| APRIL 2009 Pages - Page 1 |
| THIS IS PAGE 1 OF APRIL 2009 PAGES - APR0901 |
CLOVER MOORE - PUTTING IT OUT THERE
Whether you agree with her or not, you have to admit that Clover Moore MP (Sydney) is a rarity. She is an Independent who actually puts
alternative policies out there.
Our observations of the current crop of Independents is that they spend their time shoring up the NSW Labor government, and criticising the
opposition for not announcing policy - whilst at the same time never developing a set of coherent policies themselves.
Clover used valuable parliamentary Private Members Time recently, to put her policy for noise reduction "out there", instead as so often is the
case, to talk about the latest fete they opened or the latest concert they attended, which so often many MPs spruik about.
SOURCES:
NSW LA Hansard, Noise Pollution, 26 March 2009
Linda Silmalis, Clover wants Sydney to shut up, Sunday Telegraph, 29 March 2009.
BEAUTIFUL
I once rubbed shoulders with Emporers, but that was a long time ago
I once adorned many paintings, mostly famous, by Goya, you know.
I knew many people in Royalty, for I always took pride of place.
Then along came the French Revolution, I fell from favour - Disgrace.
But I survived through my numerous talents, like dancing and doing fine tricks.
No doubt I'm a wonderful charmer, you might say I'm even quite chic.
Then back in the twenties or thirties, I was put back to my rightful place.
Included in the French Stud Book, so my ancestry you may now trace.
And then it started to happen, as I knew all along it just would.
The World discovered I'm pretty, and also pretty darn good.
So now I'm back where I should be, at the top of the tree if you please.
Did you guess who I am, well you should have, of course,
I'm the (????????)
Acknowledgement : (ONLINE )
SEE ALSO - The Bichon Frise in Art - an online exhibition assembled by Edward J. Shephard Jr.
History of the Bichon Frise .
IF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling.
See also Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories .
A Tale of the English Back-Packer
One day I was walking in Kings Cross with Bella. An English backpacker, accompanied by her boyfriend, stopped me to admire and pat Bella. She
said to me " It's not really a manly dog. "
I replied " If you can find a real man here - then you are a better woman than me."
Her boyfriend burst into a fit of laughter.
A nice feeling to have brightened someone's day !!!
see also : "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (text and audio online)
HISTORY REPEATS - AFGHANISTAN : THE NEW VIETNAM
Someone *** once said words to the effect: Those that don't learn from the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them.
Afghanistan has the finger-prints of a repeat of the Vietnam disaster written all over it. IT seems PM Rudd has his head stuck so far up the ass of
Barack Obama that he is incapable of seeing anything - let alone those fingerprints. The Aussie blood spilled in Afghanistan will be on the hands
of Rudd, not on the hands of ordinary Australians.
see: RUDDS Announcement.
Bernard Lagan,'We have few better friends than Australia' , Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2009.
*** George Santayana, a philosopher, said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
William Shirer used this quote in the preface for his book: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
[ Ed Note: Many thanks to a reader, Chris, for providing us with the details of the "someone" and the exact words - and thereby educating us]
ABC News, Afghan troop request 'just weeks away', 9 April, 2009
HIGH PRAISE INDEED
Mr MICHAEL DALEY: I thank the members of Country Labor and people like the member for Port Macquarie, the member for Dubbo and
the member for Tamworth for inviting me into their electorates and for assisting this Government to improve its services to people in
the bush.
NSW LA Hansard, Question - Country Motoring Services , 1 April 2009.
ANOTHER ROUND OF CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST NSW LABOR
Twelve months ago NSW community members were shocked by corruption allegations against NSW Labor arising out of Wollongong City Council.
IT seems however, that corruption has become so synonymous with NSW Labor that today, a fresh allegation of corruption hardly raises an
eyebrow in the community. Rather, it is just another example of how NSW Labor has corrupted the processes of governance in this state.
SOURCES :
ABC News, 'Cover-up': NSW roads chiefs investigated for corruption, 2 April 2009.
Simon Benson, ICAC to probe RTA bullying and corruption claims, Daily Telegraph, 2 April 2009.
Heidi Tiltins , 'Roozendaal, Weillinga must be stood down over ICAC probe': O'Farrell , Live News, 2 April 2009.
NSW Ombudsman, Opening Up Government: Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1989, February 2009
Linton Besser , RailCorp's scrutineer is one of its own executives, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April 2009
Simon Benson, RTA hires company with links to former minister, Daily Telegraph, 3 April 2009
NSW- A STATE WHERE GUILT BY ASSOCIATION IS LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE
We are ashamed to be members of the NSW community.
For cheap political gain most politicians supported the legalisation of fascism in this state. The principle of guilt by association is now firmly
entrenched in the statutes.
People will brush aside the inroad into their basic civil liberties as "necessary". They will applaud the stance of the "tough on crime" politicians.
However, like reeds in the wind, they will change their minds when the legislation is used unjustly and unfairly against members of their own family
or their own friends and associates. They will change their mind when the principle of guilt by association is extended to other groups, particularly
those groups they happen to be members of, simply because there are some "rotten eggs" in groups they happen to belong to.
We have already seen the draconian anti civil liberties laws which were applied to counter the evils of terrorism extended to the community
generally. There is no reason that similar "guilt by association" laws will not be introduced in the future - and the main reason advanced in it's
favour being the existence of such laws in relation to bikie gangs.
2 April 2009 was a sad day for democracy in NSW.
IT is simply incredible that politicians would shut down debate and rush legislation of such a nature (and so fundamentally opposite to the
principles by which we live and conduct our daily lives) through the parliament in a single day.
Ultimately, responsibility for this atrocious behaviour rests with the Labor government and it's leader, Nathan Rees MP (Toongabbie). Nathan
Rees is not a fit and proper person to hold the office of Premier of NSW. Instead of protecting democracy and ensuring that citizens are not
subjected to new and draconian penalties for behaviour which hereto has been entirely "innocent", except after the fullest parliamentary and
community consideration of the issues involved, Rees has been the ring-leader in trashing such concepts.
In the lower house it seems that there is only one MP who respects our democratic institutions, understands the importance of civil liberties and
puts principled behaviour above fanatical "populism". Only one MP voted against the legislation. That was Clover Moore MP (Sydney). The rest of
the 93 lower house MPs stand condemned. Those remaining 92 MPs do NOT deserve the respect of the community. Being undeserving of
respect, they cannot expect to receive any.
Ms Moore had her finger on the pulse when she said:-
However, I am most concerned about the process we are witnessing today. This is an incredibly important issue yet the Crimes (Criminal
Organisations Control) Bill 2009 was introduced this morning and we are told that it is going to pass through all stages today.
I point out, particularly to the people in the public gallery, that under the Westminster system the legislative process is significant.
Parliament creates the laws that people have to uphold and live by. The British Parliament often takes 18 months to get legislation right.
Members of the British Parliament do not often have to race back to Parliament to enact amending legislation because they rushed
through the original bill and got it wrong. During a more thoughtful period in this Parliament, in the 1990s when both the Government
and the Opposition signed a charter of reform, it was agreed that all legislation would lie on the table for at least five days. It was further
agreed that landmark legislation that was of significance to the community would lie on the table for 28 days to enable members to
discuss the issues with their communities—the people they have been elected to represent in this place—and to allow time for public
debate.
The Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Bill 2009 is incredibly important legislation. The bill will allow a judge to make a
declaration in relation to an organisation and make it an offence for declared members of that organisation to associate with each
other. They will face serious consequences if they do so. This bill is about taking action against criminal and violent people, but it is
also about establishing whether people are criminals and are associated with criminal activity. I oppose the process that we are
witnessing today, and therefore I oppose the bill. The bill should lie on the table for 28 days, over the impending recess, to enable us to
consult with our communities and to allow proper public debate to occur.
We are dealing with serious community concerns. Legal experts have questioned the need for these laws—and that issue should be
part of the public debate we need to have. I note that the president of the Law Society of New South Wales has asked: Where is the
defect in the current laws that means criminals cannot be dealt with? That is a question we should be asking in this place as we are
creating new laws relating to criminal activity. We do not have an answer to that question. We have not had public discussion about
the issue and Parliament has not debated it adequately because the legislation was introduced only this morning. I am not properly
across the legislation; there has not been time for me—or for any member—to do that. I am very disappointed that the Government is
rushing this legislation. It is landmark legislation and it should lie on the table for 28 days. I oppose the bill's passage through the House
today.
NSW LA Hansard, Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Bill 2009, 2 April 2009
In another exhibition of bizarre behaviour, Peter Draper MP (Tamworth) spoke of the defects in the legislation, yet voted in favour of the flawed
bill. As we have said elsewhere on this website, Draper in 2009 appears to have lost the plot and become unhinged.
SOURCES :
Andrew Clennell, Geesche Jacobsen and Alexandra Smith , No second chances in anti-gang laws, says Rees, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April
2009.
Richard Ackland , Triumphs and disgraces of law and order, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April 2009.
Bikie laws 'undermine basic rights', The Australian, 3 April 2009
ABC News, Bikie laws 'an overreaction', 2 April 2009.
ABC News, NSW bikie laws rushed through Lower House, 2 April 2009
ABC News, Phone tap laws may be relaxed in bikie crackdown, 1 April 2009.
Imre Salusinszky , Nathan Rees gets on the bikies for free ride , The Australian, 4 April 2009.
Arlie Loughnan, The Real Reason For The Bikie Laws, Newmatilda, 8 April 2009.
Whether you agree with her or not, you have to admit that Clover Moore MP (Sydney) is a rarity. She is an Independent who actually puts
alternative policies out there.
Our observations of the current crop of Independents is that they spend their time shoring up the NSW Labor government, and criticising the
opposition for not announcing policy - whilst at the same time never developing a set of coherent policies themselves.
Clover used valuable parliamentary Private Members Time recently, to put her policy for noise reduction "out there", instead as so often is the
case, to talk about the latest fete they opened or the latest concert they attended, which so often many MPs spruik about.
SOURCES:
NSW LA Hansard, Noise Pollution, 26 March 2009
Linda Silmalis, Clover wants Sydney to shut up, Sunday Telegraph, 29 March 2009.
BEAUTIFUL
I once rubbed shoulders with Emporers, but that was a long time ago
I once adorned many paintings, mostly famous, by Goya, you know.
I knew many people in Royalty, for I always took pride of place.
Then along came the French Revolution, I fell from favour - Disgrace.
But I survived through my numerous talents, like dancing and doing fine tricks.
No doubt I'm a wonderful charmer, you might say I'm even quite chic.
Then back in the twenties or thirties, I was put back to my rightful place.
Included in the French Stud Book, so my ancestry you may now trace.
And then it started to happen, as I knew all along it just would.
The World discovered I'm pretty, and also pretty darn good.
So now I'm back where I should be, at the top of the tree if you please.
Did you guess who I am, well you should have, of course,
I'm the (????????)
Acknowledgement : (ONLINE )
SEE ALSO - The Bichon Frise in Art - an online exhibition assembled by Edward J. Shephard Jr.
History of the Bichon Frise .
IF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling.
See also Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories .
A Tale of the English Back-Packer
One day I was walking in Kings Cross with Bella. An English backpacker, accompanied by her boyfriend, stopped me to admire and pat Bella. She
said to me " It's not really a manly dog. "
I replied " If you can find a real man here - then you are a better woman than me."
Her boyfriend burst into a fit of laughter.
A nice feeling to have brightened someone's day !!!
see also : "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (text and audio online)
HISTORY REPEATS - AFGHANISTAN : THE NEW VIETNAM
Someone *** once said words to the effect: Those that don't learn from the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them.
Afghanistan has the finger-prints of a repeat of the Vietnam disaster written all over it. IT seems PM Rudd has his head stuck so far up the ass of
Barack Obama that he is incapable of seeing anything - let alone those fingerprints. The Aussie blood spilled in Afghanistan will be on the hands
of Rudd, not on the hands of ordinary Australians.
see: RUDDS Announcement.
Bernard Lagan,'We have few better friends than Australia' , Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2009.
*** George Santayana, a philosopher, said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
William Shirer used this quote in the preface for his book: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
[ Ed Note: Many thanks to a reader, Chris, for providing us with the details of the "someone" and the exact words - and thereby educating us]
ABC News, Afghan troop request 'just weeks away', 9 April, 2009
HIGH PRAISE INDEED
Mr MICHAEL DALEY: I thank the members of Country Labor and people like the member for Port Macquarie, the member for Dubbo and
the member for Tamworth for inviting me into their electorates and for assisting this Government to improve its services to people in
the bush.
NSW LA Hansard, Question - Country Motoring Services , 1 April 2009.
ANOTHER ROUND OF CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST NSW LABOR
Twelve months ago NSW community members were shocked by corruption allegations against NSW Labor arising out of Wollongong City Council.
IT seems however, that corruption has become so synonymous with NSW Labor that today, a fresh allegation of corruption hardly raises an
eyebrow in the community. Rather, it is just another example of how NSW Labor has corrupted the processes of governance in this state.
SOURCES :
ABC News, 'Cover-up': NSW roads chiefs investigated for corruption, 2 April 2009.
Simon Benson, ICAC to probe RTA bullying and corruption claims, Daily Telegraph, 2 April 2009.
Heidi Tiltins , 'Roozendaal, Weillinga must be stood down over ICAC probe': O'Farrell , Live News, 2 April 2009.
NSW Ombudsman, Opening Up Government: Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1989, February 2009
Linton Besser , RailCorp's scrutineer is one of its own executives, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April 2009
Simon Benson, RTA hires company with links to former minister, Daily Telegraph, 3 April 2009
NSW- A STATE WHERE GUILT BY ASSOCIATION IS LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE
We are ashamed to be members of the NSW community.
For cheap political gain most politicians supported the legalisation of fascism in this state. The principle of guilt by association is now firmly
entrenched in the statutes.
People will brush aside the inroad into their basic civil liberties as "necessary". They will applaud the stance of the "tough on crime" politicians.
However, like reeds in the wind, they will change their minds when the legislation is used unjustly and unfairly against members of their own family
or their own friends and associates. They will change their mind when the principle of guilt by association is extended to other groups, particularly
those groups they happen to be members of, simply because there are some "rotten eggs" in groups they happen to belong to.
We have already seen the draconian anti civil liberties laws which were applied to counter the evils of terrorism extended to the community
generally. There is no reason that similar "guilt by association" laws will not be introduced in the future - and the main reason advanced in it's
favour being the existence of such laws in relation to bikie gangs.
2 April 2009 was a sad day for democracy in NSW.
IT is simply incredible that politicians would shut down debate and rush legislation of such a nature (and so fundamentally opposite to the
principles by which we live and conduct our daily lives) through the parliament in a single day.
Ultimately, responsibility for this atrocious behaviour rests with the Labor government and it's leader, Nathan Rees MP (Toongabbie). Nathan
Rees is not a fit and proper person to hold the office of Premier of NSW. Instead of protecting democracy and ensuring that citizens are not
subjected to new and draconian penalties for behaviour which hereto has been entirely "innocent", except after the fullest parliamentary and
community consideration of the issues involved, Rees has been the ring-leader in trashing such concepts.
In the lower house it seems that there is only one MP who respects our democratic institutions, understands the importance of civil liberties and
puts principled behaviour above fanatical "populism". Only one MP voted against the legislation. That was Clover Moore MP (Sydney). The rest of
the 93 lower house MPs stand condemned. Those remaining 92 MPs do NOT deserve the respect of the community. Being undeserving of
respect, they cannot expect to receive any.
Ms Moore had her finger on the pulse when she said:-
However, I am most concerned about the process we are witnessing today. This is an incredibly important issue yet the Crimes (Criminal
Organisations Control) Bill 2009 was introduced this morning and we are told that it is going to pass through all stages today.
I point out, particularly to the people in the public gallery, that under the Westminster system the legislative process is significant.
Parliament creates the laws that people have to uphold and live by. The British Parliament often takes 18 months to get legislation right.
Members of the British Parliament do not often have to race back to Parliament to enact amending legislation because they rushed
through the original bill and got it wrong. During a more thoughtful period in this Parliament, in the 1990s when both the Government
and the Opposition signed a charter of reform, it was agreed that all legislation would lie on the table for at least five days. It was further
agreed that landmark legislation that was of significance to the community would lie on the table for 28 days to enable members to
discuss the issues with their communities—the people they have been elected to represent in this place—and to allow time for public
debate.
The Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Bill 2009 is incredibly important legislation. The bill will allow a judge to make a
declaration in relation to an organisation and make it an offence for declared members of that organisation to associate with each
other. They will face serious consequences if they do so. This bill is about taking action against criminal and violent people, but it is
also about establishing whether people are criminals and are associated with criminal activity. I oppose the process that we are
witnessing today, and therefore I oppose the bill. The bill should lie on the table for 28 days, over the impending recess, to enable us to
consult with our communities and to allow proper public debate to occur.
We are dealing with serious community concerns. Legal experts have questioned the need for these laws—and that issue should be
part of the public debate we need to have. I note that the president of the Law Society of New South Wales has asked: Where is the
defect in the current laws that means criminals cannot be dealt with? That is a question we should be asking in this place as we are
creating new laws relating to criminal activity. We do not have an answer to that question. We have not had public discussion about
the issue and Parliament has not debated it adequately because the legislation was introduced only this morning. I am not properly
across the legislation; there has not been time for me—or for any member—to do that. I am very disappointed that the Government is
rushing this legislation. It is landmark legislation and it should lie on the table for 28 days. I oppose the bill's passage through the House
today.
NSW LA Hansard, Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Bill 2009, 2 April 2009
In another exhibition of bizarre behaviour, Peter Draper MP (Tamworth) spoke of the defects in the legislation, yet voted in favour of the flawed
bill. As we have said elsewhere on this website, Draper in 2009 appears to have lost the plot and become unhinged.
SOURCES :
Andrew Clennell, Geesche Jacobsen and Alexandra Smith , No second chances in anti-gang laws, says Rees, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April
2009.
Richard Ackland , Triumphs and disgraces of law and order, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April 2009.
Bikie laws 'undermine basic rights', The Australian, 3 April 2009
ABC News, Bikie laws 'an overreaction', 2 April 2009.
ABC News, NSW bikie laws rushed through Lower House, 2 April 2009
ABC News, Phone tap laws may be relaxed in bikie crackdown, 1 April 2009.
Imre Salusinszky , Nathan Rees gets on the bikies for free ride , The Australian, 4 April 2009.
Arlie Loughnan, The Real Reason For The Bikie Laws, Newmatilda, 8 April 2009.
