Archive for November, 2005

Snowball fight set for January

Published
by
Phil
3 years, 1 month ago
in Politics
. 6 Comments

It’s on. After all the argy bargy, close calls, investigations, lies and dammed lies, an election will soon be thrust upon the Canadian electorate. And it’s gonna be cold outside baby.

On Monday there will be a vote of non-confidence brought before parliament, the first in Canadian history not attached to a proposed piece of legislation. The center left New Democrats tired of propping up the Govt. have combined with the official opposition Conservative Party of Canada and the Bloc Quebecois to force the writ. Election day will be either the 16th or 23rd of January with a break for Christmas/New Years, which means a seven or eight week campaign. Yup, two months of sound bites interrupting the fights hockey, Canadians will not be amused.

Continue reading ‘Snowball fight set for January’

Paypal fixed

Published
by
Mark
3 years, 1 month ago
in Notices
. 0 Comments

Earlier I posted an appeal for donations to help us move to a new and better quality server. Unfortunately it seems there was an error in the code, and people had their donations returned, without my ever seeing them (thanks to the folks who forwarded on emails from Paypal which helped us work out what the problem was). It’s all working now!

Saturday Salon

Published
by
Mark
3 years, 1 month ago
in Miscellaneous
. 192 Comments

An open thread where you can, at your weekend leisure, discuss whatever you like.

Say NO to violence against women

Published
by
Robert
3 years, 1 month ago
in Culture, Life and Sociology
. 144 Comments

White Ribbon Day

25 November is White Ribbon Day or, to use its full and official title, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. By wearing a white ribbon, men demonstrate their opposition to rape, sexual harassment, and domestic violence.

While almost every man is opposed to violence against women, we don’t say so as often or as loudly as we should. We need to make sure other men take issues like rape seriously. Some people would prefer to change the subject, deny that there is a problem, or (most disturbingly) pretend that men are the real victims. That’s not good enough, because it creates an environment that encourages and protects the perpetrators of violence against women. We need to make it clear that the so-called men’s rights movement doesn’t represent us.

The Australian White Ribbon Day committee offers some good reasons for men to wear white ribbons:

  • We have heard about the pain and suffering that violence inflicts on women. We know that a fist in the face, a kick in the ribs, being forced into sex, having one’s daily life controlled and policed and tormented, we know that these are horrible things that should never happen;

  • We care for our wives, our girlfriends, our sisters, daughters, our female friends, our co-workers;

  • We know it is men’s wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends whose lives are limited by violence and abuse; and, whether we know about it or not, many of the women we know have been subject to men’s violence;

  • We know that men don’t have to be violent, that men can do better, that men can be and often are loving, caring, and nonviolent;

  • We want girls and women, and boys and men, to be free from the threat of other men’s violence;

  • We know that we, and all men will benefit from a world free of violence against women, a world based on gender equality: in our relations with women, instead of experiencing distrust and disconnection we will find closeness and connection. We will be able to take up a healthier, emotionally in-touch and proud masculinity.

So this Friday, every Australian man should wear a white ribbon. You should take the opportunity to inform yourself about the problem, and think about what you can do (pdf) to prevent violence against women. And most importantly, if you are concerned about a friend’s behaviour — or your own — you should call the confidential 24-hour hotline on 1800 200 526.

Violence against women will only cease when men join with women to put an end to it.

[Cross-posted at Red Rag.]

Burying Baby Boomers

Published
by
Brian
3 years, 1 month ago
in Sociology
. 7 Comments

In a recent post cs raised the issue of whether the chief executives of our public companies are worth what they are paid. The short answer is that some are and some are not. I’ve been a direct share investor since 1991. When we were putting my portfolio together my broker suggested throwing in a few Leighton Group shares. Wal King was CEO then and is still CEO today. He is one of the better paid of our CEOs and I reckon he’s worth every cent they pay him.

When Peter Reith approached him to take on the construction workers after his famous stoush with the wharfies King told him to bugger off. He didn’t want to fry the company, he said.

Leighton has traded through property downturns and the Asian crisis plus a few glitches like nearly dropping a block of flats into a big hole in the ground. I did buy a few shares in 1991 at $1.28. Today they broke through $17. I worked out that if I’d put all my dosh in Leighton back in 1991 I’d now be getting about $170K pa in dividends and be worth squillions.

But then I didn’t and you wouldn’t because you wouldn’t sleep at night. Back then you would have surely favoured Pacific Dunlop, the solid growth company of the 80s and now no longer to be seen.

On the other hand if you’d entrusted only $1,000 to Frank Lowy in the late 1950s and gotten in on the Westfield story you would now have wealth beyond measure. But back then you would probably have found their prospects totally underwhelming.

Those are examples of amazing wealth being created in very acceptable ways in a free enterprise economy. But wealth creation can also lead people in strange pathways. Imagine what it would be like if your core business was burying people. You could wake up every morning hoping for lots of baby-boomers to bury.

Continue reading ‘Burying Baby Boomers’

Queensland Nats vote against WorkChoices in State House

Published
by
Mark
3 years, 1 month ago
in Industrial Relations and Politics
. 2 Comments

The State Nats are continuing to ratchet up the pressure on Barnaby.

The Legislative Assembly of Queensland today debated this motion, moved by Peter Beattie:

That this House calls on all Queensland Senators to reject the Commonwealth proposed industrial relations legislation when it comes before the Senate next week to protect the living standards of Queenslanders and their families.

The motion was carried 79-7, with every member of the House present aside from the seven Liberal MPs voting in the affirmative. That includes all fifteen National MPs.

It should be food for thought for a Senator who professes to represent his State first and foremost.

Note There are now 76393 signatures on the online petition to Barnaby. Barnaby Joyce received 149673 primary votes at the last election.

THE antifeminist post

Published
by
flute
3 years, 1 month ago
in Politics and Sociology
. 44 Comments

If you think that women “ask for it” and that men falsely accused of rape is as big a problem as rape itself, then this post is for you!
Continue reading ‘THE antifeminist post’

Rape In The Third World

Published
by
Kate
3 years, 1 month ago
in Culture, Life and Politics
. 14 Comments

Continuing my series of posts about women’s rights, I’d like to point out that rape and the threat of rape is a huge problem for women everywhere, especially in the third world. In fact, the word “problem” doesn’t even really sum up how terrible many women’s lives are made by rape, violence and other abuse.

Via Feministing I came across this disturbing report from Pakistan:

A village council in Pakistan has decreed that five young women should be abducted, raped or killed for refusing to honour childhood “marriages”.

Continue reading ‘Rape In The Third World’

Howard, Keating, Hawke and labour market reform

Published
by
Nicholas
3 years, 1 month ago
in Culture and Industrial Relations
. 17 Comments

By popular request! (Well Mark’s request actually) Cross posted at Troppo.

One of the posts that I’ve had in the back of my mind since I started at Troppo is a ranking of the PMs of my (adult) lifetime.

Readers of this column will not be surprised to learn that I think that Hawkie was the only really good PM in my lifetime.

In any event as I say in this week’s column, when it comes to political style the more I think of John Howard, the more I think of Paul Keating. Keating ventured into culture war, but did so in a self indulgent and arrogant way which means that he not only lost the war he started, but set the stage for what turns out to be a huge reaction against his own preferences.

I reckon if you want to fail, go into religion, not politics.

In any event, the column is probably a bit unfair to Keating in one sense, and that is that he did manage to pump out some quite good policy during his time in government. But he was very much a stop-start pollie. One big statement after another. And Keating’s lack of a sense of process actually set the stage for a lot of the outrages that Howard has subsequently perpetrated.

His ads for his labour market programs, with Bill Hunter clambering around slag heaps talking about how great it was to be an Aussie (that’s from memory and I may need correcting on it), were the template for any number of Howard (and ALP State) Government propaganda campaigns.

I recall being incredulous when John Dawkins told me of some plan to start a hare running to distract attention from some disaster. It seemed to me crazy and likely to create the Whitlamesque impression of ‘one disaster after another’. I suppose the idea was not completely unknown to the Hawke Government, but it was rare. I don’t remember it. Again, that kind of emphasis on improvised media management seemed to be born in the Keating years. Continue reading ‘Howard, Keating, Hawke and labour market reform’

Johnny’s Queensland Nightmare - Instalment #789

Published
by
Mark
3 years, 1 month ago
in Industrial Relations and Politics
. 9 Comments

The National Party has a large constituency - particularly in Queensland and New South Wales - of low paid workers in rural and regional areas. What’s probably little known is that in 1997, when the Borbidge State National government was in power in Queensland, pressure to pass IR legislation which mirrored Reith’s Workplace Relations Act was resisted, and the Queensland legislation (now superseded by the Industrial Relations Act 1999 introduced by the Beattie Labor government) was significantly more union friendly and circumscribed the powers of the QIRC much less than the federal model. One advantage - that the Nats and indeed some businesses are well aware of - of the QIRC is that its procedure is much less legalistic than that of either the Federal Commission or the NSW Commission. The tradition in Queensland has been to ensure that access to industrial tribunals is not denied on the basis of excessive cost or the necessity of legal representation.

Interestingly, although Barnaby Joyce has so far restricted his concerns about WorkChoices to iconic public holidays and possible loopholes in the unfair dismissal provisions, the State National parliamentarians are calling on Joyce and Boswell to hold up the bill, and possibly reject it. In addition to their traditional concern about centralisation of power, the Nats are also alive to the consequences for their constituencies of WorkChoices - showing a much sounder political instinct than the Libs. It’s also worthwhile remembering that the DLP in Queensland was largely absorbed by the National Party, and Katterite elements of the party stand in this tradition. Joyce himself has links to a number of organisations which were affiliated with the NCC when Santamarianism still ruled it. So, in terms of political history, and class base, the Nats in Qld are a very different kettle of fish to the Libs.

The online petition to Barnaby now has over 65000 signatures. If you haven’t signed it yet, the meaningfulness of doing so has just increased.

Ruddock Rots…

Published
by
Kim
3 years, 1 month ago
in Politics
. 72 Comments

… and not just in that sort of creepy vampiric way where you get the idea that if someone reminded him he was already (un)dead, he would immediately fall to dust.

I cried when I saw the story of Robert Jovovic on Lateline tonight. This is a Melbourne guy, 38, who came out to Australia when he was 2. He was born in France of Serbian parents. He speaks no Serbian. He had never been to Serbia before DIMIA put him on a plane there. His sister is an Australian citizen. He had a smack habit, and he went to jail for drug offences. The then Minister for Immigration, the Honourable Phillip Ruddock MP, deported him to Serbia on character grounds after he served his sentence. Serbia does not recognise him, and he is stateless, not entitled to work, and not entitled to welfare. He is obviously disoriented and probably permanently damaged by his drug habit. Mr Jovovic is now sleeping outside the Australian embassy in Belgrade as a protest - he is homeless.

Jovovic says:

I’ve explained to the embassy if I am considered Australian trash, then I will rot on Australian soil. I have indicated this to them and I will. I cannot survive here.

How can the Australian government, in good conscience, render permanent residents stateless for crimes which might attract a maximum sentence of around two years?

Amanda Vanstone’s response? Not available for comment.

Tony Jones put this question to Shadow Immigration Minister Tony Burke:

Do you think there’s an irony in the fact that the Government is fighting to save the life of Van Nguyen, who arguably committed a far worse crime, and the life of this man in Belgrade appears to be of little consequence?

It’s worth thinking about.

What possible motive can there be for this sort of reckless behaviour that degrades and destroys a human life already damaged? How can this punishment fit the crime? Surely this doesn’t win votes. It is pure evil.

Phillip Ruddock is already rotting in hell for his crimes. You can see it in his eyes. This is an evil act and Ruddock is an evildoer. I’m not with him, I’m against him.

In union is strength

Published
by
cs
3 years, 1 month ago
in Politics
. 19 Comments

You gotta hand it to the “ceo’s union (otherwise known as the Business Council of Australia)”, as Ross Gittins points out in the SMH today:

… last financial year, the average total remuneration of the chief executives of Australia’s largest 300 listed companies rose by 16 per cent to $1.9 million. This was 34 times the average earnings of an adult full-time employee.

Duly noted, now let’s get back to the serious fun of screwing Australia’s lowest paid and most vulnerable workers out of their minimum wages, weekends, public holidays, penalty rates, rec leave, meal breaks, appeal rights and unions. You can only get more productivity out of the rich by paying them more, and more productivity out of the poor by paying them less. Everyone knows that. Cut the fuss. Advance Australia fair.

Crazy eyed fool

Published
by
Phil
3 years, 1 month ago
in Politics
. 28 Comments

Just when you get accustomed to the nuttiness emanating out of the Washington kleptocracy, and you begin to shrug off the explosive combination of Kennebunktport entitlement and crazy eyed Texas dumb fuckery displayed by Bush, something comes along and jolts you right back to reality.

President Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a “Top Secret” No 10 memo reveals.

It appears that this report is credible because the two civil servants accused of the leak are now subject to prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.

This also places into a greater context the bombings of the al-Jazeera offices in Kabul and Baghdad, and raises the suspicions to those who say journalists and media organisations were intentionally targeted by the Americans in Iraq and elsewhere.

When I hear reports like this, I begin to think that maybe it was a good thing for Tony Blair and John Howard to become so deeply involved with the US inspired WoT, in that it may have given them some influence in toning down the worst excesses of misplaced American adventurism.

When the gift stops giving [Paypal problems]

Published
by
Mark
3 years, 1 month ago
in Notices
. 0 Comments

There’s now an explanation for the underwhelming response to our call for donations to assist in upgrading the site’s functionality by moving to a dedicated faster and more reliable server. I’ve been advised by email that the Paypal button seems not to have survived the move to the new design - an attempt to access it returns an error message. For reasons unknown, the button on the old theme still works, so please follow this link to donate in the interim while we work out what’s going on!

Update: Fixed. Please donate to Larvatus Prodeo to help us upgrade to a better server.

We briefly interrupt normal blog transmission…

Published
by
Mark
3 years, 1 month ago
in Industrial Relations and Politics
. 8 Comments

…to urge you to sign the online petition to Barnaby Joyce asking him not to choose WorkChoices.