Rejoice & Be Consistent

The Labor Party still wants to push for an ETS after the debacle of their own doing in introducing a carbon tax.  After being smashed in the polls largely due to this issue.

They still refer to "the science" being right despite "scientists" telling us opposite things.  So who knows whats true anymore?  Genuine debate has been thrown out, allowing emotive types to bleat about doing whats good for our children.

One thing is for sure, if you want an ETS to punish big polluters then you ought to rejoice when they go out of business.  Instead Labor has a culture of bailing out industries such as manufacturing.  This is an attempt to keep people in work.  This is despite their lack of competitiveness in the marketplace.  Labor governments have continually propped up failing enterprises that are big polluters.

The loss of jobs should pale into insignificance if your goal is to punish big polluters.  Punish them out of business.  That's success!  Loss of jobs is merely collateral damage in this "principled" venture. 

Glimmer Of Hope

The Centre for Public Christianity does an array of podcasts.  They are all about having open discussion about issues that concern us but from a Christian perspective.

There was one podcast that intrigued me.  It covered the topic of ‘climate change’.  A hot button topic bound to polarise its audience.  It is 15 mins long.  A statement near the end I found disturbing.  It came from the guest on this podcast, a Christian, scientist and advocate for ‘climate change’.

Nearing the end the guest mentioned how if we act on ‘climate change’ then we still have a “glimmer of hope” of avoiding catastrophic rises in temperature.

This Christian is saying that knowing full well who created the climate and who maintains the climate (i.e. God).  He also knows that any catastrophic world-ending event would mean the second coming of Jesus is upon us.  As Christians we are supposed to pray for this event to take place.  Yet the guest claims to be an advocate for action on ‘climate change’ so that his children will have a world to live in.

We don’t have a “glimmer of hope”.  We have a beacon of hope and it comes in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  A Christian ought to worship Jesus, not His creation.  Worship creation and Jesus is ignored.  Worship Jesus and enjoy His creation in a responsible way, as stewards with dominion over God’s creation.

We ought to do the right thing by the environment.  No one in church would disagree with this.  Many Christians have gone beyond ‘stewardship’ and jumped into ‘earth worship’.  For these people God is put in a box while they focus on their glimmer of hope.   

Meanwhile the beacon of hope .................is still in the box.

Tokenism

Apparently Tony Abbott ought to have appointed more women to the front bench of his cabinet.

No surprise that the now opposition has jumped on this in order to perpetuate the myth that Abbott has a problem with women.  Disappointingly it was lead story on most media outlets.

If Abbott bowed to pressure he would be giving women a position based on gender and not on merit.  He appointed the best people available at this time.

People forget that when the coalition lost the election in 2007 they lost a lot of talented politicians.  Women replaced a lot vacant positions.  This means that many of the women in the now government are still very fresh.

Plenty of women are raved about for their ability in politics.  But promoting them to the front bench at this stage would be setting them up for failure.  This isn’t good for women in politics.  Some now call for quotas of women in ministry positions.  They ought to think about the negative ramifications of their ideals.

That this makes news is ridiculous, but not surprising. Perhaps I’m now perpetuating it as newsworthy.  Perhaps it’s the only thing the opposition can find to insult against an otherwise strong cabinet.

Motivation Is Key

A lot of people advocate for responsible environmental practices.  This is all good, as we all should look after our surroundings.  It’s what motivates such calls that can be disturbing.

People don’t seem to be promoting these ideals out of an ingrained responsibility to look after the environment. Rather they are advocates based on the vain claim that we can change a climate that has been continually changing on it’s own for millennia.

There’s a plethora of examples where people are flouting the environment.  Many need to be stopped.  Not because we may be able to change temperature by a fraction of a degree, but because it is good for the environment to do so. 

We are so up ourselves as a species thinking we can change and ever-changing climate.

Rudd On Bolt

I’ll give Prime Minister Rudd some credit, not many Labor MP’s are willing to go on The Bolt Report.  He wanted an immediate point of difference to Julia Gillard.  She was unwilling to appear and Rudd was.  Already a win for Rudd, and he hasn’t said anything yet.

From what he said his supporters would congratulate.  Purely because he didn’t allow Bolt to land any ‘killer blows’.

Yet from the beginning Rudd belittled Bolt as “a conservative”, as if that was a bad thing to be.  He interrupted continually, answered long-windedly and robbed Bolt of points of clarification and follow up questions.

His answers seemed rehearsed.  As did his claim that his ad nauseum responses were “a direct answer” to the questions.  He was condescending, patronising and narcissistic.

Rudd admitted that he needed to engage with conservatives then insulted the Liberal Party by calling them an “ungodly kabal”.

Yet unfortunately it doesn’t really matter what we think of his performance.  He appeared, and to enough people that’s all that matters.

Green Jealousy

Christine Milne was on Insiders last Sunday morning the 14^th July.  Her prime objective was to outline her party’s policy position for the upcoming election. 

Basically, for the Greens if you earn money you will be punished.  If you don’t earn money you will be rewarded. 

The Greens plan to slug banks, miners and the wealthy.  All this to fund an overly generous welfare package.  

The Greens hate people who earn money.  They are jealous of them it seems.  How dare people aspire to create wealth when there’s people who can’t or won’t earn money.  It is their intellectual elitist method of wealth distribution.

But they don’t think this through.  By punishing the wealthy they deter aspiration from low-income earners.  And by punishing wealth creation they might decrease the gap between rich and poor but the poor become poorer as job opportunities decline.  They purport to support les poverty, but through their policy the opposite will be the case.

Giant Perspective Required

I got fed up with 'league heads' like Rebecca Wilson (columnist for the Daily Telegraph) having a go at the GWS Giants using flagrant falsehoods and hyperbole.  So I wrote her a letter. 

Take home message is to get some perspective.  Can't find the link to her article.  It was entitled 'No Marks For Giant Folly' from July 13th 2013.

Dear Rebecca,

I am disappointed by your article entitled 'No Marks For Giant Folly' dated  Saturday July 13th 2013.

My disappointment from people like yourself, who are from north and south of the border, is that you wrote off the venture from the start.  Never open to the idea for a second AFL team in Sydney.

People that share your opinion need a large dose of perspective.  We have a team that is two years old, that has made vast improvement in those two years and will make a vast improvement again next year.

You have written off the Giants before they are able to get a foothold.  So of course to you they have no hope.  Shame you didn't ask the players who have expressed the opposite view.  Many have signed on to extended contracts because of their belief that good things will come.

I'm glad David Matthews is standing up for the club.  He is a very switched on CEO and will take this club to great things but your colleagues choose to disrespect him and his role by your lack of perspective.

I'm doubting your knowledge of the game and how it's played.  I'm also unsure if you have an appreciation for how hard the game is to play at the highest level.

I see the skill the Giants have and how they just lack a bit of polish.  This will come with experience and recruitment.  Both of which will be addressed by the end of the season.  One player will make a huge difference.  Your claim otherwise is ridiculous.

Also ridiculous is your claim that the powers that be thought Israel Folau would set the place on fire and win a Brownlow.  Perhaps hyperbole on your part but still far from the truth.

Rest assured this will be a great club.  But you have to start somewhere. 

Tim Haynes

We’re To Blame

There is much controversy about gambling advertising.  But there is a reason why gambling agencies are able to do so much advertising and sponsorship.  And it’s not their fault.

Much of the population is very willing to throw away money into such institutions.  If these people think that gambling is a money making venture then they are quite mistaken.

Seeing the growth in advertising and sponsorship by agencies such as Centrebet, Sportsbet, Unibet, TAB, Tom Waterhouse shows which direction the money is going.

This industry is not to blame.

If you want less gambling advertising then individually and collectively we need to decide not to gamble, and to support those trying to end a dependence on gambling.    This will diminish their profits and therefore their ability to advertise.

Banning the agencies from advertising their product is not the solution and ignores the real problem.  The problem being us.

Feminism Has Worked

It’s time to tone down the ‘girl power’ attitude.  The ‘I am woman hear me roar’ cry

Feminism has accomplished many great things in advancing the cause of women.  Women now have more choice than ever before.  The problem is that if a woman makes a choice that doesn’t align with the militant feminists, then that woman is ridiculed.

The earnings differential between men and women is a major cause of angst amongst the militant feminists.  In pushing for wage equality they ignore the free choices women make in being homemakers or employed in lower paid occupations such as teaching and nursing.  Women in these occupations do so largely by choice and those that choose this path generally get where they want to go career wise.

The militant feminists are in the minority yet they are the most vocal.  They shouldn’t be allowed to misrepresent their sex in this fashion.  They don’t stand up for the ‘rights’ of women.  If they did they would celebrate women having the freedom to make a choice that was deemed in their best interests.

Instead they insult women for not making the same choice as them. 

Foreign Aid

There has been much media attention towards the foreign aid part of the budget.  Namely how it was not increased, as once promised.

I feel like the focus on foreign aid is enhancing the entitlement culture that is prospering at the moment.  All types of government handouts leads to decreased individual giving as the belief that the government will take care of it becomes prolific.  We become reliant on the government for our generosity.

Perhaps foreign aid advocates should change their focus.  Ignore the government and let them do with the foreign aid budget what they like.  Encourage individuals to be generous and give financially or their time to one of the numerous non-government organisations.

I have no doubt that this way the money will be better spent anyway.

Fed Frauds

The Teachers Federation say in their advertising that your children will be worse off under a potential Abbott government

Even though Tony Abbott stated in his budget reply speech,

“the key to better schools, at least as much as money, is better teachers, better teaching, higher academic standards, more community engagement and more principal autonomy”

The Teachers Federation isn’t for improved education.  They are for having as many teachers in jobs as possible regardless of quality as long as they are paying their union dues.

The Gonski review delivers on more paid teachers therefore any variation is bad for students according to the Teachers Federation.

Unfortunately for the Teachers Federation, what they want increasingly seems to contradict what the students need.

The coalition is offering a holistic approach and the Teachers Federation wants more money.

It’s little wonder that unions are in decline.

Giant Targets

I am excited about the future of the GWS Giants.  Although I am concerned that recurring heavy losses on the field will have a negative impact on the mindset of the young team.  We all like to win but persevering through the hard times will make success sweeter.

The Giants tried to woo some experienced players through their trade concessions.  The mini draft was designed to entice clubs to trade players for the best 17 year olds in the country.  Instead they enticed clubs with high draft picks to trade.  Thus the Giants have a raft of talented young players but little experience.

This will be addressed come the end of the season through trade and free agency.  They have some money to throw around now that Israel Folau has gone back to his native habitat.

No doubt a big play will be made for Hawthorn’s Lance Franklin.  The biggest free agency target this season.  Though, I’m not sold that he will leave Hawthorn.

Trade period will be interesting as it’s doubtful there will be the same focus on maintaining draft picks.  The number 1 pick could be on the table.  But it will have a bee a fantastic deal to part with it.  It will be a bold club that attempts to make this trade work.

Most of the young Giants have been exposed to the AFL.  This gives them some currency on the trade market.  Certainly other clubs have taken notice.  Richmond allegedly made a play for Dom Tyson last year without success.

It’s a necessity that the Giants list shrinks gradually in the coming years.  The Giants can’t keep all their talented youngsters.  Who they decide to keep and whom they get will be very interesting.

What Makes It Great

My church is in partnership with a charity in Uganda.  Through this partnership some great outcomes have been achieved through multiple projects.

I believe these outcomes are so great because the government was not involved.  No push for increased foreign aid would have achieved what my church achieved.

Churches are perfectly placed to take on charities like this.  We can be more direct in our aims, see a specific need and meet that need.  The affect is immediate and heart felt.   Its amazing to here stories of the difference that our relatively small contribution had made.

We are called to love people so it’s a given that all churches should be doing similar projects whether locally or internationally.

Having It All

A big thankyou to Julie Bishop this week.  She is the first high profile female politician I've heard point out the fallacy that women are able to ‘have it all’.

‘It all’ usually means having a happy family and a burgeoning corporate career.  Women have been lied to by the feminism movement.  Sacrifices have to be made.  It’s a fact of life.  We need to put our selfish goals aside if we plan to have children. This belief that they can ‘have it all’ must have hurt so many families over the past few decades.

The same applies to men.  Only difference is that we never had a movement telling us we could have it all.  We had the feminism movement telling us we weren’t any good at anything so women had to do it all.

There ought to be no pressure to ‘have it all’.  It all won’t last.

Mere Formality

Now women can ‘formally’ request part time work from their employer under an addition to law by the Gillard govt.  Not sure what was holding women back from doing this prior to the amendment.  The employer can still say no, which is their prerogative.

The Greens want “more teeth” to such a proposal.  “More teeth” would mean forcing employers to allow part time employment upon application.  Even though this may not suit their business and may increase operating cost.  This would result in less people employed, part time and full time.

Forcing businesses to do anything they don’t wish to do is very risky.  The Greens need to back off for their desire for more teeth and think through the ramifications for their emotion driven actions.

Businesses left to make their own decisions will best able to make arrangement for women trying to juggle family with work.  Businesses want to hold on to good staff, so they don’t need to be told by government how best to handle them.

A Vibe

In politics it seems if someone is against a certain method then it’s assumed that they are also against the desired outcome.

Example 1

I am all for technological advancement.  BUT I am against the government’s wasteful and negligent spending on the NBN.  They bypassed a cost benefit analysis and were reluctant to deal with the private sector.

Example 2

I am all for increased funding of schools.  BUT I’m against it being regarded as a silver bullet.  Funding is part of the solution while other areas like increasing teacher quality and principal autonomy are ignored largely due to union pressure.

Example 3

I am all for a humanitarian program for asylum seekers.  BUT I’m against a criminal making thousands of dollars off each passenger to board leaky vessels and overwhelm our immigration system.  It slows down the process for genuinely persecuted people seeking asylum.

Free To Speak

“In Defence of Freedom of Speech”

edited by Chris Berg

This is a book created by the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).  It was sent to every Federal Member of Parliament and Senator.  It was also distributed to the general public at the same time.

Its intention was to illuminate various attacks on the liberties of individuals that were being perpetrated primarily by the Labor govt.

You can be sure that it was read by some of its intended target as then Greens leader, Bob Brown, referred to it during an address to the National Press Club.  His snide remarks about the book had no essence of truth in them.  But that didn’t matter to him.  Nor did the IPA mind that he misrepresented their work.  It just went to show how set in their anti liberty ways the Greens really are.

It is one thing to have someone disagree with you.  It is a completely different thing to take measures to stop them from saying it, even though it might be true.  The vast majority of criticism for the current government has been absolutely justified, but they don’t like their faults being pointed out so they try and stop people from criticising.

The book describes a history of freedom of speech from ancient Greece to modern times in Australia.  It describes why the various acts were performed and their consequences.  It’s surprising to see how much has been done in the name of liberty and also protectionism. 

Over the course of history there were no groups that shone brightly as bearers of the liberty torch.  In all eras there fluctuations in freedom and protectionism.  Even Christian groups, who I thought would be bastions of freedom of speech, had fallen for the protectionist ideology at times.  When liberties were taken away it was usually due to the institution of totalitarian regimes.

What this book has shown me is that freedoms are important and not to be messed with by any government entity.  It’s a slippery slope when governments think they can mess with liberties.  It stems mainly from the intellectually elitist ideology that you are too stupid to make educated decisions for yourself if given certain liberties.  This ideology is both demeaning and insulting.  I’m glad we have institution such as the IPA that took on the cause of freedom of speech with such vigour.