August 2005 Archives

That's Broggers, not Bloggers, although sometimes you have to feel for them, too!

When I heard the news that the silly bugger had propositioned a female journalist and assaulted another, my first thought, being a long term married bloke, was "What will his wife be thinking?"

If his wife's anything like mine, she'd be making his life hell, and rightly so.

Add that to the racist slandering of former Premier Bob Carr's wife, and he had to go. It was just a matter of when, and the wait wasn't long. At least he did the honourable thing by taking responsibility for his actions and resigning promptly.

A promising leadership career finished in a short period of time. Labor's well on the nose in NSW, and, huge swing needed notwithstanding, Brogden had a good chance of snatching government in a couple of years time. Brogden was touted a progressive, which would have made a change from the usual run of miserable conservatives that infest the right wing of politics these days. What a pity that his reputation has come to this.

Update: There's no greater indication of the pressures of public life than a person in the spotlight attempting to take his own life.

Although he has no one but himself to blame for the media attention, he deserves to be left alone so he can rebuild and get on with his life.

I hope he recovers fully and becomes a better person for the experience.

My few regular readers would know that the output of the Pigs has fallen over the past month or so. This is due to a multitude of reasons. Family and work commitments are part of the problem, but the overriding issue is a lack of 'fire in the belly.' I just can't be bothered writing about events at the moment.

Not helping matters is my football team, the Swans, who are now positioned to have a serious tilt at the AFL Flag. This is a serious distraction. Some of you will understand.

The sty's going to be fairly silent for a while. I've decided to take a sabbatical over the next few weeks. Posts will be few and far between. However, if an issue strikes up my interest, you'll hear about it.

One such issue is the news that Brendon Nelson is championing the teaching of creationism, re-branded 'Intelligent Design,' in Australian schools.

Education Minister Brendan Nelson supports the teaching of a controversial new theory of creationism, but only if it is balanced by the instruction of established science.

President George Bush has started a debate in the United States over the teaching of evolution in school by suggesting a theory known as "intelligent design" should be taught in the classroom.

It proposes that life is too complex to have developed through evolution, and an unseen power must have had a hand.

What's new about it?

He can't be serious!

Just what sort of nation are we turning into?

As if it isn't bad enough that we're heading down the road of Americanisation by the proposed introduction of US style labour laws, on top of everything else, now the Federal Education Minister is championing the teaching of religious stories as an alternative to science!

Evolution theory has changed since first espoused by Darwin, but it's basis holds true under rigorous examination and peer review by the scientific community. Creationism is based on ancient writings of primitive people, and treated as literal fact and an act of faith by its proponents.

Teaching creationism as part of the official curriculum has no place in Australian schools. I don't have an issue with it being taught as part of religious instruction, but it should not rival, or be taught with or as, scientific theory.

This sort of fundamentalist nonsense has no part in a country that thinks of itself as a knowledgeable nation.

Update: Thanks to the reader who pointed out my error of writing litoral rather than literal. The spell checker couldn't pick it, so I had no chance!

Isn't it great to see another independent voice in the Senate? One from the government ranks, that is. Barnaby Joyce is the fox among the coallition hens as he threatens to cross the floor over Telstra (among other issues).

Barnaby's demand for a $5 billion fund to get his vote may seem like a good idea, but won't buy the bush modern communications for the long term. Telstra senior management have made it plain they don't want the responsibility. The money will eventually run out, and the bush will be again disadvantaged as the privatised company goes for profit over service provision.

Over the past year, I've been banging on about the only sensible solution to the Telstra privatisation impass. The company should be split along retail and wholesale lines. A dedicated remote region telecommunications infrastructure company would be a much better vehicle for the government to regulate, and fund from a levy on country wide telecommunications, to ensure services in the bush are maintained.

From the Reserve Banker's mouth ...

"That's why I have to say I get a little impatient when I hear the real estate industry in NSW saying, 'Oh, what we've got to do is get house prices going up again,' and somehow or other that's going to save NSW. That's Sydney's problem. It's not its solution."

Not to late for the new NSW Premier to reverse his decision.

There's yet another sign that climate change is upon us. Areas of the Siberian Tundra are starting to thaw, with the potential to release billions of tons of greenhouse gas (methane) into the atmosphere, accelerating the process of global warming.

The risk is that the process will become self perpetuating. Started by humanity, but out of humanity's control to stop.

The nay sayers still try to delude us (and themselves?) that there isn't a problem. Unwilling to countenance a fall in living standards to arrest the process, they are willing to gamble that we can maintain our lifestyles, impervious to the massive ecological changes that global warming will bring.

Seems to me that, either way, the adjustment is going to be painful. Better to start now while we still have control of the situation.

Hi. It's been a while for me, political-social comment taking backseat to soaking up the mediterranean sun and drinking french wine. Just got an email though which led me to an organisation which seems to be taking a proactive stance on the issues most of the Australians in hostels I come across seem content to whinge about as they chug their half-litres of beer and giggle over Kath and Kim and other culturally specific entities for the express purpose of isolating every other nationality at the table. Check it out. See you later.

Morris Iemma's first major economic announcement as NSW Premier, the abolition of the Real Estate Vendor tax, is his government's first big mistake.

The vendor tax was doing its job, ie, dampening the overheated Sydney property market. The fact that he, or the people from head office that selected him, were spooked by a bunch of greedy property speculators and real estate agents does not bode well for the economic management of the state.

The measure may cause the market to drop further as investors dump their properties, or spark off another rise in housing prices that will make the inevitable correction all the more painful when it happens.