Because the road is rough and long, shall we despise the skylark's song?
- Anne Bronts
Compared to other disasters across the board, this is nowhere near as bad as those inflicted on the planet in years gone by. After all, more than 3 million died in China's 1931 Yangtze River floods and 655,000 died in the 1976 Tang-shan earthquake - although both figures were hushed up. Jonathan King puts the Indian Ocean killer wave into perspective, globally and historically World's long dance with death - I can speak freely because of the tsunami
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Schtick: Mark Coultan
Amazing irony which is unlikely appreciated by the architects of the Charter 1992. The memorundum of understanding was supposed to create a level playing field, however, the objective has been deliberately misunderstood and twisted to suit the ones who must be obeyed.
The stories of the independent members of parliament are seldom told because, given their druthers, they’d prefer to focus on the issues rather than personal profiles. Their professional lives are often unremarkable, they are usually teachers in the local public school like John Hatton or surburban architects like Ted Mack, except for the passion with which they give their time and energy to the spirit of democracy.
Most independent members of parliament enter politics because something trully evil happen in their local area where they work, live and try to make ends meet. They know that it only takes good people to stay on the sidelines too scared to rock the boat for the evil to thrive. They open their ears to whistleblowers and their hearts to the downtrodden and destitute. John Hatton displayed outstanding integrity when in 1976, the Wran Government with only a majority of one, offered him an extra $4,000 a year as assistant minister with a car, and a world trip. Mr. Hatton declined.
Ted Mack, the former member for North Sydney resigned from the parliament so that he would not be entitled to the generous parliamentary pension, which he strongly disagreed with.
Clover Moore is giving all her energy at the moment to implementing the Lord Mayoral Minutes of November 2004. Despite what many carpetbaggers suggest, Clover wants the City of exiles to lead by example and to develop and expand best-practice standards of public transparency and accountability in relation to its tendering and contractual arrangements. “Open, transparent and accountable governance is a basic democratic right and integral to public trust in our political system. Public trust is no longer something we that can be taken for granted.” [BTW, a main road in London, Exhibition Road, will have its traffic lights and kebs taken away in an experiment aimed at encouraging drivers to have more consideration for pedestrians and Boris Johnson on his bike]
Back in 1993 the NSW Parliament passed an amendment to the Election Funding Act that was supposed to tighten a series of loopholes. It was part of a deal with the independents who held the balance of power during the Greiner and Fahey governments.
But the legislation contained a section that completely changed the way state politics is funded in NSW. The legislation was put on the table one week, and brought on for debate at 1.50 one morning of the next. After three speakers it passed the Legislative Assembly by 2.03am.
The changes established what is called a "political education fund" in NSW. But the money didn't go to schools to educate children about democracy or the electoral system. It didn't go to the parliamentary library, it didn't go to the electoral commissioner, and it certainly didn't go to the various schools of government in the various universities around Sydney.
Instead, the money went to the political parties. In a single stroke, public funding of political parties was doubled.
• John Murray: A short, sharp political education [If you were serious about political education, you'd start with how the electoral system works. The trouble about ticket voting is that it takes power away from voters and gives it to party bosses. Theatre of Politics - Democratic Audit: Who Law Makes the Law Maker? ; Arguments for socialism: Self Interest One - socialise loses and privatise profits If you give more peanuts to a house full of monkeys, you just get bigger monkeys! ]
• · Robert Wainwright captures my thoughts in his story on the Division of Labor: Labor controls all state parliaments, but the relentless electoral windmill is still turning
• · · Didn't I say that this guy needs to be watched like a hawk? (Sigh) I guess we reap what we sow. Raising the gavel with a grin, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter opened his first hearing Thursday by allowing more criticism of the Bush administration than his predecessor and by questioning some of the Patriot Act's police powers. Shape of Things to Come?
• · · · Paul and I have been thinking of writing a political novel. It will be a bad novel because there won't be any nuance: the villains won't just espouse an ideology we disagree with - they'll be hypocrites, cranks and scoundrels. Worse Than Fiction ; [It's nearly 150 years since convicts last lived in filth aboard prison hulks on London's River Thames, freezing as they awaited deportation to Australia. The bad news for Britain's contemporary spivs, drunks, pilferers, blasphemers, rascals, ne'er-do-wells and prostitutes, however, is that the hulks might be on their way back. Second Fleet is Coming ]
• · · · · Activists beat off coastal developers
• · · · · · Antipodean examples are railing soon under freedom from information Police probe peeping pom ; Any thought that the Labour Government's public relations spin machine would be derailed by the resignation of David Blunkett is wrong. The small pool of senior officials who are trusted by the politicians to deal with intelligence and security matters seems to be a very small one. Are these really the best people available ]