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  • DistroMan 20:00 on June 9, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , politician   

    Can you feel that? It’s Election Fever! 

    Twice within the next 12 months, we will be going to the polls here in NSW.  We have the Federal Election coming up this year and a State Election early next year.

    Federally we have Kevin (The Milky Bar Kid) Rudd PM running against Tony (The Mad Monk) Abbott.  Although the Mad Monk’s chances of still being leader at that time aren’t all that high.  With Malcolm Turnbull sitting on the sidelines waiting his chance to topple Tony next time he allows his mouth free reign without the use of his brain, anything could happen.

    This popularity polls are such a close run thing at the moment that nobody is really willing to take a punt on the outcome.  There are people running around like chooks with their heads cut off worrying that Kevin Rudd will get back in.  Why?  Well, it hasn’t been the best of terms for a Prime Minister.  There have been numerous negatives for him over the past couple of years, not least of which is the debacle regarding Roof Insulation.  The thing that gets me every time there is an election is the people who get themselves all bent out of shape over a few things that went wrong.  There has never been a government in the history of this or any other country that didn’t have problems.  If that is all people are going to focus on then they really should not be allowed to vote.  This Labor Government has done so many great things not remembered for more than 1 second by these people that you’d think they never happened.  Australia is lauded worldwide for it’s ability to overcome the Global Financial Crisis as well as it has, but because of that most people didn’t really feel the bite and therefore have no idea how damn lucky they are that Kevin and his team are in power at this time.  The one major thing that stopped Australia from a slide down into a real crisis was the amount of cash dispersed and that it went to the people and not directly to business as it would have under a Liberal government.  Lifelong Liberal voters can say whatever the hell they like, it will not change the fact that we would not have weathered this situation as well as we have under Howard.

    To show you just how wrong they had it, you have to remember that they were the doomsayers of Kevin Rudd’s plan to throw cash around to the people. As far as they were concerned that would do nothing for the economy and would most likely cause things to be worse than they needed to be.  Of course that hasn’t happened and not one of them can acknowledge the fact.  Bipartisanship is dead as far as the Liberal/National Coalition is concerned.

    We will be in real trouble if Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister.  You only have to listen to the way he changes his mind every time he talks to a different reporter.  His admission that you can’t trust what he says unless it is scripted is something every Australian should keep in mind as we get closer to the election.  His promises mean nothing.  Also, his ability to make things up on the fly without even discussing it with his party should foretell just how policies will be formed.  Do you want this country to be run in that manner?  His off the cuff, slap a bit of undercoat on it, way of coming up with policies is dangerous in the extreme.  Everything we have gained will be lost in favour of big business as it has everytime they regain power.

    Of course it is always those that aren’t on the bottom rung of society in this country that whinge and bitch about Labor, but let them get hit hard and see how fast they change their mind.  For once, the people of this country, all the people, are better off and the only ones who have any reason to complain are BIG business, but that is only because for once they are being asked to pay their way.

    In NSW we have Premier Kristina Keneally running against Barry O’Farrell.

    NSW Labor have had nothing but problems since Bob Carr left office.  The intervening leaders have not been up to scratch.  They did not seem to have decent leadership abilities and be able to get their team to behave.  Their have been numerous ‘scandals’, none of which are big, but enough to annoy people to the point of seeing Labor as a dying proposition.  Now though, we have Kristina.  Sure we still have a couple of problems, but that is the way of government.  This lady has the right stuff and has brought stability to the State.  We have a vision at last and it really is possible to see it all laid out and being put into action.  This is something I have not seen in a long time.  It would be a huge mistake not to keep Labor in this State for at least one more term.  I think everyone would be pleasantly surprised at how far this young woman can and will take us.  Kristina has a strong hand, mind and outlook.  She is determined to do not only a good job, but the best job she can.  This is not an easy task coming on the heels of the problems she inherited from the previous Leaders.  On the other hand, we have Barry O’Farrell.  I’ll be honest with you and say that I don’t watch much television and that would have been a good excuse why I don’t hear much from him, except that it hasn’t stopped me hearing about Kristina day in and day out.  She is a hands on type of person and you can’t help but hear about her and what she is doing.

    This state has picked up under her leadership and it would be a shame to throw away the best opportunity we’ve had in many years for a person we know nearly nothing about and has no track record.

    How much do you know of your State MP? Do you know what they have accomplished in your area?  Or do you only know what the media tell you that gets them ratings?  Do you want media ratings to be the medium which chooses who runs your country?

    —

    I will admit that we will still have problems, but that is normal.  What we won’t have is probably the most important thing.  We won’t have the people looking after business instead of the other way around.  We won’t have the country handed over to the religious right as Tony seems intent on doing.  We will have a fairer system for all and we will have Leaders that listen.  Kevin and Kristina have never stopped holding meetings with the people.  They travel the country and state all the time holding meetings, not only with the little people but with small business owners so they can keep up with the needs of those who are the most in need of help.

    I can only see good things ahead for both State and Country if we keep Labor in power.  The people need to start looking at the good things being done by both governments and not just saying they’ll change sides because of one issue that has grabbed headlines the one night they actually watched the news.  Far too many people vote on one issue in this country and that is not the way to get good government. If you vote against a Party only because you didn’t get the swimming pool your area wanted instead of weighing up all the issues, then you quite probably voted against your best interests.

    The next 12 months will be interesting for anyone who takes notice of the to’s and fro’s of politics in this country.

    Yes, I know what you’re thinking.  You expect that I’m going to vote Labor.  Well, you are doing it again if that is what you are thinking.  You are looking at just this one post and making assumptions that could quite possibly be wrong.  As I’ve been trying to tell you, keeping an eye on things and weighing up all the issues is what is needed and that is exactly what I will be doing.  On their merits at the moment I would vote Labor in both elections, but that may change.

    YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on June 8, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , politician, , , , , United States   

    Q: Are we equal? A: Yes, but no. 

    I’m thinking of the religious amongst us.  If we were to go to a church this Sunday, stand outside and ask people as they emerge if they think we are all equal under God, they would most probably all say yes.  That is presuming that it was a happy clappy, love is in the air type service.  If it happened to be a more fire and brimstone, let’s kill the unbeliever type service there would be a lot of people saying no, but it’s the people who say we are equal that bother me.  I know who to watch out for when they are saying no and putting themselves out there in opposition to us.  But when they are the smiley, I love everybody because Jesus is in my heart type, you can’t tell when they are going to blow and come out against you or in what fashion.  I do admit though that there are plenty who will say we are equal and do honestly believe it.  They also believe that we will never be as happy as them without Jesus, but that is about as far as they go differentiating between us.  I get along really well with them and they are the majority in my life.  There is a troubling trend though.  The good ones are diminishing and the ‘down with the unbelievers’ are growing.

    Just how many who say we are equal are the type who when they go to church and hear their preacher saying that the godless are the enemy, that we eat our babies, that we have no morals, that we would as soon murder our neighbour as eat a hot Sunday lunch, would then sit there nodding their heads in agreement?  Most of them would.  When was the last time you ever saw or heard someone voice disagreement with their preacher?  I know I’ve never heard of it.

    We are told daily that our countries are based on Christian values and the believers are trying to get more and more of the Bible into our government and into our lives whether we are religious or not.  Not only are they trying to get their foot further in the door, but they are also actively trying to do away with anything that proves that their way is not the right way.  Take for example the way Texas have now managed to cut Thomas Jefferson from a list of figures whose writings inspired revolutions in the late 18th century and 19th century.  This is not only going to affect students in that state.  This is not just Texas history they are rewriting.  Any change in history of this magnitude affects the whole world.  There is no such thing as ‘just Texas history’.  History is a planetwide concern and should not be allowed to be rewritten under any circumstances.  This kind of action is tantamount to old style bookburning.

    Here in Australia, the religious have been getting worked up about the non-religious wanting to teach their children ethics.  I have no idea what their real agenda is in this matter, but the best we can think is that while ever we don’t teach ethics and morals to our children it allows them to keep saying that we don’t have any.  Could it really be that they are willing to fight this hard just to stop us proving we can be moral and ethical people just like everybody else?  It’s not that they don’t know it, but I suppose it would stop the preachers saying over and over in church every week how much better they are.  If their flock started to believe that we are just as moral, then what would be the point of Church?

    One day, far in the future, a future I probably won’t live to see, humanity may just learn that religion really is just load of rubbish.  It’s nothing more than fairy stories to control the people.  But this can only happen, ‘will’ only happen if we stop them from taking power again.  We must keep a separation of Church and State so that reasoning people have a chance to see the truth, because even reasoning people who don’t have the truth on display to examine will believe whatever is thrown at them every day of their lives by those who have a vested interest in maintaining power.

    CHURCH <  WIDEN THE GAP  >  STATE

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on June 4, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , politician, , , , , ,   

    P.O.P.E. Pissing Off People Endlessly 

    The Pope’s linking of Islam to violence during a speech in Germany led to outrage in the Muslim world, nearly forcing cancellation of a trip to Turkey in 2006.

    Another controversy arose from his remarks on a trip to Africa that condoms can “make the continent’s AIDS epidemic worse”.

    He  made comments in Brazil that Latin America’s native people “wanted” to become Christian even before Europe’s conquerors arrived.

    Pope Benedict XVI called abortion and same-sex marriage some of the most “insidious and dangerous” threats facing the world today.

    In suffering, you will discover an interior peace and even spiritual joy.

    In Latin America the Pope said, “There is another disquieting trend, authoritarian forms of government and regimes wedded to certain ideologies that we thought had been superseded.” Here the Pope seemed clearly to be referring to leftist governments such as the Venezuelan regime of Hugo Chavez, who has clashed frequently with Church leaders there.

    An Irish government-organized compensation board has paid out more than $983 million to 13,000 people abused in Ireland’s church-run residential institutions for children. Why do the Irish people have to pay when the Vatican has more money than they do and they were the ones doing wrong?

    Archbishop Timothy Dolan, hand picked by Pope to join the Child Sex Abuse Probe in Ireland let a priest sue his accuser in St Louis and fought against reforming Wisconsin child sex abuse law.  Is this the right person to be on the panel?

    Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is also a Papal choice for the Irish Probe.  It was Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor’s decision in 1985, when he was bishop of Arundel and Brighton, to move Fr Michael Hill to a chaplaincy at Gatwick airport.  Eighteen months previously the cardinal had removed Hill from ministry because of child abuse allegations but then allowed him back to work at the airport where Hill abused a child. Hill was jailed in 2002.   Is this the right person to be on the panel?

    British Taxpayers are to be asked to pay over $24.2 million to help fund the Pope’s visit in September all because ex Prime Minister Gordon Brown wanted the visit to help shore up Labour’s vote among the faithful in Scotland.

    It seems that there is a never-ending onslaught of Papal intervention in the affairs of Sovereign Governments these days.  When the Vatican seems less and less capable of even taking care of it’s own house you would think that they would be better off STFU.  But no, they seem quite willing to carry on laundering money, abusing children, raping nuns, avoiding the law, pimping, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousand by denying their followers the use of condoms, allow mothers to die during childbirth by denying abortion, allowing women to get pregnant too many times and risking their lives by denying the use of condoms and birth control.  All this and more while they put themselves up as the moral arbiters of our actions.

    The furor over child abuse has been growing steadily for around two decades and yet they still sit on their hands and wait for ‘nothing’ to happen.  Popey Joe continues to talk about ‘decisive action’ but none has been taken.  He has only just gotten around to naming a panel of ‘men of the cloth’ to go to Ireland and he couldn’t even get that right.  At least a third of them have questions to answer about their own activities.  How can anyone take them seriously when they themselves haven’t even cleared their own names.  Joe travels around the world spewing forth about the abuse and how it is ‘wrong’ and ‘evil’, but only blames the secular community, homosexuals or lack of faith by Catholics themselves.  One of his Cardinals even went so far as to accuse the children of ‘wanting it’.

    The US government is now involved in helping him avoid trial.  Their Supreme Court is so top heavy with Catholic Judges that they won’t give a verdict themselves on whether the Pope is immune from lawsuit, but have asked the Obama Administration to tell them what they should do.  What use are Judges if they won’t judge?  Of course, if they decide not to follow the Administration’s recommendations, then the Pope could still face trial if he is ever stupid enough to step foot on US soil.  I ‘pray’ that they do and he does.

    JOE AND BUBBA SITTING IN A CELL

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 31, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: Abbott, , , , , , , , , , politician, ,   

    I’m having a crisis of faith. 

    Ok, ok, it’s not what you think.  It’s to do with politics.  As some of you may have gathered over the months, I’m a staunch Labor voter here in Australia.  I always have voted Labor and would like to think I always would.  BUT, it is quite likely that my vote will now be going to the Greens at this years Federal Election.  There is no way that the Liberal/National Coalition will ever see a vote from me while ever they support big business over the people of this country.  They have dragged us down from a nation of workers with respect, to a nation of workers that have had to grovel and beg for their rights.  That may never change as governments are most often reluctant to undo changes made by previous governments.  Yes, I know it has happened and has when Labor won government at the last election, but they only went so far and way too many workers have fallen by the wayside since.  There are too many sweatshop type businesses operating in this country and far too many operating with illegal immigrants to save money.  If they are unable to get the work done cheap enough here, many are now moving production offshore and still using sweatshop labour when selling here at top prices.

    This need to pander to big business, together with the reluctance to stand up to the Christian Right is turning Australia into a Nanny State.  Most religions are now only just businesses anyway, so there isn’t much difference between the two.  Business gives them money to fund elections and the religious give them a big block of votes.

    If we just look at the current situation, we have Labor wanting to put a larger tax onto mining companies, but hit us with an internet filter that is censorship at it’s worst.  The Liberal/National Coalition would scrap the tax and let business be subsidised by the workers again, but say they would scrap the filter.  Both are pandering to the Christians.  Neither can be trusted not to change their minds once they win government though.

    We are at a crossroads here in Australia where the Greens are now at a stage where they have enough power to force governments to deal with them on a day to day basis.  Not only that, if things continue the way they are, we may end up with another Coalition that includes the Greens the way they have had to do in Tasmania this year.  I do not think the Greens have the depth in their ranks to take government and do the job on their own even if they did win enough seats.  They just don’t have that kind of experience.  But as a power behind the power, they are uniquely qualified to steer this country in the right direction.  A direction that will bring it back to the place it deserves.  We have fought hard to keep this country ‘Australian’ and by that I mean the qualities that make it Australian, not the ‘white nationalist’ qualities some would prefer and not the ’51st State of the USA’ that others seem intent on accomplishing.

    I say screw the business interests and screw the religious sycophants.  Give the Greens the power to turn this country into a social and environmental success while the Labor Party look after the economic and international side of affairs.  The rest they can haggle over.

    The two major parties have shown they are only interested in staying in government and they don’t care what the people say.  Neither of them really want to do anything in electorates that aren’t their own.  Too many independents are only there to push their own shortsighted and narrow religious views.  There are the exceptions, but not many.  On their own they have limited power and when it is only their vote that can win the day, they have far too much power invested in that one person.

    While a Labor/Greens Coalition may just end up like the Liberal/National Coalition, it won’t do it right away.  That may just give us time to fix the problems and show them all that things can be done in a better manner.  I say we give the Greens a go.  It certainly can NOT be worse than what we have now.

    ONLY A GREEN VOTE WILL HAVE REAL POWER THIS YEAR

     

    • Greybeard 20:42 on May 31, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      You had me going for a minute. I thought you were about to 'out' yourself as a new member of Senator Fielding's Hillbilly 'Family First' party!

    • nathanlee123 05:12 on June 1, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Well, the only trouble will be that (like in US politics) we'll be dividing votes that probably would have gone to Labor and letting the liberals get first past the post.

      Tony Abbott is too fucking scary to contemplate: the man's not only a climate change denialist, he's a creationist, homophobe and let's not forget how he acted while in charge of health (abortion drugs needed his approval for some bizarre reason) and his stance on stem cell research was appallingly ignorant.

      So I'd say that I agree with you that (like the last few elections) it's important to send a message, and I have voted in that fashion before (a labor/greens coalition might be interesting), but not so much that you let tony abbott end up in power (e.g. then we're doubly screwed: no talk of "postponing" climate action, just "it isn't our fault and mining rocks and saved us all from poverty!")

      Anyhow, we've got preferential voting: use it people. Just be aware of another family first nutjob sneaking in via the quirks of it.

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 30, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , Conroy, , , , Lundy, Milky Bar, politician, ,   

    If Labor loses this election, you can blame Stephen Conroy. 

    Ever since the moronic notion of filtering the Internet entered Stephen Conroy’s head or was injected by someone else (probably a Lib/Nat), Labor has been inching ever closer to losing the upcoming election. The even stranger part is that they have had their heads so far up their own propaganda that they can’t see the outcome even though over 90% of the population has been screaming it at them since the last election.

    I can’t imagine how many children will still be hurt and criminals evade justice because Conroy and his cohort are going to waste $128.8 million on this farce instead of injecting it into the budget of the department of the Federal Police that looks after child crimes.  How much good could be  done if they had the resources they require to catch the pedophiles and child pornographers?

    Conroy has repeatedly asked people why they don’t care about children when they have opposed the Filter.  I have to ask if he is willing to go to jail for the rest of his life if the crimes he says will drop actually go up after introduction of the Filter.  No ifs, ands buts or maybes this time.  No worming his way out of it.  He’s asked the question enough times himself.  Is he willing to pay the price when he’s shown to be wrong?  Not that it will ever happen, because if Labor do not change their mind on this policy within the next month it will be too late to drag back the support they are losing at the moment.  I have been amazed at the amount of people who swear their allegiances will change at the next election if this goes ahead.  This is not just a one time ‘bad decision’ they can overcome with time.  This will leave a stain on the Labor movement that will last while ever people remember what has been done.

    The absolute uncaring attitude towards the people of this country that is being shown is not something that I had ever expected to see in my lifetime.  I have always voted Labor and had planned to always do so.  The minor parties have always seemed to be more trouble than they are worth and the Liberal/National Coalition is way too synonymous with ‘Big Business’ to ever attract my vote.  Their philosophy of taking care of the BHP’s and Rio Tinto’s of this country so that the dollars trickle down to us was, is and always will be crap.  The more they make the more profits go to the investors instead of dropping prices.  That is not in our interest.  The smaller parties have had no significant influence on anything of any real importance to the population until the last election and it seems to be more the independents (read christian backed morons) that are making the biggest noises.  Though it does look likely that the next election will be when the ‘Rise of the Greens’ really happens and they will have to be courted in a much more significant manner than ever before.  Maybe even a coalition of Labor/Greens?

    Whatever happens all depends on whether Rudd has enough commonsense and courage to put Conroy back in his bottle and bury him in the backbenches where he belongs.  Give that job to Kate Lundy and let’s fix this mess up now before it is too late.  The Lib/Nats are licking their lips everytime Conroy promotes the filter.  We all know that Abbott is a losing proposition for them after his and Ms Bishops faux pa’s of the last couple of weeks.  Malcolm Turnbull didn’t just change his mind because he likes being in opposition.  He has the numbers and knows that he will be back as leader very shortly and when he is, you’ll hear real opposition to the filter from them as well.

    Rudd must come out in direct opposition to the filter and soon.  He must be seen to be firm in his opposition now that the facts are in.  Yes, we’ve known they’ve been in for a long time, but he has to play the game.  It’s either that or be relegated to history as the PM that had no balls to do what he knew was right.

    HAS THE MILKY BAR KID BEEN OUT IN THE SUN TOO LONG?

     

    • Greybeard 22:14 on May 30, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      State controlled internet access is the thin end of the wedge but maybe if he was proposing filtering out the Vatican and the Australian Christian Lobby I might be more interested!

      Yes, Conroy is a liability to Labor – but his poor performance could easily be cancelled out on the Coalition side by their own resident liability, Barnaby Joyce!

      It get's worse – just imagine if we get a hung Parliament and Senator Fielding's bunch of Hillsong Hillbillies get enough seats to hold the balance of power!

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 29, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , politician, , ,   

    Should a Politician put aside their religious beliefs when making decisions? 

    The simple answer would seem to be yes to anyone who understands that to fairly administer a nation for all citizens you need to be able to know what the peoples needs are and how to fulfil them in a fair and just manner, not only from your own persepective, but from theirs as well.  If you are a religious person it seems that it is nigh on impossible for you to do this.  Just lately this has been shown to be true for about 90 percent of the religious community that have had anything to do with decision making.  The Ethics Classes debate has shown most religious people only care about keeping kids in the Special Religious Education classes and not at all about those who don’t attend.  Those who don’t attend are left to fend for themselves and aren’t really bothered about unless they wish to do something useful and then they are stopped.  It seems that Scripture is the be all and end all of their existence and what others needs are don’t matter.

    I do have to say here that the Muslim community have shown themselves to be the more openminded and are quite happy for the classes to go ahead. I and many others applaud their support at this time.

    The Australian Christian Lobby on the other hand are mobilising as much support against the classes as they can muster and seem to be of the mind that they are the absolute arbiters of what should be taught, where it should be taught, when it should be taught and who teaches it.

    Look at what is about to happen shortly and you can see that the religious are getting their way much more than you would have thought.  On 21st June Prime Minister Rudd and the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will address Australian churches via a web-cast.  I have never heard of such a thing in my life.  What has so radically changed in this country that they are giving in to one group to such an extent?  It just shows that the leaders in this country not only have religious leanings, which in and of itself is alright, but have a bias towards religion that is blinkering their outlook on the community as a whole.  It’s not that there is anything overt being done that has affected us, but more that when we speak, we aren’t heard.  It’s like we don’t exist at times.

    No politician should be giving in to any one group over others consistently or to be seen to be playing favourites in this manner.  There is a section of politics that is fighting back, but they are small and don’t have the numbers to make changes as easy as other factions.  It is up to us, the people who are fed up with the way things are, to support these people and help them make the changes we wish to see.  If  we don’t, then we have no right to be complaining when next our lives are disrupted by religion getting in the way.  We are a bigger part of the community than even most of us are aware and if we mobilise ourselves and make ourselves heard we can bring this country back into balance.

    You, as an atheist, agnostic, freethinker, secularist, humanist or another religous person that thinks the christians in this country have far too great a say in our lives, then you need to start asking what you can do to change things for the better.  Help these brave politicians.  Sign their petitions, attend  parliament, write letters and emails.  It really now has come to the time that you need to make yourself heard.  I hate to have to put it as plainly as this, but…

    IT’S TIME TO PUT UP OR SHUTUP

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 28, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , Female Genital Mutilation, , , , , politician,   

    Alarming rise in the rate of infection of the ‘Stupid Virus’. 

    I have been getting quite ticked off lately over a few things happening in this country that come down to ‘giving in’ to the nutters in our society.  Today two more have arisen that are really taking stupidity to new levels.  On top of the recent Ethics Classes debate we now have the following idiocies to contend with and attempt to stop.

    Now we have the Anti-Vaccination Nutters causing vaccination rates to plummet and put our children in harms way.  In Western Australia vaccination levels are dropping at an alarming rate and don’t look like stopping anytime soon.  With the recent problems over the Flu Vaccine this is only going to get worse.  I can’t understand how people can say that vaccination is bad for our children.  We have come so far from the days of measles, polio, whooping cough and chicken pox it is unthinkable that we are going to let these morons take us back to the dark ages of child health care.  Due to a few unthinking people we now have seminars being held in this country trying to talk parents out of vaccinating their children against these terrible diseases.  I hope they are willing to pay the price themselves, because if the infection rates of diseases like polio start to climb they should be held accountable.  If you incite someone to murder you are held accountable and it should be so in this case as well.

    To make matters worse we now have the Western Australian Government allowing these Anti-Vaxxers to use government facilities to spread their misinformation.  The governments of this country spend an enormous amount of our money to educate people about the positive side of vaccination.  We vaccinate  the children in the schools so we know who has had it.  Now they spend our money to promote the opposite side?  I’m quite a bit more than disappointed about this matter and have written to several of the MP’s in Western Australia.  Responses range from ‘prove it’ to ‘we have noted your concerns’.

    This next section was written in response to this article.

    To top that off Australian doctors are now talking about reforms to allow them to perform Female Genital Mutilation procedures.  I will continue to use that term no matter what they wish to call it themselves, because it is still mutilation of a human body for no positive purpose.  It only has a negative outcome.  I am appalled at the idea that they think this could be a good thing to do under any circumstances.  I get what they are saying that the negative outcomes of backyard procedures is a problem and that at least if they do them, there is less of a problem of disease etc, but that is still wrong.

    We must never give in to this form of barbarism under any circumstances.  Put that effort into stamping it out.  There has to be harsher penalties for this kind of behaviour as well.  We don’t allow torture of infants and there are consequences for those offences so why not do the same for this offence?  Double the penalty.  Triple it for all I care, but this must be stopped and not be given in to.

    Then this article comes in which completely repudiates the last one.  I am thrilled that the original article was wrong, but where did the information really come from and by whom was it given credence?  This unconscionable behaviour seems designed to stir up trouble and sell up the ratings. It’s a shameful act and one that makes it hard to take anything on their site with any seriousness.

    We still have to worry about the coddling of the religious zealots and their barbaric practices though.  How long before we stand up for basic human rights in this country so that none of this is even necessary?

    ANTI ETHICS – ANTI VACCINATION – FEMALE MUTILATION

    WHEN WILL COMMONSENSE PREVAIL IN THIS COUNTRY?

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 23, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , politician, , ,   

    Questions for Cardinal George Pell and Robert Haddad. 

    In the following article entitled ‘Secular ‘ethics’ drive belittles religious faith‘ Cardinal Pell seems to have missed the point yet again.

    He uses the word secular.  Do you not understand the term?

    It is not religious.  It is not anti-religion.  It is just ‘without’ religion.  It has nothing to do with religion in any way.

    There is no hostility in secularism.  As there is no hostility, hostility cannot be reflected in anything. You state that there is a majority of christians in Australia, which I doubt, but I’ll let you have that for the sake of the discussion.  What has that to do with anything? Are you of the opinion that a religious majority have the right to enforce their religion on the secular minority? All anyone is asking for here is the right to teach our children ethics outside of a religious framework because we are not religious.

    You say

    “So you have a few people who suggest that religious considerations are inappropriate in public life.“

    Whether or not we consider it inappropriate or not has nothing to do with the ethics debate currently underway. That is not what is being said at all.  What is being said, and I am getting rather tired of having to repeat myself here, ‘All anyone is asking for is the right to teach our children ethics outside of a religious framework because we are not religious.‘  Please try to understand George, this has nothing to do with you or your SRE classes.  This is about parents who wish to have their children taught ethics.  What has that to do with you? Is it just that a few parents have taken their children out of the SRE classes? They probably would not have put them there in the first place if secular ethics classes were available.  Which just means that you and yours have had a free ride with those children up till now.  You shouldn’t be complaining about that.

    From your friend Robert Haddad:

    It’s not for our sakes, but so our baptised children can hear and know about Christ, wherever they may be.

    Now that’s telling isn’t it.  It’s for his baptised children. He wants to do the best for ‘their’ children.  Good luck to you mate.  Well, we also want to do the best for our children.  Why are you trying to stop us?  Do you have some special mandate that means only you are allowed to do good for your children and that says we can’t?

    and

    “In the end, the volunteer providers of secular ethics will be no more interesting or inspiring than our catechists, nor will they have the staying power of our catechists, many of whom have devoted decades to joyfully bringing Christ to our children, despite the many difficulties they encounter.”

    Not only are you religious, you now profess to be a fortune teller? You can see the future? Oh, what a wise and holy man thou art!  Your comments about others being ignorant and prejudiced just go to show your own failings as a christian and solidify our problems with having people such as yourself teaching anything, especially ethics, to our children.  Take your hostility to your church and teach it to your children, not ours.  He goes on…

    Sorry, I would much prefer to continue my cooperation with Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist SRE providers to have this Ethics course diverted to another dedicated time slot or removed altogether.

    All this shows is that you are trying to remove it altogether.  You know full well that if it went to another time slot that the children would have to forgo some other part of their education and that will not be allowed.  All you want is to stop non religious people being taught ethics in a secular manner. 

    If Christianity were being practised in this country in the way that is being made out by the vocal proponents of Christianity in this debate, there wouldn’t be such a problem.  But the words being used and the tone of the arguments coming from those in positions of leadership within the christian community are one of the biggest signs that religion is past it’s use by date.  When they push a fear campaign to get their way it just goes to show that they have a weak position and they know it.

    Why is it that you’re all fine to allow other religions to teach their special brand of ethics, even if it is one you don’t prescribe to, but we aren’t allowed?  Why do you fear us so much? We are just ordinary people trying to get along in the world and do the best for our families just like anyone else.  If it is just because we don’t believe in your god, then it makes even less sense.  How many other religions don’t believe in your god but you’re fine with them teaching their followers children in that same time slot?  Buddhists don’t even believe in a god but you’re fine with them, so what is your problem with us?

    IT’S TIME YOU ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 22, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: EUTHANASIA, , , , , politician, referendum, , ,   

    My pain, my body, my life, my death, my choice. 

    Robin Chapple a West Australian Greens MP introduced a bill on Thursday in an attempt to legalise voluntary euthanasia and allow terminally ill patients some dignity in their final days knowing they would not have to suffer unnecessarily and that their families would not have to see that and remember them that way.  I unreservedly praise Robin for this stance as it is a hard thing to do knowing the opposition he will be facing.  But as with a lot of the good things in this world, you have to fight for them.

    From 7 News:

    This Bill would allow any terminally ill West Australian over the age of 21 and of “sound mind” to elect to be euthanised. Under the bill, a request for the administration of euthanasia would only apply to a person who has a terminal illness that will cause death within two years and is experiencing considerable pain or debilitation. The request must be assessed by two independent medical practitioners who both have five years’ experience before a third practitioner reviews the request and administers euthanasia.

    As would be expected though, out of the woodwork creep the angry Christian groups.

    As usual though the christians have trotted out all the tired old lines of yesteryear.  They claim it will assist suicide, the depressed, those not terminally ill and the disabled. Please, it isn’t hard to read guys. I’m sure you were taught in school and it would be a useful tool for you to put to work at this point.  Read the bill and you’d see that the things you are saying are NOT included and are quite obviously going to be disallowed under this proposed legislation.  Telling untruths in this manner is what we’ve come to expect from political christians and it reflects badly on non-political variety.  We all know what your objections really are and I respect your opinion.  But that opinion is ‘yours’ and should be a compass for ‘your’ actions.  Our opinions are a compass for ‘our’ actions and neither should be used to force anybody else to do something they don’t choose to do themselves.  Nobody is talking about forcing anyone to die.  Nobody is talking about murder.  This is about death with dignity for the terminally ill who are experiencing untold amounts of pain and do not wish to go on in that manner any longer.

    I do not handle pain very well at the best of times and am hoping that I never have to get to the point of wishing to end my life the way these people do, but if it does eventuate that I do end up like that, I want the right to end my life in a manner that is quick and dignified for both myself and my loved ones.  It is so frustrating to see good people like Robin Chapple putting these bills forward only to have them knocked down at the very first opportunity before they get the chance to be fully discussed and everybody having the chance to give their opinion on the matter.  There are a few topics that are getting to the point of never being settled due to noisy groups getting in first and shutting down debate.  This cannot be allowed to go on any longer.  If this bill does not go all the way through all stages and have everyone involved given a chance to have a voice on the matter, it must eventually go to referendum.

    As happens so often in this country, the christians come out swinging with bullhorns roaring and before we know it, the debate has ended before it has had a chance to begin.  This must change.  If a topic is so controversial that it can’t be decided over a period as long as this one has been going, it should be put to a referendum and have the people decide.  No more putting it on the shelf for the next government to deal with. Stand up and do the damn job you are being paid to do and do it right.

    ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE, ONE DECISION

    LET’S GET THIS DONE

     

    • Ciaran MacAoidh 23:06 on May 24, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      When Exit International came to Ireland in April the same type of noisy religious groups almost stopped their public meeting from going ahead. I'm with Atheist ireland and they asked us for help with a venue, which we gave on the basis that we want our nation to have the debate. While a few groups came out against Exit, one actively pressured four venues into cancelling Exit's booking until finally I found one with the help of our membersip. As a left wing and anarchist collective this venue (Seomra Spraoi) wasn't going to let a hard line catholic group dictate to them so it went ahead. It was a small victory for free speech but it was pretty disturbing how easy it was for them to intimidate the other venues with lies about the law. I still have misgivings about some aspects of the euthanasia debate and I can understand why people might be afraid but it really just shows how weak the religious argument is when they block us all from having the discussion. They know that in the end clear and rational debate tends to remove faith from the equation so they don't even bring it up most of the time, prefering to build 'extreme case' arguments about people forcing granny to top herself so they can get at her inheritance or becase she's a burden. The palliative care organisation in Ireland are against voluntary euthanasia for these reasons but even they say that the vast majority of people want to continue living on pain meds. What they can't explain is why those who don't should not be allowed a painless, comfortable and loving exit in circumstances of their choosing.

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 20, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , politician, , , ,   

    Cardinal Pell versus Ethics Classes – Yet Again 

    Once again Cardinal Pell finds it necessary to speak out about the Ethics Classes under trial here in NSW.

    “Our state schools are free, compulsory and secular; there’s no reason whatsoever as part of the normal curriculum that secular ethics mightn’t be taught,” the cardinal said.

    Let’s break this down and go through it one bit at a time shall we.

    “Our state schools” – yes, State Schools George.  Not your Catholic Schools.  You get a fair bit of leeway in how you run your Private Catholic Schools and can teach religion in whatever way you wish, but when it comes to State Schools, you shouldn’t. Not even close to having a say.  Just where do you get off thinking you are in a position to demand that our children either sit in your indoctrination classes or sit idle?  If not idle, then why not ethics?  Straighten your frock George, your agenda is showing.

    “Free” – yes, they are to a great degree, but that isn’t what is under discussion here.

    “Compulsory” – No, that is not true. You may enrol your child in a private school or do homeschooling if you so choose.

    “Secular” – No, that is not quite true.  If it were you wouldn’t have your god squad invading them once a week.

    “there’s no reason whatsoever as part of the normal curriculum that secular ethics mightn’t be taught” - Wow, I’m surprised you even said this.  I really am.  That is the whole argument there in one phrase.  If our children aren’t attending your religious classes, then you have nothing to do with them and no say over what we as parents want to have them taught and therefore whatever they are taught IS part of their normal curriculum.

    I know that SRE has been going on since approx 1880.  At what time parents were allowed to exempt their children from SRE I do not know, but I do know that nobody has said a word about that as long as those children that were exempt weren’t doing anything ‘worthwhile’ or that may encourage others to remove their children as well.  As I see it, that is the big problem here for you.  You are worried that parents will remove their children and you’ll lose a captive audience.  If those parents only have their children in your classes for the ethics but would prefer a non religious environment if that was on offer then that is their choice and you should not be depriving them of that.  Neither you, nor the Catholic Church have the right to deny anyone a choice in how they learn or live their lives.

    What is the the Jesuit maxim? “Give me a child for his first seven years and I’ll give you the man”?  There it is in a nutshell.  That is what you are losing.  Raw recruits to feed your religious mill.  You know full well that if you can’t get them early enough, you’ll never get them.  If we can teach them ethics outside of your superstitious institution, then they would have no reason to bow before you and the inevitable demise of religion would be hastened.

    I also know that this worries you.  As it should I suppose.  You have given your whole life to the Church and what it stands for, but is that a reason to deny others with differing opinions a chance to learn and to prosper as human beings?  Really George, if christianity, the church, religion or whatever term you wish to use, has a firm enough foundation as you obviously believe, don’t you think it could withstand this?  Facing hardships is one of the things we all know is part of life on this planet and that when we overcome them, we turn out to be better people for that experience.  If christianity/the church/religion can’t survive children learning ethics outside of a religious framework, then it doesn’t have the foundation you think it has and it should be allowed to fall by the way, just as the Ethics Classes shall if they are not worthy of continuing.  Are you worried religion isn’t up to the challenge?

    Once again, I’ll say this.  You have your churches to teach Sunday School for those who wish to attend.  You have your Catholic Schools to teach religion in the manner you choose.  You have SRE classes in State Schools where you can teach religion in the manner you wish to the children of parents who wish to have them attend those classes.  Those are your domains.  Outside of that, it is our domain.  A place where  secular parents can choose to have their children be educated in a secular manner.  Why is it that you are trying to deny us that right?

    DEMOCRACY NOT THEOCRACY

     

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