Australian journalism's Leftward bias

This piece by journalist Chris Wallace provides an interesting perspective on the shadow-boxing nature of political reporting and the sorting of truth from lies as well as the sorting of lies from lies, by type.

But what has chiefly stuck in my mind is this admission about how, working for the AFR, Wallace reported “some fantastically inflammatory comments” from Malcolm Turnbull, who was then the spearhead of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM): “Journalists are human. As a fervent republican I didn’t necessarily want the ARM chief blowing himself up with these quotes… On the other hand, as a journalist I thought: Great story!”

Wallace took “the middle road” by later reading the quotes back to Turnbull to give him a chance to assert they really were on the record.

It begs the question though, what if Wallace were in possession of quotes that would have been harmful to a prominent monarchist? Would that person have been given the same opportunity to rethink and possibly recant?

I commend Wallace’s candour. I doubt anyone can truly leave behind their biases when reporting or even subbing. Those biases inevitably inform how we approach and view things, even from a subconscious level. Balance is generally the way western journalists attempt to achieve a measure of objectivity, by making sure competing views get a look in, even if one voice speaks most strongly in the end.

However the one fundamental and overriding bias of journalism, as a profession, that Wallace shows here was when he thought: “Great story!” The hopeful thing is that if at least someone is committed to telling great stories, from whatever angle they may come, it will tend to negate a natural preference for stories that contain only the morals or outcomes they like.

Having said that, a bias towards great stories is still a bias and one that has its own potential pitfalls. Hopefully more on that later.

Update: Two views on bias in Australian journalism. Peter Costello says the ABC as an institution has an inherent leftward list and once an ABC staffer even hissed at him. The other argues that the overall orientation of Aussie media, especially News Ltd, is to the right of centre.

SOURCE (See the original for links)


Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

ZEG

In his latest offering, conservative Australian cartoonist ZEG is critical of the lack of monetary compensation for child victims of government "care"

Posted by John Ray.

Carbon Dioxide: a Cure for Male Impotence

I am not sure if the statements below are right but they are at least amusing. Even if the recent rise in CO2 does not warm the planet, it might warm something else!

Two of the most profitable pharmaceutical drugs sold today are Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) and Tadalafil (Cialis). Both drugs belong to a class of medications known as PDE-5 inhibitors, which are used to treat cases of male impotence (also known as erectile dysfunction). These drugs, which block the regulatory enzyme PDE-5, are both expensive and dangerous with many scary side effects and interactions with other drugs. There are better alternatives.

There are two factors that contribute to the inability to maintain an erection: the first is a reduced ability, due to poor nutrition and/or digestive problems, to produce the nitric oxide needed, for among other things, to dilate blood vessels supplying blood to the penis. This is accomplished in a fast, but risky, way by blocking the PDE-5 regulatory enzyme. However, a much cheaper and safer way to enhance nitric oxide production is to improve your diet and/or supplement with L-Arginine, a safe and inexpensive amino acid sold in health food stores and used by athletes for its many benefits. Note: this is a food supplement and, as such, should be used daily for best results and not just before performing, as directed for drugs. (Also, a note of interest: until the mid 90’s, nitric oxide was simply considered one of the pollutants in automobile exhaust fumes; since then it has been labeled marvel of the decade with many uses. Discovery of its functions and applications won the Nobel Prize for 3 scientists in 1998 for Advances in Physiology or Medicine. Maybe we should be more careful what we label as a pollutant.)

The second factor contributing to male impotence is a low arterial blood carbon dioxide level (another “pollutant”). Carbon dioxide is needed in the formation of nitric oxide from L-Arginine and, with a half life of only a few seconds, the nitric oxide level will quickly respond to changes in the carbon dioxide level. Carbon dioxide has long been credited with the ability to relax muscles but it is only recently understood that it does this through facilitating the formation of nitric oxide. Age and stress can be contributing factors to a low level of carbon dioxide. Both cause us to breathe faster than we should (hyperventilate) thus lowering our carbon dioxide level, which then results in a lower nitric oxide level.

Various methods have been used to restore proper carbon dioxide levels and, hopefully, reset unconscious breathing habits: a conscious slowing of our breathing as taught by various breathing methods (e.g. Buteyko method) as well as supplementing with medical gas for a few minutes can help. Other methods include breathing into a paper bag for a few minutes or using a breathing device such as the Samozdrav, a Russian prize winning device used to increase arterial blood carbon dioxide levels and to train people to breathe properly. People who use this device and learn to breathe properly, as a result, often report the improvement of many and varied symptoms.

Increasing nitric oxide levels with L-Arginine (5 grams daily) and, at the same time, raising arterial carbon dioxide levels, theoretically, should produce superior results to Viagra or Cialis alone. However, no drug company is ever going to do a double blind study based on this idea so don’t wait for one. Go ahead, give it a try. You have nothing to lose and the only side effects are beneficial ones. Who knows, you might improve your health AND your sex life, not to mention save a LOT of money if you presently use Viagra or Cialis.

For a better understanding, listen to this 20 minute lecture by a medical professional on the many benefits of maintaining proper carbon dioxide levels through proper breathing. While listening, just keep in mind that this lecturer hasn’t yet caught on to the indirect role of carbon dioxide in muscle relaxation rather than the implied direct role.

SOURCE (See the original for links)

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Now that's balls!

National Post - As if being the only British matador did not make him enough of an unlikely figure in the Spanish bullring, former butcher Frank Evans is returning to fight again at the age of 67.



Mr. Evans made his farewell appearance in 2005 in Benalmadena, southern Spain, a serious knee injury from his early days playing rugby having caught up with him.



But after reconstructive surgery and a quadruple heart bypass, "El Ingles," who turns 67 today, is ready to do battle again and makes his official comeback on Aug. 30 in Benalmadena.

"Inside, I am 25," joked the man who is stepping back into an arena dominated by glamorous athletic young bullfighters. "I keep myself very fit and as long as I can cope with it I'm going to carry on."

Inarguable Logic



Succinct, eloquent, elegant.
Gun rights are NOT negotiable, they simply ARE.

Setting the cat amongst the pigeons

Arutz Sheva - Dutch legislator Geert Wilders compared the prophet Mohammed with a pig after a report was published that Saudi Arabian authorities returned a runaway 10-year-old bride to her 80-year-old husband. Wilders asked Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen if he agrees that "this man is behaving like a pig, just like the barbarous Prophet Mohammed, who married" a six-year-old girl. Wilders wants the Foreign Minister to summon the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the Netherlands to express his disgust at the act.
Geert really knows which nerves to pluck doesn't he, I can only imagine the rage that the jihadists will be feeling when news of this weasels along to them. But you have to agree, he has a point, I mean what else do you call an 80-year-old man going after a 10-year-old girl. When you think about it, calling him a 'pig' is a bit soft; I can think of a lot of other things to call him. However I think in this situation, 'pig' is just right.

Freedom Of The Internet?


If you hadn't read the headline on yesterday's DrudgeReport (I use it for my homepage), then you really need to see this story - particularly since WE are on the very leading edge in the War on HOMELAND Terrorism, right here on the internet:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html

Also, not only does Pharoah barack want to be able to take over the internet "in case of an emergency" - and just WHOM will decide
precisely WHAT constitutes an "emergency"? - but there's also this, yet ANOTHER gambit to erase essential liberties from the Bill of Rights, that I got via a newsletter I get from HumanEvents.com:

(Pay attention to how these o-bortions BY the government are all targeted precisely at the very things the Founders put in the Constitution for us to use to protect our essential liberties FROM said government! The very things we NEED in order to keep the Sacred Sock Puppet from becoming just like his buddies hugo chavez and fidel castro....)


*************************************
HOUSE RESOLUTION 45
Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing
and Record of Sale Act of 2009


The Congressional Plan to Disarm Americans

No legislator in their right mind would vote for this bill now but you need to be aware of what is going on in Congress regarding gun ownership. I'm sorry; did I assume our House of Representatives were in their right minds? The Blair Holt Act is sweeping legislation that forces you to take extensive and numerous actions in order to own a gun or you will be criminalized.

Bill: House Resolution 45

Sponsor: Rep. Bobby Rush, Democrat from Illinois

Referred to: House Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security

1. Everyone will need a firearms license to own a gun and there will be a fee paid to the Attorney General.
2. You will be required to turn your guns into a firearms dealer for any transfers. Transfers include passing down your firearms to family members.
3. Report any address change to the Attorney General within 60 days.
4. Restrict you from having access to a loaded gun if there is someone under 18 in your home.
5. Fine and imprison you for failure to comply with any of the regulations.


These points are just the tip of the iceberg. You can get your PDF copy of the bill from the House of Representatives website. Read it and see how it decimates the rights enumerated in our 2 nd Amendment, and worse, makes following the law nearly impossible.

To get your copy of the bill click here

So how can we keep a weather eye on those that seek to limit our gun ownership? Join the National Rifle Association.
{I deleted the membership offer that followed. You can go to the NRA site on your own - and I recommend it, of course, since I'm a member.}


Let's Talk Personal Defense

Across our great country from Virginia to California state governments will be releasing prisoners as a form of budget cuts. Municipalities from coast to coast have threatened to cut law enforcement officers because of decreased tax revenue and budget problems.

Putting more criminals on the street and cutting cops is beyond reckless. What about cutting welfare? No, that won't happen. So if you choose to carry a gun do so with all the knowledge you can get.

Here is an offer that may just keep you alive.

Sign up for this free newsletter from the United States Concealed Carry Association. My good friends at the USCCA are the masters of handgun carry and defense tactics. Teach yourself to defend yourself and live to see another day.

This is a free offer. Sign up for the Armed American newsletter and carry with confidence.

***********************************************

Do what you want with this information, but I highly recommend that you get going and do SOMETHING with it.
You see what I'm doing....

(I know you folks Down Under ALREADY understand what these government maneuvers mean, but this is aimed mostly at slappin' a desperately needed ClueBat up-side the heads of some simpering "progressive" sorry-assed excuses for Yanks up here in what's left of what I still call "America".)

The Euros do something good

Deutsche Welle - Cuba has filed a formal protest against diplomats from five European Union countries who visited the home of a leading political activist in Havana this week. The Cuban government on Friday summoned the ambassadors of Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Poland and Britain - the countries whose diplomats made the visit - to say they had threatened recently improved EU-Cuba ties.

Government press officers also summoned a number of foreign journalists based in Havana to complain that they had covered the event and allowed themselves to be "manipulated and used" by diplomats seeking publicity. "The message was of criticism about the visit, meddling in Cuban internal affairs and putting at risk the political dialog. It was a pretty strong move," a European diplomat was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

On Thursday, the diplomats from Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Poland and Great Britain visited the home of prominent Cuban dissident and physician, Darsi Ferrer, to bring his his wife food, clothing and other donations. Ferer was arrested and jailed on July 21. He faces charges of illegal economic activity for buying two sacks of cement on the black market to repair his house.
You don't often hear of those Europeans doing anything against communist & tyrant scum these days, but on the odd occasion that they do, they ought to be commended. If nothing else this will at least irritate those commie gasbags in Cuba. As you probably know, for totalitarian scum, any amount of irritation, even the smallest, is too much.

Speaking of the above, do commies even regulate the sale of things like cement, does some bureaucratic parasite have to oversee the sale of cement too? Is it because they don't want people to build or something, you can't build a second bedroom if you don't build one for your neighbor too, is that how it works? Do commies wake up every day thinking, what else can I do to stifle humanity?

Another Warmist attempt to silence dissent

EPA CONSIDERS CLOSING NCEE - DR ALAN CARLIN'S UNIT

The EPA whistleblower saga took a new turn this week with a report that EPA was considering shutting down the agency unit in which Dr. Alan Carlin works. Dr. Carlin is the senior EPA analyst who authored a 100-page study last March, which severely criticized the scientific basis for the agency's position on global warming. CEI broke the story in late June, when it unveiled a series of emails to Dr. Carlin from his boss, stating that his study would not be disclosed, and that Dr. Carlin was to stop working on global warming issues, because criticizing EPA's position would only cause trouble.

Dr. Carlin works in EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE), whose function is, in its words, "analyzing the economic and health impacts of environmental regulations and policies, and ... informing important policy decisions with sound economics and other sciences." EPA has long been criticized for the tunnel-vision, cost-be-damned nature of many of its policies. (See, for example, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's 1995 book, Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation, written before he joined the court.) Economists are the most likely professionals within EPA to examine the real-world effects of its policies. For that reason, the NCEE is potentially a major restraining force on the agency's out-of-this-world regulatory ambitions. Wouldn't it be great for EPA to get this office out of the way?

Hopefully, the publicity and scrutiny that Dr. Carlin's report has received since it became public will carry over to EPA's plans for NCEE, and this agency, with its hollow commitment to scientific integrity and transparency, won't get its wish.

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Racist violence in Australia!

So was our smart-ass U.N. "rapporteur" right after all? In some technical sense maybe -- but I doubt if many white Australians feel guilty over hatred between Maoris and Aborigines. No doubt, however, the twisted brain of some Leftist will produce the accusation that the hatred is the result of "white oppression"

A New Zealand teenager's decision to miss a flight home from Perth cost him his life in a Lockridge brawl, his uncle says, demanding an end to racial violence. Jon Teotinga Warena, 18, from Napier, was killed in a wild street brawl between Maori and Aboriginal groups in the Perth suburb of Lockridge in the early hours of November 6, 2007.

Two men and three teenagers were given sentences of between three and eight years in the WA Supreme Court today for Mr Warena's manslaughter. Three of the accused were also sentenced on charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on Charleston Ngaha, 25, who was badly injured in the same brawl.


Mr Warena's family members who were in court for the decision said they had been informed of the likely range of the sentences before they were handed down. Mr Warena's mother, who flew in from New Zealand for the sentencing, carried a picture of her son, as did another relative. Lance McRae, an uncle of Mr Warena who had called for heavy sentences for the five, did not take issue with the penalties but said the racial violence in Perth had to end.

Mr McRae's brother Gary said he thought his nephew was boarding a flight to New Zealand on the night he died. But he had pulled out of the booking at the last moment for reasons that remained unexplained. ``It was a decision that cost the life of a really good kid,'' Mr McRae said.

Justice John McKechnie said it was ``difficult to escape the inference'' that Mr Warena had wanted to be a part of retaliatory action the Maori group had planned after the ``bricking'' of one of the men's homes.

The Maori group, including members of the Never Ending Crypts gang, drove to Germain Way in Lockridge to carry out a revenge attack but went to the wrong house, Justice McKechnie said.

Residents of the street said ``all hell broke loose'' when a group of Aboriginal men emerged from homes to confront the gang.

Justice McKechnie said the five accused had been part of a group that was entitled to protect their homes and families, and had at first taken reasonable action. ``However, what then happened went far beyond reason,'' he said. Mr Warena and Mr Ngaha had been kicked, punched, beaten and stomped on. ``The overwhelming conclusion is that you took part in an attack on people disabled, lying on the ground,'' he said. The attack continued even as people involved in the brawl had made remarks like ``he's f....d, dad'' and ``he's already dead, that's enough, dad''.

Everett James Tyson, 35, Giles Lawrence Tyson, 41, and three teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charges.

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali and Christians

Times Online - Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who is about to retire as the Bishop of Rochester, is to set up a charity to work with persecuted Christians in the Islamic world. Dr Nazir-Ali, who will leave next week a few days after his 60th birthday, says that he has paid a heavy price for standing up for Christian values and has been stung by criticism of some of his controversial statements — but that he has no regrets. ......In January 2008 Dr Nazir-Ali wrote that Islamic extremism had turned “already separate communities into no-go areas”.
Good on him for setting up that charity, Lord knows Christians in muslim lands need all the help they can get. Contrary to leftwing stupidity and western ignorance, muslims dominate, persecute and subjugate any non-muslims living in their lands. Most Christians who can leave, do so because that's the reality they face. Ask the copts from Egypt, the lebanese Christians and they'll tell you what their muslim overlords are really like.

The other thing is that Christians from the 3rd world make great immigrants too, which brings me to another point. I don't know why we in the west don't change our immigration policies to target Christians from 3rd world countries. The western world is the great civilization it is because it was built by people who believe in a Christian God. They weren't Hindus, Bhuddists, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Aztecs etc.

You also don't hear of Christians from Africa or the Middle East waging jihad here in the western world. You don't hear of them wanting to set up no-go areas and demanding that westerners stop doing this and that or stand on their heads or something. We want the western world to become better, even better than it is and we want our immigrants to be productive citizens to take us further and who better to contribute to this than Christian immigrants. Unless off course that's not what some of us really want.

Makes sense to me, perhaps I'm wrong on this, what do you think?

Some media ridicule of Obama at last

July 15th, 2009 - a day that shall live in comedic infamy. The Obama administration’s first direct hit from reliably friendly allies. Former Saturday Night Live star, now stand up comic Dana Carvey was the guest on the new Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. When O’Brien asked Carvey his opinion of Obama, Carvey trotted out some fresh material. “I’m worried. The economy just had a heart attack, but Barack just wants to work on the knee,” Carvey riffed. ”Should we do CPR? No, we’re gonna fix this knee. We can do CPR when it’s efficient and cost effective, but right now we’re going to work on the meniscus. “Carvey concluded the bit suggesting George W. Bush would have used an economic “crash cart.” “Tax cuts for everybody - CLEAR!” The audience roared. Were they laughing at Carvey’s “dumb guy” Bush impression, or was it the excitement of more money in their pockets as an economic remedy? No matter the audience response. Carvey saw fit to address economic policy in his comedy. That’s telling.

At the same hour, on the same day - The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart opened fire. ”Last night, Obama threw out the first pitch at the All Star game. He even played short-stop for a time,” Stewart said. “There’s nothing he can’t do…except create jobs.” Ouch. The audience laughed tepidly. It was as though they couldn’t believe what they’d heard, and Stewart moved past the line quickly.

During the same show, Stewart went on to skewer the healthcare reform fight in Washington. Initially mocking Republicans for sounding the alarm on Obama’s ultimate desire for a “single payer” system, the joke took an unexpected turn. ”…that’s just a Republican scare tactic. The Democrats are not proposing a government takeover of health insurance. And they’re certainly not trying to “Trojan horse” us into some European or Canadian-style single payer system,” said Stewart. With that, Stewart played some grainy campaign video from 2008 in which Obama told a cheering crowd, “I happen to be a proponent of single-payer health care.” The next shot is a dumbfounded Stewart back at the desk as he coldly confessed, “Wow. That Communist sounded a lot like our President.”



Since this watershed event in comedy, the Daily Show has taken on a new tone. A day after President Obama declared Cambridge cops “acted stupidly” in the arrest of his friend “Skip” Gates, Stewart took it head on. “Now, I wasn’t at the press conference last night, and I don’t have all the facts. But I think it’s fair to say that Obama handled that question…oh, what’s the word I’m looking for? Stupidly?”

In another segment of the same show, Stewart playfully cheered as Nancy Pelosi and President Obama suggested increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans to pay for health care reform. He pretended to be surprised when he was “informed” in his earpiece that he, in fact was wealthy. ”Oh, so they’re coming for me…ok,” Stewart said sheepishly. Remember, Stewarts’s a New York-based millionaire. Theirs is the highest taxation in the country, and President Obama and New York want more from him. Is Stewart sensitive to that? Again, economics and federal budgets as punch lines? You’ve got your answer.

Last week’s Daily Show also featured a montage of the President refuting criticisms of his health care plan. After the string of presidential rebuttals Stewart concluded, “You know a sales pitch is in trouble when it starts with “Look, you’ve got to trust me. We’re not going to kill your grandparents.”

The impression shouldn’t be left that comedy’s liberal leanings are absent. The bias for this president is still deeply entrenched in comedy writers. But writers and performers are also wealthy, privately insured, and often well educated. They have lost much of their own wealth in the markets while beginning to realize the finest doctors and insurers who serve them are growing nervous. Comedians have families and friends in medicine, finance, and industry. Reality is setting in.

The truth of the nation’s growing pessimism and skepticism in Washington is at historic highs and on display every day. Comedians’ choice is clear. Continue to cheer and cover for a president in whom they emotionally invested so much. Or realize the investment just didn’t pay off as they’d hoped and get back to the honesty in their craft. Never have there been so few jokes directed at a President who deserves so many.

Jon Stewart was just voted “America’s most trusted” by the online readers at Time Magazine after Walter Cronkite passed away. He led the likes of Couric, Williams, and Gibson - all network news anchors who “play it straight.” Meanwhile, Gallup polling reports Obama’s job approval among likely voters age 18 to 29 and 30 to 49 has dropped 6 percent in the last month. Obama is losing Jon Stewart. The question is: Can Obama get him back?

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Two-week "expert" says Australia is "racist"



He should be sued for defamation. State and Federal governments of all stripes have been trying for decades to solve the problems of Aborigines using all sorts of "solutions" and this prick thinks he is wiser than all of them. Being a Hispanic-American lawyer must give you special wisdom, I guess -- more likely a chip on your shoulder. He works for the same U.N. that constantly maligns Israel while ignoring huge Arab abuses -- JR

The intervention into remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory is clearly discriminatory, and that there is "entrenched" racism in Australia, the United Nations special delegate on indigenous rights says. James Anaya didn't pull any punches after his two-week visit of the country.

He said the Rudd Government should reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the NT "right away" because the intervention was discriminatory. "It undermines the right of indigenous peoples to control their own destinies, their right to self-determination," he said. He also said the Stolen Generations should be paid compensation.

Prof Anaya said that while there was no doubt special efforts were required to combat indigenous disadvantage and abuse of women and children, the intervention's "broad sweep" went too far and was incompatible with various international conventions, covenants, treaties and declarations.

"Some kind of special measures could be justified but they need to be narrowly tailored to the specific circumstances that exist," he said. Compulsory income management and blanket bans on alcohol and pornography were "overtly discriminatory" and further stigmatised already stigmatised communities "People who have a demonstrated capacity to manage their income are included," he said. "It's inappropriate to their circumstances but is also, as expressed by them, demeaning."

The indigenous rights expert was also scathing of federal Labor's insistence that housing funds would only flow if indigenous communities signed over their land. "It's a mistake to assume that indigenous peoples ... aren't capable of taking care of their homes," Prof Anaya said. [What would HE know? Has he SEEN how Aboriginal housing deteriorates?] "Indigenous control can be appropriate to indigenous peoples' development, to their aspirations, to indeed being in control of their lives like all others."

As for compensation for indigenous people taken from their families by government agencies, the UN rapporteur was unequivocal: "There should be reparations," he said.

But it wasn't all negative news for the Rudd Government. Prof Anaya praised Labor for taking "significant steps" to try and improve the human rights and living conditions of indigenous Australians. He also congratulated the Government for supporting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples earlier this year and officially apologising to the stolen generations in 2008. There was hope, he said. "I have been impressed by the strength, resilience and vision of indigenous communities determined to move towards a better future despite having endured tremendous suffering at the hands of historical forces and entrenched racism."

SOURCE. A couple of replies to this heap of U.N. sh*t here


Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

EIT Huge Success!


Of all the "headlines" this week, such as:
"kennedy Dead"
(too-long-delayed karma for millions of aborted babies)
"Deficit NOT $7 trillion, It's Actually $9 Trillion"
(what's two trillion, more or less?)
"More Banks Fail"
(who can keep track anymore?)
"Cash For Clunkers Crashes"
(like we couldn't see that one coming?)
"Swine Flu Toll Might Reach 90,000"
(wanna guess how many die each year from REGULAR flu?)
...can you guess which one the media is burying the deepest?

"Waterboarding WORKED, So Americans LIVED!"

You can read the full report on EIT's (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques) at that link - heavily redacted, of course - but it sums up quite nicely with that headline.
...hmmm, didn't see that one?
Gee, it was the ultra-"progressive" aclu that filed a "Freedom of Information Act" suit that got the report released, so I have to wonder WHY the ultra-"progressive" media didn't trumpet the findings from every outlet they have........

Might it be that the techniques got us information that actually SAVED lives?
Could it be possible that the waterboarding that nanny-state pelosi did/didn't know about got us actionable intel that STOPPED terrorists from killing more people?

So where does that leave us in the War on Terror?
Pharoah won't even call it that - he calls it "overseas contingency operations".
...oh, and the same Attorney General who summarily dismissed voter-intimidation charges against Black Panthers who were packing a night-stick at the entrance to a polling site last year?
He's fixing to "investigate" the CIA operatives who got the information that kept Americans safe for the past half-dozen years.......

Shouldn't we Americans enforce our Constitution's law against Treason?
We could start with holder, America's "Top Lawyer", the guy who's SUPPOSED to be enforcing the rest of our laws....

Islam a violent and oppressive religion?

Fox News - A handful of students were sent home from Florida schools this week after showing up in shirts proclaiming that "Islam is of the Devil," part of a fiery church campaign to "expose" Islam as a religion of violence. ......The Dove center has come under fire already for posting a sign with the same message, which it says will help "expose" Islam as "a violent and oppressive religion" that is trying to deceive and destroy society. "It is time that all Christians unite, stop being passive and selfish and stand up and fight for the truth," says a posting on the church's Web site.

Islam a religion of violence and oppression? Oh my, where would they get that idea from, I thought most of the school text books and universities all said that islam is a religion of peace and it's really racist, christian bigots who are the problem and who are making it all up. Well, have a look at the following micro-sample of muslims doing their thing across this planet.

Dawn - Three passers-by were killed and 15 injured Sunday in a suicide bombing in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar triggered by an apparent feud between rival militant groups, police said.

United Copts - Father Estefanos Shehata sent an urgent plea to Middle East Christian Association (MECA) on 8/14/2009 as the village elders issued a death fatwa (ruling) against him for wanting to open a prayer hall. He has also been banned from entering Ezbet Dawood Youssef, where he serves and where his family lives. He said that the village Muslim's reaction was absolute anger at his request to convert a space in his family's home to be used for conducting funeral services and for marriage ceremonies.

Dawn - Gunmen shot dead an Afghan journalist known as an outspoken critic of the Taliban as he travelled by bus through Pakistan’s Khyber Pass on Monday, a Pakistani government official said.

World News - Five car bombs that detonated simultaneously rocked Afghanistan's largest southern city Tuesday, destroying a construction company office and damaging dozens of nearby buildings, officials said. At least 30 people died in the blast and 56 were wounded.

Compass Direct - Muslim extremists seeking evidence that a Somali man had converted from Islam to Christianity shot him dead Tuesday morning (Aug. 18) near the Somali border with Kenya, according to underground Christians in the war-torn nation.

Fox News - Religious police in Saudi Arabia are cracking down on summer festivals and circuses intended by the government to boost domestic tourism, because they violate strict religious restrictions on singing, dancing, the mixing of unrelated men and women, and "evil" circus performances, Reuters reported.

Arab News - A 10-year-old bride was returned last Sunday to her 80-year-old husband by her father who discovered her at the home of her aunt with whom she has been hiding for around 10 days.

Adelaide Now - "The 30-year-old suspect shot his 23-year-old pregnant sister, who worked as a nurse, four times in the head and other parts of her body on Wednesday, while she was attending the wedding of another brother," a police spokesman said today. "The mother of a baby boy got married two years ago without the family's permission after she ran away from home" in Madaba, south of the capital Amman, he said.

Toronto Sun - The Mississauga man who took part in a conspiracy to blow up prominent landmarks in Toronto's downtown told court yesterday he made "a huge mistake" as his lawyer asked for a two-year prison term for his client. Saad Khalid, 23, told a Brampton courtroom he accepted responsibility for his role in the domestic terror plot to detonate bombs outside the Toronto Stock Exchange and CSIS headquarters, as well as an unnamed Ontario military base, in 2006.

Fox News - Militants behind the hotel bombings in Jakarta also planned to use snipers to attack Barack Obama’s convoy, according to an intelligence expert.

Violence - check. Oppression - check.
There are many, many more examples of this, but I haven't got all night and you get the picture. I think it's fair to say those Florida schools could not have sent those children home because their message was all lies and making stuff up or something. It may be an inappropriate [to some] way to get the message across but the message is quite accurate. And I'm sure that the muslim activists caterwauling about this won't be able to disprove the students allegations, they're only interested in silencing them and anyone else who dares to put two and two together and share the ugly truth about islam.

Hat tip Jihad Watch and Tea & Politics.

Bill of rights would be a death knell for democracy says Howard

A BILL of rights would erode Australia's democracy, diminish the reputation and accountability of Parliament, politicise the judiciary and represent the ''final triumph of elitism in Australian politics'', the former prime minister John Howard said last night.

Delivering the annual Menzies Lecture at the University of Western Australia, Mr Howard campaigned against ceding power from elected individuals to the non-elected judiciary.

The Rudd Government is exploring whether to introduce a bill of rights. In December, it commissioned a committee chaired by Father Frank Brennan to gauge public opinion on how best to achieve greater protection of rights. It is due to report to the Government on September 30.

Mr Howard has long opposed a bill of rights. He said ministers and parliamentarians should make all the controversial decisions transparently and be accountable for them.

''A bill of rights would further diminish the prestige of Parliament, it would politicise the appointment of judges, it would increase the volume of litigation and it would not increase the rights and protections now available to Australian citizens,'' Mr Howard said.

''A charter or bill of rights would represent the final triumph of elitism in Australian politics - the notion that typical citizens, elected by ordinary Australians, cannot be trusted to resolve great issues of public policy.''

Mr Howard said the Northern Territory intervention, the banning of gay marriage and the conscience vote to lift the ban on the abortion pill RU486 could have been handballed to judges had there been a bill of rights.

He warned ''political activisits of the left'' to consider that one day a cause they may support ''might be better served by the votes of contemporary Parliament, rather than a court dominated by men and women holding views you might not share''.

SOURCE

The Supreme Court of the United States shows the inadvisability of entrusting our rights to unelected judges. It is now and always has been a judicial abomination. Its guiding principles have always been political rather than judicial. It is not as political as Stalin's courts but its respect for the constitution is little better. Some recent abuses: The "equal treatment" provision of the 14th amendment was specifically written to outlaw racial discrimination yet the court has allowed various forms of "affirmative action" for decades -- when all such policies should have been completely stuck down immediately. The 2nd. amendment says that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed yet gun control laws infringe it in every State in the union. The 1st amendment provides that speech shall be freely exercised yet the court has upheld various restrictions on the financing and display of political advertising. The court has found a right to abortion in the constitution when the word abortion is not even mentioned there. The court invents rights that do not exist and denies rights that do -- JR

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Responsibility and Liberty

Daily Telegraph - RESIDENTS in poorer communities would be given vouchers to buy nutritious meals, while damaging levels of fat, sugar and salt in popular foods would be cut to make Australia healthier and leaner. Cigarette prices would also rise by about $5 a pack and some popular alcoholic drinks would be slugged with extra tax as part of a health blueprint to be unveiled by the Rudd Government. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's handpicked taskforce recommended a "health compact" between government and the $70 billion food sector aimed at improving the nutritional value of everyday supermarket items.
This is what you get when you embrace socialized health. If you look at the above, on the surface it's a tax on fat, sugar, salt, booze etc. Now many would argue that these things are not as bad for you as it's being made out to be, but for the sake of argument, let's just assume that the government are right, that salt, sugar, fat etc are all bad for you. Well so what if they're bad for your health, what business is it of the government what you eat and how it affects your health.

I'll tell you why and how, because of socialized health. What you eat and how you live your life has to be the taxpayer's business, the taxpayer is giving money to the government who in turn funds healthcare in this country with that money. If your neighbor was taking money from you every month, you would rightly want to know what he/she is spending it on, you are entitled to it. And if they are spending it on the wrong things, then you have a right to demand otherwise.

So in essence, your diet is my business and my drinking is yours. I don't like this, but this is what we want, enough of us are not prepared to take responsibility for our own health, we insist that everyone else must share the costs so we must be pushed around and hectored by representatives of the government. Or in this case pay a tax of some sort for daring to eat fat, salt and sugar.

If we refuse to take responsibility, we must be stripped of our liberty, we have not earned it and we do not deserve it.

And those of you pondering the joys of socialized health, take a good look, this is what awaits you further down the track, not the utopia that the snake-oil salesman is promising now.

Leftists on the side of workers?

Leftist parties always like to portray themselves as supporting workers, keeping people in jobs, keeping work in the country and as the best at protecting your jobs. Funny then, how the reality shows the opposite when the left are actually running the show and they get a chance to implement their various utopian fantasies to actually keep people in jobs.
Daily Mail - The number of jobless households has risen at its fastest rate since Labour came to power with almost five million people now living in homes where no one works. New figures reveal a massive 4.8million people of working age now live in a home where no one holds down a job. The data for April to June this year shows an increase of 500,000 on a year ago before the recession took a crippling grip on Britain. The percentage of households where no adults work is now 16.9 per cent, up 1.1 per cent on 2008, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics.
Read the whole article to see the level of the sorry saga. In summary there are now more useless parasites in Britain on welfare than there were before the left got the reins of power. What's worse, a lot of these useless parasites won't work and don't actually think there is anything wrong with sponging off those that do work. Now if you think that the left can be trusted to get these useless parasites back into work and to stop sponging off others, then shame on you!

Moving over to America and more evidence that the left are bad for jobs and unemployment. I saw this at National Review a while ago and thought I should post it here, it basically shows the unemployment rate in April for states based on which way they lean politically, democrat or Republican.



You'd think that if the left really were about lowering unemployment, providing jobs and such, that the evidence would actually show this. But that is not the case, you see the states that have always voted democrat or left, have the highest unemployment rate, while those that vote Republican, the lowest. The article doesn't mention anything about it, but I think it's also safe to say those 'blue' states also have burgeoning parasite-bases too.

The moral of the story, if you want to find work easily and keep your job, move to one of those red states, vote Republican and leave the parasites to fend for themselves. A final note to those tired of supporting useless parasites and contemplating moving to one of those red states; don't be a dumbass and vote for the democrats.

Greenie nonsense killed people in big Australian fires

A Greenie council has blood on its hands


RESIDENTS in one of the areas devastated on Black Saturday were not allowed to clear highly flammable, noxious tea tree on their land because it was classified as native vegetation by the local council, the royal commission into the bushfire disaster has been told. Peter Wiltshire, who suffered serious burns and damaged airways trying unsuccessfully to save his home at St Andrews on February 7, said yesterday the tea tree, known as burgan, was "extremely flammable and lets off gases in heat". Wildfire from burning burgan on a neighbouring property created enough radiant heat to cause a horsefloat at one end of his house to instantaneously burst into flame.

But the local Nillumbik Shire Council stopped landowners clearing burgan without applying for permission, Mr Wiltshire said. "They call it native vegetation and we are not allowed to clear it without a permit. It is probably the most noxious and flammable material. It really is a pest and dangerous."

Mr Wiltshire, who is chairman of the St Andrews Country Fire Authority brigade, said a massive fireball that engulfed his house and caused window glass to melt was fuelled by "black gas" above tree-top level. He suffered serious burns to his face and both arms, had damaged airways from inhaling heated air and smoke and spent 24 hours in an induced coma in hospital after escaping with his wife and daughter from their blazing home.

Twelve of the 173 people who died on Black Saturday were killed in St Andrews.

Tasmanian Fire Service fire management planning officer Mark Chladil told the hearing that Victoria's decision to allow people to automatically rebuild on the sites of their former homes using only the new national bushfire building code was "somewhat risky". Sites needed to be fully assessed for bushfire threat using the full gamut of planning issues, said Mr Chladil, who is also a member of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council. "To be blunt, rebuilding at the moment would be somewhat risky in each of these places without considering the range of siting, water supply, access, vegetation management options as well as building options," he said. "There are going to be sites where it will be seen as foolhardy to have rushed in and rebuilt in the same place without addressing these issues." The social welfare benefits of allowing survivors to rebuild as quickly as possible could be better met by providing each family with an individual building assessor to advise them on rebuilding, Mr Chladil said.

Earlier, the inquiry was told that an essential handbook vital in ensuring the effectiveness of the new national building standard would not be available until at least the end of the year. Barry Eadie, the head of the Standards Australia committee that developed the new bushfire building standard hastily introduced after February 7, said the new code would not save houses without the companion handbook, which gave crucial advice about such things as planning, water supply, access and maintenance of landscaping and vegetation. [It's common sense among the bureaucrats that is needed, not more unreadable official bumf]

SOURCE


Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

ZEG

In his latest offering, conservative Australian cartoonist ZEG has a shot at both the NSW Labor party and the Federal Liberal party.



Posted by John Ray.

Gordon Brown - Gutless shitbag!

Daily Mail - Gordon Brown finally broke his silence over the release of the Lockerbie bomber today after being branded the 'invisible man of politics' by refusing to discuss the matter.

The Prime Minister, back in Downing Street for a meeting with Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu, insisted the British Government had 'no role' in the decision.

And he said he was 'angry' and 'repulsed' at the hero's welcome given to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi on his return to Libya last week. [Yeah, sure you were gordon, you gutless shitbag!]

Mr Brown stressed that Britain's 'resolve to fight terror is absolute' amid fury at the move to release the man convicted of the worst terrorist act on British soil.

Just how the hell did this worthless pustule end up leading a western nation. A mass murderer of gordon's own countrymen is set free and Gordon has nothing to say, not my problem, can't get involved, full moon, high tide, low testosterone, period pains, low iron, privacy issues... blah, blah.

I would say to gordon, just go gordon, don't say anything, don't write anything, just pack your crap and eff off. Don't write, don't send post cards, don't email, don't call, don't twit or chat or anything, just go.

But we all know gordon won't go, perhaps gordon is like herpes or some sort of skin rash that just won't go away on its own, you have to get rid of him Britain. Whether it be through pitch forks, whips, boots to his worthless ass, whatever, just do it, get rid of this gutless shitbag.

The environmental dark ages

To hear some environmentalists speak you would think that we are currently in the environmental dark ages. The ever expanding economy (current hiccup exempted) means that we are using up ever more resources, spewing out ever more pollution and generally leading the way to Hell in a handcart.

That they say this when the air and the waters are cleaner than they have been for many centuries, when resources, judged by their price, are cheaper and thus more abundant than ever, causes no little amusement.

However, it is their next step which is so dangerous. We must localise all production, not eat food from outside our own region: depending upon who you talk to it might be from outside your own garden, town, county or bioregion but international trade is certainly very naughty indeed. In fact, we shouldn't be getting anything at all from other countries, let alone the other side of the world.

Localism in government is to be admired, localism in production and consumption rather less so.

A new book on the end of the Roman Empire points to this as the defining economic mark of that age:
An emphasis on "localization" as the fundamental change following the fall of the Roman Empire, and numerous micro-studies of exactly how that localization occurred. Cities shrank, trade networks dried up, etc.

Not for nothing do we decribe that time as The Dark Ages. Last time around it came about because of the collapse (for whatever reasons) of a political power. Let's not inflict it upon ourselves in the name of environmentalism, eh?

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Australian bosses forbidden to talk to their workers

Unions legally privileged under new Leftist laws

JULIA Gillard's new industrial relations umpire has begun to ban businesses from directly talking to their own employees while being forced into "good faith" bargaining with unions.

Banning business from communicating directly with its own staff will not promote the productivity growth that Kevin Rudd now claims is central to his government's agenda. But productivity growth has never been a central aim of Australia's traditional industrial relations system.

Rudd and Gillard are reimposing this system for political reasons: first to put John Howard's Work Choices to the sword and second to deal Labor's industrial wing back into the game.

Just over a week ago, Fair Work Australia senior deputy president Lea Drake instructed industrial services company Transfield how to deal with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union in holding a collective agreement ballot of its maintenance employees doing work on Sydney's water system.

The seventh of Drake's 13 instructions state: "During this process Transfield will not attempt to bypass the bargaining agent representatives in relation to its proposal by contacting for this purpose the members of the bargaining agent representatives directly, in meetings or by text or other telephonic messages."

That is, Transfield must deal with "all officers and delegates" of the AMWU as the "bargaining agent". Transfield's workers are not so much the company's employees as "members of the bargaining agent". The union can depict the company's position in any way it wants to its members, but the company cannot argue its case - perhaps beyond setting out what it has put to the union - to its own employees. That would show "bad faith".

The sight of industrial judges limiting how business can talk to its own staff about the terms oftheir labour contract is a huge break from the direction of workplace relations since the early 1990s. That began the shift away from what Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens this month aptly called the "bad old days" of Australian industrial relations. This had to change because the over-regulated labour market threatened to stifle the productivity growth required by business after the rest of the economy had been opened up to foreign competition.

More HERE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Font size

I have moved to a larger font for my new Political Correctness Watch site and my new Eye on Britain site.

I would be interested if anyone has any strong feelings about it being now too large, just right etc.

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Obama's private army?

Pakistan Daily - US President Barack Obama has approved the creation of a new, special terrorism-era interrogation unit to be supervised by the White House, a top aide said on Monday, further distancing his administration from former president George Bush’s detainee policies. The new unit does not mean the CIA is now out of the interrogation business, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters.

Burton said the unit would include “all these different elements under one group” and it would be situated at the FBI headquarters in Washington. The unit would be led by an FBI official, with a deputy director from somewhere in the government’s vast intelligence apparatus, and members from across agencies. The White House will directly supervise it. ......The new group and new directives to rely solely on the Army Field Manual when interrogating prisoners is an attempt by the administration to separate itself from allegations that the previous administration tortured some prisoners.
This is interesting, hussein o seems to be of the opinion that even though he's the big cheese now, he still can't trust the CIA to properly interrogate terrorists. I mean, why else would he set up his own private unit, reporting directly to him and only him to do this. This raises even more questions, like what assurance is there that these terrorists won't have their rights violated, you know the rights that leftists insist that all and sundry must have. Who will police hussein o to ensure that he's not just beating the shit out of them.

And how do we know that hussein will only use them to interrogate terrorists attacking America and not against those won't squeal their support and adoration for his glorious death-panels and what not. You all know what a dishonest fellow hussein o really is, so don't put it past him. Besides, where ever leftists are in power, sooner rather than later, freedom and liberty has to be eroded, honesty and transparency are their enemies.

The article also mentions that hussein o is still yearning to go after Bush for depriving terrorists of sleep and putting insects in their cells, so will this be applied to hussein o and his associates if we do find out that prisoners weren't given korans and warm meals every day. Will they be prosecuted too or is hussein o more equal as we are led to believe. The laws are only for mortals, not for halfrican gods/messiahs/prophets/[insert appropriate term of adoration here].

Major Australian conservative political party totally rejects any Warmist laws

The rural and regional-based National party invariably forms part of a coalition with the Centre-Right "Liberal" party in government but tends in general to be farther Right. There are however many global-warming skeptics in the Liberal party too

Before we go north of the Tweed, however, let's duck down to Canberra where at the historic Hyatt Hotel, the Nationals yesterday wound up their peak federal council meeting.

And very successful it was too. In the words of the party's federal director Brad Henderson, in his report to conference: "A new treatment of our logo, new website, in our annual report and with a new visual identity our contemporary new look tells Australians that we are changing."

What that "changing" meant became clear as the weekend progressed. In danger of dying a demographic death the Nationals have decided to rededicate themselves to their base.

Again in Henderson's words: "The nub of the changes that we are making is about more assertively advocating the interests of regional Australia."

The trouble is that in doing so they will henceforth not only be seeking to differentiate themselves from Labor but from the Liberals and Turnbull too.

Henderson in his report was clear about this. This new course, he said, "will require protection from bad or clumsy policy because regional Australia has the most to lose from policies like Labor's emissions trading scheme."

The possessive noun "Labor's" as applied to the emissions trading scheme is cursory, of course. What the Nationals really mean is that they are opposed to any ETS: a position the Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce made clear yesterday morning when interviewed on the Nine Network.

Asked by Laurie Oakes whether the Nationals at the conference had decided they wouldn't vote for an emissions trading system under any circumstances, Joyce replied: "That is correct."

Translated, that is a one-finger salute to Turnbull. In other words, no matter what amendments or concessions he manages to negotiate with the Rudd government before the ETS comes back before the Senate in November, the Nationals won't be having a bar of it.

And what's more, said Joyce, making policy not so much on the run as at a gallop, if the Coalition does win government at the next election they'll be dismantling whatever ETS is in place anyway.

More HERE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Bypassing Google

Since Google will not let me put up any new posts on my old POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH site, I now have a new Political Correctness Watch site. Please adjust your bookmarks accordingly. It might be advisable, though, to keep a note of the Political Correctness Watch mirror site in case the new blog hosts go strange on me.

And since Google will not let me put up any more posts on my old EYE ON BRITAIN site, I now have a new Eye on Britain site. Please adjust your bookmarks accordingly. A permalink to any day's postings there can be obtained by clicking on "Leave a comment". It might be advisable, though, to keep a note of the Eye on Britain mirror site in case the new blog hosts go strange on me. I have chosen two different blog hosts this time in order to spread my risks.

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Home detention now

Herald Sun - A RECORD number of criminals are being let out of Victoria's jails early to serve out sentences in the comfort of their lounge rooms. Eighty-three inmates were quietly released into home detention in the year to June 30. The rate of nearly two a week is the highest since the home detention scheme began in March 2004. And the Herald Sun can reveal three killer drivers and four drug dealers are among 33 criminals currently savouring the luxury of home detention.

......Under Victorian law, courts can impose home detention orders of up to one year, or the Adult Parole Board can let inmates serve the last six months of a jail term at home. ......Among criminals in home detention is cruel fraud Frank De Stefano, who stole millions of dollars from his accountancy firm clients and gambled their cash away at Crown casino. Department of Justice figures reveal they also include burglars, thieves, criminal drivers and drug offenders.
Well isn't that nice eh, for the criminals that is. So let this straight folks, our courts are already weak as ever, handing out soft sentences for criminals and now some of those weak sentences are served out in the comfort of their homes. And you can bet good money they're paid to stay at home, after all you can't allow them to leave home to go out and work now can you.

I don't know what's going to be next folks, are we going to just do away with jail altogether, it's all too hard, the poor things can't help themselves you know. Screw the victims, justice and all that, just let em' loose and then claim that crime is going down, since so few are being jailed anymore, isn't it great.

Hijackers of the "Arctic Sea" ship now in Russian hands claim to be conservationists

Below is a VERY rough translation from the original Finnish. The Arctic Sea is a Finnish ship

Arctic Sea: The men suspected of hijacking the ship belong to environmental groups, maintains a Russian news channel in a Vesti-TV interview. According to them, they were not violent. The crew in turn maintain the opposite. One of the detainees said in Cape Verde, in an interview that they did not use violence or the threat of the gun to anyone.

"So you claim to be environmentalists. What organization you represent," the interviewer asked. "I do not know if it was a private office", arrested in reply.

"We only wanted protection from the storm. We entered the ship on July 25. Then we were left on board, but for some reason, the captain refused to refuel our boat"

Interviewed were of the man that they had not been involved in arms and relationships with the crew were "good" and "friendly". Instead, the crew gives a different version of it. In the same news story crew members showed their hands and feet on which are traces of handcuffs and ropes. "Look, here is the overall dimension of plastic tracks. They tied us in, one crew member said to the TV camera.

More HERE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Google update

I can read the writing on the wall. I know how long Google take to remove the block off an alleged "spam" blog and they are NOT going to take the block off POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH and EYE ON BRITAIN -- and it is easy to see why. My attacks on political correctness must be anathema to the Leftists who run Google -- and my "Eye on Britain" blog does of course concern a country that makes Canada look libertarian. So it too is heavy with attacks on political correctness.

So what am I going to do about it? In the interim there is no great problem. Readers can go to the mirror sites and read the same stuff that I would have put up on those two blogs if Google had not blocked me. But the mirror sites are pretty basic and a proper blog with a comments facility etc. would be preferable. I have been fiddling around with setting up a blog on Wordpress (See here) but I cannot find a template there that gives me my preferred yellow and green colour scheme.

Another option is simply to set up two new blogspot blogs using one of my usual templates. That may seem a bit crazy but the left hand often doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing at Google and I have in fact done the same thing before without a problem. Google put up a "spam" restriction on my original "Obama Watch" blog which they would not remove so I simply set up a second "Obama Watch" blog at a different address on blogspot and they left that one alone. While I am mulling it over, the links to the mirror sites are as below.

Political Correctness Watch

Eye on Britain

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

When leftists are left in charge of national security

Times Online - A devastating official report suppressed by ministers has revealed that soldiers’ lives are being put at risk by “endemic” failures at the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The secret dossier blames “political fudge” and Whitehall incompetence for the plight of soldiers in Afghanistan who are provided with inadequate frontline kit. The 296-page report, leaked to The Sunday Times, claims the scale of MoD bungling is so severe it “is harming our ability . . . to conduct difficult current operations”.

......The author of the report, Bernard Gray, a leading businessman and former special adviser to Labour defence ministers, writes: “How can it be that it takes 20 years to buy a ship, or aircraft, or tank?
“Why does it always seem to cost at least twice what was thought?
“Even worse, at the end of the wait, why does it never quite seem to do what it was supposed to?”

......“The problems, and the sums of money involved, have almost lost their power to shock, so endemic is the issue,” writes Gray. “It seems as though military equipment acquisition is vying in a technological race with the delivery of civilian software systems for the title of ‘world’s most delayed technical solution’. Even British trains cannot compete.”

......Gray calls for legislation forcing defence ministers to hold full-scale defence reviews every four or five years and criticises Labour ministers for their failure to hold a strategic defence review since 1998. “In corporate life, no enterprise would persist with a 12-year-old strategy without at least reevaluating it fully on a regular basis,” he writes. “Few who would expect to prosper would even try to do so.”

Lowlifes and vermin

FOX News - A Nebraska man who stole a painting of the Virgin Mary to finance an abortion for a teen he raped has been convicted of first-degree sexual assault and felony theft. Aurelio Vallerillo-Sanchez, 39, of Omaha pleaded no contest to the charges Friday and faces up to 70 years in prison when sentenced in October, Douglas County prosecutor Brenda Beadle said Saturday. ...... Beadle said Vallerillo-Sanchez fled to Mexico with the 300-year-old painting worth $100,000 and the pregnant teen in March 2007. "The plan was that when they got to Mexico, she was to undergo an abortion," she said.
If nothing else, at least he's facing those charges in the U.S. When they say facing 70 years, they really mean it, it's not 'possible 70 years but never actually given'. When they say X number of years, you better believe it, Aurelio is going to be counting bars for decades.
Daily Mail - A girl of five who is battling cancer is recovering today after two boys sprayed an aerosol in her face and tried to set her alight. Scarlett Hellewell had to be rescued by neighbours when the boys pinned her down and sprayed the deodorant in her face in Halifax, West Yorks. She escaped with just bruises after the deodorant failed to ignite. ......The two young boys, believed to be only 10 and seven, ran off when someone came to Scarlett's help on Tuesday evening.
Wish I could say those two scumbags will get the ass-whipping of their lives if they're caught, but this is the British justice system. Getting caught will be like a reward for them and the poor taxpayer will be worse-off for at least a few thousand dollars as do-gooders try to figure out which of segment of society to blame for their actions.

Zogby Interactive Poll: Obama's Job Approval Sinks to Record Low 45%

President Barack Obama's job approval rating has sunk to a record low of just 45%, the latest Zogby Interactive poll shows. Fifty-one percent of likely voters now say they disapprove of the President's job performance.

"None of these numbers looks counter-intuitive to me. Gallup, NBC, and Pew all have Obama at record lows. Rasmussen also shows low approval. Things are volatile out there and news travels fast. There is a lot of anxiety over healthcare," said Zogby International President and CEO John Zogby. "The President let it get away from him and voters are scared right now. They are experiencing sacrifice overload and feel more threatened than empowered. The President is being forced to play defense and he is much better when he is in possession of the ball. But do not underestimate Obama. Last August he was toast."

While this latest poll shows Democrats continue to overwhelmingly approve of Obama's job performance (84%), just 6% of Republicans say the same. Most independents (59%) now disapprove of the job the President is doing.

"He has lost support among political independents, that's the biggest change from our last survey. He is also starting to lose support he had picked up among investors and frequent Wal-Mart shoppers -- who both are on the conservative side but where Obama had been making gains," Zogby said. "Remember, Zogby polling has generally been ahead of the curve during the past three administrations."

More HERE

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here

Legal revolution? Client confidentiality to be abolished?

JOHN Corcoran is not exactly having kittens, but he is deeply concerned about the latest bright idea being considered by the federal government: "Dob in your clients." What worries the Law Council president is that this could become a legal obligation for all lawyers under the next tranche of the government's anti-money laundering legislation.

Blowing the whistle on clients who are suspected of engaging in dodgy financial transactions might be perfectly reasonable in other professions. But it could backfire terribly if applied to lawyers. If lawyers live up to their professional ethics -- and most do -- public policy is best served by encouraging crooks to be as frank as possible when they seek legal advice about proposed financial transactions.

The basic responsibility of all lawyers is to keep their clients within the letter of the law -- even when the client expresses a clear desire to do otherwise. But how open would some clients be with their lawyers if they knew that as soon as they left the room, their lawyer would be on the phone to the authorities discharging a legal obligation to disclose anything suspicious? That is all we are talking about -- mere suspicion.

Exempting lawyers from this sort of obligation would not amount to punching a loophole in the anti-money laundering regime. It could actually strengthen the net by relying on good lawyers to steer bad clients away from anything improper.

Bringing lawyers within this regime is a step that should be resisted. It would effectively mean that the legal profession had become an arm of the state -- and for no real benefit.

Money laundering would continue, and quite possibly increase, because shady clients would no longer have pesky lawyers urging them to reconsider. But while the majority of the profession can be relied upon to act ethically, what about the rotten apples?

Why not rely on the existing, highly intrusive powers of the law societies and legal services commissioners? And if those powers are considered inadequate, why not crank them up?

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Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me (John Ray) here