October 2005 Archives

The news that firearms control laws have not lessened the incidence of gun related crime is hardly surprising. The laws were never going to slow the illegal use of firearms by criminals, who will always be able to obtain them from black market sources.

The laws were introduced to make it harder for lunatics like Martin Bryant going on a murder rampage. They outlawed semi-automatic military type weapons, the type Bryant used when he killed 35 people at Port Arthur in 1996. The laws were designed to control the otherwise law abiding citizen who legally owns a weapon, who uses it unexpectedly on himself or others during a period of severe personal duress.

In my opinion, it would be better if that stressed citizen didn't own a gun at all. I can't see any reason why urban dwellers need to own a firearm, but at least by limiting the weapon's potency, the ultimate damage the weapon can do is lessened.

And credit where credit's due; John Howard must be congratulated for pushing the states towards uniform gun control laws.

As some of you may know, I spent three of the last four years living and working in the UK, under an Ancestry Visa. My grandfather was born in Lancashire and because of this I was able to live unrestricted there for four years. At the end of this, if I'd wanted to, I could have applied for residency. As the story went, I didn't want to stay there, and after spending a year living it up predominantly in the Czech Republic, I'm now back in Syders grinding out an 8 to 4 living teaching English to those who can't. It's a good job, but yes, sometimes I still get the wish that I was somewhere else.

So it was with mixed feelings that I read today about proposed changes to immigration laws in the UK. The idea is to introduce a points-based immigration system, perhaps similar to ours here in Australia.

My first reaction was that the idea was a load of rubbish, but as I thought about it my reaction changed somewhat. Part of the idea, i think is to "select migrants with in-demand skills in shortage in the existing workforce, while closing the door on unskilled workers from outside the European Union." That doesn't sound so unreasonable really. There is high enough unemplyment in the UK and Europe in general that it's not really necessary for Australians, Kiwis and Saffas to be living it up in all the bar, construction and nannying jobs. Those who go there with skills (more than I did) should still be able to gain entry.

And anyway, this 'tradition' of going to London, of doing the European Circuit (Pampalona, Octoberfest, Gallipoli) is getting to be a bit of a joke. It's possible to live in London for years and years and know and socialise with only Australians. Is earning the pound really that important? I'm no saint, nor am I the most adventurous of buggers, but I still avoided 'antipodean hotspots' like the plague.

And another thing. The system as it is is already being widely abused. The Inland Revenue (taxation fellows) have no clear communication channels with Immigration - I know a guy who went initially on a 2 year working holdiay visa (where you're not supposed to do professional work) and he ended up staying six years, paying tax the whole way through.

Yes, the UK does need a revamp of its immigration laws. Whether they need to scrap the ancestry visa thing is another matter, the number of people travelling on it would have to be decreasing year after year.

I've often marvelled the way certain businesses laud the free market while doing their best to maintain a favourable monopoly (or cosy duopoly) position. Telstra is no exception, judging by the company chairman Donald McGauchie's whine to his shareholders about the regulatory constraints recently imposed on his company by the Senate.

'The Pigs' has always taken the stance that the sale of Telstra was flawed. It was a mistake that the company, which controls the infrastructure in addition to providing telecommunication services, was sold as an entity. Controlling the infrastructure gives the company monopoly powers, which the parliament saw fit to regulate.

It would have been far better to split the company along service and infrastructure lines. The free market would have regulated the service providers through competition, and a measure of cross subsidisation could have been used to maintain and upgrade the infrastructure in the regions.

Despite regulation, the fully privatised Telstra will do all it can to stymie competition and maintain its influence over the telecommunications network.

The privatisation of Testra is a mess of the government's own creation, brought about by it's desire to maximise the return from the sale of a monopolistic public asset. It will slow the introduction of new technology as Telstra uses its control of the existing infrastructure to maintain its market ascendancy. It will cause competitors to implement new infrastructure, itself monopolistic, to get around the obstacles Telstra creates.

A far better solution would have seen infrastructure companies that provide network access to all service providers. Unfortunately, that's now unlikely to happen.

Having read the link provided by Rowen which details the top 10 weblog design mistakes, it seems that TPAF is a disaster, and it's no wonder that it wallows in obscurity!

Shamelessly plagiarising Anonymous Lefty's treatment of the subject, here's a rundown of how bad things can get ..

1. No Author Bio: Well, it's been something I've been meaning to do for ages, now done. I haven't given all my details, preferring a degree of anonymity; see point nine for the main reason.
2. No Author Photo: Sort of fixed. See previous point.
3. Nondescript Posting Titles: I don't do too badly here.
4. Links That Don't Say Where They Go: Just click on them and find out!
5. Classic Hits are Buried: And will stay that way.
6. Calendar is the Only Navigation: The Pigs doesn't even have a calendar ...
7. Irregular Publishing Frequency: Guilty as charged, my lord! Seems to me that there are only three professions that allow regular blogging; being a student, an academic or a journalist. All the other poor sods have to blog in between work and family commitments.
8. Mixing Topics: The topics of this blog are the things that interest me. Surely everyone's interested in politics and AFL footy??
9. Forgetting That You Write For Your Future Boss: Actually, the greater worry is my present one. See point one.
10. Not Owning a Domain Name: No problem there, it's all mine.

Score of three out of ten. Similar to my year six divinity exam.

Friday's SMH, page 2. Andrew Fraser (bloke who had a go at Joe Tripodi in NSW State Parliament):

"Look, I might change my mind again tomorrow, but I give you an absolute vow that I will not drink again while parliament is sitting."

Fantastic. Where do they learn this stuff?

What's more amazing about the bunch of pigeons imported into Australia after being exposed to bird flu without the importers knowing, is that they were imported at all.

There's enough of the damn things here already! Why did someone go to the considerable expense of bringing in more?

Pity those poor state Premiers. How do you prove that agreeing to enact draconian anti-terrorist laws after having the frighteners applied by Federal ASIO spooks doesn't make you a group of uncaring, cavalier wimps?

Why, you get together and pick out a bit a really nasty bit of the legislation, and all claim in unison that you didn't agree to it.

Pathetic really. Next week they'll be regrouping to explain why they didn't read the bill before agreeing to it.

While driving home from work a couple of weeks ago I caught the afternoon repeat of Phillip Adams' "Late Night Live" program, originally broadcast on Radio National on 4 October. The second half of the program was about an academic study, conducted by Gregory Paul, on the degree of religiosity in a group of developed western nations, and how those nations stacked up against a number of measurable social indicators.

The show is available as a podcast on the RN website, and a written review of the study is available. It's well worth the time to review them.

Apparently, this is the first time a serious study has been done to ascertain if strong religious belief is ...

... instrumental towards providing the moral, ethical and other foundations necessary for a healthy, cohesive society ...

as is often claimed by the religious establishment, who also think ...

... evolutionary science [is] a leading contributor to social dysfunction because it is amoral or worse, and because it inspires disbelief in a moral creator ...

and

... that high crime rates and tragedies like the Columbine assault will continue as long schools teach children "that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized [sic] out of some primordial soup of mud"

How long will it be before Barnaby Joyce quits the coalition to become an independent senator?

The pressure on him must be immense, and it's hard to see such a free thinker maverick surviving for long in the party of red-necks.

The events in Pakistan truly are an amazing tragedy. My question now is: with the number of natural disasters this year, with the amazing losses of life involved, surely now people will realise that how we humans treat the environment has a great impact on what happens? I like to think of it like this - eat too many sweets, get pimples.

Oh, yes I couldn't leave without taking a swipe at smh.com who obviously think there are a lot more important things going on in the world, the earthquake being shoved into 'the world' section, way beneath Big Kim 'Is it really that bad if he didn't go to so many barbeques' Beazley and those silly twits who tried to smuggle drugs out of Bali.

It shouldn't be a surprise to Sydney residents that the NSW government makes changes to existing infrastructure to promote the use of privately funded transport links. It's been happening for years.

You only have to look at the positioning of the tollgates on the M4 Motorway. They were placed kilometers away from the new section of privately funded roadway simply to make it harder to avoid the toll. Voter anger in western Sydney was so severe regarding this issue that the government felt compelled to set up a scheme to refund the tolls.

You'd think they'd learn ... but no.

The NSW government's now in mess as no one is using the expensively tolled Cross City Tunnel. Associated road changes, particularly on William Street, to force motorists to use the tunnel have created a furious backlash.

The government is being forced to go 'cap in hand' to the tunnel owners to allow them to renege on the tunnel contract conditions that require the reduction of the traffic carrying capacity of William Street.

Mr Tripodi said he would also "negotiate" with the [Cross City Tunnel] company over possibly allowing more lanes of William Street to be opened for traffic.

But wait! The same thing is likely to happen when the Lane Cove Tunnel is opened in a years time!

In the RTA webpage (planning appoval brochure) regarding the Lane Cove Tunnel:

Planning approval also requires the development of Local Area Traffic Management Plans in consultation with stakeholders and the community to mitigate increases in traffic on local roads and to maintain the benefits of reduced traffic on other roads as a result of opening the tunnel.

And again by the RTA:

There will also be modifications to Epping Road to provide improved facilities for cyclists, pedestrians and public transport.

It took a bit of Googling to find out what they have in mind, but the information is in the .pdf links on the Lane Cove Council's Tunnel webpage.

A number of representations expressed concern that the Lane Cove Tunnel may not provide the expected improvements in regard to the anticipated reduction in traffic along Epping Road and the consequent improvement to the visual environment and local amenity. A number of representations also raised concerns that the ability of the Proposal to deliver the boulevard character to the streetscape was questionable with the additional widening of Epping Road.

In response the RTA advised that an extensive assessment of the finished streetscape along Epping Road was undertaken which identified opportunities for additional planting to reduce the perception of Epping Road as an arterial road. These enhancements include the provision of a feature wall along the northern side of Epping Road between Centennial Avenue and Parklands Avenue, augmentation of existing planting and the development of "Gateway" concepts at each end of Epping Road. Additional opportunities for street tree planting, median strip landscaping and the undergrounding of powerlines
were identified by the RTA in the Representations Report.

The measures include ...

No more than six (6) months after Project opening the Proponent shall install continuous 24 hour bus lanes in both directions on Epping Road/Longueville Road from Mowbray Road West to the commencement of the Gore Hill Freeway in consultation with the PTC.

In other words, much the same as is proposed for William Street. This measure will severely limit the carrying capacity of Epping Road to force motorists to use the new tunnel.

Expect another outcry when motorists realise the changes are designed to line the pockets of the tunnel's private owners.

Prices of console games are set to fall after a high court ruling stating that it is legal to modify playstation machines to play games brought from outside the region they are set to.

Now my console playing days are over, fingers crossed, but I cannot fail to see this as a fantastic decision, mainly because I envisage the knock-on effect it may have on the DVD industry. To mine, the idea of regions and region coding is absolutely ridiculous - it's nothing more than a money-spinning enteprise, way out of date and insulting to the 'global community' these businesses want to be a part of. On top of this, many single region DVD players will not play DVDs which are encoded to play in ALL regions, a common practice in Asia and Central Europe. Ludicrous.

To be honest, I'm mainly ticked off because the DVD market I'm in is limited to what certain people think I should be ab;e to or want to see, not by the total choice that is out there. Hmpf.

God is the name we give to that which we don't understand and (think we) can't control. This is not a new thought for me, but the following headline brings it out into the real world - as opposed to the long-suffering logic centres in my brain.

Surgeons ready but God to rule twins' fate, says father

The surgery is not without risk, and to a degree the success is outside of the surgeons hands. They will do their best, but it will either work or it won't. Whichever way it goes, the father will see it as God's will. Fair enough really.

Remember though, that illnesses we consider triffling, where there is no 'chance' in the treatment except in freak oocurrences, once upon a time these were major concerns and the success of their treatment largely chance. God was a bit more visible then, the scope of the unknown staggering to what we know today.

Or is that right? Before we look back five-hundred years and think, 'oh, what a bunch of god-fearing, ignorant imbeciles', or something like that, maybe we should look five hundred years into the future and think what a bunch of god-fearing ignorant imbeciles we are.

One of the more depressing things about living under a conservative government is realising just how miserable the conservative side of politics can be.

What's even more depressing is just how ineffectual the Federal Opposition has become.

Both these points were illustrated by a news story reported on the ABC's AM program this morning.

PETER CAVE: The Federal Government is facing a potentially huge compensation payout to hundreds of people who've been deported.

The claims, which could run into millions of dollars, follow the decision of the Federal Court to overturn a ruling by Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, to deport a 31-year-old man back to Sweden despite the fact that he had spent all but four weeks of his life in Australia.

The court decision, which is being appealed by the Federal Government, found that apart from the dire punishment of the individual involved, the deportation decision presumed that Australia could export its problems elsewhere.

Andrew Fowler from the ABC's Investigative Unit reports.

ANDREW FOWLER: Few people would say that Stefan Nystrom was an ideal citizen. He was serving jail for a serious criminal offence.

But his biggest problems started before he was born.

Nystrom's parents migrated to Australia from Sweden in 1966 and took up Australian citizenship. But in 1973 his mother, in the late stages of pregnancy, visited her parents in Sweden, where she gave birth.

Dr Glenn Nicholls is a Researcher at the Swinburne University of Technology's Institute for Social Research.

GLENN NICHOLLS: She was advised not to travel so heavily pregnant and gave birth to him in Sweden, returned to Australia shortly thereafter, he was a matter of weeks old and as I said lived his, effectively his whole life here.

ANDREW FOWLER: But when Nystrom committed a serious criminal offence and was jailed for more than a year, the Immigration Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, revoked the transitional visa he'd been living on since he first entered Australia as a child.

Nystrom was detained by DIMIA (Department of Immigration and Multiculturalism and Indigenous Affairs) and placed into immigration detention where he remained for nine months until the Federal Court decision in July this year ruled he be released.

The judges argue that DIMIA was using the barest of technicalities in an attempt to deport a long-term Australian resident.

Well ... hello! Is there a political party out there who once believed in social justice? A party that once stood up for the down-trodden? One that would like to convince the voters that they're a viable alternative to the sad sods that now inhabit the Treasury Benches?

Here's a guy who was not an Australian citizen because his parents didn't get around to doing the paperwork. He's lived here his entire life, and is now under the threat of deportation because he committed a criminal offence, one for which he has already served a prison term.

He is, in all but the paperwork, and Australian citizen. The courts recognised this when it threw out the government's case. Yet another DIMIA stuff-up, but not one word has been heard from the Federal Labor Party about this issue.

When will Labor grow a spine?

On its current performance, the Labor party does not deserve to be considered as an alternative government.

I'VE never been to Bali. I feel a moral obligation to go there now. The purpose of the murder campaign waged there over the past three years is the methodical economic destruction of the island.

This is, below the surface, a civil war. In the eyes of the bombers, the great crime of the Balinese people is to have successfully resisted the march of Islam. Bali is a largely Hindu-Buddhist island in an Islamic sea. It is thus a haven for infidels. Its greatest industry, tourism, serves Western infidels. Bali must be brought to its knees.

Well, actually, I've been to Bali. The above quote was by Paul Sheehan in yesterday's SMH. But my visit was 20 years ago, before I was married. I believe Bali has changed a lot since then. When I went, Kuta and Legian were separate villages, where now, I'm told, the tourist strip has expanded and joined the two places. Tourist Bali has become larger and more sophisticated.

My memory of the place is pristine beaches with the most perfectly formed surf I've ever seen, beautiful mountain scenery in the island's interior, and wonderful people. I'm sure those aspects are largely unchanged.

I share Sheehan's sentiment to (re)visit the island. Bali's economy will be devastated by this latest bombing, and by scaring the tourists away, ie, getting us to change our behaviour, the terrorists are winning.

The sad reality is, though, that I will not return to Bali soon. Logically, the risk of being injured or killed in a terrorist event is less than being injured or killed during my daily drive to work, but like most other would be tourists, I will not submit my family or myself to the remote risk. This is a great pity, for the Balinese deserve our support.

The terrorist victory of scaring the tourists from Bali is on top of the recent one of causing our Federal and State governments remove traditional safeguards against detention without charge or legal recourse.

I'm saddened by the degree that the terrorists have changed our behaviour and outlook. Where will it end?