Online Opinion graciously allows public ethics professor Clive Hamilton a platform to have a whinge against it and about how he won’t write for Online Opinion again. Reason? Because it publishes climate change denialists who are compared to AIDS denialists, S11 truthers and LaRouchites. This sounds like a very confident statement of belief from someone who confesses that ‘I do not presume to engage in arguments about climate science because I do not have the expertise to do so without making a fool of myself.’
(link via commenter rog in the Open Forum)
July 4th, 2008
Jason Soon
In a time-honored, if not honorable, tradition, Obama has shown, in moving from primary to presidential campaigns, that he too is the master of bait and switch.
He now supports what will result in immunity being granted to the telephone companies that chose to help the Bush administration to illegally spy on American citizens—NYT.
Blech.
July 4th, 2008
Kodjo
The Rudd government is out of control and may be ready to give more of our money away to multinationals left, right and centre:
THE Federal Government hopes to entice General Motors to make environmentally friendly cars in Australia following its $35 million deal for Toyota to produce a hybrid Camry at its Melbourne plant.
After meeting Toyota’s global president, Katsuaki Watanabe, in Melbourne yesterday, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said making more fuel-efficient vehicles would be a core element of the Government’s new car industry plan.
He said the hybrid Camry, to be assembled in Melbourne from 2010, would consume a third less petrol and produce a third less greenhouse gas emissions.
“Good for the family budget, good for the environment. And that’s why the Australian Government and the Victorian Government are backing this project,” Mr Rudd said.
He said the Industry Minister, Kim Carr, recently had discussions with senior Ford and GM executives in the United States.
GM’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, has agreed to visit Australia soon for further talks with the Government on investing in eco-friendly car production.
July 2nd, 2008
Jason Soon
When I found out that Sydney had been named as the venue for the 2008 World Youth Day (WYD2008), I initially had a lot of goodwill for the event, despite not being a Catholic myself. This was based on the very positive stories which had been relayed to me by some friends who had attended the previous WYD2005 in Germany. They had described their excitement at being present when the Pope named Sydney as the next host city as being similar to when Sydney was named as host for the Olympics.
So I started with a lot of goodwill towards the event and the international guests it would bring from around the world. But the NSW government under Yibbida-Yabbida Iemma seems to be doing a fine job of destroying that goodwill.
It started last year with a range of new laws and the extraordinary power the NSW government gave the organising the body for WYD2008 .
“The new laws are to be administered by the specially enacted World Youth Day Co-ordination Authority. The authority of this body and the minister - the Deputy Premier, John Watkins - is supreme and cannot be “challenged, reviewed quashed or called into question” in court. Parliament’s Legislative Review Committee has warned that the removal of judicial review of the actions of Mr Watkins and the authority has the potential to deny people natural justice. It has called the regulations governing body and property searches an “inappropriate delegation of legislative power”. (SMH 13/12/07)
As I pointed out at the time, some of the laws being introduced, such as restrictions on advertising around WYD2008 venues, had nothing to do with security or public safety, but rather appeared directed at protecting the economic and political interests of the Catholic church.
My goodwill was eroded further when the government began an APEC style campaign to empty Sydney of Sydneysiders during WYD2008. Unlike APEC, WYD2008 will actually bring very large numbers of people into the city and put a heavy load on the city’s already struggling transport infrastructure.
But unlike APEC, there is no local public holiday or regional tourism campaign. If the government was serious about emptying the city it would bite the bullet and once again declare a public holiday (or two) for people who work in the CBD. But no – there will be no public holiday, just an ongoing campaign to tell Sydney CBD businesses and their employees that they should make alternate arrangements for working during the week of WYD.
And then today we get this:
“Police and volunteers from the State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service will be able to direct people to cease engaging in conduct that “causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day event”. People who fail to comply will be subject to a $5500 fine. “ (SMH 01/07/08)
Seriously? A $5500 fine for annoying someone?
The laws are presumably aimed at groups who had planned to stage protests during the WYD2008 period, such as one group proposing to hand out condoms and protest the Pope’s stance on homosexuality. The SMH points out that it might also cover ‘Chaser-style’ pranks. The creeping attack on free speech and dissenting opinion which began with advertising restrictions has now reached the point where even challenging another persons views could land you with a very nasty fine.
This ridiculous pandering to the Catholic Church by Yibbida-Yabbida Iemma has gone too far. I’ll continue to try and retain my goodwill for the individuals attending WYD2008. But I intend to make sure any visitors I chat to understand that not everyone may be happy about the sanitisation of Sydney that has taken place to make their stay free from “annoyance”.
p.s. Since it seems any real-world protests about WYD are out of the question – what are people’s ideas for virtual protests at the government’s attack on free speech?
July 1st, 2008
HeathG
In Singapore, Opposition leaders get sued into bankruptcy, in Malaysia they just get charged with sodomy again and again:
Police began an investigation Sunday into an allegation that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim sodomized his male aide, sparking speculation he could be sent back to prison on the same charge that led to his ouster from Malaysia’s government a decade ago.
Anwar immediately took refuge in Turkey’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur because of concerns about his safety, opposition officials said. He denounced the allegation — made in a police complaint filed by the 23-year-old aide — as “a complete fabrication.”
The dramatic developments that began to unfold a little before midnight Saturday will have a strong impact on Malaysian politics, which have been in turmoil since March 8 elections handed the governing National Front coalition its worst-ever result.
It’s interesting that Anwar Ibrahim had to seek political asylum at the Turkish embassy. More fishy is, as the article points out, this second charge has surfaced in rather close proximity to the absolute trouncing the ruling coalition got at the last elections.
Rumours about Anwar’s homosexuality have been circulating for ages but it’s a sure bet given his popularity and the fact that his average supporters are predominantly conservative Malay Muslims that these rumous aren’t taken seriously by most of the Malaysian public. He’s basically had the kitchen sink thrown at him by his political enemies, and he has made many as this wikipedia article documents:
At the UMNO General Assembly, a book, 50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM (”50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Become Prime Minister”) was circulated containing graphic sexual allegations as well as accusations of corruption against Anwar. This book carried the byline Khalid Jafri, an ex-editor of the government-controlled newspaper Utusan Malaysia and former editor-in-chief of a failed magazine, Harian National. Anwar obtained a court injunction to prevent further distribution of the book and filed a defamation action against the author. In August, police charged the author of the book with malicious publishing of false news. In September, the judge who had banned the book’s distribution was transferred to a lower court despite being a senior judge, further raising concerns among the public about the independence of the judiciary.
Among the allegations in the book was that Anwar is a homosexual and that he is a serial adulterer. Many regarded the book as an outright fabrication but in a surprising turn of events, rather than investigating the author for libelous writing, the police were instructed to investigate instead the veracity of the claims. Consequently, Anwar was labeled by the government-controlled media as a womanizer and a homosexual even before any investigation had taken place to determine the truthfulness of the book’s contents. The author died in 2005 of diabetic complications but not before the High Court found that the author had libeled Anwar Ibrahim in publishing the “50 Reasons” book and awarded Anwar Ibrahim millions of ringgit in compensation.
Recently, the former deputy President of Anwar’s political party, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, lambasted Anwar for his close ties to Paul Wolfowitz, a staunch Zionist and chief architect of the war in Iraq. In an interview on the BBC Hardtalk program after his release from prison, Anwar admitted to his friendship with Paul Wolfowitz, the former US deputy Secretary of Defence and former World Bank President.
Incidentally this is the first I have heard of Anwar Ibrahim’s friendship with Wolfowitz. This could actually prove more politically damaging in the long run (see for instance this pro-Mahathir Malaysian blogger’s viewpoint on the relationship) but it is also not surprising as one of the reasons Anwar fell out with Mahathir was because he wanted to pursue economically liberal policies which were more consistent with IMF/World Bank prescriptions.
June 29th, 2008
Jason Soon
The US Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the individual’s right to own guns in District of Columbia v. Heller by a 5-4 majority. Reason has discussion here.
June 28th, 2008
Jason Soon
June 28th, 2008
Jason Soon
I hope this doesn’t give Nicola Roxon ideas (link via ALS):
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare released an alarming study two years ago that found that half of all men between the ages of 40 and 74 and 1 in 5 women in the same age group showed signs of “metabolic syndrome”—a cluster of risk factors for heart attacks and cardiovascular disease that includes high cholesterol, high blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, and abdominal obesity.
The report shocked the nation and prompted the government to pass legislation to force the Japanese to shape up. The laws to address what the Japanese have come to call “metabo” take effect this year. They’ve given the government and employers, long dominant forces in Japanese workers’ lives, places at the dinner table in ordinary Japanese homes. They’ve also sparked a flurry of products to help Japanese keep trim or shed extra pounds.
One regulation, effective in April, requires all citizens over the age of 40 to have their waists measured every year. If a man’s waist is more than 33.5 inches or a woman’s more than 35.5 inches, they are considered at risk and referred for counseling and close monitoring. The government is also requiring companies to slim down their workers or face higher payments into the national insurance program.
A waist of less than 33.5 inches for someone over 40 seems implausibly low - according to this 2007 article, the average American waistline (never mind over or under 40) is 38 inches. Now the standard may well be based on height but aren’t the Japanese getting taller anyway?
PS - there must be some typo in the figure quoted in the article for the female benchmark,
June 27th, 2008
Jason Soon
Andrew Norton farewells the Australian Democrats. I agree with Andrew’s sentiments generally. I think the Dems did have some sensible middle of the road people - notably the two Andrews (Bartlett and Murray) come to mind. But then again, the party has had its share of eccentrics too. Does anyone still remember Dr John ‘Papa Smurf’ Coulter the environmentalist who briefly led the party for a while? He is now with Sustainable Population Australia which advocates larger immigration cuts than Pauline Hanson ever did. And as one of Andrew’s commenters monaro reminds us here , this wasn’t its only wild swing to the left. There was the time when Natasha De Spoiler (what happened to her?) opined that Afghanistan’s Taliban regime treated women better than Australia (thanks to monaro for this invaluable retrospective):
MARK COLVIN: When it comes to maternity leave, women in Afghanistan are better off than Australian women.
That idea comes from a speech by Democrat leader, Natasha Stott Despoja, during the launch of her party’s women’s policy in Adelaide today.
An intriguing proposition, given that, under the Taliban regime, women aren’t even allowed to work …
NATASHA STOTT DESPOJA: Paid maternity leave is an important issue for all women. All over the world, it is recognised that women need part-time, or time off work, and paid time off work when they have a baby. And look at the countries that’ve done it. Indonesia, the Philippines, Germany, much of Africa and, wait for it, even in Afghanistan, women have around three months paid maternity leave.
June 26th, 2008
Jason Soon
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