First stimulus distraction built.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

The reality of Government delivery is usually disappointing.

Solve the world's problems the "right" way

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

How to eradicate gun crime

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.