A letter to The Australian warns about protests when Obama visits Australia

GUANTANAMO Bay is still open, the US is about to deploy 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and during the past 12 months Barack Obama has authorised more lethal Predator drone strikes in Pakistan than did George W. Bush in the three years prior to that. So I guess that the authorities will be preparing for massive protests against President Obama, by anti-war protesters, when he visits here next month? Alternatively, pigs might fly.

Richard Shankland, Pymble, NSW

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama will be invited to address a joint sitting of the Australian Parliament in March, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.

I don’t suppose Bob Brown will bring the country into disrepute as he did when George Bush visited.

Most probably not.

Prof Professor Patrick McGorry, Australian of the year speaks to Monica Attard at the ABC.

In a long interview he spoke compassionately on his subject of expertise; depression amongst the youth, and I laud him for this. The Professor, is an internationally renowned expert in adolescent mental health.

However he needs to tighten up his comments in other fields, particularly Climate Change.

PATRICK MCGORRY: I just come back from Ireland and the day I arrived was about 40 degrees. It didn’t use to be like that in Victoria. Very dry. So obviously we could do more. The whole world could do more.

I can remember weeks of 38deg+ in Melbourne in the sixties. That’s not Climate Change, Professor, it’s weather.

Monica Attard didn’t ask for his take on the recent freeze in Europe, she just agreed.

It was the ABC after all.

KEVIN Rudd has warned voters there is “no guarantee” Labor will win the next election in the wake of a shock Newspoll finding that the Coalition has overtaken Labor on the primary vote.

Pretty standard motivation speech for the start of parliament in an election year but they are obviously concerned about Abbott and the poll swings. Just witness the ALP/Left hysteria when Tony mentioned advice he would give his daughters on life.

TONY Abbott’s fatherly advice for teenage girls not to give their virginity away “lightly” has cost him some support among women voters after a week of concerted attacks from government ministers and feminists.

I would suggest the ‘lost support’ is based on those who wouldn’t vote for him anyway

The navy is most probably so busy defending itself at the Darwin Coroner’s witch hunt that they missed another boatload of queue jumpers

They are the ninth boatload of asylum-seekers to be unloaded at Christmas Island this year.

Before this boatload, there were 1595 asylum-seekers in the island’s detention centre, which has a capacity of 1848..

Rudd’s lack of border security is only shoring up his left wing supporters and some of them are iffy. They want the queue jumpers to bypass Christmas Island and go straight to Centrelink, house and car The rest of the country are starting to show concern at the open door policy and think it should be a closed or at least controlled.

The voters must be thinking by now that any policy that lets a boat into our waters every three odd days is not a policy at all. It is an abrogation of responsibility.

Julia Gillard’s union friendly workplace laws have shipping company Total Marine Services caving in to union threats of further strike action and agreeing to wage and allowance increases of up to $50,000 over three years for workers servicing the lucrative oil and gas industry.

A spokesman for Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard welcomed the agreement.

All other unions, bouyed by the success of the MUA, will be starting their planning meetings to cash in on the bonanza while the ALP are in power.

Get used to it!

Penny Wong’s ETS is a loser with weekly articles throwing doubts on the IPCC report credibility but undeterred by all this she is planning to resubmit it to the parliament. Abbott has released his ideas on dealing with climate change saying he will establish a $2.5 billion emissions reduction fund if elected prime minister, forcing taxpayers to pay business and farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Abbott has told MPs he can meet the unconditional 5 per cent target proposed by Labor with the direct action approach to climate change, without and ETS.

The detail remains to be released but the important thing is, we can now have a debate over alternative measures to address the problem.

His new proposal relies heavily on planting trees and restoring soil carbon by reversing over-grazing and excessive tillage, embedding CO2 in bio-char or charcoal, tree planting, and revegetation.

The ALP are most probably heading for a majority, albeit reduced, but I live in hope that voters will start to see Rudd for what he is – a beaurocrat, not a leader, full of flowering prose, plans and inquiries but very short on delivery.

Still as I say, I live in hope.

KEVIN Rudd’s bid for a UN Security Council seat has been dealt a severe blow after a warning from the Arab League that it is less likely to succeed because of Australia’s support for Israel.

Hashem Yousseff, chief of cabinet for Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa, told The Australian Canberra kept “bad company” at the UN, where it often opposes anti-Israel resolutions in alliance with the US, Canada and small Pacific island states.

Australia’s support for Israel, he said, was “one of the elements that will be taken into consideration” by the 22-member Arab League in deciding whether to support Australia’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.

The Arab League say we keep bad company!

The mind boggles.

If you enjoy all the good things that the internet offers, you should watch this.

From Thoughts on Freedom

Apple quote $US499 ($AUD 553.20) entry price. Let’s see what the local market does with it.

iPhone to iPad – natural technical progression.

I want one.

Reporters covering the Inquiry into the incident where the asylum queue jumpers set fire to their boat are having a field day with anti navy statements as the story starts to unfold.

AUSTRALIAN defence personnel kicked asylum-seekers in the head to stop them from clambering aboard a rescue boat in the aftermath of a fatal explosion.

Corporal Sharon Jager, an air force officer Non Commissioned Officer with post-traumatic stress disorder, broke down as she recounted the chaos following the explosion on the boat, known as SIEV36, in April last year.

Cprl Cpl Jager, who had no experience in boarding illegal vessels, testified she was “shoulder-to-shoulder” in the water with asylum-seekers and watched in horror as a naval colleague in an inflatable rescue boat kicked two men in the head in order to save her first.

Why “watched in horror?” She’s in the water clinging to a piece of wood, close to drowning and more than likely in severe shock; I would’ve thought “watched in relief” would be closer to the truth. Is she suggesting that she would’ve given up her chance to be saved for a queue jumper?

“I saw (Able Seaman Adrian) Medbury leave his position and he’s moved along physically and he’s moved the two asylum-seekers, saying, `f..k off, get the f..k off her’ as he dragged me into the boat,” Crpl Cpl Jager told Coroner Greg Cavanag.

I would think that if Medbury hadn’t acted as he did the queue jumpers would’ve climbed over Cpl Jager’s drowned body to save themselves.

He was obviously under stress and functioning as a trained sailor should and unless you were there in the same situation then you can’t criticize him.

For me, I say ‘Well done, that man!

He was trying to save you Cpl and you should be thanking him for saving your life not pointing out how horrified you were at his actions. So he was swearing! He’s a sailor under extreme pressure.

Had my life gone differently I may have joined the Navy and if so I could’ve been a Lt Comdr involved in this branch. Had that been the case I would have had a point in unit/Ship SOPs that included, inter alia “save the crew first so they can more effectively save the others should any such incident occur.

The Captain has responsibility to his crew and he needs all of them to effectively carry out his mission and what if his after Action Report read; “We saved all of the queue jumpers who blew up their boat but in doing so five Australian sailors were drowned”

An attachment to the report would have had to be his signed resignation.

(The strike outs are just me correcting the reporters abysmal Staff Duties!)

The Australian Government today announced extra emergency relief and financial counselling services will soon be available in Laverton and the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in Western Australia to help local residents who are experiencing financial hardship.

The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, today announced an extra $20,000 in emergency relief will be available to existing providers.

Up to $25,000 has also been allocated for extra financial counselling services in and around Laverton and Kalgoorlie.

Maybe the word ‘Precedence’ could get a run here. Is the government planning to have $20,000 for emergency relief and another $25,000 available for all remote communities and what will be the rules. Or, will money only become available for such programmes whenever The Australian newspaper runs an article on another loan shark in another town.

My take on the Laverton usurer loaning money to the locals was that they had spent all their money and had none to get back to their outstations. He loaned them money at 33% which is about the same that poor white people have to pay when they go to the local Pawn shop for help.

Does that mean they now have a licence to go to town, spend all their money at the pub and takeaway and then just drop into the local Centrelink and get their bus fares home?

I also note Macklin is planning to introduce a scheme where they can get their handout money weekly. Will that apply to all handout money recipients or just the indigenous ones?

Band aid government by unqualified social medics in response to a newspaper article headlining what authorities should have known in first place.

Watching TV last night I was struck by a sea of Australian Flags being displayed, on the whole, by young people and I must say I found it pleasing.

Quotes by kids of being proud to be an Aussie while enjoying themselves in youthful exuberance wrapped in flags or dressed in ‘Flag’ bikinis all looking young and healthy must have really depressed the “hate patriotism, hate the Jack in the corner, we want another flag and a Republic” types

And that bodes good for the country.

On the other hand we have a psychiatrist, Professor Patrick McGorry, selected as Australian of the Year who, in light of his background of helping kids with depression makes him a worthy recipient.

Except he just couldn’t stop himself. Someone gave him a microphone and a camera and he was of on his hobby horse. Terrible governments who lock up asylum seekers when all good folk know anyone coming to our shores by boat should be allowed straight into the community. He had to restate his case to make it clear he was only referring to Howard Government which was a little strange as the Rudd government do it as well.

He vowed to use his new position to lobby for asylum seekers to be allowed to live in the community, instead of being sent to detention facilities on Christmas Island.

I would have hoped he might use his new position to advance Australia’s interests at home and abroad rather than going on about the Left wing mantra of letting anyone into the country who pay large sums of money as an investment to place themselves in the well documented Australian social security gravy train.

I would have hoped he might use his new position to advance public awareness and to gain more funding for youth depression but I guess that’s all to simplistic.

Overall, I give the day to the youth.

UPDATE: Australian of the Year is becoming Left Wing Whinger of the Year according to Mark Henderson