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.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Rachel Maddow on Obama and the Bush Doctrine
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.
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
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Rudda the Hutt carefully chews each mouthful of the Emissions Trading Scheme
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.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A Free Market does not have regulations
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.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Majority Rules
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.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Dangerous Things
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.
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.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Incorrect measurement of Global Warming
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 :-) )
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 :-) )
Friday, July 03, 2009
Carlton Football Club deals with John Elliott
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Obama continues the work of Bush who continued the work of ...
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.
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.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Federal Reserve admits losing 9 trillion dollars
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:
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:
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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?
Thu 20 Aug 09 (04:57am)
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.
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?
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.
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.