Slim's got mail

From Guest Blogger Slim Cayenne

I am a fan of junk mail - the things that arrive are sometimes amazing.

Take the Smith & Elliott flyer, for example.

How much money do Australian Defence Forces get paid in a lump sum when they return from invading another country and attacking innocent civilians?

Enough to buy a house? Is that what they are implying?

These funds are my taxes at work and I get no say in these debacles. How much are these campaigns costing us?

How about the deal on the estate agent's commission? If they don't sell in 60 days you don't pay full commission? That will really drag in the punters - you need to go a long way to find a better deal!

WTFWTT?

Slim

Well I'll be buggered!

I never (ever, ever) thought I'd read this:

'God Save the Queen' dropped from Anzac Day service

"The question often comes up why do you have 'God Save the Queen'? It's not relevant and nobody knows it..." said the RSL's Victorian president, David McLachlan.

Worth a read #4

You might be interested:

• "The fact that people can imagine catastrophe doesn't mean they want to think about it, or do what's necessary to address it when that requires importing a dose of the pain into the present." from Catastrophe thinking by Ezra Klein at the Washington Post



• Piers Akerman has been testing his vast capacity for self-parody. from John Richardson on YourDemocracy



• Murdoch and Google News from Stephen King in CoreEconomics



• Amateur hour in non-Labor parties by Scott Presser and The Three Horsemen of the Global Apocalypse by Dan Denning.  Both at On Line Opinion






• The little reported Labor on track to increase majority by Mark Metherell at The Age.  Also this (never-to-be-seen in the Murdoch press) just in from Pollytics.com



• Property and the Big Four Australian Banks by Greg Canavan at The Daily Reckoning



• Imagine that in 2004 you were a teenager living on Palm Island from Surely this is a dream become a nightmare by Tony Koch in yesterday's Oz - a brilliant summation of the issue.  Also see this page on tony-koch.com.  Excellent stuff



• If you were interested in the Bully's article today, JCU expert finds new human link, there's more here from Wired Science



• A scary thought piece:  Is America ‘Yearning for Fascism’? by Chris Hedges at Truth Dig



• 
  
  Via Your New Reality - Incredible. 'Condition 1' weather in Antarctica :

The things you read in the mail

From contributor, Slim Cayenne:

A FREE bbq at Chez Mooney? Free piss? Free raffles? The sky is falling!

There always were strong rumours that the Currajong Branch was flush, but for an ALP function to be free?

Is Colbran going to put up another $98,000 for someone else's campaign?

So many questions.........

WTFWTT?
Here's a real thigh slapper from that bastion of good taste and racism, The Association of Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations:

• Criminal: a person found at home in bed at 3am.
• Desperate Criminal: an Aboriginal person found at home in bed at 3am.

WTFWTT?

What's the story here?

The Bulletin’s page two today headlined “Minister admits Northern District cop stations are understaffed” seems to miss the point – or is a beat-up – or both.

The article quotes the Northern Region as being under-staffed by 10 officers against a full complement of 748 – a vacancy rate of 1.3%. The Townsville District is understaffed by 8 officers out of 520 positions – a vacancy rate of 1.5%.

Opposition police spokesperson Vaughn Johnson and, even more so, the Bully would have us believe that this is tantamount to either a pending crisis in policing numbers or evidence of Ministerial or bureaucratic mismanagement.

Seems to me though, the story should have recognised that, with these sorts of vacancy rates, the Qld coppers are a long way ahead of many other sectors of the economy including mining

It's about the power and accountability of the press

Hungrybeast last night had this excellent piece on the the role of the mainstream media in inventing the “Gang of 49” myth.  It particularly and rightfully highlighted the role of Colin James from Murdoch’s birthplace, The Adelaide Advertiser in the creation and exploitation of the myth.

It then goes on to show how the baseless hype the press lived off for weeks and months is actually germinating and feeding the development of a gang culture among Aboriginal kids in the city.

James and The ‘Tiser should be held liable

I was reminded of our own Bulletin’s efforts – see my earlier posts here



Also available here

Could the missing Member for Herbert have a point here - nah, probably not

The Bulletin has updated the PET scanner story (here) that they ran as a Mooney booster piece on their front page today. It includes this from the missing Member for Herbert, Peter Lindsay:

“He said he had raised submissions with Health Minister Nicola Roxon for private operator Queensland X-ray to install a PET CT scanner at the Mater Hospital at half the cost to government 18 months ago.

However the Government opting to provide it through the public system at Townsville Hospital was a bad deal which would leave the city waiting until at least 2014 before it was delivered, he said.”

Lindsay may have a point – except for the fact that providing the scanner through a Private Hospital would presumably have restricted access to those who can pay and/or have private health insurance coverage.

Lindsay of course was silent on the other aspects of the $67.5 million hospital package announced by Rudd last night.  Presumably the Bully simply reprinted his press release rather than digging a bit further!

Population debates, migration debates and sustainability debates (and the race card)

Following the release of the Treasury's Intergenerational Report, there has been growing ‘debate’ (or is that hype) in the mainstream media about the prospect of Australia's population reaching 35 million by 2050.

The hype (and the effectiveness of playing the race card that he learnt so well under Howard) is what no doubt prompted the Mad Monk to hint at a policy to cut our 'out-of-control' migration intake in response.
 
The hype and the Monk’s play is also what no doubt prompted Rudd to announce the appointment of a Minister for Population and the development of a population strategy.

Neither party seem to be willing to touch the hard issues:

• The impact of the $1.4 billion annual baby bonus on the Australian birth rate
• Australia’s true migration picture.  See: Rubbery figures on migrant flood by Peter McDonald in The Age
• What is an environmentally sustainable population for the country? See Sustainable Population Australia
• Our place in the world community and what it means for our population growth and responsibilities.

As Malcolm McIntosh, Tapan Sarker and Rose Boyd argue their excellent piece Australia's population challenge in the ABC’s The Drum:

“Population is fundamentally a human rights and environmental rights issue but there seem to be few, if any, politicians willing to accept the leadership baton and step forward.”

Quite so

Could this happen in Townsville?

Homeless people in Darwin have been given the opportunity to get a meal, haircut and even a pedicure at a free community event

Darwin is a city of some 70,000 people (about 44% the size of Townsville) and yet according to the Darwin City Council (as quoted in the article) they have about 3,000 rough sleepers or long grassers (the equivalent of our parkies) - about 50 times more than Townsville’s 60 or so. 

If Townsville's 'problem' was of the same order of magnitude as Darwin's, our parkie population would number about 5,000!

If Darwin City Council can recognise that “"Every … city is facing these sorts of problems of the number of people who are sleeping on the streets," how come Cr Dale Last and the rest of Council and our own member for Townsville can’t (see other posts here and here).

And how is it that Darwin can respond in such a positive way and all Townsville can rise to is talk of punitive action?  Puts us to shame really

Well, I thought it was funny

I've long thought that Malcontent Turnbull was a novice at the game of politics and the Mad Monk similarly so. Both have egos (a necessary prerequisite to even get on the field), but beyond their capabilities. This 'toon from YourDemocracy.net.au seems to sum it up beautifully (I'm not so sure about Pinky playing the Monk tho!):