Ardeet's Soapbox

Bradley Manning steals Obama's Nobel Peace Prize glory

2012-02-11T20:23:00.000+11:00

SOPA and PIPA explanations

2012-01-23T06:58:00.001+11:00

If The Empire passes SOPA or PIPA it will ruin the internet and create one of the greatest infringements of freedom in history.

The Khan Academy does a great job of simply explaining how disgusting these proposed bills in the U.S.A are and why they will literally impact on the rest of the world.

Notice that Salman Khan point out that this is a Shoot first, ask questions later approach with no legal ramifications for the accuser.

Clay Shirky gives a talk for Ted that shows just how insidious these potential laws can be.

Notice where Clay points out that it is a copyright violation for a cake shop to print a child's drawing of Mickey Mouse on that child's own birthday cake.

Information on protests against SOPA (including the Internet Blackout of Jan 18 2012) can be found in this Wikipedia article.

Real BUP

2012-01-12T17:50:00.000+11:00

Real BUP. I wanted to make an animation for my short piece of music ...
This is free to use however you want. Attribution is appreciated but not required.
ardeet.blogspot.com
Created with Animation Creator HD and Garageband for iPad

Lobbying - a very profitable investment

2012-01-07T14:27:00.001+11:00

Here's a great clip from The Young Turks who cover a report on the financial benefits of lobbying. If you wonder why companies spend so much money on politicians and other governments the amounts that they do on lobbying The Empire then this will start to give us an idea:

Iran attacks the United States of America

2012-01-02T12:22:00.000+11:00

When the U.S.A et al finally attack Iran, listen carefully to the reasons that "no-one could have seen this coming" and why "regrettably this had to be done." It's just the same game with different pieces and the sheeple unquestioningly lap it up every time.

Chiquita didn't get irony

2011-12-21T08:59:00.000+11:00

On the spot fine

2011-12-18T08:30:00.002+11:00

Christmas in Afghanistan

2011-12-15T16:45:00.000+11:00

Tyrantasaudius wrecks

2011-11-25T06:15:00.002+11:00

Does the US have the stomach for another police action and will China and Russia stomach it? ardeet.blogspot.com

Antiwar.com - "US deploys aircraft carrier to Syrian coast."
Zerohedge.com - "Aircraft Carrier CVN-77 Parks Next Door To Syria Just As US Urges Americans To Leave Country 'Immediately' "
Forbes - "US Government Urges American Citizens to Leave Syria as US Aircraft Carrier Approaches"

Who is really winning in Afghanistan?

2011-11-21T12:14:00.001+11:00

While the USA pumps in hundreds of billions of dollars, China is buying oil and copper production.

Article from Businessweek "China builds lead in Afghan Commodities - Adds Oil to Copper"

Hitler and Satan sit down to watch their favourite TV show

2011-11-10T22:01:00.000+11:00

Foodini

2011-10-30T15:27:00.000+11:00

World leaders celebrate the death of Gaddafi

2011-10-21T12:46:00.000+11:00

Government helps kidnappers

2011-10-12T08:03:00.003+11:00

In "Kidnapped photojournalist takes aim at Government" from the ABC/AAP, Nigel Brennan reveals the bungling by the Australian Government in trying to free him from his Somali kidnappers.

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help" - Love or hate Ronald Reagan, he was spot on with this statement.
Typical of activities that the government gets involved with, this life endangering farce cost ten times more than the original estimate and took five times longer.
It's telling that Brennan's family had to sever ties with government help and involvment in order to get the job done themselves.

Here are some of the key bungles, according to Brennan:

Final ransom was $US658,000 when the average cost is $US54,000
Captivity was prolonged to 15 months when 3 months is average
Stephen Smith was "tardy and eventually dishonest"
Kevin Rudd was "less than involved"
A number of DFAT personnel believe that they handled the case incorrectly
24/7 monitoring of his family's landline by Australian Federal Police failed to pick up two calls from the kidnappers. Hilariously Brennan was making these calls with a gun to his head ... ah those crazy government officials.

The Senate committee is scheduled to report on it's investigations by November 24 so we'll see if the fox has any meaningful comments on it's inability to guard the henhouse.

Sawdust Allergy

2011-10-12T06:09:00.000+11:00

Steve Jobs leaves his mark on Apple

2011-10-06T12:02:00.000+11:00

Murderous business as usual in Afghanistan

2011-09-30T12:46:00.000+10:00

The following interview with Gareth Porter on The Real News Network gives a useful update and summary on the continuing battle to win the hearts and minds of the Afghani people through Night Raids by JSOC, civilian maiming Predator drone attacks and opportunistically imprisoning civilians.

Those Afghanis just won't roll over and let us scratch their tummies will they?

More at The Real News

Remember if you live in one of the following countries participating in the Afghanistan "War(?)" then your government is using your money and your name to murder innocent people and create more generations of terrorists.

United States
Australia
United Kingdom
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
France
Belgium
Lithuania
Netherlands
New Zealand
Poland
Italy
Turkey
India
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Romania
Estonia
Finland

Government works hard to solve the unemployment problem

2011-09-27T11:32:00.000+10:00

"If you propose that the world is full of bad people then why would you want a monopoly organisation that people can gain control of? If you propose that the world is full of good people then what would you need a monopoly organisation for? If you propose that the world is full of good and bad people then wouldn't the bad people be attracted to the monopoly organisation of force and privilege?"

Unknown

Julia Gillard solves climate change.

2011-07-11T13:12:00.001+10:00

ABC - Gillard begins carbon tax sell.
Gillard's address to the nation

While a little left leaning the following post gives a very digestible overview of the Carbon Price/Tax deception:

Grog's Gamut: The Carbon Price: The Tim Tams are safe; not sure about hyperbole

What's good for the Gander is no good for the Sheeple

2011-06-17T10:19:00.000+10:00

The Washington Times has an editorial titled "One law for us, another for you". It reveals that the California Senate voted (28-8) to exempt itself from gun-control laws that apply to everyone else in California. Additionally it notes some other beauties that they've bestowed upon themselves:

"Exact salaries for state assemblymen and senators are obscured by the use of a “per diem” payment scheme that shelters a significant chunk of income from taxation."

"lawmakers rejected a bill that would have prohibited acceptance of concert and sporting event tickets, gift cards, spa treatments, golf outings and other benefits from lobbyists trying to buy votes."

"select public employees [are allowed] to avoid paying red-light-camera tickets and escape any consequence for using toll roads without paying. The current system grants free rides to politicians, court workers, police officers, city council members, social workers, meter maids and their spouses."

Forget the Red team vs Blue team politics. This is government, again, creating one law for themselves and one law for the tax livestock.

These are the same people that exempt themselves from airport body gropes and have tax livestock funded security allocated after their terms of office. These are the societal parasites that give themselves pay raises while knocking back increases for the sheeple and grant healthcare that is better than the voter ... you know the list is sickeningly long.

It's not about who you vote in, it's about the power you let them steal from you.

Virgins and Whores

2011-06-01T11:31:00.000+10:00

Amnesty International has revealed that women protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square (9 Mar 2011) were forced to take virginity tests.

The story is covered in two articles - "Egypt: Admission of forced 'virginity tests' must lead to justice" and "Egyptian women protesters forced to take 'virginity tests' ."

It has also been covered by the Australian ABC in "Egypt must investigate forced virginity tests"

Some (insane?) choice quotes:

"We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place,"

"The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine,"

"These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs),"

Before the pro-western, pro-christian indignation rises too high, remember that the United States was more than happy to use Egypt for Rendition. This means that allies of the U.S. also support/condone this torture.

These are your leaders using your money and committing these atrocities in your name.

Common Good and government

2011-05-31T17:50:00.001+10:00

Bomb Them of course

2011-05-28T17:29:00.000+10:00

Obama meets the Queen - and other important headlines

2011-05-27T06:52:00.000+10:00

Antiwar.com needs your support.

America is my mother land

2011-04-15T16:23:00.000+10:00

United States government involved in multiple wars

2011-04-03T14:02:00.000+10:00

Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya - How many self righteous wars are the United States government prepared to wage?

Michael Scheuer's Non-Intervention.com - "Lies in the air of Libya's spring - The return of 'unintended consequences' "

Justin Raimondo in Antiwar.com - "Foreign Policy and the Midterms"

Scott Horton from Antiwar.com on the Edgington Post - audio clip

2011-04-02T15:50:00.001+11:00

In this audio clip Scott Horton from Antiwar.com discusses the United States government involvement in multiple wars and military action. Horton investigates this topic full time so the interview serves as a solid introduction to the government obscenities abhorred on Antiwar.com.

Mark Edge is from The Edgington Post and this interview was the follow on from the Free Talk Live (freetalklive.com) episode that aired 28 March 2011.

Irradiated babies

2011-04-02T12:05:00.002+11:00

Presstv.com article - US using depleted uranium in 'Humanitarian Intervention'
Stop the War Coalition article - Depleted uranium: the weapons that dare not speak their name.

Russia Today video

Flying robot bird

2011-04-01T17:50:00.000+11:00

This is truly an amazing flying robot. It may attempt to excrete silicon chips onto your electric car yet there it has an undeniable poetic fluidity.

Text message in a bottle

2011-04-01T09:55:00.001+11:00

Two out of three celebrate yet another glorious victory for Laboral Democracy

2011-03-28T12:14:00.000+11:00

Who owns your money? (it's not you)

2011-03-24T15:59:00.000+11:00

TheAntiTerrorist presents some concise and valuable information on the fiat money systems and the (unsurprisingly) duplicitous role of the government.

One of the surprises for me was the chain of legal logic that demonstrates how little we actually own.

It would be great if you rated these videos on YouTube.

TheAntiTerrorist, Right on the 'Money'

Gillard takes aim at the electorate

2011-03-21T10:06:00.000+11:00

Using a well worn tool, Julia Gillard is now (predictably?) offering free money to the sheeple to support her new tax.

Gillard in the US Congress does not speak for "all Australians"

2011-03-10T18:04:00.001+11:00

In response to "What we are for" by George Monbiot

2011-03-07T19:50:00.001+11:00

George Monbiot has an article in the UK Guardian - "What we are for".

There are a number of articles written by George Monbiot that I have enjoyed and many of his points that I have agreed with. This article has several that I side with:

1) Protest against taxation

2) Scrapping of military spending projects

3) Gathering together and objecting with a strong voice against government

However, I disagree with a number of his assumptions and am slightly disturbed by some points he presents as facts.

My biggest concern lies in his assertion that it is economically sensible for the government to swell the public service by creating jobs. This is one of the lynch pins of his article and I consider he is being slightly disingenuous in presenting this as fact.

He references a Richard Murphy article ("The only way to cut government debt is to increase government spending") that is initially quoted by UNISON and which I have a number of problems with Murphy's reasoning:

1) Murphy assumes that all benefits are justified. If you increase the benefits (as pushed for by large corporations such as UNISON (1.375 million members)) then Murphy's equations and arguments fall apart.

2) In his paragraph on extrapolation and statistics Murphy is saying that he is interpreting and effectively guessing that his figures are correct.

3) Murphy states unequivocally that he is promoting a Keynesian philosophy and that the government can spend it's way out of the this problem. The article was written in July 2009 so history has already made some comment on the effects of the bailouts. He concludes the article with the assertion that spending worked in the 30s so we should trust him that it will work now.

4) In his third last paragraph Murphy basically negates his own argument by stating that private sector demand will eventually pick up.

As stated, I consider that Monbiot is being disingenuous.

The next worrying suggestion of significance is the oh so reasonable sounding "Robin Hood" tax. While he marks this as highly progressive it is likely to follow the path of all well intentioned taxes and be another arrow through the arse cheeks of the middle class's scarlet tights.

By his very own admission Monbiot has pointed out that "tax avoidance and evasion are the preserve of the very rich: only millionaires and corporations can afford the specialist advice required to disguise their earnings". In other words the same people who avoid tax now are the same people who will avoid tax in the future and leave the burden of the financial transactions tax to the poor and middle class. As offensive as it sounds, the employees of tax collecting agencies are just not smart enough to outwit the vast majority of "tax avoiders".

Unfortunately the same argument applies to the referenced suggestion by Greg Philo of Glasgow University. His proposition will rescue the people's money from the evil rich that have "stashed [it] away" (saved it for future use?). The well intentioned cap of £1million pounds and the reasonable sounding 20% are exactly the sort of "unmoveable limits" that governments traditionally move and re-limit.

Unsurprisingly history shows that the burden is gradually shifted to the poor and middle class as time drifts by and memories of good intentions grow dim.

Monbiot's reference to the National Insurance illustrates this point. The National Insurance was initially set up for illness and unemployment. It then later grew to include retirement pensions and other benefits. It then became further entrenched when payroll tax was introduced. While it is meant to be hypothecated (a specific tax for a specific expenditure) the government has ensured that there are self-serving loopholes for it's own rules. A large proportion of the fund is invested in government securities which means that the money raised by National Insurance is available for general government spending. The latest figures show that this is approximately 17% of total government receipts.

And Monbiot and his sources want to give more taxation and more employees to this government machine? Yep, that'll stop the little guy from being shafted.

I have some other minor comments in Monbiot's article:

1) Who is this royal "we" that he keeps referring to? And by inference who is the "them"?

2) It's worrying that there doesn't seem to be any concise aims being put forward by "the great rally". It risks being seen as a bunch of complainers or worse still, leaving itself open to hijacking by special interest groups/individuals. His point on the measurability of progress is critical. Also the observation that people lose hope without a programme is well made.

3) To combat tax avoidance he suggests putting on more staff at HM Revenue and Customs. What he doesn't address is: How many staff?; How are the staff going to be paid for?; How is an increased level of bureaucracy going change things when the current level is ineffectual and can't even be managed correctly?

4) The minimum wage should be raised by CPI plus 5%? Here's an idea, let's make the minimum wage $1000 an hour and very soon everyone will be millionaires thus eliminating poverty.

5) The money saved by scrapping military projects should be spent on public housing. Saved money that is spent is not saved money.

6) The money saved by scrapping military hardware should be spent on "offshore renewables". Where does he think the natural resources are going to come from for these renewables?(Financial Sense article on Rare Earth Metals)

Basically Monbiot is suggesting that the way to stop finance inequalities and abuse by the government is to make the government bigger and add more taxes. It's the fault of "the rich" and they must be made to pay. As with most articles revolving around this financial pariah the level of what is "very rich" is not addressed. I often suspect that it is the level to which the writer assumes he/she will not attain and therefore concludes that this is too much.

Socialist Pig

2010-12-16T15:29:00.001+11:00

I have to thank my friend Andrew for sending me a "Capitalist Pig" cartoon as a potential (?) end point to a series of emails debating the merits of Free Markets and the pitfalls of Collectivism.

Death by Whimsey

2010-12-09T07:38:00.003+11:00

Rendition Bunny prays for crucifixion

2010-12-08T20:41:00.003+11:00

Rendition Bunny prays to Jesus that some country, somewhere, still practices crucifixion.

Extraordinary Rendition.
Waterboarding.

Two Julian Assange and Wikileaks articles of note

2010-12-08T15:33:00.000+11:00

There are plenty of stories doing the rounds on Wikileaks and Julian Assange. Following are two that I consider notable for their accessibility and precision.

The first is "The Shameful attacks on Julian Assange" by David Samuels in The Atlantic. He clearly states why the vast majority of traditional media can hang their snivelling little heads in shame for their spineless bandwagonning against Wikileaks.

"It is dispiriting and upsetting for anyone who cares about the American tradition of a free press to see Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Robert Gibbs turn into H.R. Haldeman, John Erlichman and John Dean."

"Assange may or may not be grandiose, paranoid and delusional ... But the fact that so many prominent old school journalists are attacking him with such unbridled force is a symptom of the failure of traditional reporting methods to penetrate a culture of official secrecy that has grown by leaps and bounds since 9/11, and threatens the functioning of a free press as a cornerstone of democracy."

"It is a fact of the current media landscape that the chilling effect of threatened legal action routinely stops reporters and editors from pursuing stories that might serve the public interest - and anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant or lying."

The second story is by Julian Assange himself. "Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths" appears in The Australian. He talks of a new journalism called Scientific Journalism where you can click on the original document that spurned a story and make your own judgements.

A part of the story that I find particularly appealing is a summary of what the US diplomatic cables have revealed:

The US asked its diplomats to steal personal human material and information from UN officials and human rights groups, including DNA, fingerprints, iris scans, credit card numbers, internet passwords and ID photos, in violation of international treaties. Presumably Australian UN diplomats may be targeted, too.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia asked the US to attack Iran.

Officials in Jordan and Bahrain want Iran's nuclear program stopped by any means available.

Britain's Iraq inquiry was fixed to protect "US interests".

Sweden is a covert member of NATO and US intelligence sharing is kept from parliament.

The US is playing hardball to get other countries to take freed detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Barack Obama agreed to meet the Slovenian President only if Slovenia took a prisoner. Our Pacific neighbour Kiribati was offered millions of dollars to accept detainees.

Personally, I'd rather have the truth than pollywaffle.

Government regulated markets are not Free Markets

2010-12-08T13:09:00.003+11:00

Government regulated markets are not Free Markets. They are like ripping the wings from a Wedge Tail Eagle and conning people into believing that it's an Emu.

Another successful Predator Drone attack

2010-09-29T13:57:00.001+10:00

Gangsta Government - Rap Video

2010-09-29T09:35:00.000+10:00

There is an entertaining and informative rap video out called Gangsta Government that addresses abuses of freedom by the current Obama administration, although the essence of the criticism is at least bipartisan. The lyrics are on the same page.

Some snippets from the lyrics are as follows:

"Don’t need a Constitution or the rule of law,

we abuse our power using shock and awe.

Thousand page bills, see that’s the new norm,

nobody reads ‘em no more so we’ll get our reform.

Private sector takeover nearly complete,

got health and auto industries under our feet.

Regulate your light bulbs, your car and your pad,

listen up kids, government’s your new dad!"

It is from the Minnesota Majority who are a busy body of moralising conservatives and statists. In pointing the finger at their current enemy, Obama, they manage to capture the essence of government corruption. As with many conservatives the problems only "started" at the beginning of 2009.

In this clip Republican Michele Bachmann actually uses the phrase "gangster government" 1 minute and 40 seconds (1:40) into her speech. She can get on her high horse all she likes but she's still riding around in the same glass house. As above, she is so intent on damaging her enemy that she fails to notice the government wide applicability of her criticisms.

TheAntiTerrorist on The Big Business of Being Behind Bars

2010-09-13T13:36:00.003+10:00

The AntiTerrorist gives a useful summary of the prison situation in the United States (sorry to give away the answer to his quiz).

If you find the AntiTerrorist a bit disturbing then fast forward in 05:15 to the segment from QI starring the "fabulous" Mr Stephen Fry who questions his panel on U.S. prisons.

Australian 2010 Elections - Hung Parliament

2010-08-22T07:15:00.007+10:00

The Australian people have mumbled and we are still incoherent.

Conroy and Gillard reveal their true form

2010-07-23T16:33:00.003+10:00

An article by Ben Grubb in the Sydney Morning Herald - "No Minister: 90% of web snoop document censored to stop 'premature unnecessary debate' " - shows the despicable level of contempt that government officials like Stephen Conroy and Julia Gillard have for the people they purportedly "serve".

The whole article is worth the read. The link to the censored document is worth a look to give the government fundamentalists out there another insight into what their beliefs bring down on the heads of those around them.

Gerald Celente on the Financial Reform bill

2010-07-23T06:57:00.000+10:00

I love Gerald Celente's passion for speaking his mind. I don't agree with his implications that government is necessary yet his sociological points are nearly always spot on.

In this clip Gerald points out that the Financial Reform Bill signed by Barack Obama is unlikely to change the kind of Wall Street risk-taking that was part of the Global Financial Crisis.

Knowing the government propensity for unintended consequences and a bizarre residence in opposite world, I brace for the ramifications of a bill that will "Protect consumers ... [and make the] financial system stronger" (quoted from the Washington Post article "Congress passes financial reform bill").

Tony Abbott to appear on Hey Hey it's Saturday with Kylie Minogue

2010-07-21T06:43:00.001+10:00

Our Lady for Perpetual Suckers

2010-07-19T10:08:00.001+10:00

The Election Cycle

2010-06-26T11:56:00.001+10:00

Ralph Nader unemotionally puts the case for the return of Helen Thomas.

2010-06-25T21:45:00.001+10:00

I'm not the biggest fan of Ralph Nader, however I am an admirer of Helen Thomas who Nader supports quite simply in this report from The Real News Network ("Nader says reinstate Helen Thomas").

He makes the apt analogy that her dismissal and treatment was like a professional execution.

More at The Real News

Obama lies as competently as Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon

2010-06-22T19:13:00.000+10:00

Jon Stewart has compiled a dossier of US presidential lies on energy independence in his show of 16 June 2010.

He shows clips of the last eight US presidents all giving assurances that the US will become energy independent and setting ever further deadlines.

While it is disheartening, it is a very useful package of information to share with fanatical government fundamentalists.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

An Energy-Independent Future

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Australia prepares for the 2010 Elections

2010-06-19T10:14:00.002+10:00

Canberra is full of politicians

2010-06-16T05:12:00.002+10:00

The frog and the scorpion

2010-06-10T13:44:00.003+10:00

A young frog finished his first week of work. With money in his pocket he walked out of factory with two friends. At the gate was a red scorpion waiting to greet the three frogs.

“Give me a third of your wages!” demanded the scorpion.

“I worked hard for this money” said the young frog. “Why should I give it to you?”

“Give it to me or I’ll sting you” threatened the scorpion.

Intimidated by the threat of violence, the three young frogs handed over the money.

The young frog decided to speak to the wise old bull-frog who had been his neighbour for as long as he could remember. Confused and upset, the young frog revealed the events of the day.

The old bull-frog simply said “Do you know who the scorpion is?”

The young frog had no answer and returned sadly to his house.

Time passed and each week the young frog and his friends had their wages stolen. They were now conditioned to hand over a third of their money. While it enraged them each time, the fear of being stung outweighed their anger at the stand over tactics.

One week as they left the factory the scorpion was at the gate with three other scorpions.

“There are more of us now. You need to give us half your wages” rasped the scorpion as all three menacingly waved their stingers. “If you don’t give us your money then all of us will sting you!”

The three young frogs gave up their money and sadly went back home. The young frog stopped by the old bull-frog again and told him of this new development.

Once again the old bull-frog said “Do you know who the scorpion is?”

The young frog still didn’t know the answer and returned to his home.

As time moved on the number of scorpions grew, as did the amount of money stolen from the frogs.

One day as the three young frogs left the factory they were surrounded by thirty-two red scorpions. They handed over ninety percent of their wages and went to leave with their heads bowed but the scorpions stopped them.

“You three frogs must come with us. We need to attack the blue scorpions. They are threatening to sting you and your families. Without our help you will surely die!” they screamed.

Confused and terrified, the three frogs went with the scorpions to the battlefield. They were dressed in red and given weapons that maimed and tore.

“Fight for peace and your unborn children!” the red scorpions cried as they pushed the frogs onto the battlefield.

“Fight for peace and your unborn children!” the blue scorpions cried as they pushed their frogs onto the battlefield.

“Fight in our name or surely you will die!” cried the red and blue scorpions in eerie unison.

Red uniforms became stained with blood. Blue uniforms became stained with blood. Torn limbs undressed became unidentifiable.

A sudden blast of fire knocked the young frog to the ground. He lay there mortally wounded. In the distance he heard the maniacal cry of the scorpions.

“Keep fighting! We’re almost safe!”

The absurdity shook open his eyes and he saw the answer to his question.

“Do you know who the scorpion is?”

The scorpion is government.

Government kills your children

2010-06-10T07:35:00.000+10:00

Business Pundit has an article on "The 15 riskiest children's products you can buy"

From the article:
"Children's Medicine. Over nearly 20 years, Tylenol has been plagued with massive recalls on a variety of their products, mostly due to sins repeated."

From Wikipedia:
"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, ... responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of ... prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications)"

While the other 14 products are "apparently" also being supervised by government I found the warning on children's medicine the most telling. 20 years of "sins repeated" spans time in office by both the red and the blue teams.

This is the system that is meant to run financial markets, create laws, look after the environment, fight the "war on drugs" and provide social security. Twenty years and they can't even ensure that the medicine you put in your child is uncontaminated?

Don't believe the hype.

Government to make mortgage foreclosure illegal

2010-03-06T18:07:00.001+11:00

Interesting comment by Larry Levin 1:25 into this clip where he reveals that government is planning to once again interfere in our lives by making it illegal to foreclose on mortgages.

The Great Game continues

2010-02-24T06:57:00.002+11:00

The Times online has a geopolitically interesting article “Latin America backs Argentina as Britain begins Falklands oil quest” by Hanna Strange
It’s always fascinating to see the Great Game continue. It makes for a change of pace that this time (yet?) the main player is not the mob North of Hugo Chavez.

Beneath the waving of flags, the shouting of accusations and the tear smudged hand over the heart lies one of the story's most pertinent quote:

"The British Geological Survey estimates that up to 60 billion barrels of oil could be beneath Falklands waters..."

Whistleblower on Writing Speeches For The Government

2010-02-23T05:34:00.000+11:00

In this article from The Age Myles Peterson whistleblows on his time as speech writer in the Health Department. Spin, lies, deceit and waste - this well written article details it all. Probably best avoided if your blood vessels have thin walls.

This story took my level of disgust for government to new heights. Following are some choice quotes but the article is worth reading in it's entirety.

"Our section was under-budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars, necessitating we blow all the unspent money before the end of the financial year."

(as a result they went on an almost meaningless conference junket)

"I was surprised to discover the minds behind these [Public Health] campaigns were not health professionals. They had backgrounds and degrees in marketing, communications and advertising, not medicine. Under their watch, the government became the No.1 spender on free-to-air television."

(good for everyone ... except?)

"The ministers' staff were as fond of cancelling events as they were of commissioning them."

(no need to explain why you're wasting everyone else's time when you're the "important" person in the finery)

''The PM is going to make a health announcement and you have to organise it,'' we were told.

''When's it happening?''

''Monday.'' (It was Friday afternoon.)

''When did we first learn about it?''

''Now.''

(Oh my google they're good. I remember hearing this and not having the faintest idea that it was so hastily cobbled together).

As stated above it's my opinion that you must read the article.

Taxman given all clear to break into homes

2010-02-17T19:54:00.000+11:00

Phew! I was beginning to think Australia was a bit of an also-ran when it came to unwarranted home/work invasions by government bodies.

Now we can hold our head high with the rest of the world governments.

This article by Peter Martin in the Sydney Morning Herald details how the Australian Taxation Office have been given the all clear to conduct searches in your home and business without a warrant.

"The visits, which involve locksmiths and do not need court-issued warrants, have received the all-clear from the Ombudsman after an investigation in which his staff accompanied 100 tax officers on a co-ordinated raid on homes, cars and workplaces in four states."

"An earlier Senate report found that the ATO conducted as many as 280,000 raids without warrants yearly."

Stephen Conroy attempts to slay the Google-monster

2010-02-13T16:26:00.002+11:00

There is an article in The Melbourne Age Technology section by Asher Moses titled "Google balks at Conroy's call to censor YouTube"

From the article:

"Google says it will not "voluntarily" comply with the government's request that it censor YouTube videos in accordance with broad "refused classification" (RC) content rules.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy referred to Google's censorship on behalf of the Chinese and Thai governments in making his case for the company to impose censorship locally.

Google warns this would lead to the removal of many politically controversial, but harmless, YouTube clips."

Goodonya Google!

Stephen Conroy and the Rudd government can stick their intrusive, ill-conceived, puritanical controls in a place with no sunlight ... sideways and painfully as far as I'm concerned.

Duck and Cover. Obama’s first Afghan assault

2010-02-10T05:55:00.002+11:00

ABC News has published a Reuters based story titled “NATO warns villagers to ‘keep heads down’ “
Afghan villagers are being advised to keep their heads down during an upcoming planned assault. This almost absurd advice reminds me of the old “Duck and Cover” advice given all those decades ago as a way to avoid the effects of nuclear war.
Duck and Cover!
When that RPG comes screaming into your house - just duck and cover.
When those .50 cal rounds are tearing through your flimsy walls - simply duck and cover.
When combatants from either side are kicking your door down and spraying your room with bullet all you need do is duck and cover.
Keep your head down and everything will be okay!

"The assault, the first since US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan in December, is the start of a campaign to impose government control on rebel-held areas."
Congratulations on your first assault Obama. My guess is there will be many more.

"We very much hope the military phase of this operation will go ahead swiftly and with as little incident as possible."
"This of course very much depends on the conduct of those people who are in Marjah at the moment, their choices about whether to resist or to lay down their weapons."
If it all goes horribly wrong then it's their fault not ours.

Geithner says U.S. will 'Never’ lose it’s AAA Debt Rating

2010-02-08T06:29:00.003+11:00

US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner has assured the economic world that the US will never lose it’s AAA Debt Rating. When assurances of this strength are given it raises one question – When are they going to lose their rating?
The news story by Rebecca Christie appears here on Bloomberg.

Some choice quotes:

On whether a downgrade is a concern (after this comment by Moody’s Investor Service):
“That will never happen to this country.”
Government track records are not crash hot on “never”.

When will the predicted USD$1.6 trillion deficit be reigned in?
“The U.S. plans to rein in the deficit once the labor market recovers”
One day, definitely, maybe, providing that …

When will homeowners get promised reworked loans?
“Treasury chief responded that the administration is ‘absolutely committed’ to following through on its promises.”
A government promise? I’m not holding my breath.

Would tighter financial regulations put U.S. banks at a disadvantage?
“I’m very confident we can make sure that we are working very closely to raise global standards around the world so we have a level playing field”
Read – we’re going to use our economic muscle to make sure that everyone else has the same crippling, over-the-top controls on their financial institutions.

If (and it’s not a large if) the downgrade happens it will not happen straightaway as there are enormous forces at play. Unfortunately the red flag is raised for me when I hear politicians state categorically that nothing is going to happen.

(pre-modified photo from Bloomberg, in the same article)

Kevin Rudd prepares for Barack Obama's visit to Australia

2010-02-02T09:11:00.003+11:00

Kevin Rudd prepares for Barack Obama's Australian visit in March 2010. He's going to be beside himself.

Burn the climate change denier

2010-01-30T12:35:00.004+11:00

Maybe it's time to start burning the climate change deniers?

(thanks for the inspiration Ian Plimer).

Some scientists who have questions about climate change:
Wikipedia list
The Petition Project

Ron Paul vs Paul Kanjorski on Bernanke reappointment – CNBC Squawkbox

2010-01-27T10:46:00.002+11:00

In the course of this debate Ron Paul ends up giving an easily digestible summary of the problems with the Federal Reserve.
This clip is great for an overview of the Audit the Fed bill and economic problems caused by the Fed Reserve.

I Like Guns video by Steve Lee

2010-01-25T15:16:00.001+11:00

Music - meh. Sentiment - yeh.

Album Available at www.ilikeguns.com.au and in all good Australian gun stores. Purchase the MP3 through iTunes. Also available through www.CDBaby.com

Written by Steve Lee
Produced by Bill Chambers
Video Filming & Production: Scott Richardson - Vision TV

Drums: BJ Barker
Electric Guitar, Bass, Dobro, Harmonys: Bill Chambers
Mandolin: Raechel Lee
Acoustic Guitar & Lead Vocals: Steve Lee

For more information visit www.ilikeguns.com.au

Government continues to fix the economy

2010-01-22T06:16:00.002+11:00

Bless them. They're still trying.

2010 U.N. Climate Conference - Mexico

2010-01-19T10:32:00.003+11:00

The results for the 2010 U.N. Climate Conference in Mexico are already in.

Airport Body Scanners - Full Body Scanning Scam

2010-01-12T11:52:00.003+11:00

UPDATE/CORRECTION 21/3/2011 - Full nude photos are a scam, but images can be stored and transmitted.

I was wrong about the body scanner photos that were in my original post. It turns out that they were a mock up. I can't find why the TSA didn't deny this and let people worry but these are not actual photos.

Two blog posts will give you the full story:

tatumba.com details the faking and shows the source.
gizmodo details the leaking of 100 saved images

Sorry about the mistake.

Original Post Follows:

Here's three good articles on full body scanning. The technology being pushed by the TSA for use in airports.

In summary:

They can store images
They can transmit images
They can produce 100% recognisable, full body nude images

Wikiprotest Blog article

Shows the images that can be generated:

(photo from stephenkinsella.com)

Wired.com article by Kim Zetter

"Contrary to public statements made by the Transportation Security Administration, full-body airport scanners do have the ability to store and transmit images, according to documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center."

Newsweek article by Jason Chaffetz

"In Utah, submitting to these scanners is optional, so I refused. I was given a pat-down search instead, but only after arguing with the TSA about my rights. I worry that, soon, none of us will have an option."

(and this is a congress critter whingeing!)

Update 10th February 2010 - Australia is now set to get body scanners

According to the ABC story "New airport measures not enough: expert" (By Brigid Glanville for PM and staff):

"Body scanners will be introduced at Australian international airports from next year to screen outbound travellers as part of the Government's $200 million plan."

Nobel Peace Prize 2010

2010-01-08T10:39:00.001+11:00

Fun with the Pentatonic Scale

2009-12-31T16:43:00.006+11:00

This post is just a light hearted New Year's Eve piece of entertainment. I enjoyed how naturally the audience adapted to the imaginary keyboard.

Here's to a massively prosperous and free New Year.

Stephen Conroy tames the internet beast

2009-12-16T12:18:00.007+11:00

More articles in The Age about Conroy and the Rudd government/gang shenanigans:
Internet censorship plan gets the green light – Ahser Moses 15 Dec 09 (includes reader comments)
Big Brother laws to be brought in for web – Asher Moses 16 Dec 09
Australia announces controversial Internet filter – Amy Coopes 15 Dec 09
Regardless of how "noble" or "just" the rhetoric around this odious tripe may sound, it is still censorship.
Once the succubus that is government lies under the internet it pollutes and taints all that is free about this environment.
Try and think of only three government programs that haven't grown beyond original promises and costs or increased the power originally granted to themselves, by themselves.

Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has an update on the Government’s Internet filtering trial report. While you’re there check out the No Clean Feed campaign.

Senator Stephen Conroy Minister for Broadband saves us from the evil internet

2009-12-16T10:42:00.004+11:00

Thank goodness we have government gang members like Senator Stephen Conroy (no homepage?) to keep us safe from the evils of the internet.

Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has an update on the Government’s Internet filtering trial report. While you’re there check out the No Clean Feed campaign.

Private police records for sale

2009-12-07T16:10:00.004+11:00

This story in The Age by Paul Martin about secret police files being given to a commercial entity by the Brumby government absolutely astounded and disgusted me.

I'm almost speechless when I read the pathetic justifications for rampant, gross breaches of privacy in this story.

I understand the corruption of government and the complicity of police yet this one made me do one of those cartoon double-takes when I read the headline and first paragraph. To then read further and see that:

"Victoria Police last night said it was routine for police to sign such deals with organisations building big public projects where there were potential security risks."

was *almost* an incredibly good joke.

Here are some of the pathetic justifications for government and police corruption in the article:

"Under a deal struck by the State Government in a bid to ensure the project is finished before Melbourne runs out of water, Victoria Police has agreed to hand over photos, video recordings and other police records to the international consortium AquaSure to help it ''manage'' protests and potential security threats."

Security threats!

"The Department of Sustainability and Environment, which signed the desalination memorandum with Victoria Police and AquaSure, last night confirmed such agreements were common for major projects."

Common?!

''The sharing of information will be done without breaching privacy laws,''

Trust us.

''Police have a responsibility to minimise security risks and the potential for damage to projects. Our responsibility is not only to the project company, it's also to the community and public infrastructure.''

This betrayal of trust is how we are protected?

Every now and then I lull myself into the belief that I'm past being shocked by governments and yet this still got a rise out of me.

Rachel Maddow on Obama and the Bush Doctrine

2009-12-03T19:28:00.001+11:00

Rachel Maddow loves Obama. Rachel Maddow hates Obama. Good, that's out of the way.

Maddow demonstrates the continuity of the insanity in Afghanistan with this clip that contrasts Obama and Bush ... only to find a surfeit of similarity.

"If [politician x] of [party y] starts doing the wrong thing then the people have the power to change the wrongs being done in their name by voting [him/her] out of office!" - Good luck with that.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rudda the Hutt carefully chews each mouthful of the Emissions Trading Scheme

2009-11-24T11:25:00.006+11:00

After interminable deliberation and time wasting the Rudd government prepares to hand over the amended Emissions Trading Scheme to Turnbull's opposition (ABC Story by Naomi Woodley).

This expensive political gaming disgusts me.

A Free Market does not have regulations

2009-11-19T07:12:00.006+11:00

A common refrain that I hear in the wakes of the "Global Financial Crisis" and Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" is that the Free Market does not work.

No Free Market was allowed to happen. There were regulations that still governed business. Businesses also used the force of government for their own gains.

A Free Market does not have regulations imposed on it and it's participants by the use of force.

Majority Rules

2009-11-16T18:11:00.003+11:00

When someone tells you that democracy's use of majority rules is "the best system that we have" then think twice about the view that they hold and your view that they want to subjugate.

Can politicians read?

2009-08-20T20:13:00.002+10:00

I made the following post on Andrew Bolt's Forum for Thursday August 20. I found the reply by Hermit to be a telling insight into what I believe is part of the mindset of the drafters of legislation.

Can politicians read?
At what point do we stop politicians from passing legislation that they don’t, won’t or can’t read?

I confirmed with the Parliamentary Secretary that there is NO requirement for politicians to read the legislation they pass ("reading" in the house is in name only).

I wonder if anyone can provide any sort of excuse for this sloppy and dangerous neglect?

Ardeet of Hampton, Melbourne (Reply)
Thu 20 Aug 09 (04:57am)

Hermit replied to Ardeet
Thu 20 Aug 09 (08:21am)

Our firm, like every other medium to large sized legal firm does read every act. For a big act the work is typically divided between about a dozen of us.

Legislation is written by teams of draftsmen. No single human could ever be expected to read and understand all of it.

Ardeet replied to Ardeet
Thu 20 Aug 09 (09:44am)

Hermit,

Aren’t you forgetting the single humans that have to comply with the letter of the law?...us!

I don’t know what your “firm” is but doesn’t it tell you something that laws are being made that are so complicated that the average person can’t understand them? Or that the people voting on them can’t read them all?

Doesn’t it bother you that a lot of the power ends up lying with those who draft the legislation?

Steve replied to Ardeet
Thu 20 Aug 09 (10:40am)

This does not excuse Politicians, whose JOB it is to reveiw and pass acts into law from reading what will ultimately affect us all.

How you became a Lawyer is beyond me, your comments speak volumes for the way we view our politicians and legal system as a whole.

J.Hansford replied to Ardeet
Thu 20 Aug 09 (03:35pm)

“Aren’t you forgetting the single humans that have to comply with the letter of the law?...us!”

Excellent Ardeet. Well said and pointed out.

Dangerous Things

2009-08-18T20:39:00.002+10:00

There is a YouTube video by a bloke called nutnfancy that addresses the protectionist, nanny state culture surrounding "Dangerous Things". While I don't agree with his inference that legislation (his way) can work, I wholeheartedly support his sentiment.

Proper training and state of mind (either taught or self-taught) allows mankind's master of "Dangerous Things" to be an invaluable contribution to the world.

Taking personal responsibility and shunning the blame culture is liberating indeed.

This goes for 30 minutes. If you don't get in to it after 4 minutes then don't bother going further, otherwise you'll probably find yourself nodding along.

Incorrect measurement of Global Warming

2009-07-06T10:25:00.004+10:00

In the Herald Sun, columnist Andrew Bolt has an article called "How not to measure warming".

It details research by Anthony Watts (pdf here ) from surfacestations.org that shows the thermally poor locations of a statistically significant number of U.S. weather stations. A quote from his findings follows:

"In fact, we found that 89 percent of the stations – nearly 9 of every 10 – fail to meet the National Weather Service’s own siting requirements that stations must be 30 meters (about 100 feet) or more away from an artificial heating or radiating/reflecting heat source. In other words, 9 of every 10 stations are likely reporting higher or rising temperatures because they are badly sited.

It gets worse. We observed that changes in the technology of temperature stations over time also has caused them to report a false warming trend. We found major gaps in the data record that were filled in with data from nearby sites, a practice that propagates and compounds errors. We found that adjustments to the data by both NOAA and another government agency, NASA, cause recent temperatures to look even higher.

The conclusion is inescapable: The U.S. temperature record is unreliable."

It's interesting to see an example location of just one of the stations (many more in the links above). Note the MMTS is the temperature measurement device:

Meanwhile thhe US National Climate Data Center has claimed that Watts' findings don't make much difference ... (naturally :-) )

Carlton Football Club deals with John Elliott

2009-07-03T04:55:00.004+10:00

As stated in this ABC report the Carlton Football Club have banned John Elliott (added him to the list of "non-arrivals") over his allegations of sexual assault involving players.

Elliott has not been able to substantiate his claims (as of July 2009) yet I am always suspicious of the highly politicised AFL and it's members screaming and pointing at a pariah.

Canberra Thieves and Liars

2009-06-23T06:03:00.003+10:00

Obama continues the work of Bush who continued the work of ...

2009-05-26T06:41:00.004+10:00

Rachel Maddow dissects a speech by Obama and lays bare it's deceptive viscera.

Obama's proposed moves to implement "Indefinite Detention" for thought crimes as judged by a separate legal system is appalling and shameful.

I believe that the grander the setting and the more colourful the pomp of a political announcement then the more suspicious we need to be.

Federal Reserve admits losing 9 trillion dollars

2009-05-25T21:14:00.004+10:00

An interesting (?) video on wimp.com with U.S. Rep Alan Grayson questioning Fed Reserve Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman over some apparently misplaced USD$ 9,000,000,000,000.

Watch the Inspector General squirm! Watch the Congressman splutter! See the spin doctor advise from afar! Roll Up Roll Up!

I'm going to pretend it's not serious and recommend this as reasonably amusing.

Update: Daily Markets has a transcript. Here's the video on youtube:

First stimulus distraction built.

2009-05-24T10:20:00.004+10:00

One down, 19,999 to go. The ABC news reports on the NSW government crowing about the "First stimulus home built ahead of schedule".

"The Commonwealth is building 20,000 new affordable homes across the country as part of its $6.5 billion stimulus housing package. The newly built four-bedroom house in Sydney has been opened to the media."

The Theives and Liars do what they do best

2009-05-15T04:57:00.003+10:00

The British government MP expense revelations show us once again that current government systems promote corruption, even in potentially honest politicians.

The hand wringing, scurrying to pay back and sacrificial goats are now littering the field in rank mounds.

The British Daily Telegraph is providing indepth coverage through stories such as the "Full list of MPs investigated by the Telegraph". Disgustingly, it's a long list. Feel free to imagine the name of any of the politicians that steal from you doing just the same thing.

For posterity and your amusement (?), here it is (btw there are 82 people on the list):

Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Douglas Alexander spent more than £30,000 doing up his constituency home – which then suffered damage in a house fire.

Michael Ancram put the cost of having his swimming pool boiler serviced on his parliamentary allowances. He has agreed to repay the money

James Arbuthnot claimed from the public finances for cleaning his swimming pool at a country residence. He has agreed to repay the money

Vera Baird claimed the cost of Christmas tree decorations

Norman Baker asked if he could claim for a bicycle and a computer so he could listen to music and email family and friends

Greg Barker made a £320,000 profit selling a flat the taxpayer had helped pay for

Margaret Beckett made a £600 claim for hanging baskets and pot plants

Tony Blair re-mortgaged his constituency home and claimed almost a third of the interest around the time he was buying another property in London

Hazel Blears did not pay capital gains tax on a property she sold despite having told the Commons authorities it was her second home. She has since agreed to paid the tax but denied any wrongdoing.

Ben Bradshaw used his allowance to pay the mortgage interest on a flat he owned jointly with his boyfriend

Kevin Brennan had a £450 television delivered to his family home in Cardiff even though he reclaimed the money back on his London second home allowance

Gordon Brown's house swap let the PM claim thousands

Andy Burnham had an eight-month battle with the fees office after making a single expenses claim for more than £16,500

Stephen Byers claimed more than £125,000 for repairs and maintenance at a London flat owned outright by his partner, where he lives rent-free

Vince Cable forgoes the second home allowance, but asked whether he could claim backdated payments of the London supplement instead

David Cameron limited his claims to mortgage interest payments and utility bills. He will repay the only maintenance bill he claimed - £600 for the removal of wisteria

Menzies Campbell hired a top interior designer to refurbish his small flat in central London at taxpayers’ expense. He will repay the £1,490.66 cost of an interior designer

Ronnie Campbell claimed a total of £87,729 for furniture for his London flat

Kenneth Clarke managed to avoid paying the full rate of council tax on either of his two homes by effectively claiming that neither is his main residence. He has agreed to pay the full rate in future but defended his past behaviour.

Nick Clegg claimed the maximum allowed under his parliamentary second home allowance

Harry Cohen claimed thousands of pounds for redecorating his second home before selling it and charging taxpayers £12,000 in stamp duty and fees on a new property

Stephen Crabb claimed his “main home” was a room in another MP’s flat, after buying a new house for his family at taxpayers’ expense

Alistair Darling's stamp duty was paid by the public

David Davis spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home improvements in four years, including a new £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire.

Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Alan Duncan spent thousands from his allowance on gardening, including repairs to his lawnmower. He has agreed to repay £5,000

Caroline Flint claimed £14,000 for fees for new flat

Barbara Follett used £25,000 of taxpayers' money to pay for private security patrols at her home

Andrew George used parliamentary expenses for a London flat used by his student daughter. He also claimed hundreds of pounds for hotel stays with his wife. He has said he will repay £20 for a hotel breakfast

Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Cheryl Gillan bought dog food using her allowance but agreed to pay it back after being contacted by the Telegraph

Julia Goldsworthy spent thousands of pounds on expensive furniture just days before the deadline for using up parliamentary allowances. She has promised to pay back £1,005 for a leather rocking chair

Michael Gove spent thousands on his London home before "flipping" his Commons allowance to another address. He has agreed to repay £7,000

Chris Grayling claimed for a London flat even though his constituency home is only 17 miles from the House of Commons. He has agreed to stop doing so

John Gummer's gardening, including the removal of moles from his lawn, cost the taxpayer £9,000

Fabian Hamilton declared his mother’s London house as his main residence while over-charging the taxpayer by thousands of pounds for a mortgage on his family home in Leeds

Nick Harvey had to be reminded twice by parliamentary officials to submit receipts with his expenses claims

Alan Haselhurst charged the taxpayer almost £12,000 for gardening bills at his farmhouse in Essex, his expenses claims show.

David Heathcoat-Amory’s gardener used hundreds of sacks of horse manure and the MP submitted the receipts to Parliament

Nick Herbert charged taxpayers more than £10,000 for stamp duty and fees when he and his partner bought a home together in his constituency

Douglas Hogg included with his expenses claims the cost of having the moat cleared, piano tuned and stable lights fixed at his country manor house. He has agreed to repay £2,200 for the moat clearing

Geoff Hoon established a property empire worth £1.7 million after claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for at least two properties

Phil Hope spent more than £10,000 in one year refurbishing a small London flat. He has promised to pay back £41,000 to the taxpayer

Kelvin Hopkins claims just a fraction of the available second-home allowance by taking the train to Westminster from his home town

Chris Huhne regularly submits receipts for bus tickets and groceries including pints of milk, fluffy dusters, lavatory rolls and chocolate HobNobs. He has promised to pay back £119 for a trouser press

Stewart Jackson claimed more than £66,000 for his family home, including hundreds of pounds on refurbishing his swimming pool. He has agreed to repay the costs associated with his pool

Julie Kirkbride's husband Andrew Mackay resigned as David Cameron's aide after it emerged that the two MPs were making claims that meant they effectively had no main home but two second homes, both funded with public money.

Andrew Lansley spent more than £4,000 of taxpayers’ money renovating his country home months before he sold it. He will repay £2,600 of decorating fees

Oliver Letwin repaired a pipe beneath his tennis court using taxpayers' money. He has agreed to repay the money

Lord Mandelson faces questions over the timing of his house claim which came after he had announced he would step down

Andrew Mackay resigned as David Cameron's aide after it emerged that he and his wife Julie Kirkbride were making claims that meant they effectively had no main home but two second homes, both funded with public money.

Bob Marshall-Andrews claimed £118,000 for expenses at his second home, including stereo equipment, extensive redecoration and a pair of Kenyan carpets.

John Maples declared a private members’ club as his main home to the parliamentary authorities

Michael Martin used taxpayers' money to pay for chauffeur-driven cars to his local job centre and Celtic's football ground

Francis Maude claimed almost £35,000 in two years for mortgage interest payments on a London flat when he owned a house just a few hundred yards away. He has agreed to stop claiming for a second home

Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

David Miliband's spending was queried by his gardener

Austin Mitchell claimed for security shutters, ginger crinkle biscuits and the cost of reupholstering his sofa. He has offered to donate his old sofa coverings to make amends

Margaret Moran switched the address of her second home, allowing her to claim £22,500 to fix a dry rot problem. She has agreed to repay the money while insisting she acted within the rules. She could face an investigation for allegedly using Commons stationery to keep neighbours away from her fourth property in Spain.

Elliot Morley claimed parliamentary expenses of more than £16,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off

Conor Murphy, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty and Gerry Adams claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Paul Murphy had a new plumbing system installed at taxpayers’ expense because the water in the old one was “too hot”

Lembit Opik had to pay £2,499 for a 42-inch plasma television after purchasing it while Parliament was dissolved

George Osborne was rebuked by the Commons authorities for using public money to fund his "political" website. He also claimed money for a chauffeur-driven car which he has agreed to repay

John Prescott claimed for two lavatory seats in two years

Alan Reid claimed more than £1,500 on his parliamentary expenses for staying in hotels and bed-and-breakfasts near his home

John Reid used his allowance to pay for slotted spoons, an ironing board and a glittery loo seat

Angus Robertson successfully appealed to the fees office when they turned down his claim for a £400 home cinema system

Alex Salmond claimed £400 per month for food when the Commons was not even sitting

Michael Spicer claimed for work on his helipad and received thousands of pounds for gardening bills.

Jack Straw only paid half the amount of council tax that he claimed on his parliamentary allowances over four years but later rectified the over-claim

Don Touhig spent thousands of pounds redecorating his constituency home before “flipping” his allowance to a flat in London

Kitty Ussher asked the Commons authorities to fund extensive refurbishment of her Victorian family home

Keith Vaz claimed £75,500 for a second flat near Parliament even though he already lived just 12 miles from Westminster

Theresa Villiers claimed almost £16,000 in stamp duty and professional fees on expenses when she bought a London flat, even though she already had a house in the capital. She has agreed to stop claiming the second home allowance

Tom Watson and Iain Wright spent £100,000 of taxpayers' money on the London flat they once shared

Steve Webb sold his London flat and bought another nearby, while the taxpayer picked up an £8,400 bill for stamp duty

Shaun Woodward received £100,000 to help pay mortgage

David Willetts, the Conservatives' choice for skills minister, needed help changing light bulbs. He has agreed to repay the bill

Phil Woolas submitted receipts including comics, nappies and women's clothing as part of his claims for food

Iain Wright and Tom Watson spent £100,000 of taxpayers' money on the London flat they once shared

Australian Budget 2009

2009-05-13T09:06:00.003+10:00

UK to spy on people despite assurances that it won't spy on people.

2009-05-11T11:02:00.003+10:00

Despite assuring people in the UK that the "big brother" database would be scrapped, the pollywaffle masks the fact spying on the general populace will still go ahead.

A Times Online story by David Leppard and Chris Williams states:

"The Home Secretary has vowed to scrap a 'big brother' database but a bid to spy on us all continues. SPY chiefs are pressing ahead with secret plans to monitor all Internet use and telephone calls in Britain despite an announcement by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, of a ministerial climbdown over public surveillance."

The rest of the article details plans that are in place for installation of devices that will be mandatory if ISPs want to retain their license.

RFID chips in the brain

2009-05-11T06:39:00.002+10:00

This is an interesting snippet from a talk by Patrick Dixon of Siemens on the capabilities of brain cells and RFID chips to interact.

I believe there are many benefits to be derived from RFID technology. I also believe that when it comes to myself or my property then I it's up to me to choose how these chips are used. Forget railing against the corporations as many do in the youtube comments, the only way my choice will be threatened is through people using force of government.

2009-05-08T15:01:00.006+10:00

The ABC has the story "Rudd denies bad hair blow-up" where he refutes claims by coalition front bencher John Cobb that he spat the dummy last year in Afghanistan when he couldn't find a hair dryer. The substance of the story is the usual finger pointing and denying.

Either Rudd is lying or John Cobb is lying. For the people who believe in government, one of the supposed stewards of the economy is a liar and the other feels that this isssue is worth wasting time over.

Swine Flu is as serious as Cholera

2009-05-06T05:55:00.006+10:00

While this clip is about Cholera, I feel that it's warnings can be applied with equal seriousness to the current Swine Flu plague/pandemic that is ruthlessly decimating the entire world.
Credit: Shaun Micallef and Full Frontal.

NSW government proposes new raid laws

2009-05-04T08:46:00.005+10:00

The NSW government has proposed new laws to allow warrants being issued on the grounds of "reasonable suspicion" rather than the current "reasonable belief".

Story at the ABC: "New raid laws a 'dangerous' move"

Update 14 May 2009: Managed to get Cartoon of the Week on the John Elliot Report.

Pentagon loses track of weapons given to Iraqi security forces

2007-08-07T10:20:00.000+10:00

It has come to light that the American Defense Department has (oops!) lost track of some weapons that they gave to the Iraqi security forces. How many?

110,000 rifles
80,000 pistols
135,000 items of body armour
115,000 helmets

This is over 50% of the weapons provided to Iraqi security forces.

CNN has the story at the following link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/06/iraq.weapons.reut/index.html

or http://tinyurl.com/3xcpzc if you prefer.

The story is copyright Reuters.

Let's put aside the cost of the war to the US so far (USD$450,000,000,000 as per http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html ). Let's also put to one side the argument that "it's a war! what do you expect?". We'll also ignore the fact that these armaments are being used against US and Allied troops as well as Iraqi civilians. Finally we'll gloss over the arming of "terrorists!!!" by the US government.

What interests me is the government reaction and excuses for this stuff up. I'll quote from the CNN article:

"The GAO said the Pentagon concurred with its findings and has begun a review"

"The Defense Department has recently asked for another $2 billion to continue the train-and-equip program."

"Congress funded the program for Iraqi security forces outside traditional security assistance programs, providing the Pentagon with a large degree of flexibility in managing the effort."

""Officials stated that since the funding did not go through traditional security assistance programs, the DOD accountability requirements normally applicable to these programs did not apply," the GAO report said."

"The GAO quoted officials as saying the agency responsible for handling weapons distribution was too short-staffed to record information on individual items given to Iraqi forces."

"Accountability procedures also could not be fully implemented because of the need to equip Iraqi forces rapidly for combat operations, the GAO found."

Their answers and excuses boil down to the following:

We'll do a review (yes, another one).
We need more money.
We didn't do it the usual way so we couldn't follow the usual rules.
We didn't have enough people.
We didn't have enough time.

Are these guys still in Kindergarten? These are "the dog ate my homework" style excuses. If they weren't wasting billions of dollars and causing tens of thousands of deaths it would be slightly humorous.

Think about what's expected from you in your job and ask yourself what would happen if you made a mistake and gave one of the excuses made by the Pentagon?

Transparent Government - The Public's allowable view

2007-07-18T12:53:00.000+10:00

The reality of Government delivery is usually disappointing.

Solve the world's problems the "right" way

2007-07-18T12:45:00.000+10:00

Islam, Christianity, et al. What's the real influence of organised religion itself?

How to eradicate gun crime

2007-07-15T21:47:00.000+10:00

For those that don't know me, I am a gun owner and gun ownership advocate.

I decided to play devil's advocate and put forward a way to eliminate gun crime. Too often, we gun owners are accused of being one sided. Out of a sense of fairness, I decided to consider the anti-gun side of the argument and put forward a solution to eradicating gun crime.

In order to do this I'm making a few assumptions as follows:

A) We will need three levels of equality in the citizenry: The ordinary citizen; Community Safety Officers (CSOs) - police, customs officials and the military; Community Officials (Government Officials and Assistants).

B) Prohibit ordinary citizens from owning guns.

C) Sufficient law enforcement and vigilance can eliminate guns from our society and therefore eliminate gun crime.

To realise the goal of eradicating gun crime will require some new programmes and laws:

1) Eradicate all ownership of guns in order to eradicate crime.

Anyone who owns a gun can have it stolen or may misuse it so it is a prudent safety measure for the community to completely disallow ownership of guns. This also simplifies law enforcement as possession of a gun confirms guilt.

2) Guns are an effective form of self-defence and an economical way of enforcing community safety. To ensure community safety the only people that should have guns are those who are upholding the law (these are citizens such as the police, customs officials, government bodyguards and the military – the CSOs).

It will be necessary to allow certain citizens access to guns to guarantee community safety. These people will need to be carefully vetted and above reproach. Anyone with criminal connections (either directly or through personal and family connections) will need to be excluded. To ensure that that CSOs remain above reproach we will need a group of impeccably trustworthy citizens to supervise them. We will call these citizens Community Safety Officer Observers (CSOO). They must have the power to immediately dismiss the CSOs and relegate them to the level of ordinary citizen. However, to ensure that there is no abuse of powers they must not be able to dismiss any Community Officials.

3) Enforcing the law by enacting complete zero tolerance ensures that the law is obeyed. To achieve this enforcement simply requires allocating enough resources and increasing the punishments metered out by laws.

The zero tolerance approach to gun crime will mean that tougher laws and harsher law enforcement will be required to eradicate gun crime. Ignorance of the law is no excuse so any punishment is warranted when breaking laws passed by the Community Officials. Community Safety Officers who refuse to support these laws must immediately be considered as corrupted by the CSOO’s and therefore dismissed.

4) Community Officials who make the laws need to be unquestionably honest.

In order to ensure the honesty (and therefore the impeccability of the laws) the Community Officials must comply with rules that have been set by a majority (51% or greater) of the Community Officials. Self-regulation by a majority vote will ensure that there is no corruption within the Community Officials.

5) Our borders must be protected and any imports or people entering the country must be thoroughly screened to ensure that no guns enter the country.

CSOs will need to patrol the coastline in boats and aircraft. Radar installations will act as bases for boats and aircrafts and serve as early detection systems. On an Australian sized coastline of around 20,000km then only 50-100 bases will be required.

6) Any entry to a public place needs to be controlled through metal detectors and other detection mechanisms. In areas deemed crucial to National Security, such as offices of Community Officials, then body searches will be required.

This will be accomplished by the installation of metal detectors and placement of CSOs at the entrance to any forms of public transport or any public space. Placement of roadblocks with metal detectors and body searches at each entrance to a suburb or town will ensure that guns do not enter any of these zones.

CSOs, CSOOs and Community Officials can be exempted from these searches, as they have already been deemed reliable by laws and processes.

While this solution may seem extreme, it will be successful. I estimate that we would only need to increase tax rates by 20-40%, depending on funding cuts to other areas. Alternatively, surcharges on goods and services could also be implemented to pay for our safety.

Existing technologies and processes in use today can easily accomplish the eradication of gun crime. All that is required is strong political will and the understanding of the citizenry.

If you have nothing to hide then you have no need to worry.

ACCC to sue Google

2007-07-13T00:24:00.001+10:00

A news.com.au story titled "Watchdog takes Google to court" (by Mark Schliebs) has me paranoid about how this busybodying government organisation is going to flex their muscle.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,22061736-462,00.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ynsmoo

The ACCC is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission whose role in life is to ensure "fairness" in competition between private businesses. All in the "interests" of the Australian consumer. Or as I like to think of them: knee-jerk government reactors to whatever herd is bleating loudest or whatever area will impact government control.

The news article details how the ACCC are taking Google to court here in Australia, alleging that Google has been misleading and deceptive in it's conduct. From the article

"The ACCC said that in 2005, sponsored links titled “Kloster Ford” and “Charlestown Toyota” allegedly appeared on Google, but the links allegedly directed users to the Trading Post website.

Both dealerships compete with the Trading Post.

The ACCC said by publishing the links, Google allegedly engaged in “misleading and deceptive conduct”.

Google also continues to allegedly fail to “adequately distinguish sponsored links from ‘organic’ search results”, according to an ACCC statement. "

What concerns me is if the ACCC wins then it will have opened a way into "policing the internet" (on behalf of all Australians, of course).

If there were only one or two search engines on the internet, then maybe I could understand their position. Fortunately this is not the case. What it means is that people can choose another search engine if they don't like Google!

Let the market decide for itself, not members of a broadband crippling government with naught in their sights but control and an upcoming election.

Fear of gun control escalation confirmed by PM's Iraq war admissions

2007-07-06T09:57:00.000+10:00

Main Point (for those short on time):

The Howard government's linking of the Iraq war with oil has confirmed arguments against gun control laws.

A primary argument against gun control laws is that they become increasingly onerous in size and restriction. In examples such as the UK this manifested in virtually complete confiscation of private property and the freedom of personal choice.

The twisting of truth used to hide the gradual steps to our current Iraq involvement is exactly the same strategy being implemented with gun control.

Expanding on this point:

If you are in favour of gun control then the following will hopefully give you an insight into the unease I experience when I discuss gun laws with you.

My concern over what will happen to my private property (guns in this case) and my freedoms is vividly demonstrated by standing back and looking at how our country has been led to our current situation in Iraq.

Anther war in Iraq was looking likely before 911, however it serves as a useful memory post for most people. To the best of my recollection, the events and what we were told went as follows:

1) 911 occurs and many westerners are understandably fearful and confused. We are told that the perpetrators will be hunted down and caught.

2) Bush's government starts mentioning Hussein's Iraq and 911 in the same speeches and media releases. Iraq had *nothing* to do with 911. People start getting stirred up over Iraq and begin to link Hussein with 911.

3) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are announced. Colin Powell presents "evidence" to the UN and media outlets sensationally parrot this new threat from Iraq. We are told that Australia can confirm the intelligence and that we need to start worrying about the potential threat of Iraq.

4) Bush decides to invade Iraq. As an ally of the US, Australia commits to this action. We are told that it will be a short action to destroy WMDs and remove Hussein. We are assured repeatedly that it is not about oil and that we will only need to commit troops for a short period of time.

5) Iraq is invaded. No WMDs are found and Hussein is eventually removed. We are now told that we need to remain in Iraq for just a bit longer to help foster democracy and support the Iraqi people. We are told that it will cost a bit more than originally expected and that we may need to stay longer for the good of regional security.

6) Iraq is now described as a breeding ground for terrorism and a front line for Al-Qaeda. Despite Bush's announcements of "Mission Accomplished" we begin increasing the number of troops and finances to continue the war in Iraq.

7) US, Australian and UK military leaders admit that troops in Iraq will be needed for up to 10 years. We are told that the war is now required to fight terrorism in the region and protect the Iraqi people.

8) Howard's government now confirms that protection of oil interests is a reason for being in Iraq and that our troops will be required indefinitely.

In 8 (very broad) steps you can clearly see how our Australian government has taken us from a short term, relatively low cost war to eliminate WMDs to a costly, indefinite war to secure our oil interests.

This is *exactly* the same gradual steps of deception that are being used with gun control laws. Bit by bit they are made more oppressive and controlling.

Gun law supporters, when I argue with you I am doing so with the knowledge of where your laws will lead us. Don't expect me to believe that at some point in time the laws will not be taken to the level that they have in the UK. To assert otherwise is tantamount to a lie.

The same system of people (regardless of political orientation) that lie to and cheat the very people they are supposedly meant to serve, are the same people that you unfathomably trust to create the laws you want.

Forget the millions (billions in the US) of dollars that have been spent on the Iraq war. Forget the tens of thousands of people who have died in the Iraq war. Forget the lies and deception surrounding this war.

Forget all this and simply consider this: How can you support "leaders" that have no integrity?

The insanity of supporting the current system of democratic governance

2007-07-02T15:03:00.000+10:00

Democratic government has become perverted on the large scale used to administer many western societies.

On paper consensus is a terrific idea. In the hands of the current power seekers it has become a method to enforce morals and fears.

There is a simple yet fatal flaw in our current system:
The high and mighty, the busy-bodies, the afraid, and the mistrusters of personal responsibility have hijacked the system for personal interests.

If you believe that you have "high morals" that everyone must adhere to; If you believe that your neighbours business is your business; if you don't believe that people can be responsible for themselves then enclave yourself in this cocoon of fear and leave the rest of us alone!

Have what you want but dont' have the gall to sit in judgment of me and blithely use the violence of force and government to make me comply with your wishes.

When you enable the force of government against me then you are supporting and encouraging a despicable and odious facet of our system that leads to control of my life through the use of violence.

I have *no* objections whatsoever for how you choose to live your life but I find it disgusting that you believe your are entitled to use the force of government to pull me into line with your standards.

Go through *whatever* reasoning process you like but realise that when the only way you can make me comply with your philosophy is to enact the force of government, then are sanctioning, supporting, and actively encouraging violence and suppression in a way that history has proved *always* leads to the destruction of the society.

Go in peace but leave me alone to live my life how I responsibly choose.