor Bush’s feelings! Anyway, he lives in a bubble, he’ll have no idea it’s even happening.
The New South Wales Opposition’s education spokesman Andrew Stoner think it is completely inappropriate.
“To be sending this overtly left-wing political message during the APEC meeting is not only unwise, frankly it can be embarrassing for us as Australians,” he said.
Thank you for speaking on behalf of all Australians, Mr. Stoner. Speaking on my behalf, what I can say embarrasses me is that our Prime Minster is a lapdog of the Bush Administration, and this gleefully sent our country into an immoral invasion. And then there’s the treatment of indigenous Australians, the shameful treatment of refugees, a careless disregard for the environment, and the deeming of gay and lesbian Australians as second class citizens, to name but a few issues. Yes, frankly we have a lot to be embarrassed about, but it has nothing to do with high school performance pieces.
Current federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has now attacked the new performance, claiming it does not represent the “healthy living” theme of the eisteddfod.
Oh, you know what, Julie? I agree with you! There’s scant signs of healthy living in Iraq:
According to U.N. figures, barely one in three Iraqis have access to clean drinking water.
Waterborne diseases like diarrhea — the most prolific killer of children under 5 — are on the increase. In some areas, it’s up as much as 70 percent over last year.
As far as any action against the piece goes, the eisteddfod says it does not censor any performances and the NSW Education Department’s Trevor Fletcher has supported the school and says it will not be stopped.
That’s good news. You know, I really, really, REALLY don’t get people who have no qualms about the mass slaughter of humans, yet a high school dance routine keeps them up at night. I mean come on. Seriously people, come on!
Oh, and the good news just keeps coming:
US Army suicides hit 26-year high
Twenty-eight of the soldiers who took their own life last year did so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
[snip]
So far this year, 44 soldiers have taken their own lives, 17 of them while deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
I guess that’s called supporting your troops.
And you thought ads in shows were bad… October 21, 2006
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Media.add a comment
The Age: First it was the ABC, now senator has new target
KEY Howard loyalists are set to launch a scathing attack on multicultural broadcaster SBS and force it to answer accusations of blatant left-wing bias.
Oh no, here we go again.
He singled out SBS’s coverage of the recent Hezbollah-Israel conflict as one of the most appalling examples of biased reporting he had ever seen. “Their commentary on international events, particularly the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, just displayed a clear lack of impartiality and completely lacked any balance whatsoever,” Senator Ronaldson said.
What rubbish! SBS’s coverage was as unbiased as could be. They showed the destruction, human and material, by Israel’s bombs on Lebanon, but also showed the damage inflicted by Hezbollah rockets. They screened many reports showing the plight of Israeli citizens coming under fire, including a heartbreaking story I won’t forget with Israeli children talking about the emotional impact the conflict had on them.
The upside down world continues. Criticise Israeli government policy and get labelled a racist. Daring the humanise the Lebanese suffering from Israel’s aggression is “appalling bias.”
Yesterday I was fretting about Murdoch’s involvement with Fairfax, and now this comes along. Independent media is so vital, especially when the alternatives are so dreadful. This government bullying of SBS should not be tolerated. I look forward to SBS’s response.
Medical Professionals: Iraq death toll credible October 21, 2006
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The Age: The Iraq deaths study was valid and correct
LAST week, the medical journal The Lancet published the findings of an important study of deaths in Iraq. President George Bush and Prime Minister Howard were quick to dismiss its methods as discredited and its findings as not credible or believable. We beg to differ: the study was undertaken by respected researchers assisted by one of the world’s foremost biostatisticians. Its methodology is sound and its conclusions should be taken seriously.
Who do you believe? An illustrious list of doctors and professors or George “significant quantities of Uranium from Africa” Bush and John “Non-Core” Howard?
Gary Anderton is (sic) October 21, 2006
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics.2 comments
The Age: Liberal candidate’s blog a slur on Aborigines
A LIBERAL Party candidate for the state election has declared that Aborigines are congenitally drunk and violent, terror suspect David Hicks should be executed, and he has described an Indian-born doctor as a smelly dud.
I don’t know what’s more disturbing, stuff like this:
“Aboriginals are ‘ignorant, discriminatory and prejudicial individuals.” [ ... ] He also boasts of “physically, verbally and emotionally” attacking an Islamic workmate over his attitude to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre.
or the amount of grammatical errors. It’s truly (sic)ening. (Though having said that I’ve probably made some glaring error myself). 
David Suzuki Interview (a.k.a. Fuck Botox) October 20, 2006
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Bush Administration, Canada, Global Warming.add a comment
Just a post or two ago I mentioned Canadian Environmentalist David Suzuki. On Wednesday’s Dateline, (a fantastic Australian current-affairs programme), they featured an interesting interview with Mr Suzuki. He discusses Australia’s response to global warming, the problems with nuclear power and an articulate nut-shelling of politics. Well worth reading, in my opinion.
And on a side note, David Suzuki is 70-years-old and he looks bloody fantastic. It’s such a refreshing change for the artificiality of plastic work or Botox.
Freedom of press = Terrorism?! September 12, 2006
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Media.1 comment so far
An Australian politician, Michael Danby, has strongly attacked the Australian commercial television channel Network Ten because they aired the September 11 conspiracy theory film 911: In Plane Site.
Now, I can certainly understand that the idea of the 9/11 attacks being perpetrated by the U.S. government to be offensive to some people. A mainstream television network broadcasting a film about said allegations would also be offensive to such people. But Mr Danby’s reaction is rather loopy indeed. First he calls for Channel Ten’s program director to be sacked. And then he calls Channel Ten murderers!
Mr Danby said September 11 victims had been killed twice – once by the terrorists and once by Ten.
You do know that this was a repeat screening, don’t you Mr Danby? Channel Ten first aired In Plane Site in 2005. So that means they’re double murderers!
You know, this kinda reminds me of the Play School lesbian “controversy”, considering the offending segment had once been shown without a hint of scandal. I also remember a Myer catalogue advertising the DVD not long after the film first aired on Ten.
Now, if Channel Ten are murderers that also means our public broadcaster, SBS, also have blood on their hands. SBS aired the Canadian documentary Conspiracy Theories: September 11 in 2005. Though since SBS also screened the anti-conspiracy theory polemic September 11 Didn’t Happen, maybe that made them even.
I’ll be looking out to see if any columnists from News Limited papers attack Channel Ten’s decision to repeat the program. If any do it will be very interesting to see if they also attack the Australian version of The History Channel, which aired the 9/11 conspiracy theory documentary Loose Change on Monday night. The History Channel is on FOXTEL, partly owned by News Limited.
Mr Danby has a history of wishing to censor things, such as a book by Antony Loewenstein.
Mr Danby, as the Channel Ten spokeswoman said, Australia is a free country. I respect your right to criticise books, TV programs, whatever you want. Hell, many people in the 9/11 truth movement think In Plane Site is garbage. But please don’t tell me what I can or cannot watch, read, whatever. That’s the point of democracy. Mr Danby, why do you hate us for our freedoms?
So Crossing Over with John Edward is out of the question? August 28, 2006
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics.add a comment
Jack Thomas (or Jihad Jack, as he is known in the tabloid media), who had had his terror conviction overturned, has had a control order issued to him. He now must abide by a curfew, and must not contact anyone on a list of around 50 people. Included on that list is, um… Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
FYI: Obituary: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
So don’t get out that ouija board, Jack! (Gee, this kind of incompetence is Bush worthy).
ABC News: Thomas control order based on ‘far-fetched’ idea
The Australian: Australian terror convictions quashed
Wikipedia: Jack Thomas
Hate masquerades as concern in gay marriage debate June 20, 2006
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Gay Rights, Human Rights.1 comment so far
Today The Age is reporting the results of a poll they conducted in conjunction with ACNielsen. It says 45 per cent of people polled said they supported gay civil unions in Australia. This comes after the Federal Government quashed laws in the ACT that would have allowed homosexual couples to legally recognise their relationship. Last week the Senate voted to agree with the Howard Government, 32-30.
A spokesperson for the Attorney-General said "the Government believes that the definition of marriage is quite clear and enshrined in the common law …"
Please! I’m getting real sick of this crummy defence. I’d believe all this pleading for the sanctity of marriage garbage if they did one thing: make divorce illegal.
What makes “you are now husband and wife” superior to “till death do us part.”? Or, in fact, superior to richer or poorer, for better or for worse, sickness, health and all that jazz. Why is all of that thrown out the window, and yet “you are now husband and wife” somehow becomes the strongest, most important vow of all?
The hoo-ha over gay marriage seems to make those other, supposedly lesser vows, irrelevant. Which is a tremendous shame. Some politicians are trying to toughen up the so-called Federal Marriage Act. I think it is a horrible waste of time and resources, especially at a time when almost half of all marriages fail. How exactly do you protect and support marriage, when so many marriages end in divorce, by stopping people who wish to get married?
We are always being told by politicians and those who oppose gay unions that the vows of marriage are sacred. These vows explicitly state that marriage is between a man and woman. So therefore gay marriage would be ruining the meaning of marriage. But such talk is pointless rubbish. Until divorce is made illegal, thus sanctifying the “’till death” bit, it is quite obvious that politicians don't give two hoots about the sanctity of unions. Their rallying in defence of marriage is nothing but unadulterated homophobia.
The Age also has a very positive gay news story today: Helping gay kids become part of the in crowd
