Unimportant polling (today’s top story in the Mercury)

The results:

In my seat of Denison (essentially Hobart), Greens are now preferred over the Liberals.

Conclusion: my neighbours need to be spoon-fed on a steady diet of welfare and Government funded jobs, enjoy the idea of a massively over-taxed State, want to bring ruin to our agriculture industry, and think that Gunns is somehow the cause of Tasmania’s problems, when in fact it is our largest private sector employer.

In Braddon (in the north-west), the Liberals score higher than Labor.

Conclusion: at least a few people in this State have been ignoring the Greens propaganda drive, and are sick of ALP.

One poll shows that the Greens total vote scores as high as 20%.

Conclusion: 80% of Tasmanian’s prefer another party to the Greens.

Support for the Liberals has risen by 4%.

Conclusion: the State liberals are putting in a piss-weak effort.

Labor took its greatest bitch slapping in Denison, the seat of the former- much respected- Jim Bacon.

Conclusion: Paul Lennon can't lead the ALP- and he sure as hell can't lead this State.

"Had the election been held in mid-December and The Mercury TasPoll results been returned by Tasmania's voters, the Government majority in the House would have been lost," Prof Herr said.

Conclusion: good, but…

"The election campaign will crystallise opinion and much can change during this period but the most likely outcome (is) a minority government.”

None of the three major political parties is likely to win a majority share of Tasmania's 332,000 votes at the election tipped for late March.

Conclusion: a Labor/Liberal Coalition is needed. The Liberals have, thankfully, rejected entering into a coalition with the Greens. State Labor has not- yet- done so, and in the past actually entered into an unsuccessful pact with the Greens- without warning voters before the election. Even so, Governor Bennet dismissed the Liberal Premier, and gave power to the ALP/Green coalition, despite justified calls for a new election. See Wikipedia’s nice little article here, and its links, for more on the interesting period.

It is not in the interests of this State to have the Greens in any Government, as we’ve seen in the past. A coalition between the major parties, although there are few positions to go around and would inevitably lead to massive internal problems, would satisfy a good many Tasmanians.

At least you've got Senator Joyce (Qld)...

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”
Harold Geneen

Islamododos.

I Stumbled across an ageing article at AIJAC tonight, on the preaching and literature of Islamododos in Sydney:

In both New South Wales and Victoria, seemingly innocent bookstores which purport to purvey knowledge and spiritual guidance to their patrons have been shown to be distributors of hate literature which has a clearly violent intent. In both capital cities, calls for Jihad and endorsements of martyrdom appear in everything from books to audio compact discs and elaborate DVD presentations

Worryingly, the material reviewed was only that which was available in English.

The article’s author, Naomi Peled, notes the ‘discovery’ of “material that preaches a religious obligation to fight against the kuffar (infidels)” provided by the Islamic Information and Support Centre of Australia- headed by Sheikh Abu Ayman, with the more prominent Sheikh Mohammed Omran serving as a spiritual leader in the organisation.

The material itself is nothing particularly original or creative from these Islamododos, just the usual ‘Allah hates Jews’, ‘Christians and Jews are inferior to the Muslim people’, the West must be crushed, non-Muslims must pay a tax, aaarrgh! assorted Sheikh muscle flexing, etc., etc.

More interesting, although not much of a surprise, is the fact that this material is widespread in Lakemba- a main 'battleground' in the recent, appalling, riots. Peled predicted last August the danger in allowing Australian Muslim leaders to abuse the liberties we in the West enjoy so much, especially our freedom of speech, association, and lax (perhaps too lax) censorship laws:

As the global community continues to try and comprehend the impact of the latest terrorist attack, it has become obvious the world over that terror has taken on a new face. It is the face of ‘home-grown’ bombers, removed by generations and physical distance from the traditional epicentres of terror and instead converted to radical Islam by provocative firebrand preachers and incendiary texts. From citing classic racist literature to making radical interpretations of religious texts, the extremism arising in the hearts of Brunswick and Lakemba and poisoning inter-faith relations is a prime example of provocative hate speech, and we need only look to London to see where such speech, gone unchecked, can lead. The threat of radical Islam has indeed arrived on the shores of Australia, and it is the public’s responsibility, ironically enough, to espouse one of the theologian’s very own teachings, "we should all take heed, for ourselves and for those who are with us" for hate is within our midst.

Sheikh Mohammed Omran is a complete nutter, and a dodo.

Clear policy failure.
As usual, and like most of Australia, Tasmania's health system is again failing to ensure adequate bloodstocks.

One in three Australians will need a blood donation during their lives, but only one in 30 Australians give blood.

While the Red Cross points out the seasonal decline in blood donors, the fact is- there is a year-round shortage of donors and stocks.

Although synthetic blood has been developed and successfully tested in the United States, its widespread use is still far off and marred by an unwillingness to use animal blood as the base product- so-called ‘ethical concerns’- instead relying solely on human blood. The chances are, someone who doesn’t want to milk blood from a primate, is letting humans go without.

While the artificial product can be stored much longer, donors are still required.

Government may be willing to ask the question- ‘why the shortage of such donors?’, but is unwilling to hear the answer- Government policy restricting the right to sell one’s blood. In the United States, most blood comes from paid donors. Even with blood treated as a commodity, as it should be, the country is plagued with shortages. It is only logical then, that the individual should be allowed to negotiate the price of her/his blood on an open market. With only 5% of the eligible population of the United States donating blood- suppliers will inevitably be paid very well. In the long-term, this will also lead to more Americans selling their blood, and more stocks.

Snippets:

FEE has this:

[T]he communitarians would do well to learn more free-market economics. I don’t mean the arid exercises of graduate-school economics. Rather, I mean Adam Smith and his true intellectual progeny. The communitarians should give more consideration to the Invisible Hand, that is, to the beneficial decentralized processes whereby individuals and families choose voluntarily for themselves


Take a squiz at this over at Front Page.

FP: Tell us about the persecution of Palestinian Christians and why their persecution became so much worse since the Oslo peace process began.

Weiner: These are acutely trying times for the Christian remnant residing in areas ‘governed’ by the Palestinian Authority. Tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad, while those that remain do so as a beleaguered and dwindling minority. They have faced virtually uninterrupted persecution during the decade since the Oslo peace process began, living amidst a Muslim population that is increasingly xenophobic and restless. Chaos, nepotism, and corruption are endemic. Their plight is, in part, attributable to the influence of Muslim religious law (Shari) on the inner workings of the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, the Christians have been abandoned by their religious leaders who, instead of protecting them, have chosen to curry favor with the Palestinian leadership.

'Aceh remembers its dead'

"May they rest in peace by God's sight. The moment of silence begins."

Election campaign (2).

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.
(Unknown)

Whale meat.

The furore over whaling continues, but the real issues are being ignored.

While Greenpeace has been in the media for its commitment to preserve the whale species, their true goal is not widely known. Rather than legitimately fight for a temporary end to whaling to ensure the recovery of the species, Greenpeace demands a permanent end to commercial whaling.

The long-time campaign is based on the belief that eco-tourism will better support the Japanese and Icelandic economies, and the feelings of animal rights activists that animals are not for exploitation.

The latter idea is unacceptable at both a moral and economic level. Greenpeace is completely selective in the animals it wishes to preserve- and would certainly not oppose a complete ban on cattle farming (although many on the fringe of society and in the organisation do). The 'moral dilemma' is only considered by the most adamant ivory-tower philosophy student, and can be resolved by pointing out the very natural habitats such people would want preserved- an animal society based on the slaughter and consumption of other, less-able animals.

The eco-tourist industry has indeed proven itself to be profitable, as Greenpeace will be the first to squawk to anyone listening. It is only logical then, that ecotourism in conjunction with controlled whaling will add to the profits available from this giant seafood.

Tasmania has received much public attention concerning whales, specifically regarding their mass strandings. Again, the focus is inevitably on ‘saving the animals’, and any other considerations are secondary.

The Tasmanian Government, however, should auction-off contracts, for set periods of time, allowing the successful bidder to exploit the natural, although unpredictable, event of a whale stranding.

Local Aboriginal communities often ignored territorial issues and divides in favour of sharing in the available meat following such an event (which is now said to be the fault mankind’s modern navies).

Why then, can European Australian’s not accept this gift from the sea, as Aboriginal Tasmanian’s once did?

Sacrificial voting.

Lately I’ve been thinking of the best way to economise on my single vote- yes, very Anthony Downs of me. Now, rather than voting for the party that best matches my economic beliefs and general ideology, I think at the next State election, I’ll be voting Green (not simply a step in the other direction, but a fucking Neil Armstrong leap).

Why’s this you ask? How can a free market, pro-business fan, and individualist vote for the Greens?

Easy. The brilliant thing about the federal system of government is the ability to use States (or territories) for experimenting, in a controlled, laboratory-like environment. I’m happy to sacrifice my vote to give the Greens power in this State, and then laugh my arse off when they finally show Australia the effects of their policies.

This sacrificial form of voting will, if our other states and territories take note, in the long-term reduce the Green’s support base- especially among those who don’t like a 70%+ tax rate, and moralists who will not fund gays, trans-gender folk, and give uni students a completely free ride.

I also recognise the constitutional limits, mind you. For the most part, however, I’ll be content with seeing the available domestic policies and scary over-taxation implemented by Peg Putt and her flock of dodos, and thus recognition by do-gooders that voting Green is not going to help anybody.

Election campaign.

“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.”

Samuel Johnson.

Snippets:
Mises has this:

Durable peace is only possible under perfect capitalism, hitherto never and nowhere completely tried or achieved. In such a Jeffersonian world of unhampered market economy the scope of government activities is limited to the protection of the lives, health, and property of individuals against violence or fraudulent aggression. . . .

All the oratory of the advocates of government omnipotence cannot annul the fact that there is but one system that makes for durable peace: A free market economy. Government control leads to economic nationalism and thus results in conflict.

Yisrael Aumann takes the 2005 Nobel prize for economics.

Arial Sharon has a stroke.

"I've already been at the front (of Israeli politics) for the past 60 years and I definitely plan to continue my job,"

Kangaroo tail soup.

Ingredients:
1 Kangaroo tail
2 pounds Beef
3 Carrots
3 Onions
1 bunch herbs
Pepper and salt
Butter

The Boston Herald has this:

‘Bill and Melinda Gates, Bono named Time’s Persons of the Year’

The Gateses give much to charity, Bono is a bloody dodo (of the third kind).

Time praised the Gateses for building the world’s largest charity - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has a $29 billion endowment - and for “giving more money away faster than anyone ever has” in 2005.

Residents dislike the nightlife...
My flatmate, anthony (lack of uppercase intentional, matching my lack of respect), bitched about this when we were watching the news (scroll down to 'Hobart nightclub closes after complaints').

Thankfully he didn’t claim that pokies are ruining such places, but others have- in NSW Fred Nile claimed that pokies are ruining the live music industry. Perhaps Nile should accept that consumer choice drives such things, and any ‘damage’ is far from permanent.

A neighbour even blamed PM Howard for ‘making Australians more morally conservative’. I explained that the Liberals are pro-enterprise, and when this didn’t work, reminded this neighbour that the ALP controls the Tasmanian Parliament and therefore any regulation of Hobart’s almost non-existent nightlife. I also noted the Tasmanian Government's anti-smoking regulations (somewhere in that link) as an example of such control. What's the saying? You can lead a horse (in this case, ass) to water, but you cant make it drink.

That Fascist, General Howard, gets more cunning and evil every day...

'Israel's cause is not lost'
Spotted this at LGF.

The comment section is especially interesting:

I might dare to say that the press in the US has, in fact, done a far better job than in Europe and Britain. One need only consider that the coverage of the Jenin "massacre" is rather a good demonstration of the fact that coverage in Europe and Britain is actually rather poor. In the US, no major paper even hinted that there had been a massacre.

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My bet is that most of the silence regarding Israel has more often to do with avoiding contraversy than conviction. Which is to say, what is needed is an education campaign.

The Israeli cause is not that difficult to explain. A story:

In May of 2004, I visited Europe in order to take a cruise (out of Dover) of Baltic capitals. There were many people from England on the cruise. My wife and I befriended an English couple. The man was a physicist.

We had a discussion regarding nuclear power, as such was the man's specialty. I mentioned that the spread of weapons is much in the news, especially regarding the Middle East. He, out of nowhere, noted that Israel has nuclear weapons. I said that were she to give them up, she would likely be destroyed. He replied (and I recall his exact words because no one had ever before said anything quite like that to me): "Why do they [meaning Israelis] need to be there [meaning in the Middle East] anyway?"

I do not let such things go. Being an American - crass, stupid and all that -, I said rather calmly that the right of oppressed people to migrate where they can find refuge is a basic human right and the right to engage in politics where one lives or migrates to is also a basic human right. I said that Jews did exactly that in the land we now called Israel. I said that they were attacked by local Arabs and, rather than be run out of the area, Jews stood their ground which is how Israel came to be.

The physicist accepted my explanation, told me he had no idea how Jews ended up in what is now Israel and told me that my explanation made sense to him.

Which is to say: Israel's cause is not lost among educated people. It is only lost if people concede that Israel is in the wrong and fail to educate people.

Lies, Lies, Damned Lies!
Green Left Weekly continues its to show its true colours by publishing emotive slurs against the RSL, implying our former soldiers are, or rather were (past tense) racist bigots, and publishing other blatant lies.

The prejudice on which Pauline Hanson relied has now jumped the generations - from the ex-diggers and grey-haired RSL loyalists, to the testosterone and beer-fuelled youths who are hurting in Howard’s Australia, in and out of work.

‘[H]urting in Howard’s Australia’ ? This can only be described as a complete load of rubbish. Many of the thugs were clearly young, well-off Australians, probably with excellent futures. Look over the images that have appeared in the media- expensive cars, clothes and sunnies. This is not a class issue, as much as the communists at GLW wish it were.

And our prime minister, John Howard, wants to preach calm! Has anyone seen these guys? Should any ethnic community be calm when these thugs are whacked out of their heads, wielding baseball bats and launching bricks and flower pots!

Another blatant misrepresentation from GLW. The thugs ‘whacked out of their heads, wielding baseball bats and launching bricks and flower pots” were in fact the Lebanese-Australian mobs engaging in revenge attacks against Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Australians.

GLW goes on to ignore the violence at the scene of the Lakemba Mosque by Lebanese-Australians:

Those young Lebanese-Australians were right when they gathered to protect their local mosque. They are right to demand an end to the racist scapegoating of their communities. And the trade union movement, anti-war activists and everyone outraged by racism must stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

GLW tries to create an image of Lebanese Australian gangs singing Christmas carols and urging an end to the violence, when in fact, they targeted police.

We should expect nothing less from the toilet rag which sees Che Guevara as the poster child of the left.

Pure Illiberal Madness.

The Greens haven’t released their new drug policy, which would have been *ahem* interesting to look at following the execution of a certain criminal in Singapore, so instead, here are some highlights from policy that is available:

1.2 The Australian Greens recognise that Indigenous people, as the original owners and custodians, have a specific and unique cultural relationship with this country, which all Australians must respect. [emphasis added]

A ‘Green’ Australia will therefore endorse the tribalism of Aboriginal culture, including corporal punishment, the battering of women, the death penalty, and arranged marriages (based on skin colour). Will the Green’s at least give Australians the ‘good side’ of Aboriginal culture, such as allowing the barbequing of beached whales? Doubtful.

1.8 Indigenous people require, and are entitled to [a], culturally appropriate and fully resourced [welfare sector…]

'Culturally appropriate'? Does this also mean Anglo-Saxon/Celtic Australians will receive welfare that is ‘culturally appropriate’? Will Jewish Australians, who have joined Australian society in a mutually rewarding relationship since before the Holocaust receive ‘culturally appropriate’ services (i.e., less)? This is Green racism, pure and simple.

1.10 The Australian Greens recognise and accept the need for Australia’s history of ‘settlement’ to be revised without prejudice and taught at all levels of education.

One word- Indoctrination. The Greens will obviously ignore the ruling of Federal Court in relation to the ‘stolen generation’, and sideline the history of European settlement- which deserves so much to be taught in our society- at all levels of education.

1.11 The Australian Greens support increased opportunities from birth for programs in which Indigenous languages can be taught.

These are absolutely laughable policies. Such a move is entirely impractical. Indigenous Australians make up 2% of the population- if the Government plans on making Australia bi-lingual, would it not be much more appropriate to teach Mandarin Chinese- which, from memory, is the most spoken language in the world?

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2.16 provide adequate funding for support groups, rights groups and representative groups for each of the LGBTI communities

2.17 provide adequate funding for research into LGBTI cultural, community, social, health, welfare and safety issues

3.55 the establishment of an adequately funded federal office for the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.

3.59 transgender medical procedures being available at both public and private hospitals and under Medicare

The Green’s have so many creative ways to spend the taxpayer’s money, and when they start to run out- they’ll just print more!

This is an attack on liberalism. Australians, such as those with a conservative moral nature, have the right not to fund such operations, in accordance with their religious beliefs, or other viewpoints. If you dont like having a penis, pay for it to be sliced off yourself.

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2.12 a global ban on the militarisation of space, including the United States of America’s (US) plan for the development of an anti-missile defence capability, and [the Greens] strenuously oppose any Australian involvement

2.15 condemn the US Missile Defense [sic] program, known as ‘son of star wars’, as provocative, potentially belligerent and dangerously destabilising

The development of advanced defence technology is a right every nation has. The US development of an anti-missile shield will bring great benefits to both North America, and Australia, and should in no way harm relations with other states. Both Australia and the US not only have the right to develop such a shield, which is more and more promising with the increasing evolution of modern technology, but also the responsibility to do so in order to protect their people.

2.56 commit Australia to a self-reliant, non-nuclear national security framework with participation in a reformed regional and global collective security framework

Self-reliant? The Greens delude themselves. Australia is a middle-power at best, we will never be truly capable of self-reliance in our defence.

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2.7 consultation and participation of workers and their unions in decisions on workplace changes

The Greens will allow unelected Union’s to have a massive role in developing policy (for all sectors of the economy) at a federal and state level, but are so anti-business that any Green Government will ruin Australia with over-taxation and over-regulation. The Green’s obvious corporatist goals should give equal, if not greater, participation rights to large businesses and the business community- or risk stunting domestic industry, and forcing away foreign investors.

2.13 the principle of a contribution to be made by non-union members who gain the benefit of union registered agreements.

Yet, non-union members will be hit with this:

3.2 abolish Australian workplace agreements and non-union collective agreements, and encourage the making of multi-employer agreements

Pure, illiberal, madness.

The Greens are a flock of Dodos.

Snippets:

Target: Google

"[T]he biggest current complaint against Google is that it is just "too big." We hear things like "Google controls 80 percent of the market" for search engines, yet that statement is nonsense. Google does not "control" anything on the Internet. People have to choose to avail themselves of Google's services. No one is forced to use the Internet at all and, thus, can avoid Google altogether if that is their choice."

Andrew Bolt’s RMIT debate, with added dribble from Watts.
The question session following the debate is, unfortunately, difficult to hear.

Cleric ‘discussed killing PM’
Benrika, in the kitchen, with a candle stick?

Name your islands, Indonesia told
All 18,000 of 'em... heh heh...

Christmas Greetings!
Ah, Christmas! It’s the season not only to be jolly, but also the season of giving (What better way to give than to start a blog)!

For most presents, though, we must wait until Christmas day. But my mate John W. Howard, gave all us students an early gift...

What is it, I hear you ask… It's Voluntary Student Unionism, or VSU for those who don’t like to hear the ‘voluntary’ bit (voluntary implies choice, choice is hated by those who commonly claim to be on the left)!

The savings, the savings! No longer will I pay for the care of other people’s children, nor the boozing of students during O-week! From now on, that fee of around $200 a semester can go towards my textbooks, hell I could even give it to a nice charity, it is Christmas after-all...