Retired infantry officer. Conservative by nature and politics; Happily married and father and grandfather of eight. Loves V8 powered Range Rovers, Golden Retrievers, good books and technology and think there should be open season on Greenies. Born in the mid forties and overdue for servicing but most parts still work.

Thomson

Craig Thomson at his filing hearing;

“What was disappointing about today was it became clear that not only was last Thursday wrongly done by the police, but after 18 months in relation to investigating this matter they still don’t even have witnesses that they’re able to produce for us in terms of some of these issues that are here,” he said after the brief 15-minute hearing..

What utter rot.

The hearing is designed to set dates for further hearings and set bail if applicable. It is not the trial proper where witnesses are called. If Craig thinks the police don’t have any witnesess then great – when they come up with a conga line of them he will be further shattered, and beside, giving a person like Thomson a list that he can use for witness tampering doesn’t sound smart to me.

Oh, and the police weren’t wrong, he had the choice to go to Victoria and talk to police but he refused, thus leaving the police no option but to force the matter by arrest and bail.

Is his lawyer qualified or his he just trying to muddy the waters?

Antony Green, the election analyst of ABC fame has a piece in the Drum arguing that Thomson should step down. The ABC luvvies are screaming but Anthony has a point. How can Thomson represent his electorate when obviously, all of his efforts will be targeted to trying to stay out of Pentridge. FWA, a child of the ALP and unions has found against Thomson and clearly lists his offences. Whether or not he is found guilty in a court of law is a later issue. Legal matters whilst in process define his offences as allegations and not yet proven thus he is innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law. In the eyes of the FWA however he has already been found guilty of offences against the union itself. The FWA is cited as the abiding authority to union executives when it suits them so why isn’t it relevant now?

Whatever the outcome of the court case, based on the FWA investigation he is now considered by most Australians to be a man of dubious ethical standards who has used stolen funds to pay for nefarious activities not to the benefit of the union members. If he thinks it is OK to defraud poor old union members then what are his standards in dealing with public monies.

Interestingly, all of this would have been considered by Gillard leaving no interpretation other than she thinks there is nothing wrong with his behaviour.

My first thoughts are that Thomson should just cop his punishment and disappear into the dustbin of tainted ALP MPs, providing its not already overflowing.

However, if it can be arranged for this matter to get mention, say every month up to September, then it might well end up doing some good for the country in that punters will be reminded that we are being governed by people who support the rorting of funds of the poorer side of the socio-economic divide.

H/T Michael Smith

ALP Disinformation

The Dark Side continue with their “Turnbull would be a better leader” push to try and sow more doubt in peoples mind about Abbott.Today’s contribution is from Windsor, of all people, who claims the Coalition would win with Turnbull.

I’ve got news for you Windsor – the Coalition will win with Abbott and you, amongst others, will be out on your traitorous arse.

The ‘Turnbull would be better’ line is used in conjunction with the ‘Woman hate Abbott’ line and both are a construct of the ALP. Turnbull is a reasonable operator and has his uses but is a Wet and we don’t give Wets leadership if we can avoid it. The bulk of Coalition supporters will be very pissed off if Turnbull gets the nod not just because he’s not good enough, but for it to happen we’d need a spill in the Coalition. Of course the Dark Side would love that but it would be a death knell for us and it ain’t going to happen.

If you are only a casual political buff then be aware, whenever you hear the ‘Turnbull would be better’ line it is ALP born – no Coalition follower would entertain the thought for more than a second

‘Abbott is negative and hates woman’ is quoted daily. Not just in the ALP circles and Coalition hating bloggers, but in the media generally and the polls do support the idea.

But, once again, be aware, that it is an ALP invention. An Opposition leader being negative – who would have thought that could be true…amazing….never happened before.

Utter rubbish. Rudd, Gillard and Swan were negative in opposition – it’s what oppositions do. They peruse the bills put to the house and if they don’t like ’em – they say so. The ALP fought Howard’s Pacific Solution with gusto and seething hatred and were more negative than Abbott has ever been. The difference being, of course, was that Howard’s Pacific Solution actually worked and was the best of a lot of possible solutions as evidenced by the fact that after years of being negative and calling Howard all sorts of vile names, the ALP had to accept the Pacific Solution and take it on board as their own.

Abbott’s negativity,remember it’s his job to call the government to question, has been a little more realistic. He questions the Gonski Review and the NDIS, not because they are necessarily bad ideas but because Gillard has a habit of holding a press conference and announcing another ‘brilliant’ social idea. Unfortunately she doesn’t factor them into the budget – she can’t – the bin is empty – they’ve spent it all. Gillards unfunded policies have the same validity as my intention to buy a brand new Range Rover – ain’t ever going to happen this side of winning lotto.

Abbott is also negative about the NBN, cynical might also apply. The government announced what was possibly a good idea but the costs skyrocketed from 2 to 3 billion to 30…40…50 billion based on a conversation between Rudd and Conroy on a flight between Melbourne and Canberra. If there is a business model the ALP are keeping it under lock and key so, I ask you, who wouldn’t be negative, who wouldn’t be cynical?

How much is it going to cost and where is the money coming from – it’s not in the budget.

So Abbott hates woman or they don’t like him so the story goes. It is reflected in the polls which simply shows people are still swallowing the ALP line. It goes like this; McTernan tells Gillard that she can’t campaign on her governments achievements, there being few; and that her one chance is to try an make Abbott unelectable. Hence the Misogyny speech and the ‘Abbott is negative’ line. Not only that but 20 or 30 years ago he once hit a wall near a woman whilst at uni and he tried to stop abortion drug RU486 therefore he hates women.

The Misogyny speech was delivered by Gillard during a debate where she was defending Slipper, the same guy who likened women’s genitalia to bottled mussels in a text to a subordinate. The hipocrisy of that speech and the circumstances of it’s delivery never fails to astound and disgust me. There actually are people who refer to it as if it was a great speech.

Abbott is only as negative as his position demands. From the day he became opposition leader up to the day the Writs are issued for the next election his role is to call the government to order on bills that are of questionable value and to pass those that are reasonable which he has done on about 150 occasions. Once in election mode he changes to a more positive role as he starts outlining his policies.

It has ever been thus.

How’s it all working out for you so far Julia?

130131-Alston

 

Gillard announces election to be held on 14 Sep handing the Coalition a huge advantage.

Day One – ALP Craig Thomson arrested and charge with 149 incidences of fraud.

Day Two – McClelland announces retirement

Day Three – Ms Roxon and Senate leader Chris Evans announce retirement

How’s it all working out for you so far Julia?

Tomorrow should be a lay-day for us punters but certainly not the ALP hierarchy or Rudd’s ‘make him PM again” team as they try and recover from the weeks self inflicted problems or capitalize on them.

Can’t wait for Monday.  Will Gillard still be the PM….how many more are planning on retirement….are they deserting a sinking ship or is there a plan?

Considering Roxon is involved in the AWU grand theft case maybe we have more announcements next week and she is bailing while she has the option.

It’s not unknown for ministers to resign from their positions to set themselves for a run at the leadership but the thought of Roxon or Evans getting the nod is just to much to contemplate.  Evans is the engineer of the open borders policy and Roxon is simply a hatred filled zealot and she claims she wants to spend more time with her family.

So do the bulk of the electorate.

GIllard says they both come to her 12 months ago to discuss this issue and maybe they did but for them to choose today to resign was obviously a shock to Gillard and leaves the impression of rats deserting a sinking ship.  It would appear at first glance that the ALP are simply not happy with Gillard and I can understand that.

Interesting times ahead and I predict matters will come to a head sooner than later.

 

 

 

Thomson arrested

The new look Julia (wiser and softer) with her McTernan recommended glasses has announced the election date as 14 September.  She hasn’t been to the GG so no writs have been issued….. it’s only words at this stage.

In entirely unrelated news Craig Thomson has been arrested and is looking at 150 fraud charges.  Well, I think it’s unrelated – or is it?

Slipper next and then what does Gillard do?

Running out of options.

There was talk this morning that by announcing an election date she could avoid a by-election in case Thomson or Slipper were charged but as I read it the no by-election clause is only relevant after the writs for an election have been called.

Considering the politics of the Thomson fraud case I can only imagine the police would be extra extra careful that they had cast iron evidence before cuffing him.

How embarrassing for the country.

Whatever Gillard’s aim is the press will be all over Thomson for a day or two.  The ALP are ramping up their demand that Abbott should release his policies now so they can find or create mistakes.  Remember attacking Abbott is their only tactic as they can’t campaign on achievements.

Abbott, of course has no intention of playing the ALP game and will release policies and costing after the budget is released – at a time and place decided by Coalition tactics, not Gillards

Standard procedure.

 

 

 

Wet and Windy!

poolWind is making the palms dance and the pool overflowed two days ago. Since then we’ve had 235 mm of rain and the winds apparently exceeded a 100 km/hr.

At high tide today Brisbane CBD will once again flood although not as badly as in 2011.

Telstra stars;

Hundreds of thousands in communication blackout as Telstra outage leaves everything north of Gladstone without phone, internet or Triple Zero access leaving half of state in the dark.

I have a daughter at a retreat near Maleny just north of Brisbane and a long way south of Gladestone who had to use her Optus work phone to contact us as her personal Telstra is out of service.

The high winds are unusual as cyclones seldom get this far south but Oswald still had some punch as it hit Brisbane.  Trees blown across power lines has put thousands in the dark including my son who has just arrived to recharge his phone.

Another daughter with a premie baby is getting out of hospital and taking her new son home today. Access to her suburb will be difficult but possible as the Ipswich area starts to go under with a peak expected at midnight.

All in all, just another January in Brisbane.

Hypocricy of the ALP

After hitting business with the Fair Work Act, the Carbon Tax and RET they have the temerity to tell them to lift their game

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Combet said business plans that were adapted with an Australian dollar averaging between US60c and US80c would have to face the reality that the dollar at or above parity with the US dollar was now the norm

Does he really think that businesses haven’t adjusted their thinking to account for the high dollar – its been that way for quite a while now?

As I understand it, aluminium smelting is heavily dependant on electricity as evidenced by this submission to the Senate Select Committee on Electrticity Prices;

Electricity use represents approximately 30-40 per cent of the production costs of aluminium and, in highly competitive global markets, the cost of electricity is a critical factor in determining international competitiveness.

The long-term viability of smelters in Australia is under question. Continued operation of the industry will only be assured if significant production cost reductions can be achieved.

The operators of Australia’s five continuing aluminium smelters will be forced to continue actions including reducing employment and foregoing investment in order to manage the loss of competitiveness that results from increasing electricity costs.

With a stated policy of increasing electricity prices to hurt the country and force us to use less, the ALP can hardly lecture business on how to adjust to problems, most of which are caused by the ALP.

Mr Combet would not be drawn on the new body to vet Australian content in major projects, through Australian Industry Participation Plans, but The Australian has confirmed resource and infrastructure giants will be told to spend more heavily with local manufacturing companies, such as steel suppliers, as the government seeks to head off further lay-offs in the manufacturing sector.

ALP managed increases in electricity prices also effects Australian steel suppliers so how are they going to be able to compete with steel from countries not saddled with an ALP government?

They can’t, thus to help business Combet suggests they pay more for their steel.

Figures.

I’m a union man and I’m here to help your business!

UNIONS are pressing the Gillard government to impose tighter obligations on companies that receive taxpayer handouts, forcing them to “give back to the community” by purchasing more Australian products and services.

The toughened regime is on the agenda in the final talks over an industry statement due within weeks as Labor and the unions negotiate ways to shield manufacturing and construction companies from the damage inflicted by the higher Australian dollar.

If ever there was a contradiction in terms it has to be that last sentence.  Labor and the unions Unions do not exactly have a track record of shielding manufacturing and construction companies from anything,  they are more inclined to milk them down the next-to-last dollar of profit.

“When people receive assistance from the commonwealth they have an obligation to give back to the community,” said Construction, Forestry, Energy and Mining Union national secretary Michael O’Connor.

Jesus, now they are quoting Michael O’Connor, one of the PM’s earlier bed mates. They do give back to the community Michael, they pay taxes, employ people who also pay taxes and where prices are competitive, buy local.  If you force them to buy local you could well be forcing them to operate in a competitive world with one hand tied behind their back.

Talk to your political unionists, the government, and convince them to make hiring and firing easier, get them cut through the red and green tape and at least put on the appearance that they support small business as well as the workers.

 

 

Mali

Loading the machine guns

Loading the machine guns

FRENCH soldiers pressed north in Mali territory occupied by radical Islamists, launching a land assault (paywall) that was to put them in direct combat with al-Qa’ida-linked fighters “in one to 72 hours,” military officials said.

A former French colony, Mali once enjoyed a reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies with majority of its 15 million people practicing a moderate form of Islam. That changed in April 2012, when Islamist extremists took over the main cities in the country’s north amid disarray following a military coup, and began enforcing strict Shariah law.

Background reading Mali at World Atlas

I note this morning Hollande was quoted as saying it will all be over in three weeks. This evening it has stretched out to six months and good luck with that Monsieur President

Stats

stats

 

 

What’s with China this month – should I be worried?

The stats above indicate about 25,000 Chinese read my ramblings every week.

Ni hao you guys – leave a comment so I know your not a machine.

 

Interesting Mono wheeled bike

ryno

Move through the world in a completely different way:

RYNO Motors is in the middle of selecting a manufacturing partner for its production bike.

As a result our production schedule is looking like late 2012 to be shipping.

Target retail price for these bikes will be $4,500 US. Product will first be available in the USA with dealer networks being expanded into Europe mid to late 2013. South American distribution will be started late 2013.

There is an interesting video here.

 

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