A three year tantrum befitting a two year old toddler

It is approximately three years since Julia Gillard became our first female Prime Minister (on 24 June 2010). The forces of political darkness in Australia have refused to accept the legitimacy of her Prime Ministership. Even when she went to the voters, and subsequently formed a Minority Government, these same people have variously complained, sworn and abused her, and refused to accept the legitimacy of her Government. This is palpably silly. The more so, because of the "runs on the board" - a history of successful legislation across a range of policy issues.


Today The Age has run an Editorial which takes this silliness to its logical conclusion. The Editorial calls on her to resign "for the Sake of the Nation"





I invite you to go to my friend and Blogging colleague Brigid's "The Network" for a more sensible view of this issue. In particular I draw your attention to the three linked blogs from other early morning comentators who were all equally outraged by The Age's Editorial stance.

• Victoria Rollison in The Australian Independent Media Network

• Kieran Fitzgerald gives it to the Editor of The Age in the same fashion that The Age has given it Julia

• The Conscience Vote - For the sake of the nation, the media should do its job

I especially like this from Virginia Rollison: "It’s not Fairfax’s role to decide who our Prime Minister is. Fairfax should be telling us the news. Not trying to make it. And since they’ve failed at telling us the news for many years now, who the fuck do they think they are calling on the Prime Minister to resign as if it’s up to them decide?"

I sincerely hope that nothing comes of this Fairfax "Two-year-Old's Tantrum" equivalent.
Then, maybe, just maybe, Andrew Horner will have the decency to review his arrogant and deceiptful stance in this Video he has posted where he tries to convince us that the Age is a Left-leaning Newspaper and has supported Julia Gillard's Government.
On both counts this is delusional nonsense.

Pope Emeritus

Pope Benedict  XV! will retire on February 28, 2013. He will be known as Pope Emeritus once he has retired. He will still be entitle to be addressed as "Your Holiness". He will wear a white cassock.

I would have though Dowager Pope would have been a better fit

Read more here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/16248998/benedict-to-become-pope-emeritus-vatican/ 

Source: Esquire - Style blog
The Pope's New (bespoke) shoes.

The only question the fashion conscious will want to ask is does he keep the bespoke red Stefanelli leather shoes he wore in Sydney?

"But as he departs the Vatican, officials say Benedict will keep the cassock, but leave the reds behind. Apparently he plans to slip into a pair obtained during a trip to Leon, Mexico. Artisanal, of course."
See more at:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/the-pope-new-shoes#sthash.4ZfVebMK.dpuf

But as he departs the Vatican, officials say Benedict wil keep the cassock, but leave the reds behind. Apparently he plans to slip into a pair obtained during a trip to Leon, Mexico. Artisanal, of course. - See more at: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/the-pope-new-shoes#sthash.4ZfVebMK.dpuf

But as he departs the Vatican, officials say Benedict wil keep the cassock, but leave the reds behind. Apparently he plans to slip into a pair obtained during a trip to Leon, Mexico. Artisanal, of course. - See more at: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/the-pope-new-shoes#sthash.4ZfVebMK.dpuf

But as he departs the Vatican, officials say Benedict wil keep the cassock, but leave the reds behind. Apparently he plans to slip into a pair obtained during a trip to Leon, Mexico. Artisanal, of course. - See more at: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/the-pope-new-shoes#sthash.4ZfVebMK.dpufV

 

Blinded by the Polls

Dear me, it has come to this.
The media are so fully inside their own vortex of criticism that they cannot see what they are doing.
It seems to me that, like Manfred Mann, they are "Blinded by the Light"

• Blinded by the light,
  revved up like a deuce,
  another runner in the night

Has nobody yet thought that bad polls do not constitute a democratic process?
The Media are just listening to themselves talking to eachother.
 
The particular SMH article which has prompted my comment states:
"Julia Gillard, it is time for you to make your graceful, dignified, humble, selfless exit from the Prime Ministership.
Stay and it's harder for those who love you to save the furniture and protect your legacy.
Stay and you will hurt more.
Forget Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott. This is about you.
Forget the loss of face. Life's too short."

The Media are just listening to themselves talking to eachother.
In fact, the "talking" has reached frenzy pitch.
They are screaming at eachother.

What will be the outcome?
The Media Scrum would have us believe that Julia will walk away.

Perhaps Manfred Mann has it right:

• She got down but she never got tired
  She's gonna make it through the night

Read more: MANFRED MANN - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT LYRICS

Edit/Update:

The SMH is belatedly trying to redress the "Balance" (is there such a thing, these days?).
They gave Eva Cox a right of reply.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/why-julia-gillard-should-stay-20130220-2eqvz.html 

Pope Benny resignation - "Bag Out Benny" Day

The news is everywhere - Pope Benedict XVI has announced his intention to resign on 28 February 2013.

When I was a Seminarian in Rome, Cardinal Ratzinger was a figure of loathing within the Vatican Heirarchy. A kind of marauding Evil Angel. My memory of him goes back to 1968. That's a long time.
At last he has gone. 
No wonder I am going a bit "Spas" about his resignation!
I have loathed that man, and everything he stood for, for 45 years.  

Me, in Rome, 1968.
A young Seminarian at Propaganda Fidei College.

There is one other Australian, who has the right to be feeling somewhat satisfied tonight.
Father Paul Collins, a former religious broadcaster on ABC Radio,
He resigned from active ministry as a Priest in March 2001. The reason was: "After thirty three years I have decided to resign as an ‘active' priest to  return to being an ordinary Catholic believer. Many people will justifiably  ask: why? The reason is simple: I can no longer conscientiously subscribe to  the policies and theological emphases coming from the Vatican and other official church sources."
He continues: "I have often been critical of the church's  leadership, perhaps too harshly at times, in books, broadcasts, talks and  articles. I have been concerned with ecclesiastical narrowness and the de  facto denial of catholicity. But I also constantly argued that it was only  by ‘staying in' the priesthood that someone like myself could influence  things and bring about change. But it was always an every-day decision to  continue the struggle through the internal structures of the church. And  there can come a moment when you decide that both conscientiously and  strategically ‘staying in' no longer remains a viable or honest option. You  realise that you can no longer collude in what is happening by remaining in  the official priesthood."
He names his nemesis as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - then Cardinal Ratzinger.

That was Pope Benedict's name, while still working his way up through the Bureaucracy of the Vatican.
I wish Paul Collins all the very best tonight.
No doubt for him it will be a bitter-sweet event.


It has been suggested to me by Rosslyn, on Facebook, that we declare a festive Bag Out Benny Day:

Some jokes doing the rounds:

*** He will be known as the Breakfast Pope, Ex-Benedict. (apologies to James Rolfe)
http://proxy.storify.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FBC2EgSpCUAAkXdI.jpg

*** Why is everybody surprised that Pope Benny pulled out early?
He's a Catholic, after all.

*** This last one is a Divine Punch Line
Lightning struck the Dome of St Peters basilica just hours after the Pope announced his resignation.
I am suspicious of this image having been either saved up from a previous event, or simply Photoshopped, but it is presented by the mainstream media  as genuine.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BC2h8wiCcAEuA05.jpg:large

• RT @AFP: #PHOTO: Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at #Vatican on day the #Pope announced resignation, by Filippo Monteforte http://pic.twitter.com/FehVjFYP

Flushing out the "Loonies"

My colleague Brigid. over at The Network has picked up this gem.

Pastor Danny Nalliah, of Catch the Fire Ministries in Melbourne, is a well known religious zealot. His pal Viscount Christopher Monckton is his secular (political) equivalent.
The two will be working as a double act, in Canberra, at the National Press Club, it seems.
What were the Press Club people thinking?
http://riseupaustraliaparty.com/?p=707

Christopher Walter Monckton,
3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley

I am advised this is a privately booked event, and as such it is not an official National Press Club event, unlike their Lunches, which are regularly televised on the ABC. We can but hope the ABC does not televise this event. But the Media knows the pulling power of Monckton with his eyes reminiscent of the late, great, Marty Feldman.

Late, great Marty Feldman
Famous British comedian

Action against sexual offenders too slow

Priest (Fr. Tom Brennan) dies facing sex crime cover-up charges

I refuse to accept the line spun in this story by the Catholic traditionalists that Fr. Brennan is "being judged in another place". That is simply not good enough. After all, if Divine Justice (if it exists at all) were to be regarded as adequate, why do we have Police Forces, and Courts and Prisons?
 
Lets get real, folks. These crimes are real crimes - against children.

Lets remember that it is more than 30 years since these matters were first raised with Fr. Brennan. His initial response was to beat with a cane the children who dared to report the offences to him. Talk about punishing the victims.

The Church has known about these issues for decades, and now we are being asked for "respect, sensitivity and compassion". It is not good enough, Fr. Tunks. The Catholic Church must accept corporate responsibility for its failures in this and many, many other cases. Cardinal Pell, (who has his own history with regard to "supporting" paedophile priests) ought be forced to use his position as the Prelate of Australia, and show leadership - by bringing all known cases into the light.

Cardinal Pell, (then Bishop of Ballarat)
supported known sex offenders such as Fr Gerald Ridsdale.

Priest dies facing sex crime cover-up charges. (Read the full story)

• Newcastle Vicar General Barry Tunks asked the community for ‘‘respect, sensitivity and compassion’’ yesterday after the death of controversial Catholic priest Tom Brennan.
• Father Brennan’s death came only days after a Newcastle magistrate was told the priest was too ill to attend court on two concealing crime charges, and eight charges of sexually assaulting a boy, 8, at Waratah in the 1980s. He was also charged with assaulting two boys by caning them in the 1970s for reporting a priest had sexually assaulted them.
• The priest died of cancer at Hunter Valley Private Hospital at 5.15pm on Sunday after making history in August as the first Australian clergy member to be charged with concealing the child sex crimes of a notorious paedophile priest. (DJW notes: a different person from Fr. Brennan)
• Strikeforce Georgiana Detective Sergeant Kristi Faber alleged the notorious paedophile priest  sexually assaulted 31 boys after Father Brennan, a former principal of St Pius X, Adamstown, was first warned of the offences in 1978.
• A Hunter man named Tom, who overcame Father Brennan’s false statement in 2000 to record the first successful action by a victim against the notorious priest, said Father Brennan ‘‘wasn’t big enough’’ to admit he had been repeatedly told about the paedophile priest in the 1970s.

Personal Disclaimer: Fr. Barry Tunks was a class-mate of one of my brothers, and I knew him vaguely when I was a young Seminarian myself, back in the 1960s.

Wingecarribee Local Council Elections

Its that time again, folks - your chance to determine the local political team who will run the bit of the world closest to you.

Alternatively, yes, unless you turn up and get your name ticked off by the Electoral Commission representatives, you might incur a fine. Yes, voting is compulsory.

It prefer to think of it as a privilege, and an opportunity to shape the future.

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

Here is the Council Election website page - with appropriate onward links.
http://www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/council/council-election-2012

• You can verify your enrolment there too.

Here are the Candidates, as listed officially by the NSW Electoral Commission.
http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx 

Council Election - Candidates
and Polling Places
Go here to download the original document
which will be easier to read.

Council Election - Candidates
and Polling Places

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

Having got that formal stuff out of the way, let me now look at the list of dunces, dead-heads and self-serving people who make up most of the names of people who are standing for "FAME AND POWER" (sorry - standing for Election to Council). 

I do not propose to tell anyone who to vote for, but I will suggest a few people for whom I would definitely NOT VOTE.

Charlie Johns
Once, seemingly the Right Hand Man of Nick Campbell-Jones
until they fell out (under mysterious circumstances).
Anyone not good enough to be a "mate"
of Nick C-J is to be avoided, I reckon.
He also has mysterious "history" of debts to Council,
which were supposedly waived in mysterious circumstances.
The fact that he has been on the Edge of Politics in the Shire
for such a long time,
and is an incessant writer of Letters to the Editor,
and is still so keen to get elected is a warning light to me.

He certainly will not get my vote.

Do you remember the scandal of the stupid investment in the Lehman Brothers "Federation Notes" (better known as Collateralised Debt Obligations).

• "It was a bitter lesson for Wingecarribee, a shire in the Southern Highlands. Not only had it invested ratepayers' funds in a complex and risky financial product, it had sold at a very bad time." (Sourced from that SMH Business Day link above)
  In other words, we bought badly and sold badly. Who is responsible for that?
  Seemingly no-one. Certainly no Councillors have ever owned up to getting kick-backs, or commissions, but given the way that the investment industry works, almost certainly mates of mates did. No names are available. Such a pity the original meeting was never minuted.
• Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/dante-notes-led-to-a-financial-inferno-20110222-1b42w.html#ixzz25ZuZOvye

So I would not vote for anyone associated with that famously "un-minuted" Finance Committee meeting (the one which got us into the mess in the first place) or the decision to bail out of the litigation process (which other Councils were successful in pursuing).

Here are some comments from a recent Meet the Candidates forum held in Bowral on August 28 put up by Travis Holland on a Highlands Votes website: Take these comments as you will.
http://www.highlandsvotes.com/2012/08/meet-the-candidates-long-post/

David Stranger was previously elected on the Liberal Party ticket in the shadow of Juliet Arkright. He has since left the Liberal Party ticket, and has formed his own team Group B. Real Estate Agents always make dubious candidates for Council, in my opinion. The fact that he is apparently a turn-coat merely reinforces my suspicions.

Duncan Gair cannot seem to get the desire for power out of his blood. He as been on Council for many terms, some as Mayor. He is standing again, after previously indicating he would not stand again for Council.

• Why, Duncan?
• “You look back and think, at the end of the day, it may not have happened if you weren’t there.”
• Looking back at the succession of bad decisions by the Wingecarribee Council, all I can say is that statement is a "double-edged sword", Duncan.

The Just Fix It team is headed by Ian Scandrett. He still wears as a badge of honour his time in the Balmain City Council. If you remember the TV program "Rats in the Ranks" you might not think that's such a good thing to boast about. But his team is proposing an "Energy Saving Scheme" which sounds just like a Ponzi Scheme, to me, from what I have heard about it. Council is being "sold the idea", but Council will not actually get any earnings - the proponents of the scheme, however, might get some benefits. The details are sketchy in my mind, but I know enough people with experience in financial markets - who are wary of this scheme - that I simply flag it as a "warning" to others.

Graham McLaughlin is heading up the Labor Team. I know Graham, and I admire his sense of humour and his musicality. But those factors do not outweigh, for me, his support for Boral and the expansion of the Berrima Colliery. It already poses a threat to the integrity of the local Aquifers over at Medway and High Range and Joadja. It is also leaking polluted water directly into the main feeder river of Lake Burrogorang (Sydney's primary Water Supply reservoir). Sorry Graham.

Edit: I have received this additional information: " ‘The Coalition Of Change’ group - Stranger, Turland and Andrews are running together with management from Nick Campbell-Jones. Back to the future for his Mega Leisure centre project if they get elected."
So I have been told, from a source I trust.

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

So, who can I safely vote for, in this coming local Government Election?

Well, as far as I know The Greens will not do anything as stupid as their Sydney colleagues did prior to the NSW State Election (where they tried to impose bans on companies with economic contact with Israel). That cost them votes in Sydney and I assume that Jim Clark and Maree Byrne will not make the same mistake their Sydney colleagues did. I know both these people - only vaguely, but over a few years, now. But I do sincerely trust their Environmental credentials.

Larry Whipper is a local Robertson resident, and has been the strongest supporter on Council of the Southern Highlands Coal Action Group in its opposition to Hume Coal and also Leichhardt Resources, (a related company which controls the Coal Seam Gas licence over most of the Shire). Shoo Cockatoo's latest bulletin sings Larry's praises.
Larry's Team Website is here

Jim Mauger is standing as an independent. He has always been "independent" anyway, which is why nobody else on Council likes him much, but that is why I do like him. In a strange way, local interests, self-interest almost, can be a great predictor of what someone is likely to do when it comes to voting on important decisions. Big Jim will back Big Jim always and Robertson a close second (if not first, on occasions) That will do me.

Juliet Arkwright is being harassed by the Liberal Party machine men, which straight away wins my sympathy vote. She must have done something worthwhile to get those Big End of Town characters off-side. Besides, she lives in Burrawang and does her shopping in Robertson, so that a definite plus in my view.