Chinese hypocrisy

They may look cute, but these People's Liberation Army soldiers will kill foreign enemies as fast as they kill their own people.

A senior Chinese defence official has criticised Australia’s new Defence White Paper saying it’s is a dangerous policy that is likely to induce a regional arms race.

Chinese military strategist, Rear Admiral Yang Yi, told Fairfax media the Defence White Paper is a dangerous document portraying China as a threat that could encourage other countries to accelerate their rearmament programs.

What the fuck Admiral Yi? You have some audacity there considering China has upped its defence budget by 15 per cent and is developing intercontinental missiles that could reach the USA and of course Australia.

And considering countries such as India and Japan have boosted their military strength in case you play funny buggers, I feel, Admiral Yi, that your comments only serve to somewhat take the piss. Take your $150 billion defence budget, nuclear weapons and 2.3 million active troops and fuck off!

Admiral Yi’s comment is like the school bully getting the shits because the weak kid takes up boxing lessons

It’s like Geelong getting the shits because Melbourne recruit a gun midfielder.

It’s like Collingwood getting the shits because Joel Selwood gets a lot of free kicks because he has far more courage than any of its players – actually that analogy happened, and while it’s a shit analogy in this case I thought I’d mention it again to remind everyone how much of a bunch of cunts Collingwood are.

It’s like Grods being worried that Club Wah has had more than 100,000 hits.

It’s like Jennifer Hawkins being upset that Susan Boyle is getting a makeover.

More analogies welcome …

At last a newspaper publishes the reality about Australia’s asylum seeker issue

An article in The Age, Facts behind a rising asylum seeker tide, by Brendan Nicholson and Michelle Grattan, puts the facts behind opposition claims that the government has weakened its border protection policy, all but inviting people smugglers to ply their trade.

The article busts certain myths:

• In 2008-09, funding to the Immigration Department had been increased by $116 million. More recently, it had committed an additional $44.1 million to combat people smuggling in co-operation with regional nations
• Surveillance by ships and aircraft had been increased significantly, with more aerial patrols and an additional navy patrol vessel on border protection duties
• While the Rudd Government has scrapped the inhumane (my emphasis) Pacific Solution and temporary protection visas retained the excised migration zone and offshore processing on Christmas Island of asylum seekers who arrive in boats. These people do not get access to the Australian legal system
• And as I highlighted in a previous post. The increase in boat arrivals compared with a 12 per cent increase in asylum seekers in industrialised countries since last year and the numbers are minuscule compared to countries such as Greece, Italy and Canada.

Another excellent article in The Age should be compulsory reading for anyone who quick to call for asylum seekers to be  sent back.

No way back now, by Paris Aristotle, starts off by saying Australia “can’t return to the policies which have inflicted so much harm on people seeking our protection”.

Aristotle, the director of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture and a member of the Immigration Detention Advisory Group, provides case studies of people who have successfully made a new life in Australia after going through horror in countries such as Iraq. One myth he is quick to extinguish is the one where if an asylum seeker has money or is well dressed he/she can’t be genuine.

He writes:

I don’t know if those responsible for the story were just ignorant of the fact that the rich and the middle-class as well as the poor suffer persecution because of their religious faith or political beliefs, or were they implying that we should use a clothing standard to decide who deserves our protection.

I am reminded of Arif and Fahim, who spent three years in detention on Nauru and were eventually found to be refugees … Arif and Fahim had been tortured in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, family members were murdered and both survived experiences that many of us could barely imagine. They continue to suffer the psychological consequences of that time. They have always presented as well-groomed and well-dressed. Indeed, they are two of the most impeccably dressed individuals I have met. Not because of their wealth (they are not wealthy) but because to them good dress is an expression of respect for themselves and for other people.

This is an excellent article and well worth reading in full regardless of what side of the debate you’re on.

You don’t have to be a bleeding heart, lefty hippy to be on the side of a few hundred people who want to escape unimaginable horrors - just a decent person. I reckon if you read Aristotle’s article and come away with that send-em-back attitude or even worse call for refugee boats to be used as target practice than I guess you’re nothing but a racist cunt.

It’s really as black and white as that!

Asylum seeker facts by numbers

As the opposition immigration spokesperson Sharman Stone was on Lateline trying to make political hay from the tragic events on Ashmore Reef by claiming that the easing of the Howard’s insidious Pacific Solution I came across the a press release at the UNHCR web site which putes things into perspective. According to the UNHCR, there has been a significant increase in asylum seeker numbers this year because of conflict in Afghanistan, Somalia while Iraq still produces the highest number.

It’s worth noting too that many of the recent arrivals in Australia have been from Sri Lanka where there has been an escalation in the conflict between the government and Tamil Tigers.

The Federal Opposition is talking shit when it says the number of asylum seekers is higher because of Labor’s abolition of the Pacific Solution. The fact is there is simply more people looking for asylum.

Even with the increase, the numbers of asylum seekers to Australia needs to be put into perspective.

12 per cent - the rise in asylum seekers in industrialised countries between 2007 and 2008 from 341,000 to 383,000

19 per cent- the increase in aslyum seekers to Australia between 2007 and 2008

4750 – the number of people who sought asylum in Australia in 2008 (after arriving by sea and air)

36,900 - the number of people who sought asylum in Canada in 2008

31,200 – the number of people who sought asylum in Italy in 2008

0.2 – the number of asylum seeker applicants per 1000 people in Australia (compared to 6.4 in Malta, 4.6 in Cyprus, 3.1 in Norway and 1.1 in Canada)

1 per cent – Australia’s share of global asylum seeker applications in 2008

8 per cent – Italy’s share of global asylum seeker applications in 2008

16th – Australia’s ranking by number of asylum applications in 2008

A great day for Test cricket

Captain courageous: Graeme Smith braved permanent injury to try and save the 3rd Test

The sight of South African captain Graeme Smith receiving a standing ovation as he came out to bat at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with a fractured hand and  injured elbow on the opposing arm, was one of the most stirring things I’ve seen in cricket.

There’s no other sporting contests in the world where the prospect of a draw can be so exciting even after five days of play. In the end Australia prevailed, and the good sportsmanship at the end was a far cry from the unpleasant aftermath of Australia’s controversial win over India at the same ground last year.

The relationship between the Australian and South African cricket teams has always been strained - mainly because the South Africans thought the only way to match Australia on the field was to play it tough off it. Yet, with their first series win against Australia under their belts, the Proteas have been gracious winners, and the Australians, not used to losing on home soil, have been equally gracious in defeat.

I reckon this quote from Graeme Smith, who could have been forgiven for talking about his own exploits all day, sums up the spirit of what I reckon is on of the greatest Test series of all time:

“He (Mitchell Johnson) probably would have got me if I had both arms available. It cut back off the crack there. Mitchell has bowled superbly throughout the series.”

One a side note, if I needed further proof that this was an incredible day for Test cricket it’s the following SMS exchange I had during the final hour:

Friend:I can’t believe how intense the cricket is. Come on Hauritz

Me: It gets you slowly doesn’t it

Friend: Well it’s kinds a cool. But don’t look at it as a permanent thing.

Me: It gets you slowly … shit the ginga (Andrew McDonald) dropped the catch

Friend: Yay Fantapants (McDonald) did it! Now Smithy is coming out.

Me: Smith is a legend

Friend: OMG he (Matt Hayden) dropped it!

Friend: Yay Johnson!

Me:  That was fantastic stuff. See how nothing happens but a lot happens?

Friend: English please. But a real good game.

My “friend” was my 12 year old daughter, who until today has never expressed an interest in cricket. Who needs Twenty20 to get kids into the game? All we need is Test cricket to be a good, hard, even contest played in a sporting manner. And we have just been served that up in spades.

Are the sponsors selecting the Australian cricket team?

The Sydney Morning Herald website invited readers to give their thoughts on what has gone wrong with the Australian Cricket team after it took them all day to take three South African tail-end wickets. Most of the comments were scathing of Australian captain Ricky Ponting and the Australian selectors.

But there was one comment which I reckon, through past dealings with Cricket Australia, could be on the mark.

The problem clearly rests with selectors – the “old boys” club of mahogany alley. Don’t pick the best team but rather the team that suits the sponsors’ plans. Look at the players mostly used as the faces of cricket adverts – they are underperforming but still get selected. Wake up administrators and selectors – there is a real world out there. What is wrong with more than one fast leftie??!!

• Posted by: Graeme Lewis on December 29, 2008 3:32 AM

Face it, Cricket Australia is beholden to its sponsors. If it seems far fetched that Ford, 3 Mobile, KFC, Commonwealth Bank, Fosters Group, Nestle and Mastercard could have a say at the selection table just remember how at least two AFL clubs did not select Ben Cousins because of threats by their major sponsors.

Why else would Andrew Symonds, who appears in advertising for Ford and Schweppes, receive a recall to the Test team as an “all-rounder” - after missing the India tour for disciplinary and “personal” issues - when he is in no fit state to bowl?

And why, after ordinary performances with the bat against an amateurish New Zealand attack, was he selected to face the might of South Africa while Shane Watson, whose last Sheffield Shield match included a 50 and 7-wicket haul, is left carrying the drinks? 

Remember Watson finally overcame injury in 2008 to:

• Have a good one-day international series in the Caribbean which included his first international 100 and at least one wicket per game
• Be named player of the IPL tournament for his 472 runs and 17 wickets
• Finished the tour of India with his held high after taking 10 wickets and scoring 170 runs in his first full Test series.

Whether or not this is true or mere conspiracy, one thing is for certain; the Australian selectors should explain themselves or resign before Australia suffers the ultimate humiliation at the hands of England in the Ashes Series 2009.

Which bank will I close accounts at if it buys BankWest?

I remember years ago, I was waiting in a long queue at the Commonwealth Bank to deposit some money, which was a bit of a rarity in my younger days, as it is now. The bank was a former State Bank of Victoria branch in St Albans, which had a logo change after the State Bank’s tragic mid-1980s collapse.  

Sadly the new, yellow decor and deposit slips, used as jotter pads by impatient young kids whose parents were stranded in the queue, weren’t the only changes. The service levels plummeted as the usually keen State Bank staff were slowly replaced or indoctrinated into the CBA way of doing things, which at the time was a no-win mix of public service mentality and corporate bastradry.

Wating in line and watching the ceiling fans spin, listening to some Maltese bloke argue about his account balance and hearing a child named Dylan being threatened with having his “fuckin’ teef kicked in”, I suddenly thought “fuck this!” and walked across the road to open an account at the newly opened Bank of Melbourne.

There were no queues and more importantly no fees and I even managed to flirt with the teller during the time it took to open me a new account and deposit the money – which was less than the time it would have taken to get me to the disgruntled teller at the Commonwealth.

At the time the Bank of Melbourne was the only bank to open on Saturdays and close at 5pm on Friday nights. Before the days of internet banking this was liberating and I vowed never to bank with a big boys again.

Of course all good things come to an end and the Bank of Melbourne was eventually gobbled up by Westpac, which to its credit kept the opening hours but introduced fees and all the other shit that goes with being a bitch of the big banks.

These days I have all my accounts with Perth-based BankWest which is far as banks go is a not bad. so I was gutted to read today that the Commonwealth Bank is in talks with its parent company HBOS to buy it.

On the bright side HBOS (the British Halifax/Bank of Scotland) has been fucked hard by the credit crunch and its new owner Llyods TSB doesn’t really want BankWest – so the Commonwealth Bank’s intervention would bring security as it did to State Bank depositors two decades ago. But at what cost to account holders, most of whome would have joined BankWest because they are sick to death of the fees and bullshit handed out by CBA and its Collins Street neighbours?

Sure things will remain the same at BankWest for a while, but it won’t be long before the it is consumed by the CBA way of doing things. So, it appears like I’ll be looking for another bank because I’m fucked if one cent of my money will ever see the inside of the Commonwealth Bank again.

But where do I go? St George is about to be swallowed up by Westpac and Bendigo Bank narrowly avoided a buy out from The Bank of Queensland, which means it could accept a larger buyout off from a bigger bank. On the bright side I no longer have a mortgage, so perhaps the underside of my mattress could be the way to go.

We can benefit from high fuel prices

I was watching the American news services on Sky News yesterday and was surprised at the impact of rising fuel prices in America. Although Americans are still paying around $1 a litre, there has been a large shift to public transport in big cities and many people are struggling to make ends meet with a family and two large SUVs to feed.

High fuel prices could change the way Americans address their motoring needs. While the rest of the world has largely downsized their cars, the Americans refuse to give up their Yank tanks and SUVs, which, like guns, they see as some God-given right.

Of course a similar thing is happening in Australia. And while petrol prices are high, the overreaction by Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson on how tough people are finding it to fill the family car is nothing more than populist politics that will achieve nothing.

People are doing it tougher because of high petrol prices, but paying more means they are most are simply readjusting priorities, rather than going under. It’s funny how we have a financial system which seeks to reduce inflation by raising interest rates to reduce spending on consumer goods, yet everyone reckons the world is about to end just because petrol prices are having the same effect.

Of course the high price of fuel is causing consumer goods to go up in price, which is why the Government should forget about reducing the price of petrol to encourage more economically friendly driving habits, transport options and hopefully alternative fuels – it should also forget about imposing a Greenhouse tax on fuel while the price is at record highs to spare drivers serious pain. It should however reduce the excise on diesel to reduce road and rail transport costs and encourage the uptake of diesel cars, which use less fuel and are less polluting, until more suitable alternative fuels are developed.

What do you think?

Canada goes beyond Sorry for past wrongs

Australia has its Stolen Generations; Canada has Where are the Children?

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 aboriginal children in Canada were required to attend state-funded church schools in a painful attempt to rid them of their native cultures and integrate them into Canadian society.

The Canadian Government admitted 10 years ago that physical and sexual abuse in the once-mandatory schools was rampant. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native languages, and they lost touch with their parents and customs. Contemporary accounts suggest up to half the children in some institutions died of tuberculosis.

The Age reports that a truth and reconciliation commission examining what native Indian leaders call one of the most tragic and racist chapters in Canada’s history will begin its work today.

The truth and reconciliation process proved successful in South Africa in addressing the past wrongs by whites and black activists during the darkest days of Apartheid, and should have been an option in Australia for going further to heal the wounds caused by the Stolen Generations and other racial injustices towards Australia’s indigenous people. 

It’s worth noting that while our own former Liberal government couldn’t even bring itself to say Sorry, Canada’s conservative prime minster Stephen Harper will start the process with a public apology in parliament.

I’m sure Prime Minister Harper will be confident the apology will receive the same mostly positive response in Canada as it did here in Australia – it’s with noting this paragraph in the article: “Our residential schools system was probably more systemic and more generational than even in Australia.”

http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/