¿ POLEMICOL ?

A Castle On The Shore

2012-01-02T15:01:00.001+08:00

There is something culturally significant and alluring about the Australian coastline. Between its rugged southern cliffs and the tropical northern points lie a myriad of seductive sandy coves or stretches of long white beaches that spear the horizon like a comet in the night sky, bordered by thousands of miles of dunes with hues and shades to make a rainbow weep in despair at its own lack of beauty.

The Aussie sun, sand and surf is infamous for its body beautiful, bronzed bathers but equally, more recently, for the less appealling 'beached whales' that accompany the army of eskys and umbrellas on most weekends and public holidays. But while the aesthetic lustre of naked skin and lustful curves becomes a rarer and less forgiving sight, some things will never change.

Since the earliest of times, small children have watched attentively as older siblings built sand castles that often resembled St Basil's Cathedral as if it were sculpted by a collaboration of Picasso and Dali in a fit of artistic chaos fuelled by a night of absinthe and opium.

Adorned by whatever flotsam and jetsam happens to be scavenged from the shoreline, these remarkable constructions bear little resemblance to reality and, briefly, even seem to defy the laws of physics before being crushed by the youngest child as they pounce on the precariously teetering turrets in a cataclysmic demolition of 9/11 proportions.

The juvenile engineers will scream with disdain and the adults quickly intervene to prevent retaliatory strikes from those armed with plastic pails and shovels. A grey haired mediator is appointed to assess ground zero and resolves to assist in the reconstruction effort, promising to "build it bigger and stronger and better than before".

All parties excitedly agree to the proposal, with the false hope that the mediator has some esoteric knowledge about the qualities of sand and water. The building phase resumes once more as the sounds of peace echo through the warm breeze, caress the ocean spray and frolic with the screech of gulls.

Solid foundations are mapped out and compacted by a hundred eager footsteps. Walls are built as thick as they are high, and a moat is dug wide enough for any suitably scaled clipper to navigate at sailing speed without fear of running aground. An esky lid becomes the drawbridge, ensuring that a two year old giant can view the progress without causing further havoc.

Turrets soar into the air, three and four pails high. A pail being the industry standard measurement for feats of engineering in this environment. The ageing foreman takes on most of the critical labouring tasks himself and sends his minions scurrying down the shoreline and into the dunes to secure materials for the fortification of the great building.

Many grand and exotic paraphernalia are returned to site and are first shown to respective mothers and grandmothers for assessment. A grimace or look of disgust from the matriarchs are a signal of approval to the proud scavengers and only increase their enjoyment of this collaborative effort as they squeal with laughter at their daring insolence.

Nature is recycled in a way that even the gods could not have predicted. Crab limbs become cannons, pieces of shell that survived the tumbling across reefs are reborn as armour cladding for battlements, while cuttlefish remains form the many brattices and hoardings from which the army can defend the castle walls. Strips of seaweed are tied to twigs and placed high atop each turret to proudly announce the royal standard under which this city is protected.

A quarrel breaks out between the three boys over who should be king. As swords are drawn and duels challenged, a fair lady charms the would-be knights with her siren voice and proclaims that Queen Barbie of Malibu shall rule, promptly placing Her Majesty atop the largest building in the keep.

The small guild of artisans stand back to admire their work and the foreman instructs the 2 year old giant how to dig away a small portion from the side of the moat and create a trench toward the ocean.

With each consecutive wave lapping the shore, a trickle of water begins to emerge in the trench. Six waves later and the sea starts streaming into the moat as the sandsmiths jump and squeal and clap their hands in appreciation of the miracle unfolding before them.

Matriarchs of two eras are dragged from their comfortably reclined positions and begged to give attention to the grand design of the latest generation. Pleasantries and polite accolades are duly offered and received before life is allowed to return to its dull, but serene, talk of the latest health concerns for poor Aunt Sally.

Back to the new fortification protecting Australia's shores, the builders seemed to have moved onto new projects. The three boys taking the southern part of the kingdom for practising their swordsmanship and jousting skills while their two female counterparts attend to Queen Barbie, ensuring that the castle is appropriately fitted with everything Her Majesty desires.

The two year old giant is given a royal pardon, appointed to be the city's sentry and allowed to wade through the moat on the promise to never touch the castle.

As the warm afternoon becomes cooler with a shifting southerly breeze swirling sand around legs and into eyes, it is time to pack away the accoutrements of modern civilisation and bid the medieval fortress a fond farewell.

With its creators carried away by horseless carriages that are unfamiliar to its own era, the empty relic stands forlornly on the beach like a discarded toy in a field.

In a few short hours the sun will set on this small human endeavour. The flags blown from their poles by gusts of wind, the tide creeping in and lashing away at every grain of sand in its foundations, with the towers eventually crumbling into ruin.

By sunrise the next day, no trace of the thriving civilisation would remain where once Queen Barbie of Malibu ruled.

The pride of humanity over its entire existence is simply no match for the endless humility of nature.

All The Way Through Evening

2011-11-25T21:45:00.001+08:00

I have pledged some financial support for this project, which I see as not merely a documentary, but a piece of art incorporating music and social commentary about a topic that rarely gets the media attention it once did.

Please visit the website and support it with whatever funding you can afford, or simply by promoting the site through your own networks.

Rohan Spong can be found on Twitter @rohanspong or his website at www.rohanspong.net

Many thanks.

Lugere

2011-05-25T11:45:00.001+08:00

From the last wind through autumn lungs;
Across the endless ache of winter bones
Through the dark shadow on a spring mind;
Into the constant drought raping a summer heart

Ever changing seasons bring nought new life;
The passing years unease tormented souls
Tears no longer flowing; dry faucet, an empty well
Time steps solemnly to the beat of a silent drum

Every surface gathers dust, thick shrouds of mourning
Heavy drapes, closed against rotting boarded windows
Cobwebs fill the dark, dank, lifeless spaces,
They speak like tombstones in a soulless graveyard

Haunted by the memories of pride and glory left behind
Old dreams, broken promises, forgotten lives
Collected, hoarded, possessed and now unwanted
An obsessive compulsion of nostalgic sentiment

No breath nor life, no mind nor soul
A broken home, heart broken; forgotten and unforgiven
Take heed, a living corpse; have pity, the walking dead
Abandoned empty vessels, derelict zombie love

The pathway to understanding

2011-05-14T12:31:00.000+08:00

To understand any subject, one must gain the necessary breadth and depth of knowledge that usually leads to a simple, yet unfaltering conclusion - the truth.>

But there are very few absolute truths known to humanity, and so the pathway to understanding can only be obtained through the accumulation of experience derived from many a life's daily experiments, either directly or through the work of others handed down through the ages. As we progress we edge measurably closer to the truth.

The traveller on this path will naturally have an inquisitive mind. They must care deeply about the subject to set out on such an arduous journey of research. In fact, they must care so deeply that they are willing to delve into the darkest places and are prepared to discover the most shocking of truths. What if the world is not flat or riding on the back of a giant turtle?

Yet, all the while the inquirer must remain coldly objective and aware of the numerous distractions, tangents and falsehoods that will throw them off the trail and risk losing sight of the truth.

This is the essence of the pathway to understanding; to care so deeply that the desire to understand allows for the objective process of questioning/researching/knowledge to ultimately lead to new understanding.

This is what we know as empathy.

On the other hand, sympathy is the irrational attraction of two like-minded beliefs drawn together as anecdotes in a falsehood dressed up as proof; a self-destructive co-dependency of propaganda.

For you to sympathise with my experience is to merely unveil your self-indulgence or servility by attempting to relate only to some peripheral similarities between our unique and separate circumstances. Our experience is more distinctly different than your simple desire for fraternity will allow you to believe.

To show me empathy displays your humanitarian character. It respects the simple truth that you do not (and probably cannot) have the complete knowledge to understand and fully comprehend my circumstances, that you are only an observer.

Yet it also demonstrates that you care enough to seek a level of understanding, rather than assume it's ownership through some inferior thread of connectivity.

The pathway to understanding is empathy; and the truth usually resides somewhere between at least two plausible perspectives.

A New World Religion Backed by the United Nations

2011-04-30T16:18:00.000+08:00

The world is going barking mad with religiosity! While many of us feel that we have known this for a long time, it has always been difficult to find substantial evidence that wasn't countered by arguments of religious vilification.

However, I’m not talking about Islamic suicide bombers, Protestants vs Catholics in Ireland, the abhorrent members of Westboro Baptist Church, ‘pro-life’ radicals bombing abortion clinics, or any of the other examples of minority groups being less than good examples of the faiths they follow.

Instead, I would like to open your eyes to a new pervasive religion that is steadily growing and insidiously lurking in your community. If successful it will have a terrifying impact on the existence of life as we know it.

Regardless of your political views, spiritual beliefs, faith or lack thereof, please bear with me for a moment while I tell you a short story. Even if it sounds a bit familiar, please persevere.

This story is set on a unique world; a smallish blue-green environment with abundant vegetation and teeming with wondrous life forms on land, air and water. In this world, there is a sentient humanoid species who believe that their world has an undefinable, immeasurable and yet omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent energy force that interacts with all life forms.

This force gives them life, nourishes, teaches and provides them with all that is needed to live well and, as if they were its own children, they call this force "Mother".

They recognise that Mother is an indivisible community of diverse and interdependent beings with whom they share a common destiny and to whom they must relate in ways that benefit Mother.

However, their world is confronted by an evil that is attempting to dominate and exploit Mother and other beings. This evil is causing severe destruction, degradation and disruption of the life-sustaining communities, processes and balances of Mother which now threatens the wellbeing and existence of many beings.

They are conscious that this destruction is also harmful to their own inner wellbeing and is offensive to the many faiths, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures for whom Mother is sacred. These clans are acutely conscious of the critical importance and urgency of taking decisive, collective action to prevent the evil enemy causing impacts on Mother that threaten the wellbeing and survival of all species.

Sound familiar? No, it isn't the plot from James Cameron's blockbuster, Avatar - but the resemblance is not a mere coincidence. While Avatar has been justifiably compared to the historical and current issues of our own world, it now seems that the lines between fantasy and reality have blurred even further.

Apart from a few tweaks for syntax, everything above in italics is a direct quote from the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, which was passed in Bolivia on 22 April 2010 at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth and has since made its way to the plenary floor (here and here) of the United Nations.

'Mother Earth' has been transformed from a metaphoric and mythical euphemism into pseudo-scientific woo! You have not entered the Twilight Zone; you are not watching a CGI enhanced movie; this is reality and the world is about to enshrine the beliefs of a new-age religion (or a revival of ancient mysticism) into legal rights on par with those of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Now, before you retort with “it's all about protecting the environment” or label me a shill for capitalism and corporate world domination, let me correct you. For the record, I am a staunch environmentalist. I believe in, and promote the protection of landscapes, habitats and species. I readily acknowledge that human activity is essentially bad for this world and that we need to curb our greed and consumerism. You will hear no argument from me on those facts.

But, that is NOT the point of this rant. What I object to is the use of pantheistic and Gaia inspired language that, if adopted on an international level in a legal treaty, will have the effect of making "Mother Earth" the new deity of a green-religion forced onto all of Earth's citizens.

No, I am not being overly dramatic. Read the details for yourself so that you can fully comprehend the implications. It is littered with religious undertones and metaphors that have enormous legal repercussions on every human being:

"we must establish systems for governing human behavior that recognize the inalienable rights of Mother Earth and of all beings that are part of her" and

"the fundamental freedoms and rights of Mother Earth and of all beings should be protected by the rule of law, and that the corresponding duties of human beings to respect and defend these rights and freedoms should be enforced by law"

Such statements, when taken to their natural conclusion, imply that you and I cannot even dig a hole in the ground or kill a cockroach for fear of prosecution under some future law. Even cleaning your house might become illegal because of the bacterial colonies that you would destroy in the process!

This is not merely a feel-good unifying statement of our inarguable environmental responsibility as custodians of the Earth. It is a deliberately transformational credo that redefines our very existence and our relationship with all life on this planet.

All of this poppycock has stemmed from the rising groundswell of support for an environmental movement that has ceased to function as a sensible social and political force. It is now, undeniably, a zealous quasi-religious cult that wishes to impose a narrow-minded and anti-scientific view that all life is part of one universal ‘energy force’, which we are now obliged to pay homage to, for all that 'she' has done for us.

This is nothing short of irrational pandering to the fantasies of earth-worshipping, crystal-healing, indigo children. Human beings are now eagerly lining up to be the sacrificial lambs at the altar of Gaia.

This type of international politicking and pseudo law-making will do very little to improve our relationship with the environment or save many species from extinction, but it will make some people feel good as they run naked through the forest with blue birds on their shoulders and rabbits bounding at their feet singing some Disney inspired anthem. Except that the forest is likely to become a restricted area - after all, animals and plants will have a right to exist without any human interference.

This is not an isolated event to be ignored or passed off as the random act of a fringe third world nation. This has been decades in the planning and follows the inclusion of Rights for Nature into the Ecuadorian Constitution in 2008 and the United Nations' proclamation of April 22 as International Mother Earth Day, distinct from Earth Day on March 22 each year.

The UN's own website for Mother Earth Day states:

In 2009, at its Eighth Session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues requested special rapporteurs to prepare a Study on the need to recognize and respect the rights of Mother Earth. At its Ninth Session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will discuss the findings of the study, as well as works toward establishing a Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth.

Please note that the United Nations did not act out of mere tokenism. This is a predetermined action to meet a predefined goal and it is sanctioned and supported by the member nations of the UN. Conspiracy theories aside, there is a real agenda in play and it is supported by:

Agenda 21: an initiative of the United Nations that seeks to create a world bound by the principles of sustainable development; and

Codex Alimentarius the UN global strategy to manipulate and control agriculture, food and supplements devised in 1963 and guided by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) with the support of 184 member nations.

All of this is pointing to a future where your current life and lifestyle is marked for demolition as unreasonable restrictions are inevitably placed on the energy you consume, the food you eat, the materials you buy and even the places you are allowed to visit.

The reality for the 7 billion human inhabitants of Earth is that something needs to change; to continue on a destructive path is certainly unsustainable. On that we can agree.

But the answer is not to anthropomorphise the environment, to give rise to a crass spirituality or empower the most weirdly radical movement of the modern era. Nor is it to throw the human race into an era of reliance upon heavily regulated food production by profit-driven corporations reminiscent of the science fiction classic, Soylent Green.

The answer lies in education and self-regulation of our own consumerism. We may not be doing enough in a timely manner, but we are making changes, slowly and surely.

Faith in our ability to succeed on that pathway is far more palatable than faith in Gaia and the religiosity that surely follows.

The cult of scepticism can't take criticism

2010-03-22T16:48:00.014+08:00

I've been listening to several "skeptic" (US spelling - urgh!) podcasts over the last few months. I really enjoy Skeptoid, the Skeptics Guide to the Universe and the SGU 5x5. Each of these, along with DrKarl adequately provide my weekly dose of reality science.

I have also been listening to The SkepticZone but have been disappointed with how they present the show and discuss topics. There is a lot of inside jokes, sarcasm and unnecessary banter that comes off as ridicule, derision, condescending and even contempt.

While some may find this amusing, I feel that it simply shames and mocks anyone who happens to believe the "woo" (what the sceptics like to call pseudo science) rather than having any real educational benefit. Given that these folk profess to be 'educators' they seem to know nothing about pedagogy. I doubt that anyone could 'learn' in such an environment.

I finally decided that my time could be spent on other things than to continue listening to any more of their self-righteousness. I unsubscribed and wrote the following review on iTunes:

A podcast for the converted (2 stars)
At first I enjoyed the jovial banter and casual meanderings of this podcast, but then it happened; the novelty wore off. I began to tire of the condescending attitude, the "in-crowd" jokes and the constant put downs of their opponents! It seems that the Skeptic Zone crew have axes to grind and like to rub noses in the proverbial.
I have no time for pompous people who appear to laugh at anyone who isn't as clever as they consider themselves to be. They should be using this podcast to reach out and educate, but instead they choose to demean and ridicule.
I suggest that newbie skeptics should stick with Skeptoid or The Skeptics Guide to the Universe for less drivel and more grounded discussion with far less derision.

I admit that I could have worded this a lot better, and if I had been approached appropriately I would have considered a revision that was less critical of the individuals and more focused on the issues with the tone of the format. As you'll soon understand, I'm reticent to do that now.

My second mistake was to engage two of the podcasters on Twitter. The ensuing debacle is a textbook case of how NOT to react to criticism, especially towards customers in a public forum. See how many examples of poor debate, ineffective conflict resolution, bad customer service and negative PR you can spot. Admittedly Twitter, with its 140 character limitation, is horrendously tragic for effective debate, but this is no excuse for the tirade of vitriol foisted upon me.

Remember to keep this in a customer service context; I (polemicol) am the difficult customer with the complaint and they (skepticzone, DrRachie and podblack) are the service providers reacting to my criticism.

- - - - -

RICHARD SAUNDERS @SkepticZone:

7:01 PM Mar 18th @SkepticZone your podcast would be better if you used it to inform & educate instead of scoff and ridicule. I have unsubscribed.

7:05 PM Mar 18th SkepticZone @PolemiCol I have not had the chance to hear your weekly podcast yet.

7:32 PM Mar 18th @SkepticZone thanks. point proved.

- - - - -

RACHAEL DUNLOP @DrRachie:

7:07 PM Mar 18th @DrRachie congrats on your shorty award. Take a tip - tone down the ridicule & self-righteousness on SkepticZone. It's unbecoming.

7:11 PM Mar 18th DrRachie @PolemiCol thanks on the congrats. Can I ask what did you thought was self righteous specifically, to help for future? Cheers

7:37 PM Mar 18th @DrRachie too much ridicule of those caught up in non-science. It would shame them rather than educate

7:46 PM Mar 18th DrRachie @PolemiCol Sometimes it's difficult to find a balance between going in hard when harm is caused & educating. I'll take it on board, cheers

9:46 PM Mar 18th @DrRachie it's more the case that every eisode makes fun of these people. E.g.: You can't teach evolution by deriding creationism.

10:05 PM Mar 18th @DrRachie that should have been I.e. not e.g.
10:09 PM Mar 18th DrRachie @PolemiCol I didn't realize it comes across that way. Admittedly sometimes I deride, eg ear candles. I'll keep it in mind, thx

10:21 PM Mar 18th @DrRachie it's easy to preach from the high ground. Even skepticism risks cult status if ppl create the culture and follow blindly.

- - - - -

At this point it seems that Dr Rachie has dealt with me in a civilised and mature manner, seemingly taking on board my criticism as it was intended. At this point I thought everything was rather reasonable. And then it was if I was channelling Homer Simpson ...

"Or what? You'll release the dogs? Or the bees?
Or the dogs with bees in their mouths so when they bark they shoot bees at you?

Yes, along came the dog with bees in her mouth ...

- - - - -

KYLIE STURGESS @podblack:

2:05 PM Mar 21st podblack @PolemiCol - email to let us all know if you condemn us _all_ - or just @DrRachie with your review. http://is.gd/aR77u & http://is.gd/aR78H.

2:23 PM Mar 21st @podblack I don't think "condemn" is the right word. I hope you can all work with criticism and aim to improve the show

2:54 PM Mar 21st {DM from podblack} You did not email, contact via Skype, outline EXACTLY what your issues were - you just wrote that review. 140 char tweets isn't discussion.

2:56 PM Mar 21st podblack @PolemiCol - if you bothered to outline EXACTLY what issues, examples, constructive criticism - then we'd listen. You just 'unsubscribed'.
2:58 PM Mar 21st podblack @PolemiCol - you clearly don't know the show if you're unaware that we work as educators (Richard, Rachie & myself) and always review.
2:59 PM Mar 21st podblack @PolemiCol - as it is, the most decent thing you could do is remove your review. I doubt you will, but I guess you don't aim to improve. :/

2:12 PM Mar 22nd @podblack its not the only bad review you have. Learn from it, or live with it. I'll remove the review when it is no longer true.
2:32 PM Mar 22nd podblack @PolemiCol - You learned nothing then. You gave no feedback apart from complaints and expect us to change? We don't need you - bye.

3:10 PM Mar 21st podblack And to think... @PolemiCol has met me at Skeptics in the Park & member of my Perth Skeptics group. If at TAMOz, we'd buy you a drink. :/

2:10 PM Mar 22nd @podblack I raised this issue at Skeptics in the park - but you brushed it off. Instead of being defensive, try being a skeptic Dr R did
2:33 PM Mar 22nd podblack @PolemiCol - when? And if you think not an issue, try reading my work. Complaining without evidence, chip on shoulder - not worth our time
2:35 PM Mar 22nd podblack @PolemiCol actually, she agrees. Listeners like you who do nothing but write reviews without talking first - @drrachie & I agree.
3:52 PM Mar 22nd @podblack "listeners like you" ?really? try applying a bit of critical thinking to the way you are handling my criticism

- - - - -

And then to top it all off, after I had posted a tweet asking for my followers to pass the good word around that I had a room to rent out, the bee-devil-dog then posted the following, before having second thoughts and deleting it from Twitter:

time not captured podblack @PolemiCol - don't expect help from anyone I know in Perth, that's for certain.

4:39 PM Mar 22nd @PolemiCol - don't expect help from anyone I know in Perth, that's for certain. (via @podblack) // credit to you for rethinking & deleting

- - - - -

So I put out a peace offering:

8:39 PM Mar 22nd @SkepticZone it seems we are embroiled in a bizarre conflict which could do with some resolution. Can we do it? Cc @podblack @DrRachie

8:57 PM Mar 22nd DrRachie @PolemiCol most certainly. Would you prefer to email me? Rachael at skeptic zone dot tv

Subsequently, I sent the following by email:

SkepticZone, iTunes and Twitter - 22 March 2010 22:43

Rachael,

Please forward this to Kylie, Richard or anyone else involved with SkepticZone at your discretion.

Let me firstly say that I stand by my comments. However, I seem to be guilty of a similar thing to what I've accused the podcasters of doing and for that I am sorry. I could have worded the review better and I hope to be able to rectify that.

I want to thank you for the mature approach you took in responding to my initial tweet. While I was disappointed with Richard's 'lets-see-you-do-better' retort I can overlook it as an off the cuff remark, however I am completely baffled by Kylie's explosive behaviour, which included removing me from the Perth Skeptics group.

Oddly, I've been left feeling that my mistake was in alerting yourself and Richard to my view. Anonymity would have had a distinct advantage, but I've always felt honesty and openness has a better place in life.

My concern is now twofold; the issue about tone in the podcasts remains and I would be happy to discuss that further if it has merit. The greater issue for me is the manner in which I was treated in a public forum. While that is something that I could simply brush off, or resolve solely with Kylie, there is the broader ramification that it has potential to do more damage to SkepticZone than my isolated review ever could.

Imagine having that exchange with a shop assistant or a customer service officer at a bank. Imagine a chef blasting a restaurant critic for a bad review or worse, kicking them out of the local dinner club? It is a ridiculous thought, but that is in effect what has happened.

I'm keen to discuss this and come to a point of reconciliation with all parties.

I received a response from Dr Rachael Dunlop, and though we disagree on one point, I feel satisfied that it has been resolved as best as we can. To that end, she deserves many accolades for her exemplary attitude and conduct.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for Kylie Sturgess (@podblack), who is IMHO one of the most emotionally voracious individuals I have ever encountered in the scientific community. If you come across her in real life, I advise you to avoid any possibility of confrontation, for your own peace of mind and perhaps your safety too.

Kylie removed me from the Perth Skeptics group, which she administrates on MeetUp.com. When I tried to make peace and requested to rejoin I was sent a terse email:

I run this group, I pay for this site and you are not welcome
here due to what I consider to be threatening behavior towards
my friends.

Go away.

Do not contact me again.

The main points to take from this are as follows:

everyone is in the marketing game - even non-profit organisations or podcasters
a customer has every right to leave any review they see fit
customers are not obligated to approach a service provider with complaints
service providers who only expect positive reviews are delusional
attacking customers doesn't win business
conflict resolution should be a priority for any service provider
beware: social media leaves an accurate record of events

Sceptics (or skeptics) are equally at risk of cult-like groupthink mentality - ironically instilling blind faith in their leadership, who are often given guru status. If those that worship the scientific method allow themselves to become the centre of a faith-based movement, it will inevitably detract from the reasonable openness of mind that science should be promoting. It thus becomes even more dangerous than the ignorance of psuedo-science.

What do you think?

My reflection through other eyes

2010-02-26T02:24:00.004+08:00

Often we wonder how others see us. We question whether people like us or enjoy our company. Do they find us attractive, amusing, intelligent or ugly, ridiculous and stupid? Most of the time we never know the truth, and perhaps we are better off not knowing.

However, it seems that social media is opening up Pandora's box and giving us a small insight into how others might really view ourselves. On Facebook there are dozens of 'applications' (I know because I've blocked them all) that will seek the truth from your 'friends', compare their perceptions, ask them to reveal their opinions as well as judge you on a range of issues and personality traits. Who needs a therapist any more?

And if that wasn't enough, now you can even be stereotyped, pigeon-holed and categorised by complete strangers. Break out the champagne!

Thanks to Twitter's introduction of 'lists' you can now gain an insight into how your followers see you via your profile and tweeting history. Let me explain by analysing the lists that I've found myself thrust into.

Firstly, geographic locations account for the vast majority of Twitter lists, so it is natural that I find myself grouped in with fellow sandgropers (Western Australians) on no less than 18 lists with names like perthians, perthites, perth-peeps, perth-people, perthmafia, perth-twitterati, the-perth-files, perthizzles, perthies or simply "perth". In addition I'm included on 3 generic "Aussie" lists and a "outside-usa-overflow-box".

That means that more than half of the 38 lists that herald my twitterings are geocentric. No surprises there, in fact it's pretty boring unless there is more to the 'mafia' than simple metaphor.

The next most popular type of category seems to depend on whether you can be confirmed as a real person with "people-not-spammers", "rl-peeps" (presumably rl='real life'), "knowirl" (know in real life), "yet-to-meet-irl" and "twitter-contacts".

What really sparked my interest (and the reason for this prattle) was the group of lists that categorised my activity. Apparently I make the grade for "Social media" by two followers, despite being nothing more than a mere user. Other tweeps have fashioned my twitter existence with descriptions like "rationalists", "politics", and most surprisingly "journalists".

Meanwhile there were compliments like "awesomepeople" and "they-make-me-smile". Both of which compensated for being on the "other and "random" lists.

I'm just not sure what to make of being on the list titled "naughty-max" :-p

A new creed

2010-02-12T11:09:00.000+08:00

Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

V for Vendetta

2010-02-11T20:06:00.003+08:00

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.

And the war begins ...

Xenophon's head up his own arse!

2010-02-03T12:02:00.006+08:00

The impossible "war against paedophilia" is turning another idiotic page.

South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon's private member's bill would make it illegal for adults to lie to children about their age. According to reports,

The Bill will introduce three new offences. An adult misrepresenting their age online to a minor will now face a maximum 3 year jail term.

An adult misrepresenting their age in order to meet a minor will face a five year prison term and an adult misrepresenting their age with the intention of assaulting a minor will face a maximum 8 years prison term.

Clearly this is aimed at adult perpetrators posing as children - that's all well and good. What isn't clear is whether a 21 yo telling a 17yo he is only 20 is also a crime under the same offence. The ridiculousness of that situation is obvious.

Of course, the bill also fails to address those children who lie about their age in order to meet adults. Believe me, it happens a lot and some of them can get away with quite a few years!

Proposed laws like this are not only outright stupid, they are downright dangerous to the integrity of the justice system and a hindrance to the proper education and welfare of children.

What's next? Making it a crime for predators to lie about their intentions? Or will they make it a crime to lie about your weight or the size of your cock or boobs? I might support that if it applied across the board for all adults (lol - joking) :-p

Get real, Xenophon, you moron. Do something useful like allocate government funding for online awareness education for parents and children. Teach the kids how to use the Internet with respect and teach the parents about taking responsibility for their child's access!

Pride risks nationalism

2010-01-25T13:30:00.004+08:00

Something I came up with today in a discussion about national pride and nationalism:

A preoccupation with the colours, emblems or subjective values of a nation instead of the beauty of the peoples and cultures that inhabit it, is pure nationalism and we should despise it before we learn to fear it.

There's a fine line between pride and nationalism and I choose to stand as far away from that line as possible. To that end, I don't like:

vehicles adorned with flags (as if we don't know what it looks like)
tattoos of flags or other nationalist symbols (as if you need proof of where you were born)
objections to the burning of flags as a valid form of protest
anything that promotes bigotry or vilification of any kind

What do you think?

Google v China

2010-01-13T09:39:00.007+08:00

The last straw seems to have been placed on the back of Internet behemoth, Google. At least in China.

In a carefully worded announcement, Google announced it's intention to cease censoring search results for China after a detailed investigation into last year's cyber-attack which, among other issues, seems to have been aimed at Chinese dissidents and human rights activists. The company fell short of pointing the finger directly at the Chinese government, but the diplomatic language was unequivocal in assigning guilt.

Read the full announcement here.

The question remains, is this merely sabre rattling on Google's part, or do they fully intend to undo the many years of painstaking work and withdraw from the fastest growing market in the world? Time will tell what discussions, negotiations and concessions are made to the current arrangements and whether Google.cn is closed and the Google offices in China are vacated.

Almost 3 years ago to the day, Google admitted that the decision to assist with censorship was a mistake. <China censorship damaged us, Google founders admit, The Guardian, 27 Jan 2007)

Season's Greetings

2009-12-24T01:56:00.000+08:00

Friends, family and fellow journeyers of life,

In the spirit of the festive season I wish you joy and peace ...

... in amongst the corny jokes and silly hats, whining kids, paper cuts, sunburn, carpet burn, grazed knees, poked eyes, pulled hair, gluttony, intoxication, hangovers, accidentally drinking the bottle of Grange, busted toys, missing batteries, things you never wanted, gifts you'll never use, presents you don't even understand, overflowing bins of garbage, sinks full of dishes, mozies and flies galore, overturned pot plants, cricket balls thru the neighbour's window, toddlers whacked with totem tennis racquets, siblings drowning each other in the pool, groin injuries, all night parties down the road, blaring music, police sirens, smashed bottles, slashed tyres, broken side mirrors, burnouts on the front lawn, broken sprinkler heads, rolling drunk uncle Joe, skinny dipping great aunt Ethel, and other relatives you wish you could sell into slavery, ...

Yes ... I do hope you all find that precious moment of joy and peace ... somewhere, quietly, alone, even for just a few seconds !

Season's Greetings!

:-)

Clima-facsism

2009-11-15T14:28:00.002+08:00

Clima-fascism: A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with anthropomorphic climate change, in which a mass-based grouping of committed environmental militants, manipulated by and working in an uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues its anti-humanistic goals through the manipulation and suppression of debate, without ethical or legal restraints [Courtesy of Open Your Eyes News]

its basis:

Fascism: A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion [Robert Paxton]

P***** Off!

2009-10-14T00:58:00.001+08:00

POLEMICOL polysemously proposes to profusely ponder and promote the polymorphic potentiality and perpetuity of policing political polemics through perpetration of proscribed pyrolysis in pandemic proportions.

RIP Jack - and please don't haunt me!

2009-10-02T15:38:00.003+08:00

It is a day of many and mixed emotions when one's nemesis passes away. Where would Sherlock Holmes have been without Moriarty, Batman without Catwoman, Superman without Lex Luthor.

It is such a day for me, not that I consider myself to be a fictitious crime-fighter devoid of a super-villain; but the death of former Australian Democrats Senator, Jack Evans (see announcement below) does leave me feeling a little nostalgic, somewhat wistful and even a dab of sadness.

Anyone who followed my few years as an active member of the Democrats will know how I came to blows with Jack and his excremental offsider, Andrew Murray. Jack may very well have had good intentions to protect the party, but his vice-like grip did more damage than good and it blinded him to the facts. He was, unfortunately, more interested in retaining tight control more than upholding the democratic foundations of the party.

That was no more evident than by his actions during the WA Democrats fiasco in and similarly in several less public stoushes and faux pas' in the years since, culminating in his support for Murray during his ridiculous and damaging dummy spit of 2001/02.

Readers may wish to search through my very early posts on this site for an insight or review detailed documentation from Brian Jenkins and other online sources.

One day I might manage to upload all of my email records and other documentation from the AusDemocrats ... please contact me if you are a budding researcher interested in delving into the mire ;-)

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness today that I have the duty to inform you that one of our greatest has passed away. Jack Evans died early this morning in Perth.

A former Senator, National President and National Campaign Director, Jack Evans was instrumental in the formation of the Australian Democrats, and was a significant figure in many of our greatest moments, including rafting the Franklin River with Don Chipp all those years ago.

Jack was a man of visions and ideas. He wanted to make things happen, and often they did. People would get caught up in his enthusiasm and share his vision and work hard to make it happen. He had a deep and commanding voice and chose his words carefully. He didn’t prattle on, but spoke with quiet dignity after listening to others opinions. Therefore – people listened, felt heard and had confidence in his ability to deliver.

He was a deal maker, pulling people together to make things happen. He was also very cautious and very much kept what he saw as the Party’s best interest deep in his heart. He was very protective of the Party when he could see people who’s intent was questionable or potentially problematic and some took this as obstructionist. He knew how to be a strategist and develop ways of achieving goals. Jack never spoke ill of people despite the criticisms he would inevitably receive and had a remarkable ability to tenaciously push through obstacles, disregarding personal cost.

There was nothing more he loved, it seemed, than talking about political ideas, about ways to address the big issues, about the way the Democrats could continue to make a difference. He remained absolutely committed to the ideals of the Party and those remaining have a responsibility to Jack to do their best to ensure those ideals are not lost from the political landscape.

He remained very private about his personal side, yet once one of his friends he was warm and gracious, always showing a keen interest in those around him.

People like Jack Evans are rare – I know he touched and inspired many Australian Democrats and others across the country. To those close to him we offer our deepest and most heartfelt condolences. We will all miss him.

Julia Melland
National President
Australian Democrats

And in a strange way, yes I will miss him too.

Andrew Murray on the other hand ... well, let's not go there.

Not recommended for vegans!

2009-09-12T20:39:00.005+08:00

Following on from my posts about killing day old chickens and the dolphin for food campaign I thought I would share this enlightening fictional perspective written by Terry Bisson.

The title is also the first line; it thus commences:

"They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"Meat. They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"There's no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They're completely meat."

"That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?"

"They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come from machines."

"So who made the machines? That's who we want to contact."

"They made the machines. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Meat made the machines."

"That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they're made out of meat."

Full story here

Closer to A Brave New World

2009-09-09T01:35:00.006+08:00

In a recent post I asked "Is a virus secretly killing you?" and cited growing examples of how common and uncommon virii are being connected with various cancers.

Here is more research that points to the same conclusion, this time in relation to prostate cancer.

Big pharma must be joyous at the opportunity to develop more and more vaccines. Meanwhile the world's fresh food supply is becoming more restricted leading up to the implementation of codex alimentarius.

I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of soma and soylent in the marketplace.

Dolphin Dilemma

2009-09-07T06:00:00.003+08:00

Simultaneously published at Online Opinion

It is both intriguing and bewildering watching the fallout and resulting hype over the documentary The Cove which portrays animal activists, led by Flipper trainer Ric O’Barry, outing the not-so “secret” practice of dolphin fishing in Japan.

At the heart of this political campaign is the emotional bond that we have been conditioned to believe exists between dolphin and human; that somehow dolphins are more human than other animals and thus deserving of something more than what we give to other animals. On the other side is a tradition spanning thousands of years across many cultures all around the world; that dolphins are a genuine food source.

According to the campaign material on various websites in support of or directly related to the movie, the purpose of the film is to alert people to the “heinous” activity and gain support in demanding that the Japanese government ban the practice. They raise only the following few points:

20,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed each year in Japan;
the way in which the dolphins are killed is "brutal";
Japanese consumers are being sold dolphin meat;
the meat can contain high levels of mercury; and
the meat is often labelled as whale meat.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the aim is to prevent dolphins and porpoises from being killed (full stop) and that the other issues (the horror of death; that Japanese people are barbaric for eating dolphin meat; health and safety of consumers is at risk due to toxins; and illegal trading practices include mislabelling of seafood) are merely designed to attract a sympathetic audience from as far and wide as possible.

Subsequently, I’m not going to be drawn on debating some of these points in detail as they are simply red herrings, which I will explain shortly. My intention herein is to play Devil’s advocate by taking a philosophical look at each of the other points raised by the filmmakers to determine whether the practice of dolphin fishing is indeed as bad as they suggest.

Ultimately the question open for debate is whether dolphin meat should be available for consumption. Individual moral values aside, there are only three points to logically consider when determining whether we should eat a particular food (be it beast or plant):

Is the food fit for human consumption? It must be nutritious, palatable and have no ill side effects.
Will consumption hasten the extinction of that species or be detrimental to the population in a particular area?
Are the practices of bringing the food to the table the best available? Are they environmentally sound, humane, hygienic, efficient, competitive and honest?

Let’s look at these in detail for the example of dolphins and porpoises in light of the movie, The Cove. First, dolphins, whales and other cetaceans have been an integral part of the diet of numerous cultures for many thousands of years. Technically it is a nutritious and pleasant food to consume if you don't draw any conscious familiarity to Flipper. Those that are squeamish about the concept are likely to have similar issues with eating Bambi or Thumper.

Concerns about toxins, such as cadmium or mercury, are justified but are equally applicable to other seafood caught from the same waters as the dolphins. All pollution eventually reaches the oceans, so seafood has experienced increased levels of toxicity in recent decades and the developing nations of Asia are the leading culprits.

Similarly, we have examples in Australia where a cheap fish is substituted for an expensive one, such as barramundi. Labelling and toxicity are matters for the relevant agencies to address and most consumers are right to expect their food to be labelled correctly and to know that it meets health guidelines, no matter whether it was chicken or whale.

These are not issues unique to Japan or the dolphin trade and both arguments are simply red herrings. Thus, there is no gastronomic or biological reason for banning dolphin as a food item. Let’s move on.

As to the second question of extinction, my research indicates that this isn't a critical issue for dolphins like it is with, say, whales, the great cats or the orang-utans. With the exception of a few localised problems (e.g. Solomon Islands dolphin population being relatively small), global dolphin populations are quite safe. 20,000 per year may seem like a large number, but it represents about one third of a per cent (0.0033 per cent) of the world dolphin population.

“According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are likely more than six million dolphins worldwide. A few species are at risk of extinction, but most number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.” (National Geographic, August 2009)

In comparison, it is estimated that there are fewer than 5,000 blue whales, no more than 8,000 right whales, less than 50,000 fin whales and about only 60,000 humpback whales in existence (International Whaling Commission). But even these represent high populations when you look at the plight of the tigers with less than 7,500 worldwide with three of the eight sub-species already declared extinct (The Global Tiger Forum).

On the flipside chickens are almost exclusively farmed to meet human food needs and rarely exist in the wild. According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) “The world population of domestic chickens increased by 160%, from 13.5 billion in 1998 to 35 billion in 2006” (Assist America). The vast majority of these birds are killed for food every year and our growing demand ironically ensures the survival of that species, as they almost certainly could not survive in the wild. Modern cattle, swine and sheep also enjoy high populations almost exclusively to serve human needs.

It’s important to highlight some points about farming. Apart from the fact that it would be extremely difficult and expensive to "farm" dolphins, captive breeding (modern farming) isn't always good for the animal, the species or the consumer. It requires more intensive land use and is often reliant on antibiotics, pesticides and nutritional supplements. Additionally, pollutants are a common issue across most Asian seafood so if a dolphin farm was developed (like a tuna farm) it would probably exist in the same polluted waters.

To argue, as I have heard some do, that dolphins are somehow different to other animals because they are not farmed is once again another red herring. If we were to farm dolphins in the same way that we farm tuna or salmon would that make the practice more acceptable? Perhaps not for those who are deep in the heart of the moral campaign. That makes it merely a straw man argument.

So now we come to the issue of herding and culling. Is it an unavoidable fact or an inhumane brutality? Again, let’s look at it from an objective perspective. Humans are predominantly omnivores. We eat meat, therefore we must kill animals. Killing involves shock, pain and bloodshed as anyone would expect. Unfortunately it is not efficient to put every animal “to sleep” with a chemical before slaughtering it. What we all would hope is that we engage best practice in our methodology. If we discover a better way to kill a cow that doesn’t drastically increase the costs, we should employ it.

The question therefore, is not about whether the practice of herding dolphins into coves for slaughter is barbaric, brutal or inhumane. Instead it is about whether a suitable alternative exists. I have found none, but I’m open to being educated on the subject and will gladly campaign for the worldwide introduction of such methods if they exist.

DO NOT WATCH IF SQUEAMISH! - Dolphin slaughter in Japan

Currently it can take a few minutes for a dolphin to die after it is cut open and bleeds to death - the same method is used to slaughter pigs, albeit after they receive an electric shock and they are hung upside down to hasten the bloodletting. I have a feeling that electricity and water would not be a good recipe for dolphin fishing, but perhaps the hanging of the carcass would make the event swifter and ease any suffering.

There is a distinct similarity between herding cetaceans and trawling for fish, however the trawl is less efficient due to the large amount of by-catch taken. Additionally, fish can take much longer to “suffocate” out of the water, resulting in higher levels of stress than other produce.

The only other difference is the cuteness and human-like qualities we observe in the prey. Anyone who has owned pet fish, mice, birds, cats or dogs and studied their behaviour might see that dolphins are hardly unique and that it is we humans instead who have the cute animal-like qualities. Cuteness is hardly a rational argument for deciding what to eat.

In conclusion, if we have a food that is palatable, fit for consumption, honestly labelled and reaches our plate in a manner equal to that of other produce, as long as that food is from a sustainable population and not at risk of future extinction then there is no argument against it continuing to be available. Whether you choose to buy or consume it is entirely up to you.

Certainly, no adult should be forced to eat kangaroo if they don’t want to, but please don’t argue that I shouldn’t eat it because it’s cute, has feelings, isn’t humanely killed or simply because it happens to be on our coat of arms. Similarly, the arguments don’t stack up with dolphin!

At the current levels of dolphin fishing, matched against wild populations there is nothing to suggest we should stop the practice of dolphin fishing. It is simply not in the same league as whaling. However, there is clear evidence that we could improve the method of culling and that we should proceed with haste in that direction.

To those readers who might like to jump in and claim that I have skirted around or ignored the moral issues, please feel free to do so now. Your morals are your own and they should direct your life, not anyone else’s and least of all mine.

All I'm asking is that people understand why they are reacting in horror upon watching The Cove - ultimately because it’s a cute dolphin and not an ugly pig.

Ask yourself “if a dolphin farm existed (like a tuna farm), that was free from pollutants and they were slaughtered as humanely as possible - would you allow dolphin meat to be sold?” If not, why not? Can you find a single reason that isn’t purely emotional and tied to your programmed conditioning of what a cute dolphin represents?

For the record, I eat meat - I know how it gets to my plate and I'm OK with it. Most people don't want to know because knowledge means accepting responsibility.

How to kill a day old chicken

2009-09-03T17:03:00.006+08:00

There is a fair bit of hype going around the Internet at the moment about this video showing day old male chickens being "ground alive".

WARNING: do not watch the video if you are squeamish about how your food is produced!

According to this article on the RSPCA website:

"The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals: Domestic Poultry (http://www.publish.csiro.au/books/download.cfm?ID=3451) states that all culled or surplus newly hatched chicks that are destined for disposal must be treated as humanely as those that will be retained or sold. They must be destroyed promptly by a recommended humane method such as carbon dioxide gassing or quick maceration."

If the RSPCA believe that being ground alive is a quick and humane death, then that is good enough for me.

Who's for a roast chook?

On Monday (7 September 2009) I will be publishing a detailed article (on OnlineOpinion as well as here) with regard to dolphin fishing, which is practiced around the world in many countries but has been highlighted in the new film The Cove.

I take a look at the arguments raised by the film makers and test their veracity. You may be surprised at what I discover and the unusual conclusion that results.

The simple truth

2009-07-25T10:46:00.002+08:00

A Brave New World

2009-07-21T11:45:00.006+08:00

A simple, thought provoking quote from Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World:

"Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. And not the child's mind only. The adult's mind too - all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides - made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions... Suggestions from the State."

And one from George Orwell's 1984:

"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?... Has it ever occurred to your, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?... The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness."

You can stick to your daily routine and believe that everything is under control, or you can read, think and decide otherwise!

Is a virus secretly killing you?

2009-07-16T12:04:00.001+08:00

We should all heed this report which seems to confirm a long-held suspician that at least one strain of the enterovirus (the common cold) may be the cause of type 1 diabetes.

Combine this with the knowledge that 4 strains of the human papilloma virus (hpv) are the major cause of cervical cancer (now presumably prevented by the Gardasil vaccine), and that several other strains of the same virus causes cancer in various other parts of the body, including the anus and bowel.

HPV is also a common virus with more than 100 strains and carried by up to 50% of the population. As such it was never thought to pose much risk to human life, merely presenting itself in the form of warts in the affected part of the body.

Both discoveries should raise an obvious question to any logical thinker; Are common virii the blame for all our life-threatening ailments? If so, what does that mean for the future of human health, longevity and the future success of pharmaceutical vaccines?

Bruno & homophobia - let's get real people!

2009-07-14T17:00:00.005+08:00

There has been a lot of hype about Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest movie squirm-fest that is sure to leave you horrified or laughing hysterically. I was hysterically horrified, but then I found Borat to be provocatively amusing too.

Much of the media focus has been on predictable complaints about it being homophobic. Really? Yes - seriously. Some people are so far up their own activist arses that they enjoy a little tonsil hockey at the same time!

People like Colin Wilson at Socialist Worker are on the warpath by stamping their feet at any heterosexual that dares to highlight the taboo world of internalised homophobia. They claim that any fun made of anal sex must be an attack on gays around the world. Well, the last time I checked, gay men did not have the sole rights to anal sex, in fact I'm fairly certain that Eve asked Adam for it once or twice!

These infantile man-bag burners wave the banner of gay activism as if they were rampaging misandrists of a former era tarnishing the proud feminist movement.

Gay rights were born from the feminist campaigns of earlier decades, but just as we see today in the fundamentalist gay movement, there were a number feminazis that took things to the extreme and believed that every symbol of maleness was evil - even the word man, whose original meaning was all of humanity, regardless of sex or age.

Come on people - get your head out of your arse and grab a sense of humour before you die from suffocation due to an overdose of self-felching! Get a grip and focus on the real issues that plague human rights. This film is a satirical comedy that actually normalises gay sex through its confronting nakedness on all things gay.

I welcome it, I embrace it and I'll take the mind fuck completely!

Well done Sacha!

The silliest debate I've seen all year

2009-06-01T15:40:00.005+08:00

I was shocked to read on Online Opinion, an article titled Anti-Populationists - the New Imperialists by Malcolm King.

It was the most uncompelling argument I've seen within this forum. Honestly, it is easier to argue with a religious fundamentalist on the existence of God, than to deal with any of the red herrings, straw men, pseudo-facts and nonsensical diatribe espoused by Malcolm.

I'm no fan of the extremist environmentalist movement that would have us reduce to a population of 500 million and survive on a completely vegan lifestyle reminiscent of our ancestral cave-dwellers. But Malcolm has illogically and stupidly tied this mindset to the entire population debate.

Malcolm has stuck his fingers in his ears, plunged his ostrich head in the sand and is singing "la la la - population isn't an issue".

I enjoyed reading his Feb 09 article "We have nothing to fear but hype itself" and suggest that Malcolm has taken this to the extreme by choosing to ignore any sign of any problem anywhere in the world, particularly if it means having to take some personal responsibility for one's over-consuming western lifestyle.

Malcolm claims some superiority without actually providing any evidence to support his argument or disprove the "anti-populationist" view. He appears to have a disliking for Sandra Kanck (and as both he and I are ex-Democrats I can totally understand that feeling *smirk*) but this feeling, rather than logic, seems to be driving his argument.

I particularly like this attack:

The anti-pops use a curious form of syllogism in their arguments which have been used by cults since time immemorial. It goes like this:

a. population is killing the environment;
b. we can save the environment;
c. help us rid the earth of population.

Given that Malcolm also referenced carbon emissions, I presume that he is a believer in man made climate change, so I put the same argument back at him as my proof that climate change is NOT an issue to be concerned about:

The climate-changeists use a curious form of syllogism in their arguments which have been used by cults since time immemorial. It goes like this:

a. CO2 is killing the environment;
b. we can save the environment;
c. help us rid the earth of CO2.

Whoops, Malcolm!

The reality is that the rise or fall in population of any species is known to have dramatic and measurable effects upon any local environment. We've seen it with fish, rabbits, cane toads, locusts, and thousands of others in modern history. Ecosystems while being generally robust and hardy are also delicately trying to maintain balance.

Humans are one of the few, if not the only, global species pervading and having a major effect on the local and global environments. To think otherwise is pure insanity.

Best Swine Flu Advice

2009-05-31T17:23:00.001+08:00

Spiralling inwards, together

2009-05-22T10:27:00.000+08:00

I've been intrigued by my observations as I attempt to objectively watch myself and my friends over the last few months traversing this strange existence we call life. The turmoil of love and love lost, of work and career, hefty responsibilities and high expectations.

The insurmountable pressure we place upon ourselves in order to fit into the mould that society has shaped for us is often a crazy and illogical cacophony of irrelevance and distraction.

Until today, it simply felt that we were all caught in a dark and dangerous whirlpool; a vortex that was swirling around and drawing us closer to the centre of inevitability to be engulfed and taken to oblivion ... and so we fight and struggle to move away from its awesome power.

But my realisation today is that we are fearful of a force that we do not properly understand. Instead of a foe it is, perhaps, simply trying to bring us together.

By allowing ourselves to be taken on this ride we share our vulnerability with each other and highlight that our basic desire to maintain control is unnecessary. It is not only a less strenuous pathway, it is actually enjoyable and worthwhile in developing the strong bonds of lifelong friendships.

Another valuable lesson that living in the moment and allowing oneself to simply 'be' is a very liberating and exciting state of existence.

In Memoriam, One Year On

2009-04-30T01:27:00.000+08:00

In Memory of
Rowan Barrett
1973 - 2008

etched forever in my mind, the joy we shared
on one night's chanceful encounter
the quintessential mate of everyone you met
and they were proud to call you friend

but none was more honoured than this stranger,
to have simply met and shook your hand
and engage in cheerful conversation

among the festive crowd we were connected
dancing and laughing like children
in heart filled celebration
living a precious moment for our friend

without any qualms or social boundary
my life was more enriched
by the reach of your friendship and humanity

one night, but a moment in my life
that i would gladly exchange if it would bring you back
taken too soon, your time too short
no greater man whose passing can cement a memory

know that you are greatly missed
by those whom you deeply loved
and those, like me, you unknowingly touched

An Obituary

2009-04-17T11:03:00.004+08:00

Received the following in an email. The source is attributed as being an obituary published in the London Times, although the BBC attributes it to Lori Borgman. There are also a few different versions across the Internet including this more parochial one.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, 'Common Sense', who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement .

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility, his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame; I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on.

If not, join the majority and do nothing.

A Micro Win for Civil Liberties

2009-04-09T12:50:00.003+08:00

Anyone following my Twitter profile would know I was dealing with an issue at the Australian Tax Office in Northbridge. Here's how it was relayed on Twitter:

polemicol OH: ATO staff warning tourists "you can't take a photograph - its a government building" #ohperth #lie 10:20 AM Apr 8th

In reply to a Direct Message (DM) querying if it was a security guard:

polemicol no - a mere staff member as she was leaving the building. watch out for the memo that will be sent to all staff, after I get finished ;-) 10:39 AM Apr 8th

I had walked into the ATO and complained to the security guard about the incident, but he was laissez faire about the whole thing, wouldn't give me the name of anyone to speak with, but told me to call in tomorrow (Wednesday).

polemicol lots to do - banking, bills, holiday planning, ruffling the feathers of security and building management at the ATO - all in a day's work! 10:52 AM Apr 8th
polemicol @bel no - just a citizen protecting our civil liberties, ensuring that ATO staff know its perfectly legal to photograph government buildings 10:57 AM Apr 8th in reply to Bel
polemicol @bel no chance that photos are illegal - this is Australia, not the USA (yet!) ;-) about 19 hours ago in reply to Bel

I did call back Wednesday afternoon, but unfortunately missed the relevant person.Finally, I met with Property Operations Manager this morning and discussed the issues of law versus ATO policy, as well as civil liberties versus employee security.

polemicol I had a micro win for civil liberties today - ATO will advise staff that it's legal to photograph from outside the building ;-) about 1 hour ago
polemicol @perthtones but they still reserve the right to challenge anyone taking photographs and subsequently report them to authorities. *sigh* 33 minutes ago in reply to perthtones

Rudd-Con DIY broadband plan

2009-04-09T01:20:00.002+08:00

The Commonwealth Government has announced what is undeniably a bold and visionary project to replace our nation’s aging telecommunications system with a digitally robust optic fibre network. It is a scheme that is being touted as Australia’s largest ever infrastructure project, requiring major investment by both government and private enterprise to the tune of around $43 billion.

Let us not delude ourselves with the panacea of optical-fibre optimism just yet. While the broadband plan is a long-awaited and well-debated project many, including myself, will attest that despite it being a much-needed booster for the economy, the mere 25,000 jobs it will provide over eight years is of little consequence to the larger unemployment rates expected from the downturn.

Significantly, at the core of this plan are three fundamental truths that are being deliberately overlooked as well as one obscure potential outcome that conspires to further threaten privacy and civil liberties in Australia as well as our economic and national security.

Firstly we must recognise that Australia is becoming more reliant on high-speed telecommunications for government, business and households alike to transact, communicate, entertain and interact locally and globally. The speed with which we are expanding our desire for information technology and communications access will soon surpass our infrastructure’s capacity and capability to deliver.

There is no doubt that something needs to be done, and full credit to the current government for acknowledging what the previous one dusted under the carpet. However, a large proportion of critics have been citing the Government’s solution as being redundant even before the first cable is laid. Comments like “too little, too late” or “too old, too soon” are making headlines. It is hard to disagree.

Just like its copper predecessor, even optic fibre has a finite capability and lifespan. Only 10 years ago a common dial-up connection offered speeds of 14kbps to access the information super-highway, while today we expect 56kbps as a minimum and DSL speeds of between 512kbps and 1.5Mbps are seen as the standard for the contemporary mega-media highway. It is, therefore, easy to predict that by the time the final cable is connected in 9 years time, the highly acclaimed 100Mbps connections will be barely sufficient to appease our addiction to the terabyte-highway looming in our future.

Therein lays the second poorly calculated assumption; that it will only take 8 years to roll out high speed optic fibre into every household and office across this vast land and that it will come in on budget. The Snowy Mountains Scheme aside, the record of Australian governments to complete major infrastructure on time and on budget is almost non-existent.

One can only guess at the millions of kilometres of cable required for this initiative and the speed with which it must be laid and connected, let alone for a project of this size to be adequately funded through successive governments and a myriad of unknown economic and political hurdles.

I draw the analogy of a homeowner wishing to renovate. Unhappy with the proposals and quotes received from the experts, they instead choose the DIY method. We all know how easily that can end in tears, heartache, financial ruin and divorce. This leaves the house unfinished, sold at a bargain price to some entrepreneur who simply walks in, tidies up, puts on a coat of paint and resells for a major profit.

The proposed $43b budget is to be partly funded by a government cash injection of $4.7b with up to 49% owned by private enterprise. The issue of Government Bonds (aka debt) is anticipated to cover the shortfall of around $20 billion. At the end of the project, the taxpayers will encounter another telco sell-off that may put the T2 fiasco to shame. At this point, the new monopolistic National Broadband Network Corporation will want to start recouping its money back from subscribers and our reliance on this new corporate beast will render us unable to resist.

With currently 8 million internet subscribers (covering government, businesses and households) nationally, the cost of this project calculates to an average value of $5,375 per subscriber. Even over 20 years, that equals an extra $268 pa to your access fees. This figure doesn’t even consider the additional investment by private enterprise or any losses resulting from movement of revenue away from traditional telcos as subscribers ditch the pay-per-call model in favour of the free Voice over IP (VoIP) options associated with their new ISP packages. Telcos will simply become ISPs, leasing bandwidth and reselling it to consumers.

The final truth, as proven by historical precedence, is that the privatisation of critical infrastructure only serves to increase costs for consumers as the commercial enterprise has a natural desire to chase greater profits. One needs only to look at the existing PSTN to understand that the majority of us are paying higher monthly line rentals for old copper infrastructure that should have been well and truly paid off by our forefathers. And simply look towards the increased cost of banking along with the decreased level of service – we now pay the banks higher fees while we do more of our banking online or via ATMs. Public transport, bridges, highways, the list of privatisation pitfalls is endless.

It is my conclusion that the “Rudd-Con DIY broadband plan” will insufficiently meet the needs of a future technology hungry Australia; it will be unable to meet its objectives within the proposed timeframe and budget, resulting in a greater financial cost than what is being purported today; and finally that Australia’s entire media, information and entertainment distribution and access will be left at the hands of a privately-owned profit-driven telecommunications behemoth.

And therein lays the final conundrum of epic proportions; a nation whose every act of communication will be required to go through a government-sanctioned commercial monopoly. Every packet of data, each phone call, email, tweet, download, upload; all syphoned through a single privately owned optic fibre network.

At this point, Stephen Conroy and the ACMA won’t need to be fussed with ISPs implementing his ill-fated Internet filter; he may simply attach it to the responsibilities of the National Broadband Network Corporation along with allowing widespread eavesdropping for ASIO, ASIS, DSD, or the AFP. All this for the protection of our national security, of course.

Just think Echelon on a grander scale only much more efficient. While it may seem unlikely, it is not out of the realm of possibility. After all, who would have correctly predicted the government assaults on truth and our civil liberties in the last 8 years?

Ordinary World

2009-03-24T15:16:00.000+09:00

Came in from a rainy Thursday
on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV
and the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you

Those words I have heard a hundred times or more without actually listening to them. They come from "Ordinary World" a 1993 song written by Duran Duran about moving on from the grief of losing their colleague and friend, Simon Le Bon. I know it more fondly as the Aurora version, sung by the beautiful Naimee Coleman, an anthem to many a dance party I've attended over the years.

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

Equally however, it is an anthem for moving on in life and overcoming the obstacles that seem to want to hold us in the past.

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find

And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Yearning for the past is where I currently reside and I know that I need to move on from yesterday to get back to the ordinary world.

Passion or coincidence
Once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"

Well now pride's gone out the window
Cross the rooftops, run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart

Many of my relationships have changed, work, love, family, friends, life - a beautiful portrait on canvas that now seems extraordinarily, almost hauntingly, empty and distant. Yet it calls for me to start new, to paint over it; to wreak havoc with it's beauty. A chance to create something new.

What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away

Death, divorce, a lover's parting or even a fallout with a friend leaves us empty and hollow. Selfishly we ask, 'What about me? Where are you when I need you the most?' And so, my friend is gone.

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

We want our lives to be extraordinary. But sometimes there are moments when we feel extraordinarily alone, extraordinarily empty, or extraordinarily lifeless. At these times we just want to find our way back to the ordinary world.

Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk

And how I might feel in this time of grief eclipses anything that is happening around me. But my sorrow and hurt is insignificant against the catastrophic suffering that others might face; those who have no concept of the beautiful ordinary world that I am a part of, and from which I have silently drifted.

And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

So I will survive; I do survive; we are all survivors of the ordinary world.

Every one is my world
I will learn to survive
Any one is my world
I will learn to survive
Any one is my world
Every one is my world

And because we survive in the ordinary world, we are together and we are not alone after all.
Every one is a part of my beautiful ordinary world.

The Credit Crunch Explained

2009-03-10T11:03:00.004+09:00

Another layman's explanation of the financial crisis has been forwarded to me by my good friend, Adam.

Please refer any further questions, anger, verbal abuse, vigilante justice, death threats and physical torment directly to your bank's senior management, as well as those rogue financial planners, parasitic mortgage brokers and investment con artists :-)

The Credit Crunch Explained

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers, most of whom are unemployed alcoholics, to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of unemployed alcoholics flood into Heidi's bar.
Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most popular drinks. Her sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items because (insert here the name of your financial advisor) recommended them as a good investment.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager of the bank, (subsequently of course fired due to his negativity), decides that the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. But of course they cannot pay back the debts.

Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy.

DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95 %. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80 %.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment due dates, and having invested in the securities, are faced with a new situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.

The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.

Cyber safety research may miss the mark

2009-03-03T12:13:00.004+09:00

The good people over at Australian eDemocracy alerted me to the recent report that the Federal Government will spend some of the $125.8 million cyber safety plan funding to engage an Edith Cowan University research team to "review current research on matters such as the nature and prevalence of cyber-safety issues, such as cyber-bullying, online predators and the disclosure of personal information."

They will also will also "explore views on the consequences of these risks, and what technical and behavioural measures can be used by children, parents and teachers to help reduce them."

All well and good, and I'm very supportive of the Government for undertaking this important action, however I have my reservations about the nature of the final report and the person heading it up, Professor Donna Cross.

On the Bullying. No Way! website, Prof. Cross is quoted thus:

“...much good work has been done by researchers to assess the prevalence of the bullying problem but virtually no research has been conducted to investigate empirically what can be done to address this problem.”

It seems she has found a way to get this important research funded by convincing the government that it is a cyber safety issue.

I disagree!

Bullying is a behavioural awareness and disciplinary issue that everyone can combat by working with perpetrators and victims, or potential victims, alike. It is a distinctly separate issue to cyber safety, which is a parental care and child educational issue requiring purely preventative measures and can not be combatted by working to rehabilitate perpetrators.

I fear that Prof Cross and her team at the Child Health Promotion Research Centre will lack the technological understanding and experience to complete this task in full. The question arises as to how this research grant was awarded to Professor Cross rather than any of the other tenders? If she was the best qualified for this work, then it is possibly a sad indictment on Australian commerce and academia.

Notably there is $2.3 million set aside for this research as well as a second project to develop a "repeatable survey instrument and methodology for data collection on the changes in behaviour of children, parents, teachers".

At the crux of the issue of cyber-safety is that parents, guradians and adults charged with relevant authority MUST take full responsibility in educating and supervising children's activity on any and every electronic media. The Bullying. No Way website (supported by Prof Cross' team at CHPRC) even tells us why:

“Many young people say that they wouldn’t report cyber bullying because most adults don’t know that they have a cyber life ... But parents have a moral, as well as a legal, responsibility to ensure that their children engage in safe and responsible behaviour – including online behaviour.”

Precisley the point that Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, and his team just don't seem to get, which is why they are insisting on imposing Internet Censorship via a secret filter on all ISP activity to ban black-listed sites.

Where is the control if parents don't know what their children are doing, who they are conversing with or what information they are unwittingly revealing about themselves, their location and their activities?

We wouldn't let our children walk the streets alone at night, yet there are many who allow their children to do just that in a cyber world. The risks and dangers are the same. The responsibility remains the same. Allowing a child to roam the streets alone is neglectful and it is a crime; so it should also be with cyber-media access. So it is, and so it shall remain. No cyber safety policy or Internet filter will change that.

I am always right. Almost always

2009-02-24T13:10:00.000+09:00

I came across a post titled I am always right. Almost always and I loved reading it because it brought home some dark truths that I grapple with consistently.

Unanswered questions like:

When does my opposition to fundamentalism become, in itself, a form of fundamentalism?
Can someone's freedom of expression impinge on my freedom from oppression?
Can I maintain my integrity by compromising my position in a negotiation or debate?

The latter was beautifully summed up in a previous post in 2006 which quoted Liberal Democrats (UK political party) leader, Charles Kennedy as saying:

"In politics you should position yourself behind what you believe in and articulate it. Then see if that's what the voters want, and if it's not what they want, well, that's democracy."

I think we can adapt to this to a broader philosophy on life.

I have always maintained that I will never compromise my principles - my integrity is my self. Without it I am lost in a sea of expressionless and unconscious beings in a "follow me" world.

That does not mean I am fixed and rigid in my opinions and perspectives, though it may appear that way. I know that I must be open to new information and willing to adapt to the truth when it is discovered, for my principles are based solely on my knowledge and experience to date, which may well be flawed or lacking the right perspective.

One exercise that I regularly undertake, and highly recommend to everyone, is to take your beliefs, one at a time, and ask yourself simply "why do I believe this?".

Often you will find the root of your beliefs in some distant childhood memory that, when given an adult perspective, seems ludicrous, illogical or irrelevant. At that point it is time to reassess that belief in light of the present information and understanding.

Only at that moment of extraordinary capitulation can we say we have grown wiser. I look for those moments daily and embrace them with joy.

Absolving responsibility - updated

2009-02-17T11:24:00.005+09:00

The previous post has been updated with further debate ensuing.

I will keep updating the original rather than make any new posts, as this will maintain the debate in one place for ease of reference.

I find it funny that while I was debating the ridiculousness of censoring the Internet to ensure that someone can use it as their personal babysitter, Sara rallied her child protection claptrap to label me as a supporter of paedophiles.

It is reminiscent of the current campaign by supporters of Senator Conroy's "internet filter" - apparently anyone who does not support government imposed censorship must therefore support sex predators.

"you are with me, or against me" is a tired mantra that was overly used during the 'war on terror'. It didn't stick then and it doesn't stick now.

NOTE: Final update completed - I'll let the public be the judge of which party got the wrong end of the stick in this debate.

Absolving responsibility

2009-02-16T11:33:00.011+09:00

The following is a copy of a discussion that I was involved with on Facebook. It started with my comment in response to someone joining a cause titled Keep Sex Offenders Off the Internet

I feel that type of group does not do any good. It unfairly utilises the term "sex offenders" when they are really targeting paedophiles (if you don't know the difference, get educated!) and takes its members down the road of "society is to blame, I am not responsible for my children, I am helpless, the Government must do something".

Collin Mullane at 23:24 on 15 February

(this is not directed at you, but at the group)
... and keep them out of parks too, and they shouldn't be using telephones either, or driving cars, or allowed in shopping centres or on sporting fields.
Hell, let's just ban them from getting on with their lives after they've paid the penalty for their actions. (insert sarcasm)

Sara --------- at 10:50 on 16 February

The physcology required to commit sexual offences against children, is not something which can be asumed rectified after the serving of sentence, the autonomy offered by the internet and the potential for inappropriate and deliberate targeting of children for perverse pleasure is something the community should do more to prevent. Personally my child should be free and safe to enjoy the internet and I as a parent should be free to get on with peeling potatoes or vaccuming without worrying whether or not someone is attempting to target the child.
Any access to internet by convicted child offenders ought to be limited by security software to general sites and their pornographic activities limited to sites which are monitored by appropriate authorities for any material which might be considered to be of concern.

Sara --------- at 11:00 on 16 February

In regards to Prison visit rooms, the dept of corrections and the countrys legislative policy regarding the same are considered to be in keeping with the priority of child protection. My understanding is that those prisoners who are considered of concern in terms of children are not able to have visitors attend the prison on those visits which are accepting of kids. There are specific child accepting visits and non child accepting visits available at all dept of Corrections facilities. In addition to this specific method of Child protection, I and I know I speak for many other of the beautiful girls who visit partners reguarly, have the sort of personal protection available to me in this forum that would intimidate any potential problem to my child. For anyone who isnt sure what I just said, my partner is sufficently fit, healthy, and capable to be a deterant to any person that might be a problem to me or any member of his kin.

Collin Mullane at 11:24 on 16 February

Sarah - if you wish to absolve yourself of responsibility and instead place it firmly on the shoulders of society, you fail as a parent and as a citizen (in my arrogant opinion).
Your argument is no different to another parent allowing their child to fend for themselves alone at home while they go out to work and then blaming society when the house burns down.
It _IS__YOUR__RESPONSIBILITY to know what your children are watching on tv, what books they are reading, the friends they hang with, AND what they do on the Internet.
As with the television and DVDs, the Internet is NOT designed to act as your free babysitter.

Collin Mullane at 11:32 on 16 February

As for the offenders:
According to your argument we should also restrict all murderers from watching murder movies or going to forensic or news websites in case they get ideas! Perhaps recidivist speeders or car thieves should be banned from going to the speedway or playing Grand Theft Auto? I could make an endless list of similar ridiculous suggestions.
No-one can truly know if someone has been rehabilitated in prison, in a psychiatric hospital or as a result of lengthy therapy sessions - the same applies to addicts (drug, gambling, other) as it does to sex offenders or any other criminal. We must allow justice to prevail and for offenders to either redeem themselves (as most do) or re-offend, in which case we try again.
Censorship and nanny-state regulation will not stop crime. Education, understanding and helping to provide equity and equality across society WILL.

Sara --------- at 08:29 on 17 February

Colin - Good morning.

In regards to Murderers and the watching of violent crime, the length of sentence in these cases is far higher than it is for sexual and predatory but passive (phsycological) crime. Often the offenders of violent crime, do not infact see the light of day again. And here I speak of the crime of Murder (denoting premedatation) not felony murder, unlawful killing, manslaughter, the lesser crimes where a definate intention to kill can not be substanciated.

Simplifying the argument like you have is the equivelant of sensationalism, not uncommon in a media savvy, over educated middle class ruled society. Bearing in mind that you yourself have brought the subject up within a public forum you need to be prepared for the inevitability that many people with a wider reaching knowledged of the subject matter may just have something to say. The problem here is that it may be necessary for you to expand your understanding versus make unchallenged propegatory statement.

Sara --------- at 08:38 on 17 February

In your second paragraph you made the statement that Justice must prevail. Unfortunately you seem to have missed the point. Justice is not the process by which the offending serve terms of punishment toward reinstated freedom. Justice is the term applied to a procedure which best serves the society/community interests after the commiting of an offence against the interest of that same group.

Your arguments are somewhat transparent and if I was going to cast a critical literary eye apon them I would say, unplanned and largely unresearched. You seem to shift intermitantly between arguments as the subject matter in places is directly contridictory. This can happen when a definate position is not held and a secondary motive for your statement or work is its primary reasoning.

Clearly you have a definate interest in the advocacy of child sex offenders that is an interesting position.

Sara --------- at 08:48 on 17 February

As stated in the first response to your initial posting, it is my personal beleif, that the offender of child sex offenses does commit an act against a physically and mentally inferior person and indeed a minor which as group the community has declared unable to adequately protect itself. They are targeted because they are physically too insignificant to protect themselves. These acts are usually by virtue calculated, prolonged and therefore quite definately premediated and unprovoked.

I feel the entrapment of children for perverse pleasure is a crime far exceeding any normal physcological pattern. Whilst I and im sure you may have thrown a slap or abusive word in a heated moment, an undeniable similar thread to violent crime. Personally I myself do not entertain any ideology which incorporates the victimisation of children.

Sara --------- at 08:52 on 17 February

Colin - have a nice day.

All the best for your Child Sex Offender Advocacy, im sure that particular minority feels the less isolated for your friendship and support.

Meanwhile - my position - stay away from my child coz like I said, violent crime is something I think all persons with enough motivation are capable.

Cheers

Collin Mullane at 09:48 on 17 February

LOL ... you missed my point entirely (or deliberately evaded it) and your condescending tone, decision to argue odd points, and attempt to paint me as a supporter of child abuse simply detracts from the debate and is a poor attempt to wriggle out of the real issue ... YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to care for your children.

Are you Australian? Felony Murder is a term commonly used in the USA, but no longer in most of Australia. Perhaps you watch too much imported TV ;-)

I choose to simplify arguments because most of the populace can't deal with complex issues, particularly where fundamentalism and conservatism reign. Thank you for demonstrating that point.

I do not need to give my credentials on debating this matter, suffice to say that I advocate for (holistic) justice, not simply retribution as you would seek out. You appear to have a personal hatred for sex offenders, likely due to being a victim or being close to one. I'm sorry to see that has clouded your judgement.

.... (cont)

Collin Mullane at 10:03 on 17 February

I think your final comments are offensive and technically libellous. Again another attempt to discredit me and shift focus away from the debating the real issue ... YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

If you wish to attack my points, do so carefully and specifically, rather than to alluding to some contradictions that don't actually exist, but which the casual reader may accept as truth because they would rather follow a mantra of "you're with me, or against me". than risk being labelled as you have done to me. Classic bully tactics.

However, if you wish to debate my original points I'll be glad to respond.

The debate is about censorship of the internet for specific people. The Internet is a medium very much like television and press, with the exception that it relies on openness and accessibility. With that comes the need for respect and responsibility. You cannot abrogate your duties as a parent to someone else. The Internet is not a babysitter.

Collin Mullane at 11:34 on 17 February

To bring the debate to a fine point, my argument stems from this comment of yours:

"Personally my child should be free and safe to enjoy the internet and I as a parent should be free to get on with peeling potatoes or vaccuming without worrying whether or not someone is attempting to target the child."

The point I am striving to drive home is that you DO and SHOULD have to worry. Leaving your child unattended on the Internet amounts to neglect, and is not dissimilar to allowing them to watch porn or R rated movies, let alone leaving them alone in a shopping centre to talk to whomever approaches.

If you can show me the difference, you may just win a part of the argument.

Sara --------- at 11:43 on 17 February
How my children became the real issue of a debate/discussion on "Sex offender access to the internet" is something only you could explain I am sure. It would appear to be a change of topic and it would not be difficult to ascertain the reasoning behind such an attempt.

In regards to the almost stage performance accusation of their being a American television watching illiterate, sorry again - wrong.

Actually I am a student of law and assure you felony murder is still a sentencing title in this country. It is employed in all states of Australia as a product of case law/precedent argument. It is used to argue where they may not have been a direct premeditated intent to kill, but where it was a known likelihood of a personal decission to commit offence.

You refer to the wider populace as not being capable to deal with complex issues. If you deny them the opportunity by simplifying complex issues, then certainly they can not.

Sara --------- at 11:51 on 17 February
If you however inform any reader throughout your presentation of the facts then a contentious issue is most certainly within their understanding and capability to reason.

My response was not meant to aggrevate you Colin but rather to suggest that in a world which increasingly utilizes the internet for everyday activities, including school education, we as a community have reached a stage where the protection of those unable to necessarily protect themselves should be given consideration, specifically in regards to those persons previously convicted of sexual offense.

Studies of Criminal Behaviour and in particular Child sex offender, have a startling rate of re-offense. The fact that we the empowered society and its institutions are aware by analysis that the likelihood of re offence is considerable (and considerably higher than the other offences you have chosen to highlight) do you not think some supervision of their internet activity is appropriate?

Collin Mullane at 11:54 on 17 February
My god, woman! YOU brought your children into the debate, not me.
For friggin sake - go back and read your response to my original posting.

In the meantime I will produce a clear analysis of the debate pathway and repost so that you don't get lost in the future. Don't have time now, but will try to do so this afternoon.

Sara --------- at 12:01 on 17 February
I agree with you Colin that consideration should be given to the fact that the serving of sentence should afford the opportunity to rehabilitate, it is one of the foundations of Common Law. Unfortunately not all crimes can be considered like and when we come to the advances of society like the internet the law needs to be amended to do that which it is employed to, protect. If the liberties of a previously convicted persons of crimes considered predatory need to be restricted to best serve the wider interests of the community, then whilst I can sympathise with a minority I can not put their interests before the "group - humankind"

So I guess we agree to disagree, I feel that restriction in the case of Sexual offense is appropriate and that those persons to which it would apply should not be given access to public speaking forums where they might be able to have inappropriate relations with a child in any school class room accross the country. Where the internet is now a part.

Sara --------- at 12:06 on 17 February
Colin please accept my apologies for anything I may have included which you found personally offensive. I realize your arguments are in reality aligned with some of my own. The serving of sentence should afford those who are the minority an opportunity to re enter society.
But where this poses a threat which is more likely than it is just possible, then, I think further consideration/restriction/policy is needed.

Im sorry you thought my comments were condescending - your a bit pompus yourself.......:-)

Sara --------- at 12:14 on 17 February
Colin, Colin, Colin, I bought children into the topic as a direct user of the Internet and therefore a potential target of those persons being discussed. You utilized to begin a debate about parents using the internet as a babysitter. (Which I consider rude in the extreme.) You are suggesting by virtue of your argument that childrens use of the internet (which is educational no matter what it is being used for) should be restricted and limited to accomodate sex offenders. Mate that is what you said. And you think my use of the word advocate is inaccurate.

As I stated in the previous, it was not my intention to aggrevate you into an argument. As discussion could not be said to be possible as you keep refencing issues outside the topic, I think the exchange has run its course. I wont be make further comment and feel that all stated prior speaks for itself.

Good day to you sir!

Collin Mullane at 17:01 on 17 February
Indeed

Nearly 1 billion starving worldwide

2009-02-12T01:54:00.001+09:00

I've blogged, facebooked and tweeted about the impending global food crisis. Now here's further testimony.

Atheo News: Nearly 1 billion starving worldwide

Still don't think you will be affected?

Think again!

God Smites Victoria

2009-02-10T23:20:00.005+09:00

Back in 2004 I established the Theocracy Alert early warning system. Over the last 4 years it has fallen by the way due to a lack of verifiable threats to our freedom from religion.

However, with the recent comments by Pastor Danny Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries (close association with Hillsong Church) I'm thinking of reinstating the Alert. This is just disgraceful!

Abortion Laws to Blame for Bushfires?
"He said these bushfires have come as a result of the incendiary abortion laws which decimate life in the womb."

Google shamed by Twitter speed

2009-02-10T21:30:00.003+09:00

Rarely is there a fight fought where one of the opponents did not know the fight was being fought. It happened in the last 24hrs ... TWICE!

While keeping track of those I follow on Twitter I also keep an eye on the feed from Twitscoop through my Tweetdeck. I didn't think it strange that the majority of my received tweets focused on the Victorian bushfires, after all, that was at the forefront of my mind also.

However, there's a whole world outside of Australia, so glancing at the buzz via Twitscoop lets me know what the world is tweeting about. It is a virtual collective conscience - an insight into the world's thoughts in real time.

And there it appeared as bold and large as a trend can appear ... CCTV

Of course, my mind naturally thought of "closed circuit television". Any discussion relating to Big Brother of Orwellian fame will naturally spark my interest. So I clicked and reviewed the tweets - it was a fire. Another fire! A fire in Beijing was consuming the tower that housed Central China Television and the Marriot Hotel.

Tweets told the story as people gleaned reports and forwarded links to video and pictures. A news story was unfolding before my eyes through the immediate power of Twitter. But I went to Google to seek more and it disappointed me - a couple of random news references with no detail. Twitter knew, Google failed.

Fast-forward to today and I was doing much the same, this time jokingly tweeting about the inane trends appearing on Twitscoop, primarily due to it being evening in the USA and prime time television was the priority:

The twittersphere just went freaky ... Sylar (character from Heroes) is the buzz on twittscoop *sigh*

sad reality: judging by Twitscoop results, USA Tweeters tweet mostly about TV programs as they are watching them. it says way too much.

First it was Sylar on Heroes, then CSI Miami, and now it's the return of Deanna to The Bachelor! For Fuck's sake USA - get a life!!

Shortly after something different caught my attention ... BENTLEY.

Odd. I investigated - click thru, read tweets. "slow car chase in LA" was the theme, "Chris Brown" another, "2009 O.J." read yet another. I was intrigued.

Many tweeps had provided a myriad of information and links, including live footage streaming on TV news websites. Yet, nothing on Google (Epic Fail).

Here I was watching a White Bentley parked in the middle of a 3 lane road outside a car dealership, its boot popped, mirrors turned inwards. At least 10 police vehicles were placed 50m behind, several cops could be seen crouched behind cars. Media helicopters flew overhead and camera crews were on the ground nearby.

One crew had a clear view to the driver who was speaking on his mobile phone and holding a handgun. And at one stage he held the gun to his head as if to ... well the station took about 30 seconds to decide to change camera angles.

I'll let you find out what happened.

Suffice to say that the Twittersphere was ahead of the game, it was relaying news faster than Google and no doubt due to the people power involved in Twitter surpassing the software at Google. This is the future of the global news and information stream and I'm not the only one to notice.

Twitter's greatest value is not in connecting with friends (leave that to facebook) but in connecting with the collective consciousness of the people we don't know.

Censorship or Backdown?

2009-02-10T11:04:00.008+09:00

[update 2: The Age have reinstated the article ... no explanations]

My previous post about the "Forest Fire Jihad" warning needs an update. The Age has removed the article from its site. WHY? Because of all the publicity it has received in the last 24 hours, or because it was asked by the Government, and an embarrassed Attorney-General, Robert McClelland?

[update 1: It is possible that The Age just decided to cash in by charging $2.20 access for everyone who wanted to read it, however no other Australian news sources are reporting what the rest of the world have regurgitated in the last 24 hours. Why so silent?

A Daily Mail report (UK) states: Police say they have seen no indication that the Victorian blazes were a 'forest jihad', launched by a group of Islamic extremists using fire as a form of terror against Western communities - despite South Australian Premier Mike Rann labelling the perpetrators as 'terrorists'.]

Fortunately there are other sources and I link them below as well as copy the article for posterity.

Islam group urges forest fire jihad
by Josh Gordon for The Age
September 7, 2008

AUSTRALIA has been singled out as a target for "forest jihad" by a group of Islamic extremists urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires as a weapon of terror.

US intelligence channels earlier this year identified a website calling on Muslims in Australia, the US, Europe and Russia to "start forest fires", claiming "scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands".

The website, posted by a group called the Al-Ikhlas Islamic Network, argues in Arabic that lighting fires is an effective form of terrorism justified in Islamic law under the "eye for an eye" doctrine.

The posting — which instructs jihadis to remember "forest jihad" in summer months — says fires cause economic damage and pollution, tie up security agencies and can take months to extinguish so that "this terror will haunt them for an extended period of time".

"Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organisation were to claim responsibility for the forest fires," the website says. "You can hardly begin to imagine the level of fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia and in Australia."

With the nation heading into another hot, dry summer, Australian intelligence agencies are treating the possibility that bushfires could be used as a weapon of terrorism as a serious concern.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government remained "vigilant against such threats", warning that anyone caught lighting a fire as a weapon of terror would feel the wrath of anti-terror laws.

"Any information that suggests a threat to Australia's interests is investigated by relevant agencies as appropriate," Mr McClelland said.

Adam Dolnik, director of research at the University of Wollongong's Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, said that bushfires (unlike suicide bombing) were generally not considered a glorious type of attack by jihadis, in keeping with a recent decline in the sophistication of terrorist operations.

"With attacks like bushfires, yes, it would be easy. It would be very damaging and we do see a decreasing sophistication as a part of terrorist attacks," Dr Dolnik said.

"In recent years, there have been quite a few attacks averted and it has become more and more difficult for groups to do something effective."

Dr Dolnik said he had observed an increase in traffic on jihadi websites calling for a simplification of terrorist attacks because the more complex operations had been failing. But starting bushfires was still often regarded as less effective than other operations because governments could easily deny terrorism as the cause.

The internet posting by the little-known group claimed the idea of forest fires had been attributed to imprisoned Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab Al-Suri. It said Al-Suri had urged terrorists to use sulphuric acid and petrol to start forest fires.

Check out all the links through Google here.

Other Sources:
Jihad Watch
Western Institute for Study of the Environment News
Clipmarks
Canada Free Press
Hillary's Village

Firebugs are Terrorists

2009-02-10T01:28:00.006+09:00

Thanks to @Jinjirrie for the heads up (a Retweet from @mparent77772) on this tabloid-inspired report in The Age last September:

Islam group urges forest fire jihad
[update - The Age has archived this article see follow up post ]

I'm not so much interested in whether this was a plausible threat or not - it really doesn't matter. What I did find interesting was this:

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government remained "vigilant against such threats", warning that anyone caught lighting a fire as a weapon of terror would feel the wrath of anti-terror laws.

Go on Mr McClelland ... someone has done it - now, what did you say you were going to do? And will it still apply if they are Caucasian and Christian?

An Explanation of Design

2009-02-07T00:48:00.000+09:00

As promised, my second posting will offer an explanation of the design I have adopted for the header of this blog.

The first element is the photograph, which I took with my handy Nokia E65 mobile phone at Garden Island, Western Australia. Nothing too professional, but it works. I photoshop'd it only by stretching it to the required dimensions and then layering the text. The original photo is here:

This photo is one of three favourites that I captured that evening. I may write about the reasons for that in a later posting, but it is all about the importance of friendship.

On the top right of the header, my initials (cdm) are printed in Celtic script with my name underneath. I have traced much of my genealogy and the Gaelic/Celtic/Norse connections are strong. This is particularly evidenced by my roots back in the Shetland Islands situated between Scotland and the Arctic.

One of the native languages of Shetland, and it's sister the Orkneys, is Norn, a language almost lost to time. The phrase at the base of the header is written in Norn and translates to be:

Dark is in [the] chimney, light still in [the] heather, the time is [right that] the guest is gone

I loved the phrase when I saw it, as it speaks highly of the importance of hospitality and home in balance with the natural course of time. It was perfectly matched for the feelings I had when taking the photograph and the happenings of that time.

A little piece of serendipity, I dare say.

First Post

2009-02-06T01:13:00.000+09:00

So, I'm running on a whim at the moment. I've decided to consolidate my Internet exposure and web tools into as few strategic hubs as possible.

This new blog is going to be the portal to a significant portion of my online life, linking my blogs and micro-blogging activity together. It will be the face of my virtual being, so expect to find all the pleasantries here.

If you want the tough stuff; political, philosophical, creative writing, debate and conspiracies then the links on this page will take you on your way. Have fun.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the detail of the blog header ... stay tuned, I'll explain it in my next posting.

Economic Stimulus Package

2009-02-05T16:22:00.006+09:00

(aka: an expensive theory to try to arouse a bunch a of knobs)

Just received via email from a friend:

This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is
a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A
format:

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a
High definition TV set or a new computer, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.

You have to laugh to stay sane ;-)

Fry on the Internet

2009-02-04T15:15:00.004+09:00

I love it when someone can say something so profound and in the simplest possible manner, that even dumb-arses like George W. Bush could potentially understand it. Case in point, this gem spoken at Apple’s Regent Street store in London yesterday:

“The internet is like a city - it has red light districts, all kinds of weird people, who want to con and steal from you, but my god, they’re exciting places to live and to be a citizen of it is a great privilege. Yet people are trying to control the internet like they would never dare with a city.”
Stephen Fry, Actor/Presenter/TechEvangelist

With over 100,000 followers, @StephenFry is the 2nd most popular person on Twitter behind US President @BarackObama

I wonder if Stephen Conroy gets it ... yet?

NoCleanFeed and NO Censorship please, Minister!
*sigh*

The great food crisis - are you prepared?

2009-02-03T15:01:00.005+09:00

No doubt you've heard various reports about the usefulness, toxicity and plausible conspiracies behind flouride, aspartame, genetically modified organisms (GMO) and many such things. Some of you may even be aware of the impending food crisis that is about to hit us. We have already seen it with the crisis in grains around the world, large scale price hikes in food costs, and mass populations of bees dying from unknown causes - a major concern for food production.

You may have already formed an opinion about these things and wish to stop reading here. Fine - I can understand. But don't! Your life may depend on it.

What I have seen, read and heard recently has me concerned. More than concerned - it has me mortified and angry. You should be too, because it will directly affect you and your family, yet there is NOTHING you can do to stop it.

That's right - there's nothing you can do to prevent it from happening.

I'm not here to plead for your action, to write letters to your government representatives, or to gather all your friends for a protest march. Believe me when I tell you, that nothing you do will prevent the coming food crisis - it is inevitable and you MUST prepare for it, or suffer its consequences.

The only advice I can offer is to buy some arable land big enough to grow your own fruit trees, vegetables and basic crops, perhaps even to run some livestock or a dam for fish if you enjoy meat - a couple of hectares should do it. Make sure you own the land outright, no peppercorn leases or mortgages, so that no-one can easily take it from you when the financial system crashes completely.

Build a modest house that isn't reliant on electricity, where you can live a sustainable life away from the rest of modern civilisation. If you can do this you may be one of the few billion people to survive. Sounds like it's a return to an arduous life of subsistence - it is. But the alternative is going to be tougher.

The future reality will see us rationed on highly regulated GMO and manufactured foods that are deliberately deficient of essential vitamins and minerals (and all supplements become illegal) to ensure a passive and compliant population.

Do your own research on real topics that are present in reputable news sources and from government agencies - it will verify what you read on all those conspiracy websites about food and population control. Search terms such as:

Agenda 21
codex alimentarius

And for the real life conspiracy behind it all watch the video below. The whole thing will be an eye opener for many, but the key points about food and population control begin at the 37 minute mark. If you don't have 2 hrs to devote for the whole thing, start there.

I will point out, that I disagree with some of the views presented in this movie, particularly relating to pantheism and gun control. Take some extrem views with the grain of salt they deserve, but certainly look at the facts presented.

Human life exchange rates

2009-02-02T02:30:00.004+09:00

Here's a quick guide on how to value life in a globalised free-market economy:

If you are a British journalist shot dead in Rafah by Israeli soldiers while filming a documentary about Gaza, your family receives £1.5 million in compensation to prevent the British government extraditing the soldiers and charging them with manslaughter. Nice bit of hush money for the death of a man who willingly set foot in a war zone and deliberately risked his life!

However, if you are an Afghan trying to go about your daily routine and get slaughtered by USA soldiers who also kill 14 others and wound several in the same senseless attack on your village, your family should expect a mere US$2,500 (or £1,729).

Exchange rate: 1 UK life = 867 Afghans (1,500,000 / 1,729 = 867)

In Iraq, the USA makes "condolence payments" of between $1,500 and $7,500 for each "regrettable death", although most of the 98,000+ verifiable casualties (some sources suggest more than 1 million) will never be acknowledged by the USA and no compensation will be paid to those families.

While I recognise that death and disability compensation for service personnel are ridiculously low even within western nations like the USA, UK and Australia, it is important to accept the fact that such personnel are volunteers and are being paid to fight. Civilians are not.

It may be worthy to note that there have been 4,237 US military deaths in Iraq to date - a ratio of 1 US to 23 Iraqis killed (or 1:306 by less conservative records).

Similarly, in the recent Gaza conflict we know that 14 Israelis died compared with more than 1400 Palestinians, a ratio of 1 Israeli = 100 Palestinians (Src: Daily Dispatch and Daily Freeman)

An eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth ... hardly!

More good information here

The journey of life

2009-01-25T15:36:00.003+09:00

Human existence is such that we are forever seeking that which we do not have. This desire for a more decadent lifestyle is defined as materialism and capitalism and it is the fuel that drives our economy, pollutes our lives and is destroying the environment in which we coexist with more than 6 billion people and a billion other species.

This competitive race for greater wealth, or perceived ownership value, leaves us with a continual yearning for more. We can, therefore, never be truly happy following that spiral pathway of unfulfilled satisfaction.

It is not until we give up all such desire, to focus only on what we are and what we have within our being, that we will find true happiness. And it comes freely, at no cost to anyone, but with great benefit to ourselves and to the greater world around us.

This doesn't mean that we need to give up on our material life, our possessions or career; it means that by finding and focussing on the inner peace we will become less reliant on drawing happiness from the physical world.

As an Agnostic I'm not religious in the slightest, but a Jewish philosopher once claimed that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven".

The truth from that analogy is that the journey to physical wealth can cloud all that which offers real happiness in the journey of life.

Gaza Ceasefire?

2009-01-19T11:27:00.003+09:00

Any ceasefire, truce or treaty between Israel and Palestine will be short-lived unless it includes:
a) the complete withdrawal of Israel AND
b) the establishment of a separate Palestinian nation AND
c) the public acknowledgement of an end to the Zionist agenda.

I do not believe that all these three things are possible. At the best we may see A and B, but never C. It is likely that we will only temporarily see A.

"True peace is not merely the absence of conflict: it is the presence of justice." Martin Luther King Jr

War across the Middle East is inevitable

2009-01-18T01:05:00.004+09:00

The Angry Arab News Service commences a blog entry titled "Unintended Consequences" by writing:

"have just returned from the Middle East and witnessed how Israel's assault on Gaza is radicalizing mainstream Muslim opinion. Shown endlessly on Arab and Muslim television stations, the massive killing of civilians is fueling rage against Israel and its superpower patron, the United States, among mainstream and moderate voices who previously believed in co-existence with the Jewish state."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/unintended-consequences.html

I couldn't post a comment on the blog, so instead my reply is here:

No - not unintended.

It was quite predictable and part of the masterplan - full scale war across the middle east is not only inevitable, it has been carefully orchestrated.

It is no different to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that started the Vietnam War. It is no different to the Reichstag fire that allowed Hitler to seize power. It is no different to the US government's complicity in 9/11 that allowed it to enter Afghanistan and no different to the fake WMDs that led to the invasion of Iraq.

So many successive governments cannot be that stupid and unlucky - even when "led" by the likes of President Bush.

There is no coincidence - only the illusion of coincidence (no apologies for The Matrix quote).

The New World Order continues to make its moves on our chessboard. It will only cease when we start acting like Kings, Queens and Knights instead of Pawns.

Gaza on Twitter

2009-01-07T02:15:00.002+09:00

Here's what the Twittersphere is saying about Gaza:

The Twittersphere

2008-12-30T13:41:00.004+09:00

I can haz a quick reference to the Twittersphere!

What is a conspiracy?

2008-12-25T20:42:00.001+09:00

Still here ;-)

2008-12-25T19:45:00.002+09:00

I haven't been arrested for my previous post - clearly Echelon doesn't dig deep enough or the wheels of policing bureaucracy are slow to move at this time of year.

At the end of this annus horribilus, and as we edge towards the eve of a new (but same agenda) world order, I felt it relevant to share this quote. It sums up my feeling on what 2009 will bring.

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
~John F. Kennedy

Happy pagan solstice festivities to all!

Is this my last post before the police take me away?

2008-12-23T01:20:00.006+09:00

PUBLIC WARNING!!!
Reading this post may put you at risk of breaking the law in Australia or other nanny-state nations. Following some the the links in the post will certainly do so!

I am posting this report and the links because I think the law has gone too far and I am putting out the challenge for charges to be laid against me.

2008 is likely to be remembered for many things, but censorship is the one area that has taken the spotlight, as the Australian Government, policing agencies, the courts of law and all forms of media have attempted to create an increasingly black and white view in a very grey world.

There is a fine line between right and wrong. Often that line gets crossed through humour, silliness, accident or just plain ignorance. But does that mean that the full weight of the law should come down upon you?

We have seen the problem caused by Bill Henson's artistic perspectives (viewed via Google) and the topic has arisen through the public debate surrounding Stephen Conroy's proposal for an Internet filter, which most industry experts consider to be infeasible and a waste of effort - see www.nocleanfeeed.com.

More recently we see that the Courts are now jumping in with questionable rulings on what constitutes child abuse, and specifically that which is deemed to be child pornography.

Mark Pesce writes about two such cases on the ABC blog "Unleashed" and Greg Barnes also has a say over on OnlineOpinion.

The first is regarding the Simpsons cartoon characters represented in sexual acts. The second concerns a judgement against a man who redistributed a video online of a child being swung around in the air - deemed to be child abuse.

By the way, if you want to risk police attention, you will find many of these cartoon "porn" pics by doing a simple search on Google (e.g. Bart sex or Simpsons Sex). The suspect video is apprently freely available on the internet and in my research I've determined that it is probably this one on Youtube.

Judge for yourselves ... am I now a criminal for having viewed this material and linking to them on my blog? Are you?

Coming Soon - broadcasting live to your desktop

2008-12-19T00:02:00.001+09:00

The Billion Dollar Messiah

2008-12-03T00:22:00.003+09:00

An obscene amount of dollars was raised and spent to "elect" the leader of the world's most "free" country. And all during a time of massive financial crisis that is likely to lead to the downfall of the greatest empire since Rome.

It is simply beyond irony.

Enhance your social networking experiences

2008-12-03T00:00:00.003+09:00

Here's how one social networking futurist sees the tools developing into a sleeker service for all. As long as privacy is maintained, I'm all for a more personalised and friendlier experience.

What's The Social Graph Got To Do With It?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: portability leonard-hansen)

Also check out this review of Power.com because taking control of your many online profiles, psuedonyms, blogs and networking tools may give you greater security and peace of mind and prevent your identity being hijacked as happened to Aussie billionaire James Packer recently.

Get Up! Campaign to Save the Net

2008-11-26T23:03:00.007+09:00

Imagine a government proposing an internet censorship system that went further than any other democracy - one that made the internet up to 87% slower, more expensive, accidentally blocked up to one in 12 legitimate sites, and missed the vast majority of inappropriate content.

This is not China, Saudi Arabia or Iran - this is the vision of Senator Stephen Conroy for Australia. Testing has already begun. The community must now move to stop this plan. Click here to save the net:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet

The system that Senator Conroy wants is a mandatory filter of all internet traffic, with the government of the day able to add any unwanted site to a secret blacklist. Already, the wrangling has begun for the inclusion of material relating to anorexia, euthanasia and gambling. It isn't difficult to see the scheme is open to abuse.

Even when it comes to preventing child p-rnography, the filter will not prevent peer-to-peer sharing and is very simple to sidestep. The protection of our children is vitally important - that's why we can't afford to waste funds on this deeply flawed system. We should be concentrating on solutions that are more effective and won't undermine our digital economy or our democratic freedoms.

This must rank as one of the most ill-thought decisions of the Rudd Government's first year in power. We need to act now to tell big brother the mandatory internet filter is incompatible with the principles of a modern democracy and modern economy:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet

Our government should be doing all in its power to take Australia into the 21st century economy, and to protect our children. This proposed internet censorship does neither. Take action to save the net today.

Thanks for being a part of the solution,
The GetUp team

PS - The proposed scheme will pass all internet traffic through a government filter - it's like asking Australia Post to filter every letter sent in Australia. Click here to save the net.

Tools to beat Internet Censorship

2008-11-22T17:13:00.007+09:00

Here are a few resources to assist anyone wishing to challenge, undermine and even usurp the Australian Government's intention to censor the Internet through the application of a national filter.

Tell them to take a flying leap and send Stephen Conroy a one-fingered message of defiance:

An overview is provided here:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/privacy_security/bypass-internet-censorship/bypass-internet-filters-anonymous-browsing-guide-20071118.htm
and here:
http://citizenlab.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1319
plus this one:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071015-citizen-lab-releases-guide-to-circumventing-internet-censors.html

Some web-based tools are offered here:
http://proxify.com/alt.shtml
http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/
http://www.stupidcensorship.com

Other software is provided here:
http://psiphon.ca/
http://www.internetfreedom.org/
http://www.jmarshall.com/tools/cgiproxy/
http://rajeshrana.net/2008/02/12/7-best-tools-to-circumvent-internet-censorship-%E2%80%93-an-alternatives-to-ultra-surf/

Good Luck! ;-)

Usurp Internet Censorship

2008-11-18T00:21:00.004+09:00

Enough is enough!!!

I am looking for ways to avoid, undermine and even usurp the Australian Government's Internet censorship strategy.

Any ideas, please leave your comments!

More info here:
http://nocleanfeed.com/
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24569656-5014239,00.html

And show your objections here:
http://petitions.takingitglobal.org/oznetcensorship

An eye for an eye

2008-11-09T09:27:00.004+09:00

“An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.”
Mahatma Ghandi

The three convicted Bali Bombers have been murdered by a vicious, third world legal system at the behest of ignorant and depraved public opinion.

This is a sad and disappointing day for anyone who holds justice high above and disparate from vengeance; for those who foresee the deep and dark ramifications of gifting martyrdom.

And all the while war criminals like Tony Blair and George W. Bush, who are ultimately responsible for the documented deaths of more than 100,000 (potentially closer to 500,000), continue to walk the Earth as free men.

Difference Between the Obama and McCain Tax Plans

2008-10-30T20:51:00.001+09:00

North American Patriot: The Real True Honest Fair and Balanced Difference Between the Obama and McCain Tax Plans

Its not so much the difference in tax policy that is astounding ... its the fact that they actually include people who earn more than $2,870,000 per annum.

Who actually earns that kind of money and doesn't have a full time tax accountant to reduce their liability to zero through dodgy tax minimisation and avoidance schemes??

LOL

Death Penalty Caveat

2008-10-19T22:57:00.002+08:00

An article on the death penalty and interesting commentary from readers led me to state:

The death penalty is final - what happens when we get the verdict wrong? How many innocent lives can we justify as the means to the end?

The only way I would accept the existence of capital punishment is if juries, prosecutors and judges were also given the death penalty if it was found that they'd convicted (and thus murdered) the wrong person.

With that caveat I doubt anyone would be game to take the chance.

The land of the free and the home of the brave ...

2008-10-14T21:57:00.001+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnOOo6tRs8

What Lies Beyond the Activism?

2008-10-07T23:00:00.003+08:00

Featured in The West Australian, Saturday 4 October 2008 pg14. This is the unedited version - italicised areas differ from the printed version.

Taking the opposing view of a high profile group, such as Pride WA, is always fraught with danger. And if, as the devil's advocate, you happen to be an out (and proud) activist for human rights, questioning the validity of Mardi Gras' poorer and impotent WA cousin is likely to inspire a gay fatwa.

Religion and ice-breaker aside, this debate is about whether the Pride Parade still offers any significant purpose in a modern society that has largely redeemed itself of a torrid, but relatively short-lived, history of fear and hatred towards non-heterosexual citizens.

During the last few decades of activism, lobbying, community consultation and legislative debate, Pride was one of a handful of necessary tools used to highlight the cause of homosexuals (bisexuals and trans-folk were forgotten for many years) and sway public opinion. To this end the successive committees achieved their purpose and the battle was won.

Today, just a few years after the first parade in 1990, we have sexual and gender equality exceeding other states and beyond what most countries could hope to achieve in a similar time frame.

Even the current Premier, who vehemently opposed the 2002 legislation that transformed our state, is unwilling to water down this advancement. What is done is done; we now move forward as a progressive and respectful society.

This year Pride has donned the tag-line of "re-invention". And it is timely that it do so, just as a teenager must eventually lose the unruliness and loutish nature of its youthful exuberance in favour of a more cultured, mature and civil interaction with a diverse society.

The question for Pride, once famed for attracting a six figure audience to witness political parody, is what lies beyond the activism?

Sydney's internationally famous Mardi Gras has grown up from its protest roots to become a unique tourist drawcard that injects millions of dollars into the economy. Perth, due to its isolation and population, is incapable of achieving the same.

The Parade is waning, the after-party has retired to a nightclub, and Northbridge Fairday attendance has dropped significantly. Homophobic crimes are no more concerning than racial or religious inspired ones and the majority of our GLBT youth enjoy the company of their straight friends across venues without question.

Pride is in the sunset of its years. It deserves our respect and thanks, not our lifeline.

The new web is mobile!

2008-09-15T23:18:00.002+08:00

Further to my previous post about the "new web" comes a story that proves I'm a bit behind the times!

http://www.watoday.com.au/technology/google-takes-aim-at-apples-iphone-20080915-4gnz.html

The new web is on its way

2008-09-08T20:26:00.003+08:00

In answer to a question on LinkedIn about the future of Google ("As the "Google-age" continues to unfold, what do you think their next move is in changing the universe?"), I provided the following answer on May 17 2007:

Clearly Google has one agenda - to strip Microsoft of their monopoly over day-to-day applications like the internet browser, email and office suite.
Imagine the day when you turn on your PC/laptop, PDA or mobile phone and simply connect to iGoogle through your Google (Firefox?) browser. From there you have ready access to your entire collection of files (no longer reliant on your own hard drive) for work and leisure. You edit, store, send, print from Google's powerful suite of tools and not once do you utilise a single Microsoft application (except perhaps for the operating system), let alone any other vendor's product. Google provides all for free (and a few non intrusive adverts). Bring it on!! ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/5u8wca

Google have since released their Chrome browser. Just one step closer ;-)

Worthwhile reading this too:
http://etech.eweek.com/content/web_technology/just_browsing.html

A Google Conspiracy?

2008-05-22T22:04:00.002+08:00

I don't really have an opinion about the hypothesis presented by this video, except to say that it is plausible and thus should concern us all. However, as a great user of all that is Google, I know what they know about me ... I can't say the same for my own government!

Where to Invade Next?

2008-04-22T00:58:00.001+08:00

I was wandering through Planet Books in Mt Lawley (highly recommended for topical, political and thought-provoking material) and noted a book titled "Where to Invade Next?" by Stephen Elliot. On the back cover was the following quote:

"About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you've got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you're too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the twentieth of September...

"So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, "Are we still going to war with Iraq?" And he said, "Oh, it's worse than that." He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, "I just got this down from upstairs" (meaning the Secretary of Defense's office) "today." And he said, "This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years."

— General Wesley Clark, February 27, 2007

Inside the book is listed the top countries (along with explanations) on the USA's hit list ... and yes, Venezuela is there along with the usual suspects of Iran, Sudan and North Korea ;-)

More detail at http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781932416930-0

America's growing enemy

2008-04-22T00:32:00.000+08:00

Keep an eye on Venezuela.

According to reports like this and this, Chavez is being too much like a Robin Hood for the US and international bank boys to just stand by and do nothing.

He has already taken back the oil & gas fields, now they plan to ramp up production and hit foreign companies with a 50% tax on excess oil profits.

He also plans to nationalise the cement industry as well as the Argentinian controlled steelmaker and even take measures to ensure that the people of Venezuela have enough food for the future - no way!

And in the back of his mind is still the plan to introduce a Tobin styled tax on financial transactions.

How will they stop him? Rumours of impropriety? Another coup? Acts of terrorism? Assasination? Here's a start.

But there is also the growing concern about who should be the local sherrif of this region of the world. Perhaps The South American Defense Council?

At least that might explain why Venezuela and Brazil are spending big on arms. (Does anyone know why Greece is at the top of the list of big spenders?)

But despite all this, Chavez does appear to have some interesting friends ...
Belarus
China
Iran

Maybe it is a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?

And if that isn't enough to make you at least question the US stance on Venezuela, try reading the works of Eva Golinger, namely The Chavez Code and Bush vs Chavez - Washington's War on Venezuela or start by reading this review.

Of course, you are also welcome to ignore this and simply take the view that Venezuela deserves everything it gets for its socialist, anti-American, communist-loving, anti-semitic, Simpsons-hating philosphy.

The Other War

2008-04-21T21:57:00.000+08:00

Whatever happened to the other war ... you know, the one started by Ronald Reagan, and continued by successive US governments .. the other war against a faceless enemy that was designed to bring fear into the hearts and minds of every Joe and Jane Citizen ... the War on Drugs! ???

Now we know that the USA has used the "War on Drugs" to great effect in achieving its goals in Central and South America. So what would happen if the USA ran up against a rebellious state telling the local sherriff to nick off?

Well, one side would naturally have to make claims of a worsening trafficking problem to highlight the ineffectiveness of the insubordinate regime:
Cocaine Finds a New Latin American Home.

Take particular note of the "tracked" routes (see image below) used by traffickers ... one could easily be led to think that the Dominican Republic is one VERY tripped out place with all the drugs going there, but not seeming to leave! Not to mention that the drugs don't even seem to originate in Columbia anymore either.

Apparently the White House knows where the drugs come from (Venezuela) and knows where they arrive (Dominican Republic) but somehow loses track of them after that!

However, it is also quite evident by these "tracks" that the drugs are not going through any of the usual Central American countries anymore, which must, of course, be due to the incredible success of the long-standing partnership with the US Drug Enforcement Agency ;-)

Of course there's always the other, less popular or politically convenient, side of the story, which boldly claims that Venezuela Boosts Drug Seizures, Arrests Triple.

Now, they can't be both right, can they?

Given the USA's track record on propaganda, I'd bet my Aussie dollar along with a few thousand overinflated Bolivar against the dirty greenback anyday!

Zeitgeist: Religion is Bull

2008-03-13T07:41:00.001+09:00

The Red Pill

2008-03-10T14:37:00.002+09:00

Watch this movie!

ZeitGeist

See the light!

2008-01-30T22:32:00.000+09:00

Thanks to my very good friend Adam for these two gems this week:

A fundamentalist preacher was taking a walk one day and happened upon a young girl who was playing with something in a cardboard box. When he got closer he could see that in the box was a litter of newborn kittens.
"What kind of kittens are those?" asked the preacher.
"Why, they're Christian kittens," replied the little girl.
The preacher walked on, pleased to see that the little girl had Jesus foremost in her heart.

A week later, the preacher was walking down the same street and saw the little girl again playing with the kittens.
"And how are your little Christian kittens doing today?" asked the man of God.
"Oh, they aren't Christian kittens, they're Atheist kittens," replied the girl.
"But...but... I thought you said last week that they were Christian kittens," sputtered the flabbergasted preacher.
"Oh, they were. But now their eyes are open."

Serendipitous Serenity

2007-11-26T22:39:00.000+09:00

Moments like this leave me speechless.

Life just smacks you in the forehead and you stand their gob-smacked, mouth wide open and unable to utter a syllable.

A myriad of emotion welled up from within every synapse and sinew, enveloping me like a blanket, and just as suddenly there was an epiphany of light and beauty that broke through the dark clouds.

Yesterday there was sad news; the death of someone I did not know and who did not know me, but who had brought much joy into my life and the lives of many people I know.

I feel for the loss that his partner, family and friends must endure and the many questions that might be asked by those who wish to understand. However, I am strangely at peace; content in simply understanding without question.

Thank you to Brett and Andy for the joy of Toybox. My love to you both.

The following is copied from the Toybox website as a memorium to the greatness of a single human being.

BRETT BUSH
14.03.1966 - 18.11.2007

As I write this, my heart weighs heavy with unfathomable loss.

You may have already heard that Brett, my partner of 13 years and a co-founder of Toybox and the creative genius behind its brand, was found dead on Sunday evening, 18 November, having finally decided that the time was right for him to end his life.

For years Brett had told me and others as well, that he intended to end his life at a time of his choosing. His conversations and comments about this, while frequent and consistent, were never distressed or despairing. And he always seemed philosophical, wanting me to be prepared that he might leave me sooner rather than later. But I simply wasn't prepared.

When I started my 13 years with Brett I was a long way away from being philosophical about the prospect of losing him prematurely, and over the course of our relationship no amount of talking about such things with Brett, or with friends and family, and even with professionals, served to prepare me for the finality of his death last Sunday.

I am fairly sure though that Brett was clear that he was done with his life here.

He'd thought about choosing to end his life for many years, probably initially in the context of his HIV positive diagnosis in the 1980's, and living for years with the fear of an untimely and awful AIDS-related death right up until the mid-1990's when anti-retrovirals brought some brighter health prospects for his future.

But the constant consideration Brett gave to his mortality doesn't seem to have been about his HIV status alone, because about two months ago, in spite of being in very good health, Brett made a first but unsuccessful attempt to end his life, causing us to have to make an unprecedented and very difficult decision to cancel our 30 September Luminere Party.

In the context of treatment following that suicide attempt, Brett's attending physicians said he was not depressed, and that he was not a danger to himself nor to anyone else. They told us they were perplexed by Brett's positive life circumstances – his good health, financial security, family, friends, and being in a loving and happy 13 year relationship – and why those circumstances didn’t seem to be enough for him to want to stay alive.

I don't profess to have understood Brett in all of this – but I loved this man, and in so doing I have always chosen to do my utmost to honour his living on his terms, and I also intend to honour his dying – on his terms as well.

As I said earlier, I think Brett was done here – he clearly wanted to go. And while I feel bereft as I struggle to form pictures of my future without him, I am committed to accepting his choice.

In accordance with his wishes, Brett will be cremated privately at 2.30pm this Thursday 29 November.

At 4.00pm that same day there will be a celebration of Brett's life at Will and Toby’s, Level 1 of the Oxford Hotel in Taylor Square, Darlinghurst. No-one will be more welcome at this celebration than you, the members of Toybox. Please come if you'd like to be there – most especially if you knew Brett, or knew of his work or his life through Toybox, or elsewhere.

Finally, concerned about how quickly rumours can spread and grow, and also how wrong rumours can become when facts aren’t known, I decided to write this to ensure that you at least would know the circumstances surrounding Brett's death. Importantly, the content of this statement was agreed in principle by Brett in a number of conversations he and I had about what might or should be said publicly in the event of his death. I have been very careful to honour the spirit of those conversations and our agreement, and most especially Brett's wishes in this regard.

In finally saying goodbye for Brett, I know he’d also want me to say thank you – for all the fun, and for all the love.

Life does go on - and I’m looking forward to catching up with you when we’re out and about during the coming weeks, and if not, then hopefully at Toybox Luna Park in March next year.

Andy

...ovember

2007-10-30T22:15:00.000+09:00

Something is happening!

On the first of November there'll be a change taking place across Australia and internationally ... Gillette, Schick and other similar companies are shaking in their boots at a potential downturn in their sales.

But society will benefit.

Watch this space!

The clock is ticking

2007-10-13T17:42:00.000+08:00

Poodwaddle.com

The French are revolting!

2007-09-18T23:37:00.001+08:00

Well ... they are trying to rise up against Iran, at least!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6997935.stm

Apparently the French think that threatening Iran with war is meaningful. I think they are kidding themselves. I mean, honestly - given France's war record of the last 100 years, I don't even think they could successfully invade Luxembourg without the help of at least one major world power!

But at least they seem to have learned some lessons. Their own nuclear record has always lacked a good PR spin doctor and the covert operation that sank the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand was more like a chapter from Inspector Clouseau's police manual! Perhaps they are hoping that some honest and open threats might get the French some positive media attention ... riiight! haha.

Despite France being one of the handful of permanent UN Security Council members, I doubt that the world, and especially Iran, will do much more than yawn at this bit of lame sabre-rattling.

C'est la vie!

LOL

APEC - Bush's right!

2007-09-18T21:02:00.000+08:00

Censorship rating

2007-07-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

The above rating is due to the words "gun" and "penis" being located in my posts, according to mingle2.com

It's a tough audience!

Positively new blog description

2007-05-10T14:42:00.000+08:00

The previous month has been a time of change for me ... a bit like an enormous spring clean - out with old and in with new. I start my new position with another recruitment firm on Monday, my domestic situation has taken an interesting, but positive, turn and my immediate family deciding to relocate to Brisbane in coming months.

I have had this week in between jobs to ponder a number of large and minor issues, one of which has been this blog. It had occurred to me that the previous description of this blog was rather negative and defensive. It stated simply what I was against, rather than what I stood for.

This blog represents the voice of an Aussie from the libertarian left who is committed to fighting conservatism, nationalism, economic rationalism, fascism and religious fanaticism. If you disagree with my perspective, please state your case and have a rational debate. I don't care much for people using religious texts in an attempt to prove their argument. Try using reason and logic instead!

So, out with the old and in with the positively new ...

This blog represents the voice of a left leaning Aussie who is committed to liberal democratic socialism, with a strong emphasis on pluralism throughout all facets of society - economic, cultural, political, demographic etc. I am particularly valiant when it comes to issues of rights, justice, and freedom from religion.

More cancers found to be caused by a common virus

2007-05-10T10:45:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor!

And with that out of the way, I can confidently express my long held theory that many cancers of today are caused, directly and/or indirectly, by viruses. it seems that science is just starting to unravel the evidence to back it up!

I first developed this inkling of a theory when researchers from Western Australia uncovered the gob-smacking truth that most stomach ulcers were caused by a bacteria. They went on to develop a simple antibiotic treatment for this debilitating condition. It also stemmed from the knowledge that viruses are known to cause mutations in our genes - much of our DNA is actually redundant viral DNA (conspiracy theorists would believe it to be extraterrestrial DNA) from generations of infection.

In more recent years, a Queensland scientist has invented a vaccine for the variants of the human papilloma virus (HPv) that are known to be responsible for approximately 90% of cervical cancers.

What is not so widely known is how widespread the infection of HPv is across the human race. Some studies have shown that around 50% of western civilisation have been infected with the virus at some point in their life. It is literally as common as the cold!

What sparks me to write this post today is reading two articles that appeared in my Google Reader. The first, from the ABC, indicates that the new HPv vaccine might be useful in warding off other cancers. The second, from New Scientist, warns of the risk of cancer stemming from oral sex.

How are these two articles related? They both talk about HPv as being a cancer causing virus. In the second article, scientists discovered that:

"After controlling for other risk factors for throat cancer, such as drinking and smoking, the analysis revealed that people who had prior infection with HPV were 32 times as likely to have this cancer as those with no evidence of ever having the virus. And those who tested positive for a particularly aggressive strain of the virus, called HPV-16, were 58 times more likely to have throat cancer."

I said earlier that I am not a doctor, and I will also state that mathematics is not my forte and that I almost failed statistics at university. But even George W Bush should be able to see an obvious correlation the more you learn about HPv.

Here are some little known facts:

HPv is a virus responsible for causing common warts as well as sexually transmissible (or genital) warts
that's right! A variant of the virus that causes genital warts is responsible for the wart on your toe or your nose!
there are over 100 known variants of HPv, only a handful of which are known to cause cervical cancer
specific variants of the virus are known to affect specific areas of the body - such that, one variant will cause face warts, while another will cause warts on the feet, and yet another on the hands etc
external warts are relatively easy to remove by chemical treatment or burned off with liquid nitrogen, internal warts usually require surgical removal
HPv is highly contagious - it can be transmitted simply by touching an infected area even if there are no warts visible.
the majority of HPv carriers will show no signs of infection and can transmit the virus to anyone they have close contact with.

I firmly believe that we are on the verge of discovering the secret of cancer and its relationship with common viral infections. That is not to say that what we eat and drink, or whether we smoke or inhale other toxic pollutants, has no effect on our risk of cancer.

Quite the opposite - those are well proven factors associated with risk of cancer. however we are now starting to explain why a healthy non-smoker can end up with throat cancer and that will mean a great deal when it comes to preventative measures such as vaccinations.

5 years ago, cancers were known to be caused by environmental conditions and exacerbated by diet, lifestyle or genetic factors.

Today, we know that HPv is the likely cause of several common cancers including that of the cervix, vulva and vagina in women, and potentially tonsils, throat in the wider populace. Previous studies have shown that the risk of bowel cancer does not increase through anal intercourse per se, however it is known that some variants of HPv can lead to cancer of the bowel, anus, penis and testes. Do your own risk assessment.

Given what we know today compared with what we knew yesterday, I think the medical world still has some surprises left for us. it won't come as a surprise to find that we have an all-purpose cancer vaccine within the next 20 years.

Science can be stranger than fiction

2007-04-24T22:42:00.000+08:00

I came across a story in New Scientist this month that struck me as some bizarre plot for a b-grade Sci-Fi movie. In short, it describes a parasite that infects rats and mice brains, thus eliminating their fear of cats to ensure that they get eaten, so as to complete their life cycle through the cat.

You have now entered ... the Twighlight Zone! ! !

And today a friend points me to an equally strange account of the life cycle of a particular fluke. This just reinforces my doubt in the ability of any "intelligent designer" coming up with such random lunacy!

On a lighter note, I just don't get this report from the ABC that a material resembling the fictitious Kryptonite (of Superman fame) has been found by researchers in Siberia.

What has me concerned is that apparently ...

Scientists from the Natural History Museum in London, who studied its chemical composition, found it matched the description of kryptonite in the film Superman Returns.

Now, I may not be a scientist, geologist or a chemist, but one thing I do understand is the english language and, in this instance, the word "matched" and I fail to see how any fool could consider these two items to be a match.

The fictitious kryptonite used to thwart Superman glows green and is of a metallic or crystalline makeup, whereas the item discovered in Siberia is white and chalky and will "fluoresce pinkish-orange" when subjected to UV light.

What the ... ?

But seriously, what stunned me the most was that "scientists" actually made the effort to compare their find with a fictitious rock from a DC comic for no apparent reason! Go figure!

Tolkien rises once again!

2007-04-22T18:19:00.000+08:00

As an avid fan of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the new masterpiece, The Children of Hurin, pieced together by his son, Christopher.

Whether this story will live up to expectations or not is yet to be seen, but I have my copy and I look forward to setting aside some time to read it. My review will, of course, be blogged.

Two fathers ... or even three

2007-04-22T17:48:00.000+08:00

This is just brilliant! A young boy singing about being adopted by two gay men ...

http://superbbluewren.livejournal.com/172586.html

You can also read my personal experience about parenting and what my daughter taught me about having three fathers.

Gun-toting Yanks hit back!

2007-04-22T09:12:00.000+08:00

My last post has caused a bit of a stir in the "land of the brave". It seems you can't criticise the USers* love for murderous tools without being vilified.

The main point against me is that I accused Wayne Chiang of being no better than Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui. I stand firm on my statement, but rather than defend it allow me to add some context.

Wayne Chiang was quoted as saying

"I am a firm believer that if Virginia Tech students were allowed to conceal carry, this situation could have ended sooner."

Let's put that statement into the context of Bush's invasion of Iraq ...

"I am a firm believer that if Iraqi civilians were allowed to conceal carry, this situation could have ended sooner."

Now watch the comments light up as I get a barrage of abuse from pro-war USers* who insist that terrorising the middle east for the sake of black gold is a good thing. LOL!

The truth is that any lackadaisical attitude about guns is more likely to lead to widespread carnage and murderous mayhem than it is to swiftly and simply neutralise a situation like Virginia Tech, Port Arthur, Waco, etc

The promotion of a "right to bear arms" is ludicrous and there is no possible way that governments can ensure responsible gun ownership except through extremely tough gun control laws. Volacious says it best in his comment on my previous post:

"Gun control in America these days is a fairly academic argument... every idiot already has one"

NOTE * :I tried to find where I had first described the civilians of the USA as USers, rather than their incorrect, self-appointed nickname of "Americans" (which technically applies to any resident of the two American continents). Unfortunately I couldn't find it, hence my explanation for its use. Besides I like the double meaning involved in the term "USer" :-)

Falsely accused, but still a monster

2007-04-17T22:44:00.000+08:00

He might have been the subject of internet rumour-mongering and false accusations of being the person responsible for today's massacre at Virginia Tech, but despite his protestations of innocence Wayne Chiang is no better than the man who killed 32 people, wounded more, and left a town mourning and a country in shock.

Chiang believes that guns should be allowed on the Virginia Tech campus.

"I am a firm believer that if Virginia Tech students were allowed to conceal carry, this situation could have ended sooner."

Wayne Chiang is a gun-toting cowboy who would have gladly seen even more people brandishing guns that day, with the inevitable end of a shoot-out to shame the OK Coral!

It doesn't concern me that Wayne is being falsely accused - one look at his blog and I'm instantly repulsed.

Care factor zero from me!

My heartfelt sympathy does, however, go to all the families, friends and neighbours affected by this awful tragedy across the globe.

PLEASE .... will the USA consider gun control laws to protect its own people?

Well, derrrrrrrrr !!!!!!

2007-04-10T19:45:00.000+08:00

Steve Bracks is pushing "major reform" to "improve literacy, reduce obesity and create a national preschool system".

What appears to be a gigantic leap of faith for the east-coast ALP governments is really just a simple plan from the average punter's point of view. In fact, I can hear voters across the nation bellowing out to Premiers Bracks, Beattie, Iemma & Rann ...

"Well, derrrrrrrrr !!!!!!"

Time and time again, pollsters ask the average voters what the contemporary issues are leading into an election. Time and time again the same answers come forth ... education and health (aside from law and order). Everyone, it seems, thinks that health and education is low on the priority list for governments and that we all would like to see them both improved on an immense scale.

But, at the same time, we all are only too happy to blame the state governments for the obvious lack of will and fortitude while they in turn blame scrooge-like Commonwealth funding, despite record flows of cash through the GST ON TOP of the abomination of sneaky taxes, e.g.: stamp duty.

It has been my belief for many years, even before I read the policy papers from the Democrats, that States are somewhat redundant. I would dearly love to see our second and third (local government) tier bureaucracies replaced by a simple regional government similar to that seen in some other countries. In the UK, for example, the National Health System (NHS) provides funding to local councils that provide the services.

Such a move would, ideally, transfer ALL constitutional powers to the Commonwealth, whereby we would have one entity controlling the collection the tax revenue and the distribution thereof. One government to disperse ALL funds according to a fair and equitable rule of need, rather than the current rule of possession.

I dare the states to hand over jurisdiction in health and education to the Federal Government - lets have one national health system under medicare, but more importantly, we should demand a single education system with one national curriculum for all.

Being gay in a power-hungry world

2007-04-08T02:16:00.000+08:00

As a country that thrives on wealth and power, and whose every breath is consumed by the who's who and the who's doing who, the USA is probably the only nation that could care less about who its top ranking homosexuals are.

But clearly, infamous queer mag "Out", believes that the punters are keen and curious and have published (outed?) the Top 50 for all to see.

Leading the dubiously formed list is one David Geffen, billionaire entertainment mogul who shares equal 50th ranking on the Forbes rich list with discount stock broker, Charles Schwab, just behind Steve Jobs of Apple fame. Geffen is the "G" in the Dreamworks SKG team, alongside Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Ellen DeGeneres may not make the Forbes Rich List, but she does outrank every other non-straight woman to make the Power 50 list at spot #3.

The list is overwhelmingly full of names from the fashion and entertainment industries. But there are also a number of names and tangible links to politics that suggest a very interesting road ahead for the coming Presidential election next year.

It brings an insightful perspective together about the roots and drivers of the historical gay rights campaign and also the contemporary same-sex marriage debate. The media is powerful and if a group can have significant sway over the media, it naturally flows that the same power is present in politics.

Some would argue that the "gay agenda" exists only in the minds of the homophobic zealots. As a gay man who understands the machinations of politics, I see every agenda as a real and credible threat to a healthy liberal democracy. Even one that seeks to serve my freedoms and self interests.

I'll wait and see, but Barack Hussein Obama might have a bit of an edge against Hilary Rodham Clinton, despite his name bearing an eerie resemblance to both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Climate Conspiracy ... rebuttal

2007-04-05T23:03:00.000+08:00

Further to my previous post on Climate Conspiracy comes news that the warming of Mars is probably caused by .... dust!

And a good thing it is too ... with temperatures on the red planet ranging between -107°C to -17°C (on good days), we may need some massive climate change before it can host Club Med style tourist resorts ;-)

2007 Federal Election Conspiracy

2007-03-31T15:57:00.000+08:00

The Australian Government has conspired with the United States to devise a plan of freeing David hicks that will ensure the impact of his case has an absolute minimal effect upon the impending Federal election.

Bold words perhaps, but lets look closely at the facts:

Detention
Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 and was among the first prisoners the United States sent to Guantanamo a month later. Washington defined Hicks and others as unlawful "enemy combatants" who could not be treated the same way as prisoners of war and would not have the same rights under the Geneva Convention.

PM Reacts to National Outrage

A poll in December (2006) on the Hicks case itself rocked the government. It showed that about two-thirds of Australians thought Mr Hicks should be returned to Australia, and only one-quarter supported Mr Howard's hands-off approach. Since then Mr Howard has changed his public tune, blaming America for the delays in bringing Mr Hicks to trial. That may not be enough to assuage public anger, which probably runs deep enough to affect elections in a few months' time.
The Economist, 29 March 2007

Charged and Convicted
A US military tribunal has sentenced him to seven years in jail but he will only have to serve nine months with the rest suspended. He will serve the sentence in Australia and the USA must send him home by May 29.

The Deal

Hicks's plea agreement bars him from speaking to the media for one year and says if he ever sells the rights to his story, the Australian Government will get the money. He was also banned from taking legal action against the United States. Hicks had previously said he was abused by the US military but said in his plea agreement he had "never been illegally treated while in US custody".
ABC Online, 31 March 2007

So clearly the government has one full year in which to be saved any embarrassment from Hicks' contact with media ... and the election will have been fought and won by then!

Bob Brown agrees

But Greens leader Bob Brown says Hicks's sentence is designed to keep him out of the political spotlight during this year's federal election campaign.
"This is an astonishing political fix between the Howard administration and the Bush administration," Senator Brown said.
"This is carefully choreographed to have Hicks shut up until after the election.
"That's because they know that this is an illegal process. It breaches Australia's standards of democracy, human rights, civil rights."
ABC Online, 31 March 2007

Teens uncover 55 year old lie!

2007-03-26T23:38:00.000+08:00

Kiwi kids discover drug company lie!

International drugs conglomerate, GlaxoSmithKline, is facing court in New Zealand over misleading advertising, after two high school students discovered that Ribena, a blackcurrant drink it has been promoting for 55 years for its high Vitamin C content, contain very little of the essential nutrient.

The company has admitted to Australia's corporate watchdog, the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) that its marketing was misleading and its given an undertaking to explain the true nutritional makeup of Ribena on its packaging, its website and in future advertising.

And tomorrow the company's New Zealand subsidiary will be in court facing 15 similar charges brought by the ACCC's counterpart, the Commerce Commission, which carry a penalty of up to $3 million in fines.

According to another report in the Sydney Morning Herald it seems that the multinational got confused about the vitamin C content of blackcurrants (which is supposedly 4 times higher than oranges) and the vitamin content of its popular drink.

"Weight for weight, the 'four times' statement is factually correct but we accept that there is a potential for confusion among consumers and have taken the action to remove that claim."

In January, the Herald reported an analysis of popular children's snack foods and beverages by the independent consumer watchdog Choice, which found that Ribena consisted of little more than sugar and water. Its essential ingredient - blackcurrants - made up just 5 per cent of content, the study found, and was a processed product made from concentrate.

Fancy that ... a drug company lying to us! What is the world coming to? LOL!

Walk the walk ... like an Egyptian

2007-03-26T22:46:00.000+08:00

Speaking of conspiracies ...

What's the chance that the USA is behind the massive constitutional changes underway in Egypt?

Human rights group Amnesty International has called the changes the greatest erosion of human rights in 26 years

Meanwhile, the USA has only expressed "some concerns" about some of the amendments.

The 34 ammendments will provide, amongst other things, a permanent invocation of emergency laws that have been in place since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981, technically ending the longest "emergency" in history. The changes will also:

give police wider powers of arrest and surveillance.
ban all religious-based political activity and parties
remove judicial supervision of elections
change the previously socialist state into one based on "freedom of economic action"
give the president powers to refer terrorists to any judicial authority - including military tribunals, which are not subject to appeal
allow authorities to override articles protecting individual freedoms and privacy

Anyone arguing against these changes are, of course unpatriotic and unAmerican ... I mean unEgyptian!

Climate Conspiracy?

2007-03-26T21:23:00.000+08:00

I've always loved a good conspiracy and continue to believe that every theory has its foundation in an element of truth, no matter how minute it may seem.

The death of Marilyn Monroe always had a fascination for conspiracy theorists linking her "suicide" to the Mafia, the CIA or even directly to the Oval Office. Now it comes out that even the FBI believed there was more to it than a simple overdose by a desperate woman.

Perhaps we'll hear more about President Kennedy's assassination or Harold Holt's underwater journey in a Chinese submarine as time goes by? ;-)

Meanwhile, over at the Washington Times, debate continues about the cause of climate change. This time the suggestion is that the United Nations is part of some conspiracy to promote human activity as the leading cause of global warming.

For the purposes of ... what, exactly? I have no idea!

Ali Sevin writes that

Two separate NASA landings on Mars showed the ice cap at the southern pole (frozen CO2) has been receding as a result of solar activity. If the sun is warming Mars it should also be warming the Earth unless some unknown phenomenon directs any increase in solar radiation only toward Mars.

Further to this "evidence" is the airing of a documentary called "The Great Global Warming Scandal" on London's TV Channel 4 which, according to film reviews not cited by Sevin,

is a devastating blow to the U.N. report and to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"

Sevin has a point - maybe unusually large and frequent solar flares are to blame for the increase in world temperatures!

But if Earth is like a pot of soup sitting on a stove (the sun) that can't be turned down, surely you'd want to lift the lid a bit to allow some ventilation, rather than adding extra gases that will only serve to build up the heat! Wouldn't you?? Derrr!

Global warming or climate change by any other name is still a slow road to extinction just the same.

If I were a rich man ...

2007-03-25T15:41:00.000+08:00

According to recent global research, I'm an above-average wealthy person - considerably wealthy in fact, when you bring things into perspective.

The report by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University proclaims that the richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth. This excludes business, organisational and government wealth.

Further statistics demonstrate how the richest 1% of adults accounted for 40% of household assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned a mere 1% share.

Whichever way you say it, there is no doubt that we have a massive skew in the distribution of assets and personal wealth across the globe. I'm going to keep the argument of lifestyle, quality of life, health and happiness out of this for moment, and make the assumption that each of these has a significant correlation to the relative income and assets of an individual. Money won't make you happy, but it certainly can take a few worries away from a starving family living in the dirt in a developing nation!

The report also found that just $2,200 of assets per adult placed a household in the top half of the world wealth distribution. To be among the richest 10% of adults in the world required just $61,000 in assets, and $500,000 qualified you for entry to the richest 1% along with 37 million others worldwide.

It was also noted that

many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and—somewhat paradoxically—are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth

Facsinating reading - it really does put your own life into perspective!

Australia Deliberated ... and, what now?

2007-03-24T14:46:00.000+09:00

I've been asked why I haven't reported further on the recent deliberative poll in Canberra.

It isn't because of laziness, although I am a major procrastinator at times. And it isn't because of any disinterest in the topic or a dwindling motivation to see the issues resolved.

My silence has primarily been due to a critical lack of direction or sense of conclusion. I left Canberra feeling at a loss and with some disappointment in how the proceedings were brought to a swift and insalubrious end.

"Fill out a survey, here's a cheque for $100, buses will leave at the appointed times and thank you ... now go and have lunch and listen to Bob Hawke sing Waltzing Matilda"

Ummm! But, excuse me ... What should we do now?

We had several dozen groups of people from all over the nation, brought together as strangers, all leaving with a sense that more needed to be done. Our work wasn't complete. We couldn't just send everyone away without some conclusion, some closure, some sense of a future direction. Yet, that's exactly what happened.

Most of us want to help break down these barriers; to keep the media accountable for their biased reporting; to educate others and facilitate harmony and interaction and pursue the goal of a truly multicultural society where no-one was abused for their beliefs or threatened by the beliefs of others.

Come in, spinner!

Alas, this weekend was not about developing solutions. It had very little to do with Islam in Australian society, and it certainly had nothing to achieve except to promote a system of political polling and facilitating some behavioural research.

It has taken me all this time to admit to myself the futility of this process in facilitating change on a large scale. Certainly, there were many individuals who were inspired to be better people; to take the message of unity back to their local communities, their families, workplaces and schools. But very little can be accomplished on a broader scale when the participants were swiftly dispersed without so much as a brief discussion on taking "the next step".

Perhaps I misled myself into thinking that a forum such as this would be a catalyst for change. No-one promised me that the weekend would provide answers, yet I went fully expecting to be part of the grand solution. Nobody suggested that this was an exercise in negotiation or diplomacy, but still my expectations were high for an outcome of significant proportions.

Three weeks after this extraordinary weekend, I am left sullen and void of satisfaction. It was a great holiday and an awesome opportunity to visit Canberra. It was also a wonderful way to meet some colourful characters and interesting individuals, partake of some excellent education and stimulating discourse. However, it was merely a talk fest amidst a series of research projects - nothing more!

Of course, there is a lot that I can do (and will do) as an individual, but I really feel that without some groundswell of support from the wider community, there will be little to achieve in pushing this barrow.

C'est la vie!

The Gender pay gap - fact or fiction?

2007-03-21T23:40:00.000+09:00

Every year the same questionable report gets trotted out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and every year the media lap it up without so much as a blink!

human Resource magazine was one of publications to spew forth the recycled hyperbole Australians have heard year after year. In their article, Women behind in pay stakes, they claim that "There is a significant gap between male and female earnings, according to a recent Australian Bureau of statistics (ABS) report".

Fair call, one might say after skimming the superficial statistics. But sit and think and ask yourself the following questions before coming to a conclusion ...

Is gender THE differentiating factor, or do elements like time in the field, capability to be a slave to the job, and career drivers play more of an important role?
Why does the media only report the average earnings, knowing that women are more commonly employed in lower paid occupations (e.g. hospitality) while highly paid occupations (e.g. tradespeople in mining) are predominantly male? This in itself will skew the survey results!
What factor does significant time away (e.g. maternity leave & child rearing) from a technical occupation, such as accounting, have on the remuneration afforded to women?

Attitude, stupid!

2007-03-20T21:41:00.000+09:00

So, I was telling my folks about my weekend in Canberra and my Father asks "Are they going to run one for New Zealanders in Australia?"

... Ummm, No Dad ....

"What about Pakistanis in Australia?"

... Ahhh - nooo (waiting for it) ...

"Well, why are they running one for fucking Muslims?"

*sigh*

Because of exactly that kind of attitude, Dad!