Category: Lifestyle

Brisbane Tunnels Overpriced and under Utilised.

No one doubts the importance of infrastructure in our nation building agendas by both state and federal governments. My issue is once that infrastructure is in place our leaders seem to think its job done and hand it over to the private sector to manage.

The building of the Brisbane tunnels was intended to relieve the congestion on state and federal roads by passing the inner city it in true capitalistic Privatisation trend the the cost of using the facilities has out priced itself.

It was my choice to use the tunnels to get to the Bruce Highway and it made the drive so much easier however the $21.14 charge return made me realise why I felt I was in the no vehicle twilight zone once I crossed the purple lights.

Whether you agree with its construction, or detest or can’t afford paying, those who use the facility are lightening the load on the public roads, exactly what was the initial intentions.

Using retail logic may I suggest rewarding those who choose to use the tunnel with some incentives via registration refund depending on usage and the owners dropping the prices would achieve the original goal of taking congestion away from city bottlenecks and increasing tunnel patronage. A Win ,win and making new work less intrusive for users and constructors for upgrades on older routes.

We need to do better than $21.14 or this infrastructure will be as extinct as Pahlke’s dinosaurs.

Blubbering Councillors Be Gone.

I think most ipswich people’s tissue boxes are empty from all the tears we have shed for the dismissed council public servants. Strange I did not hear the same blubbering when the 100’s of Dinmore, Churchill and Wullkaraka workers were dismissed, none of their fault other than not being profitable for their employers.

The fact that none of the councillors complied with Corporate Governance obligations on knowing what exactly was going on within has been forgotten leaving us to assume each and every one worked within their own bubble in their divisions oblivious of what each other were or were not complying.

The pleas of innocence has built the case that all of the divisions must be dissolved and councillors must be centralised so ignorance will no longer be a excuse and accountability and move,ents to ratepayers monitored. This would be cost effective as car pooling, individual office overheads and staffing would be centralised.

Ratepayers should be reminded Council and Councillors are instruments of the state government not governments in their own right so councillors are employees as is any person working for the ratepayers, their are not special cases as some think, and they know exactly what they are in for when they decide to seek election., so when the next election comes around I hope the Shiltz’s Helmets are issued to those who pleaded ignorance, as we the ratepayers want people that know exactly what is happening and will speak up publicly when any doubtful actions, decisions occur including election funding..

Our Electorates HiJacked by Big Business

The behaviour of federal government in the past month has disgusted many Australians particularly with the removal of the PM and the treatment of women has done nothing to encourage faith in the way our country’s direction is heading.

Now with the disclosure of how our PM was removed is nothing new as the media barons have boasted they have to power to change governments and again they decided it was time for Turnbull to go and let the dogs out on, and the southern shock jocks and Sky after dark did their thing and the politicians followed their orders accordingly.

Is that the democratic way to run our country or have we come down to letting outside influences who have vested interests to protect decide who is in charge?

Has the electorates voice been hijacked by big business or the real question is have we adopted the attitude of “ I’m all right mate it doesn’t effect me”?

That i suggest is the exact state of mind that allows the rich and powerful to take control of our society.

When our PM’s have to wear name badges when meeting other leaders we have sunk as low as our Wallabies on the world credibility rankings and it’s up to all of us to take back and reset our country’s course back to what matters, helping all Australians up, not trickle down.

Osaka Trumps Williams Stunt.

Cartoonists are supposed to reflect thoughts and reflections of events with a touch of candid humour so sometimes can see a different perspectives so I can understand why some are upset by the Williams imaging particularly in America. I understand comparison with a historical cartooning would make Mark Knights depiction could upset however I do not think it was intentional to be race related but it was, now that angle is spinning worldwide.

After watching the event I believe Williams knew she was in trouble and wanted to cause a incident to take the momentum away from Osaka and when the wick was lit she made a calculated move and it came undone. She lost full stop.

Yes it well known women in tennis are regarded as the inferior side and that’s unjust but rules are rules and you can’t play the gender card during a match unless you know your outclassed and then your point can be made on the world stage.

The real sad thing is Williams stole Osaka’s moment to prove her point, supported by the worlds most ignorant crowds in regards to etiquette and ethics, a habitual occurrence in all international events hosted in America.

I fully support all aspects of Women’s equality be in on and off the sporting field but destroying a persons highest achievement to increase ones profile or cause would not be the way most fair minded Australian people would accept.

LNP run Scared of Federal ICAC.

Ho hum, nothing is new when the the conservatives see the trade union movement a enemy. Nothing new when they establish a royal commission into them and come away with egg on their faces at the cost of millions for taxpayers. Illegal raids on union premises and ministers who hide from senate scrutiny.

Yes they are the proverbial punching bag for every LNP politician since dot we have to ask why.?

As time goes on we take for granted pensions, holiday, sick leave, superannuation, maternity leave right down to your lunch room all of which was fought for by unionists, not given but fought for.

I won’t go into on Job safety,wage parity,or things this like asbestos victim support, compensation, as each and every one of the mentioned above was opposed by the good employers who believe we should be thankful as was the serfs.

The standards of the present government has been set when our new PM was dragged kicking and screaming into the current Bank Enquirey looking after his mates and imagine if any union had committed offences against its membership as the banks have to their customers how the conservatives would respond.

Personally I can’t wait to see a full federal ICAC/ CCC set up in Australia to investigate all sides and again we have to ask why this government runs scared whenever it’s mentioned.. Yes PM again you can run but you can’t hide, it will come.

Run in full..

We must not Go the American Road.

Timeline : 29th August 2018

Country of Origin : Australia

Status of Writer : Citizen of the 🌏 and a Labor Party non factional member.

After watching a Government in Australia eat itself over ideology in the past week and the aftermath still developing I’m turning my attention to America to get a sense of what we do not want to end up like.

At home we saw a truely Conservative Political Party the Liberal National Party declare war on itself and mix spew vengeance of the past with a coalition of big coal, climate denial, renewable energy hatred, White Australia, religious bias, inflamed with a ambition to get the nation as far right as is the Murdock Press has America.

That is not the place I want to see my country go and I, bias as I am I hope we do not go or even get to the point America has itself now.

It’s not brain science that Trump is not a healer. His modus operandi is to divide a conquer. Attack and counter attack and only compromise is after you feel you have won. That mixture I translates to his supporters his base and the end always justifies The means. Morals, traditions and etiquette and ethics are collateral damage and taken as part of the business of the Trump reign.

Facts are for every action their is a reaction, political or social a response will occur be it now or later, planned or unplanned it will happen.

My view is as follows and I hope sincerely I am wrong but I think America is well on its way to civil unrest never seen since their historic Civil War.

The political aware population has its position Red or Blue in concrete, and the fight for the foot soldiers is in the hands of the media proper gander outlets to spin the tale but the fact is the respect of law the lawmakers, even the polls have been so discredited the social fabric of American Society is disappearing before their eyes.

If and when Trump goes his base will not accept the democracy decision. Fact. The encumbered will be deemed fraudulent and that’s when all hell will break loose. The person who inherits the poison challis will need to be a healer not a splitter and that may not be enough to feed the frenzy as the fanatics will take to the streets and we all know the end result and it will spread like the plague.

America needs a safety valve release now and cease feeding the divisions but I’m afraid Trump does not have the mental capacity to realise where this is going to end. He lives in his own bubble, listens to his own media, a classic narcissist.

Whatever he thinks is achieving in trade the and American credibility is suffering worldwide which to his supporters is fine but the I’m of the belief America is building a wall a watertight wall right around America and the rest of the world will watch as a great nation drowns in its own social divisions, and that what I do not want to see in my country ever.

Can You sort the Wheat from the Chaff?

No wonder the punters are totally sick of politics after the performance of the federal government of late but strap yourselves in as their will be more rot to come.

Bi elections and speculation of full federal elections will flood our airwaves but as painful as it will be we must be able to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

We will be subjected to fear campaigns on migration, climate, climate denial, religious freedoms, dole bludgers and the budget.,All the old tired cliches will be dragged out expecting us to swallow the baits again.

Its quite clear even the the most disinterested person the coup backed by the ultra right owned by big coal supported by the media barons saw fit to remove our PM. but was foiled by shear mathematics of democracy. The plan to hijack government was poorly executed by ideological thugs,ego driven with no regard of what our decision was at the polls.

We saw Rudd/Gillard fiasco 5 years ago and by giving the grass roots of the party a say stability has occurred much to the irritation of the same media that supported Turnbull’s demise.

Sooner or later we must get away from electing any PM by personality only. We have to look at who has the skills, be it black or white, male or female, who will. come equiped with policy that will help all Australians from the bottom up not top down.

The fixation on media cycle politics is destroying good sound government and someone has to put the media back in their rightful box ,a role to keep them honest and report the story and not be part of it.

The Sub Editors Cut…

Old White Mens Ducks Line Up.

Unfortunately with the Anning/Katter coming clean about their the white extremist beliefs has driven the debate so far right that I’d you believe in middle road politics you are regarded as a left wing loony.

Again I am guilty of giving these people oxygen by referring to their incipient actions but I’m afraid if we do not stand up and call it out we are not doing justice to those who cannot speak out because they would be accused of being trouble makers and if you don’t like it go back from where you came.

If any of the politicians who now openly support the White Australia ideology put that to the electorate before they were elected I’m sure the media and the punters would judge them accordingly but it takes a trigger or a series of issues and all their ducks line up and their true beliefs are reviled.

As history repeats the colonial old white men reinvent the past to justify in their minds simplistic views to alarm those uneducated to the political climate by creating fears and prejudices, the oldest propaganda trick in the book.

The only solution they offer is segregation, void of any policy structure or strategic thinking, which the media in particular rarely challenges choosing only to highlight the ugly shock bits.

The last census revealed around 62% of our population were Christian, 32% atheist or non religious, which leaves about 6% for the rest of all beliefs, so the spin of being swamped by any culture is a fear mongering lie..

Their are only one race that truly say they are true Australians and it’s them who are fighting to retain their aboriginal culture which we and the media choose to conveniently not draw comparisons..

Bolts Bile Goes Unchecked.

I was extremely hesitant to give the Bolt column in Monday’s QT oxygen with the hope of some reaction from the editorial staff to at least comment on its bile content. Link that with the toxicity of Blair Cottrell the trend on News Limited is quite clear., their is money selling racism and hatred.

Andrew Bolts rotating commercials on SKY days previously gave away what was a planned and calculated release of what has been regarded by his peers as the Quote “ The worst column I have ever seen in a mainstream newspaper” and to be quite honest I was sickened to realise that type of journalism would enter my household.

There is need for a debate on migration, integration, and religions in this country , but that debate should start from the middle ground not the extremes as we are seeing from News or the question must be asked is it their intention to move the divide as it has in the USA to the extremes?

This is nothing to do with free speech, it’s blatant retail promotion in splitting our Australian community for corporate gain, a despicable act from a outfit who has.chosen to move its operations offshore to avoid paying tax..

S.A. Punters De-Feathered Downer.

Now the dust has settled on Super Saturday and the combatants have each claimed victory according to their spin doctors the one battle played out in South Australia highlighted the fact the electorate will not be taken as fools and judged accordingly.

The absolute arrogance of the Downer dynasty to imply that the reason she was defeated by the independent was because new blow in electors did not realise the family name and its history was the reason for schelacking.

The born to rule DNA was even more entrenched when she declared she would recontest instantly totally extinguishing any party preselection process, in her mind.

The fact she was parachuted in from her gifted IPA appointment, and not living in the State was totally disregarded when questioned about why the electorate rejected as her arrogance ran roughshod.

My faith in the democratic process delivering justice was elevated with this result as it demonstrated the punters do know if they are being treated as fools and hope the rest of the nation looks at policy and not people when we head for the next federal election.

This about nails the article.. Thanks The Guardian..

first dog on the moon..

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/31/meet-the-humble-downers-a-family-of-self-proclaimed-nation-builders?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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