JULY 2013
RUDD.
Kevin Rudd has again become leader of the Australian Labour
Party. Reactions are extreme. The union gang who financed
the original Rudd election did so out of stark necessity. That
was because John Howard had enacted "Work Choices" which would have
been the death knell to unions in Australia. The real power over
wages in Australia has traditionally been with the state
governments. "Work Choices" changed that. Within a few
years, Unions would have become irrelevant.
However with Rudd taking power in the Federal sphere, the unions
alienated voters in the states. And then union outsider Rudd
threatened Murdoch's "Bay Books" monopoly on local book
publishing. With the Murdoch Press antagonistic, and with Rudd's
obnoxious presidential attitude to rule, his dethroning was a foregone
conclusion.
The problem was the Union Cabinet was too strong for new Prime Minister
Julia Gillard. As a committee they overreached themselves.
The total of their activities have alienated the electorate as shown by
plunging polls. Against their better judgement, the union bosses
cum cabinet have now committed hara-kiri and restored Rudd to power,
apparently after having extracted a few concessions.
On another note. There is a pien (aka chapter 36) in the Tao Te
Ching which to my mind applies to the current actions of Murdoch:
What
is
in the end to be shrunk must first be stretched,
Whatever is to be weakened must
begin by being made strong.
What is to be overthrown must
begin by being set up.
He who would be a taker must
begin as a giver.
and finishes:
It
is
best to leave the sharpest weapons where none can see them.
SNOWDEN.
The developments in this case are frightening.
According to Al Jazeera and RT.COM, three Latin American nations have
reportedly offered political asylum to Snowden. European nations
(France, Italy, Spain, Portugal) have been charged with rescinding the
permission of the Bolivian Presidential Plane to travel through their
airspace, citing as reason that Snowden was on the plane.
And the scary bit. Snowden has not revealed anything on the
international intelligence front that was new or unsuspected by the
objectives of that spying. All of their outrage is feigned
and strictly for home consumption. Of course knowing the extent
is helpful, and some of the details of information exposed could be
harmful on a local level. So someone else benefits. Who
really cares?
The unforgivable thing that he has done is reveal the naughtiness of
the NSA in spying on US citizens. And the scary thing is
that from the President down, everyone now appears to be "out to get"
Snowden.
My conclusion is that the NSA has directed those people to stop Snowden
at all costs.
Last month I wrote:
Like
J.E.Hoover
is reputed to
have done, they (NSA) may
well already
control the presidency and various other members of government.
While NSA or HS (or somebody within those agencies) might not already
control
various government personages, it is a catastrophe waiting to
happen.
And later on that month I wrote:
~50%
probability.
Snowden has got really
damaging data and must be neutralised at all costs.
On the evidence, that 50% probability has shot up to 80% probability.
CANDO
and ALLAN JONES.
On Thursday 25th July Allan Jones helped launch a book "Give Us Back
Our Country". The launch was in the Parliamentary theatrette,
courtesy of MLC Reverend Fred Nile. I must say that my opinion of
Fred Nile has risen considerably.
The thesis of the book's authors is that Australian Politicians are, to
paraphrase, periodically (i.e. every three or four years) elected
dictators. They will promise anything to get into power, and once
in power, happily go their own way. Frequently that way is not
well insulated from the appearance of corruption. One instance
cited was the employment politicians frequently took immediately after
leaving office, often in industries that a few weeks earlier they had
been regulating.
The authors defined "Micro Politics" and Macro Politics" respectively
as the legislation/regulation of citizen's
behaviour that politicians engaged in, and the Australian Constitution
that regulated Politician's behaviour.
There was an almost envious discussion of the Swiss system
of direct democracy, and some mention of the US direct democracy (which
actually exists only in some states, e.g. California.) Venezuela
(which has Presidential Recall) and Iceland were not mentioned.
The only way that was proposed to achieve that desirable end of direct
democracy in Australia seemed to be that we in the theatrette should
buy the book and form pressure groups in an attempt to persuade
politicians to relinquish their power.
Could I suggest a tactic for achieving that end?
We should try to persuade some politician to open a "voting"
website. That politician could invite his/her constituents to
advise on the way upcoming legislation should be voted upon. I am
sure that the concerns that might be raised, (security, transparency,
privacy) can easily be met. If any reader is dubious, please
email me and I will publish how those concerns could be met.
I do think that if even one politician (especially a Senator or MLC)
were to adopt that strategy, the moral pressure would provide a wedge
that could cause the more rapid adoption of direct government
principles.
comments