another one bites the dust

Why is it that the world stops to mourn the death of one person when thousands it not hundreds of thousands of people die from poverty, war and desease every day?
Lets all stop and think about that for a minute. Thanks.

political sausage roll

Well folks you've heard the term 'political football' bandied about before but in what can best be described as a frightening coincidence, the humble sausage roll or more specifically the cost of a sausage roll has been used in parliament by the Federal Education Minister in his argument supporting the Governments introduction of legislation to ban compulsory student union fees at universities in Australia. What next Sea Monkeys in Parliament House?

On a more serious note isn't it a little ironic that supporters of the rights of individuals to do whatever they please also generally support compulsory student unionism. Some how that doesn't seem right to me...or should I say left?

lawyers pose health risk

I stumbled across this little gem today and couldn't resist the temptation to stir things up a bit.

New medical research suggests lawyers could be bad for your health. The study demonstrated an inverse relationship between lawyers and the recovery rates of accident victims. Dr Richard Gun, lead author of the research reported in this week's Medical Observer, has found patients who engage a lawyer after receiving their injury are five times less likely ever to return to work.
He says they also appear to suffer more pain and for longer periods than accident victims who do not have lawyers.
"We did find that people who consulted a lawyer did certainly appear to have a delayed recovery," he said.
"I suppose some lawyers may argue that people who have more disability - who feel more pain - are the ones who are more likely to have a prolonged recovery and also the ones who are more likely to consult a lawyer."
But he says the research suggests consulting a lawyer itself does have some independent effect of its own in prolonging recovery.
Dr Gun does however caution that there are a number of factors that influence recovery time and lawyers are not the whole reason.
He says the research may have implications for the insurance industry in terms of trying to reduce litigation and speed up the settlement period.

For a full copy of the story click here.

sign of things to come

Whatever your political persuasion, living in a country with no opposition party can be a very very trying exercise.

In what is probably a sign of things to come, the Government have just announced to increase (yes increase) the number of troops serving in Iraq. The ABC reports that this is to replace the withdrawing Dutch contingent in a "reasonably violence-free" area of southern Iraq. According to the Prime Minister "Unless additional security could be provided to replace the Dutch, then there was a real possibility the Japanese could no longer remain there and that would be a serious blow to the coalition effort".

In all honesty John, why give a pathetic excuse for this stupid decision to endanger the lives of more Australians in a war we have no right to be involved in when you and your weak a piss colleagues know that no-one can stop you anyway.

Oh and if your wondering that sound you can hear is the opposition leader voicing his concern.

the gift that keeps on giving

Last night I saw a documentary on the use of depleted uranium in weapons used by the US and British Military in the Balkans and Iraq (twice). Without boring you with detail, depleted uranium tipped projectiles are great for penetrating armour and are particularly handy at stopping your regular everyday garden variety tanks. According to those in the know, our friends in the British and US military use depleted uranium because it gives them a significant advantage over the enemy*.

The problem is this. Depleted uranium is not as the name suggests depleted but is in actual fact a nasty and highly toxic heavy metal bi-product of nuclear power stations that when ingested has all sorts of nasty consequences. Most disturbing of all is it doesn't just make those that come in contact with it sick, it has long lasting affects which actually cause horrific and often non compatible with life birth defects and increased incidents of cancer (leukemia) in children and adults.

In both the Balkans and now in Iraq the legacy of war is no longer restricted to just missing limbs but will now and forever (4.5billion years) live on in the form of depleted uranium. The gift that keeps on giving. On behalf of us all, thank you Tony and most of all thank you GW*.

please explain

I know I may be a little slow to grasp certain concepts but can someone please explain how blowing up a country on the other side of the planet is going to ensure security at home?

bush and god

Gee hasn’t the world been a happier place since these two teamed up. I mean beforehand George W was just a drink driving, national service dodging, spoilt texan daddy’s boy with a liking for the death penalty. Sure people have be killing in gods name for ages, but since George W became born again its most likley that more people have died in Afghanistan and Iraq than under god's former buddies Sadam and the Taliban combined. Now we hear that Iran is next on the agenda. As George W would say ‘bring it on !’

Ironically what allegedly took god only 7 days to create, George W has 4 years to destroy. Wake me when it’s over!.

australia day wish list

Next week on January 26 we australians celebrate Australia Day with a national day off work. While I’ll be celebrating in the traditional way by listening to Triple J’s Hottest 100, this year I’ve taken the time to submit my australia day wish list 2005 a week prior to Australia day to give those responsible ample opportunity to achieve the tasks set out for them below (in no particular order).

Become of Republic – I know we failed at the last attempt but now that Malcolm Turnbull has infiltrated the Liberal Party this should be easier to achieve this time around provided he is still a republican. My condolences of course go out to any remaining monarchists given that this involves dropping Lizzy as our head of state.

Change the flag – While we’re at it lets have a flag which represents our future not it's colonial past. If nothing else can we please lose the union jack…. I know I know, it denotes Australia's historical links with Britain and yes my ancestors did arrive from jolly old England in 1828, but lets get real people, time to cut the apron strings!.

Change the Anthem - Lets face it nobody knows all the words or what the heck 'girt' means so lets change it to "I am, you are, we are Australian" (full version available upon request).

An appology – From the Prime Minister to all indigenous australians. Correct me if I’m wrong Mr Howard but SORRY is not an admission of liability but rather an important step towards reconciliation is this country.

I must be dreaming.

indonesia gives foreign troops exit deadline

Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla says foreign troops helping with aid relief efforts in Indonesia's tsunami stricken Aceh province should leave by the end of March. "Three months are enough. The sooner [they leave] the better," Mr Kalla said.

Nice work Mr Kalla, I can appreciate not wanting to have GW’s ‘help’ but unarmed Australian troops handing out fresh drinking water to locals, HELLO!

Does ‘foreign’ include Indonesian troops? Will they leave or do you plan to seal off Aceh to outsiders (again) while you resume your major military offensive to crush separatists locked in a long-running independence struggle? I THINK NOT.