Mood:  sharp

All this muck in state and federal politics, as well as dodgy financial reporting by CEO Fletcher in Coles retail business giant as here The World Today - Coles accused of misleading shareholders could make one believe the community sector are surely above this moral corruption.

Alas not. Only the stakes are so much smaller. The emotional investment seems just as obsessive.

Example: A tenant at the local ARC wants special treatment. Reverse Garbage, Ethnic Child Care, The Bower, Art Studios, Sunday Markets all have visitors by car who on some occasions park on the grass degrading both the turf (which heaven knows is knocked around in the drought) and compacting the roots of the trees.

It’s usually a simple matter of the garden staff on the job politely but firmly asking the driver  to get ORFour grass and use the very adequate car park areas. And they usually are quite happy to. Almost invariably because they actually support and respect the shared objective of a successful community centre.

But not last Friday. Our imperious visitor was too important to bother with that. Then our anonymous tenant refused to take any responsibility for their ignoble guest plonked on the median strip, indeed was instantly and emotionally and verbally abusive, dishonest, aggressive and indeed corruptly seeking special exemption virtually threatening our employment for simply doing our job.

It was all so small and yet indicative of possibly a much greater and unsafely corrupt mind set. Certainly of arrogance and snobbery in this case. To be called a “nice boy” at 42, a part time solicitor with two degrees is quite hard to take really.

Fortunately we did not reciprocate and the General Manager who employs me treated this particular tenant with the merit s/he deserves. He merely required a file note to evidence the situation and helpfully there were witnesses.

And we all have our own power and can chose to exercise it in a proportionate and transparent way in what might be called upward management. It’s mainly a matter of careful analysis beyond the impertinent melodramatic histrionics where to insert the knitting needle.

So now it’s a work ban on this tenant at least by this worker. No removal of rubbish, no weeding or mowing, no special favours with mulching the back yard or pigeons in the roof, indeed no web updating of the fast improving  Addison Road Centre - ARC Home website which we have been seconded to assist with until we receive satisfaction.

We will win in the long run as night follows day. That's my version of accountability for low level corruption in a community centre: Qualitatively no better than other bottom feeding federal or state politicians or big business corruption but quantitatively an order of magnitude smaller. Indeed we will not be sidetracked.

The human condition, ain’t it lovely?

.......................

Postscript #1:  We have received correspondence disputing our version of events described above and now publish this record verbatim:

"Excuse me.....Can you not park there please [still 30 metres away walking down the front drive]....We don't want people parking on the grass and it's an [bad] example to all other people who drive into the centre. ....[no response].... I work here as a gardener at the centre. ....."

Posted by editor at 12:27 PM NZT

Updated: Tuesday, 20 March 2007 5:50 PM NZT

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Mood:  down

Either way the NSW Public are facing 4 more years of bad governance under the influence of either major party, ALP or Liberal- National Coalition. Democracy is effectively broken here as illustrated by this sorry image:

Picture: ALP’s moral credibility: Huge sandmine hole next to Wollemi World Heritage national park on one side and Yengo NP/McDonald Wilderness on the other, 40 km west of Sydney next to the Singleton Road. The sand "pulled out" goes into the ALP controlled construction sector. The mine by Birdon Contracting Pty Ltd was illegal 1986-96 then given retrospective approval by Hawkesbury River Shire Council, and proceeded without valid development consent from 1996-2007 according to Environmental Defenders Office written legal advice. It is due for takeover by Adelaide Brighton Pty Ltd and most likely will be expanded to 270 ha and approved by Minister Frank Sartor in due course. It is killing the water flow in Tinda Creek into Wollemi natural heritage area. There is no real restoration of these huge sand mine sites. They are usually left as quicksand slurry pits (called 'lake' in the spin). Photo by SAM editor 14th March 2007.

Mark Colvin the veteran reporter and presenter of the ABC PM show last night posed the question: What if they held an election and no one came?

This apparently was in response to Peter Debnam's press conference earlier that day posing his own rhetorical question to the effect of: Why are NSW voters in the latest marginal seats Galaxy poll such masochists to still prefer the ALP 58:42 two party preferred? : Debnam throws in the towel

Good question Peter.

It’s a devastating answer in the headline above: Frank Sinatra was a Sicilian* and many other things too: An apologist for mobster killers in the mafia (like the ALP are killers of clean government and good public interest policy with their family cronyism devoid of merit), but the crooner wasn't racist, he loved his black brother entertainer Sammy Davis Junior. Similarly the NSW ALP bruvvers are not white supremacists but they are corrupt as the day is long:

It’s also worth remembering Nile has voted for every forest destroying legislative instrument ever presented since at least 1992 to this writer's memory. Nile has just targeted a Federal policy question proposing a ban on Muslim immigration in a state election no less:

Nile wants Muslim pause - State Election 2007 - smh.com.au,

and notice this demolition of the crackpot Nile election policy:

Thus young Australians are flirting with neo Nazi policies, like this convicted criminal who should have been sent to jail: Cronulla rioter guilty and free

But if John Robertson of the NSW Labour Council is right yesterday interviewed on radio there is a bigger cohort of voter concern than racial intolerance, namely 7 or 8% out there supporting the Your Rights at Work campaign against Debnam’s sponsor, PM John Howard and his “extreme industrial relations” turning our society into a ruthless Darwinian jungle.

Even allowing for posturing by unionist Robertson to claim electoral credit (who interestingly also spoke at the Climate Change Rally late last year 2006 in person with more here Climate march gallery 3.12.05), Robertson is surely right to a degree. Worker rallies of 40,000 last November 30 in the Sydney CBD with many more across NSW show that his point is fair.

Yet as a result of a systemic money politics, incumbency and diverse gerrymanders by the two party sleaze bags, 30% or more voters still feel there is nowhere else to go than Coalition or ALP despite racism,or corrupt policy (see examples listed below).

At least this election the rise of the Independents is being seriously discussed as per this candidate out in Windsor the othe day:

Picture: Steven Pringle resigned from the Liberal Party after losing pre-selection allegedly to the Christian Right of the Party in the seat of Hawkesbury and is recontesting in what is said to be an interesting contest 2007 New South Wales Election. Hawkesbury Electorate Profile ...

Quentin Dempster on Stateline last night 16th March posed yet another question: Will Peter Debnam, who presents as already defeated here resign a week out from the election so his more moderate rival and deputy Barry O’Farrell MP can go to the polls for the Liberal Party?

Debnam chuckled with hollow bravado at the impertinence of that question, just as Iemma and his Minister Tebbutt chuckled with arrogant assurance on the screen last night during the main ABC News bulletin.

And then there is the painful rise of the third force in politics: The Greens Party. They copped it again last Wednesday and Thursday in the 'Daily Idiot' as Leunig accurately cartooned last weekend, meaning The Sydney Daily Telegraph over their “liberal” drugs policy. Here are their sister News Limited papers chiming in:

Greens drug policy 'absurd, disgusting' - The Australian - 13 Mar 2007
Nile calls for MP drug tests - Melbourne Herald Sun - 14 hours ago

[Interestingly David Penberthy, the editor of the SDT running most strongly on the drug issue against the Greens is related to another Penberthy in the newspaper game of yesteryear at the Nationwide Review which crashed and burned.]

Indeed the Greens are portrayed by sleazy Iemma for the ALP as “ludicrous, ridiculous, unscientific” for their policies on harm minimisation. For years now the ALP have sought to position the Greens as pro drug use possibly to project their own guilt over huge donations from the clubs and pubs lobby. The Coalition are green baiting as usual via their Daily Smelly mouthpiece as much as possible possibly because their ex Premier Nick Greiner works for Big Tobacco. The hypocrisy surely is that more people are killed and hurt by alcohol and tobacco in society than other problematic drug use.

Picture: Fortune favours the brave? Lee Rhiannon MLC who is leading the Greens upper house ticket, gave a strong defense of rational drugs policy with fortunate back up by world class expert Dr Alex Wodak on ABC Trioli show recently.

The Greens up till 2003 have been too little and naïve to meet and demolish this stereotyping but I heard on ABC Trioli show late this week the policy bullies hit the wall, and the bigger they are the harder they do hit: MP Lee Rhiannon for the Greens stood and faced the attack and beat the ALP/Coalition policy thugs pointless.

The Greens don’t condone drug use but they do support reallocation of resources into harm minimisation and health approaches. Funny that, just like the scourge of prostitution was taken out of the hands of corrupt police and politicians into the decriminalised health and planning sector.

The truth is the Law and Order Industry (humorously called LauraNorder) need illegal drugs to run their huge budgets, power, prestige and jobs for the boys and girls.

Sydney does listen to Trioli in significant measure and she started out harsh and sceptical but she backed off good and proper as Dr Alex Wodak  of St Vincents Hospital slam dunked the major parties with this, to paraphrase:

'Q. Alex Wodak is Lee Rhiannon of The Greens right?

Ans. Yes. All the evidence internationally says they are’.

What was that about expert, scientific, public policy Morris? Who are the honest politicians in the election? Who have the proverbial courage, so often associated with voter shyness for being ahead of their time? Who indeed are ridiculous, preposterous, ludicrous and indeed liars? The ALP and Coalition, demonstrably so.

Dr Wodak even quoted the hero of right wingers (like shrieker Miranda Devine) for his case: free market economist Milton Friedman abhorred the prohibitionist failed polices over 8 decades in relation to unhealthy illegal drug use.

The Greens are in favour of criminal sanctions for all dealers of drugs, says Rhiannon. Rhiannon is also quoted in the news bulletins as not taking alcohol or other drugs herself personally. And another difference this election is that Jamie “horny goatweed” Parker (who by the by more than anyone haughtily encouraged this writer in person to get out of the Green Party in 2000, literally in the office of Lee Rhiannon in Macquarie Street), is not a candidate in Balmain.

Indeed Horny Goatweed got mugged 3 days out from the vote in 2003 while the Daily Smelly has shot its bolt a premature 10 days out with time for such counter attack by The Greens on the real facts and real expert advice.

Therein is the difference 2003 to 2007 apart from Parker losing his preselection (jumped or pushed?) and keep in mind politics is all about timing. Indeed I was moved to call and congratulate Rhiannon’s performance on Trioli's show with the advice – hold fast, its tough with black and blue bruises inevitable, but you are turning the corner on critical public policy reform.

Indeed Trioli doesn’t "have children" but Rhiannon does and criminalising youthful idiocy/despair into a life of crime is no way forward for any political analyst with half a brain. On the the Daily Telegraph's own biased terms over 25% of NSW voters agree with the Greens already and it will grow.

But the last word on drugs surely goes to liberal minded Democrat, Arthur Chesterfield Evans MD who fronted the drug test stunt by Fred Nile MP in state parliament press room calling for “a mental health test” as well. Laugh out loud. If it’s anything like the character test re stewardship of God’s creation that Nile has already dismally failed then Nile has no chance.

Truth is Iemma/Carr’s ALP majority this last 12 years have never been worried about “scientific” policy for the welfare and good government of NSW. Nor were they in the lead up to the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. This writer worked in parliament and witnessed the ambition and shame that forced both major parties to go along with independent John Hatton MP now retired.

These major parties have always preferred feather nesting 'ludicrous ridiculous' policy to quote Premier Iemma back at himself, whenever democracy was asleep or apathetic. Here's one current list of such tragedies but it's only limited by space not examples:

1. East Darling Harbour site has toxins apparently:

Sartor told of toxic site 5 years ago

We hear the ALP’s excessive development plan is a bastardised version of architect Phil Thalis’s design (pers comm Sydney City Councillor) and he is really not happy. Jack Mundey famous for Green bans and on the government advisory committee rejected the bogus plan that ex ALP PM Paul Keating (that old developer mate from Bondi Junction) defends, and Jack the old unionist has gone very quiet since Maritime Union boss Robert Coombs was given a choice preselection into State Parliament via seat of Swansea. The whole thing reeks.

2. Legal and illegal land clearing in the millions of hectares with duchessed greenie Jeff Angel on the government’s peak advisory committee during this time 1998-2005, for more see report 27th Feb 2007 here: 

The fact ex ALP Premier Carr mitigated this unfolding disaster just prior to his buckle in mid 2005 to the incoming Iemma forces puts the ALP ahead of the Coalition on land use but only barely, with Debnam way ahead on water policy. The Desalination Plant is just just more ALP construction industry cronyism it seems. Indeed The Greens identify Iemma’s “unscientific” policy on land clearing with this:

“ The government’s mapping does not pick up clearing where canopy is less than 20%. As a result it does not recognise clearing of open woodlands or grasslands. These areas are responsible for around 60% of all legal clearing in NSW. I challenged [Minister] McDonald about this technology in a meeting we had late last year. He promised to provide evidence that would support its effectiveness. Nothing has been forthcoming.”

Ian Cohen MLC, Green Party press release 28^th February 2007, doing Jeff Angel’s job 10 years late but better than never.

I explained these facts of life about Green Party preferencing to the ALP in some parts but not others (say Monaro or Blue Mountains) due to Coalition support for land clearing last Wednesday to Riverstone Liberal Candidate Kevin Conolly outside Windsor Railway station at 7.15 am. Conolly supports his Party's repeal of 330K ha Goonoo Pilliga conservation reserve because of lack of park management funding.

Picture: Future MP Kevin Conolly? Former Catholic school teacher, presumably from the intolerant Christian Right faction of the Liberals. Conolly is after an upset from the ALP on about 11% margin Riverstone - State Election 2007 - smh.com.au. His federal Counterpart Kerry Bartlett is also doing it tough on minus .5% in the seat of Macquarie (and was out leafleting the commuters) after a federal westward redistribution taking in ALP strong holds of Lithgow, also more neutral Oberon etc.

We saw a ‘picfac’ of another rural regional Liberal Party candidate too, chubby Prue Goward in the Sydney Morning Herald 15^th March 2007 Pushing Prue: can she speed into leadership? with alternative headline Goward seen as Libs' saviour on the Fairfax website:

Did she get her inspiration from this other biker political animal "Randall Nelson OAM AKA Animal" as described on his business card?

Picture: “Animal” is a Christian preacher in Kings Cross whose business card reads prophetically “When we do Right No-one Remembers When we do Wrong No-one Forgets.” Is this why the primary vote of the ALP and Coalition is going south and will continue to do so until the dam breaks?

Coalition candidates should read this letter from an enlightened farmer to save our animals so to speak: Letters: Farmers' argument comes down to reserves versus reserve fodder

3. Matthew Moore the Freedom of Information editor for the Sydney Morning Herald reveals 15^th March 2007 the cheating over a hidden document preparing the way to bulldoze Beacon Hill public school on valuable land for developers. Simply more corruption. See

Ohhhh you wanted That document!!???

4. Telegraph report March 5^th 2007 p17 that BHP-Billiton’s Appin Area 3 mine, southwest of Sydney has indeed cracked the Upper Cataract River as predicted by critics, 5 months after approval:

“Last October, The Daily Telegraph reported that the [Sydney Catchment Authority] had advised the State Government the mine should go no closer than 350 m to the line of the river. The operation, however, was permitted to go within 100m.”

Simply corruption.

5. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of feral critters live in our rural areas both national park and farmlands. Iemma has appeased cowboy shooters by allowing them into public recreation reserves like the USA where hunters take over. There probably is a place for professional full time efficient sharp shooters following a scientific kill program, accountable to government employers, but Iemma in a sleazy deal has the whole community

“Living in fear of stray bullets” (p26th March 4^th 2007 The Sydney Sunday Telegraph),

says Robyn Gregg with toddler on knee, from Kulnurra north of Sydney regarding shooters in McPeherson State Forest. This is corruption of public policy and anti science and frankly outragous pandering..

6. Our climate change friend John Robertson, an ALP crony above all else, is described thus by profoundly likeable and good planning writer Elizabeth Farrelly as follows:

“… to list Currawong [heritage area next to Kuringai NP] after so controversial a sale [by the NSW Labor Council] would be to invite damages. Why didn’t [Minister Sartor] do it when it was easy? The answer may lie with the Heritage Council. A public body with very private meetings, it is chaired by property type Mike Collins and lists among its members none other than Comrade John Robertson, an electrician who is also, as luck would have it, secretary of Unions NSW. See what I mean? It’s that cosy family feeling. Cosy nostra. Full circle.”

 in Currawong is still oriented towards family ...2st Feb 2007.

That’s res ipsa loquitur (the matter speaks for itself) a perception of corruption in the governance of heritage land by this NSW government.

.....................

All of the above criticism risks offending Gandhi nonviolence when he says, as for politics so in life,

"10. Avoid exploiting weakness in your opponent. Aim for integrity, not simply to win. "

meaning adversarial point scoring in a race to the bottom, muck raking negativity, is not a sound basis for good governance. But the point about peaceful but confronting Gandhi was that he did still aim to win for the public interest with integrity and that is the way forward to reform NSW politics.

* this writer is 1/8 Italian and proudly so.

Posted by editor at 7:49 AM NZT

Updated: Saturday, 17 March 2007 1:04 PM NZT

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Mood:  rushed

Picture: Police on foot and on horseback widely seen as overkill at anti Forbes protest in Sydney in 2005 over rich elites taking over our Opera House venue in 2005 to make plans about our future (more pictures of rally at the end of this post).

SAM's editor even as a sometime legal adviser has never heard of a joint police force chasing down protester charges from another state to here in Sydney:

Anti-Terror Squad Raid and Arrest Protestors in Dramatic Swoop 

Picture: Anti G20 radical protesters in Melbourne in November 2006. What exactly is the problem with free speech, and who really is the danger to our society?

It may have happened but even up in Jabiluka (Northern Territory, hundreds arrested 1998) the authorities just wanted to evict the protesters back to the South or where ever.  This bespeaks deeper analysis on behalf of the activist community. Read on.

Harbour Bridge walk of 200,000 planned for Sunday March 18th 2007.

All ungated and frankly irresponsible organisation given bag checks at such as the BDO and similar events, cricket etc for public safety reasons (use your imagination in the age of errorism, and I don't mean lefty anti capitalists breaking a few McDonalds windows or similar, more the London Tubes) but nothing for this crush of people on Sunday.

The whole event this Sunday is designed as an ALP party stunt to impress the voters prior to the vote on 24th March. A flavour on abc adam spencer show this morning on location at the Bridge with allegations it is an ALP stunt.

BUT if something goes wrong, and we hope and trust it doesn't, it turns the voters into punishers of the ALP.  Already the ABC Glover show yesterday afternoon is alarmed 'it won't be safe' maybe, and Police Minister Watkins scolded Glover on air: "Richard ...Richard" it's all going to be fine says nice face on the jackboots Mr Watkins. Read on:

Iemma goes on the radio yesterday arvo too admonishing 4,000 unionists to NOT turn it into a protest event all wearing 'Your rights at work'. Get it? Stick to the 'party, vote ALP' vibe, not protest, especially if other causes like anti G20, anti Cheney leftists want equal protest rights in front of an audience.

Picture: Police push into a crowd that was trying to hold a peaceful street march February 2007.

Any problems and its 'unhelpful PR backlash in the last week before the vote for the Iemma government', to paraphrase his machine man Mark Arbib on radio yesterday. That's the police agenda for their 12 year now ALP political masters - to keep it smooth, keep it orderly and quiet and bully anyone who wants to be loud agitators which actually is their democratic right ... at least in a democracy.

SAM's edtior being a middle class well educated type has written before at the time of the G20 footage from Melbourne of concerns about illegal vandalism in those protests. We much prefer the Gandhi style of activism:

 Gandhi nonviolence

Nevertheless we have very little doubt there is a political dimension to the timing and exagerated posturing of the 'anti terrorism police' indeed the Law and Order industry who don't want to solve 'the drugs problem' ever, or be done out of huge budgets and jobs.

We don't agree with aggressive protest tactics but are even more concerned about the anti democratic and oppressive tendencies of the police and their political masters. Premier Iemma leveraging the status of his office says the labour movement shouldn't wear T shirts in a block with the slogan "Your rights at work" like this rally November 30th 2006 part of a 300,000 strong group of rallies that day across Australia:

There is a word for opposing free speech - it's called fascism and was the guiding philosophy of another famous Italian who died at the end of a noose:

Benito Mussolini - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

People talk about the Aboriginal industry, but far far more is spent on the LauraNorder Industry metaphorically painting rocks and using protesters as punching bags: The anti WTO protesters in 2000 have just been paid some $750,000 by the Victoria police for illegal brutality back then:

Radical protesters receive secret payout By Natasha Robinson March 05, 2007 02:00am Article from:

Posted by editor at 8:30 AM NZT

Updated: Friday, 16 March 2007 11:35 AM NZT

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Mood:  cheeky

Tony Abbott should be a little more concerned about his own checkered history than worrying about Kevin Rudd's "character" in his column in the Sydney Morning Herald today. We reported this back on 8th January 2007 about how aggressive boxer Tony punched and assaulted our friend Peter Woof, which shows you the intrinsic violence in the man now senior politician. Apparently there are plenty more stories like this one about Tony Abbott with the log in his own eye:

Monday, 8 January 2007 [some minor edits in this March 15th 07 version, but the overall story is the same]

Why did student activist now minister Tony Abbott punch Peter Woof?
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: election Oz 2007

By Tom McLoughlin, solicitor in NSW, editor www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog 

The editor had an interesting interview recently with long time qualified high school teacher here in NSW, and Canada, Peter Woof, a long time supporter of environmental causes.

He tells an interesting story from his parents lounge room in Killara  (a pretty exclusive north shore suburb of Sydney):

In 1978 25 year old Woof stood up to student politician, now federal government health minister, Tony Abbott who he says was allegedly caught doing unethical or perhaps illegal things (the allegation involves various things including changing the locks on student union offices).

Woof says Abbott, a well known boxing enthusiast today if not then, punched Woof in the face. Woof was a technician employed at Sydney University.

The date can be corroborrated by reference to civil assault suit documentation against Abbott presumably created for Woof in the Glebe local court at the time. Woof represented himself but was totally out muscled financially, he says, by 'half a dozen' barristers and lawyers who turned up at the preliminary hearing turning the civil suit into a high risk of huge legal costs against the alleged assault victim Woof.

Woof assumes these expensive lawyers taking a student activist dispute to another level were paid for by Abbott's 'rich father'. (It also suggests a serious fear of a  blossoming conservative political career almost destroyed at birth.)

This legal bullying tactic arguably at the expense of justice has the echo of the vexatious legal suit by Gunns Ltd bullying of Tasmanian environmentalists in the last few years.

Woof withdrew the civil suit he says under financial duress.

Peter Woof is a very experienced and qualifed person. He has an engineering degree. He is a qualified radio operator and mechanic who was driving an LPG 4 cylinder car in the early 1980's years before LPG was so popular. He owns his own house.

Woof is no shrinking violet. He is a friend and colleague of anti pirate whaler Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd fame.  Woof has participated in environmental protests including conviction for entirely peaceful protests against a nuclear warship in Sydney Harbour and the docking of a rainforest timber ship in the 1980ies and 90ies. In 1986 Woof held down a high school teaching job in Bombala, a well known 'Timber Town' in NSW.

The Canadian teaching accreditation authority are aware of this lively history and have endorsed Woof's employment as a talented and committed non prosletising high school teacher. He is flying out today to continue his teaching job in remote Saskatchewan Canada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada

Woof notes that global warming has massively contracted the viability of traditional 'winter roads' (over frozen swamp and bog) in remote Saskatchewan, such that only one month mid January to mid February is now safe for high volume road transport during winter. This is too small a window he says to properly provision remote areas prefacing a depopulation of large swathes of North America in the future.

Peter Woof can be contacted by email on:

pwoof@bigpond.net.au

Woof whose eyesight is suffering long sightedness in middle older age is no longer able to do much close work but obviously has some very interesting tales to tell still in his career of environmental advocacy back to the Franklin River blockades and earlier.

The alleged assault by Tony Abbott was openly discussed at a recent reunion of the Sydney Bushwalkers Club in 2006 and there are likely to be several sources to corroborate this version of student activist history of the 1970's here in Sydney.

One such witness in the 1970's approached Woof (attending with his elderly parents) at the dinner and said words to the effect of "It's a pity Peter you didn't knock Tony Abott's block off when you had the chance."

Obviously the student politics back then was very willing. Woof's social companion who made this comment unprompted is now a senior executive with a NSW Govt agency (details held by the editor).

Posted by editor at 10:34 PM NZT

Updated: Thursday, 15 March 2007 6:34 PM NZT

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Mood:  caffeinated

Author’s general introductory note (skip this if you know this regular weekly column):

This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies  in Big Politics and Big Media. ]

Indeed it’s the tv version monitoring task similar to what Nelson Mandela refers to here in his book Long Walk to Freedom (1994, Abacus) written in Robben Island prison (where he was meant to die like other African resister chiefs of history in the 19C), at page 208

“..newspapers are only a shadow of reality; their information is important to a freedom fighter not because it reveals the truth, but because it discloses  the biases and perceptions of both those who produce the paper and those who read it.”

Just substitute ‘Sunday tv political talkie shows’ for "newspapers" in the quote above.

For actual transcripts go to web sites quoted below except with Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Posted by editor at 6:50 AM NZT

Updated: Sunday, 11 March 2007 8:58 PM NZT

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Mood:  sad

5 Australians died recently in the equivalent of a very big nasty car crash. By all accounts it was an accident, pilot error or poor maintenance or both. The investigators are looking into it both in Indonesia and Australia. Some 21 mostly locals died over there in Indonesia too.

It is sad, shocking and traumatic especially for the families. No doubt about it. But it’s not unusual. How many people died in car crashes this week here in Australia? (51 have died this year according to this story in a brief google http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/driver-killed-in-threecar-crash-at-altona/2007/03/03/1172868802321.html ]

Did the coverage of our military killed in Black Hawk helicopter accidents fill so many pages? Luckily they all survived in this one

Picture: from The Age and reported further here http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1091/topstories/story01.htm

But they didn't survive in this one: Remains of SAS soldier found off Fiji - National - theage.com.au; or this one

"MARK BANNERMAN: Gerard Bampton knows first-hand what it's like to go down in a Black Hawk helicopter crash. It cost him the use of his legs, but he survived Australia's worst ever defence disaster when two Black Hawks collided, killing 18 people, in 1996. That night fire was the main danger for him, but he thinks getting out of a sinking aircraft would be just as bad." in http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1801534.htm

I know this must sound heartless and callous, yet the Big Media revolving door with Big Govt are losing perspective (or even more cruelly manifesting their excessive ego) about the loss of their own. It’s not as big news as they think for the rest of Australia. Yes big enough for some headlines, some bigger than usual pictures of human interest. It wasn’t a car, it was a dramatic aircraft crash. Yes many Australians would use Garuda airlines too but fully knowing it’s the opposite in safety record to Qantas, no different perhaps to millions of Australians driving old cars every day. Yes they were ours doing public service jobs, so it was in the line of duty, but also very well paid, high status, financial security in every case, working in a dirt poor country of 200 million people plus.

For those mourning I apologise in advance for this brutal observation and simply say at times of life and death that raw honesty satisfies far more than sophistry. It behoves this alternative media outlet to make the point they cannot: The sorrow and grieving is properly a private matter so don’t overdo it or the consumers will see the special treatment for what it is, just another ego trip, even at the time of horror and loss.

It does indeed say something about our Big Media culture and Big Government that the loss of these 5 professional people and injury to several others, that the Big Media and PM (desperate for another story doing live Radio National and Trioli the same morning) etc think this story is of such public interest to everyone else here. This may sound cruel but I doubt it.

Of course it’s of intense interest to the families and all their connections, and of course to that employment sector, but it's getting a little voyeuristic folks. It’s getting a little exaggerated. The public consumers of media are being overfed the private sorrow and grief in a quite understandable confusion of news priorities at their time of distress.

How very human (and Mark Riley on 7 Sunday Political Talkies admits the loss of their mates has thrown them for "a loop") but keep in mind the victims of your average Australian car crash. It’s not a competition for sympathy sure, but remember their families are hurting and shocked as much as anyone in Big Media or Big Government: Did these folks think they were different somehow to everyone else? That we are not all fragile flowers? If anything that plane crash proves beyond doubt rich folks at the front are all flesh and blood like the rest of us.

As the profound solliliquy worthy of Shakespeare, but actually appearing in the movie Thin Red Line, goes, spoken by the silent half buried face of a dead Japanese soldier in Guadalcanal war zone: 'Do you think that because you are good, righteous, and kind that you will suffer less?'

Not in real life, I'm afraid. As Jesus makes plain, being good is for it's own sake, win lose or draw.

The real business of Life is indeed Death and the time we are allowed start to finish. They go before us but we follow as night follows day.

May they rest in peace.

Postscript: The above view was written after reading the Friday major dailies The Australian, Sydney Daily Telegraph and The Australian and consuming the press and electronic media earlier in the week. It was written before seeing the Crikey piece by one Thomas Hunter of 9th March 07 in a similar direction. Also of influece was the startling historical footage of Robert F Kennedy last speech and assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968 on YouTube in 7 by 9 minute parts seen earlier this week appropo the reaction of the pro media doing their job on location but clearly in shock too at that horrible event:

Posted by editor at 6:53 AM EADT

Updated: Sunday, 11 March 2007 8:47 AM NZT

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Mood:  cheeky

Be warned this is one of those low rent pieces serious, or wannabe, writers indulge in when they don't real have anything to say about the human condition, real politik or just how scary the world really is.

It's a post that appeals to the great masses who mostly are intimidated by the big stuff and have never been educated to cope with it really except to stay the hell out of the way if at all possible. As such its exploitative of the them because the serious writer knows they are likely to get bigger reaction from readers about how to make tea, or white versus wholemeal bread than say dangerous sea rise from Greenland and West Antarctic melting (which they are).

It's in essence a 'Sienfeld post' meaning 'a story about nothing' just like the famous tv sitcom was about mudane, inane, quirky individual harmless eccentric daily life, that we all have in our personality but prefer to keep out of view if at all possible for fear of being seen as "irregular". Hence the good laugh at someone else like Kramer getting exposed while we sit safe at home in our mediocre privacy.

This story is about my washing my hair in the shower just now. It's in the photo and feels good. As I did said wash I was mulling over the ABC 702 radio Richard Glover show 6 week experiment of not washing your mop and seeing if your oil glands in the scalp adjust so it's no longer necessary to buy shampoo or conditioner. A pretty fair theory too: Returning to au naturale and sidestepping those greedy corporations making detergent stuff.

Glover is similarly an expert at Seinfeld froth content to fill his weekly column, the odd HSC English exam paper and even books.

But here is where my over education and contrary nature comes in. I did a biology degree at Australian National University. Zoology to be exact. ANU Zoo specialised in the 1980ies in parasitology. Those little bastards in the mammalian gut, the malaria, the sheep and cattle industry etc.

So we learnt a bit about such parasites in the au naturale. It's not a pretty picture either. Just as natural humans only lived 25 to 35 years with their parasite load in the gut or other medical ailments without antibiotics etc, so we live much longer for medical science and yes hygiene, especially washing let alone household antiseptics etc.

So today we don't have parasites in our gut very much or at least usually only the good bacteria, and we don't have critters living in nice non chemical oil balanced unwashed soft bouncy head of hair.

You see the choice may not actually be between making a corporation rich buying their shampoo, or not. The choice may be between prehistoric biological arms race with parasites and modern medical age escape from the boundaries of nature for a longer healthier life. Thus humanity has escaped standard evolutionary pressures applying to all other animals and should stop kidding ourselves we live lives aproximating anything like 'au naturale' as important as nature is to our future lives, not least dangerous climate change!

My tip: keep washing your hair.

Postscript #1 April 30th 2007: Seems Richard Glover of ABC 702 public radio has had the last say on this with '86% of 500 trialists after 6 weeks saying their hair is soft and nice as good or better than when they stopped using detergent'. The key it seems is to still wash but only with water, or possibly conditioner. That's a very interesting result.

Posted by editor at 9:55 AM EADT

Updated: Tuesday, 1 May 2007 6:51 PM NZT

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Mood:  incredulous

Years ago on Stateline abc tv show barrister Paul Matters alleged for his client in the Industrial Relations Commission that western Sydney state MP Gabrielle Harrison, a junior minister for the ALP at the time, had said to her staff words to the effect of:

‘This government is the most corrupt in the history of NSW’.

Harrison, a widow with young son, denied the claim but then disappeared from Carr government. If she did say it she is almost certainly right which is saying something given the Wood Royal Commission of the mid 90’s, the Askin Government, the Rum Corps 200 years back.

Here are our favourite hints, the tip as it were of the iceberg of corruption in NSW government and business sector in the context of this current NSW election:

1. NSW Police porn email

Back on February 14^th the NSW Police Commissioner, Police Minister Watkins, and Iemma Government were embarrassed by this lurid story in the hothouse atmosphere of the election:

Police in porn email scandal | NEWS.com.au

By Gemma Jones, February 14, 2007 02:00am, Article from:

HUNDREDS of police are caught up in an email scandal after inappropriate material, some of it sexually explicit, was found in police in-boxes.

An audit of the in-boxes by the professional standards command in New South Wales has revealed up to 150 officers and civilian workers have been sent disturbing emails.

Police halfway through a widespread investigation were yesterday unable to rule out hundreds more police being involved.

Professional standards officers have begun interviewing police while independent auditors are interviewing civilian workers.

While police yesterday confirmed some of the emails were of a sexually inappropriate nature, they would not be drawn on whether any were pornographic.

Police would not comment on the investigation, refusing to reveal how many police and civilian workers were being investigated or how severe any punishment could be.

The investigation began after an audit was undertaken within sections of the police, with the results prompting swift action.

The in-boxes of some staff in the Sydney police radio room are being examined but it is understood most caught up in the probe unwittingly received an inappropriate email and had no part in distributing it.

A memo has been sent to all NSW police in the wake of the findings, warning them of the appropriate use of the police email system.

Head of the professional standards command, Assistant Commissioner Catherine Burn, confirmed that inappropriate emails had been identified.

She said disciplinary action would be taken if the outcome of the investigation warranted it.

"NSW Police does not condone any abuse of the police email system," she said.

"This investigation clearly indicates that we take this issue seriously and we are dealing with the matter appropriately.

"We don't tolerate inappropriate material being distributed via the police email system."

A report into the police force inquiry held at the end of last year revealed that some police believed sexually explicit talk and even pornography were acceptable.

The review by senior counsel Chris Ronalds into sexual harassment and discrimination in the police, called for management to taker a harder line against sexually inappropriate conduct.

It found some police were using mobile phones to show disturbing images to bypass the monitoring of work computers.

In 1999 it was revealed that several officers had used the police internal computer system to email pornographic images.

Police computer records and email in-boxes are audited annually by the professional standards command.

[bold added]

It is government Public Relations AO1 to cancel a bad story with another bigger or equal story preferably of confusingly similar subject matter: Got a bad RTA leak document story, do another RTA story about controlling hoon cars. Got a nature destruction scandal, do a new conservation decision story. It’s all cynical choreography rather than good public policy as such.

Later that day February 14^th “just after midday” according to Big Media press report below the NSW Police, purely by coincidence we are expected to believe, and based on

“a six-month investigation triggered by a case involving child sex offences”

raided 7 Kings Cross sex shops allegedly illegally selling X rated items that as best we understand are not illegal to possess or view as non-violent erotica by consenting adults, but are illegal to sell here in NSW. They are legal to sell apparently in some other parts of Australia (?):

Here is the background in both major daily press widely covered February 15^th 2007 in this tough cruel and yes sleazy city of Sydney, as well as the ABC:

Sex shops raided in porn hunt | The Daily Telegraph

Sex-shop sting: police arrest seven at the Cross - National - smh ...

Kings Cross child porn raid: seven charged - National - smh.com.au

Seven charged over sex shop raids

One can see by a google search of “nsw police porn email” with few results, compared to a google for “nsw police raid sex shop” that the PR benefit to the NSW Govt not to mention the conservative minded voters was highly successful. Indeed the earlier embarrassing story disappeared altogether.

The Herald even invited tips from readers to this email address: “What do you know about this case? scoop@smh.com.au” We at SAM might just send this article to them.

We had reason as a sometime media lawyer to research this turn of events and cannot help thinking this is very cynical timing. One might even suspect it was self interest and corrupt timing to protect jobs in government. The matter is up for first hearing today March 7^th 2007 and the penalties from this patchily enforced ban on X rated real sex on screen in NSW are very very serious.

2. Covert big party candidates.

The reality has been well covered by the Big Media:  the 12 year old ALP Iemma government’s election launch at Hurstville airbrushed any history and indeed the “ALP” brand itself. This is understood.

In Marrickville the ALP’s Carmel Tebbutt was installed in a byelection in September 2005 at the time Planning Minister Frank Sartor and the ALP Govt, we say, corruptly covered up the existence of a plan for a huge $5 billion Inner West Tollway with toxic ventilation stacks and subsidence issues in …marginal seat of Marrickville full of busy Green Party agitators. Tebbutt won the election by a bare few points from the Greens Sam Byrne in September 2005 who later that year was made local Mayor. Byrne would have won if the Inner West Tollway plan was revealed at the time, as it was front page of the Daily Telegraph here:

Perhaps not surprisingly the ALP's Tebbutt has no mention of brand ALP on her electioneering materials going into the local letterboxes here in Marrickville. She rather is "your local MP", not a mention of the "ALP" to whom she owes her whole political career:

But it is not only the ALP which is on the nose it seems. We have also noticed this upper house candidate for the Liberal Party who is an entrepeneur of 10 or so organic markets across Sydney as well as a computer expert: Stephen Choularton. We don't know much about his candidacy and remain open minded but find it curious he doesn't reveal brand Liberal Party as best we can tell from this:

We can even sympathise after what happened to that rare creature in the Liberal Party here in NSW, the moderate environmentally conscious MP for that party, such as hapless John Ryan MLC:

sydneyanglicans.net - sydney stories - Liberals dump faithful Christian soldier

Sure enough we have now at the time of writing found this website for Choularton:

Stephen Choularton's Campaign Site for the the Legislative Council ...

with some savage comments about the ALP:

"What has a decade of Labor done for us:

• public corruption,
• decaying infrastructure, and
• administrative incompetence.

Let's not turn hard labor into a life sentence!."

and

" Today the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in NSW is the Carr-Iemma Labor Government"

If you look hard you will find this under Biography "1996 Joined Liberal Party after arriving in Australia."

But it sure is hidden away. Yep another covert candidacy.

3. Rampant bribery in the sand mining sector in Sydney region?

We met our source yesterday and provided some pro bono legal advice. As such we are under obligations of confidentiality also as a solicitor client situation. However on the public record $50,000 was paid in 2006 by a sand miner Birdon Contracting Pty Ltd for a protester to go away (after suffering firebombing, death threats, shots at their home, family breakdown, over the last 13 years), when they complained about a current sandmine next to Wollemi World Heritage area. Yet the protest continues.

The Environmental Defenders Office has generated a 5 page legal advice of interest.

Our source tells us some staff at both Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury Council officers have been sacked or resigned in the last 5 years under the shadow of alleged developer financial co option by various sandminers. Here is one curious report of Dec 23 2004:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Council-suspends-manager-who-turned-its-fortunes-around/2004/12/22/1103391839237.html

Baulkham Hills especially is a part of town where tricky games with money and politics has been reported before

1. regarding visa for a developer and state/federal MPs back in July 2003:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/25/1059084203392.html

2. developers monstering public parkland for housing construction, per Sylvia Hale MLC (Greens) http://www.sylvia.nsw.greens.org.au/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=18&page_id=233&tabno=7#section2

Our source reports a senior sand mining figure told him of corruption in the sector "It's $30,000 to keep your sand mine safe". Meaning if you don't pay it they [council regulatory officers] come down like a tonne of bricks on you.

We keep an arms length view, and particularly non financial public interest, of all these controversies but in NSW we tend to believe where

1. the big construction industry,

2. lots of cash and

3. NSW governance

are involved, that there is plenty of slurry to be thrown and most of it does stick, just as Gabrielle Harrison was reported to say and withdrew in a panic (as noted above).

The Green Party are right about developer corruption here, and no doubt it's at the ground floor of sand mine inputs critical to the sector. In fact this is why democracy in NSW is in fact broken by dirty money politics.

Posted by editor at 8:46 AM EADT

Updated: Wednesday, 7 March 2007 10:58 AM EADT

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Mood:  cool

We watched the Channel 10 Cool Aid 2 hours plus special which network apparently rated fairly well at a respectable no.3 for the night after 8.30 pm last Sunday 4^th of March. And we were impressed.

Building on the DVD and Oscar success of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth highly cuddly Sandra http://www.ten.com.au/ten/people_sandrasully.html

was sharper than we are used to seeing cutting across the political talent as needed with federal rivals Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Garrett. Crikey.com.au sad cynic Christian (not) Kerr called it ‘tv for morons’ yesterday without even watching, but he doesn’t look like this:

and there were 5 family/young adult mainstream templates of sorts for checking the carbon fatties (presumably Kerr). Dr Karl the expert science reporter

Dr Karl's Homepage

with the ABC gave us the low down on listening to real climatologists - not paid up liars (just as the Tobacco Industry lied for 50 years on causes of cancer), and Al Gore chipped in too. Highly polished John Dee, even Ian Kiernan from a 4 am start and plaster cast on leg had some kick urging a 10% renewable energy target up from 2%. Prof Tim Flannery and Australian/Troublemaker of the Year, and the show highlighted dangerous sea rise threat HERE for a real change.

Ian McHugh a science writer for Crikey was more favourable and like him I did flake out after a long day before the end, but not before rejoicing that Sandra & Co, who I did but once see passing by there in Harris St Pyrmont once as our eyes briefly met, was doing the ecology action work putting me out of a job. Go sister go.

Which brings us to this sad bad Big Media rabid Right sellout 'blogger' Jekyl/Hyde character Tim Blair:

who was sledging the social movement to save our climate in the Saturday Daily Telegraph the day before the Cool Aid tv special:

Blair’s futuristic satire is easily turned around with literary devices like

-Kissinger Life Centre – where those genetically imperfect are branded, and in the worst cases gassed.

- Le Pen [ultra Right French politician] Immigration Centre, say no more.

- Howard Twin Towers – one in the shape of the original bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the other a phallic symbol of his chicken hawk manhood.

- Thatcher Sports Stadium which doubles as an interrogation, justice and execution centre. Those arrested for jaywalking are held in stocks and beaten with cricket bats made in Saudia Arabia which now has a huge forest industry after the monsoonal rains moved from South East Asia.

- Iran Iraq war celebration day. Because misery loves company.

- Plutonium Day 25^th Dec.

- White Elephant Day 26^th Dec

- Cheney Sunscreen against a hot hot world, and the ever useful Bush motormower: Does  20 feet of a lawn to the litre. And it’s the only oil based product on the market.

- GM made electric car 0-200 km/hr in 4 seconds on compressed cng loaned to me by my neighbour, a Chinese guy who got into solar stocks back in 1998 and is now 3rd richest Australian. He has several vehicles so he can afford to let me borrow one.

Etc etc.

Posted by editor at 9:36 AM EADT

Updated: Thursday, 8 March 2007 10:46 AM EADT

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