Ridiculous Consumerism

In November a lady rang up a Sydney talkback radio station proclaiming the “ridiculous consumerism” due to the Christmas shopping push by retailers on Remembrance Day.

Fast-forward a month and the ridiculousness of that day seems miniscule in comparison.

We had stores open for 36 hours non-stop. Traffic jams in surrounding areas till about 3am. Cars crashing all over the place due to their impetuous nature.

All this because Christmas has become the time to shop, and people are stressing out about it. They feel pressured into finding the right gift.

Giving need not be stressful. It ought to be a joyous experience. If it is a stressful time for you then perhaps you need an evaluation of your life’s priorities. Then turn the car around and go home and sleep.

Civility is Easy

It really is amazing how one can achieve much more when one’s behaviour is civil in nature. I’ll recount a story where a matter went from very civil to violent in the blink of an eye, and for no apparent reason.

From what I gathered the story goes like this. A lady was brought in by ambulance, she was relatively uninjured but was in some pain after what I believe was a car accident. Family was waiting in the waiting room but her adult son was keen to see her.

While the door was being opened for him he barged the door fully open and hurried in. The experienced paramedic looking after his mother asked him to stop for a moment. After all we can’t have any form of antisocial behaviour in the corridors of a hospital.

Seemed like this man wasn’t used to being told “no”, so my colleagues imperatives meant nothing to him so he kept advancing and took the ensuing body contact as a threatening gesture. Despite contact being made by his advances, not a deliberate action from the paramedic. Due to the mans action so far he was asked politely to leave the triage area and go back to the waiting room

What he unleashed then was a tirade of foul language, threats of violence and intimidating behaviour. Security dragged him and other family members away. Police were called as the situation escalated. Capsicum spray was used and handcuffs used as restraints. The ambulance bay was turned into a decontamination area to wash the perpetrators eyes.

Meanwhile mum is getting agitated as she could easily hear all the shouting and kerfuffle that her son was causing. She almost jumped off the stretcher to go and see them, inadvertently proving her lack of serious injury.

End result: two men taken away in handcuffs to the police station, likely to be charged with a misdemeanour offense and forever to have a criminal record (if they hadn’t already).

Just ask them though and you will be told that they have never done anything wrong. Today, to them, they were prohibited to do something they deemed their right and their reaction justified. Wrong! Also that police indiscriminately assaulted them with capsicum spray. Wrong again! Another case of the individuals not taking responsibility for their own actions.

Such an easily avoidable situation. Yet people want to act on emotion and their impetuous nature instead of discernment, common sense and civility.

Firstly, patience was required in the hospital system. Not everything can be done right now. There is a process, have patience. Things go faster if you don’t cause scenes. The triaging of his mother was put on hold and all of triage virtually shut down while the matter was being dealt with. If he had waited a mere second for the door to be opened then perhaps things would have different.

Secondly, even if the barging were allowed to pass then a simple apology and acknowledgement of his behaviour when held up by the paramedic would have diffused the situation.

I have a feeling that he would have found a way to escalate the situation regardless. Better to have an altercation in the parking lot than in the triage area.

Such an innocuous spark for such trouble to result. At the end of the day no one wins.

Interpreter Required

I have often wanted to ask non-English speaking patients how it is that they cant speak our language yet know all about our emergency services and are able to access them quite frequently. They all manage to understand the word pension card and medicare.

I wonder how long I would last in their country if I never learnt the language. I would deem that as plain rudeness on my behalf. So why do we accept it in the country? Is this political correctness gone mad?

No Time To Wait

Emergency departments are very busy places. Emphasis must be made on the word emergency, for if you present with a non-emergency you should expect to wait. Possibly wait for a very long time.

Not even coming by ambulance will save you from waiting. This is a myth we have to debunk every now and then.

Some people full of their own self-importance don’t have time to wait. Their health took a priority to a certain point. They might wait for a period of time while continually making their presence known to triage staff.

Most triage nurses are too polite to suggest that perhaps the frequent enquiries proves the relative wellness of the patient.

Before leaving they of course let whoever they can know how disgusted they are with the system. A system that is struggling from the strain of having to deal with patients like them that aren’t an emergency case. Of course they manage to miss the irony of such a situation.

The State of Cricket

Eventually cricket fans in this country will get over themselves and stop assuming that we have a birthright as Australians to be the best cricketing nation in the world at all times.

We have had a magnificent run for many years. We are still a good team but not the world beaters of years one by. Lets not forget that there was a time when even Australia was in the shadow of the great West Indies teams of the 80’s and 90’s.

All the comments bagging Australian cricket don’t acknowledge that England is a good team (hard to admit I know). Not a great team yet, otherwise they would lift against nations other than Australia.

This current public attitude craving constant succuss I fear will result in short term team changes in a hope of finding a magic mix that might not even exist. A win will keep a rabid public at bay, a loss and they go in for they kill with even more harsh criticism.

Realistically it was always going to take time to restructure after the loss of Langer, Hayden, Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist. There’s the core of a team, two of the finest ever bowlers, a solid opening pair, and another who revolutionised the keeper/ batsmen positon. All gone in a short period of time. It seems there is no room for realism for those worshipping cricket.

Relax!! We will be the number one cricketing nation again. For now enjoy watching the development of the next generation of Aussie cricket stars

Panicky Parents

Perhaps I need children of my own to gain some perspective. I’m hoping I won’t be as worrisome as a lot of parents whose young children I attend.

Most of the infants we get called to seem to be suffering from normal baby ailments such as vomiting, blocked nose, coughing, fevers. But just because they are unable to verbalise their discomfort the parents go straight for worst case scenario and call an ambulance.

Most times we transport just because it is easier to give peace of mind to these parents than convincing them there is nothing wrong, from what we can see.

I'm hoping that my knowledge from this job will be an asset rather than a burden. I've seen how fragile life can be, but then I’ve also seen how resilient the human body can be.

Babies are precious but as with most of our cases a little bit of common sense goes a long way.

A Banning Misses The Point

Have a think about personal responsibility the next time there is a call for widespread banning of a product or activity. Usually the banning glosses over the underlying issues. Instead it’s an acknowledgement that society has gone too far in a certain direction. But instead of us individually acknowledging our misgivings and changing our behaviours we call for the government to rescue us with a ban. This is no more than a bandaid solution. Or merely revenue raising plan in the case of the Alco pops tax and others like it.

The govt wants to be seen to be doing something, and seen doing something now. Changing general public attitudes is too hard, especially when they have accepted or promoted a level of antisocial behaviour for so long. Instead, to keep up appearances a ban on things like violent video games and special taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling are put into legislation.

It’s just a band aid that will have little or no long term effect.

God’s Undertaker?

“God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?”
by Dr John Lennox

Has science buried God? The subtitle of the book and the question Lennox dedicates over 200 pages to answer.

This one was hard to read. At one stage I considered putting it down for eternity. What I thought was mainly a work of apologetics I discovered was a work of scientific discussion.

This book is not for the faint hearted though. Some of the scientific concepts can be tough to follow from both sides of the argument. But if you can endure the concepts you will find the main premise.

Has science buried God? Simply put the answer is NO. As if that was a surprise. Science has not and cannot bury God. Any statement to the contrary is one of philosophy and not of science.

There is so much more to the book but it will need a second read through the further grasp Lennox’s argument. Or a reading of books using simpler language.

The Reign Had To End

“Howards End: The Unravelling Of A Government”

By Peter Van Onselen and Philip Senior

It is a marvellous thing to look back using hindsight on the political landscape. Especially now that the man who, as the subtitle suggests, unravelled a govt, has himself since been sent packing by the people that got him the top job in the first place.

With hindsight perhaps we should have seen it coming. Yet as a nation the people wanted change so much that a multitude of personal weaknesses in Rudd were overlooked. The sentiment was strong, was it a good enough reason to oust a strong, capable government? The last three years have gone some way to answer that question. Still, depending one your philosophy the question will be debated for a long time.

So much more happens in an election campaign than we will ever know. A multitude of factors contributed to the events of 2007.

Firstly there was the strong sentiment for change for the sake of changing. Add to that an unknown entity in Kevin Rudd who despite his nerdy and awkward demeanour managed to capture the attention of a nation. He played heavily on the desire for change while gaining some profile on channel 7’s popular morning program, Sunrise.

On the other side of the coin was an over confident government that didn’t see Rudd coming, who did? They were rarely able to set the agenda and were playing catch up most of the time. Any thought of succussion planning or generational change came too late. This didn’t help counter the strong public sentiment for change.

Rudd had cleverly neutralised most issues through what was called “me tooism”. The government tried to inform the public that there is no point of distinction between then and the opposition. But they didn’t care.

The opposition had a distinct advantage in the issue of workchoices. The union campaign was very successful in scaring the public that the world will end if workchoices were allowed to continue. Admittedly the legislation went a tad too far but was nowhere near as bad as the unions would want you to believe. There were in fact some very good and well-needed aspects of the legislation. But once again, it didn’t matter, the government had no chance to counter the well-funded union machine once it had gained ascendancy.

It is ironic to read this book three years after the events. In particular to read quotes that resonated with the public back then. Such as examples on how committed the Rudd government was to being fiscally responsible. He even bagged out Howard for what he considered “reckless spending”. Yes, ironic.

Think of the Children

Childcare has made its way back into the media spotlight recently. This is mainly due to government legislation dictating certain qualifications for staff and specific ratios of children to staff. These changes naturally result in increasing costs for service providers. Costs that will be passed on to parents, and you can’t blame them for doing that.

So with that begins what can feel like and endless cavalcade of sob stories from parents who proclaim they cant afford such expensive childcare. The sob story is only part of the big picture though, you never get told the rest. It would be interesting to inquire the parents’ rationale for requiring full time childcare.

Even if the reasons were purely financial, what has led to the circumstances that required two incomes? We don’t hear about this from the media. They could be very genuine and doing it tough. Or conversely they could be merely overextended because they wanted the house in the suburb that was extending beyond what was realistically attainable.

Whatever the reason, as a nation we forget that children are a blessing. They should be treated as such, however they continually get treated as commodities with their upbringing pawned off to the cheapest tender.

From the government’s point of view it is all short term thinking, in the name of productivity. They want to get the highly skilled women back into the workforce as soon as possible. This is all well and good but what about the children who now have two limited or non-existent parents. Their most formative years spent with someone very qualified yet not their parent.

Of course it is difficult to make ends meet on one income. But perhaps we all just need to be content with not having it all.

The New Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes, the character made popular by the genius writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has now been reinvigorated. Imagine the same eccentric character placed in modern day London and you have the clever crime thriller aptly titled “Sherlock”.

This show definitely does the character justice in how it portrays Sherlock’s obsession for detail. The finer details that no one with a normal mind is able to see.

Brilliant casting as well for not just Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) but his bland offsider, Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman). Even his landlord, Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) steals the odd scene.

Truly a brilliant show!!

It’s a shame though that they could only make three 2-hour episodes for the first season. Although even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found it difficult to maintain the genius. The ending of the first season has me hanging out for season two.

No Ordinary Coach

“Quiet Strength”
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker

I assume that most in Australia would have heard of Tony Dungy. He is well worth knowing, especially for men interested in sports.

Tony Dungy was a professional athlete but is better known for his success as a coach in America’s National Football League (NFL) with Tampa Bay and Indianapolis.

He’s more than just a coach. In his book Tony celebrates his Christian faith, being a father to five children, a husband to one wife and his mentoring of his players, colleagues and friends. He created a culture that was rare in the NFL, one that a lot of people thought could not win the coveted Super bowl.

Tony was different. He enjoyed success but wasn’t driven by it in the same way others were. He promoted family time with players and coaches as a healthy balance between life and work. He encouraged all to get involved in community events as he accepted that a town’s sports team should be part of the community.

A novel idea that ultimately brought success with the Indianapolis Colts after almost making it all the way with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Proof that doing things differently can work.

I enjoyed this book as I grew up playing football, having to deal with a culture focused on boozing, shagging and swearing. I loved the game but the culture at times was especially hard to deal with. Tony Dungy shows that there is a different way, in fact a better way.

Mouth Or Marvel

“Open Season”
by Jason Akermanis with Gary Smart

Jason Akermanis is a sensational footballer that speaks his mind. He is as honest as they come, sometimes too honest. His tongue has proved indeed powerful and his words have come back to bite on multiple occasions. Whether it’s justified for him to have been sacked by two different clubs for his comments to the media is up for debate.

Seriously, I don’t think his sackings were justified. He did make mistakes and he openly admits that in this book. But at the end of the day he is a character that seems sorely lacking in a competition that seems to have become a sausage factory churning out the same homogenous product.

So now unbound by any contractual obligations to a football club, Akermanis is once again speaking his mind. Not for the last time I suspect. He opens up about his latest dramas with the Western Bulldogs regarding a particular newspaper column that ultimately ended his career. It gets quite personal but possibly not as much as the media hype suggested.

A worthy read for all footy fans.

Scoring Points

It is interesting and odd to hear our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, call for an end to the “political point scoring”. All this in spite of her election campaign being the dirtiest that I have ever witnessed. It was a campaign all about scoring political points.

It is usually the case that those commenting about political point scoring are in fact themselves trying to score political points. For Gillard it is to score points with those that have allowed her to form government by the skin of her teeth.

By her statement she has drawn a line in the sand and she will have to lead by example. The proof will be in the pudding when it comes time for another election in 12 months, I mean 3 years time.

What Really Matters

It was great to see a spirited Jim Stynes at the Brownlow Medal presentation. He spoke on matters football, life and cancer.

Interesting that it took his serious cancer for him to put his life in perspective. Now he openly claims that in the long run football doesn’t matter and he is now focused on being the best man he can be and making a positive difference to the world.

Football is good, but it has never been the be all and end all of life. It just takes time for some to get it.

Jim Stynes says he was taking too much for granted prior to his cancer diagnosis. Goes to show that we should all know what is most important while we still have our full health. For Jim that means relationships, with family, friends and teammates.

The playing of football is fleeting. Even the night’s winner, Chris Judd, reiterated these sentiments, so refreshing to come form a current player.

Being Neutral

It is a worthwhile exercise for all footy purists like myself to attend a match where one has absolutely no ties to either team. I had a chance to do this recently when I attended the VFL grand final between North Ballarat and the Northern Bullants.

Being neutral it is interesting to observe those in the vicinity that have a greater vested interest in the match’s outcome. Umpires were abused and player efforts were either lauded or insulted. I watch and wonder if I look that absurd when I get very parochial.

There is no foul language from my lip like there were with these fans, but I do get carried away sometimes.

Let’s hope that I have mellowed enough in my mature age not to be as embarrassing as those whom I witnessed.

A Balanced Debate

“Climate Change: The Facts”
Collaborated by the Institute of Public Affairs

Climate change is a confusing issue. No one knows the facts on what will happen, that is because no one can know what will happen. Be very wary of the use of the term modelling, that’s one fact.

Alarmists and Sceptics, whatever. One thing is for sure, debate has been non-existent or at the very least one sided with claims of settled science. Science demands rigor, and on this issue there has been none.

The Institute of Public Affairs aimed to rectify this imbalance by producing this book and sending it to every MP and selling it to those in the general public willing to purchase. As it is aimed at politicians it is brief, to the point and broken down into manageable chunks covering a variety of aspects on this huge issue.

It not only covers the science with experts such as Ian Plimer. It also informs on the climategate scandal. As well as the economic and political ramifications, often forgotten by those running the country.

It’s short yet thorough. A good read for anyone interested in balance in debate.

Fizzer

Let’s get something out of the way early, I don’t like Collingwood. Who does? Except for Collingwood members and supporters.

So it’s understandable that when I scored a ticket for the Geelong Vs Collingwood preliminary final that I went hoping for Geelong to give Collingwood a football lesson. How disappointed I was.

From the outset it was obvious. The umpiring was going Collingwood’s way, as was the bounce of the ball. To rub salt into my wounded heart, Collingwood were skillful, had better decision-making and tackled ruthlessly. Geelong was never in it, Collingwood never let them have a sniff.

Geelong constantly made mistakes, as the pressure was intense. So intense that there became the perception of pressure when there wasn’t any.

Geelong got a few goals back in the last quarter but it was little consolation as Collingwood had long gone into autopilot. You just can’t give the best team in the competition a 10-goal lead and expect to get away with it, I don’t care who you are.

The Geelong dynasty is in danger of being declared officially over. Cameron Ling looked slow, Ottens made no impact and has one year left maximum. Gary Ablett’s apparent move to the Gold Coast won’t help either.

An Ablett departure would draw the curtain on Geelong’s era of dominance. He was the only Geelong player that could say they had a positive influence on the game that night. Some rapid infusion of youth might be necessary as those stalwarts that were so important to their success are on the decline.

The years ahead will bring opportunities for other teams to start their own dynasty. Just please, not Collingwood.

A Dose of Patience

I was impressed to hear Labor MP and current Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, come up with a poignant statement regarding the prospect of a hung parliament. That prospect has since become a reality.

I paraphrase, she said that the Australian people will have to be patient as the political process will be slower given neither party has majority in the lower house.

Perhaps that’s what we need, a dose of patience. Since most of the population these days are in it for all they can get. As if the govt were a piñata. Like when people saw dollar sign when Rudd delivered a $900 stimulus cheque. That was pure short-term thinking on their part as much as ours.

Good on Roxon for acknowledging this need. It has been needed for a while. Perhaps now we will also get more vigorous discussion on policy instead of rushing into unnecessary actions.

Pedestrians Beware

There have been recent incidents of pedestrians being fatally injured on our roads. The pedestrian council becomes vocal every time this happens. After the most recent incidents their first reaction was to apparently call for fences along the footpath on main roads. What we need are smarter, more aware pedestrians. The pedestrian council does have education initiatives with the aim of changing current attitudes. It would be good if they could focus on these methods rather than trying to protect the public from their own stupidity (as is most often the case in these incidents). Perhaps they are resigned to people continually doing stupid things, no matter how educated they might be. Let’s face it, we live in a sinful world that holds a long history of human stupidity.

With my own eyes I have seen pedestrians step onto a road at an assigned crossing, blissfully unaware of the traffic. All of one metre was the difference between life and severe injury or death on one incident where I was a bystander. So fences might be good around pubs and clubs but at crossings they would be rather impractical.

Is there a permanent solution? Well the pedestrian council seems to be trying hard with it’s limited resources. What it would take would be a dramatic cultural shift. A turn away from our self-obsession and ‘everything now’ mentality. People need to take responsibility for their actions as pedestrians, as their decisions can affect many others, not just themselves. There shouldn’t have to be a pedestrian council to keep you safe.

The Stable / Unstable Government

Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, wants a stable and competent govt. So he sides with the incumbent Labor govt. He did this after a successful negotiation with opposition leader, Tony Abbott, as if to throw his offer back in his face. Like school in January, No class. Still, I’d be interested in his justification given these well-known facts on Labor’s stability and competence.

On Stability:

• Knifed the popularly elected PM, Kevin Rudd, in a faction war prior to completing his first term in govt
• Went into the election without an assigned treasurer and finance minister
• Lost many sitting MP’s after a huge swing against them in the election
• Lost majority in the House of Representatives

On Competence:

• Gross waste with the BER
• Gross waste in the insulation scheme, resulting in house fires and loss of young lives
• Failed grocery watch website
• Failed fuel watch website
• Failed green loans scheme
• The announcement of the “super profits tax” without negotiation with affected parties

It’s no surprise that Mr Wilkie sided with Labor given his Greens links. But whom is he trying to kid with this sort of justification? Perhaps himself. Say the buzz word “stable govt” enough and you will start to believe it.

A Short Life

“Jesus: A Short Life” by John Dickson

While I was in the mood for reading Dickson I moved on from his books for teens to one of his more adult efforts. “Jesus: A Short Life” is Dickson’s attempt to make scholarly history accessible to the mainstream. The purpose being that the majority of historians studying biblical history are often overshadowed by the sensationalised claims from the lunatic fringe who dominate the headlines.

One example is Bishop John Shelby Sponge who, despite his title, seems to undermine the core tenets of Christianity at every opportunity. Needless to say he gets a lot of attention with his books and other outlets, even though what he says and writes has nothing to do with historical fact.

I enjoy reading Dickson’s work. Sometimes though I feel I need to extend myself in regards to content. As a friend likes to say, “He’s too mainstream”. This is true, but he’s still good. There are not many of us that could stand reading through tomes of scholarly writing. But Dickson does all that so I don’t have to.

Another Oldie

“Don’t Stand Too Close To A Naked Man” by Tim Allen

Written in 1995 at the height of his ‘Home Improvement’ fame is Allen’s take on life in general using personal examples.

Another book that somehow made it onto my shelves, it began as one to read during breaks at work. Unfortunately breaks were increasingly less forthcoming. If it hadn’t come into my possession I don’t think I would have missed much. I presume my sentimentality to a TV show I enjoyed made me pick up this book from a garage sale or something like that.

There must have been something good about as adorning its cover is a star with “New York Times #1 Bestseller”.

I’ll admit, it was funny. But there was little to be gained from reading it.

Hansie Cronje

“The Hansie Cronje Story” by Garth King

I hadn’t realised that the life of Hansie Cronje was such a powerful testimony to the redeeming power of God. It wasn’t until this book became a strong feature at Koorong that it became evident. Later the book was coupled with a feature film on DVD.

I wouldn’t have known that Hansie was a Christian. After all I was a selfish teenager at the time. Being South African Hansie didn’t hit the Australian media hard until his very public fall from grace due to his involvement with bookmakers.

Yet after his death he will leave a lasting legacy of redemption shown by the love of God through Jesus. His story is well captured by the movie as well.

Non-cricket fans will enjoy this powerful story as the match details are kept to a minimum, a deliberate act on the author’s part.

The movie, especially in climactic scenes, you will find emotional. The book portrays the same mood as well as the written word could.

This is an inspirational story that you would do well to read (and then watch). Viewings available at my place on request.

Applause Aplenty

I like to watch ABC’s Q and A program. It is always interesting and provides a marvellous forum to be part of the political system.

What I find odd though is when the normally left leaning audience chooses to applaud. There seems to be no consistency. Both sides of politics get the plaudits.

Perhaps it’s one of the beauties of democracy that statements I’d regard as fantastic and ridiculous get equal applause.

Maybe I’m just not giving the ABC enough credit being able to recruit a bipartisan audience. If you want to join the audience like I hope to soon, register here.

Positive Ads Don’t Work

It is a shame, and perhaps it says a lot about our culture and attitude as a nation, that positive advertisements during election campaigns don’t work. Is it that they don’t work or that they haven’t been tried properly? No one seems prepared to give it a fair go.

The best positive election ad I have seen was for John Fahey for a state election in the late 1990’s. He lost that election, despite being one of the men who won Sydney the Olympic games in 2000. No room for sentimentality, or competence for that matter. The winner of that election was Bob Carr.

So far the only positive ad in this federal election campaign is Abbott’s “Action Contract”. Unfortunately I doubt that it is resonating with the public. It is shouted down by the multitude of ads from both sides that are more focused on bringing down the other person. Some are personal, other based on policy, most (especially those paid by unions) take an essence of truth and manipulate it to best serve their own purposes.

Responsible Spending Gets You Nowhere

With all this reckless spending and massive debt accumulation going on it is frustrating to hear plans for saving money, spending responsibly and prioritising being ridiculed by Gillard and her cronies.

After all, if this government were a business it would have gone into receivership by now.

If you believe Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott wants to go back to “the dark ages” of the internet by his opposing of the national broadband network. In reality he has another plan to avoid spending $43 billion that we haven’t got. That’s billion with a B. It’s just not a priority. There are numerous examples along the same theme.

If you were to talk to a financial planner they would tell you to get rid of debt as a priority and to change spending habits. But such responsible money management does not win votes in an election campaign. The general public seems primarily interested in what they can out of a government with their short-term thinking and long term ignorance.

Labor Left

Strange how people think that the Greens are a credible alternative to the two major parties. People understandably become disillusioned with the major parties. Though they would be better served voting for a good independent or even do an informal vote. If you really want some change then give a smaller party your vote in the senate, that’s where the real power is.

But voting for the Greens in either house is just like voting Labor due to preference deals. Preferences are crucial, especially in marginal electorates and in the senate and they usually put sitting Labor MP’s back in due to an undiscerning general public who are unaware of the importance of preferences in the current electoral system.

Think before voting.

Challenge: Know Your Member

There is an impending election for the Federal and NSW State governments. Yet I get the vibe, especially in Christian circles, that most aren’t even slightly interested in politics. This is a shame as these are elected officials doing what they deem fit with our taxation dollars. They are making decisions that will affect your life. There is definitely a vested interest in every taxpayer, at the very least, who gets elected to parliament.

As a starting point perhaps people should graduate in small steps. Start with knowing your local electorate in all levels of government. Then know the names of your local members and even councillors. To finish Politics 101 be able to recognise their face if it were put in front of you.

Being successful in that means you are well on your way to reading news stories, books and blogs (like this one) with interest and have something to say other than, “I’m not interested in politics.” For those that are really keen how about a viewing of question time or attendance at a community forum.

Other Dickson Books

“Hanging In There”

“Hell Of A Life”

by John Dickson

Both books were written in the late 1990’s and it became quickly evident that these books should have been read back then and not now. This is not Dickson’s fault, he produced a good book back then. Although his anecdotes do date the text firmly in the 90’s.

He states clearly in his introduction that these books will suit teenagers and young adults particularly if they are new to Christianity. Believe it or not, that describes me when? In the late 90’s.

I had read “Sneaking Suspicion” by John Dickson that seems a precursor to “Hanging in there”. The former has since been revised for a new batch of teens and young adults. It appears the other two are now lost in a time warp.

I persisted in reading these books because they had done the hard yards on my shelves for over 10 years. I felt they had deserved to be read. But now having read them it is difficult to recommend them to anyone. I even wonder if they are worth keeping. I'm glad I read them but I didn’t get a huge deal from them 13 years after the purchase.

If only I was into reading more than the Big League magazine back then.

Underbelly Mk 2

“Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities” by John Sylvester and Andrew Rule

The TV series was lacklustre when compared to the original and so did the book when it came to the intriguing machinations of the underworld in the 1970’s and 80’s.

What the book offers though is interesting background information that isn’t shown on television.

From what I remember of the TV series it was very true to the facts in the book. Of course there was more to it than what was shown on TV. Many other individuals involved and many more deaths.

People state that these stories glorify the gangster lifestyle. Maybe the TV series does this to some extent as any characters still alive gain a cult celebrity status. The book definitely doesn’t promulgate this assertion. It makes clear to the reader the results of their individual life choices. Starting with paranoia when alive and usually ending in a violent death or jail time, while leaving families behind to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

I found the reading easy going but at times tedious. It can be repetitive, as it doesn’t follow a strict timeline of events. Rather it focuses on certain characters or events and follows them till their natural conclusion. I actually prefer this style.

There are probably better true crime stories out there (here’s one, and another) but this one was still interesting.

I do have “Underbelly: The Golden Mile” book ready to be read. Although I haven’t been watching the TV series so this might make the reading very different. Time will tell.

Cash For Clunkers

Sometimes when trying to formulate a comprehendible opinion on an issue I appreciate a journalist that articulates my view so accurately that I am compelled to agree wholeheartedly, but in words that I could never claim as my own. It happened this week in an editorial by Andrew Bolt, titled “Green is the mantra of Gillard the gullible”.

His comments were directed at the PM’s plan to get old cars off the road only if buyers agreed to have their car scrapped and choose from a limited list of ‘green’ cars.

Regarding the PM’s intentions, Bolt writes:

Gillard's promise is to pay $2000 a piece to the first 200,000 voters to drag a pre-1995 car to the scrapyard, as long as they promise to replace it with a new green car, such as the Holden Cruze, Hyundai Getz or Toyota Camry Hybrid, now retailing for $39,000.

The aim of this $396 million plan, says Gillard, is to help save the planet from our wicked gases, which she claims are heating the world to hell.

"Australians own a lot of old motor cars, and those old cars guzzle a lot of petrol and they spew out a lot of pollution," she preached. "The amount of carbon we anticipate saving through this measure by getting the 200,000 old cars off the road is one million tonnes."

Regarding rorting that has become so rife in preceding plans by the labor govt:

Is this plan ripe for rorting? You bet, since cars that might have been scrapped anyway - or have been already - could now be driven to Gillard's taxpayer-funded knackers' yard instead for that $2000.

Regarding the car industry:

But won't this help manufacturers? Yes, if you're talking about foreign carmakers, who cleaned up most under Barack Obama's own "cash for clunkers" scheme last year. In fact, five of the seven models listed by Gillard as green enough to qualify for her $2000 trade-in deals are imports.

Will local manufacturers still win? Ah, now you may finally have touched on the real point of this charade.

Actually, Toyota's locally made hybrid Camry needs all this help and more.

Despite getting $70 million in handouts from the Federal and Victorian governments, it's been a market dud, selling fewer than 3000 so far.

Maybe that's what this is really about - a government spending millions to make the last millions it spent not look like waste.

Regarding the defence of the scheme:

So how can it be defended?

Why, it's green, isn't it? And aren't greens more interested in that seeming than any achieving anyway?

True enough, because that's just how Gillard's plan is defended even now by Climateworks, the activist outfit that proposed it to Labor.

Sure, conceded Climateworks executive director Anna Skarbek, this way of removing CO2 is about four times more expensive than most of the alternatives.

"You can cut carbon emissions by 25 per cent by doing things that cost not much more than $100 a tonne of carbon, but things like the cash-for-clunkers scheme can give you a role in signalling behaviour," she said.

This is just for "signalling behaviour", then?

So it's the gesture that counts - and never mind if what's actually achieved is insanely expensive and utterly futile.

Thank you Andrew Bolt, keep it up. Join his blog here or read the story in full here.

Battlelines

“Battlelines” by Tony Abbott

It is even more interesting to read this book now that Tony Abbott has taken over leadership of the opposition. It was published in 2009, written soon after Kevin Rudd won the election in 2007.

No one can accuse him of having no basis for his policy initiatives. Love him or hate him he has formed a solid foundation from which to base his policy. He stands for something, which is honourable.

Unfortunately at the moment that doesn’t seem to resonate with a general public still wrapped up in first female PM hysteria.

For those not understanding the right and left wings of politics, Abbott does a reasonable job of clarifying what is “right”. Like any political party there is a broad spectrum of ideologies on the one side of politics from conservative to liberal. What might be most confusing is that most members of the Liberal Party would draw from both conservative and liberal ideals. For example, conservative social issues. That is standing up for traditional family values ,while having a liberal economic policy. This is the promotion of self-reliance and small government.

An interesting read, easy enough for those not into politics. Although some economic jargon may fly above one’s head. Persist, it will be worth it.

Worm Off

Channel 9 has dubbed “the worm” as the star of the pre election series of debates. They must be expecting the debates to be boring because surely the debating should be the star of the show and not “who will the worm burn?”



The worm is an unnecessary distraction to what is being said and should be done away with. It rarely corresponds with what has been said. Analysts over analyse to the hilt.



Do yourself a favour and watch the ABC feed as it is 100% worm free.

Dubbo: Time To Smile

Much like many of its regional contemporaries, Dubbo offers a multitude of activities to suit all demographics.

My brother and I spent two days in Dubbo recently yet we could have easily spent more. Considering me missed the two main tourist attractions in The Western Plains Zoo and The Old Dubbo Gaol. Then there are always the nearby country towns with their own attractions.

I have pumped up Dubbo now, but our main purpose there wasn’t exploration, that was merely a bonus. Rather we went to connect with family whom we previously had little interaction. That was the highlight of the trip. Not to detract from Dubbo at all.

While attractions weren’t high on our agenda we still managed to get around to some. The Western Plains Cultural Centre was impressive and also free. It had some great displays on local history, their aboriginal heritage and also works of art from local artists.

There are many wineries in Dubbo. Most needed bookings and suited groups. We found one called Red Earth. They had a great selection and could not leave without taking home some local product.

We stayed at the Formula One Motel, as it was simple and cheap. Given different company I would probably go more upmarket.

I recommend a holiday to regional New South Wales. Get out of the city or suburbs to slow down and relax.

Tuesdays With Morrie

“Tuesdays With Morrie” by Mitch Albom

This is a wonderful story about an inspirational man. If only there were more like him that embraced death as part of life. For starters aspects of my job would be easier, but apart from that we would be a much happier, content and satisfied humanity if we took a leaf out of the book of Morrie Schwartz.



Morrie was diagnosed with the terminal illness, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) in his 70’s. This began a journey for not just him. He had many passengers that he invited along for the ride.



One passenger was a former student, journalist Mitch Albom, whom he hadn’t seen for sixteen years but remembered vividly nonetheless. Mitch got back in touch with his favourite professor from college when he miraculously saw Morrie featuring on USA’s Nightline talking to Ted Koeppel about his ALS.



What started as just a visit to a dying man turned out to be a thesis, their “last thesis together”. His life was changed as he gained wise insights from Morrie as they met, on Tuesdays.



Morrie’s openness about ALS and its terminal nature is not the norm and this is a shame. As through this openness he didn’t change just Mitch’s life but thousands of people after viewing the Nightline report and follow up stories. Albom’s book was placed on Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club reading list, and automatically became a New York Times bestseller. Through Oprah’s production company the story was made into a telemovie. Morrie leaves a lasting legacy, “a teacher till the last”.



Despite admitting to only being an agnostic from Jewish origin and borrowing from many religions in his dying days, it’s interesting that many of Morrie’s revelations fit in well with having a faith in God. He commented on people living fast paced materialistic lives yet still feeling unfulfilled (Christian response: true fulfilment only comes from having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ).



Maybe Morrie had more faith than he cared to admit. As Albom added in his afterword in the 10-year anniversary edition, Morrie had admitted to Ted Koeppel in their last interview that he had spoken to God. Then came a statement when Mitch asked about life after death. Morrie said, “I have not settled on one yet……however, this is too harmonious, grand and overwhelming a universe to believe that it’s all an accident.” An amazing statement for a man who had, at this stage, lost all movement of his body and had become totally dependant on others.



Able to be read in a day, well worth reading!! You won’t be able to put it down.

Excessive Reliance

Listen to any politician when they are on TV or radio. There are always buzz words, some have been referred to here. Beyond the buzzwords there are tools that are constantly referred to but are being used as the basis for policy making. Both are fraught with dangerous inconsistencies.

Modelling
Modelling in this case isn’t the glorified coat hangers that traipse down catwalks, but rather the software packages used to predict the success or failure of potential new policies. Problem is that these models can only predict and are not conclusive. They are limited by the data that is put in to the system. Even if we assume the data is absolutely correct it still cannot take into account many variables. At the very most modelling should be used as an aid and not the ultimate authority on the potential success of a policy.

Unfortunately there have been examples of late in the areas of climate change and economic stimulus where it has been proven that dodgy modelling was used to prove a point.

Advice
Of course any individual can’t know everything about everything, Rudd has tried. He has a team of advisors like most politicians and a lot of faith is placed in them. Perhaps it’s due to their facelessness that they gain reference in parliament. Most of the general public have no idea who these public servants are or their credentials to be the PM’s number 2.

I am sceptical about the quality of their advice sometimes. Is it true? Is it the best information? Or is it something that has a half-truth and sounds good in parliament? Or is it what their employer wanted to hear, regardless of fact. Perhaps the politician referring to “advice” is just giving himself an out if it turns out to be dodgy.

Either way it can give off the impression of someone that doesn’t think for themselves, instead relies on a bunch of unknown advisors.

Beware the Rule Makers

Mentioning “church” in tabloid journalism such as channel 7’s ‘Today Tonight’ manages to get attention. It got mine, but like most other religion based stories the facts were highly sensationalised. Should we expect anything less from a current affairs program proven for fudging facts?

The headline went, “Talent show finalists banned from church, we’ll tell you why”. Provocative headline, very emotive, I was hooked in. I had to see whether this was a ‘real’ church that was involved or an institution more resembling a cult.

In typical ‘foot in the door’ style we met the pastor of the offending “church” (I use that term rather loosely here), the Geelong Revival Centre. The leader proclaimed to be spreading God’s word, despite the revelation of many strange rules made up by him and him only. These have no origins in the bible and I am sure none would be upheld by any bible believing Christian Church.

Unfortunately there are those that would see Today Tonight as the ultimate vessel of truth and could easily come to the conclusion that this is the norm of all ‘churches’. When it’s just not the case.

The only comment against this assertion was a throwaway line that a member of the Geelong Revival Centre had “escaped” and was now at a “nice Baptist Church”. We are left to assume that he is happy there. It’s only by pure miracle that he didn’t throw in the towel on a faith in God after experiencing what can only be described as a cult, as so many do after poor experiences with so called Christians.

Today Tonight could have hammered the point home on cults but didn’t, for whatever reason. Perhaps to them calling them a church gets a better response than evil power tripping egotist led Cults.

A Keen Observation

Of all people it was surprising to hear a rather keen observation from David Koch during channel 7’s live telecast of the leadership challenge. Surprising because ‘Kochie’ doesn’t do the best job of hiding his leanings when commenting on issues or when interviewing politicians.

He observed that perhaps the axing of Kevin Rudd showed an “immaturity in government”. That is, they are showing an inability to tough out situations when things are going against you.

After all it was some of the same people that rushed Rudd into leadership that have now turned on him. At a time when he was still preferred PM according to many polls, albeit by a slender margin.

Making History

So, Julia Gillard has become Australia’s first female Prime Minister, and Kevin Rudd has fallen on his sword.

Much is being made of the historical occasion to have our first female PM. All except Gillard herself by the sounds of it. Graham Richardson predicted “there’s a million women ready to vote for Gillard”. Why? Because she’s good at her job, or because she’s a woman. If it’s the latter then by Richo’s prediction we have at least one million very shallow women.

Everyone was ready to bury Rudd yet now applaud Gillard as the Labor saviour. She’s so deep in Rudd’s failures she is struggling for air. She still has a lot to prove but because of this history in the making people gloss over all that.

It really doesn’t matter about gender. Is she competent? Rudd wasn’t, and Gillard contributed to that incompetence. She has already taken steps to disassociate herself from the old regime. There’s a long way to go and Abbott definitely has a challenge on his hands. It will be fun to watch.

Christianity For Dummies

Channel 7’s Sunrise program showed a series of segments titled ‘Religion for Dummies’. By pure chance I saw the first instalment on Christianity.

To assist Mel and Kochie in giving a brief overview was Guy Mason from the newly planted ‘City on a Hill’ church in Melbourne and Jo Geeling from Australian Christian Churches (Assemblies of God).

The first question was very general. What does Christianity stand for? There wasn’t much time, Guy had to be quick and to the point.

“We stand for Jesus, He is our King. We look to Him, we trust Him, we follow Him. That’s because in Jesus we meet God. A God who came to us and a God that ultimately died on a cross that we might be forgiven of our sins. He then rose to new life, that we might have freedom and a future with Him.”

Good start, next came the hyped up controversies of the church, How does Christianity accept gay people? Guy again,

“God is a relational God. He has gifted us with marriage that the bible reveals is to be between one man and one woman. So any sex outside that context ….. falls short of God’s ideal. That being said it’s important to know that the gospel is for everyone….”

Good response given the very secular audience. Perhaps Mel was expecting something a bit scathing of the alternate lifestyle. She seemed flustered and asked for clarification. Guy repeated, “Yes they are accepted but God’s ideal is one man and one woman.” Perhaps for expediency Mel moved on. I suspect she still didn’t understand.

Along the same vein Kochie asked how Christianity viewed sex before marriage? Jo answered with sentiments similar to Guy’s response on homosexuality, “We believe in fidelity, we believe in chastity, and we believe that sex in marriage is a gift to be enjoyed.”

Overall I thought it was a good performance by the two Christian respondents. Of course they could have said more but considering the time constraints they really brought forth a good overview without embarrassing themselves or the Christian faith, as so many manage to do. If you have the inclination follow the link to see the video of the Christianity segment and the rest of the ‘Religion for Dummies’ series that includes Islam, Buddhism, New Age and Scientology.

Mission Teams

Went on a mission fundraiser and was interested to find out that of the eight or so going on the trip there was only one male, and his main reason for going was that his wife was on the team. I was wondering whether this says something about the trip, the group, or maybe the church that was sending them.

Questions surfaced, such as: Where are the men? Do we really have a 6:1 female: male ratio? Are there features of this trip that inherently appeal to females? Is that a good or bad thing?

So many questions. Probably more than there are answers. Yet some clarity was reached after a conversation with a male friend on the topic.

Generally speaking males are task oriented and have a need / want to accomplish something and see results of labour. These activities include building and fixing things. It’s the way males are wired.

Males also have a natural desire to be the provider for the family. This creates some conflict when opportunities come to be involved in mission work. Quitting a job could be deemed unreasonable. But then if you were truly called into ministry you would do whatever was necessary.

Mission trips primarily about engaging, teaching and relationship building are then naturally going to appeal more the females. Males shouldn’t avoid these mission opportunities although we do build relationships better with other men when “doing”.

I heard a man speak from Opportunity International who was using his skills in finance to provide microloans to small businesses in India. Just like my friend working with Global Recordings using his skills in electronics. Both great examples of “doing” in ministry and good uses of their own interests and skills.

The Defection

A couple of weeks ago it was hard to avoid the news about Israel Folau’s signing with new AFL franchise, known as Team GWS.

I was actually hoping that the rumours would not come to fruition and he would continue to play rugby league. But he will be an Aussie Rules player as of 2011 and I hope he realises the enormity of the task.

There will be a pressure on him to perform from day 1. He is on pay similar to the biggest stars in our game, yet he is foreign to most of the core skills and will have to severely get out of his rugby league tactical frame of mind. Karmichael Hunt will prove just how hard it will be to adjust.

The high marks he takes out on the wing from a cross field kick are celebrated in rugby league. In Aussie Rules they are nothing special. Anyone can leap over a stationary defender to mark the ball, it’s regulation stuff. Although of all the league players he does get the most height.

Time will tell whether the money was worth it. I can see him going back to rugby league in four years time, and he will be welcomed back with open arms despite what some commenter’s will tell you should happen. They have done as much for many rugby union returners.

I wish him well, the success of the team is riding on him.

Not Free At All

Saw this sign outside a local primary school

Free delivery

Quality education

No conditions

I wasn’t impressed. The idea of “free education” should not be pushed. By free they actually mean no direct cost to the public, it’s all taxpayer funded.

Saying the education is “free” followed by “quality” is really an oxymoron, those two terms just don’t go together. Whatever you get for free out there is of low quality.

Plus having a service advertised as “free” doesn’t place any value on the product. Education is the greatest thing we can attain. So have it as “free” if you must but don’t push that angle. One should gladly pay the minuscule voluntary fees charged by our public schools, especially if you expect continued “quality” education.

The Mens Room

“The Mens Room” By Toby Green

This book was written in 1999 and purchased at that time, I would have been 18. I’m not sure my motivation for such a purchase, perhaps it was mum’s idea. I tried reading it then but found it hard to soak in. Maybe after years of maturation have made it easier to understand.

Don’t be confused by the name, Toby Green is a woman, a psychologist and an author. As a woman it is refreshing that she takes a swipe at feminism and condemns the damage it has done to a generation of men confused about their role – real men or pseudo women?

She doesn’t leave blokes off the hook though as it implores that men still have to lift their game. She doesn’t pander to the men as victims. There is a nice middle ground achieved in her book. Like all good relationships her advice is about give and take.

The dysfunction in the relationships Green deals with seems to centre around two themes: communication and control.

Perhaps a reading of “Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman would solve most of the communication problems illustrated. When communication was a problem it’s not that either party was not communicating at all it’s that they were not communicating in a way that the spouse liked. They never thought to talk about how they like love to be communicated until the relationship had spiralled out of control. More often than not the relationship was irreparably damaged by that time, even with expert counselling from Toby Green.

The need to be in control seemed to be a manifestation of a childhood event that wasn’t properly dealt with, but it could happen to anyone. It shows complete disregard to God who is ultimately in control. Although our culture does push a premise of being in control of our lives. Unfortunately a controlling person in a relationship does not behave rationally when they perceive they aren’t in control of all facets of their life.

I’m glad a finally read it and enjoyed that these insights came from a female perspective.

Waiting For Heaven

Have heard a few pastors and friends say “I can’t wait to go to heaven”.

Surely their sentiment is based on how they are putting God first in their life. This is a good thing to do. But it really says that they can’t wait to die. It can be taken that the pastors can’t wait to leave their position of church leadership and ministry. I’m sure they don’t mean it like that, then why say it like that?

Others might say it in a fed up mood due to the sinful world we are living in. This might show a lack of persistence when in a situation of suffering.

Obviously heaven will be a fantastic final destination, beyond description. But life is a gift meant to be enjoyed, something to be cherished. Even though there is a better place waiting for those who believe. An analogy is that we don’t throw away a present on our birthday just because there is a better one to come at Christmas.

Our life on earth is part of God’s plan. There are things we are meant to do. Our purpose. To have an effect on humanity. When it is your time to go, God’s perfect timing, then you will go.

“God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I will never die” (unknown source)

Living is a good thing. We choose life over death. We still go to the doctor when we are sick. Apparently the great Billy Graham is one who said, “I can’t wait to go to heaven”. He’s still alive in his late 80’s with Parkinsons. He’s been waiting a while. His purpose on earth is not yet complete.

Anti Unions

I used to think of the unions as a necessary evil. A backstop, a support network, if situations in the workplace went pear shaped. In my two careers as a teacher and a paramedic where litigation can occur, having that support seemed a wise thing to attain.

Not anymore. I no longer consider unions as necessary – just evil.

This has been the case since I left the health services union (HSU) in 2008. They are supposedly representing paramedics and have our best interests at heart.

Instead they show themselves as having no heart and being severely self-serving. The amount of ex union officials in Labor party ranks is testament to that.

Within the last week the HSU has outlined a wage claim that it was going to present to the industrial relations commission. They say they are going to fight for a 27% wage rise in an effort to catch up for a lack of wage increases over the years. Sounds good so far, but wait there’s more. They snuck in that the wage rise should only apply for financial HSU members.

This spits in the face of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 which says, amongst other things, that, “a person cannot be compelled to become a member of an industrial organisation” and that “an employer must not victimise an employee because the person does not belong to an industrial organisation”. It’s illegal under the act to have minimum wage claims apply to only part of the workforce as non-union members are being victimised for exercising their freedom of association.

It also spits in the face of the hard working highly skilled health professionals that just want a fair go. Luckily we still have a voice in our apolitical professional association, EMSPA (emergency medical services protection association). We growing and the union is rightfully concerned.

Stealing From Miners

The govt has been elected to govern in whatever way it sees fit. It can put a tax on whatever it likes, that’s its prerogative. Just because it is legal though, doesn’t mean it’s moral. Taxation is stealing and now it is the turn of the miners to feel the wrath of tax.

The issue seems to come down to ownership. Who owns the minerals being mined? Rudd is appealing to our patriotism by suggesting we have a right to these profits as they minerals are owned by Australians.

But these companies have poured in masses of capital to be able to mine these minerals and employ masses of Australians to do so. They are a legitimate business making a big profit. Good on them

By taxing their big profits it is punishing entrepreneurship and business acumen. They shouldn’t be punished for doing well. This creates a culture that doesn’t aspire to succeed. Why bother when you will just be slugged with a giant tax?

Sensationalist Rubbish

The Daily Telegraph reported this on Thursday 6th May 2010 from research commissioned by the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

I’ll Die Before I Pay
Heart attack victims delay calling costly ambulance
By Sue Dunlevy
ONE in five people would hesitate to call an ambulance if they were having a heart attack because of the high cost, a study has found………

Some thoughts….

Stubborn pensioners – they would delay an ambulance regardless of the circumstances. That’s just the way they are. Avoiding a bill is not in their motivation. They have survived through real periods of upheaval, such as World War 2. What’s little bit of chest pain or abdo pain is their attitude. More people should show an ounce of this attitude instead of calling an ambulance for every stubbed toe.

Expectations – so much is given to the general public for free, which really means no direct cost to the public. This creates unrealistically high expectations of the public health system. Endless demand yet limited supply and people want it at their beck and call in their timing.

The Bill – what people are charged (if you don’t have a pension card or private health) is only a fraction of what it costs to put highly trained, highly skilled health professionals on the road. NSW is the most subsidised Ambulance Service in the country.

Adding value – if $300 is too much to pay for highly trained highly skilled health professionals to be at your door within 10 minutes in the Sydney metro region and then transport you to hospital then your priorities are severely mixed up!! Good health comes before money. If not that then perhaps you don’t really need an ambulance after all as your situation is not an emergency.

Just pay something – people take for granted the costs of ambulance services. Fitting out the vehicle alone costs upwards of $100,000. Then there’s training, equipment, uniforms and most importantly, wages of the highly trained, highly skilled health professionals. People need to pay something to realise these services don’t come cheaply and that they are privileged to have such a service so readily available. Perhaps a variable fee scale based on the triage category at hospital could work.

Universal coverage – a good idea in theory but I fear it will result in further abuse of the system as there is no value placed on the service by the general public

Oh The Irony

Wayne Swan was interviewed by Laurie Oakes last Sunday (9^th May) on the Weekend Today Show prior to his budget speech. Some interesting contradictions were found.

“Strict spending limits” has become the buzz word. A bit late though considering the massive recklessness of the last two years.

Swan wants you to believe that he saved us from a recession. Perhaps at least technically this is true as the numbers were positive for a quarter instead of continuing their downward trend towards a ‘recession’. Although many now say that as a result of the stimulus they have sped up the economy too much and now can’t slow it down. This will lead to a fantastically high boom period, and we all now what goes up must come down. Also, unsurprisingly there is no mention of the fantastic economy they inherited from the previous govt.

Whenever I hear “decisive action” I squirm a little bit. Probably because I heard it first and most often from Anthony Albanese, who said, “we make no apologies for decisive action”. Perhaps now with the beauty of hindsight there should be many apologies, it seems like it’s the only thing Rudd does well. Give him credit, the man does a wicked apology. Being decisive doesn’t make the action good.

Groovy Worship Music

I am different when it comes to music in church. I have played in multiple church bands yet could now do without music altogether. Especially with the increase of performance based music, singing at the congregation rather than leading them in signing praise to God. I still like this music, in a concert or playing through my iPod.

There is one church band that I have found purely by accident when surfing through the Mars Hill Church website. Their ‘music’ link shows various bands that play at their campuses as well as the many bands that have since retired. One such band is aptly named The Mars Hillbillies.

Their sound is very bluegrass. Not everyone’s cup of tea I know, but I have really been getting into it lately.

Check it out for yourself here. While there check out the diverse range of bands from other genres. There is something to please everyone.