Hillbilly Links

   Today has been one of tidying up my life, after the long school holidays.  Which has also, on a rainy Sydney day, included catching up on some reading. I will thus include links to my readings in case you are possibly interested in them too:

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/petergleick/2012/01/27/remarkable-editorial-bias-on-climate-science-at-the-wall-street-journal/

I don't need to add much to this headline link, it's pretty self explanatory, except to add a recent blog post from Desmogblog as a companion piece to this story:

http://www.desmogblog.com/study-tracks-australian-climate-denial-echo-chamber-back-think-tank

Think about that next time you have to listen to a 'political commentator' from the IPA.

   Next comes a short article from 'The New Republic' about a subject dear to my heart, the increasingly obvious return of overt sexism in society via the domineering leaders and faithful followers of the resurgent religious cadres of multiple faiths:

   http://www.tnr.com/article/world/magazine/100041/israel-women-rights-netanyahu-haredi

 I like this one, also from 'The New Republic' for this statement:
'Why does the public resist believing a statement that is factually true? Because Republican Liberal candidates keep insisting it isn't true. '
http://www.tnr.com/blog/timothy-noah/100218/dismal-scientists-vs-credulous-public

   Maybe you'd like to read about Tony Abbott's latest piece of duplicitous hypocrisy and promise-breaking?
http://www.alp.org.au/blogs/alp-blog/january-2012/tony-abbott-tears-up-tax-cuts-promise/

   Now, if you've got time to peruse another blog by former Gillard government Economics Advisor, Stephen Koukoulas, you will find out some hard, comparative economic facts which put Tony Abbott's lies about the superior economic management of the Coalition up in neon lights:
http://stephenkoukoulas.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/fascinating-fiscal-facts-whos-addicted.html

   Finally, to this piece:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/exploiting-the-rubes-how-ron-paul-once-betrayed-those-who-trusted-him/252249/

   It is by Conor Friedersdorf, a young, principled journalist of immense talent. I love the way he distils the essence of what's so wrong with modern Conservatism, with lines like these(and think about it next time you hear our own Cons demonising 'the other'):

'Stoking and exploiting racism for financial, political, or ideological gain is a serious moral failing.'
 &
 "Racism is a demon that is very difficult to tame, and nearly impossible to corral once give free reign." 

   Enjoy!

  

Hoist By My Own Petard

   Here at The Political Wilderness, snarkily unto myself, I have been spending the Summer skirting around the edges of and skating away from the heat one normally associates with the season. It has been temperate and mild in my neck of the Temperate Rainforest.  A bit of misty rain here, a bit of heavy rain there, and a heap o' mild temperatures to indulge in.

   Well, didn't all that change in a hurry today.

  I can't even complain that it was THAT hot. A 'mere' 32 degrees at it's top. However it was one of those Sydney summer days, full of the humidity created by the previous days rain. And no breeze.  And nowhere that I could escape to outside the house due to the swarm of mosquitoes that this weather engenders. Not that I had time to because today was also Day 1 of School/Technical College for my 2 boys. So it was up at sparrow's and into the organised chaos at the beginning of the day, which passes in our house for a simulacrum of organisation in order to get to school on time. Then it was drive 20km to School/TAFE, only to find out that TAFE doesn't begin until next week. So then it was, drive 20km back home, get changed back into school uniform for #2 son & then back in the car for another 8km journey back to school, as he's doing a split School/TAFE Year 11, and when he's not at TAFE, he has to be at school. Sigh. Then, back home again for breakfast for myself. Which was followed by another trip back to school later in the afternoon to pick him up because I read the wrong bus time out to him from the timetable, for him to travel home on. I having read the Saturday timetable, instead of the Monday to Friday one, and, as a result, he would have had to wait another hour in the heat for the next bus. And I felt guilty. So...So I combined it with a trip to the shops to get bread and honey. As without creamed honey specifically to put on his muffin for breakfast, #1 son goes into a funk for the day.  So...you make the effort to keep them happy.

   Even though it was so damn hot in my car with the broken aircon!

  Which, as I say, will only teach me some sort of cosmic karmic lesson about not being so internally smug about having eluded the full force of summer, while my fellow Australians suffered manfully and womanly through heatwaves.

   Suffice to say, I won't be able to say much about the politics of today. Except to make 2 observations:

1. The Tony Abbott-led Coalition Opposition is 'All Politics, No Policy'.
2.  'Lobbygate' is all beat-up, no cover-up.

  Finally, I would just like to add that I have been playing with the design of my blog, in case you may have thought you had come to the wrong destination all of a sudden. As I said, it's a work-in-progress. Though, even when I decide on a format I am happy with, knowing me, I'll just change it all again when I get bored with it, or some enticing new designs come along to use.

Also, I'm still teaching myself how to use other functionalities associated with this blog template.

At least I'm having fun now though. And I will get busy with some more serious and thoughtful work soon.

    When it cools down I think. :)

Tweet of the Day

ZuveleLeschen Of course, in the interests of his safety, the media should now stop reporting anything Abbott does or says #auspol

Tony Abbott & the Storm in 'The Lobby' Teacup

   I have come to the conclusion, not hard I know, that Tony Abbott is functionally incapable of allowing Julia Gillard to have a good day out and about in the public doing her job as Prime Minister. He must find a way to rain on her parade.

   On Australia Day he called a Press Conference after his ostentatious He-Man display of swimming in Sydney Harbour, to blow the dog whistle with respect to Asylum Seekers, as I have outlined previously, and to attempt to mimic his mentor, John Howard's ability to be deliberately ambiguous in his provocations.  In this instance as it related to the 40th Anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.

   Abbott's use of the term 'move on', when talking about it could be construed in the metaphorical sense to allude to the sentiment that, the issues which led to the creation of the Tent Embassy were very different to the environment around it today, so maybe the need for it was questionable & the perception was that we have all 'moved on' from then well and truly.

    Though, not only metaphorically but a literal interpretation could see people take away the idea that he meant that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy should now be physically 'moved on' from it's home near Parliament House.  As the Wikipedia article on the Aboriginal Tent Embassy states, a couple of Coalition governments have attempted to have it 'moved on' but have failed. Also a number of arson attacks have failed to succeed in 'moving it on' from the lawns of Old Parliament House:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Tent_Embassy

This Assimilationist sentiment is still held by a sizeable number of Coalition MPs in this country. The 'I am, you are, we all are Australian' mindset. Which is playing out on the Menzies House blog via their petition to get people to sign up to their conclusion that the Tent Embassy should be taken down. To which I might add that if it had been overwhelmingly successful, I'm sure that, as leader of the Conservative forces in this country, he would have used the weight of numbers to force the issue a bit more in public.
   
   So, where this all has left us is that on Australia Day Tony Abbott detonated a couple of verbal incendiary devices, and waited patiently to see whether either of them would blow up in the government's face.

   As no one else except me appears to have cottoned on to the Asylum Seeker drowning in the ocean=who cares? but Bronzed Aussie Surf Life Savers saving the lives of Aussies who have drowned=the most important thing on Earth, Abbott dog whistle, it fell to an inexperienced staffer in the PM's media office to take the Aboriginal Tent Embassy bait, and run with it when Abbott came to Canberra.  Much to the PM's chagrine, I imagine, as she would much rather have had Tony Abbott's verbal hand grenades fizzle out in Sydney.  I think the fact that she made a point of saying in her Saturday Press Conference that she was absolutely unaware of Tony Hodges' calls to a member of UnionsACT, Kim Sattler, who was at the Tent Embassy Commemoration ceremony, wherein he informed her of Tony Abbott's presence at The Lobby restaurant, leads me to safely say that, had she known what he was going to do, she would have stopped it. For the simple reason of not giving Tony Abbott any more oxygen over the issue, and because, as she said, she didn't want that issue bleeding into and all over the medal ceremony.

   Now that it has, the media have got their storm in a Lobby teacup, Abbott has succeeded in bringing back to centre stage all the most offensive imagery that the electorate associates with Indigenous Australian Activism and the most extreme ends of their political agenda, during the period that the Prime Minister had hoped for rational discussion around Australia's kitchen tables with respect to the upcoming referenda associated with recognition of Indigenous Australians in the body of the Australian Constitution.

   And John Singleton, Ray Hadley and Tony Abbott have again conspired to hijack the political agenda away from the Prime Minister, due to the naive actions of a young and overenthusiastic staffer.  Sigh.

Another Duplicitous Hypocritical Statement by Tony Abbott

  Today, Australia Day, Tony Abbott was at the Sydney Opera House and made a big splash announcement that the Coalition would be donating $10 Million over the next 5 years(and where is that large sum of money coming from I might ask? Especially considering the Coalition coffers were supposed to be almost empty), to the Surf Life Saving Association of Australia.
   Fair enough, you might think, they are a worthy cause, and nothing could be more Australian on Australia Day that the Bronzed Aussie Lifesaver. However, it was the words that accompanied the announcement that piqued my interest. For as Tony Abbott made the announcement he made the point of saying words to the effect that, "There is nothing more important than saving the lives of drowning Australians."
   Now, let me just unpack that statement a little bit for you as I interpret it.

1. Tony Abbott is saying that it is most important that 'Australian' lives be saved.
2. Tony Abbott is implying that it is not so important that if Asylum Seekers drown at sea they are not saved.
3.  This contradistinction was made in the week after Tony Abbott announced his brutal policy for Asylum Seekers who come to this country by boat.

   What I think I'm seeing here folks is a Conservative politician who is capable of blowing the dog whistle so silently and imperceptibly and adroitly that it zeroes in on the electorate's lizard brain.
   He is the most dangerous man to ever run for the position of Prime Minister of Australia that I have known. One only has to look at the dangerous situation that he and the Prime Minister found themselves in this afternoon at The Lobby Restaurant in Canberra, as a result of comments he made earlier in the day about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, to have a taste of what the future might hold for our country, should he be so elected.
   Here are some pictures and an article about the incident:
http://static.lifeislocal.com.au/multimedia/images/full/1668850.jpg

http://www.smh.com.au/national/pm---dragged-away-after-being-trapped-by--protesters-20120126-1qj1c.html

http://www.aapone.com.au/search.aspx?search=JULIA+GILLARD+AUSTRALIA+DAY+PROTEST%26%28IMPORTDATE%3E20120125%29

The Iron Lady's Iron Grip On Tony Abbott's Goolies.

  G'day! Happy Australia Day! Or commiserations on 'Invasion Day'(though I believe most Indigenous Australians are over the pure angst by this stage in our nation's history, but I am sympathetic).

   Now, you may have by now noticed that this blog post is in a rusty brown colour. I decided to do this because I have just finished reading the piece by Jame Cadzow about Australia's very own 'Iron Lady', and Tony Abbott's personal nomination for 'Australian of the Year', Gina Reinhart:

  http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/the-iron-lady-20120116-1q1u6.html
   I am just going to add a few comments of my own about Gina. Feel free to make your own, or to say something about mine below.     
   Firstly, to my eyes, even for all her wealth, Gina Reinhart doesn't appear to have health.  Which is the one thing I noticed when I owned and ran my Pharmacy in Nedlands, Western Australia, next suburb to Dalkeith, home of Gina Reinhart and other massively wealthy Western Australians. That is, they all fell back down to Earth from their stratospheric heights of wealth when it came to the expression of their obvious mortality via their health, or lack thereof. They could try and behave like Masters and Mistresses of the Universe for as many hours of the day as Ms Reinhart seems to, but at the end of the day, she, as much as anyone, is reliant on medication and doctors for her continued survival and the prosperity it brings to her.

   Secondly, the next time you hear Tony Abbott rabbit on about repealing the MRRT and the 'Carbon Tax', ask yourself, 'Who is going to benefit from him doing this?' It is my contention that the benefits of repeal for Joe the Bogan and family, will be penny ante stuff compared with the enormous saving which will be amassed by Big Gina and her little mate Twiggy Forrest.

   They don't care about saving the planet, or providing a good education for a poor child in the Eastern States with the tax money, or a 1% cut to Company Tax for Small Businesses, or an increase from 9% to 12% in Superannuation for workers.  They only care about exploiting the planet's resources, it's people, and adding to their bank balance, and it's natural consequence, accumulating power which they can wield to their advantage.

   Which is why the pusillanimous sycophant Tony Abbott(and if you saw the look on his face when he was in the presence of Big Gina at a fundraising dinner in WA you'll know what I mean), has already been bought and paid for by them. And why he dances to their tune.                                                                                                                                                               

My First Post

    Hello and welcome to my blog, 'Looking for the Truth in the Political Wilderness'.

   Why is it always hard to write the first line after the introduction? It just is, I guess. So, having got that out of the way let me just start by outlining what will be the pillars that my blog will be built on.

    Firstly, this will not be a blog that you can rely on for it's regularity. I will be posting here as and when my life allows me the luxury.  I will however endeavour to make daily contributions, in one shape or another, on a daily basis.  This may be as simple as my posting my Tweets for the day, posting a long form written piece, posting some videos which I wish to share, or some articles that I have read, which I may or may not comment upon, or cartoons that I have found amusing or relevant.  I would love it if you felt like commenting about any of this.

   Secondly, I will be all for freewheeling back and forth.  I will, however, not be the slightest bit interested in flame wars, ad hominem attacks on me or other posters, or personal attacks on politicians. Such contributions will be gone in the blink of an eye. Go speak ill about me and others on other blogs. Now, hypocritically as it may seem, but I will feel free to make negative comments about people who are part of the political scene because it may be that I perceive that what that particular person is doing is having a negative effect on the political conversation and I may have a theory as to why, which may look to some like a personal attack. Rest assured, it will only be because I think that it adds to the discussion.

   Now, on with the show!